Chapter 1 — The First Village’s Hero is supposed to marry his cute female childhood friend… 1
--Ruth Brau had reincarnated into this world.
He was only 5 years old when he suddenly remembered the memories of his previous life. At first, he panicked at the thought of having memories that he couldn't recollect. But, with the support of his childhood friend and family, he was somehow able to organize his thoughts. It can be said that it was truly fortunate that they stayed by his side and did not treat his past life as a joke nor did they give him strange looks when as a child he suddenly started talking like an adult.
And now, Ruth is currently 19 years old. After properly remembering his previous life, he is now making the best of this lifetime.
“Shura, good morning. Would you like to go to the springs together?”
“No, I’d rather not.”
“Risa, what do you think about picking Cocoria flowers with me?”
“I turned you down last time, didn’t I!”
“Mei mei, I bought a delicious cake, let’s--”
“I hate cake!”
Calling out to the three village girls and being so coldly treated by the three at the same time, Ruth’s shoulders deeply dropped.
The side of the church after the prayers was crowded with people but today it seems that the girls from earlier just disappeared.
“You can really keep at it everyday, huh?”
“Just leave me alone….”
Ruth let out a deep sigh when his childhood friend, Alec Gala, said that with amazement.
This place is a village that is similar to the “First Village”, a place in a game in the memories of his previous life. It is a peaceful village with a population of less than 100, found in the mountains, near the royal capital, and located right beside a small dungeon. Although there isn’t a noteworthy local specialty, it also won’t become a deserted village due to travelers, adventurers, and tourists who visit the village for the dungeon.
Ruth is the second son of that village’s innkeeper. The people who come to visit the dungeon would use Ruth’s inn when they are not camping outdoors and because of their constant flow of earnings, the inn has become an indispensable existence to the village. But, since the older brother has become a merchant, it is pretty much decided that the younger brother, Ruth, will inherit the inn.
“Like I said, I’m going to get myself a cute bride. ...And this time, I’ll live a happy life.”
“This time?”
“...N-No, it’s nothing.”
Ruth, who was flustered and accidentally said something unnecessary, gave Alec a doubtful look as he covered his mouth shut with his hand. The whole thing with his previous life is also a secret from his close friend, Alec. Rather than that, he thought that even if he were to be open about it, Alec wouldn’t understand.
(That’s right, this lifetime, I will get a girlfriend.)
Ruth remembers his previous life. However, having those memories wasn’t something as advantageous as it may seem.
In Ruth’s previous life, he loved girls. From childhood, he has always loved girls who were soft and nicely scented, and because he also had a large build, he constantly thought about his goal to protect them. --However, he was utterly unpopular with them.
In his previous life, he was normal looking, not particularly unattractive, tall, had a good complexion, and speaks clearly; overall he was supposed to look reliable. He has no recollection of ever getting angry even when someone is saying something unreasonable, in fact, he was a person who was happy to be relied on and always worked hard.
Unfortunately, to some girls, he still had an unapproachable aura.
When he was young, he was well known in the karate world and took after his father who owned a dojo; at the age of 17 he was over 190 cm tall and over 120 kg[1], he had the physique that girls would not be able to achieve. Furthermore, because of his habit of constantly getting a crew cut and stern facial expressions it was easy to mistake him for being angry. It's also stretch to say he had a beautiful voice as it was difficult to understand what he was saying because of how low it was.
On top of already having an appearance that drives girls away, he was unfortunately born in a time where androgynous and handsome looking men were the most popular. Even though athletes and martial artists are praised just as passionately as cool and beautiful men, those who focus one-sidedly on muscles are overlooked. No matter if it was in school or in the workplace, he always side-eyed the people who would gush about beautiful men.
He was constantly aware of how his own appearance did not match up with the current time. However, because he loved girls, he always dreamed about having a girlfriend. For that sake, he had the attitude of a gentleman and treated girls kindly; whenever he had a crush on a girl, he would ask them out by writing a letter.
However, reality was cruel.
He was rejected without any hesitation; the worst times was when the letter was torn up and thrown away, ending it with a comment on how disgusting it was.
