Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Reincarnator's User Manual
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"...Ah."
Lucia flinched as her concentration shattered, the sharp noise from beyond the window pulling her back from the world of ink and paper.
The girl carefully slipped a bookmark between the pages and stretched her stiff limbs with a weary groan.
"Haaah."
Lately, she had been holed up in the library reading books nonstop, leaving her body feeling as rigid as the old bindings surrounding her.
She had decided to gather information on her own to figure out the mysteries of the past five hundred years, but progress was proving slower than she had anticipated.
There was a limit to how many books a mind could consume in a day, and her concentration had reached its peak.
Lucia had every right to feel frustrated, yet a strange thrill accompanied her exhaustion.
The joy of mastering something new was far more intoxicating than repeating the same old training routines she had performed for centuries.
She had even neglected her habitual practice sessions, completely absorbed in her new identity as a bookish literature girl.
In her past and present lives combined, she had never been one to enjoy a single book, but deep down, this filled her with a strange sense of satisfaction.
'Reading isn't half bad. If I'd known, I would've picked up some literacy skills in my downtime long ago.'
Back in her days as the hero Kylie with the expedition force, things were different.
The Empire had invested massive resources into subjugating the Demon God, so she had learned to speak the Imperial tongue fluently out of necessity.
'Should've asked Ceria or Yura to teach me back then? Nah, I couldn't steal their precious break time; what kind of nerve would that take?'
Literacy rates had plummeted as the war dragged on, and even the bureaucrats were pulled to the rear lines, leaving no time for education on the front.
Comparing that harsh environment to her current luxury brought a flood of conflicting thoughts.
Training as much as she wanted, doing whatever she pleased, and eating her fill—it was a life she had never truly known.
The Prien family's claim to be descendants of the hero was infuriating, but if they were the reason for this luxury, she could almost find it in her heart to forgive them.
'That's enough for today.'
Her eyes felt dry after hours of study, so Lucia rubbed them firmly and glanced at the organized chaos on her desk.
Beside the dictionary and her history book lay a single, thin sheet of waxed paper.
[Silaya-Imperial Pronunciation Guide for My Little Sister.]
Lucia picked it up, the words "little sister" written in oversized, bold letters that still managed to irk her, though she chose to ignore the jab.
Even if they had different mothers, Shiron was undeniably her older brother, and he had looked out for her in his own bizarre way since she arrived.
It had been about a month since he had first handed her that chart, linking the Silaya script to Imperial pronunciations with remarkable accuracy.
At first, she had been suspicious of how he knew her connection to Silaya, but after a month of watching his antics, she had learned to stop asking questions.
Thanks to that guide, she had mastered the language by reading aloud to herself, making rapid progress through increasingly difficult texts.
Feeling her body loosen up, Lucia stood and exchanged her books for a new title from the shelf, checking it out with the library maid.
Worried she might run into Shiron, she took the shortest route back to her room and locked the door.
She flopped face-first onto the bed, clutching her nightly ritual: [The Eternal, Immortal Great Saga of the Great Savior, Founder Kylie].
Lucia hummed a tune as she opened to a well-worn page in the middle of the book.
[Cry out, Sirius.]
[Sword God Kylie's blade wailed, spewing a pillar of light as if to tear the world asunder; no god or demon dared face it.]
'Yeah, I really was that strong.'
Lucia basked in her own legend with a proud, sleepy smile.
Tap, tap—
Lucia walked the moonlit corridor without a lantern, her night vision sharp despite her lack of recent mana training.
"Bathroom... bathroom... This mansion is way too big for its own good."
In the dead of night, Lucia wandered the halls in her pajamas, desperately needing to find the facilities.
She wiggled her toes, holding it in and cursing the maid's black tea she had enjoyed while reading.
'To think I'd just conk out like that. What a rookie mistake; I'm getting rusty...'
A top-tier martial artist should always be in peak condition, yet here she was, woken by a mere need to pee. Lucia felt pathetic.
'Keep this up and I'll turn into a total has-been. I have to restart my training tomorrow.'
Finally, around a dark corner, the bathroom sign gleamed in the shadows.
"Phew. That was close."
Relief washed over her as she finished and washed her hands, but then—
Crash!
"...What was that?"
The sound of shattering glass echoed from the darkness beyond, and sensing something wrong, Lucia headed toward the source.
"..."
"...Shiron?"
In the shadows stood Shiron, gripping a longsword while wearing a mask and a heavy backpack.
He looked every bit the thief, but Lucia recognized his build and height immediately.
At the sound of his name, Shiron glanced at her before returning to rummage through a mess of broken glass.
Frowning at his suspicious behavior, Lucia approached him.
"Hey, what are you doing in the middle of the night? If the head maid catches you..."
"Shh... Quiet."
Shiron pressed a finger to his lips, his eyes scanning the debris.
"Found it."
He spotted a necklace and promptly hung it around his own neck with practiced ease.
'What the—again?'
The natural motion sparked a wave of doubt in Lucia's mind.
Shiron always did incomprehensible things, but sneaking around at night to steal felt especially off.
"Hey. That's not yours... why are you wearing it like it is?" she whispered harshly.
"...Curious?" Shiron smirked instead of answering and threw open the window.
A fierce winter gust rushed into the room, tousling his hair and coat as he prepared to leave.
"...Not curious," Lucia lied, feigning nonchalance.
"Really? You sure about that?"
"..."
Shiron's expression was extra punchable tonight, and she itched to deck him right then and there.
"If you're curious, follow me."
With that, Shiron leaped out the window and vanished into the night.
"Crazy bastard!"
Lucia poked her head out, but he was already gone. 'Is that guy actually insane?!'
Forgetting she was in pajamas and slippers, Lucia jumped after him. "Hey, you jerk! Don't you dare run!"