Chapter 1: Reincarnation, and a New Family

　…Dark.

　I can’t see anything.

　I can’t move my body, either.

(…I died, didn’t I?)

　In my hazy consciousness, I recalled the final moments of my previous life.

　I’d been an ordinary young man living in Japan, until I fell ill and passed away after a long battle with the disease.

　I wanted to live longer.

　I wanted to spend more time with my family.

　I wanted to forge more katanas.

　Those regrets were all that remained in my heart.

　That was when it happened.

　A soft golden light spread out before my eyes.

『Welcome.』

　A gentle voice, yet somehow divine.

　A beautiful woman appeared from within the light.

　She wore pure white robes, and her long silver hair swayed despite the absence of wind.

　She was such a mystical being that I couldn’t help but catch my breath.

「Who… are you?」

『I am one of the gods who govern this world.』

　So she was a goddess after all.

　I accepted that readily enough.

　After all, I was dead. It