Chapter14: Journey
I wondered if that nonsense could be true, and maybe it was.
I sighed and waved my hand dismissively.
“Go away, kid. This older sister is busy.”
“…No matter how I look at it, you look younger than me?”
“Thanks for the compliment, but that doesn’t mean I’ll take you with me.”
I didn’t know her purpose for traveling, but it was understandable for someone at her age, full of dreams.
Were the people of this world any different?
Around the second year of middle school, it was time to start dreaming, a time when longing for adventure and travel overflowed.
Especially in a village like this, full of travelers.
Of course, my journey was something this dreamy girl couldn’t handle, so I had no intention of taking her with me.
Besides, it was a hassle.
“It’s dangerous for a girl to travel alone, you know? I’m strong, so I can help.”
Emily said, swinging a stick tied to her waist. Even though she was a little taller and more developed than me, it seemed absurd for a girl who looked about my age to say such a thing.
“…You look so strong.”
However, I couldn’t just ignore her words.
Whether a woman travels alone or with someone else, she’s still a good target.
No, rather, two people might make them drool even more and rush in.
Knowing that and still trying to travel meant she had her own goals.
Just like me.
Besides, Emily’s movements as she swung the wooden stick were surprisingly well-formed. I couldn’t help but wonder if she was a reincarnator like me.
About the same age, a girl, and with a foundation in martial arts.
And she’s even trying to travel.
This was perfect.
There was almost a 70% chance that she was my friend from my previous life.
And a 30% chance that she was a delusional patient.
I could find out by checking.
“I am! I’m stronger than you, at least!”
At Emily’s words, I mentally recalled my friends from my previous life.
I vaguely remembered most of them except for a few close ones, but I tried my best to remember. How many of them were as dim-witted as Emily in front of me?
Hmm, I still couldn’t tell.
“Then, can I test you?”
“Anytime!”
Emily nodded vigorously at my words.
//
After all, it wasn’t a good idea to fight in the middle of the village, so we headed to an empty lot a little far from the village.
…But wasn’t this too far?
I felt like I’d been walking for almost an hour.
“Emily, what are you going to do when you go back after coming this far?”
“Huh? I’m not going back?”
I’d been had.
Only after hearing those words did I realize that I had been tricked by the girl in front of me. This cute girl had no intention of going back from the start.
Well, she seemed like she would follow me even if I said I was abandoning her, so maybe it was natural.
Still, she must have been serious about testing her skills because Emily stopped at an empty lot after walking for a while and opened her mouth, looking at me.
“Okay, let’s test it here.”
“…Okay.”
Was she really going to show off her skills here, instead of tricking me? I couldn’t tell if she was stupid or smart, so I couldn’t identify which of my friends she was.
I didn’t even know if she was a woman or a man in her previous life.
Her tone sounded like a girl, but considering my case, she could surprisingly be a man. Or maybe a bus driver, a teacher, or that guy who rode a bicycle.
If she was that guy who rode a bicycle back then, I was going to sell her as a slave in Karaldin.
-Whoosh.
As I put my bag down on the ground, Emily threw a wooden stick at me. I caught the stick spinning in the air and swung it once.
It was surprisingly well-balanced.
“What are the rules?”
“Whatever you want.”
“Then, let’s say the first one to touch the other’s body loses.”
Judging by the fact that she wanted to fight right away, Emily didn’t even know that I had been carrying a bag and walking for an hour. Or maybe she knew and was pretending not to.
If it was the latter, she could be considered quite the strategist.
In that case, Emily must have guessed that I had reincarnated as well.
Was she still going to fight?
…Or maybe she was just an idiot.
“Okay, get ready, I’ll give you the first move.”
There seemed to be no point in thinking about it any further.
Judging by her saying she’d give me the first move, she must have reincarnated, so I could just fight her a bit and then ask.
//
Emily Artion wore a confident smile, raising her wooden stick.
She was confident that she would win.
Especially if her opponent was a girl who looked a little younger than her.
That was because she already possessed swordsmanship skills that were superior to those of her peers, as well as the young men in the village.
Travelers often visited Artun Village.
Not only mercenaries but even knights would sometimes stay there.
And every time, Emily would ask them for a sparring match.
Since knights were a bit scary, her sparring partners were mainly mercenaries and travelers at the inn.
With the strength of a young girl, it was difficult to win against them, but she never fell behind.
At first, they treated her half-jokingly, but as she grew, they became more serious.
As her body grew, Emily won against them more often. She even won against a skilled mercenary.
The knights and mercenaries who stayed in the village praised her swordsmanship, and naturally, Emily’s pride grew.
And with that, she had one goal.
‘I can’t live as a farmer forever. I’m going to be an adventurer.’
As Layla guessed, she was also a reincarnator.
A reincarnator who inherited the knowledge of Sword Saint Kim Hogu.
