Novice Reincarnator

I woke up to someone banging on the front door of my dorm. It was especially annoying because today of all days, I wanted to sleep in as late as possible. Unfortunately, the person at the front door was more persistent than I was lazy.

I blearily opened my eyes and saw that it was still bright and early outside. My feet carried me to the front door with unsteady footsteps.

“Yes, yes. What is it?”

I opened the door while yawning. My yawn ended up getting stuck in my throat. A maid that I had seen from somewhere was standing gracefully in front of my door. She gave me a beautiful curtsy before speaking up.

“My lady requests your presence.”

My reply was graceful and elegant, as befitting of the occasion.

“Huh?”

Somehow, this situation seemed familiar. A bad feeling welled up within my heart. The maid spoke up before I could figure out how to respond.

“Thank you for your understanding.”

“No wait!”

I barely got a word out when my view shifted. Fast. The maid had thrown me over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes before I noticed it. Her level was high, far higher than mine. I wanted to shout for help, but no words escaped from my lips. Some kind of spell had silenced our surroundings.

The world blurred and suddenly, I found myself sitting in an extremely luxurious car wearing only a thin white dress shirt, Lime in the shape of a leotard, and short shorts. The car engine started and the Saint Mikhail Explorer Academy campus got further and further away.

I… I had just gotten kidnapped!

There was only one person I knew that commanded maids and would want to kidnap me. Oh no. I was so screwed. It was useless to protest if she found me. I glanced at the maid who kidnapped me. Her icy cold expression shut up any thought I might have of negotiating for my freedom.

Make a dash for it? Scream for help? The maid in the car with me was so much stronger than I was that it was useless to try to resist. Besides, if I was right, then there was no way my kidnapper would hurt me.

“Umm, have we met before?”

I swore this maid looked familiar, but I couldn’t place where I had seen her.

“Yes. Once.”

That was the end of the conversation. Dread wormed its way into my stomach as we got closer and closer to our destination. A quiet voice interrupted my nervous thoughts.

“How did you do it?”

“I’m sorry?”

The maid grit her teeth and a pained expression appeared on her face.

“We tried everything we could think of for years, but none of us could do it. How did you do it?”

“I… don’t know?”

Her question was so vague that I wasn’t sure what she was asking. My answer apparently satisfied her because the maid remained silent for the rest of the trip.

The luxurious car pulled into the most extravagant mansion I had ever seen. A row of maids were lined up at the entrance to greet us.

“Welcome, Lady Ash.”

“Ah… yeah.”

I was incredibly embarrassed to have a group of incredibly beautiful maids curtsy to me. What surprised me the most was that almost all of these maids were high ranking angels. I could tell because they had their halos and wings out.

“This way, Lady Ash.”

The maid that kidnapped me led me through the mansion. It was so big that I would have easily gotten lost if not for my guide. Elaborate paintings, incredible sculptures, and rich decorations were present in every room.

There were several guards roaming about and big statues of knights that I had no doubt would come to life should an intruder show up. It was like I had stepped into a completely different world the moment I entered the mansion.

Eventually, the maid led me to a garden where a single girl was having tea. My heart nearly stopped and the biggest plot twist of the day hit me.

“Good work, Helen.”

“It was my pleasure, My Lady.”

This whole time I had it all wrong. I thought Leah had tracked me down, but that wasn’t the case. After all, the girl drinking tea in front of me was Cecilia Snowlight. There was no way I could forget her trademark silver hair and violet eyes.

Helen quietly stood behind Cecilia. Another maid showed up and poured a drink at the seat across from Cecilia. It was only when Helen motioned to me with her head that I understood what Cecilia wanted.

I sat down across from Cecilia and grabbed the teacup. My mind had to mentally prepare myself because I wasn’t exactly a tea fan. I took a hesitant sip and was pleasantly surprised. My cup contained Dr. Pep.

“How did you know that this is my favorite drink?”

“My maids looked it up.”

How? No, that was easy to find out for a family with as much power and influence as the Snowlight family. Perhaps because I grew up around Leo, I wasn’t too surprised by Cecilia’s words. I set my teacup down and cut to the heart of the matter.

“Why did you bring me here?”

This time, Cecilia did not answer me. We were practically strangers. We met once when she saved me and once in the bath, but that was it. Perhaps anyone else in my situation would have pressed harder for answers, but my last few months as Asta Ashford had gotten me used to being dragged to random places by Leo’s admirers.

This situation wasn’t the same as back then, but it did give me the leeway to wait and see how things played out. I took another sip of my Dr. Pep and reflected. If I ignored the fact I was practically kidnapped, this situation wasn’t all that bad.

