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 5

The day after a night where I was constantly teased by Lyra-san and barely got any sleep until she finally went to bed.

After taking care of the campfire, I followed Lyra-san, who knew the area well, through the narrow path in the forest and soon reached the nearby highway. Since the clothes Lyra-san was wearing were clearly for business negotiations and not suitable for travel, after reaching the highway, I ended up carrying her on my back to the nearest village.

Also, since carrying her would leave my hands full, I have Lyra carry the unknown-origin katana, which is a reincarnation bonus from the deity.

“Even so, it’s a rare sword, isn’t it? This sword that Enri has.”

From behind, I can hear a groaning sound as if someone is solving a difficult problem, along with Lyra’s voice. When I slightly turn my face to look back, I see Lyra examining the Japanese sword I handed over while it was still in its sheath, her face showing a troubled expression as she looks at it from various angles.

“That’s a traditional sword from the country where I lived in the previous world. It’s called a katana.”

“Nihontou… As expected, it’s a name I’ve never heard before. My family deals with a wide range of items, from everyday goods to weapons, but if I had to compare it to a similar sword, it would be a scimitar.”

“Since it cuts quite easily, please don’t take it out of the sheath, Lyra-san. Your beautiful hands might get hurt.”

After walking along the highway for about an hour with her on my back, a peaceful-looking village surrounded by wheat fields came into view. The orange-sloped roofs and the partially collapsed stone walls exuded a nostalgic atmosphere.

“Ms. Lyra, we’ve arrived~. Is this the nearest village you mentioned?”

“Yes, that’s right. Thank you for your hard work, Enri. It’s located not far from Ridge Village, the town where my house is, and I often stop by.”

Lyra, who handed me the katana after getting off my back, clattered the wooden sandals she had swiped from the wagon and approached the village, but after walking a short distance, she stopped moving.

“Ms. Lyra? What’s wrong?”

“Shh… Be quiet, Enri.”

Her expression quickly darkened. She approached the village quietly, making no sound, and when she peered into the center of the village, a look of tension crossed her face. Lyra, beckoning me closer with a quick gesture, succinctly conveyed the situation in a low voice.

“Enri, there are unfamiliar men in the central part of the village… maybe.”

“Is it the band of thieves who kidnapped Laila?”

Ms. Lyra nodded with a bitter expression. Well, if that’s the case, it’s an easy thing to do. There’s no need to look so gloomy.

“Well then, if I just kill them all, there won’t be any problem, right?”

“Enri…! We don’t even know how many of them there are, going in head-on is dangerous!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll kill them all and come back right away. Maybe the villagers are being gathered and imprisoned somewhere to avoid interfering with the looting.”

Holding the katana in my left hand, I asked Laila to hide in the wheat field. She looked like she wanted to say something, but without uttering a word, she trusted me and hid in the wheat field.

Well then, well well, I don’t know how many there are, but if I make one scream, the rest will gather like pill bugs to save their comrade. …Wait, what do you mean make one scream? Isn’t my thinking a bit too violent?

It seems like, as a perk of being reincarnated, my thinking becomes extreme when it comes to battle. Well, anyway, let’s deal with those thieves quickly.

While walking through the village with a katana in hand, I soon arrived at the square in the center of the village. However, there was not a single person in sight. Hmm, that’s strange, I thought Lyra-san said there were people when she saw it.

Then, the door of a nearby house suddenly bursts open, and a magnificent fireball, like something out of a video game, flies straight at us. Ah, I see, it’s an ambush.

Before my mind can catch up with the situation, my body moves on its own. Twisting my body and cutting my waist, I draw my sword in the shortest and fastest motion, slicing the fireball from bottom to top and splitting it in half. The fireball, now cut in two by the sword, wavers as if losing control and then disappears.

“Hah hah hah hah! I see, I see. You’re just like a damn kid, just as my subordinate said!”

Hey, don’t just throw fireballs at me out of nowhere. I almost got cremated. And don’t ambush me by breaking down the door; it’s not fair to the villagers who have to fix it.

