A Dragon Idol's Reincarnation Tale

“Sigh…”

“Woah, that’s a pretty long sigh there, Tatsuya.”

“Yeah, it is…I’m just…you know, thinking about everything that is about to come, Kyouya.”

It has been a day since our party received the announcement about our first real mission as “Heroes”, that being to aid the Knights of Aurena in subjugating a bandit camp that has made itself known in the country.

They told us this was “to purge the holy country from these criminals, blighting Goddess Aurena’s beloved believers” and that we, her chosen champions, are necessary for the task. They wanted to see what we can do after eight months of training and, frankly, I can somewhat understand why they would. Eight months is quite an investment, especially considering the quality of training, education, food, and accommodations that we were given.

After we learned about this fact, one of my classmates came over to us and asked us to come to an assembly on the next day. It was a “Shirako High-only” gathering where we would have our very first class get-together since…well, since we first came here.

The other members of "Misfits", after some persuasion for Asaka and Daichi, agreed to attend it. Instead of walking with Kyouya and me, they would go there independently depending on their schedules.

Our meet-up location would be our class' private dining room. I would have thought it would be disqualified as anoption, because these talks will probably get pretty heated. After thinking it through, however, I have to admit that we barely have any “safe zones” large enough to fit 25 students.

Kind of ridiculous to remember that we weren’t exactly in a “friendly” place, more like we were imprisoned here against our will. Being here really makes me wish I was still in Laveata Town and not in this suffocating church, feeling like I was a caged-up bird.

“…W-We might have to kill them, Kyouya. We might actually have to kill another human,” I said with a tremble in my throat. “Sure, the knights are there but there is no guarantee that we can even make it out there alive. W-We’re about to be sent into a battlefield.”

I knew how killing felt. I did it myself. Piercing the frail bodies of the monsters in that dungeon made me realize how heavy the burden was when you killed somebody. How your senses would sharpen, making every blood spray, death cry, and moaning even more vivid. The feeling in my hands once your spear transmitted the tremble from clashing metal with bone, and the eventual decay of life happening right in front of me.

How can people stay normal after that? How can video games make so light of what is actually happening? This isn’t the sort of excitement that I was looking for! I wanted out of my normal, boring life but I didn’t want this.

I, honestly, want to go back to Japan. Apologize to dad and mom for my lackluster behavior and just continue indulging my mind in mindless video games while giving my all for school. If I ever have the chance to knock some sense in my past self, then I would take it 10 out of 10 times. Kick him in the balls if he was stupid enough to speak against it.

Idiot bastard…

“Yeah, I know. I know. I still haven’t gotten over that sensation and it’s been, what, three months now?” Kyouya said while looking at his hand. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m just being a pussy for-”

“No, no, no, no, don’t say that about yourself. You aren’t a pussy at all for behaving that way. It’s normal. It’s normal for us to feel like that,” I tried to console my best friend, placing a hand on his shoulder. “In fact, if somebody calls you, the man that would jump in front of a sword for me, a pussy, then let them know that they can crown me the king of cowards. Only an idiot would even think of a knight as a pussy.”

“He he, thanks bro,” Kyouya said while scratching his hair, flustered. “Makes you really think, huh? Who would have thought that I would be fit enough to wear all this armor without breaking too much of a sweat. I never would have imagined it when we were still kids.”

“True, you really were fat back then. Overweight and easily bullied by the nicer-looking ones. Kids are already pretty cruel, but rich ones? Yeah, I can personally say that we are assholes,” I said carefreely.

“What are you saying? Sure, you still are an ass but you’re one of the only ones that have stuck with me since the start. You had no obligations to, but you're still my first friend, even best friend now,” Kyouya said with a pleasant smile.

“Get off me. You know I did it back then because you had a 3DS and were playing the same game that I was. It was purely a coincidence that I even bothered to talk with mister greasy and obese here,” I said in a sarcastic tone, nostalgic of how I first met Kyouya.

“So? Who cares what your reason for speaking with me was. It only matters that you’ve stuck around for me ever since,” Kyouya stated.

“Well, that certainly did help me. If I hadn’t, then I wouldn’t have gotten all that support from you in our first month after we were kidnapped to Peolynca,” I said, reminding myself of the miserable state that I was in, knowing that I had no way back home for some of my mom’s freshly brewed coffee. “In fact, I owe you honestly. There were so many times that you could have just left me and done something for yourself. You’re too selfless, you know that?”

