Novice Reincarnator

A blue, crystal teleporter floated in the center of the fallen Six-tailed Red Fox’s territory. The sight of it nearly brought tears to my eyes. At last, I was going home.

“This is it, guys. Jump in my shadow and I will take you to a new world.”

Members of my pack brushed against my legs one by one before jumping into my shadow. Soon, I found myself alone in the clearing. Boss Bro and the rest of his drinking buddies were probably still passed out where we last had our party. With home so close to me, it was impossible for me to wait for them to wake up before leaving.

“Goodbye, world.”

I put my hand on the teleporter and activated it. There was no strange vibrations, no earthquakes. The world did not crack like glass and I did not drop into darkness. Instead, my vision flashed and I found myself standing in a dusty, dark room.

My fox ears flickered and my senses took in the immediate surroundings. I was in a completely empty building, but the distant noises of civilization were everywhere outside the building. I heard the voices of people going about their everyday lives.

I was back.

I took one step forward, intent on racing back to Cecilia and Byleth, and froze in my tracks. A lot of things I hadn’t worried about at all raced to the forefront of my mind. Namely, I stunk and was a filthy mess. Additionally, I was naked.

That in itself wasn’t a big deal, but I would get into troubling walking through the streets naked. I scratched the back of my head in helplessness.

“Can’t be helped. Hopefully there is another teleporter connected to the baths.”

I searched through the dusty, closed up building. Thankfully, it had an identical structure as all the other guild administration buildings. Within a few minutes, I quickly found the teleporter and teleported to the women’s bathhouse.

The happy chatter of girls filled my ears. The sight of girls in various states of undress leapt to my eyes. White, creamy skin filled my vision. [Instinct] kicked into overdrive. I easily pushed it down. None of these girls could compare to Cecilia or Byleth.

A few eyes wandered in my direction. Some of them froze like deer in headlights. Others blushed and averted their gazes. A few whistled in appreciation.

“Those are some wicked scars.”

“Thanks, Claire. Did you go ahead of everyone else again?”

“H-Huh? Have we met before?”

I ignored the Royal Paladin of the Hero party and made my way to the showers. Blissfully cold water spilled from the showerhead onto my overheating body. My hands combed through my long black hair, taking extra care around my two fox ears.

Once I was done getting the dirt out of my hair, I then worked on cleaning each of my tails. I made full use of the various modern conveniences to clean myself up. I left the showers with a clean coat of fur.

I stood there, pondering what to do next. I still needed some way to get myself some clothes. I couldn’t exactly walk outside wearing only a bath towel.

“Excuse me?”

“What?”

A timid voice interrupted my thoughts. I turned to the girl with dog beast ears, who was frantically apologizing to me for some reason.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

Only now did I remember my biting cold voice and face. She had misunderstood me and thought I was angry.

“No need to apologize. What did you want?”

“Umm, are your tails real?”

“Of course.”

“N-No way.”

For some reason, the girl gasped in disbelief. In fact, she wasn’t the only one. Most of the other Beastman in the bathhouse seemed to echo her sentiments. Several hushed whispers reached my ears.

“That legend was real!?”

“Is this the legendary 9 Tailed Fox Beastman!?”

“Impossible. Those tails have to be fake!”

I very quickly got an idea of what was going on. Apparently, a 9 Tailed Fox Beastman was something of a myth among Beastman. An extremely strong, legendary 9 Tailed Fox Beastman appeared in the distant past, but his entire line was wiped out and there had been none since.

“C-Can I touch your tails?”

“Sorry, but my tails are reserved for my lovers.”

“Of course. Sorry for being rude! Have a nice day!”

My voice scared off the girl. This was a huge problem. How would I be able to seduce Byleth and Cecilia if my voice was as cold as an iceberg?

Before I managed to take even a single step to the bath, I was interrupted by a much fiercer looking girl with wild, golden hair and a lion tail.

"If you are indeed a 9 Tailed Fox Beastman, does that mean you have reached [Ki IV] too?"

As soon as the words [Ki IV] came out of the fierce girl's mouth, the eyes of the surrounding Beastman sharpened to a scary degree. Somehow, I got the feeling they cared more about [Ki IV] than my race.

"Being a 9 Tailed Fox Beastman didn't grant me the [Ki IV] skill."

