I waited for Mom to leave the bedroom and got to work trying to grasp my situation. My head was messed up from the fever, but I wouldn’t be able to sleep peacefully while panicked like I was.
I had no idea how things had ended up this way. But it was more important to think of what to do next, rather than get stuck on the past. Knowing how this happened wouldn’t change the fact that I had to do something.
If I didn’t use Myne’s memories to fully understand my surroundings, my family would quickly get suspicious. I began to slowly digest Myne’s many memories. I tried thinking as far back as I could, but her memories were those of a very young girl with a weak grasp on language. She didn’t clearly understand everything Mom and Dad said, so there was a lot she didn’t know. My vocabulary was so lacking that over half of these memories were meaningless.
“Oh gosh, what do I do...?”
From the visuals of her memories, I determined a few things. One, my family consisted of four people: My mom, Effa; my older sister, Tuuli; and my dad, Gunther. It seemed like Dad was working as a soldier or something.
The most shocking thing of all, however, was that this world was not my own. My memories of my bandanna-wearing mom showed that she had light green hair, a color best described as jade. It wasn’t an unnatural dyed green, either. She really had green hair. Green so realistic I wanted to pull her hair and make sure it wasn’t a wig.
By the way, Tuuli had green hair and Dad had blue hair. My own hair was dark blue. I didn’t know whether I should be happy my hair was close to black as I was used to, or sad that it wasn’t actually black.
There were apparently no mirrors in this residence—something like an apartment located on the upper floor of a tall building—so no matter how much I explored my memories, I couldn’t find any details on my appearance beyond that. If I were to guess based on how good my parents and Tuuli looked, I probably didn’t look half bad myself. Though my appearance had no relevance to me as long as I could read books, so I wasn’t that worried about it. I didn’t look that amazing as Urano, after all. I could live without being cute.
“Haaah. Really, I just want to read books. I feel like my fever would vanish if I had a book in hand.”
I can survive anywhere as long as I’ve got books. I’ll endure anything. So please. Books. Let me have books. I placed a finger on my chin and began searching my memory for books. Let’s see. I wonder where they’re hiding all the books in this place.
“Myne, you’re awake?” As if to intentionally interrupt my thoughts, a young girl that looked about seven years old stepped lightly into my room.
It was Tuuli, my older sister. Her green hair, tied into a slightly misshapen braid, was so dry I could immediately tell she wasn’t washing it at all. Just like Mom, I wished she would wash her face. She was also wasting her good looks.
The reason I thought that was probably due to my upbringing in Japan, a country so fixated on cleanliness that other countries considered us to be obsessive. But I didn’t care about that. There were more important things in the world. And right now, there was one thing I needed to prioritize above everything else.
“Tuuli, would you bring me a (book)?” My older sister was old enough to know how to read, so surely there were at least a dozen picture books lying around. I could still read despite being sick and bedridden. It’s a miracle I got reborn like this, since I care more about reading the books of this different world than anything else.
Unfortunately, Tuuli just looked at me in confusion despite my sweet smile. “Huh? What’s a (book)?”
“You don’t know...? Ummm, they’re things with (letters) and stuff (written) on them. Some have (illustrations), too.”
“Myne, what are you even saying? Can’t you talk properly?”
“I’m telling you, a (book)! I want a (picture book).”
“What’s that? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Apparently, words that weren’t in Myne’s memories ended up coming out as Japanese, so Tuuli just shook her head in confusion no matter how hard I tried to explain what I wanted.
“Aaah, geez! (Do your job, auto translatooor!)”
“Why are you mad, Myne?”
“I’m not mad. My head just hurts.”
Looks like my first job will be to pay attention to everything people say and try to learn as many new words as possible. With Myne’s youthful brain and my twenty-two-year-old graduate wits and knowledge, learning this language should be a piece of cake. I... I hope it’ll be cake.
Even when I was Urano, I worked hard with a dictionary in hand to understand foreign books. If I thought of learning this world’s language as a means to read the books here, I wouldn’t mind the effort at all. My love and passion for books was so great that it pushed people away from me.
“...You’re mad because you still have a fever?” Tuuli reached out her dirty hand, likely trying to feel how hot my forehead was.
I reflexively grabbed her hand. “I’m still sick, you’ll catch it too.”
“That’s true. I’ll be careful.”
Safe. By acting like I was worried about her, I could avoid things I didn’t like. I managed to avoid getting touched by Tuuli’s dirty hand using the advanced social techniques of adults. She wasn’t a bad older sister, but I didn’t want her to touch me before getting clean. Or so I thought, before looking down at my own filthy hands and sighing.
“Haaah. I want to take a (bath). My head’s itchy.” The moment I murmured that, Myne’s memories informed me of the unfortunate truth: The best I would get was a bucket of water to dump over my head and a tattered rag to rub against myself.
Noooo! You can’t call that a bath. Also, there’s no toilet here?! Just a chamber pot?! Give me a break. Attention, whichever god put me here... I wanted to live somewhere modern and convenient.
My environment was so bad it honestly made me want to cry. When I was Urano, I lived in a very normal household. I never had any problems with food, clothes, using the bathroom, or getting books. This new life was a huge downgrade.
I... I miss Japan. It was filled with so many wonderful things I took for granted. Soft washcloths, comfortable beds, books, books, books... But no matter how much nostalgia I felt, I had no choice but to live in this new world. Crying wouldn’t get me anywhere. I had to teach my family the value of cleanliness.
As far as I could tell from my memories, Myne was a weak little girl who often had fevers and ended up bedridden for days at a time. Most of her memories involved the bed. If I didn’t improve my environment, I would probably be dead before long. I could imagine from the poor conditions I was put in while sick that it would be ideal to avoid needing medical attention at all costs.
...I need to clean up this room and figure out how to take baths ASAP. I’m the kind of lazy person that avoided chores as much as possible even with convenient modern electronics. I cared more about reading books than helping my mom. Am I gonna be able to live here?
I shook my head to get those thoughts out of my mind. No, no. Like I said, it’s a miracle I got reincarnated at all. I need to be more positive. How lucky! I get to read books that don’t even exist on Earth! ...Okay. I’m getting enthusiastic again.
First, in order to focus on reading books without worrying, I had to take care of my body. I slowly shut my eyes so I could rest. As my consciousness faded into darkness, one thought dominated my mind:
I don’t care what it is. I just want to read a book as soon as possible. Aaah, whichever god put me here, please pity me and grant me a book! Also, this might be asking for a bit much, but I want a library filled to the brim with books too.