A gentle breeze caressed my hair and rustled the leaves of trees in the garden. Flowers swayed and birds sang happily. It was a picturesque scene, especially with the angel in front of me present.

As far as potential last days went, this was perhaps the best possible way to end it. I let go of my tense nerves and simply enjoyed the tranquil beauty that was present in the garden. Cecilia appeared to have the same idea as her beautiful violet eyes took in the garden.

An hour later when my stomach began to rumble, Cecilia suddenly got up from her seat. I quickly followed her along with Helen. I was starting to understand why Black didn’t like Cecilia.

Cecilia acted in a way that expected others to follow her whims. She called me over here without explaining anything and even now, she hadn’t turned around because she fully believed I would be right behind her.

Although she wasn’t nearly as vocal as the stereotype, Cecilia was something of a selfish princess. There was a belief engraved deep in her bones that people would naturally do what she wanted.

She wasn’t wrong either. Everyone we crossed paths with looked at Cecilia with such fervor in their eyes that I believed they would give up their lives for her. In light of that, it was remarkable how little she tried to rule over others.

Cecilia had the power and authority most could only dream of, but she never used it. Almost everything she accomplished was something she achieved with her own abilities. Her title, Untouchable Empress, was a sign of respect for her great character and strength.

I found myself sitting at a huge table in what was obviously some kind of dining room. The maids set down several trays of food on the table. Cecilia silently began eating without changing her expression. Unfortunately, that was impossible for me. I took one bite and nearly ascended to heaven.

“This is so good!”

I took another bite and another. I was eating so quickly that I nearly choked on my food. At that moment, nothing else mattered. I ate the best meal of my life as if it was the last meal of my life. All of my complaints about being kidnapped had disappeared by the time I finished.

“Where to next, Cecilia?”

“The library.”

We spent the afternoon reading books in the library. Cecilia picked up an extremely technical explorers handbook while I simply read an adventure novel. More often than not, I would catch a maid looking at me with a strange, expectant look on their faces.

We had another sumptuous meal for dinner that made me question what I had done to receive such wonderful treatment. Cecilia led me on a guided tour of her mansion. Of course, Helen was the one who ended up explaining what I was looking at.

It was only when it had gotten rather late that Helen and the rest of the maids left Cecilia and I alone for the first time. With how much Helen and the rest of the servants had hovered around Cecilia all day, I immediately noticed their absence.

“Cecilia?”

“Come.”

Cecilia’s voice was firm. I followed her with growing nerves as we entered a section of the mansion that had been skipped during the guided tours. A sharp pang of nerves hit me the moment we stepped into a familiar looking room.

“This is?”

“The bathhouse.”

Of course it was. The towels, bins, and everything else made it obvious that it was a bathhouse, but I had hoped I was somehow mistaken. Uncaring of my inner turmoil, Cecilia began to take off her clothes.

“How about we take turns having a bath?”

I tried recommending an alternative. The maids would kill me if they found out if their precious princess took a bath with a former man. All Cecilia had to do was look at me and my resistance immediately evaporated.

“All right, forget I said anything.”

Heat rose to my face. The shifting and rubbing of cloth beside me sounded louder in my ears. My heart pounded in my chest from knowing the most beautiful girl I had ever laid eyes on was taking off her clothes.

In comparison, it was almost a relief to quickly strip my own clothes and hop underneath a shower. It allowed me to cool my own head and kept me busy from staring at the angelic beauty beside me.

Memories of the last time we took a bath together rose to my mind unbidden and wicked temptations plagued my thoughts. It was almost worse to be showering next to a naked Cecilia than it was to be in front of her.

At least when I was in front of her, I was too stunned by her beauty to have any extra thoughts. I ended up taking a quick shower and hopped into the bath as far from the entrance as was possible. I didn’t want a repeat of what happened last time.

The whole situation was beginning to make me feel faint and dizzy. My embarrassment rose and the number of strange thoughts I had increased dramatically. I both dreaded and eagerly anticipated Cecilia’s arrival.

Taking a bath with Cecilia a second time wasn’t any easier than the first time. If anything, it was harder because I hadn’t overloaded my embarrassment meter right away. The wait was killing me. I hugged my knees to my chest and kept my face down.

The soft pitter patter of footsteps filled the room. My breath caught in my throat. As I suspected, my feeble resistance was useless. All I had done was prolong my torture. Cecilia walked around the full length of the bath, only getting in once she had reached my side.