"Right, of course."

The fierce lion girl sighed in disappointment. Her sentiment was echoed everywhere. Seeing that, I couldn't help but continue my words.

"But, yes. I do have the [Ki IV] skill?"

The girl's face lit up with such excitement that you would have thought she had won the lottery.

"Really!? How did you achieve the unification of body and mind!? Do you have any tips for me? I've been stuck at [Ki III] for 10 years now."

Achieving the unification of body and mind was necessary to reach [Ki IV]? I didn't know what to tell the girl. All I had done was accept that I was a girl now. Surely she had lived with that belief her whole life. The only other thing that came to mind was the complete comfort I felt with my own body, thanks to the [Naked] skill...

...Wait. No way. That useless failure skill..?

Impossible. I refuse to believe it. Even if it was true, there was no way I was going to tell anyone. I didn't want to be the girl known for spreading the [Naked] skill amongst all Beastman. Ash's embarrassing reputation was more than enough for me.

"Sorry, I can't help you. I just naturally gained the skill after gaining a deep acceptance of myself."

I quickly made an excuse and ran away. The fierce lion girl looked like she wanted to chase me, but she gave up once she saw me enter the bath besides Claire.

“I’m sorry. I’ve been wracking my head, but I can’t seem to remember you.”

The Royal Paladin of the Hero party apologized to me.

“Don’t worry. I’ve changed a lot since we last met. Isn’t that right, Tabitha?”

“How!?”

Tabitha’s surprised voice rang out from besides Claire. I couldn’t sense her with my five senses, but the soul sense I gained from [Ki IV] easily picked up her presence. Not even the Ninja of the Hero party could mask her soul.

“Haha. It’s nice to be the one surprising you for a change.”

Tabitha always seemed to appear out of nowhere, so I was happy to get the jump on her this time. Claire looked at me in surprise.

“No, really. Who are you?”

I smiled, or tried to. In truth, the corner of my lips tilted upwards in the barest hint of a smile. I didn’t respond to her question as my ears had already picked up the approaching girls.

“Claire, how many times do I need to tell you? We are a party. We should stick together!”

“Eh? Melissa?”

Claire evidently hadn’t heard Melissa’s approach as she was too focused on me.

“Don’t ‘eh’ me… Who is your newest friend?”

My gaze went from Melissa to the girls next to her.

“Nice to see you again, Melissa, Elizabeth, and… Leah.”

My words caused the three of them to frown. I could see the cogs in their head churning as they did their best to place who I was. My eyes wandered between Elizabeth and Leah. A hint of disappointment filled my heart. They couldn’t recognize me.

All of a sudden, a strange sensation attacked me. The layer of [Ki] wrapping around my soul flared and blocked the intrusion. My eyes landed on Leah Maxwell, whose mouth opened in surprise.

“No way. [Appraisal] was blocked!?”

“Didn’t Byleth tell you that it is rude to look into a girl’s secret?”

“H-Huh?”

Now that I looked at Leah Maxwell with a fresh pair of eyes, I was honestly disappointed. The radiant glow that always surrounded her had faded. I knew that she wasn’t the one that had changed. Instead, I had changed. Her [Charm] skill could no longer reach me through the [Ki] surrounding my mind, body, and soul.

Leah Maxwell wasn’t my prince or my hero. She was just another girl that I was friends with. She might be beautiful, but I found Cecilia and Byleth to be far prettier. In short, Leah Maxwell wasn’t someone I needed to run away from. I met Elizabeth’s eyes.

“It looks like this game is my win, Elizabeth.”

My words seemed to do the trick as Elizabeth gasped.

“It can’t be. You are…”

She was so shocked that she stopped in the middle of her sentence. I finished her words for her.

“That is right. I am Fang.”

The unthinkable happened. Tears spilled freely down Elizabeth's cheeks.

“Thank goodness. I thought you were dead.”

Leah was uselessly standing by Elizabeth’s side, not knowing what to do. The sight of Elizabeth crying had shocked her just as much as it had shocked me. I stood up and hugged Elizabeth to my chest.

“It’s okay. I’m alive. Don’t cry. Everything turned out okay.”

My icy cold voice certainly wasn’t suitable for comforting a crying girl. I wished a certain person would step up to the job, but of course that person couldn’t read the mood and comfort her girl like she was supposed to.

