The Tale of A Man Who Believed That His Reincarnation Had Granted Him A Japanese Sword And The Greatest Battle Sense, Only To Have The God Finally Inform Him "Huh, I Didn't Give You Any Combat Sense… That's Scary…" - Episode 21

“It’s been three hours since Enri was brought to the infirmary, but how is she doing?”

“Ah, come on, I looked at it, but that’s no good, beautiful lady. No matter how you underestimate it, you must have taken at least twelve of Raijin Roga’s lightning strikes, your burns, your internal organs are failing, and your heart is in tatters! Hahaha! You’re really hanging in there!”

When I woke up, the first thing I saw was an unfamiliar ceiling. It seemed I was lying in a bed somewhere indoors, and as I turned my head to look around, I saw a white curtain drawn as a partition.

Gugigigi… Ugh, my body won’t move as I want it to. It’s like being buried in sand, trying to somehow get out of the sandbox, but I can’t move freely.

When I moved only my face to look at my body, I saw that it was wrapped in bandages all over, and between the bandages, there were these large, green leaves that looked like an oversized version of some kind of herb stuck to my body. The places where the leaves were attached felt kind of cool, just like menthol.

“Even so, miss, where did you pick up such a monster? With just one sword, it was able to cut through lightning imbued with the power of a goddess. Can even the Four Knights do something like that?”

“I only asked the best healer in Redinbara for healing, and I never intended to ask about him.”

From behind the curtain, I could hear Lyra’s voice and the voice of an unfamiliar older man. Lyra’s voice seemed a bit more irritated than usual. Grrr… I forced my neck to move and looked around the bed, where I saw a katana and a sword belt propped against the bed.

Lying on the bed and staring blankly at the ceiling while listening to the conversation of two people nearby, I recall the dream I had earlier. The girl with cherry blossom-colored hair whom I met in the dream, someone I had never seen before, I didn’t recognize her at first, but as the dream was ending and we were parting, I somehow started to feel nostalgic about her.

At the end of the dream, my memory is hazy, and I don’t remember what was said or how. But I’m sure we’ll meet again soon. If I’m curious about her then, I can ask her various things. Alright, let’s do that. …And I’ll do my best to avoid getting her too bloodied.

After dozing off for about five minutes on the bed, I suddenly felt my body become lighter. When I turned my neck to look at my body, the leaves that had been green and similar to shiso earlier were now crumpled like dried leaves, and the refreshing sensation like menthol was gone.

I don’t feel any stiffness in my body at all, and I can move as if nothing happened. Could it be that this leaf has some incredible healing properties, and that’s why my body healed instantly? Amazing, the leaves from this other world, amazing, the healing techniques from this other world.

When I got out of bed and opened the curtains, there was Ms. Lyra, wearing her usual white dress, and an elderly man with a dark complexion, wearing a flashy red and blue patterned shirt like an aloha shirt over a lab coat, talking with a serious expression on his face.

When I look around, it seems to be some kind of clinic. I can see shelves lined with unfamiliar tools and flasks containing suspicious liquids.

“Ms. Lyra, um… good morning?”

“Enri! ………. You finally woke up, I’m so glad you did.”

Lyra-san hurriedly approached, observing not so much my body but rather the injured area with a puzzled expression. Looking at the nearby window, I noticed it had become completely dark outside. Then, with a curious look, she spoke to the man in the lab coat wearing what looked like an aloha shirt.

“Mr. Yanabu, it may be just my amateur eyes, but it looks like Enri’s injuries from the first round have completely healed.”

“Huh? No way, man. Gifts can bypass all kinds of protection and defenses to deal damage. Burns and muscle damage from lightning strikes, and if you can’t see it, organ failure—those things don’t heal in just three or four hours…”

The man, after hearing Lyra’s words, approached me with a half-smile, performed a physical examination and listened to my heartbeat, then cast some kind of spell as if scanning my entire body, and finally held his glowing hand towards me. His initially half-smiling expression gradually became more serious, and by the end, he continued his work in silence, furrowing his brow the whole time.

“No way, that’s ridiculous. It’s hard to believe, but I’m completely cured.”

He looked at me as if he couldn’t believe it, with an accent like that of the Tohoku region completely gone, and came to that conclusion. I don’t know how, but my injury has healed, yay!

“Haah… It’s like a Minotaur’s tough hide or something, what’s going on here? No matter how you estimate it, it should take at least a month to heal completely.”

“I will refrain from answering that. This child is an important asset to the Grosvenor family and a valued partner to me.”

Ms. Lyra said this with a cool expression and then gently placed a medium-sized bag, filled to the brim, on the wooden table where the man called Yanab was writing a medical chart.

“Miss Beautiful, I believe I said thirty thousand gold coins including travel and shipping costs, but this clearly contains over a million gold coins.”

“Would you accept this as my gratitude for your sound judgment, treatment skills, and discretion in not disclosing patient information to others?”

Oh, as expected of a shrewd merchant. With a smile, he’s putting pressure on me, making sure I don’t let anything slip about this. After pondering for a while, Mr. Yanabu accepted the bag of gold coins.

“The only daughter of the Grosvenor family. You found a really good kid, didn’t you? That kid is a genius. It’s no wonder you went so far as to dirty your expensive clothes to help him.”

“Helped out… After I lost consciousness, Ms. Lyra helped me?”

“Oh, that’s right, kid! This beautiful lady, after the match ended, saw you collapse like a puppet with its strings cut, spitting bl00d from your mouth, and rushed to your side faster than anyone else!”