My consciousness threatened to slip from my grasp at any moment. A part of me only wanted to give in to the temptation and fall into a blissful state of unconsciousness. Unfortunately, I remembered the bitter look on Helen’s face on the car ride over here.

Even Helen, someone who had known Cecilia far longer than I did, couldn’t be around Cecilia when she was naked without a blindfold. Perhaps the reason I was called over was because Cecilia wanted to take a bath with me.

When I came to that conclusion, I realized that I couldn’t afford to lose consciousness here.

“Thank you for inviting me over today, Cecilia. I enjoyed myself.”

“I’m glad.”

I took a deep breath to try to calm down. Instead, I sucked in a mouthful of her fragrant scent. My body wobbled. My hand shot down to support myself, but I ended up touching Cecilia’s hand.

My eyes inevitably turned towards her and I made the accident of falling deep into her violet eyes. My hand retracted from hers as almost an afterthought, but her eyes had me spellbound. I couldn’t even look away even if I wanted to.

Her incredibly pure, violet eyes shone with a beautiful light. I hardly noticed when Cecilia opened her mouth to speak. No words escaped from her open mouth. Seconds passed in silence. I watched as the darkness hidden in the depths of her eyes raced to the surface. A strange voice broke the sudden silence.

“See? This is why I hate myself. I can never say what I want when it matters most.”

I blinked and Cecilia’s appearance changed. Darkness spread like a miasma across her silver hair, turning it jet black. A golden halo appeared above her head before it was consumed by shadows. Twelve snow white wings appeared on her back. Within moments, they were dyed by darkness.

My mind went pure white at the sudden transformation. I swung like a pendulum between almost fainting and waking up from shock. The girl next to me laughed at my state.

“You can cry, scream, curse me, or faint if you want. It will not hurt my feelings. You will not be the first to call me a freak and you will certainly not be the last, after all.”

Seeing the jet black, feathery wings, a single word welled up from the bottom of my heart.

“...Cool.”

Cecilia with snow white wings was a breathtaking beauty, but Cecilia with jet black wings was just too cool. Apparently Cecilia had not expected my words because she shot to her feet, revealing everything in front of me.

My eyes immediately fell on the thick rod between her legs. A cold shudder ran down my spine.

“Tch. I got my hopes up for nothing. You found me disgusting after all. There is no way someone could possibly think my appearance was cool.”

I somehow managed to squeeze the question I desperately wanted answered out of my throat.

“Cecilia… Why are you… erect?”

“Hmm? I thought a former man like you would understand. It is always like this when I take this appearance.”

Cecilia wagged her thing as if she found nothing amiss with the situation. I found myself calming down at the absurdity of the situation.

“Don’t tell me you think that men walk around with erections all the time?”

“They don’t?”

“Of course not!”

Who was it that taught Cecilia sex ed? You are fired! I gathered my wits and set things straight.

“Men only get erect when they are aroused.”

What the hell was I even saying in front of Cecilia while we were both naked?

“I see. What you are trying to say is that I am aroused by you. I’ll admit, your breasts are something special, but there is no way I would be aroused by your poor body.”

Something clicked in my mind and suddenly, my doubts were answered. I only knew one individual that spoke like this. I had to set things straight with this idiot.

“I don’t find your appearance disgusting. I think black wings are pretty cool. Also, I was a man myself. What you have between your legs doesn’t bother me, it is the fact that it is standing tall that makes me worried.”

“Impossible. There is nobody that can resist my rockin body.”

I suddenly felt exhausted. How did I make such a bad friend?

“You are looking at an exception to the rule, Black.”

“I thought you would catch on, Ash.”

We shared a smile, which was made considerably weirder in light of the fact that Black Cecilia was still towering over me naked.

“Cover up that damn thing between your legs and sit down!”

“I thought you said it doesn’t matter to you?”

“That doesn’t mean I want to be staring at it.”

“Heh. It must be because mine is bigger than yours was.”

I stayed silent and Black Cecilia shot me a victorious expression. I shut her up by folding my arms under my chest and lifting up my breasts. She looked like she had eaten a bitter worm when it dawned on her who the true winner was.

After we joked around for a bit, Black Cecilia cut straight to the chase.

“The usual me couldn’t say it, but I called you here because of the sword you picked up yesterday.”

I noted down the strange phrase Black Cecilia used to describe herself.

“You said it was the Giant Slayer Sword of Ruin.”

“Correct. Be straight with me. You plan to do something ridiculous, right?”

“How did you know?”

I was taken aback. I hadn’t said a word of my plans to anyone and my usual actions didn’t reveal anything out of the ordinary.

