Transmigrators Have No Manners
Shishiroka's funeral was a modest affair.
Rapiel stood as the chief mourner.
From a young age, Shishiroka had been abandoned because of her frail body. It was Rapiel who had taken her in and raised her.
That was why she fulfilled the role of chief mourner with such devotion.
Shishiroka was laid to rest behind Rapiel's mansion, in a spot that caught plenty of sunlight.
That day, Rapiel drank several bottles of liquor she normally never touched and passed out cold.
For some reason, sleep evaded me, so I stayed up all night.
And just like that, time marched on again.
Training continued without pause.
My progress in holy magic was still shooting forward at a steady clip.
The only problem was that the seed showed no signs of blooming whatsoever.
That damn seed. I ought to just beat the crap out of it.
From Rapiel, I learned how to condense weapons of light.
The forms I completed were still too crude to really call weapons, but I was starting to get the hang of it.
"Harua, are you alright?"
One day, Rapiel asked me.
I gave her a slightly dazed look.
"Alright? In what way?"
"I just wondered if you might be pushing yourself too hard lately."
"You're the one who's been pushing me, Master Rapiel."
Was that really something the person who beat me senseless every day and then healed me should be saying?
"Hmm. Well, if it's not you, then I suppose it's fine."
"If this is about Senior Shishiroka, I'm okay. Your grief must be far greater than mine, Master."
Rapiel had raised Shishiroka since she was a child.
She had probably soothed the pain of Bulldog's rejection by pouring her love into raising the girl.
So Shishiroka's death had dealt Rapiel an immeasurably heavy blow.
Because of that, I made sure to act even more energetic than usual.
It would be a problem if Rapiel fell into depression over Shishiroka and started neglecting her teachings.
After all, I had decided to become a great holy mage.
"...Still, don't overdo it."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"You have the books Shishiroka used to read, don't you?"
"Yes. She left behind a lot of notes that explained the theories in very easy terms. They've been a huge help."
Rapiel fell silent for a moment.
Then she reached out and gently rested her hand on my head and shoulder.
"Good. If it's helping you, then that child would be happy too."
"I'm grateful if that's the case."
Rapiel looked exhausted.
Lately, it seemed like the Grace Magic Tower was caught up in some kind of trouble. I often overheard the servants whispering anxiously among themselves.
Because of it, Rapiel was being summoned to the tower more and more frequently.
There wasn't much I could do, so I simply kept training.
In the first place, there was no way someone like me could do anything about the tower's affairs.
"Harua."
"Yes?"
"A while ago, an old acquaintance of mine visited Valterion."
Valterion, the capital of Gladion, the nation of humans.
It seemed one of her longtime acquaintances, someone who traveled all over the world, had stopped by.
"That friend of mine has also been taking in disciples for a long time. How about it? Would you like to meet them? They're a transmigrator too."
A transmigrator, huh.
Come to think of it, since arriving in this world, I hadn't really interacted with any other transmigrators.
More accurately, the opportunity had never presented itself.
Transmigrators were born as objects of hatred and avoidance.
They had to work desperately just to earn a single meal each day.
Could people living like that really laugh and chat happily with those around them?
Leisure comes from having something in reserve.
Those with nothing had to fight tooth and nail just to survive.
My own situation had improved a lot recently, but until not long ago, I had lived the same way.
I couldn't say I didn't understand how transmigrators felt.
I looked at Rapiel.
Her eyes were filled with worry for me.
Having just lost one disciple, the master was now worrying about another.
Rapiel was one of the few truly good people I'd encountered since coming to this world.
As her unworthy disciple, I couldn't keep making her worry forever.
"Yes, please introduce me."
I didn't know what kind of person they were, but they were her acquaintance's disciple.
Treating them decently should be enough.
Rapiel's face brightened.
"Perfect. They're already on their way here, so you should be able to meet soon."
"I suppose I should clean myself up properly."
"Don't worry. They won't exactly be spotless either."
Rapiel laughed as if she could already picture it clearly.
At this point, I was genuinely curious what kind of person her acquaintance was.
＊＊＊
A short while later, just as Rapiel had said, three guests arrived at her mansion.
Leading them was a man with a long sword at his waist.