It is this kindness that makes him so pleasant to be with. It makes me jealous, but Kyouya knows how to treat other people properly. No wonder he’s so popular with the girls.

Kyouya simply laughed at my remark, clapping my back in embarrassment before beginning speaking again, "Ever since experiencing how it was to be bullied, I sort of thought to myself, 'Shouldn't I punch them?'. I wanted to get back at them, make myself feel better by seeing them cry, and ask me for forgiveness. I might have been obese, but I was always tall. However, if I had actually accepted those thoughts, then would you have still played video games with me? Wouldn’t you have thought differently of me?”

“Wow,” I gasped. “that’s the first time that that heard about that. Geez…doesn’t that makes me a bad friend for never noticing? You can get competitive sometimes, but I never knew that you had those deep thoughts.”

“Ha ha, I’ll also say that I didn’t become fit just for you,” Kyouya admitted. “After my family moved away from our old neighborhood, I had a certain realization that I wouldn’t have you around to talk anymore. We could still play over the internet but that wouldn’t change anything about my school life. I had to change to make my life better. Gotta lose some pounds, yo.”

“Honestly, that was the thing that shocked me the most. You going to the athletics club despite being a massive eater was crazy to think about,” I said incredulously. “After a few years of visiting your house during middle school and you suddenly turned into somebody else. You being able to wear all this armor is due to your own perseverance. Argh, dammit. I should have done some sport when I was still on Earth, it would have made the training here so much easier.”

“Ha ha ha, your gaming addiction really made you look all scrawny. Instead of coffee, you should have drunk a few kiloliters of protein shakes or something," Kyouya joked at my expense. "Well, that's in the past now, Tatsuya. I think we're nearly there."

Looking forward, I could see a few familiar faces entering a room, chatting among themselves. We might have not spoken to each other a lot since we came to this world, but I still wouldn’t forget them. They were my classmates, of course.

“…If you think about it, this will be the second time that we’re having a class meeting without a teacher. Without Segawa-sensei,” Kyouya said after a while of silence. “The first one was already unproductive because we had it directly after we were transported to Peolynca. Sparks flew, I remember. Nice to see that we’re having one now with everybody…well, sort of.”

“Yeah, we had her ever since we came to Shirako High, right? We just got out of middle school and our first year as high schoolers and we get a total newbie of a teacher. I think Segawa-sensei told us that she just barely graduated a few months ago or so…sort of miss her now. That was supposed to be our last year together.”

Having Saori Segawa being our sensei, our teacher, at a prestigious school like Shirako High was pretty crazy. Not only was she a newly graduated but that was also her first job as a teacher. You have to imagine how angry our parents were once they heard about it, even attempting to sue the school.

A homeroom teacher wasn’t just a simple tag that you give a teacher and that was it. A homeroom teacher was an integral part of their classroom, acting as both a mentor and counselor. Of course, our parents would be livid when somebody eight-years our senior was to become our classroom teacher. They expect the best of the best for us after all.

However, all of those complaints vanished after Segawa-sensei began teaching us, showing that she truly was a top-tier pick. Experience-wise, she wasn’t as good as the other history teachers, but she made up for it by being a hard worker and an enthusiastic educator.

She was so much of a hard worker that she valued it quite a lot in others, even seeing past their faults when they give it their all. There were still some flaws here and there but being around our age really made us bond together.

The best part would be talking about mythology. Video games draw a lot of inspiration from Greek, Norse, and Japanese myths that when we spoke about it to Segawa-sensei, she would go on a passionate lecture about how they were depicted in history and tales. Really goes to show that she knew her stuff.

…And that’s why it makes me miss her even more.

I don’t think anybody can blame me for this, but we needed her now even more. It’s only a gut feeling, but I believe this assembly will probably blow up.

Entering the room, we quickly scanned around to find Tamae-san’s party speaking with ours.

Seems like we are the last ones…again.

“Oi, Tatsuya. Why? Just why are you the last one again?” approaching them, Daichi was the first one to speak, commenting about our arrival like always. “Is this some sort of gag? Or are you doing this on purpose?”

“As if, you idiot,” I responded. “Does it even matter if we are the last? We aren’t late so why should that matter, right?”

“True enough,” Nishio said in my support. “If it doesn’t hold the group back and he comes before the appointed time, then I see no fault. Everybody has their own plans, Daichi-san.”

“Ok, ok, sorry,” Daichi apologized after seeing Nishio look at him. “Whatever, I’ll stop mentioning it when you don’t come late. I don’t want to see you hold back our best player Kyouya.”