“It is called a Sword of Ruin because only explorers that intend to fight enemies stronger than themselves can wield that cursed sword. It is rather inevitable to meet an untimely end in those types of battles. Hence, it is a Sword of Ruin.”

Black went on to mention some of the famous explorers who had once wielded the Giant Slayer Sword of Ruin. I never knew it had that kind of history behind it. No wonder it became a big deal when I pulled it out of Sword Graveyard.

“The usual me couldn’t say it, but I'm different.”

A soft, gentle warmth enveloped my hand as Black Cecilia covered my hand with both of hers. I came to the abrupt realization that even if it was Black, she was just as beautiful as the usual Cecilia.

“Ash, don’t go.”

Her earnest desire broke through all of my defenses and sank deep into my heart. Cecilia didn’t want me to risk my life to fight a Crystalline Colossus. Sweet temptation weakened my resolve. It would be so easy to nod my head here. Cecilia’s innate charm screamed at me to listen.

The most beautiful girl in the world was pleading for me to choose the safe path. Her caring nature was transmitted to me through her hands that were wrapped around mine. Words buried deep in my heart spilled freely from my lips.

“Every night, I have nightmares of that day I encountered a Crystalline Colossus. I am helpless, weak, and alone in them. Those nightmares will continue for the rest of my life unless I defeat the Colossus.”

I never intended to speak of my nightmares to anyone, but somehow I found myself naturally voicing them to Cecilia.

“Even so, you don’t have to do it alone. Let me join you or get a party of skilled explorers to help.”

“Nothing would change if others defeated a Crystalline Colossus for me. This is something I have to do myself.”

No matter how strong or talented Cecilia was, this wasn’t something she could solve. I needed to overcome this obstacle on my own.

“Thank you for worrying about me. I am sorry that I couldn’t answer your expectations.”

Black Cecilia let go of my hands and averted her eyes. A quiet grumble reached my ears.

“Idiot. All of the nutrients must have gone to your chest, leaving your brain empty. Only an idiot would challenge a Crystalline Colossus at level 10.”

My heart warmed up from Cecilia’s genuine care. Unlike the first day I arrived in the Upper Realm, I was no longer alone. I had Lime, Pepper, Ruin, and Cecilia.

We dropped the heavier subject for lighter matters. Much like how she was when I was dungeon diving, Black was a chatterbox that liked to talk about anything and everything. I kinda stopped listening halfway through.

While the usual Cecilia was quiet and calm demeanor gave her a mysterious atmosphere, Black Cecilia was a lively and energetic young lady that was up to no good. Black Cecilia’s approachable nature made her natural charm several times more potent.

My reasoning was screaming at its limits. If only she was clothed, then my eyes wouldn’t be drawn to her chest every single time she made a particularly large movement. Of course, such glances did not go unnoticed.

“Do you like what you see? I told you that breasts are the strongest.”

Black Cecilia lifted her breasts with her hands as if to show them off. I couldn’t take it anymore. I stood up abruptly.

“Sorry, I’m getting out.”

“Wait, don’t go!”

A dissatisfied voice chased after me, but I ignored it and returned to the changing room. My clothes were missing. Clean, white pajamas rested in their place. I could hear the smirk in Black Cecilia’s voice as she caught up to me.

“Spend the night at my place and dive into the dungeon tomorrow.”

“Ah… yeah.”

I was so dumbfounded that my clothes had disappeared that I ended up absentmindedly agreeing to Cecilia’s request. There was nothing I could do if I didn’t have anything to wear. I dried myself off and put on the soft, comfy pajamas.

“Tsk. Tsk. That Helen. Doesn’t she know black is a better color than white?”

Cecilia and I wore matching pajamas. Where mine was pure white, hers had a black, white, and silver design on it. It was a huge relief to be able to look at her again without running into any risks of fainting.

I was just looking at her, but Cecilia’s body began to glow with a faint light. She turned to me with a fed up expression.

“It seems I have run out of time. Good night, Ash.”

Black Cecilia’s body flashed with a bright white light and when I regained my vision, a Cecilia with silver hair and violet eyes was standing in front of me. An all too familiar silence fell between us.

“Um, welcome back?”

Cecilia nodded at my words. A moment later, she left the bathhouse and I followed. A flurry of activity surrounded us as a number of maids reappeared and fussed over Cecilia. We walked together for a while, but eventually the maids stopped as we reached a guest room.

We said our goodbyes and parted ways. Tired beyond belief after my exhausting time in the bath, I collapsed onto the bed and quickly fell asleep.