Reincarnated to judge worlds after complaining about God

 As eager as I was to put my concerns to rest, experience taught me that bluntly asking for information often made people slip up more than subtle prodding, so I tried my luck pushing.

 She looked distressed but not in the way someone is when they're caught in a deception, similar to a soldier I once saw having his ammo counted after a fire fight but still different and I was trying to avoid jumping to any conclusions with her. Life had taught me playing things too safely can be just as reckless, so I preferred to just go with my gut and push on.

 Still, it wasn't the look of someone lying for a good reason, but not someone lying for the sake of it either, there was a selfish purpose but no sign she considered it inherently wrong, as though she was telling someone their outfit was cute.

 Welcoming the challenge that it seemed to become, I changed tactics and tried to throw her off-balance, which was best done with confusion.

 "Did your rifle jam at the start like his did?" 

 "What, no… I just…"

 She didn't know how to respond, not that I expected her to, so I simply told her I was referencing someone with the same look on their face whilst adding that he was a bad actor as well.

 The observation I didn't air however was the fact she didn't ask what a rifle was, which surprised me given her world's supposed lackluster technology. 

"Sorry, it's embarrassing, but in my first life I always subconsciously imitated people teaching me."

 I rejected the apology and told her it was a fairly common trait, but if we wanted to eat that night, she should let me take over to finish the butchering.

 The truth was, I was void of any trust, growing desperate to separate her from both the knife and the food I would be eating.

 She sat by the campfire, staring intently at my hands as they deftly reduced the carcass to a few parcels of meat, wrapped several in some large thick leaves, then worked some herbs into the boar's leg meat and began cooking.

 When I finally sat down, the woman asked me where I learned to do everything so quickly.

 "You'll need to adapt your movements with each new body, but the theory and process is usually relevant, I'd be ashamed of myself if I was still a novice at such things."

 I then explained that in my first reincarnation, I spent the first thirty-ish years learning basic survival skills, first aid, old world navigation and not to mention I had no idea how magic worked and was desperate to master it.

 Once I had learned those skills, I went on to practice them by doing what I could to try and help the people of that world until I was confident in my abilities.

 I recalled practising my cooking, hunting and foraging through gathering meat and edible plants I could use to feed impoverished villages, before examining anyone who needed medical attention.

 Her eyes widened as I spoke of helping others, which clearly surprised her, a strange reaction for someone who supposedly didn't know much about me. Even people who did know me wouldn't be surprised, though they would likely suspect an ulterior motive.

 I was glad though, everything she didn't know about me was an advantage and every reaction was informative, so I was in a win-win situation from my perspective.

 I further explained that the worlds we are sent to judge aren't alien worlds, they are our home for the duration of our stay and refusing to help those we have the power to would make us the only ones deserving of judgement.

 "You're nothing like I expected, I look forward to training under you."

 Being a bad liar isn't necessarily a flaw for a person, but when people who start lying are bad at it, it usually means an outside influence and only one possibility came to mind.

 As our meal finished cooking my stomach became my top priority, the only trait I confidently attribute to my parents; eat in silence, savor the meal, respect whoever provided it for you.

 Apparently, she had been raised the same, and after finishing she attempted to thank me, but distracted herself with how to refer to me.

 I informed her I usually let the people of whatever world I find myself in name me, and in worlds like the one we found ourselves it was often an adventuring guild of some kind.

 Her head dropped as she made an exasperated sigh filled with palpable disappointment, so I told her about a time early on when I made one up and accidentally picked one that was seen as a bad omen, given my fictitious age.

 We are given basic knowledge and comprehensive language skills, but not a complete understanding of the world, so the gaps in our knowledge could easily become pitfalls.

 Heeding my advice, she decided to just call me Teacher, until we could put my usual means into practice.

 I had no ideas for her yet so I simply told her to suit herself.

 With a full stomach, curiosity became priority and I asked if perhaps she was in reality a missionary on a conversion mission.

 She laughed briefly, then looked me directly in the eye before denying that was the case but stating bluntly that she was grateful to the god she met, just not the type to try and make up other's minds.

