v3 Chapter 4: The Third Reincarnator

“Riku, could you take care of this slime over here too?”

“Sure, but I taught you how, didn't I?”

“You taught me, but I've hardly ever seen slimes before. Living over 100 years, it's only been these past 2 or 3 years that I've started seeing them.”

Riku shrugged. He hadn't seen slimes either until he came to this world. It's only been these past 2 or 3 years for me too, he thought.

Riku was a reincarnator. To be precise, he had been forcibly brought to this world by a suspicious woman calling herself a goddess.

He'd thought he lost consciousness in a train derailment accident, only to find himself in a 'reincarnation room'. Like something out of a light novel.

But the most embarrassing thing was himself—a grown adult who got carried away by that light-novel-like development and acted giddy. While the remaining two women just stared blankly, he got swept up in words like 'reincarnation into another world' and 'a world of swords and magic,' failing to properly consider what it meant to be reincarnated and live again.

Now, living like this in this world, he thought that woman—who had instantly answered regarding the goddess's three wishes—was truly amazing. To tell the truth, Riku regretted for a moment, right after saying it, that he had been influenced by her and ended up making similar wishes. He wished he'd gone for something more cheat-like.

However, that woman's wishes taught him that if you had health and someone nearby to support you, the rest was up to you—that living was the same, even in another world.

“So, watch carefully, okay? I won't always be around, you know,” Riku instructed the old man from two houses down.

“Look, poke it gently. Once it spits acid, poke it gently again. Then it won't spit anything more, so then, with this hatchet, swish!”

The quivering slime lost its form in an instant. Riku produced water with magic, washed the remaining magic stone, and picked it up, thinking how fun magic was whenever he used it.

“Not bad. Good pocket money for you too, Riku, right?”

“That's not the point. Since slimes have increased this much, everyone needs to learn this method so they don't get hurt.”

“Yeah, yeah. It's fine. Thanks.”

The old man waved and left. Riku thought the old man, over 100 years old but looking like he was just entering middle age, was much more like a child.

As Riku watched the old man leave, he surveyed his surroundings—orderly wheat fields stretched out. On a hill far off to the right, dozens of cows grazed leisurely within a fenced area.

This was the result of his three years since being dropped here. Riku's heart filled with quiet satisfaction.

He was still far from self-sufficient in meat, but that could be achieved slowly over time. Butter and milk had become slightly cheaper and more available, which was popular with everyone, making meals more enjoyable. They were even exporting to other territories, and in return, obtaining goods unavailable in the Plains. Dried fish from the Lakes, for instance, was said to be a delicacy.

Strange how they prize freshwater fish, even though sea fish are easily available here.

“See,” Maria from three houses down explained while deftly cooking, “you take this dried fish from the Lakes, reconstitute it in water overnight, and then simmer it in milk, and the fish becomes fall-apart tender, making a delicious soup.”

She sometimes came over to cook for them. Only when this dish was served did Father Silas, despite looking troubled, obediently accept the treat. Riku thought they should just get married quickly, but life with just the two men wasn't bad either.

The time Riku was dropped into this world was a cold night. Though it wasn't snowing, the place, devoid of any light save the moon, seemed like grasslands, with tall grasses rustling dryly. Looking down at himself, he saw a shirt, trousers, a vest, and boots. Dressed in such typical villager attire, he seemed unbelievably small. More than anything,

“It's cold! If you're dropping me here in winter, at least give me a coat!”

He was dressed so lightly he couldn't help but shout.

“Honestly, thinking about it, the three wishes, whatever... she's the one who killed us! Just because she was kinda pretty, I carelessly thought 'Goddess,' but look at this situation! Don't I have a right to be angry?”

Shivering violently in the cold wind, Riku surveyed his surroundings anyway. It seemed like nothing was there, but looking closely, he saw dark shadows here and there, with flickering lights twinkling—apparently leaking from houses.

“Houses! If I can just walk that far...”

Grumbling wouldn't help. Riku walked desperately. As he walked, he got warmer- -No, I'm not! If anything, the wind is stealing my body heat... That's right, I should run!

Realizing this while shivering uncontrollably, Riku ran towards the lights, which had drawn considerably closer. Arriving nearby, he saw it was quite a large house, and he pounded hard on the large door he assumed was the entrance. Ring the bell? I can't see one! He retorted to himself, pounding with all his might.

“What is it, this late at night?”

The door opened suddenly. Along with light, warm air and a delicious smell wafted out.

“Excuse me, um...”

Crap, I didn't think about how to explain, Riku panicked. The person who emerged was a sturdy man. Perhaps in his thirties, older than Riku himself, with slightly sharp eyes but looking dependable.

“Haven't seen your face before.”

“Ah, I, here, I don't know, um...”

“Well, come in.”

The man angled his body halfway, making space for Riku to enter. As Riku tried to step inside, his knees buckled after just one step. His body seemed colder than he'd thought. The man instinctively reached out to the uncontrollably shivering Riku, eyeing his lightly dressed body suspiciously as expected, but nevertheless supported his shoulder and brought him in front of the heater.

It was the latest model magic tool stove, which the man was glad he'd bought. Moving a chair from the table, he brought it before the heater and sat Riku down. While relieved by the warm room, even with the heat searing his surface, the chill wouldn't leave the core of his body, and Riku shivered violently. The man bustled about bringing blankets and wrapped them around Riku, then brought warm soup and pressed the cup into Riku's hands.

“Drink.”

He said it brusquely, but supported Riku's hands until he had drunk the entire cup. As the warmth entered his body, the shivering finally stopped, and at the same time, an irresistible sleepiness washed over him. His head bobbed, swayed, and eventually, Riku fell asleep leaning against the man. The man expressionlessly lifted him and carried him to a bed.

“His clothes aren't dirty. Better leave him as he is than change him.”

The man removed the blankets from Riku, placed him gently on the guest room bed, covered him with a quilt, and put the blankets on top of that.

“He didn't seem like a lost child. Far from being grimy like the drifters who occasionally show up, he's clean. Dressed without even a coat... I can only think he was dumped here. What on earth is going on?”

The man scowled, looking slightly irritated. But, since the boy was actually here, it couldn't be helped. The man gently brushed aside the bangs falling over the eyes of the child, whose color was finally returning. Slightly wavy, longish hair. A slender jaw, a mouth that looked strong-willed.

“Falco.”

No, Falco would be 50 by now. It's just that he could never picture what that boy, taken away at age three, would look like as an adult. He thought of his son, whose face he hadn't seen once since he disappeared. There are even children one wants to keep close but cannot.

“If he's an unwanted child, then it should be alright for me to take him.”

If someone had indeed abandoned this child, then it should be fine for him to keep him close. The man quietly hardened his resolve.