Memories of My Second Past Life
Kaina’s warm, heavy breasts were pressed against my chest.
Her brown skin, slick with sweat, glistened under the lamplight. The perked wolf ears tickled the side of my neck, and her thick tail swept lazily across the sheets, still twitching with satisfaction.
“Master… I’m still not satisfied. One more time… let’s do it.”
Kaina’s whisper brushed my ear. Her breath carried that wild sweetness, equal parts feral and adorable.
Isilia, who had been watching the entire scene with sharp eyes, arched her brows in clear displeasure.
“Kaina… you really are—”
“Hmph. Who was the one clinging to the bedpost and whimpering like a puppy just a minute ago?”
The two of them immediately started bickering again.
I let out a long sigh and stared at the ceiling.
My body was spent, yet my mind felt sharper than ever. The moment I finished with Kaina, another wave of fragmented memories crashed over me like a tidal surge.
My head again…
Is this… another past life’s memories?
My vision began to blur. The instant I closed my eyes, long-forgotten scenes rose to the surface.
In that life, I wasn’t some legendary hero who saved the world. I was just a wandering swordsman scraping by, earning enough each day to eat the next.
Even though my single blade had earned me a fair amount of fame across the continent, crushing poverty followed me like a shadow.
That was when I heard about the World’s Strongest Tournament being held in the northern reaches of the continent.
The prize for first place was fifty thousand gold. Enough money to live comfortably for the rest of my life.
The tournament, hosted by the empire, gathered monsters from every race and corner of the continent without discrimination. The only rule was simple: the one who endured until the end claimed the gold.
I signed up immediately.
On the first day, I breezed through relatively weak opponents. But everything changed once I reached the quarterfinals.
“Next match! Human Aren versus elven swordswoman Sea!”
Amid roaring cheers that seemed to swallow the entire arena, a slender silver-haired elf stepped onto the stage. Despite the elegant curves visible beneath her light mithril armor, her eyes were ice-cold.
“To think a mere human body could crawl this far,” Sea said with a chilly smile.
“Do elves always fight with their tongues first?” I shot back.
“If you’re a swordswoman, prove it with your blade.”
“Hmph. It disgusts me to hear the word ‘sword’ come from a pathetic human like you.”
Clang—!
The conversation didn’t last long.
Sea’s mithril blade rushed in like it had received the blessing of the wind itself. Sparks flew with every clash, and sharp ringing pierced the ears.
Clang—!
Clang-clang!
I pretended to be pushed back by her erratic elven footwork, then struck the moment she gathered mana and brought her sword down.
Clink—!
I deflected her blade at an angle and slipped into her guard. My mana-infused fist drove straight into her defenseless abdomen.
“Guh…!”
A single blow. Sea screamed and tumbled across the floor from the solid impact.
Before she could stagger to her feet using her sword as a crutch, the tip of my blade was already at her throat.
“…I have lost.”
The stands erupted. It was the moment a human had completely crushed a high elf’s swordsmanship using nothing but power and perfect timing.
“That guy’s pretty good, huh?”
“My money!! I bet my entire fortune on the elf…!”
“His movements are no joke…”
I wiped away my sweat and waited for the next match.
My opponent in the semifinals was a dark mage.
The moment I stepped onto the stage, the air grew oppressively heavy.
“Hehehe… so you’re that human?”
The dark mage wore a black robe and carried a skull staff. Black mist swirled around him.
“Hehehe… before the great power of magic, a human body is nothing more than a piece of meat waiting to be butchered.”
“Do mages always fight with words instead of magic?”
I drew my sword lightly as I answered. The dark mage’s eyes flared with rage.
“Arrogant fool! Hand of death, crush that arrogance!”
He slammed his staff down. The ground split open, and dozens of rotting black hands burst out, lunging for my ankles.
The instant before they could grab me, I lowered my stance and spun explosively.
Slash—!
Slash-slash!
My precisely swung blade drew a silver arc through the air. The severed hands dissolved into black smoke. I charged straight through the mist that blanketed the arena and closed the distance in one breath.
“Surely those rotten hands weren’t your trump card?”
“Kuh, you insolent—!”
The dark mage raised his staff, and dozens of massive spears of darkness formed in the air.
That wasn’t all. Mist surged in from every direction, and soul-shattering screams filled the stage.
Screams erupted from the spectator seats.
A wide-area curse and attack magic used in tandem. Any ordinary swordsman would have frozen in place.