 Choosing to elaborate on her own volition she continued "Actually, god told me you'd probably kill me if I mentioned them, but I won't let fear make a liar of me." 

 The stalwart expression adorning her face was all the proof I needed, it was certainly the most honest she'd been thus far.

 "You aren't smart, a good liar or charismatic and you remind me of one who betrayed me and got me killed…" 

 Her expression remained stalwart, and I couldn't help but smile at the poetry before telling her I'd do my best to train her.

 She said she wasn't sure if that was a compliment or an insult and scowled once more when I said neither.

 I stood and produced a blanket, passing it and telling her to rest since she had to build an entire life in the morning, making her realise how exhausting it would be to establish ourselves.

 As she rolled over I knew it would be best to keep watch, so I whittled the time away preparing things that may come in handy.

 It wasn't something I usually did, conjuring things was risky, design, technology, ecology, economy were all things that can make forward preparation dangerous. Not to mention the fact that travelling heavy was a danger in itself, bandits, beast, and monsters (if they existed) would all find someone travelling heavy an easy target.

 Despite my paranoia, I said I would train her, though it was mostly a ruse to get her to lower her guard and make mistakes I was sure enough in my ability to invest in the act. With that in mind I focused on things for survival and self defence.

 A first aid kit, emergency rations, a few more throwing knives, a special kind of blade as a primary weapon and finally a water proof blanket if it started to rain.

 I had been to several worlds with such magic depicted in various media, in reality it was a far more arduous task, it required knowledge of something's complete atomic structure. As a result, plant matter was as sophisticated as one could manage, especially when considering the unnatural amount of mana it takes to create things.

 The next day, I used her desire for breakfast to motivate her to keep moving but distracted her from most of the discomfort by briefing her on my usual first steps.

 Step one: make sure our attire doesn't stand out.

 Step two: observe an average magic user's ability

 Step three: watch some sparring at the local garrison

 Step four: figure out how to obtain citizenship

 "Why is citizenship important?"

 It was a good question considering I had told her we would be travelling a lot, so I explained that citizenship provided a look behind the closed doors of society.

 She asked if that was something else I learned from a past incarnation, but I just reminded her of what I told her about my original life.

 Making her pull a face, not that I could blame her, I figured it couldn't be easy to completely accept someone who'd brought so much chaos to a world, not to mention the countless casualties.

 As we conversed and neared our destination a sudden scream echoed from somewhere in a woodland to the side of the well-trodden path we were walking.

 In the light of high noon on a bright day seeing through the dense woodland would have been a challenge, but in the low light of a cloudy day well into the afternoon it proved impossible.

 I grunted at the bad timing. 

 Being that close to the town meant she was likely a resident, and without knowing the usual abilities, I could go too far and become a spectacle.

 Thinking about how bad it could be for the woman at my side made me hesitate to, I did agree to train her as best I could, but running into needless danger was not exactly a good trait to foster.

 "Not helping when you have the power to do so, makes you the one deserving of judgement." She threw my words back at me before dashing in the direction of the scream.

 I was frozen, unable to believe I hesitated; such things never made me waiver before.

 It was her; I didn't want to rush into something she couldn't handle, but as the receding sounds of her rushing through bushes ceased I had no choice but to follow.

 I dashed through the woodland, finding my companion who'd rushed headlong into danger standing between a girl, who was bleeding, and some kind of big cat.

 As I emerged the animal turned to look at me, growling fiercely as I made my way over to my reckless trainee, pushing her back and telling her to inspect the young girl's injuries.

 As I did however, the beast pounced toward me, forelegs fully extended with dagger-like claws determined to reach me.

 I was surprised the girl lived, my enhanced reactions and abilities made it seem slow to me, but to a normal human it would be an impressive feat to react in time.

 Drawing my throwing knife, I stepped around it and slashed one of its hind legs, preferring to deter rather than kill.

 As it landed it didn't seem to realise its wound, but as it turned to re-engage it stumbled, before panicking and fleeing into the dense brush.

