Reincarnated as the Last of my Kind, Volume 1

by Kiri Komori

  “Mm… That is quite a tempting offer, but…Tina is only four years old. Sending her to the other side of the continent to study is…”

  “What do you think of the Elven Empire of Forestria, then? It’s more oriented for studying magic, but it has thousands of years of knowledge. It’s also my homeland, and my son could look after your daughter. Do consider it!”

  “No, that’s… I’m honored by the offer, but we couldn’t…”

  This girl was left in my care by a Mythical Beast, and an elven archaeologist spoke so highly of her. Maybe Tinaris really wasn’t an ordinary girl. Turning around, I found her looking up at me anxiously.

  Nnng! She’s certainly no ordinary child. No normal child would be this cute!

  “…Tina, this man is willing to go this far to help you,” I said, squatting down to look at her at eye level. “What do you say? What do you want to do? Do you want to go abroad and study?”

  I was older than Tinaris when I decided to run off and start a new life in De Marl. And my life ended up pretty bad, as it turned out, but the people I met and the experiences I had in that country were irreplaceable. A wife and daughter I loved, my friends and subordinates…I met all of them in that country. There were many painful goodbyes, but the good had certainly outweighed the bad.

  Tinaris, I want you to see this big, wide world too. But you’re still too small. I don’t have the courage to send you to a foreign country! But this is just what I want. If you want to do something else, I won’t force you.

  “I do want to study. But I’m still little so going to another country is scary… And I can’t leave you alone at the inn when Grandpa’s sick!”

  “Ah…!”

  She’s an ANGEL!

  “Are you all right, owner?”

  “Ah!”

  Tina was such a little angel my consciousness went blank for a minute there…

  Uuu… That little, little baby I found…! She’s only been alive for four years, but she’s so worried over Pops and me… Nnng! She’s such a good girl! And she was eating baby food until just recently! She couldn’t even speak properly! She was still wetting the bed…!

  They say girls grow up quickly, but I didn’t think it would be this fast. It is too soon…far too soon. At this rate, she’ll get married before I know it…!

  Aaaah, stay a baby for a little longer, Tina!

  “Hm, fascinating,” Doctor Rob said. “Tinaris, if you’re really learning alchemy, I’d appreciate it if you could make some medium-grade tonics and sell them wholesale to my clinic. Cheaply, if possible.”

  “Doctor Rob…” I said, somewhat bothered.

  That man never lets anything faze him.

  “But that aside, I need to give you some vaccines too, Tinaris. Come now, sit down and hold out your arm.”

  “Huh? Huh?! I-I’m getting shots too?!” Tina cried in a mixture of surprise and fear.

  “Of course. Getting your vaccines while you’re still young is important. I’ll give you six different shots this time around. And don’t worry, I’ve brought some low-grade tonic. It shouldn’t even leave a mark.”

  “Ugh…” Tinaris’ voice tapered off gloomily. “F-Fine… I understand.”

  That probably wasn’t the problem, Doctor…

  But being the obedient girl she was, Tina sat down in the chair Pops vacated and extended her arm, just like she was told. Aaah, that little, dainty arm is going to be poked by a needle six times…!

  If I could take your place, Tina, believe me, I would…! But me taking these vaccines wouldn’t help you any…!

  “Marcus, you’re thinking that you’d take those shots for Tina if you could, aren’t you?” Doctor Rob asked, seemingly reading my mind.

  “Ah…! Well, I… Forget that. Did Tina really make Pops’ medicine, though? I hear only experienced alchemists can make it.”

  “That’s true, but she really made it,” Pops insisted. “See? I’m doing fine. And drinking the tonic she brewed made my legs all better.”

  He wiggled his legs to illustrate.

  “Ah, don’t do that, you could hurt yourself!” I chided him. “The tonic only temporarily takes away the pain.”

  “Well, yes, but…Sirius here says Tina’s tonic had very high mana purity, so it’s several times more effective than a normal low-grade tonic. Her using alchemy is impressive, but the fact her mana purity is high is just as important!”

