I Surrendered My Sword for a New Life as a Mage: Volume 1 E-Book

Shin Kouduki

• Herausgeber: J-Novel Club
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Serie: I Surrendered My Sword for a New Life as a Mage
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Seitenzahl: 315

Beschreibung

There was once a man who dedicated himself to mastering the sword. On the verge of death after vanquishing a legendary dragon, he had no regrets about how he’d spent his life... except a lingering wish to be able to use magic.

So, as a reward for his victory, he is reincarnated as young Soma Neumond in a world of spellcraft and sorcery―only to be informed that he has no talent for sorcery and never will! He never gave up on his dream in his past life, however, and he isn’t about to this time either. Whatever it takes, he’s determined to find a way to become a mage!

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Volume 1

First Admiration

The Way Home

Afterword

Color Illustrations

About J-Novel Club

Copyright

Landmarks

Table of Contents

1

When he came to, he had collapsed onto his back.

He thought about the clear blue sky, stretching out above him as far as he could see; it seemed close enough for him to reach out and touch. It was a beautiful, sunny day. He had the offhand thought that he should actually reach for the sky—only to discover that for some reason, he couldn’t move his arm.

As he pondered why this could be, he heard someone speak.

“Impressive, human.”

He turned to face the source of the sound and found an enormous mountain. No, not a mountain—but somethingso gigantic that it looked like one. It was then that it all came back to him—what he had just been doing, and how he had ended up in this position.

“I see that I’ve won.”

“Yes. You have managed not to lose any limbs, while I am...in this state. It certainly seems that you have bested me.”

The voice wasn’t coming from the giant thing that he was looking at. Some distance away from where it lay sprawled out on its front sat something smaller, as if it had been placed there as an afterthought. That was the source of the voice.

The thing that he’d first thought was a mountain was a body. That smaller thing was its head. Though it was smaller, it was by no means small; it still dwarfed the man.

He sighed as he took in the sight. “I must confess, I don’t feel much like I’ve won...given that you’re still alive. And how are you still able to talk?”

“I am a dragon, after all, and among the most powerful of dragons at that. It would take far more than this to kill me instantly. And I am not using my vocal cords to speak. I would rather not go to the trouble of doing so.”

It was a dragon. Not an imitation or some impostor, but one of the few of the marvels that genuinely existed. An object of fear and awe to any who saw it soaring in the sky above, an emblem of destruction and despair. It was only natural, then, that such a creature would still be alive after its head was cut off.

“This is the problem with you supernatural beings. You defy reason at every turn. What kind of creature refuses to die once you chop off its head?”

“I could say the same of you. No human should be able to lay a scratch on me, let alone kill me. It defies all reason that even I am no match for you.”

“Which is why I challenged you in the first place. I had to know if I had trained my swordsmanship enough.”

Dragons wrought destruction on humans, but that was only incidental to his decision to battle one. He had simply wanted to try his hand against this dragon in particular, who was known as the dragon of dragons, the ultimate evil—some even called it a god.

His long-trained skill with the sword had earned him the title of the strongest swordsman in the world, and he took pride in it, but could he truly pass as the strongest in the end? Had he truly reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship?

The purpose of this battle had been to answer those questions once and for all.

“The verdict is in,” said the dragon. “Your ability reached our level long ago. I commend you for training yourself to such a high level as a human.”

“So...I have finally reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship.”

“Yes, I can attest to that. You have absolutely reached it. Otherwise, you would not have been able to kill me.”

As soon as he heard those words, he felt it had all been worthwhile.

This was what he had devoted his entire life to. He had thought of nothing but the sword, and everything he had done had been to train his skills. He had no regrets. How could he? He had put his whole self into making his dream come true, and he had succeeded. There was no way he could regret any of it.

“Thus, let me commend you once more. You have done well.”

“I honestly don’t care about killing you as an end unto itself.”

“Hmm... So your motivation to kill me was simply to prove yourself. I suppose that is precisely why you were able to reach this level. I, too, am satisfied with this outcome. However...” The dragon’s tone shifted as it went on, taking on an air of mystery befitting a being called divine. “While I may be satisfied, my honor will not permit me to leave it at that. Therefore, I must ask you one thing: is there anything that you wish for?”

