I had been told the rainy season lasted at least three months. Yet after only a couple of weeks, the downpour began to ease, and by the end of my fourth week in the village, it stopped altogether.
I decided to stay a few weeks longer anyway. Our training had not stopped.
I didn't bother asking why they had lied about the duration, it was best to let it go. No one can truly predict storms without the right instruments, and even then, nature rarely plays by the rules.
I spent those weeks training Linia, who had improved remarkably. She wasn't the easiest person to talk to, but once she set her mind on something, she wouldn't stop until she saw it through. That was how, step by step, she stopped being so predictable. She had also broken the habit of looking away from my eyes during a fight.
Then there was the Adoldia girl who clung to Linia's side and spent every spare moment eating: Pursena Adoldia. A beast girl with dog ears and a tail. Shy at first, she gradually began hanging around our training sessions, captivated by the magic I used to heal Linia after practice.
Gyes, the warrior chief of the Dedoldia tribe, had also been itching for a serious duel. Fighting all out on the elevated platforms was impractical, so we settled for sparring matches among the treetops. In the end, we agreed to save our real bout for after the rains cleared, right before I left for Millishion.
One afternoon, while I was resting on a bench, Pursena walked up with her hands tucked behind her back.
"Daiki-san! Teach me that green glow!"
She wagged her tail, tilting her head in a silent plea for headpats. Out of pure habit, I ran a hand over her head and scratched behind her ears. According to Gyes, Pursena would never let a human touch her, but she made an exception for me.
That aside.
Once, some of the villagers asked about my name as if it were the strangest thing they had ever heard. In hindsight, it probably was, though I had never given it much thought.
In my past life, my name was Hikari Akihiko, which translates roughly to "prince of light." Daiki, on the other hand, means "Great Radiance." Unlike the static nature of light, a radiance is dynamic, it grows, adapts, and spreads.
A star does not exist solely for the light it emits, but for how far that light reaches.
Perhaps that was life offering me a quiet reminder. I, too, was capable of becoming a better person. Maybe I already was. Either way, I felt at peace: content that I had trained Linia, and relieved to have earned the trust of Gyes and the rest of the village.
When I first brought up Ghislaine, things had turned chaotic. They spoke so bitterly of her that I felt compelled to defend her, choosing my words with care. Over time, their hostility quieted down as they realized I wasn't lying. They never brought her up again, nor did they forgive her, but the bitter glares eventually ceased.
Especially from Gyes.
Seeing how much his daughter had grown under my instruction, using techniques passed down from Ghislaine, made him visibly proud of me, and perhaps quietly proud of her as well.
Gyes understood that over those four weeks, I had had every chance to kill them, betray them, sell them out, or lead an ambush against them at their most vulnerable. Yet I had done none of that.
If someone you consider an enemy has ample opportunity to break your trust and repeatedly chooses not to, chances are they were never your enemy at all. Especially not when they dedicate their time to training your daughter so she will never fall victim to kidnappers again.
"Daiki-san? Are you okay?"
Linia and Pursena were staring at me with curious eyes.
"Sorry... just lost in thought again."
Both nodded, accepting the answer without question.
"Where were we? Ah, right. Healing magic. You really want to learn, Pursena?"
Pursena's eyes widened, her tail going rigid for a split second before wagging furiously.
"All right, I'll show you. I won't drown you in explanations... just repeat after me, okay?"
I rested my hand on her head and closed my eyes.
"Let this divine power be as satisfying nourishment, giving the one who has lost their strength the power to rise once more!"
A gentle green light bloomed from my hand and draped over Pursena, stirring her hair as she watched, spellbound, as the glow spilled from my fingers.
"That's beginner-tier healing magic. To cast it, all you truly need is the intent to heal... but to do that, you have to understand this."
I took a small blade and cut my finger, holding it out toward her as blood welled up.
"Don't worry. This won't hurt me."
Without uttering an incantation, I closed my eyes. The green light enveloped the cut, and the skin knit back together instantly.
"For healing magic to work, it needs guidance, and you have to act as the conduit. If you don't understand the wound itself, you will never understand how to mend it without relying on a chant."
"Chantless healing magic? Is that even possible?"
I stood up and wiped the lingering blood away.
"It is. Once you truly understand the process, you can do it too."
Perhaps I would write a book one day outlining my theories on chantless healing. For now, watching Pursena stumble over the unfamiliar syllables was endearing enough on its own.
[You find this cute? That's new coming from you.]
Yes, Ayam. I think it's cute.
Pursena reached out her hand.
"Divine power...!"
"No, not quite."
The girl sighed, her ears twitching in frustration.
"Listen closely. Repeat after me: 'Let this divine power...'"
"Let this divine power be as satisfying nourishment...!"
"Good, keep going: '...giving the one who has lost...'"
"...giving the one who has lost their strength the power to rise once more!"
A flash of green light erupted from her palms, only to vanish a second later. Pursena peeled open one eye, then the other, her face falling in disappointment.