Of course he knew how bad his appearance was but he still tried his best to set a good impression in front of girls. He bought magazines that featured popular celebrities, researched on western clothing and their mannerisms, watched and learned the speaking styles of popular idols from their dramas and movies, and even went to beauty parlors to improve his looks. Despite all that, there were no girls who ever looked his way.
And thus a thought came up. He doesn’t want these muscles, he wants to be beautiful. He wants to be slimmer. He wants a pretty face.
While holding onto those thoughts, at the age of 31 he died trying to save a girl from being run over by a car. In the end, whilst still a virgin, his whole life ended without ever having a proper conversation with a girl.
(That's why, this time, I will….)
Ruth, hiding his hardened resolve, had his face squished by two strong hands. .
In front of his eyes there was glittering golden hair, clear green eyes, and the face of a genuine handsome guy. Strong-willed eyes, masculine eyebrows, a high nose bridge, nicely shaped lips: arranged as if it was all calculated; if it’s in terms of his previous life, Alec has the appearance of a game protagonist or prince.
“What is it, Alec?”
“Isn’t it about time you give up?”
“Give up on what?”
“Trying to get a girlfriend.”
No way, Ruth thought. In these recent years, Alec has been incessantly telling Ruth to give up. It’s definitely because Alec thinks Ruth is pitiful after seeing him continuously given the cold shoulder, but in Ruth’s point of view, he thinks that Alec should mind his own business.
“I won’t give up. I’m still 19 after all. I still have plenty of chances.”
“...Hmm.”
Normally, one would want to get mad after their childhood friend tells them to “give up on girls” but Ruth has spent 31 years in his previous life without any swords or magic (in other words, he lived and died as a virgin) and now that he has spent 31 years to become a sage, the words of 19 year old Alec doesn’t faze him at all.
Moreover, in all other situations, even if he pretends to be angry at Alec, Ruth generally ends up forgiving him anyway.
“Ah, older brother Alec is over there!”
“There he is!”
With the voices of the children, and Alec’s hand was pulled away from his chin. It hurt a bit when it was pulled away so while Ruth was stroking his chin, the bustling village kids crowded around Alec.
“Big brother Alec, do that!”
“Do it, do it!”
“What is ‘that’?"
“The thing with the sky.”
“Sky?”
Alec, who was playing the role of a kind youth, crouch down to their eye level and asked. It’s safe to say that Alec doesn’t dislike kids when compared to how he interacts with adults, it’s more natural.
“Alec, I wonder if they are referring to ‘that’. The sparkles in the sky, 'Illuminating Sand' was it?”
“Yeah, that’s it!”
“Ruth the Ladies’ man is so smart!”
“As expected of Ruth the Ladies’ man!”
“Stop calling me that name….”
While Ruth was on the verge of tears when the kids called him that ridiculous nickname, Alec stood up as he laughed and said “it’s because kids are honest”. It seemed like he was having fun. There’s no way that even Alec thought that way too, right?
“Well, what do you want me to do?”
“Huh, are you asking me?”
“If I ask them, a fight is going to break out right?”
Well, it’s true that if only one out of the 10 kids here were to have their request granted , there would definitely be an uproar afterwards. After a bit of thinking, Ruth finally decided on a suitable image to have it float up into the sky.
“All right, a bird then.”
“Got it.”
While Alec was chanting a small spell, he started drawing in midair with his finger. Shimmery and shiny sand like particles started to spread from his fingers. When Alec finished drawing, he let out a puff of air and it started to flap its wings as if he gave life to the illuminating drawing the air.
“Uwa-- It’s a butterfly, pretty!”
“Amazing, pretty!”
“Butterfly!”
It used its two wings to fly and as the brilliant light around it slowly spread out, it ascended to the heavens. When it went towards the sun, it disappeared as if it was melting away.
With such a beautiful spectacle, not only the children but even the adults nearby also had an entranced expression on their faces. After it disappeared, a round of applause erupted from the crowd.
“That ...was a butterfly?”