When the fireball was cut in half, a group of rough-looking men, similar to those I saw yesterday, appeared from behind the houses and on the roofs in the village. Among them, one particularly rough-looking man, laughing heartily, appeared leisurely and approached me.

The man is dressed like the pinnacle of a barbarian build, with an axe in his right hand and another axe in his left hand.

“Uncles, are these the same people who captured Lyra?”

“Ah~? What if I said yes, kid? You don’t seriously think you can handle this many people without ambushing them all by yourself, do you?”

“Gya ha ha ha ha!” The men let out mocking laughter. Glancing around, it seems there are nearly twenty of them. Each one is armed, and some are even holding staffs or what looks like grimoires.

Probably, that fireball from earlier was created by magic. Magic is really amazing, isn’t it? It’s like anything goes. Let’s use water magic so powerful that it can create a torrent even in a place without water.

“Hey, kid. I’m not saying this to be mean, but give up. If you’re as strong as you seem, you could easily make it in our band of thieves.”

The leader of the thieves said with a sneer, in a mocking tone, “As soon as you show any weakness, we’ll come for you. At best, you’ll be half-dead; at worst, you’ll be dead.”

There are always these kinds of cunning adults in any world. Of course, in my previous life, I was somewhat like them too. In a world before the spread of social media, scandals, and pretenses, you could say everyone was a cunning adult.

“Don’t even think about fighting me, okay? Unlike the others, I have… ‘skills.'”

Skills, I heard a word I’ve never heard before. It’s probably a unique ability of this world, different from magic. If I think in terms of the previous world, it might be something like having super strength or being good at swordsmanship. Nice, unknown things keep coming up, and I’m getting excited.

Holding a katana in my left hand, I gently grip the hilt with my right. I lightly move my head from side to side to gauge the number and location of the people surrounding me. The distance to the leader of the bandits in front of me, who is underestimating me thinking I will surrender, is three and a half meters—too far to draw my sword and strike normally.

“Hey, kid, put down the weapon already…”

So, I just focus on “cutting down the man in front of me,” letting my body move naturally.

Like a puppet with its strings cut, I instantly relax from head to toe. My body folds in a limp manner, and I let gravity pull me forward.

Just before his face touched the ground, I thrust my right foot forward and drew my sword with the momentum of my forward motion. The sword, drawn with terrifying speed, sliced through the right rib and the left upper arm of the bandit leader. I only heard the bandit leader’s scream after I sheathed my sword.

“My, my arm!? Wha—!? Why, why is my arm over there!?”

“Well, why is the arm here, I wonder? It’s quite mysterious, isn’t it?”

Kicking the bewildered leader of the bandits, who could only stare blankly at his severed arm, I turned my gaze to the subordinates around him. It seemed that the suddenness of the event had left them confused and simultaneously filled with fear, unsure of what to do.

I somehow understood how to deal with a herd that had lost its leader.

No room for thought. A herd that has lost its leadership is, in a sense, in a state of mental paralysis. Like a carp on a cutting board. Quick decisions, if you’re going to kill, run the shortest and fastest distance to behead.

“This tough guy like me can take a hit… Gahhh, it hurts, it hurts, damn it… Hey, you guys! Kill him! Kill this crazy brat right now!!”

By the time the leader shouted that, I had already decapitated the third subordinate. It was you who attacked first, so killing everyone here is just common sense, isn’t it?

Deflecting swords and severing heads, slicing through incoming magical flames and ice to sever heads, stabbing the torsos of those paralyzed by fear, the group that the leader had painstakingly raised was annihilated in just three minutes.

“How… how could this happen?! The band of thieves I raised with such care!!”

I severed the head of the last surviving thief who had been begging for his life on the roof, then lightly and gracefully landed from the roof to the ground, approaching the last survivor who had an expression as if witnessing something unbelievable.

“Well then, leader of the bandits. Do you have any last words?”

“Wh-what the hell, this is so ridiculous… Wh-who the hell are you?!!”

“I am Lyra’s attendant, Enri. Is this satisfactory, then?”

“Stop, stop, please stop! I’m begging you, just spare my life…!”

Thus, the band of robbers that attacked Ridge Village vanished at the hands of a single man.