The Strongest Onmyoji and the Shikigami With AI are Unparalleled in Another World ~ A Second Life Properly Enjoyed Using Artificial Intelligence ~-Chapter 3 - Second Life
“Why can you move?”
I ask while looking down at the girl-shaped shikigami, whose height only reaches my stomach.
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“This ability and I are both part of the Master’s skills. With the Master’s skills, such things are possible.”
I don’t get it.
“So, you could also be a spider?”
“That’s no good. It’d be a monster spider. I prefer being a cute girl!”
What kind of skill is it to resist the caster?
“Well, a spider monster would be bad… Can I continue with my questions?”
“Of course.”
The shikigami smiles cheerfully.
She’s extremely cute, but my mother’s image keeps popping up.
“I more or less understand your skill now. I’ll just accept that I’m getting younger and my memories are fuzzy. But what am I supposed to do in this other world?”
“That’s for the Master to decide. This is the Master’s second life. You can live it like your past life, or you can choose a different path. I’ll assist you.”
A second life, huh…
“Hmm…”
“Is there anything you left unfinished? Or something you wanted to pursue?”
“Nothing… or rather, I can’t remember. At least when I was 20, I didn’t have any particular complaints.”
We come from a prestigious family that has produced generations of onmyoji.
As the next head of the family, I had no doubts. I was going to succeed my father and protect the House of Kisaragi and the country.
And probably, that’s exactly how my life would have unfolded.
“Master was a bit more loving than most, but he was serious at heart. So, how about living as you please in your next life?”
“Living as I please?”
“In a sense, Master’s life was predetermined. To save people, to protect the country. It’s very honorable and noble. But, in doing so, did you suppress what you really wanted and manage those beneath you?”
As the heir, it’s likely that’s what happened.
“Living as I please… that might be nice.”
Even from childhood, everything was decided for me, even my meals.
I was fed good food, but it’s not like I didn’t ever want to eat what I liked.
And I hated the formal education and etiquette training.
“Let’s live as you please. You don’t have to eat healthy vegetables or centipedes and spiders to boost your magic, you know?”
I didn’t like vegetables, but I actually liked centipedes and spiders.
They’re quite tasty when grilled.
My younger siblings viewed the path to becoming the head of the family as a trial and looked at me with pitiful eyes, but I didn’t feel anything.
“Well, understood. Let’s do that. But, what kind of world is this, anyway? I didn’t know about those goblin-like creatures earlier, and upon closer inspection, the plants are subtly different too.”
The trees and grass around aren’t what existed in my country.
“I’ll explain that as we go along. Let’s head towards the populated area first.”
Naturally, there are people too.
“Well, that’s fine, but do you plan on going like that? I’d prefer if you didn’t stand out with that hair.”
“Oh, about that, in this world, blonde hair is normal. In Master’s world, 99.9% of people had black hair, but in this world, there are people with various hair colors, and there are many different races.”
There are a lot of people with blonde hair?
What a strange world…
“And what do you mean by races?”
“It’s not just human race. There are other humanoid races.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
I don’t understand.
A person is a person, right?
“You’ll understand when you meet them. There are also people with animal ears.”
The shikigami brings both hands to her head and wiggles them.
“That’s like my mother, who became a half-yokai.”
She was usually a normal person, but when she became a half-yokai, she had fox ears on her head and a tail.
It’s comfortable to sleep with the tail as a pillow, but be careful because she’ll play silly pranks on you while you sleep.
“In that sense, Master is also… huh? Master is a person, right?”
“Of course.”
What else is there?
“Hmm, half? Are you going to become a beastman? Hmm… no, demon foxes are like monsters… are they enemies of humanity?”
She seems to be saying something ominous…
“Monsters are like those ugly goblins from earlier, right? Don’t compare my mother to them. She’s more like a deity.”
Surely, my mother is like Inari-sama.
Definitely a difference though.
“Is she like a demigod? Well, never mind. Master, please don’t mention that your mother is a fox demon. This is a different world, and the norms of your world don’t apply here.”
Well, when in Rome, do as the Romans do.
“I understand. What about my onmyodo?”
“Let’s call it special magic.”
“Magic?”
“Among the people of this world, there are few who can do things like produce fire or water.”
I can do that too.
So, I just need to make them think I’m one of them.
“Got it. Let’s go with that.”
“Do you have any other questions?”
“Oh, right… There’s actually something I’ve been curious about from the beginning.”
I never had the chance to ask.
“What is it?”
“What’s ‘Master’? I understand it’s referring to me, but…”
“This is really the first time, huh? Basically, it’s an honorific used for someone superior to oneself, like ‘leader’ or ‘lord.’ If you prefer something else, I can change it. Would you prefer ‘Lord Kisaragi,’ ‘Sensei,’ or ‘Yuuma-sama’?”
Yuuma is my name.
Yuuma Kisaragi.
It’s actually longer, but that’s fine as it is.
Well, any title works…
“Just ‘Master’ is fine. I just wanted to know the meaning.”
“Alright then, Master it is. I’ll go with the setting of being your disciple. You probably wouldn’t like me as your daughter, right?”
I wouldn’t.
She looks about ten years old, but having a ten-year-old as a 20-year-old’s child is weird.
Well, I guess that’s not my place to say, considering I apparently had a wife 50 years younger…
“What should I call you?”
“How about ‘Kinko-chan’?”
It’s my Mother?!
“Rejected. Oh, now that I think about it, you had a name. A.I., right?”
“That’s the name of a skill, not my name… but sure, A.I.-chan works.”
“Alright, AI-chan. Let’s start my second life!”
“Yeah!”
AI-chan raised her hand happily.
Seeing her like that, I couldn’t help but smile and pat her head.
“It’s kind of heartwarming.”
“Even though master was a grumpy old man, he was always affectionate with his grandchildren.”
Just a grumpy old man.
And a perverted old man who married someone the same age as his grandchildren…
