Nateaser: Reborn As My Love Interest

Emi - Ch. 96

That picture burned into my mind.

A cherry sapling grew out of Nati's hand, twisting and turning until it shaped a long shaft, and ended in a half circle. The peculiar blue crystal spun and flew over our heads until it found its place inside that formation as if magnets held it there. The sight felt magical, in every sense.

And she started much later than the others, yet the entire scene lasted only seconds. Thankfully I didn't blink or I would have missed it. The green-skinned orc witch looked even greener from the envy, and the face of the Fire Witch turned red.

"That body is cheating." They claimed almost in unison.

"Nati's affinity to magic seems stronger than what I possess." The Goddess corrected them, inspecting the staff, once it stopped growing. My brother has not stopped practicing casting with it ever since, even though two days have passed. But she became obsessed with magic.

Yes, she. Thanks to this floating snow-white deity as she looked here, this world turned my brother into a sister, and I kept misgendering her in front of the tribesmen.

"Look, my staff is slowly taking shape too. And I can fit the crystal right here." Ember, the cat girl witch announced when her magical instrument neared completion too. She was already two days late, but Omerta's were in a worse shape. Nati at the same time already learned how to summon or make her staff disappear. I was proud of him.

Or her? I didn't want to cause my brother trouble by accidentally using the wrong pronouns. At least half the villagers didn't even know, that she was a boy in her previous life.

I knew how much she hated to be at the center of attention, I bet she didn't want it to become a big deal. She said something about an embarrassing conversation when she arrived in the village.

"I'd rather not go through that again. I'm much more comfortable with them knowing, that I came from a different world than having people chatter about my gender." She explained at one time before we entered the bath. Separately. She went to the private chambers, and I was to use the woman's bath. It didn't seem fair, but I could live with that much.

There was another transgender in the tribe, a huge orc, as Nati described it, who decided to become a woman. The only casualty from the tribe itself who fell during the big battle that happened before I got here.

"The Elder will pay for that with her life!" Omerta occasionally told that to anyone nearby, if she wasn't focusing on growing her staff.

Everyone missed her brother, Hana, and their huge heart was on display in the main square, frozen in ice forever. Well, this gender-swapping or whatever started to be a thing in our old world too, even if the circumstances were different. I didn't mind, as long as my brother seemed content with her life here. It mattered little if I could get used to it or not.

"Your mind is elsewhere, Emily." The chieftain of the tribe noted, chopping my head. She wasn't wrong, but I got tired of training anyway. It was necessary if we wanted to set out for that dungeon.

"Sorry sensei, I'm ready for another round." I raised my hands again, and we started fighting. Alexandra agreed to take us to the capital of the dwarven kingdom, where the bearded smith came from, with his odd-looking horses. But she refused to join us in our quest.

"Lambert remains here too. I'm not taking chances with him. And the Elder might decide to attack us any moment, so I can't leave the village too long." She explained her decision after I was more or less filled in about the events before I arrived. As it seemed, Nati as she was known here, stirred quite the trouble.

"You are still not paying attention," Charlotte complained, but before she scolded me, I effortlessly threw her over my shoulder and pinned her to the ground. I forgot that my body looked the same, but behaved very differently from my original one. I felt like a Terminator or something. Or as the Goddess called it, a homunculus. But Nati turned out to be even tougher than me and she didn't know.