Life in Vain: Jobless Reincarnation

A bright and peaceful morning.

Stella blinked her bleary eyes open and then let out a small yawn before sitting up in her bed.

For a brief moment, she was confused. The surroundings were unfamiliar. Even the bed she was sleeping in was different. A bit too firm and not like the comfy one that Onii-chan made for her.

And then Stella remembered. 'Right. We aren't in Arcadia any more.'

She took a look around and then gathered her bearings.

It was a small room. Basic, without many personal belongings or furniture. But it was supposed to be that way.

"Onii-chan. You're a pretty boring person, huh?"

The room was a recreation of the one that Onii-chan had at their old house. The same house where Stella had been born.

It didn't have everything. After all, a lot of their belongings had vanished in the spacetime collapse that whisked their family all over the world.

But Onii-chan was a cheat who could make things from just his imagination and memories, so it was pretty much the same.

Because of that... and because of how bare it was, Stella shook her head.

Even if he was a reincarnated genius or something, you'd think he would have some toys or souvenirs, but there wasn't anything decorating the room.

Then again, Onii-chan was the sort of person who valued the intangible things like knowledge, skills, and stuff like that.

Except for when it came to women.

Stella slipped out of her bed and sighed. "At least Onii-chan knows how to keep them quiet."

After that, she thought about what to do for the day.

Onii-chan said that they were probably going to start heading back to their hometown soon, but she wasn't sure if they were leaving today or not. And even if they were, Onii-chan could come by and pick her up whenever. So...

A glimmer of crimson sparks appeared in front of Stella, and then a girl with flaming orange hair appeared next to her.

Stella blinked and then sighed before saying, "Are you going to follow me around everywhere like that now, Fai?"

Fai rubbed her eyes and then smiled. "Of course!" She smoothed down her simple white dress and said, "You're big now, so I get to be big too!"

A white mist shimmered next to Stella before a tabby gray cat appeared, floating in the air. It shook its body for a bit, causing some mist to leave its fur and turn it pure white. After that, the cat looked at Stella with its clear blue eyes and said, "Did you plan on going on an adventure today, Stella?"

Stella walked over to pick up her bag, carefully rummaging through her belongings.

Her notebook filled with various example magic arrays that she learned from watching Onii-chan. A makeshift wand made from a magic stone Onii-chan gave her to play with and some scrap metal that Fai and Wata helped find. Some spare clothes, snacks that Onii-chan gave her...

And since Wata could always conjure water, that should be enough.

Stella closed up her bag and slung it over her shoulders before turning back to Wata. "We probably won't be here much longer, so we should go explore while we have the chance, right?"

A small breeze shifted Stella's blonde hair before a tiny green fairy appeared on her head. Wearing a green one-piece dress, Wyn yawned and said, "Can't we just relax?" She glanced off to the side and said, "The winds are hectic today. It might be bad to go."

Stella rolled her eyes and said, "The winds are always bad, Wyn. Just like how you're always sleepy." She paused and said, "Why *are* you always sleepy anyway?"

Wyn stretched and said, "Because you make me work so hard." The small fairy puffed her cheeks and said, "Do you know how many times a weirdo keeps trying to steal your Fate?"

Stella blinked. "...What?"

Wyn yawned and then looked over at Wata and Fai. "I'm going back to sleep. Don't let Fai get Stella into trouble, Wata."

Fai huffed and said, "I am not trouble!"

Wata nodded. "I won't."

Stella shook her head and said, "You three always make it seem like I'm going to get into some big mess." After saying that, Stella opened the door and walked out of her room.

Wata floated behind her and said, "Because you're a trouble magnet like Rudy but a lot weaker."

"I am *not* as bad as Onii-chan." Stella huffed and walked down the hall to the living room. "He breaks the world and commonsense wherever he goes. I'm perfectly normal."

Fai walked beside Stella and nodded. "Yeah!" She looked at Wata and said, "Stella is a normal girl, not a weirdo!"

"...Normally I'd be happy, but coming from you, Fai..." Stella sighed and then shook her head.

The house was empty, mostly because it was still pretty early.