“.... It was a bird.”
Ruth was the only one who laughed at the magnificent Alec’s drawing abilities. Without a doubt, the people around them didn’t notice it at all.
(I knew it, Alec is different…)
It wasn’t offensive magic, nor was it magic for daily living, it was a special type of magic. This is something that Alec created himself, something that isn’t even recorded in textbooks. Absolutely nobody else is able to recreate it.
“A fusion of both light and water magic… Even the royal capital has never seen such beautiful magic”
“Father…”[2]
Coming out of the church was a man in glasses who wore priest clothes. He is Alec’s foster parent and also the priest of the church.
“Father, good afternoon.”
“Good afternoon Ruth. Alec, you showed it to the kids again, right? Thank you for that.”
“It’s not that big of a deal anyway.”
“Haha, that might be so in your eyes. But Alec, in this world, there aren't a lot of people who can learn more than two different types of magic. Thus, there is surely no one else in the world who can use them at the same time.”
Ruth isn’t too familiar with the details of this world but according to Father, Alec seems to have some considerably special qualities. Even within the royal capital’s magical chivalry, there doesn’t seem to be anyone who has been able to create their own magic.
“...I only did it because Ruth said he wanted to see it.”
“Huh, I said something like that?”
“When we were young, you were sulking because you were the only one who hasn't seen a rainbow, so that's why I made something similar to it this time.”
It feels like something like that may or may not have happened but to Ruth, it is a fairly vague story; in any case, it seems that Alec purposefully made it for him because he thought the disheartened Ruth was pitiful. Somehow, when he heard that, Ruth felt a little embarrassed.
“I see. Thanks Alec. It’s way more amazing than a rainbow.”
“... Well, I guess. If you liked it then that’s enough.”
When Ruth complimented him honestly, Alec looked both awkward and bashful. Despite how handsome his face is, it’s strange to see him acting cute.
“Haha, you two are close as always. Well then everyone, since Alec has showed us his magic, let’s start class, shall we?”
“Ye--s.”
It seems that the kids came here to visit Alec before classes started in the church. In the village, it is Father who teaches reading and writing. Perhaps it is due to Ruth’s memories of his previous life that this was not a problem to him in the beginning but, in this small village located in the mountains, there seems to be a lot of people who cannot read or write.
Because of that, Alec, who is now able to read difficult books, appears to be thankful to Father and comparatively more dutiful when it comes to that than the other adults.
“Alec should also head to the back of the village square soon. Everyone is waiting for you.”
“All right. Ah, but Father, tomorrow....”
“I understand. You’ll be absent tomorrow, yes?”
“Yes, I apologize.”
After this, Alec has to work as an instructor to teach children of ages 10 and up on hunting methods. In the eyes of the village boys who live in the mountains, learning how to hunt is a very important matter to them. Because there are peddlers in this village, it is possible to just buy food but there are families whose livelihood is consisted of selling off hunted prey. For that sake, boys of the age 10 and up spend at most 2 years learning how to hunt. And Alec is the one who fulfills the position of teaching them.
Originally, this responsibility was supposed to be carried on by the older adults but, among them, there was no one else who was more skilled in hunting than Alec. Alec’s techniques and ability had surpassed everyone else in the village. Because of that, 3 years ago, Alec took up the role as instructor. Truthfully, there was already no one else who could rival Alec 5 years ago but as one would expect, he was too young and it seems like he had refused until then.
“Are you taking a day off from work tomorrow?”
“If I’m taking the day off, huh [3].... I’ll head to your room later today”
“Ah, okay?”
For some reason, Alec stared at Ruth as they went their separate ways; then from the back of the church, Ruth returned home to the inn.
- For anyone who needs a conversion, 190 centimeters is about 6 ft 2 in and 120 kg is about 265 pounds.
- Father is used to refer to a priest of a church
- Alec is thinking out loud and ends up repeating what Ruth had just said.
MARY: Hello everyone! Since I am fairly new at translating, please let me know if you guys notice any errors! But other than that, I hope you guys will enjoy this novel! ^_^