“No. I’m an only child.”
“Oh? I had a younger sister in my past life.”
“Is that so?”
“I don’t remember much about her, though, and I can’t recall my friends’ faces at all.” Sumire didn’t have any family now, and she didn’t have many friends. She had been chatting with the Martial Arts Club girls earlier, but the loneliness of that realization must have hit her now that she was alone. “Can you tell me some stories from your childhood?”
“Mine? I don’t mind sharing some, if you’re interested.”
Sumire had once told me she liked to hear other people’s stories because she didn’t have any memories of her own. I decided to tell her more about myself if it would help her.
“I was born on the Eastern Continent,” I started.
“Huh?! I didn’t know that you weren’t born here.”
“I was brought here as a baby, so I remember nothing about the Eastern Continent.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s a long story, but...” And with that, I jumped into my tale.
✦ ✦ ✦
My grandfather and father were swordsmen who, to uphold the family legacy, served a small country on the Eastern Continent. My old man married my mom when he was eighteen, but she died soon after she gave birth to me.
The numerous countries of the Eastern Continent were in a perpetual state of conflict, and wars broke out frequently. When the country we served was devastated in a massive war, my family, including my grandfather, scattered to various parts of the world. My father took me and fled to the Southern Continent. That’s where my memories start.
To raise me, my father traveled the Southern Continent in search of work. He eventually came across a dragon attacking the then crown prince—now the emperor—on a hunting trip. With only a sword as his weapon, my old man saved the prince, who was so taken by my father’s swordsmanship skills that he hired him on the spot as his bodyguard. I don’t know how much money the prince offered, but I hear it was a hundred times what my dad had been earning as a mercenary.
And with that, my father, now working for the imperial palace, settled down in the empire. Today, he’s the Imperial Sword, the emperor’s right-hand man. He’s still single, by the way. He hasn’t remarried. I hear that he’s received hundreds of proposals and offers of arranged marriages, but he’s turned them all down, including arrangements suggested by the emperor.
Once, I asked him, “Why won’t you remarry?”
He just said, “Because I still have your mother.”
Ever since I heard that answer, I’ve avoided bringing up the topic. After my dad became the emperor’s bodyguard, I started attending the empire’s military academy and living in the dorms there. That was where I met Airi, my childhood friend. Her full name is Airi Areus Grenflare, the seventh princess of the Grenflare Empire. My first impression was of a snobby girl.
“Hey! I hear you’re a good swordsman. Duel me!” she ordered me. At the time, she was the first in our grade when it came to swordsmanship.
“I don’t mind.”
My father had started teaching me how to handle a sword when I was four years old, but this would be my first time sparring against someone my age. I ended up completely annihilating her.
“H-How?!” she cried after my victory. “I d-didn’t even scratch him!”
I remember feeling a strong sense of guilt when I saw the tears welling up in the princess’s eyes.
“Princess Airi, this is our twentieth match, so can we call it a day?”
“One more time! This’ll be our last match!”
In the end, Airi forced me to spar her fifty times before her endurance ran out.
From that day forth, her challenges became part of my daily routine.
“Eu! Let’s duel! I’m gonna win this time!”
“Another one? I have to study for my tactics exam.”
“I’ll help you with that! Just fight me!”
“Fine, fine.”
I taught her techniques from the Enmei-ryu, and Airi absorbed them like a sponge, improving by leaps and bounds. In return, she helped me with my studies. She’d received a first-rate education since youth. Back then, I could only really read and write. Without Airi’s tutoring, I couldn’t have kept up with the advanced lessons the military academy offered. Before long, we became rivals competing to become the best in our year.
✦ ✦ ✦
Those were the days. Emotions threatened to overwhelm me. My chest always felt uncomfortably tight when I spoke about Airi, but I’d recovered enough to share my past with Sumire. I went on to tell her about the military academy’s Selection Exam, and how I couldn’t become a Magic Swordsman like my father. Then I told her how I came to study at Lykeion Magic Academy.
“And that’s my story. My father told me that graduating from Lykeion Magic Academy will guarantee me a job in the empire, and he doesn’t mind if I stay in the dungeon city as long as I like it here.” I’d ended up speaking for a lot longer than I’d expected. Had I spun an entertaining yarn? Worried, I looked over at Sumire, who was staring right back at me. “Is something the matter?”
“I can’t believe that Airi girl! How could she say that when you were suffering?!”
Apparently, she was furious at Airi.
“I don’t blame her. Airi’s a princess. Her status doesn’t afford her the freedom of staying with someone as inept as me.”
“I can’t accept that!”
Sumire was a nice girl. She wasn’t afraid to show her emotions. In contrast, I was always suppressing mine. I smiled at her, and she gave me a look like she wanted to say more.
“Sumire?”
“Hey, Eugene. You once told me that breaking an exploration record in the Last Dungeon is a great honor, right?”
“Yeah. It’s the goal of all explorers on the Southern Continent.”
“I’m sure you could set an amazing record. You defeated the Boss of the 10th Level all by yourself today, after all.”
“Mm, I’m not sure I can take all the credit. I only managed that because I borrowed your mana.” It was definitely not by my power alone.
“But you’re my guardian! If we explore together, then we can definitely reach the 50th...no, the 100th Level, right?!”
“I think we can reach the 50th Level. The 100th is beyond us, though.”
“Why?”
“The Boss on the 100th Level is special. As a living creature, it’s a completely different beast from the monsters up to the 99th Level.”
“Huh? Is that so?”
Sumire’s expression twisted in confusion at my explanation. I would have to give her more details about it at a later date. Yes, we had passed the 10th Level. Until today, I had been a D-rank explorer because I’d never challenged a Boss before. But now that I had defeated one, my rank had risen to C. Aiming for a higher floor wasn’t out of the question. Well, it’ll be a long while before we have to worry about the 100th Level.
“We chatted for much longer than I expected. Sumire, we should get some sleep.”
“All right.” Sumire said nothing after that.
I closed my eyes as well. Silence reigned in the tent for a while until Sumire broke it again.
“Eugene?”
“What is it?”
“I’m thinking of joining your club.”
“The Biology Club?”
“Yeah.”
It took me a moment before I replied, “I see.”
“You’re against it?”
“That’s not it.”
I just felt that, as a reincarnator from another world, Sumire could find far more suitable clubs to join. But if that was her own decision, I had no reason to oppose it. The only thing I was worried about was...
I have to introduce them to Sumire? Including me, the Biology Club was a small group of only five members. But every single one of them was, without exception, extremely weird. I just hoped Sumire didn’t freak out.
“Yay, it’s a promise! Good night!” Sumire faced away from me, and her breathing slowed down in sleep.
I closed my eyes as well and let my consciousness fade. I must have been more tired than I realized, because I fell asleep within seconds.