Stella's father had gone off somewhere last night after chatting with Onii-chan. As for Onii-chan, he was still asleep with his ero wives... Or maybe up to ecchi things since that silence formation was covering their bedroom. Either way, they weren't around.

Eos, Ena, and Roland's bedrooms were upstairs, and Stella's... nieces and nephew? Nee-chans and Nii-chan?

Family relationships were always so complicated when time-travel was involved.

Hah. Seriously, was Onii-chan the protagonist of a science fiction novel or something before he got reincarnated? He said he came from Japan too, but Stella was seriously starting to have doubts about if they came from the same Earth.

Anyway, they were all asleep, or at least not downstairs yet.

Norn nee-chan was probably asleep too since her room was still closed. So was Auntie Therese.

Since that was the case, Stella scribbled a quick note saying that she was going exploring before placing it on the dining room table. After that, she headed outside, Fai and Wata following her. And then-

"Are you leaving?"

-A soft female voice called out to her.

'?!@#!@'

Stella jumped and spun around to see a slightly chubby blonde girl standing there.

The girl's blue eyes stared at Stella with unnatural pink diamond pupils, almost as if peering into Stella's soul-

No, the girl was actually doing that judging from the waves of mana rippling towards Stella.

Stella watched those waves bounce away as the necklace Onii-chan gave her flashed. After that, she huffed and said, "How many times have I said to stop trying to read my mind, Miko?"

"Yeah!" Fai pointed at Miko and said, "That's rude!"

The girl, Miko, lowered her gaze and said, "I'm sorry."

Wata floated over and bopped Fai's head. "You're the rude one here, Fai."

"Ow!"

Stella shook her head and said, "Whatever. I'm going out to play today. Do you wanna come with?"

Miko tilted her head and said, "Is that okay? You're still really small..."

"I am not small!" Stella huffed and said, "I'm a big girl now!"

"...Yes?"

"Anyway!" Stella spun towards the door and said, "I'm going with or without you! Come on Fai!"

"A-Ah!" Miko quickly started walking after Stella. "W-Wait for me!"

-SNG-

Saint Port. Apparently, it was supposed to be similar to the Wind Port back on the Magic Continent. Of course, since that place had been destroyed by a big distortion, Stella never got to see what it was really like.

But walking around the area...

'This place really is a fantasy world, isn't it?'

Of course, there had been demons, beastkin, and other fantasy creatures back in Arcadia, but everyone there was normal. Or maybe it was because the place was something Onii-chan built up?

Either way, it didn't feel like a real parallel world.

But here...

Looking around, Stella could see adventurers chatting and merchants hawking their wares. Some sailors were walking around, stumbling back after a long night drinking... Altogether, it was like a real fantasy setting.

And since Stella was finally off by herself, it was even more exciting. Now, if only she could have a chance encounter and start a quest or something-

"Hm?"

Stella paused, noticing something off in the distance, hidden between dark alleyways.

A flash of white, darting into the darkness.

Wata paused as well and then followed Stella's gaze. "Did you see something interesting, Stella?"

"...I think so." Stella pulled out her wand from her bag and then started walking over there.

Miko quickly followed, hugging her white robe. "U-Um... I don't think we should-"

"It'll be fine! I'm not a baby anymore!"

Right. Stella was grown up now and she could solve her own problems. Plus, it was time for her to show Onii-chan that he didn't need to fuss so much worrying about her.

"Let's go, everyone!"

Now, to see what that white flash was...

-RNG-

"Hm?"

I sat up and then glanced off to the side.

Eri and Sylphy were still fast asleep, completely exhausted.

Scanning around the house, my kids were sleeping, Norn was studying, Aunt Therese was sleeping too...

Dad was knocked out at an inn nearby, watched over by Pierre and Rostelina...

But Stella was missing.

She wasn't in danger. And when I focused on her, it seemed like she was just out having fun with her friends walking around in town.

But then she suddenly ducked into a side-alley, chasing after a fluffy white dog.

A fluffy white dog that was almost blinding with the amount of golden holy mana radiating from it.

"...Trouble really does run in the family, huh?"

I carefully slipped out from Eri and Sylphy before heading out the window and trailing after Stella.

It should be fine, but it was always good to have an overpowered NPC on a tutorial mission, right?