  “Huh…?”

  Her mana purity is high…? What could this mean? Is it possible she’s…?

  “It couldn’t be… Is Tina actually an angel?!”

  “You must be tired,” Doctor Rob regarded me squarely. “You should go rest in the hot springs or something.”

  “Ooh! You’ve got hot springs here?!” the magician girl asked, her eyes positively sparkling.

  I wouldn’t get your hopes up…

  “We do, but…they’re not in a good spot…” Pops said. “It’s halfway up the mountain and the road isn’t paved. Not so much as a trail leading up there. Some guests tried heading there, but they tripped and got themselves dirty on the way back. Others just couldn’t find it.”

  “We could show you the way if you’re dead set on it,” I added. “We could go with you too, but there’s no partition to separate men from women.”

  “…I-I’ll pass, then,” the magician girl said, dropping her shoulders.

  But the expression on her face didn’t hurt my heart as much as my daughter’s when she had to suffer through those shots.

  Aaah! I’d take your place if I could!

  “How many more, Doctor Rob?!” I asked him desperately.

  “Two more,” was his deadpan reply.

  “Did you hear that, Tina?! Just two more! Hang in there!”

  “D-Dad, could you stop shouting like that?!” Tina demanded, her cheeks slightly flushed.

  “…Yes, ma’am.”

  She got mad at me!

  ♣Me at Age Five

  “IT’S ready!”

  I mixed in all sorts of herbs useful for alchemy that I’d gathered from the garden, like Milson grass and Buus flowers. I’d found a recipe for manure in my alchemy recipe book and tried making it. And the result was…hehehe…a resounding success! It was simpler than I thought.

  “All right, let’s check if it works!”

  Five years had passed since I was adopted by the Rofola Lodge. Five years since I began my life as Tinaris. In other words, I was five years old. I was sure I’d die when I’d floated down that river and was found by bandits and beasts. But five years later, I was alive and well. I owed it all to the man who saved me…but I still couldn’t bring myself to trust men that easily, which may not be the nicest thing to say, given that I still lived with my dad.

  To that end, I was working on my alchemy so someday, I could live independently. Alchemy certainly was useful for everyday life. One month had passed since my family became just my one-armed dad and me. We both had to run the inn by ourselves now, so I strove to make more advanced items. That way, with my help…Dad wouldn’t have to work as hard.

  “Hi Dad, how were the crops?”

  “Huh? Tina, what’s that black soil you’re carrying there? Where did you get it? It looks heavy.”

  Dad went from one question to another without taking so much as a breath.

  Listen and be amazed, I thought to myself smugly. It’s nowhere near as heavy as it looks!

  Honestly, it was, though.

  “This is manure I made with alchemy! Using it on your crops should increase the quality and yield of your harvest! And it’ll even make the crops grow faster!”

  “Manure? Alchemy can make manure?”

  “Yes…! Oh, but this is my first time making it… It might not do anything if I messed up…”

  “Well, hand it over. I’ll use Appraisal on it.”

  “Ah, right!”

  Appraisal! Dad can use magic to assess the quality of items!

  Work your magic, daddy-o!

&nbs
p; “Hmm…”

  “H-How does it look?”

  “Produce Manure Puepue… Good quality. Impressive work. All right, I’ll put it to use.”

  “Yay!”

  He’s putting it to use already?!

  “Th-Thank you!”

  “Mm…I should be the one thanking you. What are you thanking me for, Tina?” Dad asked, patting my head.

  “…Oh…”

  Was thanking him that weird? But he looks happy.

  “Thank you, Tina. A good harvest means we can have more stored up in the pantry sooner. Can you come help me spread the manure?”

  “Yes!”

  Taking a pair of gloves, I went with Dad to spread the manure in our field. It was just after a harvest, so there were a lot of spots with nothing planted. Dad used his wooden arm for support as he plowed the fertilized soil. Forming ridges in the field, he planted poteito seeds.

  “Mm, this looks about right,” he said as he concluded his work.