“I’m not sure I understand... I killed you, and you’re asking what I want? Are you a masochist, or perhaps asking in bad faith so that when I answer, you can tell me it was nothing more than an idle question?”

“As I just told you, my honor requires this. I bear the title of god, after all. I cannot very well take my own satisfaction and give nothing in return.”

“I see your point...but I have nothing more to wish for, after reaching the pinnacle of swordsmanship. Even if I did, it would mean nothing, seeing as I could die at any moment.”

It was inevitable. That was why he couldn’t move his arm. He had defeated everything in his way, in the most literal sense. It was only right that this would mark the end of his life, and he regretted nothing, not even his death.

“I could breathe life back into your body if you wished...but I doubt that you wish for that.”

“Not particularly. I’ve fulfilled my wish. There is nothing left that I haven’t...”

Just then, something flickered into the back of his mind.

There was one thing left that he’d wanted to do. His family was long lost to him, and he had never had a friend or lover, so it had nothing to do with other people. Rather, it was an envy he had once felt, or an aspiration.

Magic.

While it was said to be long gone from this world, he had wanted to use magic. His only regret was that he had never been able to.

The reason he had never voiced that wish, though, was that it would have meant nothing. Although he had wanted to try magic, he had chosen the path of the sword. Even if he could continue this life, he would not seek out that new path.

It would be another story if I could be reincarnated or something, though...

That wish would amount to nothing, so he had nothing more to ask for. He resolved to let his life come to a peaceful end, his heart fulfilled. As he tried to tell the dragon his answer, he realized he couldn’t anymore. It was too late. His life was on the verge of fading away.

He knew the dragon would understand from the satisfied look on his face, though.

“Hmph... So that is your wish,” said the dragon. “Very well. By my divine power, I will see that it is granted.”

He sensed that the dragon was speaking to him, but the words no longer registered in his mind. Then and there, he quietly slipped away, closing the curtains on a life well lived.

2

He woke up from a terribly long dream.

It was about a man. He’d aspired to be the best he could possibly be with the sword, and his determination had brought him to the level of a master, then to that of a god. Once he had finally reached where he wanted to be, he’d died with a smile.

“Hmm...” As Soma reflected on the dream he’d just woken up from—no, the memory of his past life—he looked up at the ceiling he had seen many times before and nodded.

It all made sense, now that he’d remembered. He’d noticed that a feeling of being out of place sometimes came over him.

He’d been reborn. Maybe reincarnated. Whichever word he used, it meant the same thing—the thing that had happened to Soma. It would have sounded absurd to anyone else, but that didn’t make it any less true. He wasn’t mistaken, and he wasn’t delusional. Soma knew that he had been reincarnated.

“Not that that matters,” he said to himself, dropping the train of thought. After all, he’d remembered; it wasn’t like he’d stumbled on some shocking new discovery. It felt more like he was just being reminded of something in the background that he hadn’t been paying attention to. And although he hadn’t been paying attention, his past life had formed the basis of his mindset and actions in this life.

Remembering didn’t change anything for him, so it didn’t matter.

What did matter to him was that it was his sixth birthday. This was the day he’d been waiting for ever since he learned what it meant. Compared to that, he couldn’t care less about his past life.

“Time to get up, then...”

Soma looked away from the ceiling and toward the window. The sun was already in the sky. The servants in the mansion were most likely on the move, and the same went for his family. That meant there was no need to wait any longer.

“All right...” Soma popped upright, pushed the comforter out of the way, and stepped down from his bed. As he stretched his arms out, he thought of what was to come, and a smile crept across his face.

“I wonder what Skills I’ll end up having, and what I’ll be able to learn...”

As he thought about the Skill Assessment that lay ahead of him, he walked out of his needlessly big room, steps light with excitement.

From the standpoint of Soma’s past life, this would have seemed to be a completely different world. There were a number of reasons to conclude that was the case, but the biggest difference was the existence of Skills.