“What is going on? Why is Elizabeth crying over Byleth’s maid?”

Seeing her like this, I knew that thickheaded, dense hero still didn’t get it. I spun the words necessary to let even that idiot know the truth.

“Allow me to introduce myself again. It’s nice to meet you, Leah Maxwell. I go by the name of Fang right now, but that wasn’t always the case.”

“W-What are you saying!?”

The once noisy bathhouse fell silent at Leah’s shout. All eyes fell on us. The weight of those gazes was as light as a feather to me.

“You might know me as the Demon Princess, Ash.”

“Eh? But, Ash is…”

Leah Maxwell took a step back in shock. Her eyes widened in disbelief and a denial hung on her lips.

“Before Ash, I went by the name of your best friend, Asta Ashford.”

The world froze at my declaration. I watched with great interest as Leah Maxwell’s face morphed from disbelief to shock, anger, and then to enlightenment and joy.

“Astaaa!!!”

Leah jumped at me, not caring about Elizabeth who was in my arms. Luckily, I was prepared for this reaction. Thanks to [Instinct IV], [Ki IV], and [Agility III], I was able to dance out of the way with Elizabeth.

Leah Maxwell’s expression looked like he had just witnessed me kick a kitten. I let go of Elizabeth and faced my friend properly for the first time in ages.

“Long time no see.”

Unfortunately, Leah was in no mood for chatting lightly.

“Why did you avoid me?”

Very well. If Leah wanted to dive straight into the hard topics, then I wouldn’t hesitate to dive right in.

“I have no interest in being your girlfriend.”

“You are only saying that because you never gave me a proper chance. I promise you that I will make you the happiest person in the world.”

Cold laughter spilled from my mouth. I couldn’t help it. Leah’s words were too funny.

“You will make me the happiest person in the world? Like how you have made Elizabeth the happiest girl in the world?”

What a joke. Leah always hurt Elizabeth over and over again without even realizing it.

“Why are you bringing up Elizabeth?”

That idiot hero immediately proved my point.

“Leah, I have always thought that you would make for a horrible lover. You take the affection of the girls that love you for granted and give nothing in return. Even worse, you can’t even recognize your own feelings towards the girl that you like.”

“You are wrong. I very clearly asked you to date me.”

I sighed in disappointment.

“No, you idiot. You only like the idea of dating me because I was a convenient solution to your problem. The girl you truly like, who has been by your side all this time, is Elizabeth.”

Elizabeth blushed bright red at my words. I wanted to tease her, but Leah’s shout ruined the moment.

“You are wrong. You know that it is impossible for me to like a girl.”

“We have both changed, Leah. If you say that it is impossible for you to like a girl, then that means it is impossible for you to like me.”

Standing in front of Leah, I finally realized why it was so difficult for me to accept that I was a girl. I had thought that clinging to being a man was the only thing stopping me from falling in love with Leah. After all, my original reason for saying no was because we were both men.

It was only when I realized that I liked Cecilia and Byleth, and that the possibility of me dating Leah was zero, that I was able to accept that I was a girl. Doing so had allowed my mind and body to come together as one, which was the last missing piece needed to reach [Ki IV].

“No, Asta. You are different. You are…”

I waited for Leah to complete her sentence, but she never did. She couldn’t say it. She couldn’t say that I was a man anymore. I saw her eyes realize that I truly was a girl. At the same time, I watched as Leah realized that there were girls out there she could trust with her heart.

Almost on autopilot, her gaze fell on Elizabeth who was besides me. It was like she was seeing Elizabeth for the first time ever. A bright red blush graced Leah’s cheeks. Now, both Elizabeth and Leah were blushing at each other. I smiled at how cute the two were being.

My discussion with Leah wasn't over. There was a lot the two of us needed to talk about. Whether I would remain her friend or not was still up in the air. Even so, I liked to think that things were finally heading in the right direction.

I looked around the bathhouse while sighing to myself. Leah and I really made a spectacle of ourselves. Somehow, that didn’t bother me too much. My heart was feeling lighter than ever. This very long chapter of my life that involved me running away from Leah had finally come to a close.

As for what came next? I would have to write that chapter with the help of Cecilia and Byleth.