Chapter 3 – What came to mind during my third time in another world was to for now, get drunk.

oyaji = less than polite way of saying ‘uncle/middle aged guy’ as well as your own father, sort of like ‘pops’ or ‘the old man’

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“But still, the king suure pisses me off…”

Treating the former Hero who saved the world twice as the 『dregs of society』 or a 『mere woman』 or…
Just remembering it pisses me off.
What’s more, during the 『first time』, the Demon King’s forces made it as far as 《Azerleims》’ castle, and the imperial princess was killed.
That time, no matter how much I mourned, it wasn’t enough…
But during the 『second time』, I punctually saved the princess, we fell in love, and got married.

“Ahh~hh… Everything would’ve been great had I not taken the 《gem》…”

It would’ve been great had I just not picked up the gem that fell from the True Demon King’s mouth, and just headed back to the castle after defeating it.
It’s too late now, but I’m regretting it.

“Eline… You probably don’t remember me, do you…?”

It was the same during the 『second time』 around as well.
Nobody remembered that during the 『first time』 I was the real 『Hero』 who defeated the Demon King and saved the world.
In the end, I started from being a 『Hero Candidate』 again.
But my status and items were the same as when I had cleared the 『first time』, though.

The first event was subjugating a monster living in a cave nearby.
Each 『Hero Candidate』 independently infiltrated the cave, and defeated the boss monster in its depths, or so the event went.
If you defeated him and let people know, you’d then form a party as 『One of the Heroes』 and set out on your adventures, but…

“It was filled with hardships, wasn’t it… my 『first time』…”

With my starting equipment, 『Wooden Stick』, I had to somehow or other beat down weak monsters and save up gold, bit by bit.
I then bought the strong 『Wooden Spear』 to replace it with, and went to a smith to reinforce it to 『Wooden Spear + 4』.
It was annoying because the monsters hardly dropped any…
My equipment I replaced with things that were relatively strong while being frugal with my gold.
I went and challenged the boss monster of the cave.
I got knocked out 3 times, but got a problem with that?

After that, again and again I’d challenged it and get beaten to bits, before getting teleported into my room, barely alive.
I raised my level, improved my equipment, bought recovery potions until it took up a whole item column…
And then finally, I managed to defeat it, but the other 『Hero Candidates』 had already moved onto the next stage long before…

And then, my 『second time』.

『…Blam.』

『GUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!』

…The end.

…*

With the Criminal Darkness in my right hand, I eaaaasily brought it down with a swing.

One swing.

With just one swing, that first boss monster that I’d had so much trouble with, had now ended up in two.

It was horror in a sense.

…*

Of course, I immediately cleared the cave event.
I returned to the castle to report it.
And the king fell into surprise and deep emotion.

After that, things went smoothly, and I defeated the Demon King in, what, was it 10 turns?

I’ll leave out the rest.

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“Now then, up we go…”

Nothing will begin if I just lay here.
I closed the item window, and stood up.

“OKAAAASAAAAAN! I’M GOING OUT FOR A LITTLE, OKAAAAY!?”

I left the house.

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・・・

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That damned king… As if you’d say 『a mere woman』, right? What 『a mere woman』…? …Shitt…
I explored the town, feeling irritated.

“Ah-”

Beyond a bridge in town was a blacksmith.
In the shop that I frequently used was a face that I recognised.

(Graham…)

One of the spear users of 《Azerleims》, Graham Edreed was talking to the oyaji from the shop.

(Haha… Telling nothing but jokes as usual…?)

In both my 『first time』 and 『second time』, Graham was one of the party members that accompanied me as far as the final fight with the Demon King.
When I had just been reincarnated into this world, and didn’t know left from right, he was the one who showed me around this time.
And he also taught me how to use a spear, and if I had to say it, then I guess he’s like a bit like a teacher to me?

(Sorry, Graham… In both the 『first time』 and 『second time』, I let you die…)

Passing by Graham who was happily talking with the shopkeeper oyaji, I headed to the main road.

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It’s a bar.

It’s a place that’s always lively.

I sat down on one of the chairs at the counter.

“Oi, oi, little miss. This isn’t a place for kiddies like you, you know?”

“Mu.”

-vein pop-
Am I going to be made fun of even here?

“Oyaji… Gimme the strongest you have…”

“Oi, oi… Like I said, we can’t sell to minors, and what’s more, one that’s a girl…”

“Oh my? You sound like you’re making light of women, but?”

