Isekai to a Romance Fantasy Actually Happens (1)
Anyone who's into fantasy has thought about it at least once.
Isekai transmigration.
Being dropped into another world with munchkin cheats or overpowered gear, building a harem—that kind of delusion.
But that stuff doesn't exist in reality. That's why it's just a delusion.
If it did happen, it'd be nothing short of a miracle.
And that miracle...
For some reason, it suddenly came crashing down on me.
I don't know how it happened.
Did a truck hit me? Heart attack? No idea what I was doing when it went down.
All I knew for sure was that this wasn't Earth.
Just a few minor problems, though...
No sign of any munchkin cheats or god-tier gear.
And I'd been dumped smack in the middle of some random forest.
"...Hey. What's your name now?"
"Chun-sik. Chun-sik."
"Right. Finally speaking a language I understand."
About getting caught by slave traders.
"Fuck me."
Talk about the worst luck imaginable.
Who could've guessed the first people I'd run into after wandering lost in the woods would be slave traders of all things?
They offered me a ride, I hopped on like an idiot, and next thing I know, I'm locked in.
Something felt off about those iron bars on the cargo hold, but I didn't put two and two together. What a moron.
"Still, you'll fetch a good price. Don't worry, yeah?"
"Yeah, you don't look built for hard labor anyway. Decent face on ya—play your cards right, some rich lady might take you in."
"Better start practicing your sweet-talk now."
"Kuhahaha. This trip won't be boring."
Assholes. And their mouths are just as shitty.
I wanted to deck them right then and there, but in my current state? No chance.
...No reroll option?
Games let you reroll, but isekai doesn't come with a system like that?
Everyone knows the first run's just practice. National rule.
If I could restart, I'd crush it for real.
But miracles only happen once, apparently. No signs of another one coming.
Haa... What the hell happens to me now?
Is this really how it ends?
No point dwelling on it.
Won't change a damn thing— just make my head spin more.
Guess I'll catch some sleep and see what happens.
Hoping it was all a dream, like some kinda fantasy.
I drifted off.
Around the same time, somewhere in the forest, a woman was leading knights on a search.
Lia Agehis.
Lord of the vast northern territories.
She was guiding her knights toward a certain dungeon.
"How much farther?"
"About an hour at this pace, my lady."
"Good. Keep moving. We'll rest when we arrive."
The dungeon had originally been discovered by an adventurer party, but they'd never made it out alive.
That was par for the course.
Dungeons offered massive rewards, but they were crawling with deadly threats. No surprise there.
Even so, party after party had ventured in since then. Not a single survivor.
Greed calls for blood—that much was obvious. But this was excessive.
That's why Lia, the countess herself, had come personally.
"It wasn't worth troubling you, my lady..."
"I can't just send my men into a potential deathtrap blind."
"Don't you have lordly duties to attend?"
"Ensuring the safety of my domain is one of my duties. Wouldn't you agree?"
As they pressed on, chatting lightly with her knights, a sound that didn't belong to them brushed their ears.
The moment they registered it, Lia signaled. Everyone fell silent, ears straining.
A rumbling clatter.
Utterly out of place in the quiet woods.
Focusing, they realized a carriage was slowly approaching their position.
"...A carriage?"
"Probably just passing merchants."
"Merchants...?"
Ragged drivers, heavy loads covered in rough cloth secured by ropes, a couple of adventurer-looking escorts.
A textbook merchant caravan.
But something was off.
Merchants? In a place like this?
No way.
"No merchant caravan would come this deep."
Not only through unmarked woods, but taking the long way around? Impossible.
And if they were? Definitely shady.
Convinced, Lia extended her mana to scan the cargo hold.
What she sensed under the tarp wasn't stacked goods.
"...Iron bars. And people inside."
A covered cargo hold, hiding bars—and prisoners within.
No need to think twice.
Slave traders.
A capital crime in the empire, punished by the harshest sentences.
"Daring to operate so brazenly in my lands."
Fury boiling over, she raised her sword skyward.
Aura-clad, she slashed down, unleashing a blade beam straight at the horse's reins connecting to the carriage.
Even from a distance, it severed only the reins with pinpoint precision.
The spooked horse whinnied and bolted, halting the carriage dead.
Lia leveled her razor-sharp blade at it.
"Knights. Subdue them. Lethal force authorized if necessary."
At her command, her escorts drew steel and charged.
They encircled the carriage in seconds, yanking the driver and adventurers out in one fluid motion.
The thugs struggled, but it was futile.
No shaking off trained knights' grips.
"These are knights of Agehis. Resist, and your heads roll."
The slave traders, surrounded and panicking, froze as Lia strode forward, sword drawn, her warning laced with menace.
The pressure of her aura-wreathed presence. The weight of the Agehis name.
They realized who they'd crossed, paling and trembling.
"A-Agehis? Why would a noble like you bother with scum like us...?"
"Oh, I think you know why."
"...W-We have no idea what you're—"
"Still playing dumb?"
The slavers tried feigning ignorance, but Lia wasn't buying it.
"Criminals always deny their guilt at first. Then they spin sob stories, beg for mercy, claim it was a mistake."
"I'm sick of hearing that tired nonsense."
I know exactly what you're up to, and I have no intention of looking the other way.
Declaring as much from the start, she began the interrogation.
"Where are you from?"
"..."
"Who's backing you?"
"..."
"Answer."
Her questions came relentlessly.
But the slavers stayed mute, like they'd all gone deaf at once.
No progress. She pressed her blade to their throats.
Finally, the ringleader spoke.
"...Will you let us live if we talk?"
"No. You'll die."
Most would dangle promises—mercy, maybe. Not Lia.
She repeated her demand like a machine, pushing forward.
"Answer."
"Why talk if I'm dead anyway?"
"Refusing?"
"At least I'll breathe a bit longer. Until I open my mouth."
"Fine. No regrets, then."
Silence to survive. Their best bet, probably.
To Lia? Laughable.
"You'll beg to talk before you die."
"What...?"
Countless criminals had passed through her hands. Defiant ones like these. She'd broken them all.
This would be no different.
With that, she summoned two nearby knights.
"Aliban. Shalman."
"Yes, my lady."
"Take them back immediately. Make them talk before I return. Understood?"
Orders given, the knights swiftly shattered limbs, immobilizing them.
Realization dawned too late; screams erupted.
But the knights would wring every last secret before Lia's return.
She watched their agony with cold eyes, then turned away.
No need to see more.
"Everyone, fall back."
She eyed the carriage, fiddling with her sword.
Those who caught her intent stepped away. She slashed down without mercy.
Top to bottom. A single, honest stroke.
That line cleaved the carriage perfectly in two.
"...Asleep?"
She shoved aside one half, peering inside.
Hidden bars. A huddled man within.
Odd but clean clothes. Unmarked face—clearly from wealth.
He looked dead, but breathed steadily.
Sound asleep amid the chaos. Astonishing.
"Hey. You alive?"
"..."
Louder call. The man stirred, lifting his head slowly.
Still drowsy, he moved languidly, then opened his eyes.
"......"
He stared sleepily at her.
Silent at first, then—as if remembering something—he murmured softly.
"Lia Agehis."
His eyes, as he said it, were utterly serene.
Almost unnaturally so.