Chapter 1: Dragon Faithful, Hermes and Astarte
Laying on top of the cold and hard ground was a girl with long snow-white hair with purple streaks, which was styled into one-side up by a white ribbon, a pair of icy-blue eyes, and fair porcelain skin. Her straight, waist-length hair was sprawled out in the ground and her skin glistened under the light of the bright, golden sun.
She was wearing some kind of a priest robe underneath a high-neck purple sleeveless vest and a pair of knee-high white laced boots. This girl was our MC, Nakajima Hoshino.
"Where the hell am I?" She mumbled while staring at the cloudless blue sky for the fifteenth time this day. Only 2 hours have passed since she suddenly found herself in this weird city located in a barren land, and wearing the clothes she was currently donning.
From what she observed in the city, almost all of the residents are wearing the same kind of clothes as her with the only difference being is her high-collared sleeveless vest that has a darker color scheme than the ones they are wearing which is light-purple in color. She also noticed that the citizens are able to grow some plants in this barren land which is shocking for her to say the least, and also, they seem to be working in one mind, as if they are very much accustomed to this set up.
Suddenly, the sounds of footsteps walking towards her direction flowed through her ears which caused her to immediately stand up and turned around to look at the direction where she heard the footsteps.
Out came from the alley, was a man with silver color hair and a mark on his forehead, wearing the same clothes as all of the other inhabitants of this place.
"Astarte, so this is where you are...," The man uttered as he stared at Hoshino with a tired look on his face before adding, "The training have finished already, you know?"
'Astarte? Training? What is this guy saying...?' Hoshino thought as she stared warily at the newcomer in front of her. However, after taking a clear look on his face, her eyes widened in shock.
'That's Hermes! A character from Tensura!' She exclaimed in her mind after realizing who is the man in front of her. 'Wait didn't he just call me Astarte!? My name is Hoshino though!?'
"Oi, Astarte, why did you skip your training? Aren't you the one who practically begged Middray-sama just to train you...?" The man, who was actually Hermes, grumbled while looking at the girl in front of him with a deadpan stare.
"What are you talking about? My name is Hoshino and who the hell is Astarte?" replied Hoshino as she glared at Hermes.
"Did you hit your head or something...? You are Astarte, my one and only little sister." Hermes uttered in response with a dead-fish eyes and a bead of sweat dropping from his forehead.
"Huh?" is the only thing that came out from her mouth after receiving an unexpected reply.
====
(Hoshino's P.O.V)
Silence filled the area as I silently stood still in my place with a dumbfounded look. I don't know what exactly is going on right now but I can accurately say that I am not dreaming at the current time because of the pain I felt earlier. It felt too surreal for it to be a dream.
I tried pinching my skin as hard as I could,
"Ouch." my mouth uttered in response at my action. Yep, all of this is definitely real and all of this happening finally make sense to me now. Reincarnation, is the only thing I can think of right now.
The reason why I came into the conclusion that I was reincarnated was: First, I died, however instead of truck-sama, what killed me is someone hitting my head and the horrible experience earlier was the effects of a concussion. Second, suddenly waking up in an unfamiliar place after dying, and lastly, a character from a fictional world showing up in front of me.
'Wait a minute, if Hermes is here then! Did I just got reincarnated into the world of Tensura without meeting God or hearing the Voice of the World? GAH! My life is doomed!' I thought as a look of horror dawned upon my face after I realized the situation I am currently in.
"Oi, are you fine, Astarte? You're acting weird today, are you okay?" Hearing the voice of Hermes brought me back to reality.
"Ah! Yes, I'm fine!" I replied with a toothy grin while showing my muscles in the arms which is hidden by a the robe am I currently wearing. "Absolutely fine, see!" I added, still wearing the toothy grin.
"I see," Hermes sighed in relief after hearing my reply, "Well, if you're feeling weird then you can go home first, I'll go back to the temple again." He added while scratching the back of his head.
"Okay, good luck!" I replied with a wide smile and he nodded in response. He yawned before turning around and started walking away.
....
'Huh? Come to think of it did I even act the same way as the 'Astarte' he was talking about?' This thought briefly crossed my mind as I stared at the figure of Hermes who was walking in a relaxed pace. 'But he didn't react weirdly though, so maybe I acted the same way as "Astarte"? Ugh, no use thinking about it.'
Feeling a yawn about to come out from my mouth, I let it free and stretched my arms upward.
Ha... To think that I will be reincarnated in the world without any cheats, how could I even survive this cruel world?
A world where the strong tramples the weak, and death is a normal occurrence. The current mentality I have is not suited for this place.
What a pain in the ass...
Wait, now that I think about it I still doesn't receive the memories of Astarte - perhaps her memories could slightly influence my mentality? After all, she grew up in this world.
At the very moment that thought crosses my head, a wave of memories surged inside my mind and flooded my brain. But strangely, there's no headache accompanying it.
All of the memories of the individual "Astarte" flashes right before my eyes as all of the events and training that Astarte have experienced, engraved itself into my memory.
Slowly, I can feel something inside me changing. The thought of killing someone, doesn't feel disgusting to me anymore because of a particular memory of "Astarte" where she have killed a bandit out of self defense.
After a few seconds, all of the memories of "Astarte" have now assimilated with mine. I guess from now on I am "Nakajima Hoshino" and at the same time "Astarte," huh? What an eventful day, really.
====
[Chapter 1 - Character Introduced]
1. Hermes