1. Eliarnes Eustetia
1. Eliarnes Eustetia
"Eli, today I'm going to read you a different book from the fairy tales I've read you so far."
"A new fairy tale! Yay! Hehe."
"Are you ready?"
"Yes!"
A girl with pink hair tied into twin tails, nestled in her mother's warm, cozy embrace.
The daughter of House Eustetia.
'Eliarnes Eustetia' listened carefully to her mother's gentle voice as she prepared to read a picture book.
Hm hm.
Having cleared her throat elegantly, Eliarnes's mother, 'Julie Eustetia,' began to read slowly so that her daughter Eli would not miss a single detail of the story.
"Four hundred years ago, there were four people who gathered to defeat the exceedingly evil Demon King who had descended upon this world. People called them Heroes."
Heroes?
At the unfamiliar word "Heroes," Eli tilted her head.
But she did not interrupt her mother.
That was because clever, good Eli thought the words that followed would explain what a Hero was.
"What is a Hero? A Hero is one who has been chosen by a Sacred Relic bestowed by the Sky God Yurphia, who watches over this world and its many people."
Eli's guess was right.
Having read and heard countless picture books, Eli was smart and wise beyond her ten years. She even possessed a patience impossible for someone her age.
But her short legs and pink twin tails, kicking even more vigorously than before, could not hold still.
Julie, as if even that was adorable, tickled Eli's hair.
"But not all of them were Heroes. That is because not all four of them had been chosen by a Sacred Relic."
Tilt—
Eli tilted her head again.
Julie paused for a moment.
Why were they called Heroes if they weren't Heroes?
Her lips squirmed.
Her cheeks puffed.
Her fingers wriggled.
Julie watched Eli, who looked ready to burst—pop!—if she held in her curiosity any longer, as if it were absolutely adorable.
"Uu... u... Mama! If they weren't Heroes, why—"
The moment Eli's head whipped around to look at her, Julie read the next part.
"The reason they were all called Heroes despite that is because they were braver and shone brighter than anyone else."
"Ah..."
At the words "brave" and "shine," a sparkle lit up Eli's eyes too.
"Heroes... are so coool..."
Then, holding the word "Hero" close to her heart again and again, she pressed herself deeper into Julie's embrace.
Then, feeling Julie's warmth with her entire body, she let out a soft, purring breath.
"The first Hero was 'Paulo Frandis.' Paulo, the second son of a small farming household on the Empire's frontier, was chosen by the Relic of Humility, the 'Sacred Sword Humble,' and became a Hero."
Just then, an illustration from the picture book appeared before Eli's eyes.
A sword too plain and ordinary to be a sacred sword.
Eli studied the illustration of the sacred sword, which looked like something one could easily buy from a village smithy, with a faintly disappointed expression.
But Eli was a clever child.
She looked back and forth between the word "humility" and the sacred sword, then, as if understanding why, stroked the illustration with sparkling eyes.
"Paulo, chosen by the Relic of Humility, was a very humble and kind Hero, befitting the relic. Those who thought well of him praised Paulo whenever and wherever, and hung his fame higher than the stars in the night sky."
"Higher than the stars in the night sky... Woaaah..."
"The second Hero was Luna St. Pnasensia. Luna, the Saintess of the Pnasensia Holy Kingdom, was chosen by the Relic of Diligence, the 'Stigmata Sacred,' and became a Hero."
The illustration of the Stigmata Sacred filled Eli's vision.
The Stigmata Sacred.
It had no form.
That was because it was literally a stigma—a mark resembling a scar.
A light that seemed to spread in soft clouds.
A sun hidden within it.
A mark signifying the Sky God Yurphia.
Unlike a moment before, Eli reverently and carefully stroked the mark.
"Saintess Luna, chosen by the Relic of Diligence, was exceedingly diligent and sincere. No matter what village she went to, she did not avoid the wounded, and no matter how weary she became, she healed everyone's wounds with a gentle smile."
Tilt?
Eli tilted her head.
...Saintess, Luna St. Pnasensia.
Luna St. Pnasensia?
That name felt very awkward.
"Next. Though not chosen by a Sacred Relic, she was braver than anyone, walked ahead of the Hero Paulo, and always opened his path—the Weapon Master."
Weapon Master.
The moment she heard that word.
Eli's face went pale.
Her legs and twin tails, which had been kicking hard, came to a stop.
Her cheeks, which had been beaming, stiffened.
Eli.
She knew that name.
Though she had not been chosen by a Sacred Relic.
Without being outdone.
More confidently than anyone.
One step ahead of the Heroes.
Scattering everything she had.
The Weapon Master.
His name was.
Ronan.
Ronan Luzarak.
"Arisa Eustetia."
"...Huh? Eu-Eustetia? Mama! Eustetia is our family's surname—"
"And the last Hero."
"Huh?"
At Julie's words, which continued without pause, Eli kept cocking her head.
No, wait.
What? What was that? What?
Uh...? What did Mama just say?
Mama? What about Mama—no, wait.
Arisa Eustetia?
My name is Eliarnes Eustetia?
The same Eustetia?
On top of that, Weapon Master Arisa?
"The most violent and impatient of the four Heroes. A Hero who was narrow-minded, selfish, and easily angered, and so suffered countless criticism and persecution, yet never lowered his head. The world mocked him for no reason other than that he was a Martial Artist, but he was always proud. He was the strongest Martial Artist among Martial Artists. His name was."
Martial Artist.
