Didn't I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?! Volume 1 Read online

  This is dedicated to my friends,

  both in this world and the other.

  –FUNA

  Chapter 1:

  Reincarnation

  “W

  here…?”

  When the young woman awoke, she found herself in an unfamiliar room.

  White walls, windows draped in pale pink curtains, an antique desk and armoire, hand-sewn stuffed animals…

  The room was undoubtedly for a little girl. Yet sleeping on the bed was Kurihara Misato, an eighteen-year-old—no, that was wrong. She was Adele von Ascham, ten years old.

  Wait. What? I’m…Kurihara Misato, ten years old, the eldest daughter of the Ascham family… N-no, wait! That’s not right. What’s going on? My… my head is killing me…

  The girl must have fallen unconscious because the next time she opened her eyes, the pain in her head had vanished, and she remembered everything.

  “Ah… So that’s what happened.”

  She had died. Ten years before.

  ***

  Kurihara Misato was born to an ordinary family. Her parents were both honest, kind people, and she was the eldest of their two daughters. The younger, her junior by two years, wasn’t perfect, but she was a cheerful girl with a lively disposition. Misato herself proved different: a wunderkind with talents beyond those of other children her age.

  From the moment she was born, glimpses of her gifts could be seen.

  She learned language early, and from the moment she could stand on two feet she was walking, much sooner than the average child.

  Studies. Sports. Art. Shogi.

  In kindergarten and grade school, she displayed, again and again, signs of this unusual intelligence, and as the years passed, everyone had high hopes for Misato. Much too high.

  Grandparents and other relatives flitted about her. “This girl is a genius,” they proclaimed. “She’s going to be famous one day!”

  One side of Misato’s family had once been well known in the country, and the other descended from a noble line. By now, however, both had been reduced to common folk, rich only in pride. Soon, a battle began between the two sides, each eager to name Misato as their heir and lay claim to her intellect. As Misato’s grandparents vied for her attention, they pitted her against her cousins—and even her own sister—with no thought for how difficult this must be for the girl herself.

  Discord spread throughout the family, and Misato’s only salvation was that her parents, unconcerned with such things, raised their children as normally as they could. Her younger sister was jealous of the attention Misato commanded but nonetheless grew into a fine, happy child.

  Yet while Misato was granted a reprieve at home, predictably, she stood out at school. She was never bullied, but neither was there anyone she could call a close friend. Everyone treated her as though she were special.

  Furthermore, this unhappiness was an area in which Misato was by no means a “genius.”

  When it came to loneliness, Misato’s giftedness was no help. Perhaps, if she truly had been a genius—the sort of person for whom ideas and innovations are more valuable than companionship or support—perhaps then, her life would have been a little bit easier. But Misato wasn’t like that.

  In many ways, Misato was completely average. She was quick-witted and highly logical. Because she loved to read, she was knowledgeable about many things. But beyond that, she was just an ordinary girl with a high IQ and excellent test scores.

  For Misato, living with such extravagant expectations—always being thought of as someone extraordinary—was painful. All she really wanted was to be able to gossip after school and swoon over boys, just like her classmates.

  She was surrounded by others, but at the same time, she was all alone.

  ***

  This continued even through high school. Misato, who had no friends to go out with, was left with little to do in her down time besides playing games, reading, and studying. Perhaps because of this, she was eventually admitted to Japan’s most prestigious university, just as everyone had hoped.

  And then came graduation day. After delivering a flawless valedictorian speech, Misato left high school behind. At university, I should be able to live more freely, she thought. Finally, I’ll be surrounded by other people who think just like me. But just as she finished this thought…

  Most of the people walking along the street were other graduates, flooding out from the school. The rest of the students had yet to be dismissed.

  These students—no, former students—were giddy with freedom, talking and goofing around as they walked. Among them, one girl was swinging her bag as she chatted to her friends. A little girl of around ten years old cycled by them on the edge of the road. The bag hit her as she passed, sending her tumbling off her bike and into the street.

  An enormous vehicle came bearing down. Perhaps the driver had taken his eyes off the road or had been unable to react quickly enough—whatever the reason, it looked as if he wouldn’t be able to brake in time.

  By the time she realized what was happening, Misato’s body moved on its own, flying into the roadway toward the little girl.

  Why am I doing this…? she thought. Someone standing closer should’ve had more than enough time to save her. Why didn’t anyone move? I’m not going to make it in time…

  No one else moved to act; they only stood, their eyes on Misato.

  “That girl is so brave!”

  “She’s going to save her, isn’t she?”

  Just as Misato scooped the girl’s body up and flung her onto the sidewalk, there was a resounding screech. The vehicle, which had just begun to brake, struck Misato’s body, shoving her to the ground.

  ***

  “So, you have awakened, Miss Misato Kurihara.”

