by Okina Baba
Am I totally strong now or what?
SCHOOL LIFE
My school life is going well.
I already know most of the stuff they’re teaching in our classes, but I play close attention anyway as a way of reviewing it.
When it gets too boring to bear, I can always pass the time by discreetly working on raising my skill levels.
If you were to look just at my classes, it’d seem like everything’s going great, but I’m having quite a few problems with my interpersonal relationships.
This has a lot to do with my social status and that incident during the magic lesson from the other day.
Since I am technically royalty and all, even though that shouldn’t have any impact on my standing at the school I attend as a student, it’s still a bit of a problem.
No matter how hard I encourage them to relax, people from this kingdom can’t seem to help acting reserved around me.
Even nobles from other countries have a hard time speaking to me casually.
Seems like only royalty or a close equivalent, like a duke’s heir, can approach me on even footing.
Among those, there were a few who were just trying to curry favor with me, but Katia took care of them in no time.
Honestly, since I tend to be a bit of a pushover in situations like that, I’m grateful to have someone like Katia around.
That said, between that and the magic lesson incident, I’ve been feeling a bit lonely.
Hugo, on the other hand, has picked up quite a few followers since that lesson.
Already, nearly half the boys in our year are supporters of his. He’s becoming their self-appointed leader, just like in his previous life.
And just like in my previous life, I’m doing my best to avoid getting involved with that group.
It’s obvious that Hugo regards me as an enemy ever since the magic incident.
I don’t see any reason to try and get close to someone who already hates me.
Why make more trouble for myself?
So right now, I mostly spend my time with Katia, Sue, Fei, and now Yuri.
Katia and Sue understand me, and while Fei can be a little much, we’ve spent a lot of time together.
As for Yuri, well, I don’t know.
Sure, we’re fellow reincarnations and all, but sometimes I have a hard time dealing with her, albeit in a different way from Natsume.
Hasebe’s new name is Yurin Ullen.
Apparently, her surname is the name of the church that took her in instead of an orphanage.
Hasebe, or Yuri, was left to fend for herself as a child.
As it turns out, that’s commonplace in this world.
Of course, orphans existed in our old world, but here, where civilization hasn’t developed as much and monsters run rampant, it happens all the more frequently.
Lots of children end up being abandoned as babies and raised in a church.
However, Yuri’s circumstances are different from those of other orphans.
She’s had her memories of her previous life since shortly after birth, so she was fully aware of what was happening around her.
Imagine suddenly waking as a baby.
It happened to me, too. It was pretty shocking.
It’s completely confusing and, most of all, frightening.
Did I die? What’s going to happen to me now?
And what happened to my previous life?
That alone was enough anxiety to last a lifetime.
But on top of that, Yuri was abandoned in that state. The shock I experienced can’t possibly come close.
To be honest, I can’t even begin to imagine how Yuri felt at the time.
In the midst of all that distress, Yuri had only one thing to rely on.
That was the Word of God.
The Followers of the Word of God are the religious group that took Yuri in, and it is one of the most widespread religions among humans.
To give a rough explanation, their basic creed is “improve our skills so that we might hear the Word of God.”
The Word of God. I still don’t really know what it means.
It’s sort of like system messages in a video game, but in this world, everyone is accustomed to hearing it.
We reincarnations are probably the only people who find it strange.
It’s natural to hear this voice. Having skills is normal, too. Here, that’s just commonplace.
The Followers of the Word of God preach that the voice is truly God’s and that raising one’s skills and level so that the voice speaks to you more often brings one closer to God.
From my point of view, it sounds like a load of nonsense, but for whatever reason, it’s common wisdom in this world.
And Yuri, despite being a reincarnation just like me, is totally hooked.
“Shun, your skills are quite high, are they not? I think that’s just wonderful. Let us continue to raise our skills that we might hear the Word of God in plenty.”
“Shun, you aren’t raising your level? That just won’t do! When you raise your level, the Word of God speaks to you at great length, you know. We must keep leveling up to listen to God’s voice.”
“Shun, you can use Appraisal, can you not? Well then, if you should ever see someone with a skill called Taboo, please tell me at once. It’s simply unthinkable to have a skill that God has dubbed Taboo. You must not let it pass, no matter what, for the Taboo skill means that the holder has committed some act that even God dares not to name. There is no reason to let such an individual live. It is our holy duty to slay them. So be sure to tell me, okay? Promise me.”
“Shun, today one of my skills leveled up, and I heard God’s voice! Ah, the divine voice of God has spoken to me. Today is sure to be a blessed day.”
I can’t do it. I just can’t.
I mean, I’m sure Yuri can’t help the fact that her eyes glaze over when she talks about this “God.”
But I don’t think she was like this before.
