Chapter 2

Thank you for nearly 500 evaluation points in a day!

For now, I think Charlotte's nickname as "Ojou" (Young Lady) is fine, but I have a bad feeling since there's no sign of it ranking daily.

Even if it's a work like this, if you enjoy it, I would appreciate your evaluations and registrations.

Let me talk a bit about Zeo, the chimera who, despite being a monster, thinks in a way that is very human.

He was a male student born and raised in Japan, a country on a world called Earth. One day, he was hit by a train and died... or so he thought, only to wake up in the forest of the Grandia Kingdom in another world, his body transformed into a chimera.

(Wh-What the hell is this!?)

When he checked his front legs and body, and then his entire body in a nearby spring, he couldn't help but scream. After all, for him, the scenario of "I thought I died, but I was reincarnated as a monster" was something that only happened in novels and manga.

(Uh... What should I do from now on...?)

He lay on his stomach, rolled around on the ground, and was at a loss. For someone who had lived as a civilized person for nearly seventeen years, suddenly being reincarnated as a non-human and having to survive was something he had no confidence in adapting to. However...

(Well... There's life, and there's a species. At least I have a clear consciousness and memories. If I had been reborn as a human, it would have been perfect, but I can't be that picky... right?)

His spirit was resilient. He quickly stopped overthinking and decided to survive, starting to wander in search of food. Given the supernatural phenomenon of a human turning into a monster, he quickly understood that this was a fantasy world where monsters and magic were rampant.

After all, walking through the forest, he saw a deer with six legs and blade-like horns, and on the plains, he encountered a group of adventurers: armored swordsmen, robe-wearing wizards with staffs, long-eared elf archers, and short, muscular dwarven warriors with beards.

Walking by the lakeside, he saw a giant catfish with horns that could swallow a grown man whole, and looking up at the sky, he saw a dragon, the epitome of male romance, spreading its mighty wings and flying away.

Seeing all this, it was impossible to escape reality by convincing himself that it was a dream. Accepting the unrealistic scenes as reality, he drank from a stream and gnawed on flesh, trying to adapt to the wild.

At the same time, he fought monsters to train himself, preparing to survive no matter what kind of monsters or adventurers he faced.

His targets were mainly monsters of the same strength as himself or weaker. He aimed to grow steadily and quietly, without rushing.

However, as if mocking his efforts, it appeared.

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!!"

"GAH! GYAU GYAU!"

He was spotted by a giant bear with three horns and black fur. Compared to the bear, which was even larger than a big man, he was the size of a puppy that could fit in a woman's arms, and there was a huge difference in all abilities.

Still, he tried to escape, occasionally landing attacks while fleeing, but his attacks were as ineffective as a sparrow's tears, and the giant bear, with its abnormal speed and strength, and keen sense of smell, relentlessly pursued him.

"GRROOOOOOOOAR!!"

"GAH...!?"

A powerful swipe. Fortunately, he didn't suffer any claw wounds, but the thick, muscular arm was a weapon in itself.

He was blown away as if he had been hit by a stone and fell into a stream, being carried away by the water.

The blow had drained his stamina, and the cold water mercilessly sapped his will to live. When he finally managed to escape the river, he almost cried.

Despite the overwhelming drowsiness and fatigue, he wandered in search of a safe place with the last of his energy. The certainty that he would die if he succumbed to this sleep drove his small limbs.

"GAH"

He continued walking, suffering from the dull pain from the bear's blow and the abrasions all over his body, and finally reached a place with fewer monster presences, where he slipped into a thicket.

However, the thicket was smaller than expected, and his body shot through to the other side. In front of him was a large mansion.

(Oh no... Is someone living here...?)

To him, humans were basically enemies. They had various reasons for hunting monsters, but now that his life was at stake, it was unbearable.

When he was newly reincarnated, a group of people who looked like adventurers had attacked him with swords and magic, looking at him as if he were livestock in a slaughterhouse.

He tried to get up and leave, but his body, once fallen, had no strength. In fact, he was overwhelmed by a fierce drowsiness.

(Am I... going to die again...?)

It was unbearable. He had been reincarnated with his memories intact, but what would happen next? Complete death, or reincarnation with no memory? Either way, it meant the loss of his memories from his life in Japan.

"It's okay now."

In his dazed state, aware of the second death approaching, he struggled to keep his heavy eyelids open. The owner of the clear, gentle voice extended a hand to him.

Warm light bathed his body. He was surprised to see his wounds healing rapidly as the light touched them.

(...An angel...?)

He looked up at the voice's owner, uttering such a ridiculous thought in his mind. However, the girl was truly as beautiful as an angel.

Her long hair, like a bundle of golden threads, her large eyes that evoked the sky, and her perfectly sculpted face, like a high-quality doll, made up a beauty he had never seen even on TV.

"GAH!"

However, no matter how beautiful she was, she was a human. Despite retaining his human consciousness, he couldn't help but growl in warning due to the treatment he had received since his reincarnation.

In response, the girl gently wrapped the monster's body in a blanket and tenderly held him.

"It's okay... It's okay. No one here will hurt you. So please, rest now... okay?"