  When Misato returned to consciousness, she was lying on the ground. A young man of about twenty stood nearby, looking down at her.

  “I-I was struck by a car, wasn’t I…?” Misato muttered, coming to.

  The young man made a troubled face and spoke. “Yes. And then you perished.”

  “Wh…”

  What on earth are you saying? That was what she wanted to say, but on a certain level, it made sense. There was no way she could have possibly survived the accident. Besides, as she became aware of her surroundings, she could see that everything in the room was white. The floor, the ceiling—even the robes that the young man was wearing. What’s going on?

  While Misato sat, confused, the young man politely explained the situation.

  “This place is what is known, in the common parlance of the populace, as ‘Heaven.’ And I suppose, by that same token, I would be called ‘God.’ Though I’m not entirely sure that is an accurate description…”

  ***

  According to the young man, this was the state of things:

  The world was governed by the laws of increasing entropy.

  Entropy was defined in thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, information theory, and elsewhere, as a quantity of disarray.

  Within a closed system, without external interference, entropy would always tend to increase.

  If one placed a cup filled with hot water and another filled with cold water next to each other, touching, they would eventually become the same temperature. In contrast, if one placed two cups filled with lukewarm water side by side, they would not turn into hot and cold water. Strictly speaking, that assertion could not be confirmed within the theory—but still, it was usually a safe assumption to make.

  For the most part, natural phenomena and the elements of life existed because of an in
herent imbalance of matter and energy. If everything were to be mixed equally, it would be a world without any variations in energy. In other words, it would be a world where nothing changed: a world of sleep, or death.

  Everything in the world trended toward death.

  This was not the work of the Devil. It was wrought by the hand of the absolute god known as the Laws of Physics.

  However, there was one thing that opposed all this: life.

  By separating that which had been mixed, one could produce items that possessed regularity: cold water, hot water. This was an activity that gave the appearance of reducing entropy. In truth, when viewed through a wider lens, it could be said that the reverse was true. In order to separate matter and create new things, energy had to be consumed—and with that consumption came the increase of entropy.

  It came as no surprise, then, that once the activities of life evolved into a civilization, they would—in many cases—eventually fall to ruin. Indeed, the probability of that greatly exceeded the theoretical probability value of the event.

  And yet. There was a certain beauty to that frenetic activity, and sometimes it seemed as though the Laws of the World had a will of their own.

  When a civilization reached dangerous levels, these Laws interrupted the Laws of Physics—offering only the smallest reprieve, in the most serious cases. The Laws were subtle: they granted only hints, suggestions planted in individual dreams and visions. But there was a twist, for nearly always, the recipients of these hints died at an exceedingly high rate. Even the Laws themselves didn’t understand the reason for this. No matter how much it was studied, no explanation could be found.

  Which left only a question: would the balance of life crumble in an instant? Or was there, perhaps, a will in the world that would save humankind?

  ***

  “Huh?” Misato’s head was spinning. “You’re saying that my suffering—my death—those are all your doing…?”

  “That is incorrect.”

  “What, then?!”

  “The one who I aided was the little girl who you saved. You weren’t involved in this plan. Your suffering is entirely your own fault.”

  “My own…?” Misato fell forward, her hands planted on the ground.

  So this had been her fate from the beginning.

  “To tell you the truth, the reason I summoned you to this place was to offer you my thanks.”

  “Huh…?”

  “Despite my watchfulness, the little girl should have died there. I kept a sufficient lookout for accidents and illnesses, yet somehow that fall occurred—and somehow, there happened to be a car whose driver was distracted by his cell phone. My short-term predictions never accounted for such an event! I still don’t understand how it could have happened.

  “In the moment, I searched for something to protect the girl, but nothing suitable turned up. The people nearby didn’t react in the slightest. Why? It was as if that girl’s death was determined from the start, determined as a part of the world’s preordained harmony.

  “And then, just as I was about to give up, thinking that all the hardships I had faced in preparing this girl had come to nothing… you appeared. You were so far away that I was sure you would never make it in time. There were others far closer—you shouldn’t have felt any reason to move. You were completely outside of the scope of both my desperate search and my short-term predictions.

  “You are but a normal human being, and yet you flew in the face of that preordained harmony, escaping the view of my predictions, making a martyr of yourself and saving that little girl.

  “Did you know? One day, that little girl is going to form the foundations of the theories that will allow humanity to travel to other star systems…”

  And so, it became clear. Even though I never accomplished anything myself, Misato thought, I was still able to make a difference. My life, my existence, do still have meaning. With the knowledge that her life hadn’t been for nothing, Misato felt a sense of quiet satisfaction.

  “With the deepest gratitude in my heart, I would like the chance to grant you a new life. That is to say: you will be reborn, with your memories intact.”