These black-robed bastards never change their patterns.
My body moved before my mind could catch up. Without conscious thought, I flowed naturally through the spells.
I weaved between the darkness spears that slammed into the ground, slipping through the gaps in the poison mist, and erased the soul-devouring screams with a single shout of spirit.
“Impossible…! How can a human body react like this…!”
“What’s so impossible about it?”
My blade sliced through the darkness and reached his chin.
Clang—!
I knocked his staff aside and slashed his chest open.
Shiiing—!
Blood sprayed. The jet-black robe turned crimson, and the dark mage dropped to his knees.
“Kuh… kuaaaagh…”
With a heavy thud he collapsed completely. The referee’s voice rang out across the arena.
Listening to the explosive cheers, I simply shrugged.
Before long, after watching the other contestants, the finals arrived.
“The final match! The undefeated beast Kaina versus the mysterious dark horse Aren—!”
The announcer’s shout blasted through the magic amplifier, shaking the massive arena.
The roar from the stands was loud enough to burst eardrums.
My gaze stayed fixed forward.
The tournament’s strongest competitor, the wolf beastwoman Kaina.
Short hair with black and grey stripes, blue eyes, healthy brown skin. Voluptuous breasts, toned thighs, and powerful muscles formed the perfect warrior’s physique.
She held an undefeated record and carried the overwhelming support of the crowd.
When Kaina saw me, she snorted.
“Hmph. To think a pretty boy who looks like he grew up in a noble greenhouse made it this far.”
“That toy sword of yours ends here.”
Her tone was rough and direct. Her tail swayed with absolute confidence.
“We’ll see about that.”
Boom—!
At the starting signal, Kaina charged.
Shiiing—!
Her massive blade came crashing down with a sound like tearing air.
Bang—!
“Kuh…!”
I caught it at an angle, but the terrifying force traveled through the blade and threatened to shatter my wrists.
She followed up with a relentless barrage of strikes at the insane speed only a wolf beastwoman could manage.
Clang! Clang-clang!
Clink—!
Sparks flew everywhere. I focused entirely on defense and steadily retreated.
“Hahaha! Running away is all you can do!”
“You cowardly rat! Come at me, human!”
This isn’t a man either.
Should I just give up on finding a man stronger than me?
Kaina laughed wildly as she swung her blade. Within the storm of attacks, her momentum only grew fiercer.
The moment her strikes grew larger from overconfidence in victory, I spotted the fleeting opening beneath her armpit.
Now.
I struck the side of her descending blade hard with my own. The perfect parry drove her sword into the ground and broke her balance.
Kaina’s eyes widened.
“Ugh…!”
“Sorry, but I know how to use a bow too!!”
Shiiing—!
Whoosh—!
She leaped back and fired arrows in rapid succession. I swung my sword continuously as I closed the distance.
“…Huh?!”
The instant her blue eyes widened in shock, I spun lightly and slipped into her guard.
My blade drew a cold arc.
Squelch—!
“Ugh…!”
A red line appeared on Kaina’s brown side, spraying droplets of blood.
She tried to leap back to create distance, but I wasn’t about to let the chance slip. I pursued her retreating form and thrust my sword forward like a striking snake.
Stab. Stab-stab—!
The blindingly fast consecutive thrusts dazzled her vision. When she instinctively twisted to block with her sword, I withdrew the blade, dropped low, and slammed a powerful kick into her torso.
Thud—!
“Ah…!”
Her balance collapsed completely. The moment her vision flipped, my cold, sharp blade stopped precisely at her throat.
The sword energy rising from the tip made her fine hairs stand on end.
The roar that had dominated the arena cut off as if it had never existed. In the terrible silence, only Kaina’s ragged breathing echoed.
“Haa… haa…”
Kaina stared at the blade against her neck, then slowly lifted her head to look at me.
Humiliation from defeat? No. What burned in her blue eyes was wild excitement and the electric thrill only a beast could feel when facing a truly strong opponent for the first time in her life.
Her thundering heartbeat seemed loud enough for the entire arena to hear. Her tail, which had been lashing wildly earlier, now stood straight and trembled faintly.
“…You’re strong.”
Kaina bit her lip slightly, her face flushed, and murmured in a low voice.
The arrogance had vanished from her eyes. Only a passionate gaze that held nothing but me remained.
“I… lost. It’s my complete defeat.”
A brief silence fell.
