Allen the Reincarnated Merchant: A Plan to Get Rich in Another World

“…Really, that’s interesting.”

“Yeah, I never imagined I’d hear the name Saioji in a distant future thousands of years ahead.”

—

After receiving the Access Gear from Nias, along with the nanomachines that were now inside my body, I ended up taking a few days off from work, feeling as though I had a mild cold and staying home the whole time.

Thankfully, both Eurua and Aria, my housemates, had become self-sufficient and were able to manage life on their own without needing much explanation from me. They’d learned how to use Earth’s appliances and could even disguise themselves to go shopping in the royal capital.

As I was warned beforehand, it takes time for the body to fully adapt to the nanomachines, and it’s common to experience flu-like symptoms for a while. Since those very symptoms had indeed appeared over several days, I decided to play it safe and took a break.

My boss, Saioji, didn’t reprimand me at all—in fact, she kindly suggested I take a few more days off, if necessary. After getting enough rest and learning how to use the Access Gear, I made my way back to the team house of the brigade.

At the brigade, most of the major work had already been taken care of, and compared to the intense pace we had right after arriving in the royal capital, things had slowed down. Even Saioji, who had been swamped with work for nearly two months, had resumed training to return to her adventuring activities. With more free time on her hands, the tension she once carried had noticeably eased. Amidst all of this, I decided to talk to her about what had happened recently.

“I’m really interested in this future combat technique controlled by nanomachines.”

“Is that alright? If you’re really curious about the future Saioji family, I could investigate further for you.”

Nias had told me a bit about the Saioji family in the future, and I relayed that information to Saioji. However, she didn’t seem particularly interested in learning more about the future of her lineage.

“Even if I heard about the future, I can’t go back to Japan from this world anyway. And right now, I don’t really want to. As long as my parents and siblings can live out their lives peacefully, I don’t care much about future generations.”

“Is that how you see it?”

Saioji was naturally curious about the future, but as long as her parents and siblings were able to live happily and live out their full lives, the rest didn’t seem to matter much to her.

Normally, people would care about their children and grandchildren, but Saioji had been thrown into this world, and there was no way back for her. Plus, since she’d already established a solid position in this world, she no longer felt the same urgency to return to Japan. Even if she needed something, I could provide it for her, and with the ability to exchange messages and videos with her family, she had become much more at ease mentally.

In fact, Saioji seemed more intrigued by future combat techniques using nanomachines now that the brigade’s intense workload had ended. I, too, was technically an Iron-class adventurer, so I could participate in combat if needed. When I mentioned that the nanomachines might help protect me on future trips to other cities, Saioji’s curiosity was piqued.

“I don’t know how useful it’ll be, but we should have a match to test your abilities.”

“…Yeah, I guess. But it’s not designed to handle magic or monsters, you know? The AI can make some decisions, but there are no guarantees.”

As I lightly touched the Access Gear at my neck, I warned the unusually eager Saioji. The combat program was simplistic, and it wasn’t clear how powerful it really was. It also wasn’t designed with magic or monsters in mind.

There was a function to dodge projectiles like arrows, but it was uncertain whether that applied to magic as well.

—

“Which weapon do you prefer? A sword or a spear?”

“You can use both?”

“My main weapon is the spear, but I can handle a sword depending on the situation.”

The area behind the team house was secluded from the road, surrounded by buildings on three sides, with a tall wall on the other side. There was no need to worry about being seen from the outside. While it wasn’t large enough to train dozens of people at once, it was spacious enough for a few.

“I’ve seen this training yard from inside the building, but this is my first time using it.”

After changing into more comfortable clothes, I grabbed a wooden spear from the weapon rack by the wall, which had been specially coated for training purposes.

“It’s a training weapon with shock absorption at the tip. While it looks like a training tool, it’s actually a magic weapon, so don’t treat it carelessly, okay?”

The tip of the dark brown spear was coated in silver, with red lines etched in magical symbols. Despite being a training weapon, it was far more expensive than the average adventurer’s gear, though even if you hit someone hard with it, the impact would be no worse than being swatted with a fan.

The spear was quite heavy, much more than it looked. Still, it was ideal for training since I could fight to my heart’s content without worrying about injuries.

—

“Whenever you’re ready, come at me.”

“Alright.”

Even though Saioji and I were both Japanese, her stance with the spear looked so natural and practiced, as if she were born for it. Her body was loose and relaxed, the spearhead resting casually on the ground in a nonchalant pose.

I wondered if she was underestimating me, but then again, I had zero combat experience. Although I’d seen monsters before, this was my first time actually holding a weapon, so the difference between us was stark.

[Engaging combat mode. Target will be neutralized.]

While the Access Gear could control combat via the nanomachines, it prioritized my will above all.

I may not have had any combat experience, but my male pride flared up a bit when a younger woman told me to come at her. Even if there was a huge gap in our abilities, that feeling didn’t change.

I didn’t believe in any outdated notions that men should always be on top, but I at least wanted to make her take me seriously.

Perhaps picking up on my feelings, the Access Gear shifted into combat mode, marking Saioji as my target. A faint yellow-green outline appeared around her in my vision, and various data, like the distance between us, her heartbeat, and where her gaze was focused, flooded my brain through the nanomachines. My field of view now resembled the screen of an FPS game.

“Haah!”

With the wooden spear I’d grabbed from the weapon rack, I aimed its tip at Saioji.

Suddenly, my body stiffened, as if controlled by the Access Gear, and after just a few breaths, my vision shifted in an instant, bringing me close to Saioji.

Clang!

The sound of wood colliding echoed around us, and a slight shock vibrated through my hands gripping the spear.

“…Impressive. That was far from an amateur’s thrust.”

“Well, it’s a combat system from thousands of years in the future, after all!”

The sharp thrust I directed at Saioji’s torso was perfectly on target, with no deviation. In the blink of an eye, I had closed the several-meter gap between us, and although Saioji managed to dodge, the move had been executed flawlessly.

[Target’s evasion confirmed. Proceeding to next action.]

Saioji had stepped forward with her left foot, pulling her right side back as she dodged. Even so, the Access Gear instantly adjusted the spear’s trajectory, forcing her to parry my attack by swinging her spear like a whirling windmill.

Though my sharp thrust had been deflected, I quickly reset my stance and sent another strike toward Saioji.

“Just your spear technique alone puts you above a Gold-class adventurer!”

With a light exhale, I unleashed a series of rapid thrusts, attempting to overwhelm Saioji’s defensive stance. She gracefully parried each strike, her spear twirling like a dance.

[Pattern 3.28 deemed ineffective. Switching to pattern 6.01.]

Recognizing that the direct approach wasn’t working, the Access Gear changed tactics.

Instead of relying solely on thrusts, I swung the spear with wide arcs, using centrifugal force to hammer down on her.

“Just so you know, I’m the strongest in this brigade… Even Rafin can’t hold a candle to me yet!”

A loud *clash* echoed as our weapons collided fiercely. Though there was a vast difference in skill, our raw physical abilities weren’t that different.

In terms of strength alone, I might even surpass her. While Saioji’s magical reserves far exceeded mine, my output wasn’t anything to scoff at either.

Of course, if I let my magic loose to reinforce my body, things could escalate quickly, and even with the shock-absorbing training weapons, the consequences would be serious—potentially putting the surrounding buildings at risk.

That’s why both Saioji and I refrained from using body enhancements or magic, focusing purely on our natural physical abilities. If magic had been allowed, I might already have been fried to a crisp.

It was strange, though—just a few years ago, she had been an ordinary high school girl. Yet here she was, holding her own against a combat program developed far in the future. That in itself was a mystery to me.