With that handled, Kyouya and I went to greet the others from our party and Tamae’s. It was still pretty early so I could see that some of the girls still had to yawn. Noticing the eye bags that they had, I could only wonder if they were able to get any sleep at all.

Nobody in our party, besides for Daichi, was very keen at the idea of killing humans. Haruka especially looked like a total mess, wobbling around in her seat. This girl couldn’t stomach slaying a kobold so how could she do it when it’s a human’s life.

They might be humans from another world, but they were still humans. They acted like humans. They had wants like humans. You can't tell me that they were different.

“Good morning, you two. Hope you guys had a good night,” Tamae casually greeted both of us. “I’ve already given some to the others, but I bet you two haven’t eaten breakfast yet, right? Here, freshly baked from the supplies that I bought from town.”

Unveiling the cloth that she was holding, four pieces of fluffy looking bread appeared before us. According to the smell…yup, warm and sweet-smelling, as if they were made just this morning.

“Woah, fluffy bread!” Kyouya shouted. “Tamae-san, don’t tell me that you were able to make some yeast?!”

“He he, yup I did,” Tamae-san said with a big grin. "Sorry, if it doesn't taste as good as usual. Sugar was seriously expensive so I had to be mindful of how much I could add without draining my own supply. That also means there is no filling or cream, unfortunately."

“No, don’t worry about that!” I said with joy as I thanked her for the bread. “I thought sugar would cost a bit but who knew even yeast would cost that much. How the hell is yeast a luxury in this country?!”

For some unknown and unbelievable reason, the knowledge of yeast was known in this world but Aureolis couldn’t make it. What is that supposed to mean? Tamae-san wanted to order some yeast, seeing as there was fluffy bread with our meals, but what she instead got was the information that the church had to import yeast from the surrounding countries.

For something as simple as yeast, Tamae-san had to pay an exorbitant price. She had limited funds due to having to buy sugar to please our sweet tooth so that forced her to make her own yeast.

And, I got to say that these things are delicious. Warm, smooth milk bread that needs barely any strength to bite off and chew.

As I was enjoying my breakfast, some of my classmates began making noise due to the smell that was enveloping the room. I’m pretty sure everybody is hungry, right now.

“Bread?! Tama-chan, you made bread?!” one of the girls said.

“Hmmm, smells like freshly baked. I haven’t eaten any of your pastry, like, since we left Earth. Gosh, do you have any cookies?” another girl said.

I believe that was all the girls in our class, crowding around our party as they pestered Tamae-san for some bread. I could also see some of the boys looking like they wanted some too, but I guess pride was stopping them from coming closer.

Take it from me. Daichi, Kyouya, Nishio, and I had to back off because we felt awkward standing around the chatting girls.

As I continued eating my bread, I noticed somebody staring at it intently. Turning my head around, I greeted the hungry person, “Hey, Aiko.”

Finally noticing me, she shook off her bread stupor and responded, “Oh, hey Tatsuya…and Kyouya! It’s great that you guys could come. I know this wasn’t something you guys would’ve joined normally.”

"Hey. Aiko-san. Well, I don't mind it too much," Kyouya answered. "I personally think we should have had more of these meetings, but I guess everybody had their own worries. Training, learning, and also adapting to their new place.”

“I know what you mean by that, Aiko, but I agree with Kyouya that we needed more meetings. Eight months and nobody even thought about it? Then again, it’s still pretty much a wonder that everybody even joined at all, considering the situation,” I responded.

“Yeah…Takuma had something to say about our first Hero mission and I guess Akabane-san thought it was worth hearing about,” Aiko said pointing at “Daisy” and his posse.

Fucking piece of shit.

“Daisy” Akabane’s party consisted of four guys from our class that were known to have done some martial arts on Earth. From a base strength value, his party is probably the strongest right now, barring any unique skill shenanigans as I do not know theirs.

Just to contrast, in our ten-man joint party, only Misaki from Tamae-san’s party has had any experience with weapons due to her being a semi-professional archer, having won one or two tournaments before. Which makes sense, as she can actually compete with the archers from Knights of Aurena in a static setting. Like the rest of us, she still needs to get used to shooting down living targets.

“Oh, anyways. Tell me what you think of my new outfit, you two!” Aiko cheerily said before making a full 360 turn, swaying the ends of her robes.

Looking at it, as she asked me to, I noticed that it wasn’t the same robes she wore until now. Meeting her in the church, her clothes mostly consisted of prim, white robe with golden lines and markings called [Saint Candidate Robes].