  “H-huh?!” Misato was shocked. This was just like those games she used to play when she took breaks from studying. Although if this is a game, Misato thought, there will be more coming…

  “So that you may live unhindered in a world whose society is somewhat behind your own, I would like to grant you some manner of enhanced abilities. I will offer you a choice: what sort of abilities do you desire?”

  There it is.

  Misato’s reply was immediate. “Please, make my abilities average!”

  “Excuse me?” At Misato’s reply, the young man known as God appeared absolutely dumbfounded. “I don’t think you understand me. The world into which you will be reborn is far less societally developed than your own. It is a world of swords and sorcery—lawless and overrun with bandits and monsters. Do you see? Without some sort of enhanced ability, the odds of you living a peaceful life are…”

  In spite of God’s concerns, Misato’s mind was made up.

  “I don’t care. This rebirth means that I will live as a human, right? When I am reborn, I want my abilities and appearance to be completely average by my new world’s standards. Please. I want to achieve happiness through my own efforts. As long as I retain the knowledge that I have right now, I think that should be enough of an advantage for me.”

  Seeing that Misato’s decision could not be swayed, God nodded. “I understand. Now, regarding this world: We have been interfering with this place on something of a large scale, as a test case, which has caused it to become a world where magic is usable. We have disseminated a number of nanomachines, which multiply automatically until they have reached a fixed density. These react to the will of living things, which causes a variety of phenomena to occur. Chemical changes, physical changes, etc…Well, for someone like you, I suppose it could only be regarded as ‘magic.’

  “In truth, this world has collapsed a number of times, leaving only a scant number of survivors with meager skills. To offer relief measures, and as to conduct an experiment, we decided to interfere on a scale beyond what we would normally attempt. However, the pseudo-magic that arose from these nanomachines proliferated far more than we hoped it might. As a result, the progress of the civilization’s renaissance has stagnated.

  “For that reason, this world has been judged an enormous failure. Recently, it’s been left to its own devices, with no one to look after it. Although there are those among us who feel guilty about all this, the people of the world in question have been content to continue living their lives regardless. You might say it’s not such a bad place, after all—however, progress is minimal, security is weak, and dangers abound. Death is both common and swift…”

  Wait just a second—this is what he calls “not such a bad place”? That was Misato’s first thought, but then as she mused further on the matter, she began to reconsider. Wasn’t it likely that the dangers God described could be avoided, particularly if one were born a woman and stayed close to home, avoiding travel?

  Because she wouldn’t be returning to her previous form, but rather, was going to be born anew as an infant in that world, there was no need for Misato to hear all the details about life on the other side. It would be best, she thought, to take her time and learn as a normal child would. So rather than asking questions, she only listened vaguely as God explained the basics of this new world and how she would come to enter it.

  “Let us begin with the process of rebirth: The couple who will be your new mother and father were destined not to conceive, so there’s no concern of displacing the soul of a child who should have been born otherwise. A newly fertilized egg has been prepared specially for you. As for me, I’ll be praying that you live a happy life. Even if it is a strange to hear a prayer from a so-called ‘god’ such as myself.

  “In the meantime, I thank you truly, from the bottom of my heart. B
ecause of you, I believe that the day will come when the people of your former world will be able to rise up and achieve a higher order of being. Please, have a good life…”

  ***

  And then, Misato was Adele von Ascham, age ten, the only child of the noble Ascham family—or at least, she should have been.

  Something, however, was off.

  Her memories returned when she was ten years old—that was fine. It seemed rather late for such a thing to happen, but accepting the spirit of an eighteen-year-old would have been a huge burden for a baby. She would’ve had to feign childish behavior, and it would have been bothersome if she already knew how to speak. It was probably a boon that she did not remember her former life until she had grown older.

  However, as Misato ruminated on her memories, she found that she had a great deal to ponder.

  ***

  It had happened two years previous.

  Adele’s parents had been scheduled to attend a party at the estate of a neighboring lord, but on the day in question, her father had suddenly fallen ill. The family arranged for Adele’s grandfather to attend instead, but on the return trip, brigands attacked the duo, and both Adele’s grandfather and mother perished.

  The family’s lands were relatively secure—bandits had not been seen for some years—but somehow, on this one occasion, they had appeared.

  The day after the funeral, a woman was brought into the Viscount’s home, bringing along with her a girl the same age as Adele. From then on, Adele’s father attended parties with this woman, introducing the girl, whose name was Prissy, as his only daughter. Adele was left behind.

  In time, most of the staff members of the residence were also replaced, and before long, those in the kitchen were all who remained of the old guard.

  It was a familiar story, but an ironic one, for in her previous life, Misato’s parents and sister were the only people whom she truly loved, and in this world, the three people who fulfilled those same roles were her greatest enemies. Her parents, and her new stepsister, who in all honesty was most likely her father’s own child, born of an affair… All three had spent the last two years ridiculing Adele, bullying her, or else pretending that she didn’t exist at all.