In this world, where mana was so scarce that it was almost impossible to build inner strength, she didn’t give up.
As the third of eight siblings, and the second daughter, she was caught up in busy housework, but Emily did her best to cultivate her inner energy, abandoning the hopeless internal energy cultivation and focusing on external energy cultivation.
Due to the power of Heroic Achievement, an external energy cultivation that developed the body, Emily was able to exert strength similar to that of boys her age. Her victory against the mercenaries was also thanks to this external energy.
Moreover, because she had the Sword Saint’s swordsmanship, her swordsmanship was so fast and sharp that it was difficult for the mercenaries to deal with.
The reason why Emily hadn’t left on a journey until now was due to a rather realistic reason.
‘…Men are dangerous.’
The travelers who had visited Artun Village so far were mostly men, and even the travelers who came alone were all men. Occasionally, caravans or parties with women would come, but they would laugh off Emily’s words about wanting to travel and go their own way.
But she couldn’t travel alone either.
Stories of almost dying while traveling alone were common among travelers.
And there was no need to say how dangerous it was for a woman like her to travel with a man. Besides, men weren’t Emily’s type.
Emily, who was a man in her previous life, had a physiological aversion to being close to men.
There was also a decisive reason for her decision to travel.
In this rural village, 16 years old was when marriageable age began. Emily’s appearance was quite good, so she was popular with the men around her, and she had to endure endless proposals from boys her age or even older young men.
Even her parents were pressuring her to get married.
Layla, who appeared in this situation, was the best opportunity for her.
As soon as Karl, a member of the self-governing group, told her that a young girl traveler had arrived, Emily packed her bags and left home.
And then, she faced Layla like this.
That was the background to this situation.
//
Layla tied her bright golden hair back and raised the wooden stick.
The knowledge of the Succubus Witch didn’t only contain Yin Demon Arts and Essence Absorption Technique.
It also contained various swordsmanship techniques and ways to handle weapons. And Layla had learned those martial arts while wandering the slums as a child.
In order for the children of the slums to survive, they sometimes had to fight even against adults. Even though she lived a life no different from being a sex toy for men as a prostitute, she didn’t neglect practicing martial arts.
-Tap.
Layla lightly leaped forward and swung the wooden stick.
-Whoosh.
With the sound of cutting through the wind, the blunt and thin stick plunged down towards Emily’s shoulder. Emily was impressed, noticing that Layla’s posture was surprisingly well-formed.
‘She’s pretty good?’
Was that why she was traveling alone, because she had some skill?
Thinking that, Emily raised her wooden stick diagonally to block Layla’s attack.
-Whizz.
No, that’s what she thought.
The moment Emily took a defensive stance, Layla’s stick changed.
The stick, which had been plunging down like lightning, curved gracefully, twisting once.
“Huh!?”
Seeing that, Emily was shocked.
The strike, which twisted in like a snake, seemed to have taken Emily’s defense into account and was aiming for her weak spot.
Emily barely twisted her body to avoid the blow.
As the wooden stick barely grazed her body, a chilling cold ran through her entire body.
‘Illusion Sword?’
A swordsmanship that changed in a myriad of ways, completely different from the straight and honest swordsmanship of the mercenaries.
Illusion Sword was something that couldn’t be learned just from practice and hearsay. Of course, Layla’s sword was nothing more than the basics of Illusion Sword, but if the change was so natural, it couldn’t have been learned by watching over someone’s shoulder.
Emily looked sharply at Layla’s wrist.
The most important thing for learning Illusion Sword was the snap of the wrist. In order to unfold the extremely changing Illusion Sword with a sword, the control of the subtle wrist, not the movement of the arm, was more important than anything else. Naturally, those who had trained in Illusion Sword had more developed wrists than others.
But Layla’s wrist was as slender as any other girl’s.
Emily was purely impressed that Layla, who looked younger than her, and a girl who didn’t show much sign of training, could wield Illusion Sword, but for a moment, she came up with a certain assumption.
And it was a pretty convincing assumption.
Emily looked at Layla with shocked eyes and muttered.
“You, could it be…?”
“Hmm, maybe?”
Seeing Layla’s meaningful smile, Emily realized that she was the friend from her previous life that she had been looking for. A smile unknowingly spread across her face.
“Hee, I didn’t expect to find you like this.”
Emily straightened her stick again with a smile on her face.
Then there was no need to be so lenient like before. She didn’t know which of her friends from her previous life she was, but she must have learned martial arts like her.
She was happy, but it just so happened that she needed a sparring partner.
Especially if it was someone who was learning martial arts like her.
Emily said to Layla with a confident smile.
“I’m curious who you are, but it’s okay to ask after seeing your skills, right?”
“Yeah, it’s okay.”
Layla answered indifferently, but Emily didn’t pay much attention to her attitude. Emily grabbed the wooden stick with both hands and muttered in a low voice.