Put simply, Skills were a way of conceptualizing talent. That may not have been technically accurate, but they were definitely something along those lines. Essentially, if you knew somebody’s Skills, you knew what they could do and what they were good at. Usually, though, there was no way to know your own Skills, let alone other people’s. To find out your Skills, you had to have them looked at by someone with the Skill Assessment Skill.

It was also possible to identify your Skills using a particular magical tool, but that method wasn’t recommended. It wasn’t that there were side effects; rather, being assessed by someone with Skill Assessment had a bonus effect: it worked not only on the present but on the future. Basically, you could see not only your current Skills, but the ones you had the potential to learn later on. This was one of the reasons that Skills were known as a conceptualization of talent.

In short, the Skill Assessment told you what you could do right now and what you would later become able to do.

The system may have seemed restrictive, but few people regarded it in a negative way. Of course, some did, but nevertheless, everyone knew it was just part of how the world worked, and knowing your Skills gave you a path to aim for. You didn’t have to know your own Skills to use them, but the vast majority of people were grateful to have an assessor recommend their ideal path in life so they didn’t waste their time, uncertain where exactly their talents lay.

Naturally, then, it was considered best to find out your Skills as early as possible. That was just common sense, since if you were trying to become a knight, for example, and later found out you had no potential to learn a Skill that was necessary for that role, you would have wasted all the time leading up to that point. Considering that you wouldn’t have tried in the first place if you’d known, there was no such thing as learning your Skills too soon.

However, six was the earliest age at which you could undergo a Skill Assessment. There was a reason for this, of course: it was impossible to determine someone’s future before that age. This had been confirmed by studies showing that the results of a Skill Assessment on the same person could differ drastically between birth and four years old. Most people’s futures stabilized around four years old, usually five at the latest—but six was considered the best age to assess at, just to be safe.

That was why Soma was scheduled to undergo his Skill Assessment on his sixth birthday. And undergoing your Skill Assessment was the same thing as determining your future.

Only rare individuals had the right assortment of Skills to choose between multiple paths. Most people only had one or two Skills. If you had five, you were gifted, and if you had ten or more, you would be considered a genius.

Normally, it was nothing to worry about. There were some who dreaded their Skill Assessments, but needless to say, Soma had been looking forward to it for a long time.

It wasn’t that he expected to have a lot of talents simply because he’d been reincarnated into this world. It was just that it didn’t matter to Soma what Skills he had, so he could look forward to learning what they were as though he were a spectator of his own life.

He hadn’t given up on his future. The opposite, in fact: he’d already decided what his goal would be, regardless of what Skills he learned that he had.

While you did have to undergo a Skill Assessment to find out what Skills you could learn, there were a few exceptions. These were called Basic Skills. There were six Basic Skills related to fighting, such as Swordsmanship and Spearmanship, and then there was the Sorcery Skill necessary to use magic. A majority of people could learn them, although most of them could only reach the lowest rank of the Skill, which was Low-Grade. It was rare to find someone who couldn’t learn Sorcery and one of the fighting Skills at the very least. As for the gifted people and geniuses mentioned before, these Skills would not even be included in their list, because it was considered obvious that they would be able to learn them.

That meant there was no need for Soma to be afraid that he couldn’t learn those Skills. And Soma wanted to be a sorcerer. That meant using magic. That was why he didn’t care what else he could learn.

That was what Soma had really been looking forward to: on this day, he could finally start working toward becoming a mage. So the possibility never crossed his mind that he wouldn’t be able to.

“Huh?” A dumbfounded voice echoed through the room.

It had come from Soma’s mouth, and the look on his face was much the same. Dumbfounded. Baffled. Shocked.

With a mix of all those emotions on his face, Soma looked at his mother in front of him and repeated the question he had just asked.

“What did you say just now, mother?”

He knew she wasn’t the type to joke at a time like this, but he still hoped it was a joke.

His mother averted her eyes, slowly let out a breath, and then looked straight back at Soma. “I’ll repeat myself. According to your Skill Assessment, you are unable to learn any Skill, including fighting Skills and Sorcery. You have no talent for anything at all.”

