Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 37: The Ice That Has Yet to Melt
“R-Reina!?”
“My father asked me to take care of you, Kenya-kun. I’ll wash your back.”
Kenya was thrown into confusion. Right before him stood the very girl whose naked body he had just been imagining.
Unfortunately, she was fully dressed in her military uniform. A bath towel alone would have been much preferable.
“Wait, no! Reina!? Why!?”
“My father always asks me to wash his back when he’s tired. You were exhausted yesterday, so…”
(What kind of father makes his high school-aged daughter do that?)
Suddenly, Sieg seemed less like a strict military officer and more like a perverted old man.
Kenya had thought of him as a disciplined soldier, but this changed everything.
Not that he wasn’t jealous.
“Alright, please turn around.”
Kenya was made to sit down, practically forced into place.
He didn’t resist—perhaps because a small part of him was looking forward to it.
Having a girl he liked wash his back was the dream of any man.
He was already excited, and now this?
Standing up would be impossible! The reason should be obvious.
Then, Reina gently touched Kenya’s back.
(Ah♥)
Having someone he liked wash his back…
What pure bliss.
A strange sound involuntarily escaped his lips.
Her hands were soft and beautiful. And then—
Scrub scrub, rip rip!!
(IT HURTS LIKE HELL!!)
Reina scrubbed his back so hard that it felt like she was peeling his skin off.
It even sounded like his skin was tearing.
“My father has a big, tough back, but yours is soft, Kenya-kun.”
(Don’t compare me to that muscle monster! My skin is going to peel off!!)
Sieg was a hardened warrior.
When Kenya had shaken his hand before, he had thought, What thick skin.
A soldier’s hand—one that had shed blood, sweat, and tears.
Sieg’s back was undoubtedly as sturdy as his hands.
Physically, he wasn’t much different from a pro wrestler.
Kenya, on the other hand, was just a shut-in.
Soft, baby-like skin. Smooth as an egg. Pale white.
He wasn’t flabby, but compared to a Terminator-level bodybuilder, he was nothing.
At least he took pride in how nice his skin was.
Why?
Because he had spent his life indoors playing video games, avoiding sunlight.
No UV damage at all.
His skin was probably smoother than Reina’s.
Just look at this flawless complexion.
“How does it feel, Kenya-kun?”
“It f-feels g-great!”
His useless pride kept him from admitting the pain.
He endured it, teary-eyed.
“Alright, I’ll step outside now. Oh, I left a change of clothes here. It’s a military uniform. Also, here’s some hair dye—gold and silver.”
Reina placed the dye down and left the bathroom.
As Lord had told him yesterday, dyeing his hair was necessary to disguise himself as an Asgardian.
Since there were many Asian-mixed Asgardians, he would only seem like someone with slightly stronger Asian genes.
“Finally over… Next time, I’ll swallow my pride and just ask her to be gentler. Is this my punishment for using her shampoo without permission…?”
His excitement had completely vanished.
Sighing, he grabbed the dye and started coloring his hair.
Silver hair… What kind of delinquent would he look like?
Would a Japanese person even suit it?
Ashy silver seemed better than bright gold, at least.
He hesitated between gold and silver.
But in the end, he chose silver—to match Reina.
It would make him look more like Zeke’s son, after all.
“But why is Reina’s hair silver…?”
Most Asgardians had blonde hair.
That was the norm.
Which meant Reina was likely a half-Asgardian.
Maybe he should ask Sieg later.
Kenya sank into the bathtub.
The hot water stung his fresh wounds—especially the ones on his back, courtesy of Reina.
But these weren’t wounds from running away.
They were wounds he had earned by standing his ground.
A swordsman’s back bears the scars of kindness!
…
“Thank you very much. I feel completely refreshed!”
“You’re done, Mitsurugi? Hm, silver suits you well.”
“Does it? It feels a little embarrassing.”
“Asgardians have a fair number of silver-haired people, though it’s more common among half-Asgardians. Many half-Asgardians, especially those mixed with Asians, have silver hair.”
“Oh, I see.”
So Reina might be half-Asgardian and half-Asian?
