The Ability to Shift Anything is Convenient, Even in Another World!
Chapter 46: Allies

Reika stared at Fumeirō in disbelief. She had just heard him utter complete nonsense.

“What did you just say?”

Fumeirō tilted his head in her direction and replied, “…Hm? That I was a woman in my previous life?”

Reika raised an eyebrow. Their eyes locked for a moment.

“You’re joking, right? There’s no way you’re serious…”

Just then, Fumeirō’s mood shifted.

“I’m not joking.”

“Heh! that’s ridiculous,” Reika said, crossing her arms. “How can you act and sound so much like a man if you were a woman in your past life? If you really kept your memories, your mannerisms should still show, you know?”

Fumeirō narrowed his eyes and slowly rose from the bed.

“As I thought. You won’t believe me just because I’m a boy in this lifetime…”

Reika watched him pace around the room.

Well, who could blame him? Anyone would assume he had always been a man, judging by his demeanor and—AACK?!

Reika froze when she saw Fumeirō trace his fingertip along Soru’s chest. His finger glided over it in slow, deliberate moves.

“Even though I became a man in this world, my charm as a woman never ceased, you know~?”

Fumeirō effortlessly guided Soru’s body and made him sit on the bed without uttering a single word of persuasion. Reika’s eyes widened, and a faint blush rose to her cheeks.

Ehh? He actually got that stoic Soru to sit without a struggle? How did he—

Reika was flabbergasted. She knew plenty about the art of romances, thanks to all the manga she had read.

Holding hands, sharing snacks, dinner dates, spending time together in favorite spots—those little moments always made readers, especially her, swoon.

But what she had just witnessed was far beyond anything her mangas had ever shown her.

This was how adults truly lured the opposite sex.

“He… He…!”

“Well, is this enough proof for you, Reika?”

Right before her eyes, Fumeirō settled himself on Soru’s lap, facing him without a trace of shame.

This…! Why would he do that?!

Everything unfolded as Fumeirō tried to prove his femininity from his past life. To back up his claim, he chose to test it on Soru.

Perfect timing that there was another man around…

Fumeirō moved to do the deed, but he was caught off guard when Soru didn’t react at all initially.

Eh…? Why didn’t he even blush? And that face…!

Determined, Fumeirō pushed further, guiding Soru to sit on the bed—which worked effortlessly.

Nice! And if I do this…

He slowly settled himself on Soru’s lap, certain he would get a reaction and prove that his feminine allure still shone through in this life. But to his shock…

What…?

Soru didn’t react.

How could this be…? Am I not attractive to him…?

Driven by desperation, Fumeirō swallowed his pride and crippled ego. He knew there was no turning back now.

He placed his slender arms over Soru’s shoulders, leaned close to his right ear, and whispered softly.

His breath came hot and heavy. Even Soru could feel it.

“Hey… Do you agree with her assumption~?”

Back in the present, Reika’s face was already beet red. She couldn’t deny that what she had just witnessed felt far too mature for her.

It was borderline erotic—no, it was undeniably erotic.

“Guh… I don’t know what’s going on anymore…” she mumbled under her breath.

Fumeirō glanced at her and spotted her flushed cheeks. He smirked, knowing she was flustered to her core.

Heh. This is the power of an adult in their twenties!

“…I disagree with her claim, because you said so.”

Fumeirō froze when he heard a voice spoke beside him. He quickly pulled back and looked at Soru’s face.

There was no sign of embarrassment from him. Not even a hint of a blush touched his cheeks.

Fweh?

"How come you're still—"

"...Hey Fumeirō, I made you some por... ridge?"

Fumeirō couldn’t finish his words when he recognized the voice he had just heard and froze.

I’m screwed…

THUD!

Fumeirō jolted, unable to bring himself to face the person standing there.

“Wawawawa…?!”

Reika leaned to the side and spotted Sylva trembling at the doorway, her face just as red as hers.

“Fumeirō… I didn’t know t-t-that you're…!”

Sylva couldn’t finish her sentence. She turned on her heel and bolted from the room.

“S-Sylva…! Wait, I can explain!”

Fumeirō scrambled off Soru’s lap and dashed after her, leaving only Reika and Soru behind.

The two of them locked eyes for a second. Reika quickly looked away.

"About what he did earlier..."

"Don't even talk about it!"

"...Okay."

Outside, everyone watched as Sylva ran past them with Fumeirō hot on her heels.

“Sylva, wait!”

“Shut it! Your excuses mean nothing to me!”

