Reincarnated User Manual

The inevitable squabble of the children began.

“Then, let’s clarify a few things. That’s okay, right?”

“Of course, ask anything.”

“…Okay.”

Lucia took a deep breath.

She was aware of her fiery temperament.

She was determined not to repeat the same mistake.

Her opponent was a ten-year-old child; he probably didn’t know better. It was up to her, an adult, to guide him.

‘There were more than one or two points to criticize, but first.’

“I can somewhat understand wildly swinging the training weapon.”

“Hmm.”

“It’s a common mistake made by those ignorant of martial arts. For your reference, I am an expert.”

“…So, to an expert, it looked wild. I thought I was careful. Disappointing.”

The smile disappeared from Shiron’s face. But Lucia had no intention of stopping. She was not faint-hearted enough to stop here.

The arrow that had been fired could not be turned back.

“Firstly, there are several strange aspects in your peculiar actions and what you call training. I’m not sure where to begin, but first.”

Lucia pointed at the training weapons lying messily on the floor.

“I can understand the sword, spear, and mace. One can get used to distances simply by swinging them.”

“Right.”

Shiron folded his arms and nodded. It was an attitude of silently listening. Lucia seemed content with his reaction and cleared her throat a bit.

“Now, the main point. Why on earth are you swinging a dagger, shield, and staff? Your training method is completely wrong.”

“You have a point.”

Indeed, Shiron understood why Lucia criticized his training method.

It might have been obvious. At a glance, his training method was neither systematic nor efficient, just a mere repetitive act.

Moreover, Shiron himself realized that what he just did was abnormal when he thought about it. However, that was before Shiron verified his skill level.

Shiron unfolded his arms and let out a deep sigh.

‘Where should I start explaining this?’

As the situation got complicated, he felt a headache coming on. Shiron pressed hard on the back of his neck.

‘Lucia has a point. In a spacious area, the use of a dagger is often limited during battles. And it’s better to separately learn shield techniques. If one can’t feel mana, there’s no need to discuss the staff.’

“Let’s stop such ignorant training then. If you develop wrong habits from a young age, you’ll definitely regret it.”

“…….”

Shiron stared intently at Lucia’s face. Then he approached her and lightly patted her on the shoulder.

“I appreciate your concern, but I’ll decline.”

“What?”

Lucia’s voice rose slightly.

“Didn’t you just agree with me?”

“I said you had a point. I didn’t say I agreed.”

It was a childish play on words.

Lucia looked at Shiron with a blank expression. The child, who once maintained a cheerful smile, had now erased the grin from his lips. He knew there would be resistance, but he couldn’t outright dismiss how seriously he had taken Lucia’s words.

Feeling frustrated, an idea suddenly flashed across her mind.

“Let me ask one more thing.”

Lucia pointed out something that had been bothering her.

“Why do you eat snow? Aren’t they dirty? If you’re thirsty, you can use the well in the courtyard.”

For a moment, Shiron’s shoulders twitched ever so slightly. Lucia didn’t miss it.

“You flinched just now.”

“What?”

Shiron widened his eyes, and Lucia giggled.

“You know yourself that what you’re doing is strange.”

“…….”

Shiron couldn’t deny it. As he began to recall his absurd actions, his face turned hot. Was it because of his young age? He became easily embarrassed.

Furthermore, he was humiliated in front of a girl he had clashed with not long ago. He had a nagging feeling that it might be used against him later. Oddly, the many incidents of the past and the present seemed to overlap. Somehow, his lips wouldn’t close as he was assailed by these memories.

Seeing the dumbstruck expression on the boy’s face, Lucia chuckled.

“Why don’t you stop? Everything has its limits. Besides, what you’re doing isn’t even luck. If you really want, I can kindly teach you.”

Shiron pressed his temples as if he had a throbbing headache. Seeing this, Lucia started to press her advantage.

“Before laying the foundation when young, it’s the time to solidify the base. You can swing a sword when you’re older and stronger.”

“Sigh……”

Shiron’s patience was wearing thin with Lucia’s nagging. Did she realize how she looked right now? Shiron swallowed the rising expletive and stared at Lucia.

“Hey.”

Shiron said with a stern face.

“How old are you?”

It was an unexpected question out of the blue. Nevertheless, Lucia responded.

“……8 years old. Why?”

“Then shouldn’t you be solidifying your foundation? Who was the one silently swinging the sword just a moment ago?”

“It’s okay for me.”

Upon hearing Lucia’s confident reply, Shiron chuckled.

“Hey, do you realize your words are contradictory?”

Lucia flinched. She seemed to have realized her mistake. Shiron didn’t let this moment slip and pressed on.

“Where are you from?”

“……Helleun.”

“Helleun is a warm plain in the southwest of the empire.”

“……”

“I was born and raised in the north.”

“What are you trying to say?”

Lucia squinted at Shiron, annoyed by his roundabout way of speaking.

Shiron carefully collected his pieces from the board game. He was tired from the pointless argument. Unnecessary energy expenditure was unwelcome.

“Do you not know because you’re from the south? In the north, there’s a method to train by becoming one with nature and water in the snow.”

Of course, it was nonsense. Shiron just made that up on the spot. He didn’t particularly want to lie, but he couldn’t possibly explain that he was trying to increase his cold resistance, so he fabricated the story.

“What, what nonsense are you spouting? Don’t you just not want to admit something?”

Lucia rebuked Shiron as if he was talking absolute gibberish.

It was frustrating and maddening.

Even though it was a memory from 500 years ago, it was clear to her. There was no such training method in the north, even during the times when she was known as Kyrie. She knew well because she was originally from the northern ethnic group.

However, separate from that, she couldn’t tell Shiron she was reincarnated. Even she herself knew how unbelievable it was to claim she had reincarnated…

‘Could it be, over the past 500 years, some new training method has been developed?’

She tried to be a bit flexible in her thoughts.

“Lies. If that was true, then many wouldn’t have died of frostbite. If such a method existed, many wouldn’t have died in vain.”

“If you find it hard to believe, I’ll show you evidence.”

Shiron began to scoop up a handful of snow and slide it inside his clothing.

“…What are you doing?”

“Just watch.”

Spreading his arms wide, Shiron looked up proudly.

“As you can see, I didn’t scream at all. It’s not cold. It just feels like ice has touched me.”

In reality, although Shiron felt the cold sensation, he wasn’t taken aback by a sudden shock.

“You’ve gone mad from the cold.”

“… You’re crazy.”

Shiron gave a bitter smile, knowing they weren’t on the same page. Even after showing her directly, he was treated like a madman. Arguing with a kid wasn’t just draining physically but mentally, too. He was nearly exhausted.

‘Should I just outright tell her that I’m a player? That this is a game world, and I know about everything that’s going to happen… If I don’t get treated as a madman, that’ll be fortunate.’

Lucia heaved a deep sigh. She felt defeated in an argument with a kid. Regret surged, wishing she had studied a bit in her past life.

‘I’m going insane. Should I just say outright that I’ve reincarnated? But I have no way to prove that I’ve reincarnated. If I tell this ten-year-old kid about my memories, he’ll surely think I’m just boasting.’

Revealing her identity as a reincarnated person would be problematic. Just a moment ago, Shiron was flustered by every word Lucia said. Fortunately, the grown-up wasn’t being chided for bickering with a child.

Their patience was wearing thin. Both Lucia and Shiron felt the same.

A brief silence hovered between them. The one to break it was Lucia.

“You’re weaker than me.”