episode_0000

Huh? It was a moment of confusion. Frankly, I didn’t even realize it. For a brief moment, I thought I saw a bright light, but when I came to my senses, there stood before me someone who looked quite dignified, almost like a deity.

Even so, it wasn’t the typical appearance of a god or Buddha that one would commonly encounter. It was more like an immediate recognition that this must be a deity.

“Well, this has become quite troublesome.”

The deity—or perhaps it was—muttered in such a manner. What could be so troublesome? Judging by the situation, it seemed quite likely that I had died. It wasn’t my time to die yet, was it? I’ve never even been in a relationship, so while it’s a bit regrettable to end up like this, having not experienced love, it felt somewhat incomplete.

“These days, humanity’s faith is exceedingly faint.”

Faith? In this age of brilliant scientific advancement in the 21st century, it was hard to come across anything resembling faith. Except for taking breaks on Christmas or Buddha’s Birthday, I had no faith whatsoever. Well, isn’t that normal? It’s a peaceful era. They say everyone becomes devout in times of crisis, but such extreme situations seemed to be stories of distant lands to me, living in South Korea.

“Oh, ho. Does faith bloom when people are driven into extreme situations?”

Reading my thoughts from earlier, the deity or whatever being continued muttering ominously. No, rather…

“Even without that, the total amount of faith on Earth has decreased, and our divine status has been gradually facing a crisis. I suppose I’ll have to use you as a test case.”

A test case? There was nothing good among things labeled like that. And why me, of all people? Before me, there must have been countless others without faith.

“Well, think of it as just bad luck. There’s no particular reason it couldn’t be you.”

The deity, or the luminous mass it had become by then, waved its hand swiftly—don’t ask how a mass becomes a hand—to conclude its words. Gradually, the voice faded, and I found myself unable to do anything as my vision darkened.

“A test case, so let’s bestow a small gift together.”

That was my last memory.

Fortunately, I was reborn with memories from my past life. It felt like one of those isekai reincarnation stories that I had often heard about. The problem was that I, who was originally a man, was reborn as a woman, and the trials of the Light Entity were not the end of it. I was also an orphan with a frail body. Even if I was an orphan, being reborn in a modern society with a well-established welfare system would have been fine, but…

“Marianne Roche Madohasa, you are hereby assigned to the 1st Training Platoon of the 93rd Independent Alarm Corps!”

The issue was that the background of my rebirth as Marianne Roche was Earth, around the early 18th century. The Industrial Revolution was still a distant concept.

Truly distant. Having lived in this world for 17 years, I had come to realize that scientific advancement here was terribly slow. Perhaps this was also part of the Light Entity’s scheme. Anyway, having stagnated at this level of scientific technology for over 300 years, it was several times slower compared to Earth.

“Umm… 1st Platoon Leader, Erdua Saserda.”

Standing before me was a massive figure, almost reaching 2 meters, while I barely surpassed 150cm. It felt like I was facing a wall. He was probably carefully reading the assignment report detailing my personal information.

Ah, right. “Madohasa” refers to using magic and magical equipment. Soldiers with magical aptitude didn’t start as regular privates; they began as officers. So, even if I’m called an officer now, it’s just a title. The last gift the Light Entity mentioned was my magical aptitude, quite high at that. Oh, another gift? Maybe it was my attractive appearance and shining silver hair?

The slow scientific development in this world might be due to the existence of magic. While I couldn’t cast fireballs like in fantasy novels on Earth, those with magical aptitude could use it conveniently in various ways.

“Sending such a young soldier in response to our manpower request. Seems like there’s a shortage of people. Marianne, was it? You belong to B Company.”

The platoon leader indicated the location of the platoon’s barracks as if to say he had no further business with them. Even though it was called a barracks, it was probably just a tent. Due to the scarcity of personnel who could use magic, its size was significantly smaller compared to regular infantry units. I know that the platoon consists of five people, including the platoon leader, which is the standard establishment.

So, in the Kingdom of Frankia, where I was born, they maintain conscription. Once every child in the country turns sixteen, they undergo a standardized magical aptitude test. Some claimed that the entire administrative network of the Kingdom of Frankia existed solely for this purpose. And children with a certain level of magical aptitude were forcibly conscripted, regardless of whether they were nobles or orphans.

Although the term “forced conscription” may seem paradoxical, it was indeed forced conscription. Noble families exerted tremendous pressure on magical aptitude individuals to enlist and elevate the honor of their family, while commoners and orphans were practically abducted.

Nevertheless, there wasn’t much resistance because there were so few individuals with magical aptitude, and once enlisted, the pay in the military was quite high.

Me? Of course, I volunteered. There was a bit of absurdity in going back to the military I had already experienced in my past life, but I thought there was no other way for an abandoned orphan like me to succeed except through the military. Yes, my goal is the comfortable life and economic freedom that I couldn’t achieve in my past life. How can I achieve that by enlisting? Like I said earlier, there’s only one way for an orphan with magical aptitude to succeed in this era. I calculated that if I worked hard when I was young, at least after my status rose, I could live comfortably in a rear support role.

Whiiing-

As I left the platoon headquarters barracks, I saw tents nestled among the evergreen forest. They looked like bumps on the snow-covered ground. Regular infantry would not be able to endure tents in this sub-zero weather, but magic infantry could. They could endure it because they diligently circulated magic within their bodies, maintaining a reasonable body temperature.

Phew-

The dense fir forest, with large military tents pitched, was incredibly vast. In the Muscovy Republic, it seemed they called it something in their own language, but in the Kingdom of Francia, it was simply referred to as the Black Forest. From the main base tent situated in the highlands of the forest, where the rest of the tents and the expansive fir forest behind them could be seen, nothing but the fir forest extended to the horizon.

Such a dense fir forest was rare in the Kingdom of Francia. The Muscovy Republic, which bordered the kingdom to the east, had forests as far as the eye could see.

Given the times, there were no exact borders, and even though a force of around 100 strong was so deep within the republic, they had gone unnoticed. This was the mission of the raiding unit.

While there wasn’t outright war with the Muscovy Republic, sporadic small-scale skirmishes continued near the border. It was a climate where either side could launch a sudden offensive without it being considered unusual. It was unfortunate timing for those in the raiding unit, but then again, soldiers of the raiding unit were usually up to no good anyway, even if reluctantly.

“Huh? A meteor?”

Unknowingly, I murmured like an idiot. A meteor was streaking across the clear sky, crashing down with tremendous light. Not only me, but all the members inside the tent were gazing at the sky. It was such a vivid light, an almost surreal phenomenon.

Eventually, the meteor crashed about a few kilometers away. It was quite sizable, and according to common knowledge, it should have resulted in a massive explosion, but there was no sign of that. There was just a slight tremor shaking the ground. What on earth was that? However, what I thought was merely the biggest trial akin to a war from the meteor’s impact would turn out to be a decisive variable for me, as I would come to realize only a few hours later.