"Hey, you okay man?"

How is one supposed to react when they suddenly appear in the middle of some unknown road? It was a pretty scary situation. Especially since he was awakened by some sort of strange looking gladiator.

"Seriously, are you just staring at me out of annoyance, or because you're feeling sick or something?"

The gladiator wasn't just any gladiator either. Aldebaran was his name, and he was moderately skilled with a sword, enough to challenge your average knight. Naturally, he also owned a sword to use those skills, a Liuyedao to be more specific. Aldebaran also knew how to use magic, Earth and Yin, though he appeared to be more skilled with the latter.

By far his most scary skill was his 'domain' an ability that he used to loop time within a certain area. It had tons of rules, but it was unbelievably buste—.

"Ugh... I'm taking your silence as sickness then."

He finally responded to the strange knight. "Nah, I'm fine, sorry for ignoring you." He slowly sat up. "I'm just going through some stuff right now." Was this an Isekai? And how did he know so much about the gladiator?

Was that his cheat? People always got one of those in these types of stories.

The gladiator sighed. "I see... Well, sorry to make you go through even more stuff, but you need to move off the road, unless you wanna become red paste." He pointed a finger at the carriage that awaited behind him.

There was a young boy holding the reins to what could only be described as dinosaurs. He awkwardly waved at them. "Hello!"

His name was Schult. He had no combat abilities worthy of note.

The gladiator continued, getting his attention back. "The only reason princess didn't run you over, is because of the kid over there. She has a soft spot for him."

And like that, the boy decided that he could have a mental breakdown later. "Ah! Sorry...!" He got up so fast that he felt dizzy.

The gladiator waved him off. "It's fine, I get ya..." He tilted his head. "By the way, you ain't from this world, right?"

His entire body froze. "H-huh? How can you tell!?" He got found out immediately!? How!?

He wasn't even sure this was another world yet, but the gladiator had read him like a book like it took no effort at all!

Aldebaran chuckled. "I had a feeling from those clothes of yours. Nobody dresses like that in this world."

And that immediately cleared away his confusion. If this really was a medieval type world as the carriage, and the existence of a gladiator suggested, then people walking around with jeans wouldn't be exactly common.

But even so... wasn't jumping to conclusions like that way too soon!? "I know I have already been a nuisance with the road thing, but I can't just accept that you saw weird clothes and immediately jumped to the conclusion I was from another world."

Aldebaran hesitantly nodded. "Fair enough. The reason is that I can jump to conclusions like that because I'm from Earth too... er... assuming you're from Earth of course."

What kind of isekai was this!? "D-don't tell me people from other worlds are super common here or something!?"

Aldebaran shook his head. "Nah, but they occasionally pop-up... Enough that folks like us are known as people who came from outside of the Great Waterfall."

He continued. "And before you ask, the Great Waterfall is something that covers this entire world. Oh, and the world is flat."

This guy was stating crazy things way too nonchalantly! "Please give me a break, my brain might genuinely explode."

Aldebaran shrugged. "Eh, you seem to be handling being in another world just fine. Just more knowledge from ya."

"That's not true at all! Do you think I was just fine when I was staring at you silently for a bunch of time!?" He needed some time to process this information!

The gladiator stayed silent for a moment, before sighing once again. "Hey, my name is Aldebaran, from Japan."

Ah, so it was time for introductions. "Oh, my name is Heitor, I'm from Brazil... Wait how are we speaking the same language!? And what kind of Japanese is called Aldebaran!?"

The Gladiator scratched his helmet. "The name thing is... complicated. And I ain't got a clue about the language thing... Although this world's written language is pretty much just Japanese with different characters."

Heitor immediately looked down in despair. "I'm never gonna learn how to write."

The gladiator put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Work hard cousin... And hey, why don't you come with me for a second. I'll introduce you to the princess."

Heitor looked at the carriage. "That's the person who was gonna run over me, right?

"Yeah, and if she takes pity on you, your life is set. But if she dislikes you, your life is over. Wanna gamble?"

He didn't. "Sure." But he had no better options.

"Hm... So this boy is also from beyond the Great Waterfall, Aldebaran?"