A woman cut into our conversation.

(Lily…)

Sitting right next to me at the counter was the magician, Lily Zealrod.
Like Graham, she was a companion that I’d partied with twice in the past.

“Tsk, an annoying one has come…”

The barkeep headed into the shop.
If I remember correctly, wasn’t the barkeep bad at dealing with Lily…?

“Hi there~ Are you also just coming back from the audience about the 『Spare Candidates』 that’ll be acting as party members for the Hero, I wonder?”

“Well yes, but…”

I just recalled an unpleasant face…

“Huhu, going by that face of yours, it seems that the king chewed you out too, huh~?”

…『too』?

“Ah~hh, that king reaaally is stubborn, huh…? Just because I’m a woman, he’s completely decided that I’m 『weak』 you know~? I’m honestly pissed off.”

Lily’s thoughts were the same as mine.
I didn’t know…
To think that Lily received this bad a treatment from the king too, in the beginning.

In the end, Lily became a master of the two high level attributes 《light》 and 《darkness》, so she should have become a Grand Magician strong enough to make the top 5 in this world.
And to think that a person like her started off as a 『Spare Candidate』…
Doesn’t he have no eyes for people? That king…

(…Which reminds me, in the 『second time』, he was my 『esteemed father-in-law』 wasn’t he…? Haha…)

When I saved the princess and married her, he was happy for us, wasn’t he?
A hero who possessed the abnormal strength to protect the castle from the Demon King forces.
I was famous enough that the streets were filled with rumours of me, after all.

“Going to drink something? My shout.”

Lily spoke to me with concern.

“…Give me the best drink, please.”

“Huhu. You kinda come off as a bit of an odd one to me…”

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Well yeah. I’m a 『trap』 anyway, you knoww?

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『…Blam.』
Originally “…Ei.”, where “ei!” is a sound made when hitting something.

“I’m a 『trap』 anyway, you knoww?”
trap here is ‘男の娘（otoko no ko）’

Chapter 2 – What came to mind during my third time in another world was to for now, get naked.

I should mention for the uninitiated, that ‘俺（ore）’ is a manly and rough way of referring to oneself, while ‘私（watashi）’ is the only gender neutral pronoun casual enough to be used by girls, so it naturally becomes the default for girls. The other female-only ones are derived from
‘私（watashi）’ like ‘あたし（atashi）’ and stuff.
And so men who use ‘watashi’ in settings that they would normally use ‘ore’ sometimes give off a kind of, girly-man vibe. Only sometimes. It’s highly situational, and depends on the person, the person’s position, and the setting.

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The shining gem lit up the surroundings.

Around it was my annihilated party, just like in the 『first time』 around.

“Hmmmm… What am I supposed to do…?”

Do I take the gem, or do I not?
I have two options to choose from.

“But well… that really wouldn’t happen again, right?”

Looking up towards the heavens, I directed my question at a god that wouldn’t be here to begin with.

After making up my mind and taking the gem, just like the 『first time』, my body was engulfed in light.

And then, I lost consciousness.

I hope that this time I’ll be able to return to the 『world』 that I came from―――

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…It was no good.

I woke up once again on my bed in the starting town 《Azerleims》.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! DAMMIT! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO BLOODY CLEAR IT BEFORE I CAN GO HOOOOOOOOOOMEE!?!?”

I got up while screaming.

“Oh my, why so loud in the morning…? And Kazuha, you’re a 『girl』 so you musn’t use words like 『bloody』, you know?”

Saying that was my mother in this world, who was beginning to prepare food.

…Mn?

“…Okaasan? Just now, what did you say?”

Things feel kind of, wrong in various ways…

“My, my, are you still half-asleep? Honestly, isn’t today the important day that you’ll be having an audience with His Majesty? Wake up properly, and go wash your face.”

No, no, no. Not that.

“Just now, you called me a 『girl』 and… also, who’s 『Kazuha』?”

“My, my, has this child forgotten not only their sex, but their name as well, I wonder? Perhaps it might be for the best if I stop today’s audience.”

Saying that, Okaasan handed me a hand mirror.

“Just loook at how messy your hair has gotten. Fix it up properly. That’s improper.”

I received the hand mirror.
And then I looked into it.

What was reflected there was a girl.
Wait, is that me?

“Hahhh… Had you been born a boy instead, you might have even been able to become a fine Hero-sama, huh…”

Leaving me “Make sure you wash your face properly.” as a final remark, Okaasan left the room.