The warmth of her arms and the sincerity in her voice, which showed no hint of calculation or malice, finally made his eyelids, which he had been struggling to keep open, fall weakly.

After days of tension, his nerves finally snapped, and he drifted into an irresistible sleep.

When he next opened his eyes, it was to the sound of a door opening.

Covered in blankets and futons on a bed, "he" was in a modest, poorly lit room, where the girl and a maid with tea-colored hair were facing each other.

(...Why a maid?)

The maid seemed out of place in this room, yet there was a strange sense of harmony when she faced the girl.

"Here, I've brought your meal. I'll be going now."

"...Thank you."

"?"

Seeing the maid's disgruntled expression and the girl's sad gaze, he was puzzled. The girl placed a tray with what looked like food on the table and lifted the blankets and futons.

"Oh, good. You're awake."

The girl's expression, which had been serious a moment ago, now showed joy. Confirming that he showed no signs of aggression, she gently stroked his dragon head.

"My name is Charlotte... but you don't understand, do you?"

Her wry smile, assuming he couldn't understand her, seemed both very enjoyable and very sad. At any rate, he understood that this girl, Charlotte, had no ill intentions toward him, and decided to stay in this room until his wounds healed.

A week later, the former male high school student, now a chimera named Zeo, had fully recovered his strength thanks to Charlotte's devoted care and had come to understand the situation and Charlotte's background to some extent.

This was a large mansion, and from the fact that the maids, who occasionally visited, called her "Young Lady," it was clear that she was the daughter of a noble or a wealthy family.

"Why did everyone leave me...? If there was something wrong with me, I want to correct it and return to how it was before..."

He also learned from her self-blaming complaints that she had started to be despised by her family, classmates, and fiancé for no apparent reason.

While Charlotte, who couldn't fully understand human affairs, thought she was talking to a monster, Zeo, who was a Japanese man nearing adulthood, could see through her words, the occasional attitudes of the servants, and the small, dim room in a corner of this large mansion, how unfortunate her life as a noble was.

(Come on, the young lady hasn't done anything wrong. It's just that the sudden sister is better at flattering and manipulating others, right?)

Charlotte, who had lost her conversation partners, began to talk a lot after realizing that Zeo could understand human language.

Her pride as a noble, her parents who had watched over her strictly yet warmly, her beloved brother and cute younger brother, her trusted butler, and her beloved fiancé. As the next queen, how she could bring vitality to the people... Charlotte spoke to Zeo, as if trying to fill the loneliness she had felt.

(She must have had a lot of pent-up frustration... and the softness hitting my head... No, no, this is a serious scene.)

He also learned that a blood-related cousin, Lily, had taken away everything Charlotte had.

While Zeo, who had only known her for a short time, didn't know this, Charlotte had a bad habit of keeping her problems to herself and trying to solve them on her own.

Zeo, who could sense from the atmosphere that she had been pushed to the point of complaining to a monster, despite the inexplicable situation, was furious.

(How can anyone respect one person's opinion and completely ignore the other's? That's just trash! At least, the young lady doesn't seem like the kind of person who would be seen that way?)

Something is going on. At the very least, something is trying to push Charlotte to her limits.

After all, this is a girl who, even after a sudden change in her treatment, doesn't complain in places where others can see her. Zeo, who understood her true nature, which even gave mercy to a fearsome chimera, better than anyone else in this world, resolved to repay his debt of life.

(Don't worry, young lady. I'll make everyone who bullies you pay for it.)

However, the opponent was human society. What could he, a monster, do? ...Actually, he had the confidence to do what he could.

"O merciful goddess. Please watch over us today, as always, from our conscience."

Holding the cross around her neck and closing her eyes, Charlotte finished her morning prayer and changed into her white school uniform.

"Well, Zeo, I'm off. Please be a good boy and wait for me, okay?"

"GAH!"

Gently stroking Zeo's head with a lingering look, Charlotte left the room to go to school. Zeo, determined to pull himself together, strongly willed in his mind.

(Here goes, "Status View"!)

Name: Zeo

Race: Baby Chimera

Level: 13

HP: 54/54

MP: 48/48

Attack: 35

Defense: 33

Magic: 33

Agility: 35

Spirit: 32

Skills:

"Status View: Lvl--" "Language Understanding: Lvl--" "Appraisal: Lvl--"

"Skill Purchase: Lvl 1" "Fire Breath: Lvl 2" "Electric Breath: Lvl 3"

"Cold Breath: Lvl 2" "Invisibility: Lvl MAX" "Flight Enhancement: Lvl MAX"

Titles:

"Reincarnated" "Cowardly Chicken" "Young Lady's Pet"

The embodiment of Earth's subculture tropes clearly appeared in Zeo's mind.

Information is a weapon. Zeo had survived the harsh wilds so far because he knew himself and his opponents.

(Alright, I'll use this skill that activates with a mere thought to make those who bully the young lady pay!)

And so, the rescue of the duke's daughter by the former Earth-born high school student, now reincarnated as a chimera, began.

If you're interested, please check out my serialized work, "Former Noble Daughter and Unmarried Mother, but My Daughters Are So Cute That Being an Adventurer Isn't a Burden."