Eh!! Is that really true!? I thought maybe the tournament staff or the healer called in for the tournament helped out, but it was actually you, Lyra-san, who helped me. Thank you so much…

Scratching his dark, bruised skin, Mr. Yanabu briefly told me what happened after I collapsed.

After taking a direct hit from the discharge and cutting off Roga’s head while being paralyzed, I received dozens of discharges to my body, and it felt like my insides were being burned. I must have collapsed right then and there. Due to the damage from the discharge, my throat, stomach, and lungs were bleeding from the inside, making it impossible to breathe, and I ended up in respiratory distress.

The healer hired by the tournament was thrown into a frenzy by the sudden beheading situation, causing utter chaos, and they all focused on dealing with Roga, who had had almost everyone executed, leaving no one to heal me.

Lyra, who was watching from the stands, quickly noticed the situation and had Utsuho call for Yanabu, the renowned healer of Redinbara, regardless of the cost. In the meantime, she performed first aid, ensuring the airway was clear and not caring that her clothes were soaked in bl00d… or so I’ve heard. Additionally, after being taken to the clinic, it seems she even repaired the clothes that had been melted by lightning. I’m truly grateful for everything she did.

“The tournament’s healers swarmed around [Raijin] Roga, who was beheaded and died instantly. The cut was so clean that it almost looked like it could be reattached.”

“Your sword transmitted it perfectly, and I took the full brunt of your discharge. Because of that damage, I couldn’t be revived.”

Ha ha ha! While laughing heartily, Yanabu-san, who had somehow ended up with a pipe in his hand, took a puff and exhaled a delicious-looking white smoke.

“Thank you for helping me with everything, Lyra!”

“Yes, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it, Enri. Protecting valuable assets is a merchant’s duty.”

Moreover, Lyra continued speaking, leaning in so close that her breath brushed against my ear. “Huh!? Lyra!? Wh-what are you trying to do? Yanab is right in front of us!!”

“Enri is a precious swordsman who holds my hand. It’s only natural for partners to help each other.”

As if whispering to a lover, sweetly and softly, she whispered so that no one else could hear. The soft, affectionate tone of Lyra’s voice, as if she were sweet-talking her lover, reached me at close range, and I felt my brain about to boil from embarrassment.

“Oh~! You’re so hot, if you’re going to get frisky, could you do it outside my clinic?”

“Oh, Mr. Yanabu, I apologize for this. Well then, Enri, shall we go outside?”

“Ms. Lyra! Ms. Lyra! Please deny what Mr. Sakaru said! Ms. Lyra? … Ms. Lyra, why are you laughing so defiantly?!”

Quickly putting on the sword belt that was on the bed and inserting the Japanese sword, I was led by Lyra-san as we left Yanabu-san’s clinic. I had seen through the clinic window, but indeed, it was already completely dark outside and night had fallen. As Lyra-san and I stepped onto the street near the clinic, I saw Utsuho-san in a maid outfit among the residents hurrying home.

Mr. Utsuho, with his elegant steps reminiscent of a skilled waiter, skillfully navigated through the crowded party venue filled with guests, and with a smile, made his way over here.

“Lady Lyra, and Lord Enri. Congratulations on passing the first round of the swordsmanship tournament and for all the subsequent arrangements. You must be exhausted.”

Utsuho-san gave a bow while swaying her green short bob and offered words of encouragement. When she bowed, various parts of her swayed gently. The maid dress’s skirt, her hair, and other areas were still quite ample.

“Thank you, Utsuho-san. Oh, by the way, I forgot because of everything going on, but when does the second round start? Has it already ended?”

“No, Lord Enri. It’s fine. The second round will start tomorrow. The schedule for the main tournament will proceed one day at a time, taking into account the players’ condition and preparations.”

I’m glad~. If I had lost by default because I overslept, I would have been too embarrassed to face Lyra-san.

“Well then, how about we go to a restaurant somewhere with Enri, Utsuho, and me once in a while…?”

“I sincerely apologize, Lady Lyra, but I have come here to escort you… to be more precise, to guide you to the documents that have accumulated in the Roiji Hotel room.”

“Oh… is that so? Well, there’s nothing we can do about it.”

As expected, it seems that people from the so-called five major merchant families end up with a backlog of work even if they take just a short break. Watching her head off to work, it somehow feels like I’m looking at my past self. Well, in my case, my job was more like getting scolded by my boss during the day for poor sales performance and handling urgent tasks at night.

“Well then, I’ll give you a little something as a get-well gift. Sometimes, you should go out and have fun by yourself, Enri. Knowing how to spend money wisely is an important skill too.”

“Yay! Lyra-san, thank you so much~! I’ll play with moderation~”

Lyra-san said that and, receiving something paper-like and a pen from Utsuho-san, she wrote on the unfamiliar paper-like object with ease. Then she handed the paper to me.

Whoa!? Th-this is a check!? I’ve only seen these in foreign movies and dramas…!

“I’ve written down all the necessary parts for when you use it, so go ahead and use it at any store you like and have fun. But if you go to a brothel, you will never set foot in my house again.”

“I’m not going! To a place like that! I’m not even old enough to go there, and I’m not interested either!”

“Hehe… You don’t have to deny it with such a flushed face; I don’t think you would go to such places. I would love to see more of Enri’s cute reactions, but I have to get back to work.”

Ms. Lyra, looking disappointed, said her goodbyes and disappeared into the crowd with Ms. Utsuho. Having received an unexpected get-well gift from her, I started walking through the night streets of Redinbara, feeling elated.