Kenya left the bath and headed to the reception room.
As he did, Tanaka went in to take his turn.
“We match now, Kenya-kun. Our hair is the same silver color.”
Reina twirled her hair around her finger while looking at Kenya’s.
“O-oh…”
Her gesture was so cute that he stuttered like a total otaku.
Well, he was an otaku.
He had matured through battle, but some things never changed.
“You haven’t had breakfast yet, right? I’ll prepare something.”
As Reina left the room, Sieg, who had been watching her, spoke.
“Reina has really brightened up… Is it thanks to you? The influence of someone her age must be quite powerful.”
“Really?”
When they first met, she had been like a knife that cut everything she touched.
Not in an edgy, chuunibyou way—more like she had shut herself off from the world.
But after meeting Kenya, after encountering someone stronger than her in KOG, something had changed.
The ice around her heart had begun to thaw.
Now, she was more like a cool, reserved beauty.
Less of an Ice Queen, more of a cool-headed character.
“I suppose I should tell you, Mitsurugi…”
Kenya was curious about Reina’s past, so if Sieg was willing to share, he wanted to listen.
Thinking back, he didn’t know much about the relationship between Sieg and Reina.
Sieg seemed like a great father—noble and just.
But Reina had always felt more… closed off.
Even now, she was just a bit more cheerful.
Back when they first met, she had been cold.
She practically told him, I’m not interested, so don’t talk to me.
“Did you know that Reina is adopted? It’s fairly well-known.”
“Oh… I didn’t know that.”
It appeared to be common knowledge that Reina was adopted.
Kenya hadn’t known, but in Asgard, it was well-known that the War God had taken in an adopted child—it had even been a topic of discussion for a brief time.
“But this part isn’t widely known. I took Reina in when she was ten, right around the time Japan’s war was coming to an end. That was nearly six years ago.”
The war had officially ended about five years ago.
So six years ago, it had been in its final stages.
“Ah… actually, Reina was—”
Sieg started to say something but abruptly stopped.
His expression carried a trace of sadness.
“No… sorry. What I can say is that Reina was taken in by this country. She was deeply wounded by the war, emotionally closed off. As a soldier of Asgard’s military, I decided to take her in.”
So Reina was a war orphan.
Having witnessed hell firsthand yesterday, Kenya could understand.
A ten-year-old girl thrown into that kind of nightmare wouldn’t just emotionally shut down.
She would be utterly broken, perhaps never able to live as a normal person again.
And it must have lasted for years.
A powerless girl, unable to resist, merely trampled over—
How unbearable must that hell have been for her?
She must have lost many people she held dear.
Just imagining the Reina of that time made Kensuke’s chest tighten painfully.
“I see… So she was a war orphan. But why was an Asgardian in Japan?”
“Oh, that wasn’t uncommon. It’s not like diplomatic relations had been completely severed. There were Asgardians living in Japan who couldn’t evacuate in time.”
“I see…”
Kenya recalled Tanaka.
He had heard that Tanaka had good relations with Asgardians and even conducted research with them.
Even if their countries were at odds, friendships between individuals were a normal occurrence.
Kenya had understood this even in his previous world from watching the news.
“And so, six years passed. We’ve finally reached this point. And it’s thanks to you, in part. She smiled yesterday, didn’t she?”
“Yes, it was the first time I saw it.”
“Ah, it was for me as well. In all six years of living together, I had never seen Reina smile before.”
“She was incredibly cute.”
“You have some nerve saying that in front of her parent… though I can’t deny it. She really was adorable.”
Both of them, picturing Reina’s smile, couldn’t help but grin.
Despite calling her his adopted daughter, Sieg was clearly a doting parent—
Even the Terminator himself was smiling.
Meanwhile, Kenya was simply, genuinely in love.
After all, he’d finally witnessed Reina smiling—something she had never done throughout the entire story.
“And before Lord arrives, there’s something I need to confirm with you.”
“What is it?”
Sieg looked directly into Kenya’s eyes.
His expression was that of a man who had steeled his resolve.
“Do you love Reina?”