The Middle Ages Are Dead (1)
At my bright, fresh smile, the two of them offered a slight bow and settled into the seats across from me.
The red-haired young man took the silver-haired girl’s bag, stowed it in the luggage rack, and hoisted his own up after it. Oddly enough, a massive shield was strapped to his pack. Seeing something like that stirred a faint memory of my previous life.
He unbuckled the sword at his waist and leaned it diagonally against the inner side of the seat, then let out a light “Whew.” The small silver-haired girl fidgeted with a staff as tall as she was before carefully propping it in the corner by the window and sitting down. Even then she seemed restless, constantly toying with the staff while stealing glances—not at my face, but at my book—her cheeks coloring.
What? Does she want to read it?
Judging by their clothes and the sheen of their hair, they looked like people who had eaten well. Hell, just looking at their nails made them feel completely different from fucking medieval peasants. How to put it… I suddenly felt as though I’d run into actual civilized people. They didn’t even smell. Still reeked of greenhorns overall, though.
I admired the girl’s small, glossy face and let a gentle smile curve my lips. Unlike my previous life as some middle-aged guy, I could look as boldly as I wanted now. She flushed with embarrassment and ducked her head.
See? Ajumma, pale kids really are the cutest.
「Daughter. Isn’t that child a girl?」
Uh, well… doing that sort of thing with guys—I still haven’t completely washed off the guy residue, you know.
「Ah. You mean your previous life. I understand. But men are fine too, you know. Look at that red-haired young man. He looks solidly built and has such a friendly face. Men like that are the ones who stay faithful to their families.」
No, he looks like the type who’d harem-marry four or five women.
「W-well… ahem. Ahem.」
Ajumma’s voice cut off as if she’d been thrown completely off balance. What? No matter how I look at him, he’s pure harem or rom-com protagonist material.
“Ah, we haven’t introduced ourselves yet. I’m Leon. This is my junior, Isili. We’re headed for Larites.”
“How very polite of you. I’m Lua. I’m also on my way to Larites.”
Leon stared at my face a moment too long, then flushed slightly and looked away. I tossed out a light remark to snap him out of it.
“Hearing you use the word ‘junior,’ I take it the two of you are academy students?”
“Ah! Yes, that’s right. Embarrassing as it is, we attend the Imperial Quilsena Academy.”
Leon beamed with bright confidence. Ahh, the same academy that pig was wailing about not being able to send his daughter to? Nobles enrolled the moment they came of age, but for commoners the threshold was apparently sky-high. Anyway, that’s what he said, Ajumma.
「Ahh. How mortifying. Mortifying! Why must they bandy my name about so lightly?」
I left Ajumma’s lamenting sigh behind me and simply nodded with a soft smile. That seemed to fire Leon up; he launched into an eager stream of chatter.
“We’re heading to Larites for our semester practical. Modest as I may look, I’ve already been down to the tenth floor of the labyrinth.”
Oh, is that so, Leon? How reliable of you. All bright and green and cute, too. Definitely a different genre from me.
“My! That’s impressive. So the academy sends a lot of students to Larites for practicals?”
“Yes. As befits its reputation as the Labyrinth City, the systems there are extremely well organized.”
“Ah, I’m a bit embarrassed to admit it, but I’m just a country girl who only ever heard the rumors… I only know it as a land of opportunity.”
“Haha. How brave of you. Still, you’ll be fine. Once you register as an adventurer you’ll get a simple orientation, and you can find companions whenever you like. Um… if you’re willing, would you like to register together with Isili? It’s her first time in the Labyrinth City as well, so she needs to register too.”
Leon wore an utterly refreshing expression as he spoke. I see. I’m not sure of the details, but even someone of unknown identity like me can just register normally?
“Wouldn’t that be imposing on you?”
“Hahaha, not at all. It’ll be over in no time.”
“Thank you, Sir Leon.”
“No, no! ‘Sir’? I’m just an ordinary academy student!”
When I offered him a small smile he melted into a goofy grin. Ajumma, what was it you said? Faithful to his family?
「Hmm. Ahem!」
Not noticing Isili’s gaze at all… more love-comedy than harem, maybe? From my previous-life experience, the flower-brained ones usually died the second they stepped through a gate. Hope he’ll be all right.
Listening to the train’s steady rhythm, I tilted my head slightly and looked at Isili. She really was more my type than Leon. Isili kept sneaking glances at him, then startled when she caught my eyes on her. Staring openly made her flush scarlet and fidget adorably.
I spoke to the girl who was still casting longing looks at my book.
“Isili, do you also like books by the MintChocoLove author?”
“Th-that… I… um…”
“Ah, sorry. Isili’s a bit shy around strangers. She does like that author’s books, though.”
Nod, nod. At Leon’s explanation, Isili neatly folded her hands around her staff and gave a tiny nod.
C-cute.
“Um… would you like to read one?”
I slipped a hand into my cloak pocket, opened Black inside it, and drew out a book.
“This one was pretty fun.”
I handed Isili a copy of I Was Reincarnated as the Youngest Daughter of a Ducal House that I had thoroughly purified of blood. Well, there had been a tiny bit of the previous owner’s blood on it.
Isili’s eyes began to sparkle like water droplets the moment she saw the cover.
