"I am Doran. A longtime friend of Yuuya. I have been called here to train you."
After finishing four years of monster hunting disguised as training, Kain finally arrived at his master's house, only to find a new master waiting for him.
Doran stood about two meters tall, his well-built body evident even through his clothes.
His hair was silver, styled in an all-back, and he looked at Kain with sharp eyes.
"That's right. Kain, it would be good for you to learn sword techniques and body skills from Doran."
Yuuya stood beside Doran and told Kain this.
"Master, I understand. Doran, please take care of me."
Kain bowed to Doran.
"Hmm, if we do this here, the house will be destroyed. Let's go near my house. We'll teleport."
"Understood. Hak, come here!"
Kain sent Hak back once it came over.
Then Doran placed his hand on Kain's shoulder and cast a spell.
"Alright, let's go. 'Teleport'"
In an instant, Doran and Kain disappeared.
After seeing them teleport, Yuuya headed to the back of the house.
There, flowers bloomed everywhere, and in the center, three gravestones stood side by side.
"Seiya, Kei. Wanya also ended up in this world, but he has grown into a fine young man. He might be able to do what we couldn't."
Yuuya placed his hands together in prayer before the graves and then returned home.
◇◇◇
Doran and Kain arrived at an empty grassland.
"We will train here. There's nothing around here, so it's perfect."
"Let's start with body skills. Come at me however you like."
Kain summoned Hak and told it to play as it liked.
Hak happily ran across the grassland.
"I'm ready. Here I go."
Kain's stats had significantly improved from defeating monsters and leveling up.
He approached Doran at a speed that was almost invisible to the eye.
Just as he was about to punch with his right hand, he suddenly found himself looking up at the sky.
"Huh?"
Kain got up, not understanding why he had fallen. It had all happened in an instant.
"Kain, you're still too slow. Keep coming at me."
Kain approached again, this time mixing in feints to try to hit Doran's body, but it seemed he wouldn't hit at all. Kain continued to attack relentlessly, and the training continued until the sun set, leaving Kain exhausted and lying flat on the grassland.
"I can't... I can't move..."
"Let's call it a day. We'll repeat this for a while. Then we'll move on to weapons."
"...Yes... Thank you..."
Hak, tired from playing, looked worriedly at the fallen Kain.
After sending Hak back, Kain lost consciousness.
Doran picked Kain up and teleported him to his house.
"I'm back. Take care of this one."
Doran rolled Kain onto the sofa.
"Welcome back. You really went all out, didn't you..."
Kain's clothes were dirty with grass and soil, and he was completely exhausted and unconscious. Doran's wife looked at her husband with a bemused smile.
"Well, it's the first day, so this is to be expected."
Kain, who had been carried to his room and left there, did not wake up until morning due to exhaustion.
Sunlight streamed into the room, and Kain woke up.
"I don't recognize this ceiling."
As he said this, he got up and looked around. He was in a room about six tatami mats in size with a bed, where he had been sleeping.
"I must have lost consciousness after training with Master Doran."
Kain got dressed and left the room.
In the living room, Master Doran and a woman were sitting, and on the sofa, a small silver dragon was sleeping.
"Good morning."
Kain bowed to both of them.
"Good morning. Did you sleep well?"
The woman spoke to him.
"Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Luri, Doran's wife. Nice to meet you."
Luri was about the same height as Kain, with silver hair that reached her waist, and she looked like a beautiful woman in her twenties.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Kain von Silford. Please call me Kain."
Kain lightly bowed to Luri.
"Breakfast is ready, so come and eat."
"Thank you."
Kain sat down at the table as Luri instructed.
The food was delicious. It felt like he hadn't had a proper meal in a long time.
Kain, who had been eating only the meat of the monsters he had slain, was grateful.
Tears welled up in his eyes.
"Oh, Kain, are you okay?"
Luri asked him kindly.
"I'm fine. I've been surviving in the forest for four years, so it's just that I'm happy to have a delicious meal again."
"Oh, I see. You'll be staying with us during your training, so you'll be able to eat like this every day."
Luri smiled, pleased to hear that.
"Thank you."
Kain was very happy about the food. As he was eating, the small silver dragon that had been sleeping on the sofa came over and tilted its head. It was about a meter long, a young dragon.
"Kyu?"
It must have been interested in the new person.
"That's Kain. Nice to meet you."
Kain pet the dragon's head, and it seemed to be pleased, closing its eyes.
