Reincarnated As Both The Villainess And Heroine...?

The Decision

"Hey, Ifrit, isn't it about time you answered my questions already? You popped out of nowhere then immediately disappeared the previous time. Don't think that I'll forget it all because the situation was rather hectic," I said to the air as I swung down the wooden sword for the who knows which time.

I have said all I have wanted to the previous time.

"Sure. You were definitely keeping things from me."

And so it shall be, until you are ready to know these things.

Damn it, why were the people around me so unreliable? It was not like I don't know why Ifrit picked me as a contractor, but it never hurt to be in possession of additional information. If the world was somehow going off course, then the first individual to know would probably be Ifrit.

In the meantime, contractor, why don't you continue building up strength? You will surely need that in the future, that I can say for certain.

I'm sorry, what do you think I was doing? This was abuse, you know!? I was a five! A five!!! A five-year-old that was doing sword practice! Even Shiro was looking at me weird the other day!

"Do not be distracted, Rin," my father appeared at the doorway as silently as always, chiding my poor concentration. "Have you forgotten what I have said?"

I sighed, growing tired of reciting that line already, "One silent step. Second step boundless. Three steps, a sword absolute. The root of the sword lies at the extremity of endlessness."

"Good. You remember those words. Now, you must understand it."

Like I said, it was just unreasonable to demand a five-year-old to do these things! What did the brief phrases you demanded me to memorize even mean, father!?

I wonder, was this the reason why the heroine turned out to be so overpowered in the end...? Hellish training was sure to get that as an end result, a genius or not.

"I suppose that's enough. You can have a break, Rin," my typically easy going father was rather serious when it came to training.

I sighed, propping myself up with the hilt of the sword. As I stared at the cherry blossoms in full bloom outside, I let out another sigh, although this one was out of mental exhaustion rather than a physical one.

"I suppose at least this is less taxing than learning magic..." I murmured under my breath carelessly.

"You know magic? Who taught you?" obviously, my father with high specs caught my words.

Uh oh. When I wasn't too careful, the default of Rin's personality took over and complained. The heroine really liked to complain without filtering her words, huh? Well, I was used to making up excuses to conceal my eccentricity, a result of controlling two bodies at once.

"Ifrit told me some basics," I said, even though it was Elizabeth me who was learning most of my knowledge of magic. "Seems more complicated."

"You know, Rin, magic is very dangerous."

Oh boy. Here we go again. I understood my parents meant well, but...at some point, it just gets really annoying. Especially I've already heard the responsibility bragging speech from the prince a few days earlier.

He had barged into Elizabeth's mansion once more, showing off to me how responsible he was for mastering a basic spell of magic. I really didn't need to hear this again, to be honest...

"With great power comes great responsibility, I get it," I recited an iconic line from the memories  I had of my previous world.

Father narrowed his eyes, "Did Ifrit tell you that too?"

"S-something along those lines..." I averted his scorching gaze.

"Really? A spirit did?"

Rin physical to HQ! He is on to us! I repeat, he is on to us! Requesting immediate reinforcements from Elizabeth Physical! Actually, scratch that! Abort mission! Abort! If we continue with the mission, we might not get desserts for tomorrow!

Luckily, it was father who gave in first, "I suppose if you understand that, who you learn that from doesn't really matter."

A brief but crushing silence swallowed the dojo, before my father spoke out with a somber tone, "Rin...I understand you may be too young to decide now...but do you want to study magic?"

"Magic...?" I tilted my head, even though I knew full well what kind of flag we were barreling straight towards.

"You may not understand this, but that necklace containing Ifrit is a big deal. I doubt he has told you the true implications of forming a contract with sentient treasures, but it is a very heavy responsibility."

Father squat down to match eye levels with me, "That is why...I'm considering to let you learn magic. If you can learn to control such a thing, then perhaps..."

"The event like that time won't happen again?" I murmured.

My father bit his lip, before pulling me into a hug, "That time was purely our fault. We did not inform you the dangerous of aristocratic society, nor did we give you the knowledge of the magical world. So that is why...as much as it pains me to suggest this option...would you like to understand the reality of the power you have obtained?"

So this is it, huh. Well, I shall not say anything further. The default personality should do well enough. By tuning out this situation, it was the conditioned personality of Rin that would answer. The heroine, the saint, the maiden that desired to save everyone...

"If such a tragedy will not happen again because of me, then I will do it!"

So declared the heroine triumphantly, even though she herself was not aware of the true depths of such a will. Call it idiocy or blind faith, but that courage to declare one's selfless desires was the mark of a hero.

One that I did not possess, to be honest. I was no heroine, nor was I the villainess. I was simply the conductor placing pieces back to where they belong, praying the actors would be the same.

When those words left my mouth, I did not consider it to be my own words. It was, truly, the words Rin would have genuinely said as the heroine. It was what the individual who grew up in the Akagi household would declare. I was merely conscious of such a announcement as I let my subconscious mind take the wheel...but perhaps that was enough.

Why? Because my motivations remained the same. It was the same reason why I received training without any genuine complaint or reluctance, only joking whining. For that I, believe it or not, desired no additional blood to be spilled over this matter.

If I obtained strength, then it was easier to control the outcome of things, even if they were preordained events laid down by the unreasonable scriptwriters. In this world, something was worth much more than intellect, especially when magic was present. That would be—

Brute force.

So, that was why, I said such a thing to father. Not because I had to follow that road to trigger the next story event. It was partially so, but not entirely. It was simply because the instincts of this body I inhabited called out to me.

Just as I will slowly turn into a monster as Elizabeth, I will become a heroine as Rin. I will always remain as this individual, "me", now, ten years later, and forever after. However, what of the monstrosity? The heroism? Those shall never fade. Such things will be part of me, simply because of the two different environments I was brought up in. As long as I never lose sight of myself, it shall be fine.

Thus, what other decision could I have made other than this? "Father! Let me study magic!"