I Reincarnated in the Hero’s Former Body and Now I’m Going to Live His Life! - I Reincarnated in the Hero’s Former Body and Now I’m Going to Live His Life! – Chapter 15

“What is this?” Kio demanded, staring at me suspiciously.

“You wanted me to make some of the skin clearing agents that Hina and I have used. This is it.” I explained.

She looked down at the small glass container filled with a white material that had a lotion-like consistency. She didn’t bring her hand out to take it.

“Did you do something weird to it?” She demanded.

I maintained a completely disinterested face. “If you don’t wish to use it, then don’t. I have fulfilled the request. My obligation is done here.”

I went to turn away, and her hand quickly darted out and grabbed the lotion. She gave me one last look before slamming the door in my face, not even providing a ‘thank you’. The corner of my lips flickered slightly. She had been right to be suspicious. I had done something to her lotion. She was a bit cleverer than I would have guessed. I never thought she’d be suspicious of it, but she still took the bait.

“Did you… put that in it?” I turned to see Hina poking her head out her door.

“What?”

“You know… did you…put your… stuff… in it.” Her face turned red.

“I put many things in it.” I frowned.

“Yeah, but did you jack off… ah!” She covered her mouth and then shook her head. “That’s what she thinks you did.”

“Jack…” It took a moment to recollect the word, but my experience at the porn shop helped. “That! What kind of person do you think I am?”

“I thought that you’d do that to embarrass her…” Her voice grew very timid once again.

“Nevermind that.” I decided it was prudent to change the conversation. “This is merely part of my plan. Are you prepared to keep your end of the bargain?”

Her eyes widened. “You want me to… your room… I need to prepare first.”

“That would be good. You should shower, but use no soaps or conditioners. Also, the less you wear, the better.” I turned to walk away, but as I passed she grabbed my arm.

“I don’t think I can do…” I turned to look at her, and her eyes darted away. “I-I’ll come in an hour or two.”

I shook off her hand and then returned to my room. I didn’t know what was her problem. Since I had been to this world, I had begun to get a surface-level understanding of this family. Kio was bossy and aggressive, using anger to overcome her insecurities. Mother was overworked and exhausted, choosing to remain away from the house as much as possible when she had the opportunity. As for Hina, she was introverted and shy, scared of attention, but she could also be vindictive.

They were each flawed in their ways, but that suited me just fine. I also had many flaws, and I had spent several lifetimes trying to overcome them. This didn’t excuse the true Aiko, who had chosen to abandon this family so that he could live like a celebrity in another world. In reality, I only found his actions even more distasteful as I grew more acquainted with his family. They might be broken, but a broken thing could be fixed. Only a coward runs from his responsibilities.

I understood that this belief of mine was likely the same attitude that had caused my downfall. I had relentlessly pursued my interests, even when they went against the rules of god. As a result, I was labeled a demon king and sentenced to death. However, I wouldn’t change the kind of person I was just because the world didn’t accept me. Instead, I would change the world.

I sat at the relatively small desk in my room that had become my alchemy table, and I began working on more potions. I had considerably more supplies now, but everything was expensive, and I could only stretch out my paycheck so far. I was still mixing up poultices and concocting potions when there was a light tap on my door. I stood up and opened the door, revealing Hina waiting in the hallway.

She was wearing a white shirt that went all the way down to her knees and looked like it barely fit on her. It hung loosely enough on her shoulder that I could see she wasn’t wearing a bra, although a certain point near her chest already made this likely. Her face was red, and she was looking anywhere by in my direction.

“I came.” She responded. “You said if I came, I could help with getting revenge on Kio, but you’ve already begun it.”

“That was just the opening act. Come in.” I stepped to the side.

Hina hesitated for a moment, but finally stepped into my room, and I closed and locked the door. She immediately stiffened when she heard the click, but she didn’t say anything.

“Wh-what is it that you want?” She asked.

“I want to use your body,” I responded, walking over to the desk and grabbing some of the supplies I meant.

She closed her eyes for a moment, her lips moving soundlessly before she opened them again. “You’re that age to be curious. I-I’m a little curious too… but… I’m your sister.”

“I don’t care about that,” I responded. “It’s probably better if it was with a stranger, maybe Lana, but it’s best not to attempt too many things at once. You’re more easily available, so I’ve chosen you.”

“I-I’m not easy!” She shot me a glare.

I frowned and decided it was better to get this over with quickly. “Just lie on the bed.”

She looked over at my bed, and then visibly shook for a moment. Finally, she sat down, her legs pressed tightly together.

“Y-you can touch… but we mustn’t… go all… you can’t… we can’t… okay?” Her eyes started to tear up.

I was shifting around poultices in my hands, only half paying attention to her. “I only need to touch.”