Her face remained grave as she told him the news.

3

To Sophia Neumond, her son, Soma, was the very definition of genius.

Sophia was a duchess, and someone of her standing had opportunities to meet a wide variety of people—virtuous and wicked, ordinary and prodigious. Raised as the daughter of a duke, she had studied magic at the royal academy, fought her way through countless battles, and finally earned the reputation of the strongest sorceress in the world. And out of all the people she had known over the course of her life, her son was by far the most talented.

It wasn’t merely because he was her son that she thought so; however, it was only because she had raised him from birth that she had had the opportunity to notice his extraordinary intuition.

The first thing that she had noticed when he was an infant was that he never cried at night. In fact, looking back, he had never cried once in his young life, except for right after he was born.

Raising Soma’s younger sister Lina had thrown his unusual traits into relief. Unlike Soma, Lina cried constantly, day and night. Nobody in their wildest dreams would have expected to see a child of one year soothing his crying baby sister...but that was what happened. And not just once or twice, but almost any time Sophia had her hands full. After she’d gotten used to it, she found that whenever she was busy, she’d end up asking Soma to comfort Lina, which in hindsight made it seem that she had quickly ceased to think it unusual that she should depend upon her son’s help.

Even that was child’s play in comparison to what came next, though—what came after his education began.

If a child went into education before their Skill Assessment, it was normal to teach them only the basics, since depending on the results of their Assessment, some lessons could be rendered useless after the fact. In fact, some children received no education at all, even after their Assessments. There were academies, but only children nine and older could attend them, and the tuition was far from cheap. Some people would decide whether or not to attend school based on their Skills, so it was not unusual to meet adults who had never gone to school.

But Sophia’s “normal” was that of a duchess—or really, of any noble. If anything, it would have been unthinkable not toput Soma into education. It was normal to hire a home tutor to teach him.

Regardless, she would not teach him anything that could end up being unusable. He would learn a broad, shallow, and safe base of knowledge.

Usually, a child would start education no earlier than five, and this was something mostly done by biased parents who thought they saw a glimpse of talent in their child. Soma, though, had started at four. It seemed clearly too young, and everyone who heard about it assumed Sophia had a serious case of parental bias.

Sophia herself may not have gone so far if she had been the only one who’d thought so highly of her son, but she wasn’t. Her husband Klaus Neumond agreed.

Although he was also Soma’s parent, only those who didn’t know Klaus would ever have called him biased. He was impartial and strict. Anyone who knew Klaus would know that he would never let personal feelings cloud his judgment.

And Klaus, the man known as the strongest swordsman in the world, acknowledged Soma’s talent. Given that, nobody could doubt that Soma really was a prodigy.

Soma, for his part, lived up to his parents’ expectations. He may have even gone too far with it, since he completed the entire basic course—which usually took three years at the elementary level—in less than half a year. And those three years were typical for other children only if the course were pared down a bit, excluding all subjects that required practical skill, such as fighting and sorcery.

It was plain to see that Soma was talented. Even so, the Neumonds had hesitated to have his Skills assessed for fear of limiting his potential. Of course, the earlier he had his Assessment, the earlier he could begin the rest of his life—but the Skill Assessment process was still not completely understood, and Sophia would have kicked herself if rushing into it too early had meant closing off paths that could have opened later. That was why they’d waited with bated breath for Soma’s sixth birthday.

And on that day...

“After all that time, this is what we get... Unbelievable. Simply unbelievable.”

Sophia sighed as she thought back on her son—no, she could no longer call him her son—who had left the room wearing a stunned look.

She cast her gaze on the piece of paper in her hands. It was a valuable and high-quality sheet of pure white paper—she’d spared no expense on the item that would reveal her son’s future. It would not have been out of place in a valuable sorcery manual.

Yet despite the trouble she’d gone to in order to procure the paper itself, only one short line was written on it.

Sanctified Vessel: Proof of complete and total development. This soul can grow no further.

That was Soma’s Skill. That was all he would have, now and forever. No Swordsmanship, Spearmanship, Archery, Martial Arts, or even Sorcery—this one vague Skill represented all of Soma’s talent.