"It didn't work..." Her tail drooped to the floor.
"It did work. You just opened your eyes too late. The words are simple once you memorize them, but you have to maintain your focus until the end."
Linia, watching from the side, tilted her head.
"Huh, meow. That's actually pretty cool, meow."
Over the following week, Pursena successfully mastered beginner-level healing and began working on intermediate spells. She still stumbled over the phrasing here and there, but she managed to mend cuts on my finger several times without a single failure.
Every session left her utterly spent, yet clearly satisfied. Whenever we finished, she used her exhaustion as an excuse to devour shocking amounts of the village's cured meat. I eventually had to rein her in before someone accused me of working her to the bone and starving the settlement.
The clack of wooden practice swords had become a daily constant, largely because Linia insisted that our sparring continue uninterrupted. Was she jealous of the attention Pursena was getting? I couldn't say, but her motivation grew stronger by the day.
By my sixth week in the village, her feints were sharper and far more deceptive, even if she still occasionally let her beast instincts override her technique. Her progress was unmistakable.
Departure was drawing close, and my next steps were already falling into place.
Rudeus Greyrat
"Will you wait here for me, Rudy?"
What could Eris possibly need in a clothing shop?
I had already bought her a cloak sturdy enough to shield her from the sun and conceal her red hair in the towns we passed through. As far as I was concerned, our preparations were complete.
First she called me Rudeus, then scrawny, and now she casually threw around "Rudy" with an ease that reminded me of how Sylphie used to treat Daiki. It felt like she saw me as a younger brother she was entitled to tease whenever the mood struck.
Ah, women. Some mysteries are beyond solving.
I glanced over at Ruijerd. He stood like a statue, arms folded over his chest.
To you, this is just kids playing around, isn't it?
Time dragged on. It felt like an eternity. Women seem to treat clothing stores like sacred ground—a universal constant across all worlds, apparently. No matter how many times a person reincarnates, some things never change.
When she finally emerged...
"Eris... what did you just buy? Did you get that without running it by me first?!"
Eris pulled the item out from behind her back.
"It's for..."
It was a black hooded cloak, stitched with the emblem of a red-eyed raven. Looking at it, the reason for her choice clicked instantly.
"You really didn't need to get that... black absorbs far more heat out here."
"...Yes I did! He deals with that heat all the time! If he can handle it, why can't I?!"
"He...? Do you mean my brother?"
She looked away, caught off guard. It was rare to see Eris so hesitant, carefully measuring her words. She clearly hadn't expected me to press the issue. Still, she turned back to me, her fingers tightening around the fabric.
"Yeah..."
"Why, though? What made you buy something like that for him?"
"I bought it... in case... in case we run into him. I wanted to have something ready. Something to give him if... if he turns up. I... I don't want to find him and have nothing to offer."
If we did cross paths with him, having a cloak ready would certainly help, not just to hide his hair from unwanted attention, but to keep the harsh sun off his face. Then again, knowing Daiki, he was the type to stroll across scorching coals and deliver some effortlessly cool line without breaking a sweat.
I had also noticed that Ruijerd had seemed on edge ever since we left Roxy's village. Not finding my brother seemed to weigh heavily on him.
For now, the only thing to do was keep moving forward.
Daiki Greyrat
Seven weeks had passed, and my time as a teacher was up. Linia had enough fundamentals to continue training on her own, and Pursena had a notebook packed with all the incantations I could recall. They would be fine.
Once I reached Millishion, I planned to register with the Adventurers' Guild, make some money, and search for leads on my brother. It was a far more practical plan than wandering the roads blindly. It was time to step back into human civilization.
Virtually the entire village turned out to see me off, with Gyes, Linia, and Pursena at the front, wearing expressions I couldn't entirely read.
Before I could react, a massive dog bounded forward and practically bathed my face in slobber. The beast had terrifying strength, yet I managed to keep my balance. I gave its head and ears a familiar scratch, the same way I did with Linia and Pursena, though the scandalized looks from the villagers made it clear that my casual affection was crossing some sort of line.
"Woof!"
Gyes cleared his throat, prompting the dog to back away slightly. It kept its tongue out, panting happily and sizing me up, as if deciding whether I was a trusted companion or just someone who needed another thorough licking.
"Kid, he doesn't take to just anyone..." Gyes stepped forward. "Just... don't pet him like that. It's improper. That is the Sacred Beast. Show some reverence."
"Understood, understood. Won't happen again." I pulled my hands back, earning a quiet, disappointed snort from the beast.
"You haven't forgotten what we agreed on, have you, Daiki?"
We had promised each other one clean clash before I departed. Intrigued by what I had demonstrated over the past weeks, Gyes wanted to test whether my swordsmanship truly lived up to my claims.
We took our stances.
In that single breath, the surroundings fell away. The forest, the onlookers, the animals, even the earth under our feet vanished from my focus.
"Woof!"