She gulped, and then leaned back, lying down on the bed. She laid completely straight, nearly as stiff as a board with her arms and her side and her legs together. I nodded in approval. I was glad she understood what I was going for. It was rare to find such a convenient and obedient test subject. I had created various poultices, all to attempt something I hadn’t done since I was in my world. I was going to practice flesh magic.

In particular, I was going to perform body sculpting, rearranging, and perfecting the way the skin connects to the tendons, muscles, and bones. I eventually planned to use this on myself, but before I did such things, I needed someone else to test it on. I had no clue how this would work. I was using substitute ingredients in a world that didn’t have very much mana. There was no saying how the spells would react. Furthermore, I had not worked on a human test subject in hundreds of years.

Demons were ultimately a lot less picky when it came to physical appearance, so you didn’t need to work as finely. That wasn’t to say I was putting my sister’s life on the line here. I had spent the last week refamiliarizing myself with the female form. I had carefully studied this world’s concepts of beauty and had practiced a bit as well. In that respect, my job was pretty useful. Where else would a culture select their concepts of beauty if not in their pornographic material?

“I will begin now.” I declared, sitting next to the bed.

Her eyes were closed, and she shook slightly. Other test subjects had also been afraid before I began, but after they saw the results, they were generally happy. Had I ever explained to her exactly what I was doing? Sometimes, I could forget the human element when I was focused on my research. It wasn’t like I was some kind of healer or witch doctor who was used to coddling patients. I lacked that bedside manner that allowed them to do whatever they wanted. I decided that I must have explained it, otherwise, why would she be lying down so passively?

I pulled out some poultice, and I began to work. I had found that this world did contain something similar to my body sculpting flesh magic. It was remarkable all the magical things this world had replaced using their so-called science. They called it plastic surgery, and it was quite popular among the rich.

However, when I looked into how it was done, I recoiled in horror. They used blades and would cut out and disfigure the body. Supposedly, once the woman healed, she would look more beautiful, but there were dozens of examples of this failing to work. There were mountains of disfigured women, and when I considered just how many women had to be disfigured before they got good at it, I couldn’t even imagine.

The mere thought of it caused me to feel very complicated. I had disfigured only a handful of women, and I was called a monster and a demon and ostracized. Meanwhile, these so-called doctors would go about chopping women’s faces with knives and face absolutely no repercussions. This was the power of having good bedside manners. Being sociable and good-looking was truly a cheat-level skill in any world you existed in. I just wished I had known that before.

However, since I had a second chance at life, I decided to take advantage of this good material that had created the hero from another world, and bring this appearance to perfection so I too could keep from living another life ostracized from the world. My plan started with Hina, who had become my first test subject.

“Ahhh… wh-where are you touching?”

“Your face, naturally.” I rolled my eyes, continuing to spread the poultice over her skin.

“It-it’s cold…” She responded, nearly whispering.

“It’s better cold. Cold temperature constricts the capillaries and restricts blood flow to the skin. This allows me to increase the malleability and reform it.”

“Y-you’re… applying this all over?” she asked.

“I will start with your face and arms, but I will eventually need to move on to the rest of the body. This process will require several sessions.” I spoke as I kept myself focused. “This process isn’t merely cosmetic, but it will improve sinuses and breathing, as well as comfort. The skin is the largest organ in your body, and possibly the most complex, but most people generally ignore it except to worry about surface-level vanity. Corrections in skin connection can increase bodily comfort, physical performance, and health.”

“I-is that all you wanted?” She nearly sputtered. “You just wanted to do this treatment?”

“Relax.” I pushed her forehead back down to the table. “What else could I possibly want? You’re my sister, after all.”

R-right! Of course… I knew that!” She cried.

“I said relax! If you keep using your face muscles, I won’t be able to reshape them properly!”

“Y-yes!”

Her mood seemed to improve once I had explained more about the process. That was probably for the best. I continued to work, and she laid there, her breathing somewhat staggard as I continued to rub and shape her face. It wasn’t like she’d turn into someone else overnight. I had ways to change the face and hide, but those were temporary. This was something far more permanent, and it’d take place gradually.

Once I finished with her face, I moved to her arms as I said. This would smooth out her arms, but it also had repercussions on her chest. The skin was wrapped all over the body, and in certain spots, the skin never grew quite right. In Hina’s case, she had ended up getting stretch marks around her breasts, and while someone might say it was because her breasts suddenly grew too fast for her skin, I could see that the problem existed around her arms. Thus, I manipulated the skin, tightening it so there was no flab while loosening in other parts so it pulled on the chest less.

Just as I was finishing, there was a sudden banging on the door. “Aiko! Open up this instant! What… what did you do to me!”

A furious Kio suddenly appeared. Just what happened now?