While its name was grandiose, it meant nothing. Sophia only had to compare it to one of her own Skills to tell.

Sorcery (Special-Grade): Talent for sorcery. Magic acquisition boosted greatly. Spell activation boosted greatly. Mana expenditure reduced greatly. Growth bonus to intelligence and mana.

Usually, Skills explicitly listed their effects. The fact that this Skill had none listed meant that it had no effect.

Sophia had known that Skills like this existed, but she had never imagined Soma would have one, let alone that it would be his only Skill.

She wished she could tell him it was a mistake. She wished someone would tell her it was fake. But the one who had conducted Soma’s Skill Assessment was the Neumond family’s very own Skill Assessor and a friend of Sophia’s. The woman would never lie about such a thing...which meant that this result was authentic.

Sophia had known it was the truth from the start, of course, which was precisely why she’d decided not to tell Soma. She’d thought it would be better for him to think he had no Skills at all than to know that he had just one meaningless Skill.

Even then...she wished someone—anyone—would tell her the Assessment was wrong.

It wasn’t even the fact that Soma wasn’t a prodigy after all. It was that she and Klaus had made an error in judgment. That wouldn’t be the end of it either. If the Neumonds had been a normal family, Soma could still have made something of himself. Skills were not necessary to live; there were many jobs that could be done without Skills. Not every talent would necessarily be embodied in a Skill either. It was possible to swing a sword without the Swordsmanship Skill, and there were people with good memories who didn’t have the Instant Memory Skill. It would have been possible to take this result to mean that Soma’s talents were like that.

The Neumonds, however, were not only a ducal family but the foremost of the four major ducal families. And Soma carried Sophia and Klaus’s blood. It was impermissible for someone like him to have no talents, not even a Basic Skill.

A conversation Sophia had once had with Soma flashed through her mind. She had asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up. Of course, when she asked, she hadn’t known for certain whether he could learn the Skills he wanted...

“I want to use magic.”

“Oh, that should be no problem. I’ll be sure to teach you myself.”

They would never again be able to smile together like that.

The future they had pictured would never come to pass.

But that was the least of her concerns.

“If I’d known it would come to this, I would never have wanted this heritage and status...”

Grieving would change nothing. It was too late.

Sophia let out another deep sigh as she thought of what was to come.

4

Sunlight filtered through the trees as Soma walked alone through the forest. His family’s needlessly large mansion was already out of sight, but he knew it was still there behind him. There was no trace of anyone else around, which was to be expected, since he had slipped away without telling anyone. He wasn’t actually supposed to be here, since he wasn’t allowed outside the premises of the mansion. It was dangerous outside, and he had no need to go out unless he were training a Skill—or so the reasoning went.

That didn’t stop Soma, though, and he continued deeper into the forest.

The forest that stretched out from behind the mansion was called the Devils’ Woods and was known to be an especially dangerous place. It didn’t bother Soma, since he had walked this path many times before.

“Hmm... So I have no talent. Not that that really matters, I suppose,” he muttered, ending the train of thought.

He wasn’t bottling up his feelings, and he wasn’t in denial. That was how he genuinely felt deep down. Soma had understood that all of his talents that the adults around him talked up were really a result of his memories and experience from his past life. It may have been disappointing to everyone who’d thought he was a prodigy, but he had begun life with an unusual advantage, so he didn’t care that he didn’t have any Skills.

There was just one reason that he’d been dismayed when his mother told him he had no talents: if he had no Skills, that meant he couldn’t use magic.

And Soma wanted to use magic. That had been his one unchanging goal ever since he had been born into this world and learned about magic. It was only natural that he would be dismayed after being told it was impossible.

So he’d left his room feeling disappointed...but if he had been the type to give up then and there, he would never have reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship in his past life. Soma had instantly recovered and started thinking of possible solutions...which was when he’d hit on something that just might work.

That was why he had come here: to test out his idea. And, well, to be completely honest, he had a lot of other things to think about, such as how he would be treated going forward.

