Another World Reincarnation Chronicle

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I was in the middle of sparring with Foldrin, just like yesterday.

Unlike yesterday, he seemed to be spacing out during our training, moving as if he had a screw loose.

The sharpness in his sword had dulled, and his reaction to dodging attacks was slow, leaving thin scratches on his cheek.

“What are you doing? If you don’t focus, you’ll get hurt.”

“… I know.”

Foldrin nodded at my remark and started moving again. However, he quickly lost the semblance of his original state.

Sparring with Foldrin in this condition wouldn’t yield much benefit. It would be better to train with my sword instead.

I took a step back and sighed.

“Let’s call it a day.”

“Um…”

As I retrieved my sword and wiped the sweat off my forehead, Foldrin, who was hesitating with a troubled expression, suddenly spoke to me with a serious face.

“Seris.”

“What?”

“Is it okay if I ask for a request?”

“Request…?”

That was out of the blue. Knowing how Foldrin felt about me, I thought he was going to invite me to dinner or something, but it seems that wasn’t the case.

Foldrin nodded and continued.

“You must have heard about it when you entered the city. They’ve been preparing a large-scale monster hunt recently.”

“Ah…”

I nodded at Foldrin’s words. A kind guard had introduced me to job opportunities when I entered the country. The paper I received back then was probably still lying somewhere in my bag.

“I’ll be going there as well. So…”

“You want me to join as an adventurer?”

“That’s right. Then I can practice more…”

“Is that really necessary?”

Foldrin looked taken aback at my response, stammering as he was clearly flustered.

The truth is, I hadn’t engaged in sparring with him to improve my swordsmanship.

What I needed was only the sword technique he was practicing—Elune’s Flash.

“I-I promise a lot of rewards.”

“I’ve got plenty of money.”

“I’ll provide many conveniences… unlike other adventurers…”

A bit disappointing, but it seemed like this was the end of my interaction with Foldrin.

After all, I’d gathered everything I needed. All that was left was to refine my skills and continue endless practice until they became second nature.

I took a slight step back and smiled faintly.

“Sorry, but I don’t think I can.”

“Wh-what?!”

Foldrin’s expression fell dramatically at my answer. After a brief moment of thought, he spoke again, looking more serious.

“Then, will you wait for me?”

“Wait for you?”

“Yes. I’ll finish the monster hunt as quickly as possible and come back.”

“Is there a reason I have to wait for you?”

“I have something to tell you.”

“You can just say it now, right?”

“I’m not ready right now. So…”

I felt queasy inside. His hot gaze, which showed no intent of hiding his feelings, was firmly fixed on me.

Even without waiting for a reply, I could predict what he wanted to convey. He was likely planning to confess his feelings.

But I wouldn’t be there when he returned from the monster hunt.

I would be rushing towards Greenfall, the land of savagery, riding my Nightmare.

I squinted at Foldrin.

Based on his demeanor, if I didn’t give him an answer about waiting, he would undoubtedly stick around all day.

No, he would definitely do that.

I opened my mouth, giving a genuinely expectant smile.

The technique I had honed by unwrapping gifts from the boys in the hillside naturally escaped my lips.

“Um… maybe I’ll think about waiting.”

“I really hope you will wait.”

An unkept promise was made.

It was an act of trampling on a boy’s innocence, but I felt no guilt.

After all, he was a drug addict who couldn’t even take care of himself.

That concluded my day’s agenda. Before returning to the inn.

I looked at a potion bottle rolling on the floor and said, “If you keep this up, you’ll ruin yourself.”

That was it. I glanced back at Foldrin, who was left alone, before turning and heading to the inn.

After that, there would be no more meetings with Foldrin. I practiced my swordsmanship alone in my cramped room, waiting for the right moment.

Two days passed since my last meeting with Foldrin.

A monster hunting party made up of adventurers and paladins left the city.

The departure ceremony, completed with the townsfolk’s cheers and the blessing of the Moon God Elune, was very extravagant.

Once the hunting party had clearly distanced themselves from the city, I rode out on my Nightmare.

*

“Master… it’s too hot… It doesn’t feel cool even if I make the wind…”

Rain complained as he walked through the hot desert with his old master.

After crossing the sea and arriving in the Karma Empire, the two began tracking down Seris’s whereabouts.

From the Karma Empire to the Hairan Plateau, from the Hairan Plateau to the Thunderbird Mountain Range, and now continuing on to the desert known as the Shelter of the Stars.

It wasn’t easy to guess Seris’s intentions given the relentless travel route.

