Chapter 8: A boy and a girl met in a flower field, and ten years later, they made a child.
ââI had a nostalgic dream.
It happened a little over ten years ago, not long after I was reborn into this world.
Before my eyes lay a blond brat, fast asleep.
This was my spotâthe place I always sneaked off to when skipping my duties. A flower field so vibrant it was almost surreal, bursting with blossoms that shifted with the seasons yet never required tending. Clearly unnatural, this field was the closest thing to fantasy Iâd seen since reincarnating here.
In other words⌠this was my sanctuary.
Born into a stiflingly strict noble house, Iâd been reborn in a fantasy worldâonly to be force-fed economics, statecraft, and other useless drivel, forbidden from even touching magic or swords. Worse, being reborn as a girl meant endless lectures on "proper ladylike behavior." It was infuriating.
This flower field was my only escape.
And now, some blond brat (my age, no less) had invaded it.
The hell? This is MY place!
Fuming, I drew my leg back to kick him into next weekâ
ââHe dodged.
My eyes widened. The kid flipped backward like an acrobat, putting distance between us in an instant, then glared at me as I lunged with a drawn sword. Wariness flashed in his eyesâbut then his expression went slack.
Looking back, he was probably stunned by my beauty. But back then? I didnât care.
Because his movements wereââ
"âŚWhoa. That was cool."
Straight out of an action movie. The kind of move Iâd dreamed of seeing. This was fantasy! This was reincarnation! My excitement shot through the roof.
"Uh, erm⌠s-sorryâ"
"Hey! What was that?! Howâd you do it?! Teach me!"
I shoved my face into his without thinking. Heâd probably been about to apologize for reflexively pointing his sword at me, but I wasnât listening. I rapid-fired questions until his face turned beet red, and he scrambled back.
"C-Calm down! Itâs just swordsmanship! Iâm nowhere near as good as my father, soâ"
"Who cares?! Youâre the one who just pulled that off! Stop downplaying it!"
"Huhâ?"
My earlier irritation had vanished. For someone like me, trapped in a suffocating life, he was a breath of fresh air. A kid my age, moving like that? Proof this world was every bit the fantasy Iâd hoped for.
Soââ
"Whatâs your name?"
I needed to know him.
That was how it began.
Back then, he was just a new friendâa boy. I had no idea heâd already fallen for me. I asked purely out of curiosity.
"âŚâŚYousrid."
"Great name!"
"âŚAnd yours?"
I grinned. His face turned even redderâridiculously so, in hindsight.
"Rinaria Austroheim."
His reaction? Priceless.
"A-AustroâŚheimâŚ? As in the Austroheim Dukeâ?!"
"Yep!"
ââThatâs right. I, Rinaria Austroheim, was nobility.
The highest-ranked nobility in the kingdom, in fact.
As it turned out, Yousridâs father was close with my lovely old man. Yousrid had tagged along today but slipped away out of boredom.
âŚSeriously? Who ditches their first formal visit to go wandering?
But that rebellious streak made me like him even more. Someone like him might just crack open the cage of my dull life.
"Alright, Yousâyeah, thatâs easier. Yous, teach me swordsmanship."
"Me? Teach you?!"
"Yep. I wanna move like that!"
"B-Butâ"
ââThis was our beginning.
"âŚNo?"
"âŚâŚFine. Fine."
Rinaria and Yousrid.
The first meeting of two souls destined to become one.
âRina, YousâIâll leave that side to you!â
âGot it!â
âUnderstood!â
The two swordsmenâme and Yousridâraised our weapons and charged. I wielded a slender rapier, while Yousrid hefted a massive two-handed greatsword. Before us loomed a turtle-shelled monster, its carapace rock-hard. Our leader had assigned us to handle it.
ââWinds, rise!ââ
âHraaaah!!â
I disrupted its footing with wind magic just as Yousridâs blade carved upward from below. The monster lurched into the air, immobilizedâ
âAnd thenâ
âNow!â
âHah!â
We struck simultaneously, driving our blades into its exposed skull. Yousrid relied on brute force; I aimed for both the brain and eyes in one thrust. Weâd planned this kill, but sealing its next move was just smart technique.
"GROOOOAAARGHâ"
The monster dissolved into shadowsâliterally. These things were spawn of the Shadow God, born from darkness and returning to it upon death. Honestly, the vanishing act felt like a video-game effect, but damn if the lore didnât make it cooler.
âNext group!â
ââChant complete. Brace for impact!â
Annaâs voice rang out. Yousrid and I dove sideways on instinct. When she finished a chant, hellfire followed.
ââPurgatory FlameâBURST!ââ
The inferno that erupted wasnât just fireâit was annihilation. Her spells traded double the chant time for triple the power. By the time the smoke cleared, not a single monster remained.
âYous, you good?â
âNo wounds. Just tired.â
âMm. Good.â
I checked Yousrid first, then turned to our leader. heâd taken scratches defending the partyânow being healed by Sonariya Graph, our top-tier healer and a petite woman with unassuming auburn hair.
Sheâs also the benefactor who lent me clothes for my date.
I made sure to wash them properly, so she laughed and forgave me. Seriously, Iâm forever in her debt.
"Thank you as well, Paraleya-san."
Anna bows deeply to Paraleya Graf.
Heâs a humanoid tree, known as a "Woodfolk," and Sonariyaâs husband.
The two met in this party and later married.
Sonariya is the partyâs most skilled healer, while Paraleya is its finest enchanter.
Combat in this world plays out almost like a game.
Adventurers each have their own roles, and battles progress according to those roles.
There are four basic types: Attackers, Tanks, Wizards, and Healers.
