(Josh's POV)
A few months before the private conversation between Josh and Akura.
...
"Auughh..." He grunted as he stirred awake.
"Mh... [Keeper]... What time is it?"
[07:17]
"Great..." He exhaled before sitting up. Lying beside him is Lumi, who looks like a mess.
"Cute..." He admires the figure and expression of his wife, who is currently drooling in her sleep.
As he sat there, his thoughts wandered to his god-child, Akura.
'Very adorable cub too'
He got off the bed and moved to his wardrobe to change out of his sleepwear.
"Favoured by fate..."
He murmured as he remembered what Jess had said about Akura.
'Why did the Goddess of Fate take an interest in that child?'
He ponders before leaving the room, but before he can exit.
"Joosh?" Lumi's sleepy voice yawned through the room.
"Where are you going..."
"Honey..." He smiled softly, turning his head to Lumi, who was currently lifting her head from the pillow.
"I'm going to meet Lea."
"Leaa? Mhh... The saintess?"
"Yeah"
"Mh... Kaay..." She dropped her head back into the pillow and continued going to sleep. It was still early in the morning.
"Have a nice sleep, honey," He stares at her direction for a bit before exiting.
'Maybe I'm not the only one from Earth here...'
Upon stepping out of the house, he was hit with the cold air. It's currently January, and they had celebrated Akura's birthday a few weeks ago.
"Fate..." He stares at the dark blue sky; clearly, the sun hasn't risen yet.
"[Keeper], Create a portal to Lea coordination."
[Affirmative.]
...
..
.
A blue-white crack appeared instantly in the space in front of Josh.
"[Keeper], is the channel between the locations stable?"
[Affirmative.]
He lets out a long exhale, and white mist forms from his breath. He steps into the crack.
***
Lea, the blind saintess, was currently praying in front of a statue that represented Life. Her knees touching the cold stone floor, her hands cusped together in front of her mouth, holding a pendant.
"Thank you for allowing us to be alive, for all your children. I ask that if you can bless this new year with your love and warmth..." She continued praying, even after Josh appeared behind her, 30 cm away.
Despite appearing, he doesn't interrupt his friend's prayers.
He looked around the Chapel; it felt warm despite the low temperature outside. Beside him are rows of wooden benches. Sunlight was finally creaking through the coloured glass panel above the statue, creating a holy atmosphere.
After 3 minutes of praying, Lea stood up gently with a soft smile.
"What a surprise to have my friend visit me this early..."
He turns his head back at Lea's eyes, which are currently wrapped by blue, embroiled golden cloth.
"... Does it still hurt?"
"No, my goddess had taken the pain away."
He sighed in relief after he heard that. He always felt guilty about Lea. She was cursed by the demon king, who took away her most powerful weapon, her eyes.
"So, may I ask why my friend decided to visit me?"
"... This may relate to the Heaven."
Lea froze before staring at him, truly staring him into his soul despite not having any eyes.
"Who is it?"
"My god-daughter."
"Akura, is it?"
"Jess said that she is favoured by fate"
"... A blessing then? That isn't that shocking..."
"She had two blessings when she was born"
"..."
Josh stares at Lea.
"Is she fated?" Lea spoke, hoping that she would be wrong about this.
"No," Josh answered her, which Lea exhaled in relief.
"But I think she's from the same world as I am."
Lea's mouth opens slightly in shock.
"Why do you think that's the case?"
"..." He moved to sit down on the bench, staring at the statue.
"Whenever I come over, I would tell stories of our 17-year adventure to slay the demon king to Akura..."
He smiles softly, remembering Akura's happy movement of her ears and tail when he tells stories of their adventures.
"But do you want to know the weird part?"
Lea, still standing there, her head turned back to the Statue.
"Whenever I try telling the story from my world, she isn't interested at all."
Josh chuckled.
"First, I thought it was because Akura was still a baby. But even after 3 years since her birth, she still isn't interested in those kinds of stories."