 "She's injured!" My companion was busy working herself into an ignorant panic, despite how the other seemed more focused on thanking her for intervening.

 Sighing as I turned away from the animal's escape route once I was confident it had fled. I had a brief look and said it was only a scratch, but we needed to clean and stitch it to avoid infection.

 Dropping the pack filled with items I had conjured the night before, I briefly rummaged through it. 

 Finally producing a leather bundle and placing it onto the ground before unlacing and rolling it out so I could clean what I needed with sterilising wipes.

 Fate seemed to favour the foolhardy, a girl her size should never have been alone in a woodland that was home to such creatures and I would never have thought to conjure a first aid kit if I were alone.

 Unsurprisingly the injured youth seemed suspicious as I handed her a tincture to drink for the pain, but after I drank some of the medicine myself, she mimicked me obediently.

 "What brings a little girl like you to these woods alone?" I asked the question to distract her as I began stitching.

 She grimaced at the needle whilst watching fascinated, but answered the question when the needle didn't hurt. 

 After introducing herself as Fala, she explained that her dad's leg was injured at work and her mum had passed, so she was earning enough to keep them afloat by picking herbs.

 I tussled her hair and apologised for prying, then offered to help her complete her job, then take a look at her father's leg when we got to town.

 Nodding eagerly, she carried on with her work, assisted by my companion whilst I kept watch for beasties and began processing the world information provided.

 When the girl asked if we were married, her words were met with flustered rambling, and followed by the Fala giggling. It was a good sign her life was usually peaceful if she could relax so quickly.

 "No, he's m…"

 The suggestion of us being wed struck me as surprisingly irksome, as I had been sat I had realised that looking at her made me borderline melancholic, and I was not usually so temperamental.

 I interrupted my trainee before she could fabricate a backstory we would have to commit to as she started to reply to Fala, managing to put an end to the conversation.

 Before long we had finished and arrived at the town gates, it was a mid-sized frontier town. 

 That kind of locale was my preference as it happened and I wondered if perhaps the god knew as much when he dropped us so close. The idea of him doing something favourable was disconcerting in itself though, so I chose not to dwell on it.

 As we approached the gate guard, he recognised the girl we had helped and moved to block the gate, distancing Fala from us and getting us in range of his spear expertly.

 "Fala, what took so long, and who are these people with you?" 

 The guard was clearly defensive, the blood on her tunic made him wary of us, even as the girl explained what happened.

 Whilst she did so, I told my companion to kneel how I did and stay silent as much as possible, and when Fala had finally finished explaining everything that happened I put my plan into action.

 I dropped my sword in its sheath and knelt down, a gesture I had found an almost universal sign of peaceful intent.

"Please, we would like to formally petition the lord as refugees, but first could you please allow us passage so we can assist Fala's father, I'm no expert, but I would like to try to help rather than assume I can't."

 Fala looked confused, in contrast to the guard's dutiful suspicion which gave me a good measure of the man.

 As expected though, Fala moved to support my claim, the guard clearly knew her, and he was put off balance by two strangers mentioning his Lord and helping citizens.

 His agreement was inevitable; I had manipulated thousands like him in my lives and found them some of the most malleable.

 After humming and harring to himself briefly, he permitted me to tend Fala's father under his watch and promised to take me to his lord's manor after, adding the promise of lodging should we be made to await an audience.

 Managing to make a joke about us likely being too broke to pay for an inn, as he added the condition of being able to treat Fala's father successfully.

 I emptied my pockets playfully to prove him right, then recommended we make our way with haste.

 Making our way through the streets I observed everything.

 Children playing, all smiles and enjoying life, which I had found a rare occurrence in such worlds.

 The adults bartered in the humble market, laughter echoed from homes and the tavern, I could sense unease and trepidation beneath the surface but it felt distant.

 It was rare to see such frivolity in the common citizenry of a medieval era world, but a more than welcome sight all the same.

 The thing that caught my eye the most, aside from the veneer of content masking uncertainty in the adults though, were their clothes. The attire I crafted for us was simple but of an all-together different style.