TL-Cosmo
PR-Rin
Read at asmotoon.com
The Second Encounter 5
I close my eyes and try to remember.
I can recall everything right up to the moment I realized that Fios had emotions, and that I could sense them too.
After that, I should have gone home, worn out, and fallen asleep. But for some reason, I’ve found myself back in my childhood.
Should I call this the past? Or was the time before I returned to my childhood the real past?
I don’t know what’s happening to me, so I don’t know how to make sense of it.
For now, I’ll call the life I lived before I returned, the one I remember so clearly—my first life.
I used to wish I could do things over again if given the chance, but who could have predicted I’d be thrown back to this age, with no warning or mental preparation whatsoever?
If my memories are accurate and the flow of time hasn’t changed, then I already know what lies ahead.
War, calamities, disasters. We’re on the brink of an era so brutal that even commoners will struggle just to stay alive.
If you live hand-to-mouth, you won’t be able to prepare. And when the dark age comes, you’ll be among those cast aside and left to die.
I doubt the major events will change so easily.
I need to use my memories of the past to plan ahead and prepare what is necessary to survive.
First, without at least a bit of money to spare, I won’t be able to do anything. Fortunately, I’ve already lived through all this once. I have the knowledge others don’t.
But this time, I have no intention of being disposable.
What I’m going to do isn’t all that different from what I did before but this time, I have the confidence to make a real living at it.
I even know technologies that haven’t been invented yet and things the world has yet to imagine.
“I might have been in trouble if it weren’t for you.”
A way to earn the funds for that first step came to me naturally.
If I didn’t have Fios, even that first step might’ve been impossible.
Zeke poked his companion with a fingertip and smiled.
“Hey! Looks like you’re in a much better mood.”
As Zeke was savoring the feel of Fios, Rau and Eni returned.
Rau had a ridiculous number of skewers wedged between his fingers, and Eni was carrying a large paper bag.
“Welcome back.”
“We’re home!”
Zeke sat up and lit a candle. A soft glow spread through the space, just enough to faintly illuminate their surroundings.
It wasn’t quite bright enough, but the moonlight was decent, so as long as they don’t strain their eyes, it was enough.
“Rau, Eni, what’s all this…”
“Heh heh, would you believe it? The kingdom invited me to become a soldier. They even gave me a little advance pay, so I figured we’d have a party. …Plus, Eni said she wanted to cheer you up.”
“What?! You’re the one who said it! Don’t pin it on me like it was my idea! I mean, it’s not that I didn’t want to cheer you up, but still!”
Now that both of them had powerful magical beasts, it made sense the kingdom would scout them.
Looking at it that way, maybe the kingdom had already been laying the groundwork for what was to come.
“I see… Thank you, both of you.”
Watching the two of them bicker, Zeke couldn’t help but smile.
How long had it been since he’d Raughed like this?
“Heh, of course,” Rau said.
“It was my idea, so you should be thanking me,” Eni quipped.
“What are you talking about? I brought it up first!”
“You literally just said I was the one who brought it up! So I’m the one who cheered Zeke up.”
“Ngh…”
“Haha… Hahaha!”
The three of them burst into Raughter.
This was the friendship he’d once thrown away in a fit of jealousy. This time, he wouldn’t let it go.
“I’ll grab some plates. There should be some intact ones left.”
Holding all those skewers must be a pain.
He pulled a few plates from an old cupboard. Since they hadn’t been used in a while, one breath sent dust dancing into the air.
“Clean Up.”
Zeke barely had any magic power, and the amount he received from Fios was small.
But even a little was better than none. It was enough to clean a plate.
Water gathered at his fingertip and dripped onto the plate. It spread out like a ripple on a pond, picking up the dust as it moved. When it reached the rim, the water pooled back at his fingertip.
The plate was now clean, but the water was now cloudy.
Zeke offered the dirty water to Fios, who absorbed it into his body.
The dirty water disappeared, and Fios returned to his beautiful, crystal-clear form.
“Here. It must be tough holding those, so you can put them on this.”
“Thanks.”
Rau had brought a generous stack of meat skewers.
Even if it was an advance payment to sweeten the offer, Zeke doubted any official would give that much to a child. Rau had probably spent almost everything he received.
The paper bag Eni brought contained bread.
Unlike the hard, cheap bread they always ate, this was soft and fluffy.
“So, let me see your magical beasts.”
“…Are you sure?”
Rau and Eni exchanged a glance. Zeke understood their hesitation, especially after his emotional breakdown. But a magical beast should always be kept close, by its master’s side.
“Come out, Sentos.”
“Come on out, Shellfina.”
At his nod, the two of them summoned their beasts.
Magical beasts came in all shapes and sizes, from small to large, which could often be inconvenient.
For that reason, they could either shrink in size or transform into a magic stone.
The Thunderlight Tiger and the Phoenix both appeared about the same size as Fios.
It seemed Rau had named his Thunderlight Tiger “Sentos”, and Eni had named her Phoenix “Shellfina”.
They shared some of the skewers with Sentos and Shellfina, who happily began eating.
Fios, watching, pressed shyly against Zeke’s waist, pleading in his own silent way.
Zeke knew exactly what he wanted.
He gave Fios a skewer, stick and all.
The skewer began to slowly dissolve.
The rate of dissolution was slow.
Perhaps this was the slime’s way of savoring its food.
“So, what are you two going to do about it?”
“Do about what?”
“About the kingdom’s offer, of course.”
From his past life, he already knew what they’d choose.
The two of them would accept the invitation and become soldiers of the kingdom.
But serving the kingdom wasn’t their only path.
With beasts like those, they could become adventurers, or work for wealthy merchants or noble houses.
Eni, in particular, with her powerful healing regeneration and fire abilities, would be in high demand.
With a Phoenix, A divine beast with fire and healing regeneration, religious groups would trip over themselves to recruit her.
“I think I’ll become a soldier. I don’t really care about the kingdom or whatever, but I want to protect the people I know… like you, and the others around here… and Eni, too. If they’re giving someone like me a chance, I guess I should repay them a little.”
“As for me… hmm, I always dreamed of being an adventurer, but… now that I’ve got this healing power, I think I want to learn how to use it.”
It was a roundabout way of saying she’d join the kingdom too.
Learning magic on your own as an adventurer was almost impossible.
To study magic properly, you needed to enroll in a school, join the kingdom, or the Magic Tower.
But for commoners, school was prohibitively expensive. The Magic Tower was isolated and unwelcoming. They had no connection there.
Without exceptional luck and skill, getting in was next to impossible.
So joining the kingdom was the most realistic option.
Although, with Eni’s potential, she could probably walk up to the Magic Tower’s gates and be accepted on the spot.
“I see. I think that’s a great idea,” Zeke said with a gentle smile.
He couldn’t just ask them to turn back just because of the tragedies he knew were coming.
In fact, if things followed the same path, it would make his own plans easier.
“Aren’t you going to ask about me?”
He said it with a joking smile.
But the two of them just looked awkward, after all they were still kids.
“Don’t worry. I’ve got a lead on a job too.”
He wasn’t sure if it would go as smoothly as he hoped.
But he did know he could at least get by.
“Next time, I’ll be the one treating you two. Just you wait.”