"Maybe she's only interested in adventuring?" Lea asked back.
"Her? Certainly not, maybe in the future. But right now, she just wants to laze around and sleep for days."
"..."
"There's also another weird aspect I found out about Akura," He smiled again as if talking to himself.
"She's extremely smart for a cub of her own age." He hummed as if gloating about Akura.
"At just 1 year old, she could already put together words in a sentence, and can clearly understand what each word meant..."
"..." Lea continued staring at him in silence. She had always been great at listening to others.
"Then she got another blessing... Increasing her charms. It was chaotic after that. Masato and Samiko banned Akura that she's not allowed to go outside the house until she's 5 years old. Can you believe that?"
"So... I think that I'm not alone here anymore... I'm not alone here..."
Lea smiled softly.
"Why don't you ask her if she's a reincarnator then?"
Josh tilted his head.
Lea chuckled.
"I don't understand those terms, but... I get a feeling that you're just complicating things"
"What am I supposed to do?"
"It's very simple, can't believe you haven't thought about it before."
"Huh?"
"Just talk to her, no keeping secrets. Just ask her."
"But..." Josh hesitates, fearing that Akura will start to hate him. She's his family, too.
"Oh dear, where is that courageous hero who went to fight the demon king?"
"..."
"This is why you came here. For my advice, right?" She hummed.
"Mhm..."
"Don't hesitate."
"..."
"I'm getting a little inkling that Akura is not going to make a fuss about it~" Lea teased him before he sighed again.
"Fine... but in three months..."
"Huhuhu... Invite Lumi here next time~ Okay?"
"I think she would love that..."
Josh stood up.
"Thank you"
Lea smiled gently.
"Anytime, so move onward. Brave hero."
"How nostalgic..."
"Huhuhuhu..."
Josh smiled as he reminisced about when he was first summoned here by Lea. She said the same praise before.
He first wanted to go back home, but after spending 17 years trying to slay the demon king, he made friends, family and especially, a wife. He can't imagine himself leaving all that behind to return to Earth.
"Later"
"..."
Lea didn't respond but lowered her head to Josh, the Brave hero who had saved the world with his partners.
***
(Akura's POV)
Present time.
"Are you a reincarnator, Akura?"
Josh finally asked her after spending 3 months steeling his nerves.
"Yeah?" She just spurted out. Josh almost tumbled down to the floor once again.
"Eh? That easily?"
"Mh? What's the problem?" Akura tilted her head, confused.
"Uh... You're not... trying to keep your reincarnation a secret?"
"Should I?"
"..."
"Why would I?" This makes Josh even more dumbfounded.
"I haven't done anything illegal, so why must I keep it a secret?"
Josh stares at the fluffy cub before laughing out loud.
"HAHAHAHA! Pheeew! Lea was right..."
"???" Akura looked at Josh as if he were mentally ill.
"Mostly, yeah?"
"In the reincarnation genre, the protagonist always kept their reincarnation a secret from everyone around them."
"Ooh. So you thought I'm the same as them?"
"Mostly," He smirked widely.
"So if your parent asked if you're a reincarnator, you would just say yes. Right?"
Akura nodded.
"Fooooh... 3 months of steeling my nerves went for nothing... Hehe..."
"So why did you ask if I'm a reincarnator?"
"Nothing Nothing... You wouldn't understand..." He smiled brightly and widely.
"Anyways, if you aren't keeping this a secret. Mind if I invite Samiko, Masato and Lumi over?"
Akura nodded, not thinking that this was anything important, since it really isn't for her.
...
..
.
"Fuu... So my daughter was a reincarnator~" Samiko cupped her cheek in amazement.
"No wonder she's smarter than cubs her age..."
Lumi, who is currently under mental protection by Samiko, was jumping around, hugging and brushing Akura fur after not seeing her for a long time.
She is humming, not really aware of the conversation taking place.
"Ohh~" Masato strokes his chin.
