[Reincarnator Residential Area] "You really think the barrier's gonna break?"
"What are you standing around for? Let's go."
Several hours before the barrier fell.
Two former adventurers in the Reincarnator Residential Area were making final preparations to depart.
Taiga
And Kushitani
Of course they had names in this world too, but Kunihiko and Asaka always called each other by their previous-life names. It felt more natural that way.
Both of them had parents who were members of a mercenary company.
They'd stayed put in one place as infants, apparently, until things calmed down — but by the time the two of them could walk, they were already being carried from place to place.
The mercenary company marched where there was war, accompanied whoever needed escorting, and went to slay any Monsters that appeared.
Traveling from one land to another like that, the two of them wandered the continent without the elves ever pinning down their location.
The fact that they were Reincarnators — and had started walking earlier than normal children — was part of the reason.
The two had been childhood friends in their previous lives, and by some twist of fate, they'd grown up as childhood friends in this one too.
It had reached the point where they were essentially family, and being around each other was simply a given.
So when Kunihiko declared, "I'm going to become an adventurer!" and took off from the mercenary company, Asaka followed him without a second thought.
And so the two became adventurers, and continued roaming from place to place.
Along the way, they racked up quite the collection of exploits, drawing attention as standouts even among the younger generation.
That attention was exactly why they ended up here.
The fame they'd earned flowed straight to the elves, and before they knew it, they'd been hauled off to the same place as all the other Reincarnators.
When they'd first been brought here, they'd been happy to reunite with an old acquaintance they hadn't seen in ages.
But then they heard what life in the elf village was actually like, and their high spirits plummeted in an instant.
The whole arrangement was basically keeping them alive just to be kept — and it wore on them fast.
Kunihiko grew bored of the dreamless, romanceless life almost immediately.
Asaka, on the other hand, thought the lifestyle wasn't all that bad, in its own way.
She tended to get dragged along by Kunihiko's wild streak, but Asaka was a fairly normal girl. The adventurer's life was dangerous, and for someone security-minded like her, a modest life without dreams or romance actually suited her better.
Along with class-rep Kudo and the other Reincarnators in the village, they were dissatisfied with their current life.
In truth, once Asaka started living here, she understood exactly why.
Wake up in the morning, work, sleep at night.
A life with zero entertainment.
And on top of that, she'd sensed that the elves were secretly keeping tabs on them.
Her honest take was that it would be harder *not* to accumulate stress.
But for Asaka — someone who knew the dangers of the outside — it wasn't unbearable.
Having traveled across the lands, she'd developed a certain adaptability whether she wanted to or not.
Without it, you couldn't survive. And even with it, a stroke of bad luck meant a quick death.
That was the outside — or rather, that was simply how this world worked.
From Asaka's perspective, the elf village — with its guaranteed safety — wasn't the worst environment imaginable.
That said, most of the people here, starting with Kudo, didn't know what the outside was really like.
They vaguely referenced the dangers out there and their current life, but their dissatisfaction never went anywhere.
She'd caught on that the Teacher was hiding something, and that it was probably done with the students' best interests at heart — and Asaka, with her long years living the outlaw adventurer's life, had learned to read people.
Still, she didn't think that meant she should cover for the people who'd kidnapped them, so she stayed out of it.
Unlike Kunihiko, Asaka was someone who preferred to avoid trouble.
Kunihiko, on the other hand, never hid what he really thought.
He said what was on his mind and answered questions straight.
For boys, adventure was an irresistible word, and hearing it straight from someone who'd actually lived it was only natural.
So Kunihiko, at their urging, began recounting his adventures up to that point.
The first time he'd slain a Monster.
What it felt like to Level Up.
The boys listened, captivated, hanging on every word of his tales — riding the highs and the lows.
Most of them looked at Kunihiko with envy in their eyes, seeing a man who'd lived out their dreams. But a few, upon hearing his stories, came to understand just how harsh the outside really was.
For better or worse, the two of them entering the elf village had influenced the other Reincarnators.
And they were torn.
The safety of their current life — or the danger of freedom?
Of course it wasn't something they could decide right away.
But someday, the time to make that choice might come.
Torn as they were, they were consumed by the daily routine.
And without the ability to reach a decision or take action, the elf village hurtled toward crisis.
"I'm counting on you. But don't push yourself too hard, okay?"
Because they had fighting power, Kunihiko and Asaka had been granted special permission to participate in the counterattack.
The remaining Reincarnators — all of them — came to see them off.
Kudo stepped forward and delivered a few words of encouragement on everyone's behalf.
"Sure thing. Just sit back and relax — think of it like riding a big ship."
Kunihiko grinned broadly, then in an instant his gaze turned sharp enough to make your spine go cold.
"Oh, by the way, Oggy — before we head out, you're gonna tell me the real reason you tried to poison us, right?"
Every eye in the room swiveled toward Ogihara, who was on cooking duty.
Under that collective stare, all Ogihara could do was stammer.