The gladiator nodded. "Seems to be."

The lady that wanted to run him over, looked him up and down. "He doesn't seem particularly strange outside of his clothing. Although I suppose you are nothing special as well."

Aldebaran said something about how that was way too mean...

But Heitor couldn't really pay attention, he was completely focused on her, on Priscilla Barielle.

Skilled with the sword. Divine Protection of the Sun. Skilled with Yang Magic. Soul Marriage. Yang Sword Vollachia. Information about all of that flew into his head as soon as he had seen her.

And she wasn't the only interesting person in the carriage. Although far less impressive there was also the maid by her side to consider. Her name was Yae Tenzen, a fairly skilled Shinobi.

This... this had to be a cheat ability.

The maid giggled. "Is it untrue, Al?"

The gladiator looked down. "No... Ah, screw it. I'm okay with this type of talking down anyways. It's kinda nice." Oi!? What kind of guy just admitted to be a mega masochist like that!?

Poor Tae looked seriously creeped out. "Gross..."

Priscilla raised a hand, one that was carrying a fan. "Cease the meaningless chatter." Immediately the two stopped. "Boy, what's your name?"

He cleared his throat. "It's Heitor, ma'am."

She pointed the fan at him. "Hm... a boring name." Geez... "Mine is Priscilla Barielle, a baroness. From now on, address me as one of your station should. Understood?"

He slowly nodded. "U-understood... but how exactly would that be?" He sputtered. "I'm from beyond the Great Waterfall so I don't—."

She cut him off. "Either Lady Priscilla, or Lady Barielle. Do not believe you will survive calling me princess as Al does." There was something about her that was way too intense.

It made him gulp. "Understood, Lady Priscilla."

She smiled, and that intensity lowered down. "Good." And then her gaze shifted to the gladiator. "Al, if I'm understanding this situation correctly, you wish for me to adopt this stray dog?" Yes!

Heitor obviously didn't like the attitude she had shown so far, but he much rather have the scary fire lady with super healing on his side, rather than against him. So he would put up with being called a stray dog with no issues.

Aldebaran shrugged. "Eh, I don't really care."

Heitor sputtered. "Oi!? You were calling me a cousin a second ago! Does our shared heritage mean nothing to you!?" He couldn't hold himself after such a betrayal.

The gladiator looked away. "You're not even from the same country as me." Brazil and Japan were basically brothers though!

Priscilla's smile had turned into a smirk. "How cold Al... What did you want by bringing this dog here then?"

The gladiator hummed. "I figured you would like to look at a rare species before killing it." This guy talked about murder way too casually! "If you wanna adopt it or not... that's up to you."

Priscilla slapped her closed fan against her other hand. "Very well..." Her gaze went back to him. "I must say, for a rare species he looks to be a bit of a bore, but his outburst over camaraderie was entertaining..."

She closed her eyes, contemplating. "Now let me think if I desire a new dog or not..."

Heitor grimaced. "Hey... you're not gonna seriously kill me if you don't want to adopt me, right...?"

Priscilla did not respond, still lost in thought. Or maybe she just didn't deem him worthy of a response.

The maid answered for her, with a smile that shined way too bright. "Kid, here's a tip. Maybe if you take off running right now she's not gonna bother chasing you!"

Heitor let a silent gasp, and then looked at the traitor, Aldebaran. As if to confirm it.

The gladiator crossed his arms. "I did warn you that it was a gamble."

What was he even supposed to answer to that!?

Well, he did have something that could maybe making him interesting in Priscilla's eyes... His cheat ability... Should he really reveal that he knew her possibly secret moves though? What if she decided that was dangerous and killed him!?

T-then... then the best option was to run, right? But what if that made her mad!?

"I've decided." Before he could settle onto a course of action, she opened her eyes. "For now I shall take this stray under mine wing. The world works in my favor, so perhaps he will have something interesting about him."

Heitor let an audible sigh of relief. "Thank you Lady Priscilla." He got to live another day...

She covered her mouth with her fan and chuckled. "No need for thanks. Just remember that boring dogs get abandoned, or worse... put down." Nobody put down a dog because he was boring!