He wore a long robe and tattered cloth wrappings.
Between strands of long black hair, two massive horns protruded.
An Outer Horn tribesman.
A race with horns growing from their heads, they mainly lived in the nation of Wolun.
Until just a few centuries ago, they had even spoken a different language from humans. Though their faces were similar, their culture and way of life were vastly different.
The size of their horns grew with age.
Horns that large meant he had long surpassed a human lifespan.
Moreover, the aura radiating from him was anything but ordinary.
This guy was a monster.
I'd seen quite a few explorers while tagging along with Bulldog.
Among them were monsters known as hero-class explorers.
Bulldog had even warned me not to make eye contact with them for no reason.
Right now, the presence I felt from this man was even more dangerous than those hero-class explorers.
It felt the same as when I'd faced the bishop of that heretical cult—the one who'd chopped off my limbs.
I quickly averted my gaze, not wanting to meet his eyes.
I had no idea how Rapiel knew someone like him.
Standing beside him in the center was a man who appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent.
Short-cropped black hair, deep-toned skin, and thick eyebrows.
Thanks to that, I immediately recognized who the transmigrator Rapiel had mentioned was.
The last of the three was a girl, also from the Outer Horn tribe.
Her long hair was tied back, but strikingly, it was two-toned—pure white on the inside, jet black on the outside.
Between those strands of hair, two appropriately sized horns were visible.
She was beautiful enough to remind me of a celebrity.
"Soun, it's been a while."
When she greeted him, the Outer Horn tribesman called Soun gave a slight nod.
The Outer Horn tribe used a different written language from humans.
But to me, their language felt like Chinese characters.
When transmigrators had investigated it, they discovered that upon crossing over, this world's language was absorbed according to the individual's level of knowledge.
Of course, no one knew exactly how that worked.
It just did, so people accepted it.
I wasn't a linguist, so I didn't particularly care.
This side was fantasy, that side was wuxia. That was enough for me.
"Rapiel."
Soun's mouth opened.
"It seems the Grace Magic Tower has been noisy lately."
"Don't go swinging your sword around for no reason."
"I'm not that simple-minded."
Unfortunately, Soun looked exactly like the simple-minded type.
"If anything happens, tell me. I owe you."
"Alright. I will."
Rapiel gave a short laugh.
I didn't know what their relationship was, but it was clear they'd known each other for a very long time.
"The reason we came today is because of the Black Dawn."
"Haa, them again."
Black Dawn.
I'd heard of them during my time as an explorer.
Transmigrators had constantly faced discrimination from the so-called "primitive" natives of this world.
Some tried to get along with the natives.
Others grew disillusioned by the discrimination and took a different path.
The terrorist organization of transmigrators who declared they would place the intelligent ones like themselves above the primitive natives.
That was the Black Dawn.
"I heard the problems at the Grace Magic Tower are connected to them as well."
"...It's not entirely unrelated."
It seemed the Grace Magic Tower really was dealing with a lot of issues lately.
Since it wasn't something I could do anything about even if I listened, I looked away from Soun.
My eyes met the girl's instead.
When she saw me, she smiled brightly.
It was a warm, friendly smile.
"It looks like the conversation will take a while. Would you two like to step outside together?"
Rapiel asked us.
She was telling us to leave so the two of them could talk privately.
My eyes met Rapiel's.
She gave me a meaningful look.
She probably wanted me to get close to Soun's disciples while I was at it.
It was a request from my master, Rapiel.
I should honor it.
"Go outside."
At Soun's words, both the girl and the man answered at the same time and headed out.
I exchanged a glance with Rapiel and followed them outside.
As I stepped out, I turned to look at the two of them.
I was about to say something when I froze.
The girl who had smiled so brightly at me just moments ago now wore a completely expressionless face.
If anything, it bordered on venomous.
"You."
The girl's mouth opened.
Her voice was cold, carrying a chill that seemed to seep into the air.
"Rapiel told us to get along, didn't she?"
"Uh, yeah."
The moment I answered, she turned away with the same icy attitude.
"I have no intention of getting close to you. There's no need. Just pretend we're on decent terms when asked. That'll be easier for both of us."
