Everything was normal when I woke up. My body was refreshed and I could take on another day of work. I was getting used to waking up early. There were even days that I would wake up earlier than Temma.

I stretched my arms as I got out of bed and saw a young girl sleeping on the floor. She had brown wavy hair and was quite small in size. I think she was a child but her feminine features were developed.

To make sure that I wasn’t seeing things, I rubbed my eyes. The girl was still there and I was pretty sure that I wasn’t dreaming since I pinched myself already.

Temma got up from his bed and yawned.

“Morning”, he greeted me.

Then he saw the girl sleeping in front of me. Temma rubbed his eyes and then pinched himself. He looked back and forth between me and the sleeping girl.

“Mikage... Did you kidnap a girl while I was asleep?” he asked.

“Why in the world did you arrive at that conclusion?!”

“So... Care to explain this?”

I had no explanation. Temma slept earlier than me since I was wrapping up the reports to be filed. After that, I locked our room and crashed into my bed. I couldn’t explain how a girl got into our room.

Our room was on the second floor of the dormitories and there were no trees or anything that could help in getting to our room. Not to mention that we always locked the window from the inside so there was no way she could have entered the room without breaking anything.

“She seems kind of young. I never thought you’d be into little girls”, Temma said.

“I did not kidnap her! I’m as confused as you!” I told him.

The girl groaned and opened her eyes. She let out a huge yawn and sat up. Her large purple eyes looked sleepy and she stretched her arms.

“Good morning”, she said.

“Good morning... Sorry to be rude but how did you get here?” I asked her.

“You don’t know me, Mikage?”

“Mikage..... You’re the type who forgets a girl?” Temma asked.

“No! I never met her in my life!”

“Really? You bought me and forgot about it?” the girl yawned again.

“Mikage... I never thought you would buy a slave. You do know that’s illegal, right?” Temma looked at me with cold eyes.

“What? I never bought a slave in my life!” I said.

“He’s right. I’m not his slave. I’m more like his partner”, she agreed.

“Anyway, who are you?” I asked her.

“It can’t be helped if you don’t know me... Be in awe! I am the legendary Anya Melfissa!” she exclaimed.

She puffed out her chest and looked really proud.

“Anya who?” I looked at Temma.

“Never heard of her”, he said.

“I guess it’s normal for you to not know about me. I've been sleeping for more than a thousand years already”, she said.

“But how are you related to Mikage?”

“I told you already. He’s my owner... Technically.”

“So she’s your slave?” Temma looked at me.

“Never bought a slave”, I told him.

“Mikage took great care of me. He even used me quite nicely”, she said.

“Wait... What do you mean by “used?” Don’t tell me he did weird things to you.”

“Hey! I treat all women with respect even if they are just a child. And besides, it’s my first time meeting her.”

What kind of things were going through Temma’s mind right now? I was a bit disappointed that Temma would think that I would do weird things to a girl.

“We’ve been through a lot of fights together... Well, not that many fights but it’s enough to form a bond”, she said.

“You bring a little girl to a battle?” Temma was judging me with his eyes.

“Hold on. I never did that”, I told them.

“Yes, you did. I’m your weapon after all.”

....

“Excuse me, but can you say that again?” I said.

“Oh... This is my true form”, she said and she began glowing.

When the light died down, a sword with a wavy blade was in her place.

“You’re my kris sword?!” I couldn’t help but be surprised.

Yes. I told you we were partners, her voice echoed in my mind.

“But you should have started with saying that you’re my sword! Now Temma has weird ideas about me!” I complained.

Sorry. It’s been some time since I last had a conversation. And I already met you in your dreams, she said.

Now that I thought about it, I did meet her in my dreams. She was the brown-haired girl who I met while I was sleeping. If I remember correctly, she said something about waking up soon.

“Mikage... You’re talking to a sword?” Temma asked.

“Wait... You can’t hear her?” I asked back.

When I’m in this form, only my master could hear my voice. You could also channel your thoughts towards me and we could have a private conversation, she said.

The sword glowed and transformed into the brown-haired girl again.

“Say, Mikage. Why don’t you take me out? I’ve only seen Westa from your memories and I really want to see it with my own eyes. I’m also curious about how the world changed while I was asleep”, she said.

I thought for a while.... For some reason, my sword was alive. I guess I need answers.

“We’ll go out once my work is done”, I told her.

“Okay then. For now, I’ll sleep”, she crashed into my bed and started snoozing.

“So she is your sword... Never heard of swords that could turn into humans”, Temma said.

“Really? Phoenix and dragons could turn into humans. I think a sword turning into a girl is not that impossible”, I replied.

“Phoenix and dragons are sentient beings. Turning into humans is not that far off. But an object? That’s unheard of.”

“So as long as it’s sentient, it could be a human?”

“Well yeah. If a creature is sentient, then it could use magic. And transformation magic is possible although it’s hard. I wonder... How could a sword be alive? And how does it die?”

We couldn’t get any answers by standing around so we gave up and decided to go to work. My day went on and when work was finished, I was strolling the streets with Anya.

“So... You’re a legendary sword... What can you do aside from turning into a girl?” I asked her.

“Hmmm... I’m good at mana manipulation. Each and everyone of my masters could use complicated spells with ease if they are near me. I could even compress my master’s mana and release it as a powerful attack. And with your weird mana, I think I could shoot off very strong attacks”, she answered.

“Wait... What do you mean by weird mana?”

“There’s a strange thing inside you. It’s really deep inside your soul. Whenever you try to use Dark Magic, you unknowingly tap into it and it becomes stronger... I don’t know what it is and when I looked in your memories, you were not even aware of it.”

Something was deep inside my soul? If I was tapping into it whenever I was using Dark Magic, could it be the eerie feeling that I would often feel?

“It often makes me doubt whether you’re a human”, Anya said.

“But I am a human. I mean... My mom and dad are humans... And unlike in this world, the only sentient creatures in my world were humans”, I replied.

“I don’t doubt that. I’ve seen your parents in your memories and they look like regular humans. But remember, you died already. You could have turned into something else when you were resurrected in this world.”

“Wait... I died? I was pretty sure I got summoned here.”

“You got hit by a car, right? That was the last memory you have in your old world. If I analyze that memory carefully, I could sense that you lost your life there.”

“So you’re saying that I died? But I’m right here and alive.”

“I’m saying that the body you have could possibly be not a human’s. Your soul has been safely transported from your world to this but it requires a vessel. Who knows what kind of body you have?”

“But I went through an examination. Everything about my body was examined and the results said that I’m human.”

“I said it’s just a possibility. Also, there are things that the examination might have missed.”

If I died back in my old world, then that must mean only my soul was sent to this world. Then my family must have buried me already... I thought that I just magically disappeared so mom and dad must be worried sick. If that was the case and they already held a funeral for me, then I shouldn’t worry too much about my old world.

“Oh? It’s Mikage! What are you doing around here?” a voice greeted me.

I turned around and saw a tall dark man. It was Oga.

“Hey, Oga”, I greeted him.

“Taking out a little girl huh? Never thought you were...” he trailed off when he saw Anya’s face.

“Oga? Are you Oga Aragami?” Anya asked.

“A-Anya?! What? How?” Oga was surprised.

Do they know each other?