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I see a faint light. I thought I had died, but I guess I’m not quite gone yet. I guess I lucked out somehow. Or…maybe this is something else, the afterlife like some call it.

Opening my eyes, I find myself in an unknown place. The bed I’m on and the decorations on the wall are rather plain, but still look high quality. At the very least I’m sure this isn’t a hospital.

There’s no one else in the room, so I can’t really ask what happened to me. My hands soon enter my vision as I try to stand up. But seeing them makes me gasp in shock.

They look so different from how I remember them. They’re riddled with scars, almost like they were minced to pieces and somehow stitched back together. At least they still look like hands, more scars than skin, but they’re hands. My hands.

I look a bit more and see that the scars aren’t limited to my hands. They continue along my arms, and even my shoulders. I pull back the bed sheets and the clothes I’m wearing and see that it’s my entire body that looks that way. Such a body can only belong to a warrior with a long history in the battlefield, or to Frankenstein’s monster.

It’s a bit painful to look at. I didn’t think I’d still be alive, but I also had not expected so many scars.

“Hm?” Something isn’t right, and I hold my hand to my chin and think. I didn’t think I’d still be alive? Where did all these scars come from? I can’t remember. A traffic accident, falling down a cliff, careless negligence…

Huh, they all seem like the right answer, but also not quite. But wait, I’m clearly alive now, so why was I so sure that I had died? What’s happening to me? I can’t remember anything that happened recently. All I have is this strong feeling that I lost something very important.

As I think of all that, the door opens and a lady walks in.

“Hmm, so you’ve woken up. I guess I should say good morning.”
“Ah, good…morning.”

The lady goes to the chair next to the bed and sits there. From what I can tell she’s likely in her late teens or early twenties. Her long blonde hair and sharp blue eyes give her this air of dignity, like she’s a high class lady.

“First, let me introduce myself. I’m Leontina Meto Zelk, commander of the Third Knight Order of the Holy Granleuche Empire.”

Hm, that’s concerning. Holy Granleuche Empire? Third Knight Order? I’ve never heard someone say things like that seriously in modern day Japan, but she also doesn’t seem to be joking.

It’s probably better to not point that out, and instead see where this is going.

“We have secured the area where you were found, collapsed and badly hurt. Lucky for you, I happen to possess expertise over healing magic, so I brought you to my mansion to perform treatment. It was successful and your wounds were healed, but you remained unresponsive for a while.”
“I see. Thank you very much for helping me.”

Healing magic? Wait, it’s that thing then? I reincarnated in another world? Wait no, it seems I’m keeping my body from my past life, so I guess it’s more like transportation to another world. I feel like that was a really common trope in novels and anime lately, but I never thought it’d happen to me.

“So tell me, do you remember your name?”
“I’m…Honjou Itsuki. Last name Honjou, first name Itsuki.”
“Oh? That’s quite the strange name, did you come from a foreign land?”

That’s a tricky question. Is it fine to say that I came from a different world? I have no idea if she’ll believe me if I say that, and I don’t even know what kind of world this is, so I’m not sure how to reply.

At the very least it’s clear that Leontina doesn’t see me as someone who came from a different world. I feel bad lying to the person who saved my life, but it’s for the best right now.

“I’m sorry, I probably shouldn’t be asking so many questions so soon. You’ve been asleep for three years after all¹. We can talk more once you’ve regained your bearings a bit more.”
“I slept…three years?”
“Yes. I took care of your flesh wounds, but when I had someone from the church take a look at you, they said your soul had also sustained a lot of damage². They told me that it might recover with time though, and so I let you rest. I’m glad you managed to wake up again.”
“I see…”
“Try to eat a bit first, this soup should be easy to stomach. I’ll come back once you’re done.”

I guess I was in even worse shape than I thought. And I owe Leontina a lot.

After that I continued staying at Leontina’s mansion.

At first I was worried that my body had deteriorated since apparently I was sleeping for three years, but I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary other than the many scars. Apparently that’s thanks to her healing magic and the way she took care of me so far.

Also, I confirmed this is another world. They use swords and magic, and there’s monsters that are different to people and regular animals.

“Volare Fuoco.” After a short chant, the fireballs I created shot from my fingertips and hit the training target.

“You’ve mastered it enough to abbreviate the chant while preserving accuracy in such a short time, impressive.” Leontina is standing next to me and praises me.

We’re in the garden of her mansion, where I’ve been doing some exercise to rehabilitate while also learning magic under her. My spells have always been accurate regardless of the chant, but there’s nothing wrong with being praised either.

“I must admit I wasn’t too hopeful when you told me you couldn’t remember anything else other than your name, and that you never held a sword or used magic, but I have to say, you’re a fast learner.”

In the end I pretended to have amnesia. Leontina has been friendly so far, but I was found covered in wounds, so that should be enough to make anyone suspicious of me. If I also told some half-a̲s̲s̲e̲d̲ story with a lot of holes, it’d just make me even less trustworthy.

Also, Leontina is the most adept with healing magic, but she can use other types better than the average person, and as the commander of a knight order she’s obviously also good with a sword.

“So I have some business to attend soon and must leave, do you have any plans?”
“I’ll practice a bit longer, and then I’ll see if I can help around the mansion.”
“The servants told me you’ve been helping them lately, but don’t feel obliged to work, alright?”
“I just don’t feel comfortable sitting doing nothing after everything you’ve done for me.”

She just shook her head in resignation and left me to do whatever I wanted. I watched her leave and then went back to practicing magic³.

1. Robinxen: She just kept a random comatosed guy for three years?
2. Robinxen: Oh…. OH…… is this the main character’s body?! I don’t think we ever got to know his original name! I wonder if the soul damage was caused by his soul binding with the automaton instead of his body during the transmigration.
3. Silva: Huh… this development came out of left field. And why would she take care of a random guy found in a random ruin, she could just leave it to the church or the equivalent of a medical facility here. Nobody would simply keep a random guy in their mansion and personally tend to them out of kindness, there must be more to it.