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Volume 11 Chapter 320

The Fourth Time and the Fifth Time

　

　The fourth reincarnation was that of a human man.

　As it was a body made with the Evil God’s curse, that of course meant that I had no family.

　Checking the status board──

　Status：Curse (Cycle of Rebirth：Three Times Remaining)

　It had changed.

　It would seem that up until now, I have been able die properly each time.

　『Die properly』is a kinda weird way to put it, though, huh.

　Well, whatever.

　What I was actually a bit curious about here was that for some reason, I was able to read the entries for the job class.

　Until now, every entry besides Status had been garbled, and I couldn’t read it.

　My job description was now Elemental User.

　It involves summoning elementals and employing them.

　Why was this the only time……？

　I thought of different reasons, but couldn’t come to a conclusion.

　But since I can finally summon elementals, I decided to give it a try.

　I wonder what kind of elemental will emerge?

　Regular elemental users could simply chant in order to have a summoning magic circle appear automatically.

　But as I was a Level 1 Sage, I couldn’t bring out those summoning circles just by chanting, so I had always controlled my own mana and drawn out the circle by myself.

　It was because of that habit of mine that even after becoming an Elemental User this time around, I accidentally drew the magic circle with my own mana again as per usual.

　It would seem that drawing a magic circle with one’s own mana could summon stronger elementals than chanting and having the circles automatically appear.

　A water elemental appeared.

　As for the elemental’s rank, I think it was around the mid range.

　But・she・had the potential to grow to Royalty Class.

　How did I know this, you ask?

　That is because she was the・daughter・of・the・Star・King.

「I am Mei, a water elemental」

　Mei was the one I had called out.

　The younger sister of Mai, the fire elemental, and also one of my wives.

　A month had elapsed since I had been inflicted with the Cycle of Rebirth curse.

　I was happy to see my wife’s face after so long.

　The current me has a different face from Haruto, and the only time Mei ever got a summoning was several hundred years before meeting me.

　Since meeting me, she has not contracted with anyone else.

　Which means that this will have been Mei’s first summoning contract.

　……Huh？

　Mei had told me before about her first summoning, but, I get the feeling that she mentioned there was a problem……or am I remembering incorrectly？

　Mai was my first contractor, while Mei was my second. And Mei’s first contractor was this guy.

　Then again, “this guy” is me, so I am also Mei’s first.

　Fu, fufufu. I’m a little happy.

「Master. What should I do?」

「Eh, ah……」

　Drat. I didn’t come up with any plan.

　Hmmー, what should I do, eh?

「Mei, can you turn to human form?」

「It is possible」

「Alright, then let’s see it for a bit」

　I now wanted to see the form she normally took when she interacted with me, rather than the elemental form.

「……Understood」

　The water that had surrounded Mei assembled near her and vanished little by little.

　When all of the water had converged, I saw Mei reveal herself in the form that I was used to.

　The elemental form was pretty too, but yeah, I definitely prefer the humanoid form.

「Mei！」

「──nh!?」

　Being able to see my wife after such a long time, I couldn’t resist anymore.

　So I reflexively embraced her.

「Mei, I──」

　I’m Haruto.

　When I tried to say that, there was an extraordinary aura of bloodlust that dropped from above my head.

「Don’t you dare lay your hands on my daughterrr!!」

　He probably thought his beloved daughter was being attacked or something.

　One serious punch from the Star Elemental King was enough to extinguish this elemental user’s body in an instant.

　──＊＊＊──

「……I see. So that’s what she meant」

　I recalled what Mei had told me.

　She had said that the first time she was summoned, she was assailed by the summoner, and since then had become pessimistic about all summons.

　I also remember hearing that her father gave that elemental summoner a harsh punishment.

　She said punishment, but that was more like a complete annihilation……

　In other words, the one who assailed her was me.

　Mei. Sorry for scaring you.

　But with this, I have now finished my fourth death.

　This time as well I have reincarnated as a human man.

　I am in some bamboo forest.

　The only place in this world where plants such as bamboo grow is where Yoko and Kikyo’s hometown is, Fonost.

　Which means that this is somewhere in Fonost.

　As I walked through the bamboo forest, I saw something similar to a temple in the distance.

　It isn’t like I have any particular destination in mind, so I decided to just walk over to that temple.

　On the way, I saw a line of blood droplets that had yet to dry, and it led all the way to the temple.

　I wonder if someone injured is inside the temple?

　I walked toward the temple with a slightly hastened pace.