"Once you finish eating, we'll head to training."
Doran called out to him.
"Yes! I'll be right there!"
And so, another intense training session began.
Time passed, and nearly a year had gone by.
"Alright, this should be enough. My training is over."
"Master Doran, thank you."
"Take it easy today. It would be good to go to Yuuya's place tomorrow."
Kain sat down, breathing heavily.
The next morning, Kain got dressed and had breakfast with everyone.
"I'll miss you. Come visit anytime."
"Luri, thank you for taking care of me. I'll come visit."
Kain bowed to Luri, who had provided him with delicious meals every day.
"Kain, can you take this one with you? Like Hak, make a contract with it. I want this one to see the wider world."
Doran handed Kain the small silver dragon.
"It has a true name, but no calling name. You can name it."
Since Hak was named after the white color, Kain thought about naming the silver one "Gin."
"Then, I'll name it Gin. Is that okay?"
When Kain asked, the silver dragon chirped "Kyu" and climbed onto Kain's head. After spending a year together, Kain and Gin had become good friends. Gin had grown to over a meter, making it quite heavy on Kain's head.
"That's a bit heavy, you know."
Kain lifted Gin off his head and held it in his arms. Gin curled up in Kain's arms, looking content.
"It seems this one likes you too. Come see us once in a while."
Kain performed a contract with Gin, just as he had with Hak, and Gin disappeared into a magic circle, reappearing when summoned.
"Understood! I'll come back. Then, 'Teleport'"
After confirming that Kain had disappeared, Doran muttered to himself.
"Take care of my child."
Finally, Kain finished his training with Doran and returned to Master Yuuya's place.
"Master! I'm back."
Kain entered the house without knocking.
Yuuya, who had been expecting him, brought two cups of coffee and handed one to Kain.
"Thank you."
"Sit down. I have something to talk about."
Kain sat on the sofa and drank the coffee.
Yuuya used his Divine Eye to check Kain's stats without him noticing.
"You did well. I was planning to train you if you were still lacking, but it seems you don't need any more training. You're already strong enough. Doran must have pushed you too hard. I have something to tell you about my past, but first, I want to show you something."
Yuuya led Kain to the back of the house, where flowers were in full bloom.
"I want to show you this."
At the spot Yuuya led him to, three gravestones stood.
Yuuya pointed to two of them with his eyes.
Kain stood in front of the two gravestones and read the inscriptions. The inscriptions were in Japanese.
"Shiina Seiya, here lies"
"Shiina Kei, here lies"
"Is this... Could it be..."
Kain recognized these names from when he was Wanya.
The names carved there were—his dead parents.
"That's right. I, Seiya, and Kei all died in Japan. We were summoned to this world. I became a hero, Seiya became a holy knight, and Kei became a sage. We fought with all our might against Aaron. It was a close call, and both of them lost their lives."
Yuuya looked sad.
"Before I tell you the story, would you pray for Seiya and Kei?"
"...Yes."
Kain knelt in front of the two gravestones and placed his hands together.
"...Dad, Mom, I thought you died in an accident, but you were in this world. Grandpa died a year before I did, and I was living alone. I died at seventeen, trying to save a girl from a mugger. The girl I saved was Ayumi, Sae's sister. I'm glad I could help her. In this world, thanks to the gods, I'm stronger than most people. I think I can protect more people. Dad and Mom, you fought and protected people from Aaron. When the seal is broken, I'll take on the enemy. It might take some time, but please wait for me."
Tears streamed down Kain's face as memories of his past life as Wanya resurfaced.
At that moment, Kain was not Kain von Silford but Wanya.
"Thank you, Kain. Both of them were always worried about you and were trying their best to find a way back to the original world while fighting."
"What about the other grave?"
Kain asked Yuuya.
"That's... Merine, my wife. She was a holy maiden who first summoned us and helped us until the end."
"If she's your wife, I should pray for her too."
Kain went to Merine's grave, knelt down, and placed his hands together.
"Merine, thank you for taking care of Dad and Mom."
As Kain prayed, Yuuya, standing behind him, whispered.
"...Thank you."
After bowing to the graves, they both entered the house in silence.
Yuuya made new coffee and sat on the sofa opposite Kain.
"...We were summoned to this world through the summoning ritual of the Marinford Church."
Yuuya began to tell his story.
Thank you for always reading.
There are still many typos and errors, but I appreciate your understanding.
I'm a bit scared because the page views suddenly increased on the weekend. Did something happen...?