Nido Tensei Shita Shounen wa S-rank Boukensha Toshite Heion ni Sugosu ~ Zense ga Kenja de Eiyūdatta Boku wa Raisede wa Jimi ni Ikiru ~ - Chapter 1

Author: 十一屋　翠 (Juuichiya Sui)

“Gugugaga (I am reincarnated once more.)”

Actually, maybe I can speak more casually in this life.

I, Rex, am a baby born into some family of farmers.

You ask why a mere baby has such a clear ego?

That would be because I was reincarnated and reborn.

I was a Hero in my previous life.

I wielded the strongest sword and defeated all my enemies and any monsters.

I had only fought to master the sword, but for some reason, I then started being touted as the Hero by everyone around me.

And then, having lived out my natural lifespan, I was reborn again.

Why did I say ‘again’, you ask?

It’s quite simple. I have been reincarnated twice now.

My before-previous life, I was a Sage.

I mastered any and all magic there was, and became the strongest mage.

I, who had mastered not only the four elements that gave nature power, but also sacred magic and darkness magic, started being called the magical genius, and later the Sage by the people around me.

So that’s why I said ‘again’.

And that was why I was now thinking on how to live my third life while being held in my mother’s arms.

“Gugugaga (Yeah, I’ll just live plainly in this life.)”

After all, in my previous lives, I got caught up in all sorts of trouble due to being called the Sage or Hero.

Whether it was monster extermination, stopping the ruinous rituals of magicians led astray by the evil god, or subjugating a terrifying demon called the Demon King, the number of such disturbances was innumerable.

Moreover, compared to how much effort I had to put in, the rewards were, let’s say, modest, and quite crappy at that.

Fame as the Hero or rank as a noble, they were all just annoying, and I wasn’t grateful for them at all.

On the contrary, it created a lot of unwanted tensions, jealousy and envy! I might even have lost a hundred friends from it!

“Gugugaga (So, I will live a simple life this time around.)”

Gripping my tiny fists, I kept my determination in my heart.

“Gugugaga! (And I will become an adventurer! The very symbol of freedom!)”

Being an adventurer… it was a life and a profession I had longed to live and do, but had been held back due to being the Hero.

You’re free to do as you please. And you are responsible for it.

I will live a simple life as an adventurer!!

◆ ◆

And then, I turned fifteen.

In this world, people are deemed adults at fifteen, and children can leave their parents’ nest to look for work.

Although, since it’s really difficult to get hired when you have no connections, most usually just take over their parents’ work.

But still, the number of children going to towns aspiring to get their dream jobs wasn’t few either.

I, of course, belonged to the latter group.

“I’m going then, Dad, Mum.”

I said my farewells to the parents who had kindly raised me until that day.

“It’s your life. So you should live as you please.”

“Take care, okay? If it ever gets too hard, you can come back any time, okay?”

Since I had been proclaiming that I wanted to become an adventurer ever since I was little, and never showed any signs of wavering, my parents weren’t opposed to me becoming an adventurer.

They had been against it for a while back when I was little, but since I never stopped saying I wanted to become an adventurer, they gave up eventually.

So yeah, it was worth the effort to get the hunters to let me help with hunting down monsters.

“I’m going then!”

With a sword at my hip and wearing armour made out of monster leather, I stepped out of the house.

My luggage was one small bag, but just that much was enough.

“Do your best, Rex!”

“Take care!”

Everyone from the village wished me well on my journey.

Seriously, everyone in this village is so nice.

“Thank you! I’m going then!”

With everyone’s cheering behind me, I left the village in high spirits.

“Now, I’m gonna be an adventurer!”

◆ ◆

“The nearest town is Tougai, and it’ll take half a day to get there if I run. I had my coming of age ceremony before noon, so it’s become kinda late. I’ll have to hurry up a little, huh.”

Strengthening my legs with mana, I kicked the ground harder.

As I did so, I soared up into the air, and I broke through the clouds in the blink of an eye.

It wasn’t flight magic, I had just strengthened my legs and pushed off from the ground as hard as I could.

“Hmmm, let’s see, Tougai is… ah, I can see it, I can see it.”

Crossing above two mountains, I checked out what Tougai looked like.

“Should I go with short-range teleportation magic… ah, actually no, I shouldn’t.”

I was able to get to Tougai in an instant by using teleportation magic, but I had found something on the way so I decided against that.

“Since I’m here anyway, I’ll go hunt it. Adventurers hunt monsters anyway!”

Indeed, there was the perfect monster just ahead of me.

“That colour… so it’s a Green Dragon. It’s normal for a Dragon, but if I want to live a simple life, that kind of Dragon is just perfect.”

That’s right, I wanted to become an adventurer because adventurers are the symbols of freedom, but more than anything, I just wanted to live a simple life and not get involved in troublesome things.

If it had been a Golden Dragon, the strongest type, people might have been sceptical of whether a newbie really was able to hunt it down.

Thus, a Green Dragon was perfect.

“Now then, time for a quick hunt!”

I unsheathed the broadsword hanging at my waist and held it at the ready.

At first glance, it seemed like any old broadsword, but I had used permanent enchantment magic I had developed in my before-previous life on it and added durability, corrosion resistance, sharpness, each magical attribute, smite, and a bunch of other effects, so against a Green Dragon, it would be an easy victory.

But just glancing at it, it looked like a normal broadsword, so no one would notice its true value!

Well, blacksmiths in the countryside don’t have neither the equipment nor materials to sell high-quality weapons, and there was nothing I was capable of doing to the sword other than enchanting it.