I drove forward, and in an eye blink, we were standing back to back. In one fluid exchange, we had drawn our blades, crossed steel, and passed through each other's guard—a sequence far too fast for anyone below an advanced swordsman to follow.
I glanced over my shoulder.
Gyes's sword was vibrating violently. A heartbeat later, the sheer kinetic resonance forced his fingers open, and the weapon clattered to the dirt.
"Daiki... meow..."
Linia's head sank, her tail drooping listlessly and her ears folding back against her hair.
"Do you really... have to go?"
Pursena stood beside her in a similar state, her eyes glassy with unshed tears.
"Don't look like that. Put everything I taught you to good use, and when our paths cross again, show me how much you've grown. You're already doing great, but don't stop here."
"T-The next time you see me, I'll be way stronger, meow!"
"And when that day comes, maybe I'll show you a few new tricks of my own."
I gave both of their heads one last pat.
"Please... don't let my leaving stall your progress. Can I count on you two?"
They exchanged glances and gave firm nods. Pursena pushed a wrapped portion of dried meat into my hands for the journey. For someone like her to part with food was practically a miracle—proof that I had managed to do something right.
Before I took my leave, the tribe offered me a sturdy wagon and a team of horses. They warned me the trek was grueling, which I understood, but traveling with livestock would only invite extra complications. I declined, accepting only a hooded traveling cloak instead. Supposedly it had been taken from one of the bandits who had tried to raid the village, making it durable and surprisingly well-crafted.
With that, I turned my back on the Doldia village and set out along the Holy Sword Road.
The road was unnervingly quiet.
I wasn't exaggerating. Not a single monster crossed my path. I had braced myself for ambushes from highwaymen, but the trail remained completely clear.
[Care for a little trivia, Daiki?]
Trivia? Since when do you offer up information out of the blue?
[The knowledge has always been there. You simply never inquired.]
Fine, go ahead. Do you remember that text I read? The overview of the Millis continent, specifically the capital?
[Indeed. For starters, it is widely considered the most stunning city in the world. The accounts detailed the Great White Palace floating atop the lake, the spires of the magic academy... It also houses the headquarters of the Adventurers' Guild, making it an ideal staging ground to earn funds. Quests there yield substantially higher rewards due to the strength of Millis currency. You could build up capital rapidly.]
Anything else of note?
[You barely skimmed the rest. Your attention was occupied by sword practice and Eris. In fact, right as you were turning to the deeper chapters, she called out for you. That was the day of the mana incident.]
My stride hitched.
A sudden, sharp sting of tears caught me off guard. It wasn't just thoughts of Eris. For the first time since opening my eyes in this world, I was truly alone, accompanied only by Ayam, a disembodied voice bound to my consciousness since reincarnation. The silence forced me to confront everything that had been stripped away... and everything I stood to lose if I allowed myself to hesitate.
I took a breath and kept walking.
The opening week was a brutal test of endurance. My body, conditioned as it was, had grown soft during my leisure time among the beastfolk. Seven weeks wasn't long enough for my muscles to atrophy, but the peaceful routine had dulled my edge.
The real punishment came from maintaining a steady jog for ten hours a day, stopping only to forage, hunt, or drink. Every muscle burned, even through the nights. Each morning, I woke up with an ache that ran straight into the marrow of my bones.
Every so often, the distant silhouette of a merchant caravan or a band of travelers would appear on the horizon. My immediate reaction was always to slip out of sight. I wasn't in direct danger, but my unkempt, solitary presence would have raised alarms or caused unwanted scrutiny upon reaching Millishion.
Besides, an unaccompanied child roaming the wilderness with a sword and a cloak was practically an open invitation for trouble.
By the fourth week, the silence started gnawing at my sanity.
Ayam, a question. Can you project my old memories?
[I can, but the cognitive strain will deplete your reserves. Are you certain?]
Do it. I need something familiar before I lose my mind.
[Understood. Consider yourself warned.]
Thanks, Ayam.
[Think nothing of it. Maintaining your psychological baseline remains the optimal route to reaching the capital.]
I leaned on that ability night after night, regardless of how drained it left me. In truth, it became my only way to sleep when my mind was racing with anxiety. Reliving those vivid fragments of the past exhausted my focus so thoroughly that I would pass out within minutes.
The terrain began to shift during the sixth week. The dense woodland receded, and the Holy Sword Road widened into packed, well-traveled stone. Then, after nearly two straight months of relentless travel, I cleared the crest of a high ridge.
Spread out beneath the horizon lay the capital of the Holy Land of Millis.
My knees gave out, and I hit the dirt.
For a terrifying second, I wondered if I had lost my bearings weeks ago, if the gleaming towers before me were nothing more than a fever dream brought on by starvation and exhaustion.
Relief washed over me like cold water. It was real.
[Well done. We have arrived. Time to proceed.]
I pushed myself up, brushed the dust from my clothes, and continued down the road without looking back.