He knew things wouldn’t be the same as they had been, at least. He didn’t know exactly what kind of family he was part of, or even what his surname was, but he could get an idea based on the size of their mansion. He guessed his parents had a good reason not to tell him and would eventually, when the right time came.

Considering the current situation, though, he thought he was at risk of being disowned. And he was probably right to think so. It was just a guess based on his mother’s attitude, but that was plenty of evidence to go off.

Even if it wasn’t a problem for Soma, it would be a problem for his family that he couldn’t learn any Skills, whether it had to do with the way this world worked, the way the nation worked, or something else altogether. He also knew this could change his relationship with his mother, but worrying about it would make no difference.

He had something more important to do.

Letting go of his concerns, he delved deeper into the Devils’ Woods, which felt almost tranquil despite their name.

It had been about ten minutes since he entered the forest. When he spotted a particular tree, Soma paused, approached it, and stood in front of it.

“Hmm... I think this will do.”

It was a large, thick tree. Not even an adult could have wrapped their arms all the way around, let alone Soma. It would have taken two, maybe even three people.

He gave it a tap with the wooden stick he’d brought along to test it with. Naturally, the tree didn’t budge. If someone wanted to chop it down, it could have been possible, but they would have had to bring an iron sword...which is to say, it was impossible for all intents and purposes. Even if it were possible, only someone with the right kind of talent—someone with a Skill—would have been able to do it.

As he thought back on what was common sense in this world, Soma muttered to himself...

“Is that really so?”

Having a Skill was synonymous with having talent, but that didn’t mean someone without a Skill was necessarily talentless. For example, someone without the Swordsmanship Skill could swing a sword...and there were even records of people without the Skill winning in duels against people who did have it. But such cases were mainly used as cautionary tales so people didn’t get too cocky. Those were only exceptions.

“Well, they may be exceptions...but that still means it’s possible without the Skill.”

It was possible to outperform someone with a Skill, even if you didn’t have it yourself.

So how large was the gap? What was the upper limit for someone without a Skill?

It was possible for someone without Swordsmanship to swing a sword, and even to win against someone with the Skill—so maybe, just maybe, it was possible to use magic without Sorcery.

And he was here to test that theory.

The large tree stood before his eyes.

Even if he’d had the Swordsmanship Skill, it would have been impossible for him even to scratch it with the stick in his hand, let alone cut it down. And even within the same Skill, there were different grades. The Skill’s effect would depend on its grade. From lowest to highest, they were Low, Middle, High, and Special. The results could be completely different, even when using the same weapon, if the Skill’s grade were higher.

Even if it were normally impossible, someone with High-Grade...no, Special-Grade Swordsmanship may have been able to chop this tree down with a stick. And if that were true, then if Soma, who had no Skills, could cut down this tree with only a stick...

That meant there was a chance that he could use magic without any Skills.

Soma slowly let out a breath as he thought his idea through, then let his hand fall.

In an instant, Soma had already stepped forward and swung his makeshift sword.

This had been one of Soma’s special techniques in his past life. In fact, it was a technique he had only practiced in his past life. The sole reason that he could wield a sword without thinking about it was that his previous body had known how. While Soma had done the bare minimum of training in this world, he hadn’t done much with swords. His mind may have remembered, but his body couldn’t match up.

However...

That would only be if he were an ordinary person.

The strongest swordsman in the world disregarded all common sense.

So what if his body was different? His soul remembered having reached the pinnacle.

If Soma decided to unleash his sword, then it would hit its mark without fail.

In his mind’s eye, he saw the secrets he had once learned from an old master.

The teachings that he had taken up for himself and polished to perfection—

“Hah!”

Law of the Sword / God-Killer / Dragon-Killer / Draconic Blessing / Absolute Severance / Gift of Discernment: Original Style / Emulation / Iron-Cutting Sword

With a sharp breath, he swung his arm, and the stick ended up exactly where he’d expected it to.

Despite there being a giant tree in the middle of its arc.

Coming out of the swing, Soma maintained his awareness as a slight smile spread across his face.