“…I, seriously…?”

Getting down from bed, I began investigating my own body.

Although it was small, I certainly could feel the swells on my chest.
I reached my hand downwards.
The thing that should have been there, wasn’t.

“…Gone.”

I checked it once more.

“…Isn’t it gone?”

No matter how many times I touched it to check, what wasn’t there, just wasn’t there.

“…Seriously?”

My third reincarnation. Or rather, I should call it my 『third time』.

“…I, became a woman…?”

I was dumbfounded.

But compared to my 『second time』, the shock might have been smaller.
At that time, the shock was proportional to the belief that I had that I’d be able to return home.
But since I was prepared to a certain extent this time, I was able to mentally prepare myself.

“For now, what I need to be doing is…”

There’s only one thing it could be.

On the spot, without any hesitation――――

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I got naked.

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“It’s impossible to become the Heroo!?”

The place was the audience room.

Since it was my 『third time』 now, I knew quite clearly what the future events were.
But I suddenly had the wind taken out of my sails.

“My apologies. The Hero candidates are for boys only. As a woman, you are not allowed to become the Hero.”

Speaking of which, I get the feeling that Okaasan said something like that earlier, but…

“B-, But I(ore)… I mean, I(watashi)…! It’s just a guess, but I think I’m actually stronger than anybody else, you know!”

Uwahhh, gross. I used ‘watashi’…
All I feel is nausea.

“What are you saying? For a 『Substitute Candidate』 who might not even be able to become a party member of the 『Hero Candidate』 to…”

Uwah… If you’re a woman, do you have no choice but to start off in such a lowly position?
Speaking of which, wasn’t this world a super 『patriarchal』 society?
So tough…

“I don’t wanna…! If you would just look at my real strength…!”

I gave it my all trying to persuade him.
If only he knew my strength, then even the king should immediately agree.

“Enough! For a mere woman to oppose my opinion as the king is…! I do not wish to even see your face! You may leave!”

Ehhhhhh, seriouslyyyy?

His Majesty didn’t seem to have any intent of listening to me any further.
Or rather, if I do anything more, I might be going to jail.
Having given up, I went back to my room.

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“Ahh~hh. What am I s’posed to do~”

To think that by being born a woman, I’d end up in such a bad spot…
I may be somebody who’s lived through this world 2 times already, but I never even noticed that discrimination was this huge.

“There sure are lots of things I don’t know, huhhh…”

Now that I suddenly had a lot of free time, for now, I decided to check my status and belongings.

Having defeated the hidden boss in the end during my 『second time』 around, I’ve already hit level 99. In other words, I’m the highest level.
Both of the strongest weapons, the 《Criminal Darkness》 and the 《Angel’s Blamer》  are still in my bag as well.
Having already mastered the dual-handed style, no matter how I think about it, I’m probably the strongest swordsman in the world.
And then, there’s the money that I own.
185743040G
There were so many numbers that I couldn’t immediately tell how much I had.
Having basically completed my item collection halfway through my 『second time』, to me, there shouldn’t have been a way to use this money to begin with.
Or rather, how much do I have anyway?

“One, two, three…”

I gave counting it a go.
…
Approximately 200 million gold.
Is there even anything to use this on?

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Once again, I lay down on my bed.

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“Oh my, why so loud in the morning…? And Kazuha, you’re a 『girl』 so you musn’t use words like 『bloody』, you know?”
^ originally it’s ‘俺（ore）’ the masculine and rougher first-person pronoun.
Actually, he generally continues to use ‘俺‘ unless I specify otherwise.

Chapter 1 – What came to mind during my second time in another world was to for now, take it easy.

Deviation Value – It’s something to do with the Japanese education system, or rather, it’s a method of ranking academic achievement via standard deviation, but I don’t remember the specifics anymore, so you can google yourself if interested. Ah, also, high school etc. starts in April-ish for them.

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『Gu… GUGUGUGU…!!!!』

Finally… I’ve finally defeated it…

『GuGuGu… GUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!!』

An ominous light shone from his body, and illuminated the Demon King’s palace.

Even with the ultimate weapons the 《Sinner’s Sword of Beheading Justice – Criminal Darkness》 and the 《Saint’s Sword of Judgement – Angel’s Blamer》, it took half a day to defeat it.

Everyone in my party except me was wiped out.