She was just an ordinary high school girl.
It must have been her unique circumstances that changed her so much.
The terror of being reincarnated. The despair of being abandoned by her parents.
The anxiety of being forced to live in a new world.
Given all that, it’s not surprising that the Word of God, speaking in our dearly missed language of Japanese, would bring her comfort.
Not to mention that she was surrounded by people who worship that voice.
It might’ve even been inevitable that she would latch on to the teachings of the Followers of the Word of God.
Though, I’m not sure I understand getting obsessed to the point of becoming a candidate for sainthood.
Also, I wish she’d stop harassing others about converting.
I mean, her way of saying hello is asking, “Have you opened your heart to the Word of God?”
Sorry, but I’m not really the religious type.
No matter how often I politely turn her down, though, Yuri shows no signs of surrender.
If anything, she just comes at me even more aggressively.
This has been going on for so long that I’ve gotten used to the sight of Sue swooping in furiously to fend her off, then Katia arriving to mediate.
Speaking of Sue, she’s been acting pretty strange herself.
It seems like she wants to ask me something but doesn’t know how to bring it up.
That being said, I do have an inkling of what her question might be.
Or rather, I’m pretty sure I know, because Katia told me all about it.
“Sue tried to ask me about our relationship.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“You know…our past lives. She probably guessed something was strange when she saw us talking with Ms. Oka.”
“Ahh… I guess we were speaking Japanese in front of her, huh?”
“Yeah, exactly. I mean, if you had an older brother who you’ve been together with basically since birth and one da
y he suddenly started speaking to total strangers in some unfamiliar language, of course you’d be weirded out.”
“Right… Crap.”
“Well, if she asks you, it’s up to you whether to tell her the truth or think of a convincing lie.”
“Huh? I can’t tell her the truth, can I?”
“I’m saying that’s up to you. Do you want to keep lying to your little sister or be forthcoming? Whatever you decide, you’d better be ready to fully commit to your response. It’s the least you can do for her, don’t you think?”
“Urk… All right, I got it.”
So I guess Sue wants to ask me about my relationship with the others.
To be honest, I’m not ready at all.
Tell Sue the truth?
We may only be half siblings, but we’re still siblings.
But my previous life had nothing to do with Sue. The old me is a total stranger to her.
I’ve always seen Sue as my real sister, but once she knows the truth, will she still see me as her older brother?
On top of that, I’ve had the advantage of my memories and experiences from my previous life while maturing in this one.
For Sue, who’s come all this way without any such advantage, it might seem like cheating.
Will she look down on me when she finds out about that?
I don’t think she’s that kind of person, but…just imagining it makes me afraid to tell her.
Which leaves the option of making up some excuse, but the idea of deceiving her like that hurts, too.
Considering how much my younger sister is struggling to ask me about it, it wouldn’t be right to just lie to her when she finally works up the courage to approach me.
If I’m going to lie to her now, I have to be prepared to keep lying for the rest of my life.
I still haven’t decided what I’m going to do.
But I know that if and when she does ask me, I have to consider my answer very seriously.
If it weren’t for what Katia said to me, I might’ve just played it off without thinking too deeply about it.
I have to thank her for giving me advice beforehand.
So basically, I have all kinds of problems to worry about right now.
Hugo despises me, Yuri is trying to indoctrinate me, and I have to figure out what I’m going to tell Sue.
On top of all that, Ms. Oka is still as mysterious as ever.
At times, she’ll be absent for so long that we assume she went off somewhere, and that’s exactly when she casually attends class.
When I try to ask her about it, she usually just dodges my questions.
I feel this is especially the case when I ask her about Kyouya’s whereabouts.
Kyouya is a friend with whom Katia and I were particularly close in our past lives.
But Ms. Oka won’t tell me a thing about him.
It definitely seems like she knows something, but he doesn’t seem to be in her care.
I want to know where he is and what he’s doing, but it doesn’t look like she’s going to tell me anytime soon.
Everyone’s changed so much in this world.
Yuri’s become a religious fanatic.
Hugo’s already strong ego has gotten even more intense, and his desire for the spotlight seems to be running unchecked.
Ms. Oka has lost her grip on things.
Maybe this was inevitable.
It’s a very different environment from Japan, and we’ve been here for a long time now.
In fact, it might be harder to stay the same. But I’m afraid to change.
I mean, look at what happened to Yuri and Hugo. It’s almost like they’ve gone mad.
“Katia, promise me you won’t change.”
Preoccupied with these thoughts, I accidentally made a weird comment to Katia.
But when I imagine even Katia changing from the Kanata I know, it scares me.
Honestly, I think having Katia here to keep me connected to my previous life has played a huge role in my ability to remain stable.
So it’s only natural that I don’t want Katia to change, either.