Martial Artist.
Martial Artist.
Chimpanzee.
Eli knew the chimpanzee's name very well.
Even so, it did not come easily to her lips.
Because she had called her "chimpanzee" rather than by her name.
Still, she had not forgotten that name.
She could not forget it.
She had been a companion for fourteen years.
And she had heard that name just a moment ago.
That Martial Artist.
No, the chimpanzee's name was.
Arisa Eustetia.
"Ronan Luzarak. That is, the Martial Artist Ronan."
What?
What??
What???
"M-mar... Martial Artist, Ronan...?!"
"Oh my, Eli? Why all of a sudden—"
"U-uaa... N-no... Nooo... Nooooaaaah!"
At the words "Martial Artist Ronan,"
Eli, who had been shrieking and twisting her whole body, felt a pain as if every nerve in the back of her neck snapped at once—twang—
"I'm not a chimpanzee..."
And with that, she lost consciousness.
*****
I opened my eyes.
A pink canopy filled my vision, and a pink ceiling that refused to become familiar no matter how many times I saw it greeted me.
"...Ah."
A voice slipped out through slightly parted, dainty lips.
A soft, lovely voice.
"Fuck..."
I spat out a thick curse.
It didn't suit me.
It didn't suit me at all.
It couldn't be helped.
This body, this voice, belonged to a mere ten-year-old brat.
The voice of a tiny, round-cheeked, very, very cute girl.
"Haah..."
I sat up and calmly organized my thoughts.
First, let's go back to just before I died.
After beating four of the Seven Legion Commanders to death, we somehow learned that the Demon King's Seal had been broken.
So, while heading straight for the Demon King's castle to subjugate him, that piece of shit Wizard Kaloso, who had been our comrade, betrayed us.
As if that weren't enough, he fired magic at Arisa, that chimpanzee.
Arisa, who was bandaging my wounds at that moment, didn't see it.
So what happens? She just gets hit and dies.
If it had been me, Luna, or Paulo facing forward, we would have easily blocked it, but Arisa, who had her back turned, couldn't.
So I shoved the chimpanzee aside and took the hit in her place.
Actually, I tried to block it, but my stance was unsteady and my body was wrecked, so I failed to block and got hit.
Even so, normally Luna's Holy Power could have healed it, but the spell was loaded with goddamn curses and Demonic Energy, so there was no chance.
So I died.
And.
And.
And...
Coming back to the present.
Sucking on a soft, rubbery pacifier.
Giggling at the mobile hanging from the ceiling.
Wearing a floaty dress and cute twin tails.
For ten years now, I had lived as a beloved daughter, charming everyone in the world.
I had been in Mama—no, fuck—Mother—Julie's embrace, listening to her read a picture book, and fainted.
And as soon as I opened my eyes, I read that picture book again and fainted again.
Opened my eyes, read, fainted.
Opened my eyes, read, fainted.
After repeating the cycle of fainting and waking four times in a row at the words "Martial Artist Ronan," I finally read various books and materials in Papa's—no, shit—Father Turius's study and recovered all my memories.
Thanks to that, I understood my current situation.
I.
Was a member of the Hero Party assembled to take down the Demon King.
Was called the Weapon Master by the world.
I, Ronan Luzarak—
As Eliarnes Eustetia,
the one and only daughter of House Eustetia,
called by the nickname Eli by the whole family,
as a descendant of that chimpanzee,
Arisa Eustetia,
I was reincarnated.
...Fine.
Reincarnated as a woman?
I'll give you that a hundred, a thousand, even ten thousand times over.
But.
Why, before my name—
before the name Ronan Luzarak—
is there "Martial Artist" instead of "Weapon Master"?
Why have I become the chimpanzee?
And why, of all people, am I a descendant of the chimpanzee?
At least a descendant of Paulo or Luna... no, that'd be shitty too.
And another thing!
Why did they turn a story full of that gods-damned slander into a picture book? Huh?
Even the story of that piece of shit Kaloso betraying us was completely left out.
Of course, it's not content you can put in a fairy tale for kids.
Still, I don't get it.
Martial Artist.
No, the chimpanzee was Arisa.
That slightly dim, sickeningly kind bitch was the Martial Artist.
I—
Ronan—
was the Weapon Master.
But why the hell...?
I don't know which lunatic wrote this goddamn picture book, but I'll find them.
Find them and, I'll...
I'll...
I'll...
What can I even do...?
What can I do with these soft little palms and this cute appearance...?
It's even a story from four hundred years ago.
It's probably already spread throughout the entire world.
In the first place, the goddamn bastard who wrote that picture book is probably already dead.
"Haah..."
With my head throbbing, I turned it.
Where I turned, there was a mirror.
A mirror reflecting a dainty, cute girl.
The girl in the mirror wore a bright light-purple dress.
Her body trembled amid the wildly tangled pink hair.
In her wide-open eyes, pink irises brighter than cherry blossoms were moist.
Her lips, so small they couldn't fit even a single tiny strawberry, were chewing on her hair.
"Ptoo, ptoo."
Sure, she's cute.
Pointlessly cute.
So goddamn cute it was infuriating.
So cute I wanted to bite her to death.
Ah, I'm angry.
Really, really angry.
"Ahaha... heh, hic, heuh..."
I wiped my face with small hands that had not a single callus—hands I doubted could even properly grip a sword hilt.
Moist sweat seeped from the corners of my eyes.
My cheeks were springy.
My palms were soft.