Published: August 31, 2025
This is Satou. A typical Japanese person who lowers his guard when meeting other Japanese people abroad.
Speaking the same language and having similar basic values brings a sense of security.
â—‡
"To be precise, I am a former Japanese named Arisa Tachibana who was reincarnated into the Kubork Kingdom without losing her memories. Are you also reincarnated? No, judging by your black hair, I guess you were summoned as a hero? Mr. Sato?"
Her AR display doesn’t show that she’s a former Japanese or that her Japanese name is Arisa Tachibana.
My status doesn’t say Japanese or Ichiro Suzuki either, so it’s probably the same for me.
"Why are you silent? You’re the second Japanese I’ve met."
At those words, my gaze shifts to Lulu, who is sleeping on the other bed.
"Lulu’s different, you know? I haven’t met her, but apparently her great-grandfather was Japanese. Genetic traits skipping generations are cruel. If she were born in Japan, she could’ve even become an idol."
"You’re the one saying ‘That’s not true’ with mental magic."
I was about to ask if she made me think Lulu was ugly with mental magic, but she denied it before I could finish.
"From our aesthetic perspective, she has a flat, featureless face, thin lips, not-white skin, and a small butt. It’s like all the least attractive points were skillfully gathered. Thanks to that, no one wanted to buy her as a slave, so that was good."
Beauty types change with era and place... what bad luck.
"So, Mr. Sato, are you a reincarnated person or a summoned one?"
"How do you distinguish between the two?"
Should I be honest or keep it secret?
She’s the kind who manipulates minds with mental magic or attempts to push people down, but it’s definitely a lead. If it comes down to it, I could just order her, "Don’t tell anyone."
"Reincarnated people are those who died in accidents or something in their original world and were reborn in this world. Summoned people were forcibly abducted here with summoning magic. Heroes and such are summoned."
Her words were full of bias, but which category do I fall into?
"Are reincarnated people always babies?"
"In stories, sometimes people reincarnate as adults, but in this world, it’s only from infancy."
She says this quite definitively. When I confirm,
"God told me so when I reincarnated."
Did she meet God? In Japan, anyone saying that would be suspected of losing their mind.
"Are summoned people summoned with their original appearance? Like clothes, belongings, looks?"
"Summoned people keep the clothes they're wearing then. Their appearance stays the same, too."
My clothes stayed the same, but why did I get younger?
"Is that hearsay?"
"The hero of the Saga Empire said so, so I’m sure. The Saga Empire is the only country that can summon heroes from other worlds."
If so, maybe I can find out how to return by going to the Saga Empire? I should remember to check later.
"I see. But I’m neither. I was taking a nap at work and when I woke up, I was standing in a wasteland."
"Did you meet God?"
"No."
Arisa folds her arms and groans. I should get her dressed soon.
"So, when you came to this world, did you appear inside a summoning circle?"
"No, I was alone in the wasteland."
"So you were high level from the start? Like having infinite magic power? Or lots of skills?"
"I was level 1 at first, had only 10 magic power, and no skills."
...Well, I did have special abilities. Like Meteor Shower.
"What’s that? Sounds impossible to win."
Whoa, why am I being pitied or interrogated?
"Enough about me. Tell me all the skills you have, one by one. Gifts and special abilities too. Just so you know, this is an order."
"You don’t have to order me, I’ll answer."
"First is mental magic, level 5. Pretty good, right? I spent all the skill points I got after birth on this."
Feeling strange, I checked: skill points gained per level-up range between 2 and 12, averaging 7 (she described it as 2d6). The required points per skill aren’t fixed at 1 but vary, and increase with each skill level.