"Aku, can you tell us how you got reincarnated and if you can remember your past life?"
Akura nodded.
"I died, pitied by the Goddess of Fate, and reincarnated. And I can mostly remember my past life."
"That was too short!" Josh shouted out.
"Eh? But I answered the question."
Samiko shook her head and sighed. 'No matter who she has been in her past life, she's still going to be a handful...'
Lumi, who had been silent the whole time, spoke.
"Do you remember who you were in your past life?"
Akura turned her head to Lumi.
"I don't"
Masato was the first to ask.
"Why?"
"I died from the aftermath of the war between Gods and Outer Gods... And I suffered more than all mortals could've suffered..."
Everyone turned silent.
"Then the Goddess of Fate pitied me and saved me... Offered me a chance at another life."
Samiko looked saddened at her daughter, no matter who she was. Akura is her daughter.
"Don't worry! It's not like I remember my suffering," Akura tail wagged proudly.
"I only forgot my name!"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"And my gender, too, after reincarnating"
"What?!"
"It's a whole thing~"
"... Ignoring the fact you forgot your past life gender and name... We understand why you have the Blessing of the Goddess of Fate. But why do you have 2 more?"
"Ah. That from the Goddess of Kitsun-" "WHAT?!"
Masato shouted out in shock before laughing out loud in pride.
"No wonder!"
Everyone turned their head at him.
"She got the blessing of the Goddess of Kitsune and Beauty. The goddess holds one major title and one minor title."
Samiko's eyes widen in enlightenment.
"No wonder her charms went up so high..."
"..."
"Akura, may I have your consent to see your status?"
Josh spoke, and Akura nodded.
"[Keeper] shows Akura's status to everyone in this room"
[Affirmative.]
A male robotic voice answered in everyone's mind.
'It sounds like a male version of my system...' Akura thought before staring at the rudimentary version of her own status screen.
Status
span>
Name
: Akura
Race
: Eclipsed Dream Kitsune
Gender
: Female
Age
: 3
Class
: [Not Chosen]
HP
: 300/300
MP
: 240/240
ST
: 210/210
Vit
: 109
Def
: 130
Res
: 112
Str
: 25
Int
: 81
Agi
: 184
Charm
: 1180
[Skill]
Howl, Bite, Scratch, Puppy Eye, Instinctive Parry, Fox-mark Sigil, Big Leap, Aggro Control, Deep Listening, Basic Sense, Cold Resistance Charm Increase, Double Jump, Fine-Ears Tuning
[collapse]
Everyone stares in awe at her status, as her stats are more or less the same as a 10-year-old kitsune.
"Why does this seem worse than mine?" Akura was the first to speak out.
"Wait, you can see your status screen?!" Everyone, including Lumi, shouted at her.
"Yeah? Because I have a system." Everyone except Josh didn't know what a system is, but Josh did, as he proceeded to make the most shocked and hilarious expression Akura has ever seen.
...
..
.
"So you're telling me... You have a system, designed and made by both the Goddess of Fate and the Goddess of Kitsune... Which has a personality, a gacha mode and reveals everything you have and highlights the changes?"
Akura nodded.
"... What the f-" Josh was about to curse before Akura spoke in.
"So now can I ask a question, Uncle Josh?"
He sat silently for a few moments before nodding.
"What is this [Keeper], you said before my status appeared to everyone here?"
He pinched his nose bridge.
"It's a... system that I, myself, am developing..."
"Eh? Really? But it's worse than mine."
'Of course it is! Yours was made by a literal Goddess!' He complained in his head before exhaling.
"I mean, yeah, it's hard to collect every single piece of information about the person, simplify it and put it in one panel... So far, I got the basic information working, stats, and skills too..."
'Hm... Too much thinking...' "I'm sleepy..."
"... Fuhuhu..."
Josh shook his head and smiled softly, even though his god-daughter is a reincarnator. It didn't change the dynamic of the family, which he is glad about.