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 form a proper question.

Fully aware of how and why Kaito would be confused, Rachael 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 clarified. “You can think of it as an insurance, as you reincarnated are bound to die from something unfair like this. If you just die before completing our task for you, there'd be no point in reincarnating you all.”

Kaito looked unimpressed, as he fully saw this as a special power. Realizing the attitude on Kaito’s face, Rachael 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 ignored her last remark and mockingly said, “So are there any other benefits I should know about?”

Rachael, unwilling 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 those of 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 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 earned the respect due to her status 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, anxiously asked 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 tried to explain Kaito’s appearance, the man pointed to Kaito, who had just respawned by a fountain.

Kaito observed his surroundings, confused. He was surprised to be teleported all the way back to Nakamura.

Upon seeing Kaito, Rina started speed-walking towards him. Kaito, also noticing her, began to try to calm down Rina. She looked mad at him for what he had done 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 again, " Rina said as she sniffled mid-sentence.

Rina tried 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 so 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.

Still hugging Kaito, Rina finally looked up at Kaito and responded, “What is that supposed to mean?”

Kaito admired Rina’s face, which was still flushed from her tears. This new look of Rina’s made Kaito entirely 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 she was completely ‘out of character’ and finally backed off from Kaito. She swiftly turned around so Kaito couldn’t see her face and 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 specific details.

Although Kaito's escape was technically accurate, he tried to keep the fact that he had died a secret.

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. The mysterious man, Mauld, immediately killed him, so he did not retrieve the relic. Kaito explained to Rina that he did not get the relic and that Mauld likely had it.

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

Kaito started to get giddy from Rina’s statement. It made him realize once again that Rina does like him. Rina realized Kaito’s glee and 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,” instructed Rina as she set out their next action plan. “I’d like to leave this place as soon as possible...”