“Then, I’m going to get serious now.”
Her eyes, looking at Layla, were shining coldly.
//
And exactly one minute later.
Emily was being held by Layla and spanked on her butt.
-Smack!
“Hee, wait, this really hurts!”
Emily made a tearful face, but Layla smiled and hit Emily’s butt once more.
-Smack!
With a pleasant sound, a groan escaped from Emily’s mouth.
“Heeit!?”
Of course, unlike Layla, who had a masochistic tendency, Emily was a normal maiden, so the groan didn’t contain ecstasy.
It was just a groan full of pain.
“Hey, hold on! Why are you so strong?”
“This is not for kids.”
Of course, Emily was no match for Ryla, who had mastered the Yin Demon Art and Iron Body Armor to a considerable degree.
The training of external force is also a technique to change the body with internal force.
It’s slightly different in that it requires less internal force than Qi Gong and martial arts, and that it accepts Qi with the whole body, but the results are quite similar.
Emily’s Heroic Force, which was absolutely lacking in internal force, was bound to be quite low, and her physical specs were far behind Ryla’s.
Moreover, Ryla was superior in swordsmanship, so it was natural for her to lose, no matter how different their physiques were.
When Ryla raised her hand again, Emily waved her hand in horror.
“Hey, wait a minute! But why are you hitting me!?”
It was unfair to her.
She had only met her classmate from her previous life in another world after 16 years, and she couldn’t understand why she was being spanked out of the blue.
But Ryla answered briefly, with all her heart.
“Because you’re not a man.”
“What does that have to do with it!?”
“None of your business.”
-Smack!
“Hyaang!”
Emily struggled with all her might, but she had no effect on Ryla, who had become as hard as a rock due to her Iron Body Armor, like a champion in a certain AOS game.
It was a little later that Emily was released after struggling for a while.
//
“So, who are you?”
When I asked the question, Emily answered obediently, even though she had a sulky expression.
“Lee Sung-cheol. Although I’m in this state now, I was once a true man…”
“….?”
I tilted my head at her words.
Who was that again?
“Wait, you don’t know me? I’m Cheol! Lee Sung-cheol, the most popular guy in our class!”
“…Ah. I remember now.”
Come to think of it, there was a kid like that.
I couldn’t remember for a moment because he wasn’t called by his name very often.
Lee Sung-cheol.
He was a guy who belonged to the so-called ‘popular’ group.
I thought he looked a little stupid.
But he wasn’t a bad guy. He didn’t bully the kids in the class, he was just a delinquent who liked to make noise and play around. That was the kind of friend he was.
….But, his gender has changed too.
It’s kind of strange to see Lee Sung-cheol become such a pretty woman.
Not that I should be saying that.
“Heh! Anyway! It’s good to see you after a long time!”
Emily (Lee Sung-cheol, 32 years old in total, red hair) said that and held out her hand to me with an energetic motion.
And then, she tilts her head.
“…But who are you?”
You’re asking that now.
I stare straight into her eyes, then smile and answer.
“I won’t tell you.”
“….What?”
“I’m Ryla Freeman. I’ve already thrown away my memories of my past life. Now I’m just a girl named Ryla.”
“Ah, that, that’s right….no it’s not! Who the hell are you!?”
Emily screamed and raged, but I neatly ignored her resistance and picked up my backpack.
“Let’s go together for now. You’ll remember as we go.”
“Wow, that concept is really garbage…”
Emily grumbled, but got up and picked up a wooden stick.
I suddenly became curious and asked her a question.
“…But, were you really going to travel with that?”
“Yeah, why?”
“No, I was just asking.”
What would have happened to her if I hadn’t been there?
Judging from my experience, I can only see a bleak future.
“Emily.”
“Yeah?”
“Are you a virgin by any chance?”
When I asked that, Emily’s face turned as red as her hair.
“W-w-why are you asking something like that….”
I was even more surprised by her reaction.
This guy was definitely a high school boy full of energy in his previous life. What is this reaction all about?
“Ah, no, I was just curious…”
As I answered in embarrassment, Emily took a deep breath and returned to her serious gaze, saying.
“Even if I’ve become like this, I’m a proud man. And I like women.”
“…Yeah, okay.”
At Emily’s words, I nodded with a dumbfounded expression.
I’m a little different.
Is it because we’ve lived different lives?
Well, I think there was a time when I thought like that too.
I sold my body because I was hungry, learned the Essence Absorption Technique and the Yin Demon Art, and now I’ve adapted to reality.
I thought I should teach her the Yin Demon Art and the Essence Absorption Technique if I had the chance, but is it useless after all? But just in case, I’ll consider teaching her later.
“Then you, by any chance, are you experienced…?”
As Emily looked at me with a look of disbelief, I smiled and answered.
“I won’t tell you.”
“Hey!!”
Leaving Emily’s sharp cry behind, I started walking again.