“Hmm…”

The old wizard looked up at the sky, listening to his disciple’s complaints.

He too thought the sun beating down from above was unbearably hot.

Therefore, the old wizard reached out his hand toward the sky.

It was a simple gesture, but the impact of that action was anything but light.

As the old wizard’s willpower surged, a massive amount of mana began to stir, causing the surrounding atmosphere to tremble.

Though the expression on the old wizard’s face remained unchanged, the mana rising into the sky was not so indifferent.

A tremendous amount of mana transformed and began pouring out huge clouds.

The clouds spread out to cover the sky, soon shading part of the desert and blocking the scorching sunlight.

“Wow…”

Rain looked up at the sky, mouth agape in awe.

A great magic that should have been used during a severe drought or war was simply being employed to escape the heat.

It was likely that only his master would use such large-scale climate manipulation magic just to block the hot sun.

Rain swallowed his dry saliva as he gazed at his master, who presented such a simple yet effective solution.

“Let’s go.”

Rain and the old wizard continued walking through the shaded desert.

*

“Is it here…?!”

“Yes. This place. Where Emily is.”

Su and Shu, the twin siblings, arrived at the Karma Empire’s Port and looked around.

The reason Su and Shu had come to the Karma Empire was none other than their friend named Emily.

How much had they wandered in search of their suddenly runaway friend?

Now, news of that friend had unexpectedly come from the Karma Empire.

“Shall we go!”

“Yeah…”

Su and Shu ran towards the Adventurer’s Guild.

Each twin had a sword strapped to their backs.

*

The more I traveled on my Nightmare, the faster the surrounding environment changed.

The lush greenery began to vanish, and the trees that had swayed their leaves high in the sky disappeared from sight.

The reddish-brown earth was dry and cracked, kicking up dusty clouds.

From the surrounding scenery, one could gauge just how barren the environment was here.

Looking at the map, it seemed I had entered the Greendawn region, known as the land of Orcs, but it looked vastly different from the illustrations shown on the map.

Swishing—

I steered my Nightmare towards a large crossroad.

What significance did a crossroads have in a place where a reddish-brown plain sprawled? Nevertheless, an old sign stick stuck in the ground signaled this was indeed a crossroads.

Under the indecipherable characters, there was a common human script.

It appeared that the languages of humans and Orcs were quite different.

Confirming the location of Greendawn, I galloped to the right.

Every time the solid legs of my Nightmare thudded against the ground, dust billowed into the air.

This wasn’t even a particularly hot region like the desert, yet there wasn’t a single tree in sight.

Had a famine struck or something?

As I rode my Nightmare, I tilted my head in confusion.

Even in a barren land, it seemed that monsters lived here.

As I traveled to Greendawn, I encountered various monsters, but I also ran into Orcs hunting those monsters.

The Orcs showed signs of caution at my appearance but didn’t take any overtly aggressive actions.

It was likely their wariness was directed more at the Nightmare I was riding than at me.

With protruding lower jaws and sharp tusks above, their gray, muscular skin gave them the appearance of solid rock.

“Hello?”

“K o n C a t a T s u.”

A light greeting received a response. While I couldn’t decipher its meaning, the way they waved back indicated it was indeed a greeting.

The Orcs exchanged casual glances before gathering the monsters they had hunted and moving off to another place.

I watched the backs of those Orcs.

Given how they were described as a savage land, I had expected primitive tribe-like appearances, but the Orcs were armed without much difference from humans.

Their appearances were hardly monstrous either.

Swishing—

It seemed my Nightmare had left a bad impression from our first encounter with the Orcs.

It huffed a rough breath as it watched the Orcs drift away.

“Let’s go.”

I urged my Nightmare forward, pulling on its bridle.

After riding for a whole additional day, I finally arrived in front of a massive castle with my Nightmare.

“Wow…”

The castle built on the barren land exuded an immense sense of oppression.

Especially the huge gate adorned with the skulls of unknown monsters left an unforgettable impression.

“What kind of monster is that…”

“The head bone of a dragon.”

As I muttered while looking at the enormous bone, a voice answered from a short distance away.

With an awkward tone and the impression it was losing breath mid-sentence.

“Mo Heomga?”

An Orc, clad in full plate armor, initiated conversation with me.

Behind him was a gigantic great sword that was so large that at first glance, I thought it was something other than a sword.

“Ah, yes. So you speak the human language?”

“You came at a bad time.”

“Excuse me? A bad time?”

The Orc didn’t continue the conversation.

After briefly stammering, he walked away with a tired expression.

Watching his retreating figure, I led my Nightmare to follow along beside him.