  “Ah! Dad, I think guests are coming!” I said, spotting silhouettes in the distance.

  “What?” Dad asked, straining his eyes. “Oh, you’re right. Looks like there are two of them… Tina, go get a room for two ready.”

  “On it!”

  My body grew stronger with age, and I could move a lot better…though I still wasn’t very good at running. But being a kid, it felt like I had endless stamina! And, well, my body was definitely light. Compared to how I was in my past life, I felt as light as a feather. But, just like in my past life, running was not my strong suit.

  So, I simply broke into a light jog and checked one of our cottages for two. There was no trash, the sheets were clean and ironed, nothing was left in the closet, and the bathroom was clean.

  “Ah…!”

  I entered the first floor of our house, which doubled as the inn’s reception area, just as a young couple was checking in.

  Wow… They’re so pretty.

  It was a man and a woman, and they were both gorgeous. The woman was dressed in a rather revealing outfit, while the man had emerald hair and eyes. He wore a purple cloak and carried an instrument that reminded me of a ukulele. The woman had long, light-pink hair and violet eyes. She had heavy makeup on, which gave her something of a gaudy impression. And her breasts were quite large.

  The oddest part about them, though, was that they were traveling too lightly. Most travelers usually had at least an overcoat, so their things wouldn’t be stolen so easily. Bandits had been going around the roads for some time now, so not having a weapon to defend yourself would invite them to attack.

  The country of Fei Lu sent knights every now and then to deal with the bandits, but they always seemed to crop up time and again. To that end, merchants often hired bodyguards.

  Did they only travel a short distance? They didn’t seem to be carrying any weapons, so they didn’t look like adventurers, but…

  “Oh? Who’s this girl?” the woman asked upon seeing me.

  “Oh, that’s my daughter, Tinaris. Tina, is the room ready?”

  “Yes, everything’s set.”

  “Right. Thanks. Here’s the key to your cottage, then.”

  “Thank you kindly.” The man accepted the key. “Do the other guests eat here too?”

  “Yes, but…you’re the only guests we have today, so you have the place all to yourselves.”

  “Oh, that’s a pity.” The man gave a forced smile. “We thought we could liven the place up with our song and dance.”

  “Song and dance…?” I accidentally said aloud.

  The lady squatted down in front of me, looking at me at eye level. “Yes, that’s right. Roin and I are performers. He’s supposed to be a troubadour and I’m a dancer.”

  “Traveling performers…”

  So, there are people like that in this world too, huh? I guess that’s why they’re traveling light…

  But the man looked pretty weak, so I had to wonder how they weren’t attacked by bandits. And people as pretty as them traveling unprotected felt like a recipe for trouble.

  “Traveling performers, eh…? Isn’t traveling on your own dangerous, though?” Dad said, apparently thinking the same thing as me.

  I mean, isn’t it?

  “Y-Yes, well, we’re actually part of a troupe, but…”

  “He wanted to propose to me, so we snuck away from the troupe!” the lady exclaimed, beaming. “The troupe is staying in De Lulua right now, so once we’re done here, we’ll be going back.”

  “E-Enofa!” Roin cried.

  “P-Propose?!” Dad and I said in unison.

  H-He’s proposing to her?! W-Wow! Wooow! But, wait… He wanted to propose to her, so they broke off on their own…? And once he’s proposed, they’re going back? Or am I missing something here?

  “I-I didn’t say that!” Roin insisted.

  “Oh? Then why did you say we’ll be traveling just the two of us for a while?” Enofa asked teasingly.

  “Well, that’s…er… A-Anyway, I’ll go check out our room! I need to, uhh, make preparations… I mean, no, r-right! I need to check on something that shopkeeper said… I mean, no! There’s something I need to ask the innkeeper!”

  “Yeah, yeah… See? You can read him like an open book,” she whispered into my ear and winked.

  “I-I see…” I nodded vaguely.

  Roin really was pretty obvious with his intentions. His limbs were shaking nonstop, and his eyes darted in all directions. And when he was like this, nothing he said was convincing. In fact, it felt like the more he talked, the deeper the hole he’d dig for himself. But the lady seemed to like it, so I assumed it worked for them.

