Rebirth From Ordinary Person To The Strongest

The following Monday came, and I had successfully completed my first job.

It had already been a week since both my father and Irena hadn't returned home.

Though, to be honest, it wasn't unusual for them to be away for a week or two.

So, I wasn't particularly worried, but from what my mother told me, my father had already finished his initial job.

Normally, after finishing his job and exorcising the monsters, he would return home, but he had been so swamped with work that he hadn't even had time to come back.

Apparently, the same was true for Irena. I overheard a bit of that conversation when Nina-chan was on the phone with her last night.

So, today, once again, I'm heading to school with Nina-chan.

It's fun going to school with someone.

"By the way, 'Actor' is such a strange name for a troupe member, don't you think?"

"Is it?"

Nina-chan brought this up while we were waiting at the traffic light in the morning.

It wasn't like this topic suddenly popped up; ever since I completed my first job, it had come up regularly in our conversations.

"I mean, 'actor' basically means performer, right? Do you think a Sixth-Rank Queen monster would really choose such a modest name for themselves?"

"Modest? What do you mean?"

"Mom says Sixth-Rank Queen monsters tend to have strong egos and prefer flashy names."

"Oh, I see."

"You've already exorcised two of them, haven't you, Itsuki?"

"Well, yeah, but..."

As I replied, I instinctively grasped the Raikodoji relic in my pocket.

"Wait, don't exorcists usually name the monsters? Are you saying monsters give themselves their own names?"

When I asked that, Nina-chan looked a little confused, tilting her head as if she found it strange.

"…That's a good point. I wonder which one it is."

She didn't seem to have an immediate answer either and fell into thought.

Setting aside Adashino Harunaga since that's a human-given name, I wonder if names like Raikodoji and Ice Princess were given by humans or if the monsters named themselves.

Now that I think about it, the Ice Princess seemed to introduce herself.

Hmm? So, do monsters name themselves? If that's the case, did the Actor also choose that name?

While I pondered this, Nina-chan continued, still tilting her head.

"But if a monster were going to give themselves a name, wouldn't something like Leader or Manager be more fitting than Actor?"

Nina-chan adjusted her backpack as she said this.

Hmm, I see what she means.

Up until now, all the Sixth-Rank monsters had names that reflected their nature.

Raikodoji—since it used thunder.

Ice Princess—because it used ice.

And Adashino Harunaga, who was once an exorcist but turned into a monster.

As my teacher, Shirayuki-sensei, explained last year, these names resonate with their true nature.

It's a form of sympathetic magic—the principle that things with similar names possess similar traits.

If that's the case, then the name Actor probably holds some significance too.

For instance, when I hear the word Actor, the first thing that comes to mind is someone who performs. Maybe it's a monster that mimics humans and blends into society, hence the name Actor.

Yeah, that seems plausible.

What else could it be?

Let's try thinking about the actor part specifically.

Handsome, scandal, affair…

Wait, no. My lack of interest in celebrities is making it hard to come up with more reasonable ideas.

"Itsuki, the light's red."

"...Oh, thanks."

Caught up in my thoughts, I almost walked into the crosswalk while the light was still red, and Nina-chan stopped me.

She then switched to a completely different topic.

"By the way, Itsuki, you're going to keep taking on exorcist jobs, right?"

"Yeah, I plan to."

I stopped thinking about Actor and turned my attention back to Nina-chan.

She seemed hesitant at first but then spoke up.

"I want to go with you. Would that be okay?"

"...Hmm..."

When Nina-chan asked that, I hesitated.

Honestly, I had been expecting Nina-chan to bring up something like this.

After all, she still deeply admires exorcists and genuinely wants to become one.

We've even spent some of our after-school hours together, searching for and exorcising monsters.

So, I had a feeling she would want to come along on the official jobs as well.

But even so, I couldn't give her an immediate yes.

"Did you talk to Irena-san about this?"

"Mom? Of course, I did."

"What did she say?"

"She said, 'If you're with Itsuki, it's fine.'"

…I was honestly expecting Irena-san to say no.

I couldn't help but think that.

But now that I remember, Irena-san is aware that Nina-chan and I used to go looking for monsters together after school. That's probably why she said it'd be fine if we were together.

"So… I'd be happy if you said yes."

With Nina-chan saying that, my response was pretty much decided.

"Yeah, it's fine. Let's go together."

"Really?!"

"But only when the next job comes in."

I quickly added that condition to rein in Nina-chan's growing excitement.

The truth is, my mother has arranged for me to only receive jobs sparingly.

That was something she discussed with Akane-san.

And I have no idea when the next job will come in.

Even if it does, I can't exactly take Nina-chan to dangerous places.

That's why I gave her that reply, but…

"Don't worry. You'll get another job soon, I'm sure."

Nina-chan responded with an answer that was as ambiguous as it was confident, leaving me unsure how to reply.

As I struggled to come up with something, she quickly changed the subject again.

"So, are we going to practice Castle Exchange today?"

"Castle Exchange? No, today I want to try a new spell."

"What spell?"

Nina-chan pouted a little, as if feeling left out.

Come to think of it, I hadn't told her yet.

"Thanks to you, I've gotten better at using fairy magic, right?"

"Well, you're still not there yet."

Nina-chan emphasized the "not there yet" part as she replied, and I continued.

"So I was thinking of combining it."

"Combining? Combining fairies?"

"No, that's not it."

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As I noticed the pedestrian light turn green, I shared with her the new magic idea I'd been thinking of for a while.

"I'm thinking of combining Fairy Magic and Thread Magic."