Whoa. What a complete lack of manners.
Where had that sweet-smiling girl from earlier gone?
It seemed she only put on a nice face and hid her real personality when she had to act friendly in front of others.
She walked away without another word.
After watching her leave, my gaze shifted to the man who remained.
He slowly stroked his chin.
"Rapiel is one thing, but that cold Aranseol is pretty sexy too."
So he was just a womanizer.
With a face like that and such a masculine build, he practically oozed testosterone.
Sohan turned to me with a sharp smile.
"Introductions are late. I'm Sohan. The girl from earlier is Aranseol."
Sohan glanced in the direction Aranseol had gone.
"Don't think too badly of her. It's because of Shishiroka."
So both Sohan and Aranseol had known about Shishiroka.
"Why Shishiroka?"
"That girl eventually died, right? Aranseol was close with her."
So the friend Shishiroka had mentioned was Aranseol.
Sohan showed a look of pity.
Not for Shishiroka, but for Aranseol.
"Aranseol thinks Rapiel took you in as a replacement for Shishiroka."
Ah. Now her attitude from earlier made sense.
For someone who had been close to Shishiroka, it must have been unpleasant.
"And Aranseol doesn't like transmigrators very much."
I didn't ask why she disliked transmigrators.
After all, if I had to explain why I disliked natives, there would be far too many reasons.
"Still, she's not a bad kid. You don't need to pay us too much attention either.
Master doesn't stay in one place for long anyway, so we'll be leaving soon."
There was no need to force ourselves to get along.
Those words felt surprisingly comfortable.
It must have been Sohan's way of being considerate.
"You must be struggling with Shishiroka's death too."
"I'm fine. It's not like I knew her for that long."
"When someone you know dies, that kind of thing doesn't matter. It affects everyone. There's no need to force yourself."
He might be a bit of a womanizer, but he didn't seem like a bad guy.
I wasn't sure about Aranseol, but Sohan seemed pretty decent.
"Sohan, do you have feelings for Aranseol?"
"I like any pretty woman."
Wow, what an honest guy.
"But it's gotten especially bad since I came to this world."
"Your fondness for women got worse?"
"You know that No-Named often lose parts of their bodies, right?"
When someone becomes No-Named, they don't just lose their name. Parts of their body disappear too.
A simple example would be losing a finger.
But "body part" didn't only refer to external limbs.
Internal organs could vanish as well.
There had even been cases where a No-Named was found with their brain missing.
That person had become a vegetative state, unable to do anything.
However, even if part of the body disappeared, it didn't cause death.
The function that part was supposed to perform simply no longer affected the body, but the person was definitely still alive.
Many studies had been conducted on the phenomenon, but nothing substantial had been discovered yet.
Transmigrators were already a minority compared to natives.
No-Named were an even smaller minority among them.
Proper research was nearly impossible.
"In my case, it's highly likely that whatever suppressed sexual desire disappeared. At least, that's what I believe."
Sohan was a No-Named like me.
"Body part" included hormones.
If the hormone responsible for suppressing sexual urges had vanished, then his condition made sense.
"Still, I draw my own lines. I don't touch women who don't like me. Same with someone else's woman."
I could feel deep conviction in his eyes.
So he was living a life of self-restraint in his own way.
If the hormone that suppressed sexual desire was gone, he should be in a state classified as a disorder like hypersexuality.
His mental strength was impressive.
"That's the kind of guy I am. So while we're here, let's get along."
Sohan grinned.
So this was his way of trying to be friendly.
Yeah, he really was a good guy.
"Well, I'm busy, so I'll be going."
With that, Sohan left.
Since they said there was no need to pay them any mind, I figured it was fine.
I should just focus on training.
That was what I was thinking when I arrived at the training ground.
"Ah."
Aranseol was already there.
Our eyes met, and she froze.
It looked like she had been inspecting her sword, preparing to train.
The mansion wasn't small, yet we kept running into each other in the worst ways.
"...I was here first."
Was she telling the transmigrator to get lost?
The way she stared at me with that blank expression made it clear I was very much not to her liking.
Unfortunately, it seemed I wouldn't be able to fulfill Rapiel's request.
"This is our training ground, you know?"
Fuck off.