My blacksmithing skills in my previous life weren’t all that good, after all.

“Let’s go!”

Using flight magic, I rushed towards the Green Dragon faster than an arrow.

The Green Dragon hadn’t noticed me approaching it from the sky yet.

It probably would never have thought that a human would be attacking it from above.

Dragons were kinda silly in that regard.

“Huh?”

The Green Dragon seemed preoccupied with something else?

Eh, it doesn’t matter.

“Hyaaaaaaaaaaa!!”

I sent a diagonal slash of my sword at the Green Dragon from above.

“!?”

The Green Dragon finally noticed my existence thanks to my shout.

But, it was too late already.

By that time, my sword had already decapitated the Green Dragon.

“And now to store it!”

I took out a small bag from my pocket and threw the Green Dragon’s head inside.

The two-meter-large Green Dragon head easily slid into the bag the size of my palm.

That’s right, this was a magic bag I had made.

At first glance, it was an ordinary bag, but I had expanded the space inside it with magic, and it could now hold way more luggage than it seemed to be able to.

It was the reason why I had left my home so lightly-dressed.

“Aaaand, this too.”

I then proceeded to put the Green Dragon’s body into the magic bag.

It was more than ten meters large, but into the magic bag it still slid.

“Alright, subjugation done! Now, I’ve gotta go before it gets dark!”

I rose up into the air again with flight magic.

“…!!”

Hmm? Did I just hear something? Or did I just imagine it?

Yeah, there’s no way there would be people around such a violent Dragon.

“Eh, it doesn’t matter.”

Rising up into the air once more, I headed to Tougai before the Sun went down.

Now, hurry to the adventurer’s guild and register as an adventurer!

◆ ◆

It all happened in an instant.

We were midway through our journey and had the bad luck to be attacked by a Dragon.

It was none other than a Green Dragon.

Only a whole country’s army in perfect condition would have a chance of beating it, so even calling it a formidable opponent would be putting it mildly; it was a terrifying demon.

It appeared suddenly in the air above us, flames spewing forth from its mouth with its breath.

The horses panicked and the carriage rolled over.

“A Dragon, in someplace like this!?”

I was worried about the person in the carriage, but now was not the time for that.

Trusting that that person was safe, I focused on the enemy before me.

At the appearance of this enemy stronger than they could imagine, my men despaired.

However, we had to fulfil our mission.

“The Dragon’s targets are the horses! Use them as decoys and escape!”

My subordinates returned to their senses at my roar.

Losing our horses in a place like this would be a serious blow, but our lives couldn’t be replaced.

If we could somehow get the Dragon to go after the horses, we would be able to help that person out of the carriage and escape into the forest while it was busy.

However, the Dragon seemed both ferocious and starving.

If we gave it one horse, would we even be able to keep the others?

I had to protect that person, even if, in the worst case, I would have to give the bunch of old bones that is me to the dragon.

If I couldn’t, there was no point in me being born to be a knight!

“I’m over here, Dragon!”

Prepared for a certain death, I trained the Dragon’s attention onto my horse.

My beloved horse was a war horse, and as such, hadn’t been frightened by the Dragon’s breath.

And now I was abandoning my precious partner for the sake of this person I had to protect.

“I’m sorry, Volhan.”

I instinctively apologised to my buddy.

*Neigh*

How courageous. Volhan didn’t resent me, but proudly headed towards the Dragon.

Do you understand the mission of a knight, Volhan?

Ah, so you’re also a knight!

I will no longer let Volhan be the only one to die.

I am prepared to die, so let us challenge the Dragon!

Everyone, I leave the rest to you!

The Dragon is trying to stop us!

As I was thinking that.

“Hyaaaaaaaaaaa!!”

I heard a young person’s voice.

At first, I thought one of my subordinates had been unable to stand it any longer and attacked the Dragon of his own volition.

I almost rebuked my men for doing something so stupid.

However, an unfamiliar boy suddenly appeared in front of me as I was thinking so.

Really suddenly.

It took me a few moments to realise that the boy was falling down from above.

He held an at first glance plain, but sharp sword in his hands.

This boy wants to fight a Dragon head on alone!?

Has he appeared in order to aid us in a fit of righteousness!?

“How reckless!”

I tried to say.

But by then, everything was already over.

Having suddenly fallen down from the air, the Dragon’s head was sucked into a bag the boy had taken out, and in the next moment, even its body had also been stored in the boy’s bag.

My common sense said it was impossible.

The only thing that crossed my mind was the word “Magic Item”.

Such a young boy has a Magic Item!?

Impossible.

And the boy then quite literally flew away.

Like a bird.

“Please wait!”

Not responding to my words, the figure of the boy soon disappeared into the reaches of the sky.

It all happened in an instant, in a single moment.

It was all over in an instant.

The world returned to silence as if the Dragon and the Boy had never been there in the first place.

Only the blood of the Dragon the boy had exterminated and the overturned carriage spoke of what had actually happened.

“!? Right, the Princess!!”

Returning to my senses, I remembered my Lady in the overturned carriage, and hurried over to it.

“You need not worry, Sir Bahalun! She fainted, but she is safe! The maid managed to protect her!”

“All right! Good job!”

Phew, the princess is unhurt.

The maid will have to be given a reward later.

The relief at her safety made me feel very heavy.

A fight with a Dragon was quite mentally exhausting.

It was really hard on my old bones.

“I have no idea what just happened, but it seems we’re saved, Volhan.”

*Neigh*

Replied the horse who had survived along with me to my monologue.

“But just who was that boy…”