This lady was clearly off her rocker. Once he got some footing in this world, he would run to the fucking hills.

Priscilla then raised her voice. "Schult, start the carriage!"

After her orders, it only took a few moments until they were moving.

Naturally, this raised his curiosity. And against his better judgment, he asked. "So, where are we going?" Hopefully they wouldn't answer with the random name of some place he didn't know.

The maid stretched her body. "Lady Priscilla has to whip some nobleman into shape, so we are going there. The journey is pretty quick though, so feel free to take a nap."

"Right..." As if he was gonna take a nap in such a dangerous place! This carriage was more deadly than the worst parts of Santana!

The maid giggled. "I'm seriously! You passed the toughest part of the Lady Priscilla test, so she wouldn't do anything don't worry." He was gonna worry! "By the way, my name is Yae Tenzen! Nice to meet ya!"

"Nice to meet you too..." How was she this excited!?

This carriage... It was like none of them cared about anything.

Aldebaran was completely unbothered by the almost murder of a fellow Earthling. The ninja maid was almost humming to herself. And Priscilla was just smirking ear to ear as she looked at him, as if she enjoyed looking at his reactions.

This had to be the worst isekai experience of all time.

But slowly, maybe because of the silence around him... he closed his eyes.

And then he saw it.

Why the hell did he have stats!? As in, genuine stats!? He hadn't seen such a thing with anyone else at this point, but he definitely had them! He even had a level, which was currently at one as was to be expected.

He immediately opened his eyes again. "Oi, Aldebaran."

"Yeah, cousin?"

"Don't call me cousin after that fiasco. Anyways, does this world have things like stats and levels?" It was a common isekai trope.

But Aldebaran quickly denied it. "Sadly no, cousin. Guys like us just have to accept being shit in this world." Time loopers didn't have the privilege of lacking self-esteem! And he needed to stop with the cousing thing!

Priscilla tilted her head. "Stats and levels? What does that mean?"

Aldebaran put a hand on the chin of his helmet. "It's... a cultural thing from our world. We have fantasy stories about going to other worlds, and stats and levels are typically a part of it."

Priscilla hummed. "I see... You typically never talk about your world Al. Should I expect to hear it more now that you have met another fellow from it?"

"You want to hear more of it, princess?"

She waved her hand. "No. I imagine it is a boring place, as you and and my new dog seem to prove." Wow. "Feel free to discuss whatever you may want with him however, I shan't stop you two."

The knight exhaled. "Thanks for the offer princess, but If I'm being honest... I rather not talk about it either."

The maid raised a hand. "Well, I'd like to hear all about it! Feel free to tell me anytime you want, Heitor!" As usual, she was pretty energetic.

The boy scratched his cheek. "Um... sure... I'll tell you about it sometime or another."

And like that, silence once again returned to the carriage.

Which meant he could back to thinking about the weird stats he had seen inside of his head. If they weren't common, could it be that it was part of his cheat as well? But that brought the question of why he had a cheat in the first place.

Aldebaran had one too... the whole time loop thing. Maybe all Earthlings got one? That would be in-line with the stories of his world.

Just to confirm that he wasn't being a nutjob, Heitor closed his eyes once more, and concentrated. And there it was again, his class, his stats, his level, and even... weapon levels?

Wait a minute...

He tries concentrating more, and then he realized that he even had a skill. One that was clearly meant to help him deal with unholy enemies, whatever those were.

More importantly however, was the fact that he had a inventory, one with five slots. One... one was taken by a Rapier, who was supposedly only for the Lord class. And another inventory slot was taken by a Vulnerary.

His eyes snapped wide open. "Fire Emblem!?"

Priscilla flinched. "Dog, why did you suddenly decide to destroy my ears?"

He immediately recoiled, like a hurt puppy. "I... Um... Just... Sorry." He had no reason, he was just shocked.

And how couldn't he be!? This was clearly a type of system inspired by Fire Emblem! He had a Lord class, Weapon levels, a Rapier, and even a Vulnerary! Well, the HP and Move stats were missing...