As their voices faded into the distance, the people left behind exchanged puzzled looks.

“Did something happen between those two?”

“Eh, probably just a misunderstanding,” one of the women said. “They’ve always been like that since they were kids, remember?”

“Hm, I suppose so…”

“But still,” someone cut in, “seeing Fumeirō looking so lively after he was unconscious really puts me at ease. He did go toe-to-toe with Miss Reika earlier, after all!”

“Exactly. Not only did he survive fighting her, he even bounced back to full strength in no time!”

“I agree!”

“Hm. Still, it’s hard for me to believe that Fumeirō knows how to use abilities. Did he acquire them while he was in the capital?”

“Probably. We never heard of him using any before…”

A woman carrying a basket looked up at the sky.

“It’s for the best, if you ask me. With him around, our safety’s a bit more certain. We’re living in a place crawling with monsters, after all—Miss Reika and the others might need an extra hand.”

Minutes passed since Fumeirō had run after Sylva. They made it through the dense trees and reached a wide clearing not far from the settlement. The moon had already risen, casting pale light over the patch of grassland.

“Sylva… wait…”

She’s fast…!

Fumeirō paused when he saw Sylva stop in her tracks. She turned around and faced him while trying to suppress her heavy breaths.

“Hmmm… Hmm…”

He steadied himself and studied her face. Sylva looked dead serious.

“Fumeirō, be honest with me.”

Fumeirō swallowed hard. “…Go on.”

“Are you… interested in men—”

“No.” He answered without hesitation.

Sylva was taken aback by his abrupt reply. She stared into his eyes for a moment, then let out a sigh.

“Hah… And here I thought you’d taken a liking to Soru.”

Fumeirō recalled what he had done with Soru earlier and waved his hands frantically.

“No, no, no! Something just happened that led to that. It has nothing to do with affection… or anything like that.”

To think my ego got ahead of me and caused such a misunderstanding… I should never let that happen again.

“Hm, you’d better not.”

Fumeirō noticed Sylva’s hands fidgeting restlessly. He could tell she was uneasy.

He sighed. “Well, I already have someone else in mind.”

Sylva’s eyes widened.

“Eh…?”

Fumeirō smirked and turned away. “Of course, that’s my little secret, hehe~.”

Sylva stepped closer and started to nag him.

“Who is it? Is it someone you met in the capital?”

“It might be~.”

“You…!”

“Alright, since I owe you an apology, I’ll give you three hints…” Fumeirō paused and raised three fingers.

Sylva watched as he slowly folded one down.

“First. The person I like has a name that ends with the letter ‘A’…”

“Ends… with ‘A’?”

That’s so vague...

Fumeirō glanced at her and smirked, then folded down a second finger.

“Second, she knows more than one language!”

“Hmmm… People in the capital do tend to know a lot about this world’s languages…”

“And the third and final hint,” Fumeirō said before closing his last finger, “she has purple hair.”

Sylva fell silent, piecing together every clue he’d just given her.

Was that a woman he met in the capital? But all the clues he gave me didn’t match anyone I know. How am I supposed to guess it in the first place?

Just then, a thought struck her.

Wait a minute. Fumeirō wouldn’t give such vague hints unless he knew I could figure it out. That means…

Sylva lowered her hand.

The woman he’s talking about is someone I already know…

She started piecing the clues together, and it didn’t take her long to land on a single answer.

“This is absurd…” she murmured.

“Oh? You guessed it already?”

Sylva lifted her head. “That person… is it Miss Reika?”

Fumeirō’s stoic expression made it impossible for Sylva to read him. Then, to her surprise, he lifted his two fingers and made a cross in the air.

“Bzzzzt. You’re wrong~!”

"Wha—"

“I forgot to mention,” Fumeirō cut in. “Out of the three clues I gave you, one of them is a lie. So basically—two truths and a lie!”

When Sylva heard his ridiculous twist, she starts to flare up.

“You… Why didn’t you say that earlier?!”

“Kukuku. You were so absorbed in guessing, I didn’t want to interrupt you~.”

“Khh! That’s cheating!”

With an irritated huff, Sylva turned and stormed off. “Hmph! I’m done with your stupid guessing game.”

“Aw, come on~. You’re giving up already?”

“So what if I am? I don’t care anymore!”

“Hehe. It’s just one lie—how hard can it be?”

Sylva spun back around. “I told you I—”

Fumeirō noticed she stopped mid-sentence.

“Hm…?”