Wizards are further divided into Attack Wizards, who specialize in offensive magic, and Enchanters, who handle support spells.
In our party:
âYous is a classic Attackerâfrontline, focused on thinning enemy numbers.
âThe Leader is our Tank, drawing monster aggro to create openings for the rest of us.
âAnna is the Attack Wizard, and Paraleya is the Enchanter, both shaping the battlefield with magic.
âSonariya, as Healer, shoulders the critical task of keeping us alive.
And me? Iâm an ALL-ROUNDER.
That means I can fight as an Attacker, guard allies as a Tank, assist with healing, or sling spells like a Wizard.
Normally, I team up with Yous as an Attacker, but if the Leader takes heavy damage, I switch to Tank dutyâthough Iâm an evasion tank, so no blocking hits head-on.
If the partyâs in trouble, Iâll spam heals alongside Sonariya, and when we need firepower, Iâll unleash high-tier spells with Anna.
The one thing I donât do much is enchantâbuffs usually donât stack, so half-baked enchantments are pointless.
"Leader, howâre the other parties doing?"
"Hmm⌠The scouts moved ahead, but no reports yet, so nothing noteworthyâs turned up. Everyone else is just fighting scattered battles."
The Leader answers Anna while holding something like a stone slate.
âRight now, weâre (unsurprisingly) exploring the hidden passageway I found with Ries.
Turns out, itâs less a passage and more a full zone, teeming with monsters a rank above the ones we fought in the lowest stratum.
Realizing this is bad, we launched a full investigationâbut in practice, that just means splitting the party into smaller teams to scout.
Generally, six is the ideal party size for dungeons or quests. Any more, and coordination falls apart.
So for large-scale opsâlike this stratum-clearing mission with dozens of membersâsplitting up is standard.
Multiple parties advance under the Leaderâs direction, staying close enough to support each other.
Oddly enough, itâs pretty efficient.
"If we push further, the othersâll fall behind. Iâll tell the scouts to hold position, so letâs wait here for the rest."
"...Understood."
Even Paraleya agreedârare for the silent type. Yousrid and I exchanged nods, pulling foldable stools (well, repurposed crates) from our inventory.
.
.
.
âWhew⌠Tough fight.â
âRank-upâs no joke. Every battle drags.â
Truthfully, progress was slow. These enemies were legitâproof weâd found the dungeonâs true depths.
Thenâ
âNow, now. This dungeonâs hardly beyond us. Steady wins the race.â
A gentle voice rang out.
We both looked upâand there she was.
"Sonariya-san!"
Sonariya Graph, the partyâs sweetest, most soft-spoken beauty, stood before us with a warm smile. In her hands were steaming drinksâprobably prepared just for us. Anna and I eagerly accepted them.
Oww, hot!
"Cat tongue~"
"Shut it."
I shooed Anna away with a hiss, then blew on the cocoaâor this worldâs equivalent (note: from here on, Iâll just translate unfamiliar foods/drinks into their closest Earth counterparts for clarity)âbefore taking a sip.
Ahh. Sweet and warming. The sugar rushed to my tired brain, melting the fatigue away.
"Hehe, thereâs plenty more where that came from."
"Thank you. Are you feeling alright, Sonariya-san?"
Anna studied her face. Sonariyaâs perpetual smile made it hard to gauge her conditionâthough she wasnât as unflappable as our gleaming-armor leader or her ever-silent husband.
"Iâm perfectly fine~ Thank you for worrying!"
"Nah, nah."
"Oh! Right, Rina-chanâ"
Suddenly, Sonariya turned her beaming gaze to meâ
"Congratulations! You and Yousrid finally made a baby!"
PFFFFFTâ
I sprayed cocoa everywhere. Cough-hack-wheezeâ
"W-WHAT KIND OF BOMBSHELL IS THAT?!"
The sheer audacity left me reeling. Every head in the vicinity swiveled toward us. Ugh, stop staringâespecially YOU, Yous!
"Hm? But you did mate, right? Isnât it wonderful when lovers take that step?"
"WAIT WAIT WAIT, TIME-OUT, SONARIYA-SAN!?"
Ahâdamn it! Yousridâs face turned tomato-red as he looked away. Idiot! I literally just told you not to react like thatânow Iâm embarrassed too!?
"Why the fuss? Thereâs no need to blush, Rina-chan. Weâre family here!"
"Exactly! You should be proud!"
Gahâ Even the leader was piling on! H-Help me, Annaâ!
"âŚâŚâŚâŚ"
Whoa. Her face was frozen in disapproval. Pfft, salty âcause sheâs the only single one left. Back offâIâm the victim here!
"S-Sonariya-san⌠L-Letâs, uh, drop this? Look how flustered Rin isâ"
"âFlusteredâ my ass!"
"If I said âblushing,â youâd bite my head off!"
Shut up, moron! STUPID YOUSRID!!!
"Huh? But you did mate, right?"
Sonariya tilted her head, then exchanged a glance with her husband, Paraleyaâ
"Where did you do it? If you know any nice sunbathing spots, do share!"
ââââSilence.
âŚOh.
Right.
Paraleya was a Woodkin.
For Woodkin, "mating" meant sunbathing together in specific locations.
In other wordsâSonariyaâs entire frame of reference for "mating" began and ended with photosynthesis dates.
âŚâŚOoooh.
âŚâŚâŚâŚâŚâŚâŚâŚRinaria, Anna, and Yousrid slowly turned to glare at the leader.
He gave us a thumbs-up.
YOU KNEW AND DIDNâT CORRECT HER!?
Comments (1)
Please login or sign up to post a comment.