The Third Death.

This time, I didn't drown in agony; my eyes didn't stray from my face, and my heart didn't pound wildly either. I simply couldn't experience the suffering that I was slowly starting to get used to.

For the third time, I found myself standing on the main street. However, now I knew that this street was located in the Kingdom of Lugnica and that this kingdom was somehow associated with a sick and damned cult.

「It is obvious that all those people at the bottom of the stairs of that hellish staircase have no idea who they are praying to. It is absurd that any nearby country would not get involved against a reign like this if it were publicly known that such an obsessive and bizarre religion exists.」

The Holy Empire of Vollachia was one of the four most powerful nations on this continent, or so the novice spoke of them. It seemed as though the Kingdom of Lugnica, despite being a powerful nation, couldn't do much to win against them. This led me to conclude that the Vollachia Empire was a formidable power.

Upon hearing about them, even through the repudiation the novice expressed, I couldn't help but think that Vollachia was an improved version of Lugnica. It appeared that race or color were irrelevant to them; they valued the unique strength of each individual. Though the novice referred to them as "Wild people," in reality, they seemed to have adapted to the continent's reality and wanted to serve as a ray of hope for those who knew that the Kingdom of Lugnica was the antagonist in this story.

However, I must acknowledge that all this is mere speculation without solid foundation—a collection of information residues shaped by my expectations.

Even so, I can't bear to look at the ground I'm walking on now after learning that Lugnica is associated with such an immoral and bloody religion. For some, it might seem ridiculous to change sides based on theories, but I prefer to follow my instincts rather than those of others.

If I want to live in peace until I find a way back and gain the strength to confront the person who brought me here, I must hide under the wing of the Empire. But before that, I must first understand how the politics and laws of Lugnica work.

I have no idea how the borders of this world function, let alone how I can travel to the "enemy" nation.

「Damn. Why was I summoned to this realm?」

It seemed that my summoner did not want to make things easy for me. Who knows, maybe he even knew my true self on Earth, and seeing how pathetic I was, he decided to put trouble in my way to strengthen me.

A shiver ran through my body at the idea that I was being watched.

"Anyway, I'm still the same as before. We can rule out the Church, no, in fact, we can rule out any religion of this world. That leaves us with the second option, the Adventurer's Guild…"

Although, at first, it might sound more extreme than the religion of this place, it was quite possible that there were conditioning methods for beginning adventurers. Perhaps a group was given an expert guide, and that group was taken outside to learn about the monsters around Lugnica. You know, a visual and auditory training.

It was definitely better than being killed by a crazy novice.

With no reason to believe that I would have a better time as an adventurer, I started my path towards the Guild, as if I had started from scratch for the first time.

Walking freely through the streets of Lugnica, I realized that economically, on the surface, this country was doing really well. The streets were well-paved, the shops looked more and more luxurious as I got closer to the center, and there was not a single drop of dirt on the streets. I could see elegant water fountains, men playing music, children playing with wooden toys without parental supervision, grandparents playing some kind of card game, and what seemed to be the police of this place hanging around the corners of each sector with smiles on their faces.

All of these seemed like clues that helped me understand that none of these people were aware of the dark plot that was stirring within the power of Lugnica.

Up to a point, that was fine with me.

I mean, all these people were eventually going to die, but for now, they were living in peace despite the war. They should better enjoy the present and ignore what the future holds.

"Uh, I guess as soon as I earn my salary as an adventurer, the first thing I'll buy will be clothes..."

I shrugged, realizing the way people saw me. My clothes were too strange, even for a foreigner. Fortunately, the policemen around here did not classify my presence as a disturbance of public order, so they only gave me a curious look and continued walking.

"Now that I think about my salary, will I really have to support myself? I've always lived with my parents, and the farthest I've been from their voices was when they went to sleep... Of course, I won't have to pay for electricity or water here... right? Yeah, there's no way they know they can take over the water. Haha, I hope so…"

But all jokes aside, it was definitely something serious. I hadn't considered it because I had been kind of busy with my new ability that brought me back to life, you know. However, in the reincarnation or summoning stories of the novels or movies, these kinds of issues are not discussed.

I mean, problems of everyday life.

It is true that in these stories, the protagonists arrive in the other world, and the first thing they meet is the king and the privileges that he will give them, in addition to the fact that the protagonist is handsome, has charisma, and super broken power.

But my case was totally isolated from fantasy. If everything went as expected, I would really have to work and buy my own food, in the same way that I would have to improve my adventurer equipment and go through years and years of training to become a formidable warrior.

At first, I pitched the idea like I could do it like a walk in the park, but now that I thought about it with a cool, clear head, what I wanted to do, as a mere teenager, was fucking stupid and stupidly complicated.

But it had to be done.

What other choice did I have? Was I going to stay crying in a corner until I starve and come back to life for eternity? Would I lie in the street and beg a lizard or a member of an evil cult?

I wasn't going to do all this because I wanted to be a hero. My intention was not to save the girl in distress and win the recognition of the town.

My mission was to return home, to my world, with my people.

I couldn't give up at the first problem in my way. Not because it wasn't in my blood to give up—there was nothing honorable in my ideals, and I wasn't an honest person either.

I'm just Subaru Natsuki, an ordinary guy who wanted to live.

And to do something so simple, I had to undergo a series of absurd complications.

Reflecting on all of this, I came to the realization that I needed to stop being "funny" or taking the subject lightly. This was not a game, nor was I in a fantasy story, much less a fairy tale where I played the role of the protagonist.

My reality was truly horrifying; my power brought me back from death, and I had already experienced the agony of dying twice. I couldn't continue strutting around with my chest out and my chin up, as I didn't possess any significant advantage to defeat the evil in this world.

My embarrassed smile slowly faded, and my self-reproach made me lose heart. The excitement that had initially ignited my heart about the idea of becoming an adventurer and joining a group had now vanished.

Having the ability to return from death was not a privilege; it was undoubtedly a curse. However, I knew I had to make the best use of it. I wasn't aware if there was a limit to how many times I could come back from death, but I couldn't just keep dying carelessly either just because I didn't know. While I obviously couldn't take my own life, there might be occasions when, for better or worse, I would have to resort to self-sacrifice to progress faster and deceive my way to the pinnacle of power.

I couldn't afford to walk so carelessly knowing that eventually I might have to take my own life.

As I headed towards the Adventurer's Guild that day, all my thoughts became clear.

On that day, the Subaru Natsuki of Earth, the carefree and shy teenager, died.

On that day, a new person had taken over his body.