　Approaching the temple, I figured out that the temple was quite old, and that for a long time, no humans have gone inside.

　Inside this uninhabited temple, an injured person is hiding.

　I’m not currently Fixed Status, so should I run?

　I thought that only for a moment, but then remembered that I’m fine with dying as of right now.

　In fact, if this wounded person were wary enough of me to the point of killing me, that is A・OK with me.

　That’s because getting killed brings me one step closer to dissolving the Cycle of Rebirth curse.

　I decided to enter the temple.

　Inside the temple was──

「K-Kikyo!?」

　Yoko’s mother, Kikyo, had fallen on the floor, her entire body covered in blood.

「Oi, Kikyo! Are you okay!?」

「…………」

　She had a pulse, but no consciousness.

　Upon further inspection, there was a large gash in her abdomen. I could feel something akin to a curse blocking the release of Kikyo’s mana from the mouth of the wound.

　Ninetailed foxes are a class of demons with strong life force.

　If I can just do something about the opening of this wound, then she will be saved.

　My current body couldn’t use Heal.

　Besides, there was a curse at play too, so using Heal would not be enough.

　However, in Fonost where we currently are, there is a herb that can both heal her wounds and lift the curse.

　And I know how to search for that herb, too.

「Kikyo, you just wait there a bit. I will save you no matter what」

　──＊＊＊──

「Nh……」

　The day after Haruto found the hurt Kikyo, she woke up on the floor of the temple.

　Haruto had, in fact, found the medicinal herb and succeeded in healing Kikyo.

「I believe it was by an adventurer──」

　When she was moving along the region where people lived, Kikyo just so happened to be discovered by an adventurer and got attacked.

　What was especially unlucky was that this adventurer had an exorcist weapon.

　As a ninetailed fox, Kikyo had close to complete power, but she was powerless around exorcist weapons with special effects against demons and magical creatures.

　While she did manage to somehow escape from the adventurer, the wound dealt by the adventurer did not seal up. Losing blood and her stamina reduced, Kikyo barely escaped for her life to this temple before losing consciousness.

「Oh—Are you awake now?」

「──nh!?」

　Haruto carried over several kinds of fruit.

　Of course, Kikyo knew nothing about Haruto at this point.

「Here, can you eat？」

　Haruto cut some fruit and handed it to her, but she didn’t attempt to take it.

　She had just been assailed by a human explorer and on the brink of death.

　There was no way she was going to just meekly take food that this unfamiliar man handed her.

　──Or normally, this would be the case.

「Did you bestow healing upon me?」

「Yes, I did. This fruit has stamina-restoring properties, so go ahead and eat」

「U-Umm……I th-thank you」

　Somehow realizing that this man was trustworthy, Kikyo accepted the fruit from Haruto and tasted it.

「……Delicious」

「Glad to hear it. There’s still plenty here, so eat as much as you can. You can even suck the mana out of me」

「What? Y-You. Could it be that？──」

「Yeah. I know that you are a nine-tailed fox. Also the fact that you have yet to hurt a single human」

　Kikyo had raised caution, but not feeling a shred of battle intention from Haruto and not sensing any traps, she decided to go ahead and focus on replenishing stamina.

　One week later.

　Until Kikyo’s wounds healed, Haruto continued to carry food and herbs to her.

　To Haruto, this was merely the natural thing to do as her husband, but Kikyo felt that it was her fault.

　From a human standpoint, nine-tailed foxes were nothing short of monsters.

　Kikyo thought that surely this man who went to all this length to help a monster like herself was simply charmed by her when she was unconscious.

　She wanted to repay the favor that was given her.

　But Kikyo at this time had nothing to hand Haruto.

　Other than one thing in particular.

　Which was──

「O-Oi, hold up, Kikyo!！」

　Haruto was truly charmed by Kikyo this time around, unable to act freely any longer.

　Haruto, who did not have the〘Fixed〙status, could not possibly resist the charm of Kikyo, one of the highest ranking magical creatures.

　As he lay face-up on the floor of the temple, Kikyo got on top of him.

「Nay, I shall not wait. In order to repay the favor of having my life saved, the only thing that I might grant to one such as you is this」

「D-Don’t tell me──」

「I can confidently say that my sexual techniques to pleasure a man are above that of a succubus. Umm……well, I haven’t had any actual experience with that though」

　Haruto couldn’t help but think of this blushing version of Kikyo as cute.

「I shall endeavor. Please, have your fill of everything I have to offer」