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 4

“…sigh, I’m really grateful for the help, but I wish you had been a bit more gentle when getting me out of the cage.”

“Sorry~ I haven’t met anyone in a while, so I got a bit too excited and just…”

“It pains me to say this to my savior, but I don’t think an ordinary person would cut through an iron cage even if they were happy. And to think your weapon can slice through iron cages, what kind of sharpness does it have?”

I literally cut down the bandits and rescued the woman who had been loaded onto the wagon, but she seemed to have been deprived of food and water for several days and was weak. I wanted to ask her various questions about this world and the word “magic,” but since I felt hesitant to bombard the weakened woman with questions, I decided to catch some rabbits, gather nuts, and fetch water from a nearby stream to take a break in the forest.

They made a campfire far enough away from the dismembered bodies of the bandits, and as they sat around the crackling flames and slowly ate their meal, the woman recovered enough to engage in conversation. As they continued their meal and other activities, the sun began to set, and looking up at the sky revealed a starry night. It was a relief that it didn’t rain.

The name of the woman who was trapped in the iron cage is Lyra Grosvenor. She told me her name while munching on rabbit meat by the campfire, regaining her strength. She is sitting wrapped in a blanket from the cart, looking quite small. Additionally, she is glancing suspiciously at the katana I placed beside the campfire while eating the well-roasted rabbit meat.

“This is going to sound really sudden and might confuse you, but I’m not from this world. It’s hard to explain, but I’m like someone who washed up here from another world.”

While looking at Lyra’s well-defined face visible through her disheveled chestnut-colored hair, I mutter that.

While she was eating and resting, I was thinking about how to explain things well, but I couldn’t come up with anything. In that case, it would be better to tell the truth straightforwardly rather than clumsily mixing in lies.

“…………”

“Uh, um, Lyra-san? Are you perhaps not sure how to react?”

“No, when I’m told that I’m not a person of this world, I have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t understand, but should I say that your being different is a matter of perception? I do understand.”

After finishing her meal, Lyra, who had drunk the water that had collected in the makeshift, messy wooden bowl, continued speaking.

“That sword with an unfamiliar curve, your figure fighting as if dancing seen from within the cage, and that power that can easily slice through iron despite feeling no magical energy at all—at least in my twenty-four years of life, I have never seen anyone like you.”

The firewood crackles as it burns. The flickering light of the flames brightly illuminates Lyra’s face, her eyes. In those eyes, one can see the fear of encountering an incomprehensible being, but also the curiosity about an existence never seen before, a mix of colors that come and go.

“My father told me to go to the port town to finalize a business deal, and on the way back, I was attacked by bandits and put in a cage. I thought I was done for, but life is full of surprises, isn’t it?”

Lifting the hair that had fallen over her ear, Lyra glances at my face. It looks like she’s waiting to hear what words will come out of my mouth.

“I don’t know anything about this world, and there isn’t anyone I can rely on. But as you can see, I don’t really understand what fighting is, but it seems like I can do it.”

“…………”

“Please, Lyra-san! Take care of me until I get used to this world! I’ll cut down anyone who attacks you, Lyra-san!”

With a whoosh, I drop into the traditional Japanese pleading position, the dogeza, and beg Lyra-san earnestly. Please! Please! I saved your life, and I somehow find it natural to kill people, so please! Take care of me! I plead desperately both in my heart and out loud.

Then, for just a moment, Lyra-san froze, and after that, she burst into a loud laugh, as if her face had completely transformed.

“Hahaha! What kind of pose is that? Rubbing your head on the ground, you look like a dog lying down!”

“Woof! Woof! I will follow Lady Lyra! I am your loyal dog! Please teach me everything I need to know to live in this world, like common sense and the rules of the world!”

If a third party were to see this scene, they might say I’m pathetic. But! However! I don’t know anything about this world, and there’s no one I can rely on. If this continues and no one takes care of me, a sad human-slaying monster will be born!

Whoa!!! I’ve bet my entire dignity on this!! I have no choice but to be taken in by this person in exchange for my killer arm!

“Hahaha! Oh, come on! Please don’t beg with such a pathetic voice, you’ll make me die laughing! Hahahahaha!”

After laughing for a while, Lyra approached me, who was waiting in a kneeling position for her decision judgment.

“Truly, truly… it seems that saying you are not from this world is not a lie. For someone with your level of skill to bow their head to just a merchant’s daughter like this, it is simply unimaginable in this world.”

Her hand was gently placed on my head. After gently stroking my head a few times, Lyra-san touched my chin and lifted my face.

“To the pathetic swordsman who saved my life, what is your name?”

“Um… the name of the previous world is Kondo Enri.”

“Kondo Enri, that’s an unfamiliar name, isn’t it? Well then, from today on, please introduce yourself as Enri, the swordsman who will protect me.”

Lyra-san, smiling happily, said that and then made me sit by the fire. After that, she dramatically shook the blanket once and wrapped both of us inside it, so we ended up sharing the blanket together.

Our bodies are pressed together under the blanket. When I glance to the side, I see Lyra-san looking at me with a satisfied expression. My heart races and I feel nervous whether I want to or not. Please, Lyra-san, I can’t handle such a wonderful situation with a lonely man who barely had a girlfriend in the previous world…!

“Ms. Lyra… um, the distance, the distance is suddenly too close, if you know what I mean…”

“Oh, really? Since I’m going to teach you all sorts of things about this world from now on, I think this is just about right.”

“Ahhhhh… I hardly even talked to women in my previous world…”

Lyra-san giggles softly. She’s being treated like her sister’s toy…

“Oh my, should I say it’s an innocent and pure, or rather a cute reaction? Enri, you have quite a cute face, so if you keep acting like that, a bad older sister might just eat you up.”

The flames of the bonfire blazed higher, and wrapped in a blanket with Lyra, who wore a mischievous smile, the night gradually deepened.