THE DUKE’S DAUGHTER AND THE FUTURE SAINT
“Ooshima, why are you changing clothes with the girls?”
“Huh? …Oh, right. Sorry. It’s been so long, I don’t even think about it anymore. But if it bothers you, Hasebe, I can wait until after everyone else is done or change somewhere else?”
“Oh, um, well…”
“C’mon, what’s up?”
“Oh, well… I guess I didn’t expect you to respond so calmly. Wouldn’t you normally panic and apologize in this kind of situation?”
“I dunno… I don’t really feel anything about girls’ bodies since being reincarnated. It’s hard to believe I was so crazy about them when I was a guy, honestly. But I don’t feel a thing when I see girls now, so I don’t really feel guilty or anything.”
“Really? You don’t find it embarrassing at all?”
“I mean, since I was reborn into a duke’s family, I’ve had maids helping me change clothes and bathe since I was a baby, y’know? I got over being embarrassed pretty quickly.”
“I…see… That sounds hard, in its own way.”
“I guess. I certainly feel a lot better living in a dorm where I don’t have to deal with that. If anything, I find it hard to believe the other girls complain so much about not having their maids.”
“Oh yes. I agree.”
“Right, ’cause you grew up in an orphanage, huh…? Between that and having memories from Japan, doesn’t that make it hard to hit it off with all the nobles here?”
“Well, yes, to be honest.”
“Yeah, I figured. Even I have trouble dealing with it at times.”
“Ha-ha. Sounds like we’ve both had it tough, albeit in different ways.”
“Uh-huh. But I don’t think my struggles are a big deal compared with what you’ve been through.”
“No?”
“’Course not. I mean, it was hard, but it’s not like my life was in danger.”
“I suppose that’s true. But nonetheless, I’m happy with how my life has gone.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Very much so. That’s how I learned the importance of God’s voice!”
“O-oh yeah.”
“Don’t you agree? God sees everything, you know. The Word of God is omnipotent and all knowing. The fact that the voice has chosen to speak to us in Japanese is proof of that. As long as you follow God’s voice, all will be well!”
“R…riiight. I guess so.”
“Of course it is! That’s why you should join the Followers of the Word of God, Ooshima!”
“Ah… Uh… Sorry. I can’t choose my religion because of my family circumstances.”
“Is that so? What a shame. But if you change your mind, please do let me know.”
“Yeah, sure. Oh, right, what did you want me to do? Should I change clothes somewhere else?”
“Ah, well, let’s see. I think perhaps talking with you has made me feel a bit better about it. I’m sure I’ll get used to it in time.”
“You sure?”
“Of course. In fact, when I think about it, seeing you here doesn’t make me uncomfortable in the least.”
“What d’you mean?”
“Well, you don’t seem like a man. You’re perfectly feminine in just about every way.”
“I dunno if I should be happy about that or not…”
“I’d say it’s a good thing, no? After all, you’ll have to keep living as a woman from here on out.”
“It’s complicated.”
“Well, it’s my mission in life to guide others. So if you have any issues with womanly matters, feel free to come to me about it!”
“…Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“So Shun doesn’t want me to change… That’s asking way too much. How am I supposed to stay the same in this situation? …And Yuri thinks I’m feminine… I wonder if Shun doesn’t see me as a
woman, then. Huh? Wait, what am I saying? That doesn’t mean anything… Right?”
THE ADMINISTRATOR’S SHADOW
Oh, since Heresy Resistance turned into Heresy Nullification, maybe using Detection won’t hurt my head anymore?
It is a Heresy Attribute attack, isn’t it? Is it cool if I call it an attack?
I mean, there’s no way that pain so strong it busts right through my Pain Mitigation could be a normal headache, right?
So if I can cancel out the Heresy attack that normally accompanies Detection, maybe it won’t hurt my head anymore?
It’s worth a try.
Huff… Whew. Here goes!
Detection on!
…Whoa. This…this is seriously incredible.
I could never tell before, since I was too busy dealing with the pain, but…is this what Detection is like when it doesn’t cause a headache?
This time, my head didn’t split wide open when I activated it.
Well, technically, I guess there’s a little throbbing, but thanks to Pain Mitigation, it’s hardly even worth mentioning.
I think what I’m feeling now is just a normal headache from using my brain too much.
That’s how much information Detection provides all at once.
Looks like I got some new skill. I’ll check it out later, though.
Right now, I want to relish this feeling for a bit.
I’m psyched that I finally succeeded at using Detection.
But even more than that, I’m overwhelmed by the amount of information Detection provides.
It’s like it gathers all the data available on everything within my present range of perception.
The flow of magic, the material makeup of things, the flow of air… All of this streams through my brain.
It almost feels like I’m omniscient.