To think that I would have such a hard time in my 『second time』 around…

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I, Ononogi Kazuto, am a normal high schooler, city boy.
I’m saying this myself, but I don’t have any abilities that excel in any way, and even my deviation value is in the lower-middle areas.
Lately I’ve been skipping my club activities too, and I’m an extremely healthy and normal high schooler that you can find anywhere.

Today, April finally began.
Somehow making it to my second year in high school, today as well, I left the house with my beloved light novels in my schoolbag.
In the neighbourhood was a crowd of children starting primary school today, all lined up.
Today was going to be the start of another completely normal day.

――Or so I thought.

I coincidentally turned my gaze to the opposite side of the line of primary schoolers.
There, stood a housewife.
I’m sure that one of the children in the line is her child.
Thinking that, I avoided the crowd of children, and was going to head to the bus stop beyond the crossing, but at that moment, something shone.

Wondering what was shining, I followed the light source with my eyes.
Huh…? Wasn’t it the housewife from earlier?
Something in the housewife’s hand was reflecting the sunlight into my eyes.
Straining my eyes, I tried looking more carefully.

There, was a single kitchen knife in her hand.

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Sitting down on the spot, I caught my breath.

Just like the 『first time』, in the 『second time』 as well, I thought I had defeated the Demon King.
Charging into my 『second time』 while still holding all the strongest equipment, I easily defeated the Demon King with my comrades.

This time, for sure, I’d be able to return to my old world.

Unable to stop my heart from believing this, I was completely betrayed.

Immediately after I defeated the Demon King, the Demon King’s throne collapsed, and we, the 『Hero Party』, fell into the abyss.
Ah-, by the way, I’m the Hero. Yup.
I was the Hero during the 『first time』 as well, after all, and this time in my 『second time』, I’m the Hero as well. Aren’t I amazing?

Having fallen into the depths of the abyss, we, the Hero Party, came across an incredible monster.
This was the real last boss. That was the feeling that we strongly felt upon seeing its appearance.
Holding up our weapons, we began challenging the true 『final battle』.

And, the result was――

that with the exception of myself, my entire party was wiped out.
Though I was alone now, I continued to attack → avoid → heal, over and over, and over again.
After a few hours, I finally defeated it. I’m already worn out.

Something round and shining tumbled out of the mouth of the true Demon King.

“Geh-… Another jewel…?”

The 『first time』, I had splendidly defeated the Demon King.
Speaking of which, I was the only one left during that battle as well, huh?
And after I defeated the Demon King, a shining gem suddenly appeared at the throne he was on.
Clearly a 『Take this, and your story will end, and you will be allowed to return to your original world.』 type thing?
Naturally, I went and grabbed the gem.
And then for some reason…
The result was that I was thrown into the starting town 《Azerleims》, and began my 『second time』.
It’s not fucken funny, srsly.

“…What the heck do I do now?”

But… it really won’t happen again, right…?

The strongest equipment, the experience I’ve saved, gold, hidden weapons, hidden routes etc.
I had inherited it all for my 『second time』 and even defeated the 『hidden boss』 you know?
You’d expect that god would free me already, right?
From this unfortunate reincarnated life of mine…

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It was a mistake for me to have thought this.

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◆◇◆◇

The morning of April 1st.

The housewife holding the knife.

The crowd of primary schoolers before my eyes.

“…An April’s Fools joke, or something?”

But seeing the housewife’s eyes gave me a shudder.

Those eyes, were serious…

“AAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

Letting out a weird cry and holding the knife tightly before her abdomen, the housewife charged towards the crowd of primary schoolers.

Oi oi… It seriously happened…?

“AAAAAAAAARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!”

There’s already no way to describe this except ‘going nuts’, and the housewife charged forward with a roar.

And for some reason, I,

jumped in between the the housewife and the primary schoolers,

and was stabbed through the heart.

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The end.

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But when I opened my eyes, I was on top of a fluffy bed.
When I had a look around me, I found that I was in a room that I wouldn’t be able to see outside of the world of games.

“Oh? Have you finally woken up, Kazuto?”

An unfamiliar obasan was preparing food in the kitchen right beside me.

“W-, Where is this…?”

I muttered a natural question.

“My, my, are you still half-asleep? Honestly, isn’t today the important day that you’ll be having an audience with His Majesty? Wake up properly, and go wash your face.”

It was a line that I’d heard somewhere before.
Or rather, it’s definitely 『that line』 isn’t it…?

That was how my story began.

At the time, I still had no idea that there would be a 『second time』, though.

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