Reincarnated Again

“You couldn’t even last three months?” A voice started speaking to Kaito as he was just waking up, still in a daze.

Kaito’s vision, still blurry, responded to the voice, “What happened to me?”

“You died,” the voice responded in a fairly familiar tone.

Kaito was starting to get a strong sense of déjà vu. Upon fully coming to, Kaito was once again sitting in front of Goddess Rachael in the Realm Between Worlds.

“R-Rachael!? What are you— Why am I?” Kaito was very confused and unable to even get a proper question out.

Rachael, fully aware of how and why Kaito would be confused in this situation, interrupted him. “Just hold on, and let me explain.”

Rachael explained how one of the perks of being a reincarnated in this world allows one to be reincarnated back into the same world multiple times. Technically, he is not supposed to be brought back to the Realm Between Worlds and instead immediately reincarnated at a safe place, but Rachael made an exception as he skipped out on her explanation before.

“Wait, so I’m immortal!?” Kaito announced surprise at his newfound quirk. “I thought you said I have no special powers!”

“It’s not a special power, it’s a benefit,” Rachael began clarifying. “You can think of it as an insurance, as you reincarnated are bound to die from something unfair like this. There’d be no point in reincarnating you all if you just die before completing our task for you.”

Kaito gave Rachael an unimpressed look as he fully saw this as a special power. Rachael, realizing the attitude Kaito’s face held, aimed to humble him a bit.

“And don’t you dare think about abusing this, as you’ll get a penalty if you die in quick succession!” Rachael concluded.

Kaito, completely overlooking her last remark, mockingly said, “So are there any other benefits I should know about?”

Rachael, not willing to accept Kaito’s attitude, clapped back, “Oh, so you’re actually going to listen now?” The sparks were essentially visible in the two’s vocal argument.

Rachael continued to answer Kaito’s question, “And yes, there is one more thing you should know. The stats you receive upon leveling up are greater than the regular inhabitants of this world. Without this benefit, you would’ve probably died like three times already.”

Kaito, in disbelief at her last statement, tried his best to retaliate, “T-That one’s a lie! I would’ve been fine in all my fights without those extra stats!”

Rachael smirked as she rested her face on her fist, which lay on her chair’s armrest. She knew she had gotten him beat.

“Uh huh…” Rachael said cockily. “Then I guess I’ll just take them away.”

“N-NO!” Kaito yelled, stopping Rachael from performing that action. “I’ll take these so-called stat boosts.”

“Good,” Rachael said as she finally got the respect due to her as a goddess. “Then off you go.”

As Kaito stood there sheepishly, Rachael used her power to send Kaito back into the world, causing him to start disappearing into a bright light again.

____________________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, back in the capital of Nakamura, Rina, having no clue what had become of Kaito, was anxiously asking the residents if they had seen him.

“Excuse me!” Rina yelled to get a man’s attention. “Have you seen a boy with brown hair and a blue tunic?”

As Rina was trying her best to explain Kaito’s appearance the best she could, the man pointed to Kaito, who had just respawned in front of a fountain. Kaito observed his surroundings with a fairly confused look as he was surprised he was teleported all the way back to Nakamura.

Upon seeing Kaito, Rina started speed walking towards him. Kaito, also noticing her, started to try and calm down Rina, who looked mad at him for what he did at the abandoned castle.

“Oh Rina, hey—”

Kaito was in mid-greeting, but was immediately cut off by Rina’s actions. Rina, upon reaching Kaito, hugged him with great force. As her head was down in Kaito’s chest, she started tearing up.

“Don’t— Don’t ever do something like that ever again,” said Rina as she sniffled mid-sentence.

Rina was trying to hide the fact that she was tearing up by not showing her face, but Kaito caught on due to the shaky sound of her voice. At first, Kaito was caught off guard by Rina showing such an attachment to him. Rina showed such little affection towards him before this that he was starting to think she hated him.

“Please tell me you aren’t another Mimic,” Kaito said jokingly in his attempt to cheer up Rina.

Rina, still hugging Kaito, finally looked up at Kaito face-to-face, responded, “What is that supposed to mean?”

Kaito got a full look at Rina’s face, which was still flushed from her tears. This new look of Rina made Kaito completely overlook the fact that he basically just told Rina that the Mimic he encountered took her appearance. Even though Kaito knew she was likely crying, seeing it for himself was still unbelievable.

“You’re crying…” Kaito unexpectedly spurted out.

At this moment, Rina realized that she was completely ‘out of character’ and finally backed off from Kaito. Swiftly turning around, so Kaito could no longer see her face, she wiped away her tears, intending to recollect herself.

“Do you know how long I waited for you!?” Rina complained, trying to change the conversation away from her crying. “What happened in the dungeon’s lower levels?”

“Heh, I got away like I said,” Kaito replied, keeping out the important details.

Although Kaito getting away was technically true, he tried to keep the fact that he had died a secret. His attempt was horribly hidden as his face gave away that he was hiding something, but as Rina was still looking away to recollect herself, he got away with it.

Finally turning around to face Kaito again, Rina continued the conversation. “Did you at least manage to get the relic?”

Kaito, in a moment of realization, had a flashback. As he was immediately killed by the mysterious man, now revealed to be called Mauld, he did not retrieve the relic. Kaito continued to explain to Rina that he did not get the relic and that Mauld likely has it.

“That’s unfortunate, but what’s important is that you’re alive,” Rina concluded.

Kaito started to get giddy from Rina’s statement, as it made him realize once again that Rina does like him. Rina, realizing Kaito’s glee, aimed to get Kaito off his high horse.

“Now that we’re done with everything we need to do in Nakamura, let’s head back to Giora. With the relic now gone, we can focus on the dragon egg there as it won’t draw as much attention,” instructed Rina as she set out their next plan of action. “Staying here might gain us some unwanted onlookers.”