“…Hey, Fumeirō…”

Fumeirō noticed Sylva’s eyes fixed on something in the distance. He followed her gaze and spotted a figure moving through the shadows. It was too far to make out clearly, so he squinted to focus.

Who’s that? Is that a…?

The faint moonlight revealed a small, muscular figure drenched in water. He was covered in wounds and bruises scattered across his body. He was also dragging a fairly large hammer through the soft soil.

“We... We have to help him!” Sylva shouted, already running toward the stranger.

Fumeirō hesitated for a second before hurrying after her.

“Sylva, wait up!”

The injured person noticed the two figures approaching. At first, fear flickered in his eyes, but his body was far too weak to run.

They reached him just as he leaned against a tree and collapsed. By the time they knelt beside him, he was already unconscious.

“We have to get him back to the settlement!” Sylva said urgently.

Fumeirō nodded and helped lift the stranger with her. They were careful not to make his wounds any worse.

The two of them carried the man back to the settlement. When they arrived, everyone noticed them right away, gathering around to see what was going on.

“Fumeirō, Sylva, who is that? What happened to him?” someone asked.

“We have no idea,” Sylva replied. “We just found him from a distance, covered in wounds and bruises.”

“Oh my heavens! He’s soaked too. Did he fall into a creek or something?” another asked.

“Most likely,” Fumeirō said. “He might have been running from someone and jumped into the water to hide his trail.”

“He swam while he was that badly hurt? That’s kind of…”

“Where’s Father right now? Has anyone seen him?” Fumeirō asked.

“I-I just saw him up ahead a while ago. He’s busy with the house relocation…”

“Good. I’ll bring this man to him, then,” Fumeirō said and headed off with Sylva and the unconscious stranger.

Meanwhile, Silas was in the middle of a discussion with a few settlers when he noticed a commotion nearby. He looked up and saw his son and Sylva carrying an unconscious, battered man. The people around him quickly stepped in to help.

“Fumeirō, who’s that person?” Silas asked.

“I don’t know who he is. He just appeared out of nowhere...”

“We need to lay him flat and tend to his wounds immediately!”

Fumeirō and Sylva carried the man inside and gently placed him in the guest room. Silas stepped back outside and saw several settlers gathered around.

“Find Miss Reika at once! He needs urgent care!”

Everyone scattered in different directions to look for her. Moments later, Reika arrived with Soru by her side.

“Where is he?”

“He’s inside, Miss Reika,“Silas said. “We did what we could and wrapped his wounds, but he probably lost a lot of blood.”

Reika nodded and stepped inside. In the guest room, she found the man unconscious on the floor.

She knelt down beside him and spread her palms over his chest, ready to begin healing.

<Heal>

In an instant, the wounds began to close, and the bruises faded one after another.

“This should be enough,” Reika murmured. “Though I can’t replenish the blood he lost… the rest is up to his luck now.”

Everyone except Soru let out a breath of relief and sank to the floor, their tense shoulders finally dropping.

“What happened to him?” Reika asked them.

Sylva explained everything that had happened in detail. When she finished, Reika lowered her head slightly in thought.

“That’s unfortunate. He must’ve swum nonstop with those injuries. Did he perhaps cross the great lake up ahead?”

“Oh, you mean the Great Lake Gargant?” Fumeirō asked.

Great Lake Gargant was a vast body of water lying at the southern edge of the Great Forest of Drys. It was said to be home to the Tyrant of the Lake, Gargantua—a creature that she and the others had slain before.

“Great Lake Gargant…”

I never heard of its name until now...

Well, that’s my fault—I never asked anyone about it in the first place…

“Anyway, his appearance reminds me a bit of Mister Alguis…” Sylva murmured.

“Hmm, I noticed that too,” Fumeirō added. “Is he… a dwarf, perhaps?”

Silas heard someone calling his name from outside. He walked to the entrance and found Alguis standing there with Aeden and Völun by his side.

“I heard an unconscious man was rescued by your son. I want to see him.”

“Y-Yes, of course, Sir Alguis.”

The three of them stepped inside and headed straight to the guest room. The moment they laid eyes on the man resting there, they froze in shock.

“I came here because I thought it might be one of our own… but I didn’t expect it to be him.”

Alguis stepped closer and knelt beside the unconscious dwarf. He gently took the man’s hand in his own and felt its faint warmth. Aeden and Völun lowered their heads in silence.

“Sir Alguis, do you know him?” Reika asked softly.

Alguis nodded. “Yes… I know him well."

"He’s Sindri—the most renowned blacksmith in the Dwarven Kingdom…”