“I see,” he muttered. As if in response to his words, a grating sound became audible. The top section of the tree had begun to slide off the trunk along the arc drawn by Soma’s stick.

Soma had succeeded in cutting down the tree with only a wooden stick. That wasn’t why he was smiling, however. It was because it proved his theory right.

“If I can do that...then maybe I can use magic too.”

Soma had accomplished something without any Skills that would normally be impossible even with a Skill. That meant the same might be possible when it came to magic. That was all Soma wanted to know. He had settled on this testing method because swordplay was his specialty, so it would be the easiest talent to use as proof. It may have been next to impossible, but if it was possible at all, that was enough.

“Now I just have to find out how to use magic... I’ll just have to research and test things out.”

He just had to do the same thing he had in his past life—work single-mindedly toward his goal. That wouldn’t be possible for the time being, though.

“Well...I knew that going in.”

At last, the top section of the tree gave its final groan and collapsed to the forest floor. Soma watched it and nodded—while noticing his field of view begin to tilt. Almost as if pulled down by the tree, he collapsed to the ground next to it.

†

She was some distance away when she heard the sound. A sound she’d never heard before...that she shouldn’t have heard. Her shoulders reflexively jumped.

“What was that sound? It couldn’t be... Not here...”

If there was a sound, that meant there was something nearby that had caused it. But these were the Devils’ Woods. It may have been an arbitrary name...but it should have at least kept people from the other side from venturing in.

Why would someone go out of their way to cross the border?

“Don’t tell me... Is it happening?”

Her first thought was to let the others know, but then she remembered her own circumstances. She didn’t have to wonder what would happen if the village found out... She knew it wouldn’t be good.

“I can’t just leave them... But wait, I don’t even know for sure if...”

It could have been nothing more than a tree falling down on its own...but that would have been a bit too convenient.

“I guess I should just go look... If I actually find someone, I should just be able to play it off...”

It was half out of desperation. She hadn’t come here with any particular goal in mind. This was the only place she could come, since she had nowhere else to go. She had the thought that they might kill her if they found her, but decided that was a risk she was willing to take.

Steadfast in her resolve, she made her way to where the sound came from...

Which was where she found the giant chopped-down tree and the boy on the ground next to it.

5

“Urgh... I wish I hadn’t done that,” Soma groaned as he lay alone in bed, regret in his heart.

He was thinking about how he’d really messed up this time, which was to be expected, since he’d been bedbound for the past three days since he snuck out of the mansion. He hadn’t been able to move from where he lay.

His parents hadn’t grounded him, though. It was his own decision not to get out of bed.

Why? Because whenever he tried to move, excruciating pain shot through his entire body. He couldn’t move even if he wanted to, which he didn’t.

And that wasn’t because he was injured either. This was the price he had to pay for overworking his muscles.

He was just really, really sore.

“Ugh... I didn’t know muscles could get this sore...” he muttered gravely.

It wasn’t as serious as he made it sound, though. He had just taken the soreness he’d experienced decades ago in his past life too lightly. He was reaping what he’d sown.

He’d used a technique from the strongest swordsman in the world, after all. It was a miracle that the pain wasn’t worse. He could have easily lost a limb or two.

The pain would go away in time, but he couldn’t do anything until it lessened...

“Hmm?”

As he wondered how he would pass the time, Soma heard a knock on the door. A voice he knew well came from the other side.

“Soma? It’s Camilla. Can I come in?”

“Yes, come right in.”

Once he gave permission to enter, someone appeared outside the door. Someone he knew very well, of course. Her eyes were black, as was her hip-length hair, which swayed as she peeked in with a concerned face. It was the family Skill Assessor, Camilla. Since she was a friend of his mother’s, she must have been at least in her early or mid twenties, but she looked much younger than that.

No, “young” wasn’t the right word... She looked like a child.

That was because she was incredibly short. She was taller than Soma, at least, but she looked no older than ten. Nobody would recognize her as a grown woman at first glance.

“Considering your mannerisms, too, it would be unusual if someone did think so...”

“Huh? Did you say something?”

“I was just talking to myself to pass the time... Pay it no mind.”