However, what she was wearing right now looked more like the robes of a battle wizard or war cleric. She still had the iconic white and golden that resembled her saint robes but many areas like the length, the sleeves, and bagginess have been removed in favor of more practicality and efficiency.

I believe the fabric has also been switched out. No more did it look silky thin, instead, it looked like it could take a sword slash or two while still maintaining a high-quality appearance.

When her clothes swayed around, I managed to see some metal under her robes. Chainmail I would guess, considering it had to good for protection while being light for long travels without making her look bulky. Good, I was wearing a high-quality version myself, and I can attest to how useful they are from my time in the dungeon.

Considering she was a saint candidate, the church probably also enchanted her whole outfits with a ton of protective skills or something. Can’t let a saint be in danger when you send her into battle, right?

Speaking of saint candidates, I also noticed that Asaka was also wearing something similar. Asaka might act brash and rebellious but it still can’t be denied that the church’s religious deity deemed her worthy as a saint. They can’t neglect her…which is good for me because that makes our party stronger.

I wonder how many skills her clothes now have? Let me check with my identify ring.

“Hold it, Tatsuya. I allowed you to look and admire how pretty they are but that’s a no for looking at the skills,” Aiko said, crossing her arms in an X. “There are some…questionable skills that they gave my clothes. Pretty embarrassing so don’t look, please. Otherwise, I can tell you that I definitely have more skills on my clothes now. I feel pretty powerful really.”

Kohaku’s sword had a shit ton of skills on them, making her pretty powerful. I can only imagine the number of freebies Asaka and Aiko got from the church!

“Everyone, if I could have your attention, please!” somebody shouted.

Standing up on a table, a dude with slick black hair wearing white armor similar to the knights presented himself. Compared to Kyouya’s armor, his was extremely flashy, almost shined to a polish, while not having the same bulk which made me think it was more similar to Elrick’s. Sturdy enough to defend yourself but still light so you can go dish out damage.

Takuma Akanishi…hopefully this arrogant bastard won’t proceed to spout out hot garbage again.

My classmate Takuma Akanishi was always known in our class to be a real egocentric prick that only looked out for himself. He would rarely participate in class activities and had a tendency to look at things more like a businessman: profit-oriented.

However, that didn’t mean that he was completely terrible. While he wasn’t the best team player, he still was extremely charismatic and did a great job whenever he could assert himself as a leader, showing his talents as the son of a company CEO. He was both smart and hard-working enough that anybody would think he was a perfect student…were it not for his overblown ego that was created due to his self-made environment.

“I’m overjoyed to see all 25 of us joining this small assembly of mine. I believe everybody is slightly on edge due to the recent notice, about our first mission as this world’s ‘heroes’,” Akanishi said. “However, firstly, I would like to address something that I consider quite important. I believe everybody should already know the fact that everybody in this world is using the western naming convention, correct? They would call us by our first name, instead of our surnames.”

A few of my classmates called out to agree to his statement. I’ve also noticed that some of the higher-ranking clergy members would prefer calling us by our first name, mentioning that addressing us with our surnames was too…distant.

I personally don’t want to associate with them, but I do remember Tamae-san's speech about our team's naming convention. Switching around from first to surnames would confuse people that weren’t used to it, and that this was only useful when we were still in Japan.

But how many months has it been since we came to this world? Wasn’t it about time to adapt a bit? It’s not like not doing it anymore would change our personalities or something, right?

“Yes, that’s why I propose that we adopt it until we return to Japan,” Aka-Takuma said which made a few among us pretty rowdy. “Please, calm down. I know this is much to ask, due to how we have been raised, but wouldn’t doing this be sensible in our situation? We are about to depart from the church and then be introduced to the natives of this world. I am not saying that this should be permanent and that we can’t speak to each other like we used to, but to build some trust with the people of Peolynca, I believe it prudent to do so.”

After a couple of more noisy arguments, eventually, everything settled down to democratically vote on it. With a clear majority, Takuma's decision was accepted…which obviously fed his ego even more as he had a massive smile on his face now.

“Thank you, everybody! It is great to see this amount of unity after so long,” Takuma stated with enthusiasm. “Now to start everything off. My name is Takuma Akanishi and you may call me Takuma if you wish.”

Considering that some are still calling him with “-san” and “-kun”, I think using Japanese endings was still allowed.

“Anyway, with that handled. Let us get into the main topic at hand! The bandit subjugation mission!”

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