Novice Reincarnator

“Byleth and Cecilia are going to be mad at me again.”

I mumbled to myself as I left Beast Den. Several scars criss crossed my hands and arms. There was even more hiding underneath my shirt. Not even my legs had escaped unscathed. My shirt was a ragged mess, but I had brought plenty of spares to wear.

Most Beastman didn’t wear armor. Those that did kept the cloth area minimal so as to not impede the natural flow of their ki. Even if it made me a little safer, it would be impossible for me to focus if I tried to fight while wearing bikini armor.

My scars would fade as soon as I reincarnated, so I didn’t care too much about them. If push came to shove, I could use a potion. My natural recovery was also enough to heal them up after half a day.

It was a long walk back home from the school campus. Sneaking into dungeons in the middle of the night felt like a whole different lifetime to me. So much in my life had changed in a short period of time that it seemed unreal to me.

I glanced at my scars and then took a look at the other explorers around me. Some of them had dented armor while others had bandages wrapped around their wounds. I didn’t look out of place amidst the crowd of explorers.

Today was the first day I had earned a respectable amount of money from my dungeon exploration. The money resting in my bag was tangible proof that I could make a living like this.

Reincarnating in the Upper Realm and becoming an explorer was something I only did to run away from an unpleasant situation. Ever since Cecilia showed up by my bedside at night and asked me to stay by her side, the same question repeated over and over again in my head.

What am I going to do next?

After I confronted Leah and settled my problems, what was I going to do next?

I was only an ordinary high school student with ordinary dreams before all of this happened. It wasn’t too late for me to return to my homeworld and live the rest of my life down there.

I didn’t have a strong reason or goal to stay in the Upper Realm. What would my life look like after my role in the tale of Leah Maxwell’s rise ended?

I had no answer. For now, it was enough that I kept my promise to a certain black haired girl.

I stopped at a store on my way back home and picked up some things with my earnings. By the time I got back to Cecilia’s mansion, it was rather late. The eyes of several maids let up as soon as they saw me.

“Fang, it is great you are back. We need your help in the sunroom.”

“What happened?”

“Cecilia’s curse activated.”

I followed the maid at a quick pace through the mansion. A good chunk of the staff was present and whispering among themselves as they peeked in on the sunroom. I immediately figured out the cause of their concern.

Byleth was relaxing on a sofa while drinking a cup of tea and Cecilia was sitting by the window while reading a book. There were two problems with this scene. None of the animals that liked to lounge in the sunroom dared to get close to either of them and Cecilia’s hair was black.

“I’m back.”

“Welcome back, Fang.”

A warm greeting came from Byleth.

“Good evening, Fang.”

The usual greeting came from Cecilia. Neither of them acknowledged the other. It was a rather mysterious sensation to be treated as the only other person in the room.

“What happened to you two?”

Cecilia was the first to speak up.

“Fang, ignore that girl whose only value is her breasts and come sit with me.”

“Fang, please help me wake Cecilia up. This crow needs to return her body to its rightful owner.”

I was starting to see why the maids wanted my help. Unfortunately, my presence seemed to have only made things worse.

“Please tell that cow demon that I am the rightful owner of this body. She can go offer her tits to be milked by someone that is interested.”

“Please tell that bird brain that she is dreaming. The true owner is someone far more noble and charming than she could ever hope to be.”

It seemed like an impossible mission to make them get along, but I had to try. I fished through my bag and brought out something I had bought on the way home.

“Here you go, Cecilia. I saw this bookmark and thought of you.”

I handed over a bookmark that had black and white feathers on it. The bookmark reminded me of the two different sides of Cecilia.

“Thank you! I love it. This is the first time I’ve gotten a gift from a friend like this.”

Just as things were going well with Cecilia, the other side ruined it.

“Pfft. You are too excited for a simple gift.”

I walked over to Byleth and handed her a teaspoon that had a twelve winged angel carved into it.

“This is for you, Byleth. I made my first big paycheck as an explorer and thought I would buy you two a gift to commemorate it.”

“I didn’t expect you would get something for me too.”

I scratched my cheek in embarrassment. I wasn’t used to giving things to girls and Byleth had to be used to much fancier things as the daughter of the Demon King.

“You helped me a lot when the Leah came over. I wanted to repay you somehow.”

“I haven’t received a heartfelt gift like this in quite some time. Thank you, Fang.”

“Look who's talking now. Aren’t you too moved by a simple gift?”

“What did you say!?”

Alas, the days of Byleth and the Fallen Angel Cecilia getting along were far off into the future.