Priscilla glared at him. "I do not appreciate dogs that bark for no reason. Insanity does not mean entertaining. You better remember that, mutt." She wasn't even calling him by his name anymore!?

"I'll make sure to, Lady Priscilla..." That was the first time in his life someone had called him a mutt...

Was this his Fire Emblem party!? Where was his cool Jagen!? His Christmas knights!? And if Priscilla was meant to be his Caeda, then he wanted a new one! She was complete trash!

No, he couldn't act like this world was a Fire Emblem one just because his ability seemed to reference it. It could be just a coincidence. A very strange coincidence, but a coincidence nonetheless.

The maid interjected, curiosity on her face. "What is... a Fire Emblem anyways? Is that something from your boring world?"

He nodded. "Yeah, it's a super popular game. One made in Aldebaran's homeland actually." Even if they didn't have video games, they should know what a game was.

The knight seemed confused. "Really? Never heard of it."

Heitor glared at him. "Pull another, it's super popular." It was on Super Smash Bros!

He scratched the cheek of his helmet. "Not popular enough for me to know about it. Though maybe when it released I was already here." Ah, that made sense.

Heitor didn't know how old Aldebaran was, and that helmet hiding his face didn't help with anything. Or... maybe there was another reason why he didn't know of it. Like for example, this being a Fire Emblem world.

"Aldebaran, I have a question. Do you guys worship a super cool dragon in this world?" That would confirm it?

"Yeah, the Kingdom of Lugunica worships the Divine Dragon Volcanica. Oh and there are some pretty crazy zealots out there, so be careful with what you say, cousin." This was totally a Fire Emblem world!

He was totally a Fire Emblem protagonist! He had the rapier and everything!

"Oh?" Almost as if it was her job to ruin his mood, Priscilla raised an eyebrow. "There's a new spark in your eyes, mutt. Have you reached some sort of realization." Shut it bitchy Caeda! He had other things to think abou—.

The carriage suddenly came to a screeching halt.

Priscilla's eye twitched in anger, it had thrown her off balance. "Schult, what has happened?" She raised her voice so the boy could hear.

Schult's voice was trembling as he spoke. "T-there's a village on fire, Lady Priscilla!"

The woman clicked her tongue. "In my territory?" And immediately opened the door out of the carriage, jumping out of it.

Yae and Aldebaran followed her, so Heitor did as well. Even if he was a bit scared of getting involved in whatever this mess was. And as Schult had said, there really was a village burning in the horizon, or at least there was a great amount of smoke coming from it.

Priscilla growled. "The nerve to destroy what belongs to me...?"

Heitor couldn't help it, he raised an eyebrow. "The nerve of what? Fire?"

The bitch had the gall to nod. "Of course, it doesn't matter what it is. To attack my property is a sin that nothing is exempt from." Right, he had almost forgot that she was completely and utterly insane.

Aldebaran interjected. "Besides, instead of just being common fire, it could be bandits. They're getting more and more common nowadays..." Bandits!?

If this was a Fire Emblem world then he was right on the money! Chapter one was about to start!

Priscilla huffed. "It matters not what is, let's go back to the carriage. We shall go to the village and handle this situation." Fine by him. Fighting was going to be scary of course, but...

A Lord couldn't escape from his destiny. His destiny of fighting random axe using brigands.

AN: Available on the Nintendo Switch

Initial stats

Lord
Level: 1 (20 Max)
Str: 7 (28 Max)
Mag: 1 (20 Max)
Skl: 8 (26 Max)
Spd: 8 (27 Max)
Lck: 5 (31 Max)
Def: 7 (25 Max)
Res: 1 (25 Max)

Weapons:
Sword: E (B Max)
Lance: E (C Max)

Growths:
Str: 60%
Mag: 10%
Skl: 60%
Spd: 60%
Lck: 70%
Def: 45%
Res: 25%

Inventory:
Rapier - E, Lords Only
Vulnerary (3x)
Empty
Empty
Empty

Skills:
Dawn Breaks Through
— +To all stats when fighting unholy enemies.
— +EXP gained from unholy enemies.