  “O-Oh, come on…! Why do you have to be so perceptive?!”

  Dad regarded him with a pitying look.

  Dad, he’s a guest. You’re being rude…

  I did understand how Dad felt thought. Though Roin was probably serious about going through with this act…

  “Ah, no, that’s not what I meant…I talked to this one shopkeeper. He told me you can see the Twin Moons here in Rofola…” Roin said.

  “Oh, the Twin Moons.” Dad nodded in understanding. “Now would be the time, wouldn’t it?”

  “Twin Moons?” I asked, approaching the counter.

  This was the first I’d heard of it.

  “Yeah. You know how there are two moons in the sky?”

  “Yes.”

  Wisty Air had two suns and two moons. The temperature was always pleasant, though, and unlike Japan, there was no noticeable change in the seasons. Those suns were probably smaller and closer and radiated less heat than the sun I knew from my past life… Or so I assumed. I didn’t really know for sure, obviously.

  As for the moons, I wasn’t sure what role they played in this world. There might be someone researching them out there, but…I supposed that’s just how other worlds worked.

  But then again, if there are two moons, doesn’t that mean there are always “twin moons?”

  “Every few years, there’s a day when the Ril Moon and the Roal Moon intersect. The intersecting moons shine down on Lake Rhiode, creating twin moons. One on the water’s surface and the other in the sky. It’s said that couples who see this moon are blessed with twins.”

  “Woow…”

  So, it’s like an astronomical show! And it’s going to happen soon? I wanna see it!

  “Well, the part about twins being born is just a legend,” Dad finished.

  “It still sounds lovely!” I said excitedly.

  “Doesn’t it?!” Roin beamed at me. “That’s why I want to…p-propose to Enofa while looking…at the Twin Moons…”

  “So that’s why!” Dad and I said in unison.

  I couldn’t help but nod and smile. Roin was blushing profusely and shivering like a leaf though…

  Can he really pull this off…?

  “Hmm, but there is a little problem.” Dad frowned. “I think it’s almost the right time… But I only recently inherited the inn, so I don’t know t
he exact date. I only saw the Twin Moons once when I was a lad…”

  “Huh?! B-But…it should be soon, right?”

  “Well, yeah, I think… But I dunno if it’ll be today or tomorrow or the day after… I don’t think it’ll be as long as a month, but I don’t know the exact date, see…”

  “Huuuh?! So we might have to stay here for days…?”

  “W-Well, yes. Ah, don’t worry about the lodging fees building up, though. We’ll cut them down if you’re willing to help around the inn.”

  “Um… You mention helping out with your inn, but can outsiders like us really do that…?”

  “Don’t you worry, I’ll only ask you to do simple tasks! Probably…”

  …I’m getting a bad feeling about this…

  “D-Dad, weren’t there some books about astrology in your study?” I asked, pulling on his sleeve.

  “Hm? There were?”

  “I can look for them…”

  “You sure you wanna do that? Will you be able to tell even if you do find them?”

  “I-It’s worth a shot!”

  Honestly, I didn’t know much about astronomy or constellations—especially given how different this world was from Earth.

  “If Pops was still alive, we could have asked him for the exact date…” Dad uttered bitterly.

  Dad…

  I couldn’t blame him. Grandpa passed away just last month, and his death was still fresh in Dad’s memory. I couldn’t quite believe it yet either. But right now, we had the customers to worry about. Their future depended on this affair.

  I went up to the second floor and began scanning through the study’s shelves. I couldn’t reach the really tall ones, but…

  Huh, that’s weird…

  I was bad with heights, but somehow, I was okay with climbing up a bookshelf. Maybe it was because it had proper footing. I knew climbing it was wrong because it damaged the shelf, but I had to get up there somehow.

  That’s not important now. Astrology books. Right… Wait, that book over there looks like it might be it.

  “Yes!” I exclaimed as I reached for the book with my fingertips.