“Waaaaaaaaah!!”
The silence shattered as cheers exploded. Brilliant magical fireworks burst across the sky.
As I accepted the heavy pouch containing the 50,000 gold prize from the host mage, I gave a light smile to Kaina, who was staring at me in a daze.
“Someone finally defeated that Kaina…!!”
“To think we’d see a fight like this in person…”
The undefeated Kaina had been defeated.
“W-wait a moment!”
The finals ended with the weight of Kaina’s burning gaze on my back feeling far heavier than the 50,000 gold in my hands.
Late that night after the tournament had ended, I sensed a presence while walking down an alley toward the inn.
Tap.
Tap-tap.
Someone was following me.
I turned into a dead-end alley, placed my hand on my sword hilt, and spoke quietly as I turned around.
“Who is it? Come out.”
The one who slowly emerged from the shadows was, unexpectedly, Kaina.
The proud, ferocious warrior from the daytime was gone. Her wolf ears were pressed flat against her head. Her cheeks were burning red, and her bushy tail flicked shyly back and forth.
“You noticed. As expected… you really are amazing.”
“Are you here for a surprise attack because you still can’t accept losing earlier today?”
When I asked playfully, Kaina waved her hands in panic. I could see her toned thighs trembling with tension.
She hesitated for a long time, lips moving silently, before finally taking a deep breath as if she had made up her mind.
Then she dropped to one knee on the ground before me.
It was the highest gesture of respect and submission a beastman warrior could perform.
“We… wolf beastmen spend our entire lives searching for a companion stronger than ourselves.”
“A man strong enough to completely subdue us, body and soul.”
She looked up at me. Her vertically slit blue eyes, characteristic of her race, sparkled like jewels in the moonlight, filled with sincerity.
“Countless men have knelt before me until now.”
“But earlier today… the moment your sword touched my neck, I thought my heart would stop.”
“My head was so full of you I thought it would burst.”
It was a rough, direct courtship—the pure way only beastmen could express it. To her, that daytime final hadn’t been a simple defeat. It had been the moment she met the man she had waited her entire life for.
“Make me… your woman. I will offer you everything I have.”
“This is a proposal made on the honor of my tribe!”
Her chest heaved violently. The ferocious beast who had dominated the arena earlier was now wagging her tail like an obedient little wolf waiting for my decision.
I was stunned for a moment.
Her request wasn’t unreasonable. For beastmen who lived by the law of the strong, it made perfect sense. Above all, watching a once-arrogant warrior blush completely and wag her tail in front of me… that gap in her personality was honestly so cute that a chuckle slipped out.
At my laugh, Kaina’s ears perked up.
“Why don’t you stand first? The ground is cold.”
“My… my proposal… what’s your answer…?”
I took her firm yet soft hand, helped her up, and smiled.
“I already got the 50,000 gold prize. If the continent’s strongest wife falls into my lap too, only a fool would refuse.”
“…!”
Kaina’s face turned so red it looked ready to explode. Then the corners of her mouth shot up to her ears, and the tail behind her began to wag like a motor on overdrive.
“Master! From now on, I will call you Master!”
“Uh… you can just call me by my name.”
It was a night in a moonlit alley where I had gained a companion far more precious than the tournament prize.
The memory ended.
I slowly opened my eyes and stared at the inn ceiling.
Isilia and Kaina, who had been hugging me tightly from both sides while holding their breath, looked at me.
“Master…?”
Kaina wagged her tail as she stared at me.
“I remembered, Kaina.”
At my words, Kaina dove into my chest without hiding her joy. Isilia puffed out her cheeks and tugged on my arm.
“Hmph! No matter what happened in your past life, I was the one who spent your first night in this life with you, so Aren is mine!”
“Pointy-ears, you wanna go? I’ll settle our ranks right now!”
I smiled as I embraced both of them in turn.
New strength overflowed inside my body.
Body Reinforcement: Massive Increase
Beastification Ability (Temporary): Awakened
I had become even stronger.
Why Isilia and Kaina’s past lives had flowed differently, and why all my memories had returned to me now in this place, were still mysteries.
But one thing was certain.
Protecting my wives from danger and working to give them happy lives.
I clenched my fist with that thought.
“Master…… you look like you’re overflowing with energy. Let’s really do it just one more time!”
“M-me too! I won’t lose this time!”
Within the burning obsession of my two wives, the night in Belheim showed no sign of ending.