“Wow… wow-wow…”
Then she let out a tiny, nasal squeak of delight.
“Th-thank… thank you. I-I’ll take good care…”
“Haha. Looks like you won’t be bored, Isili.”
Leon offered her a warm remark before turning back to me.
“Ah, by the way—did you know the author of that book is actually in the Labyrinth City?”
“My! Is that so?”
“It’s a rumor, of course. A rumor. After all, they’re one of the summoned heroes.”
Ahh, right—they said all the useless ones among the summoned heroes got shipped off to the Labyrinth City. The black-haired barbarians, yeah.
“Ah! Come to think of it, I heard an incredible hero appeared in the latest summoning. I hope the heroes already in the labyrinth can push themselves harder and fight on the front lines together.”
“Surely you don’t mean you intend to go to the front lines yourself, Sir Leon?”
“I do. As a noble, one must set an example.”
“So you were a noble. Forgive me for not recognizing you sooner.”
I performed the formal greeting to nobility I had learned at the monastery. There was a seated version, apparently. Standing up would actually have been wrong.
Leon flustered and waved both hands.
“No, no! It’s fine. I’m only a second son. We have that duty by birth. These days everyone seems to have forgotten it, though.”
A faintly bitter look crossed his face. Hmm. The front lines, huh. That was the place the pig told me to go. Sounded a lot like telling someone to go to hell. Even nobles had their circumstances, it seemed.
I kept a bright, pleasant smile and chatted lightly about this and that. The pig’s endless babbling had been useless for gathering real information, after all.
According to the kind Leon, the Labyrinth City was every bit as advanced as the capital. Just as I’d suspected, technological development in this world varied wildly by region. Most people arriving from the countryside didn’t even have those metal rods—those “identification cards”—so for a fee you could be issued an adventurer’s license that served as one. One silver coin.
Hmm. If I chopped five-year-old Luchika off at the shoulder, would that be about right? Ah, back then I was Anna. Luchika is the baptismal name. Baptismal name.
「Your name means ‘the child who shines brilliantly,’ my daughter.」
Aagh! I’m darkness attribute! Please!
Well, I’m Lua now. Aliases are easier when they’re similar.
「That name is lovely too, my daughter.」
Yes, yes. Thank you, Ajumma.
Whether Leon simply loved to talk or it was because of my face, he was wonderfully easy to milk for information. Thanks, Leon.
Leon Adels, third-year of the Imperial Quilsena Academy’s Knight Department, and Isili Mene, first-year of the Magic Department, boarded the train bound for the Labyrinth City of Larites for their semester practical. Supervising professors were already on-site, but every step from adventurer registration to party formation had to be handled by the students themselves. There was plenty of time, yet the diligent Leon planned to take his childhood friend and neighboring-territory neighbor Isili as his mentee and form a party with her. Assembling an all-academy roster was possible, of course, but that forfeited the bonus points.
The moment Leon stepped into the compartment, his heart leapt. An extraordinarily beautiful girl sat demurely reading a book. Steadying himself, he struck up a conversation and was instantly captivated. She claimed to be from the countryside, yet her noble hair color and every graceful motion spoke of refinement. The armor and sword she wore looked like high-quality pieces as well. A true country girl would never have been riding a train in the first place.
Isili, for her part, had tensed the instant she saw the girl. Gifted with exceptional mana perception, she immediately sensed that the stranger was a considerable powerhouse. The girl looked roughly her own age, yet the density of her mana was on another level entirely—something closer to the knight-commander of her territory. Isili tugged at Leon’s sleeve, but he only grinned cluelessly and kept chatting.
Even that tension melted the second the girl handed over a book.
This is—!
An author-signed limited edition of I Was Reincarnated as the Youngest Daughter of a Ducal House! Ordinary copies were already scarce enough to be nearly unobtainable! The very work she had only ever heard summarized in academy gossip!
Isili vanished into the novel so thoroughly she stopped paying any attention to whatever Leon and the girl were discussing. Time slipped by. Just as she reached the climax, the train plunged into a tunnel bored through the long Panuen Mountains that cut across the eastern continent.
In that instant—whether from some malfunction or not—the mana-stone lamps of the compartment went out.
Isili closed her book in the sudden darkness… and felt a crawling chill race up her spine. Someone was right beside her. No—the entire compartment was filled with something.
“Le… Leon oppa?”
“Ah, Isili, it’s fine. Sometimes the mana-stone lamps go out when we enter a tunnel. They’ll come back on shortly.”
“My, is that so.”
Leon, apparently half-blind in the dark, offered Isili a casual reassurance before turning back to continue explaining things to the girl named Lua. Lua smacked her lips lightly and spoke to Isili.
“Isili, are you all right?”
Isili jolted as a warm hand naturally took hers; cold sweat slid down her back.
“Are you afraid of the dark?”
“Huh? Isili?”
Shake, shake. Though no one could see it, Isili shook her head. Ordinary darkness had never frightened her. To someone who could see mana, darkness was often a beautiful place where power glittered. But the darkness filling this compartment had swallowed every trace of mana, leaving only absolute black. She had never seen anything like it.
Something flowing seemed to crawl up her calves. Then she heard the soft sound of someone smacking their lips again—this time not the girl called Lua. And something cold and sticky brushed against Isili’s throat.