The ladies were still glaring daggers as the kid led me through the passages of the dungeon. Once I wised up to the situation, I figured I was along for the ride, whether I wanted it or not. It couldn’t hurt to make friends. 

“So, was I killed and reincarnated, or summoned?” I asked. 

“Killed, most likely,” the boy said. “That’s what happened to me. There was a child in the street and-”

He choked up for a moment. 

“Truck-kun?” I asked. 

“Y-yes, Truck-kun. I am surprised you’re familiar. I wouldn’t expect a soldier in the US Army to know about anime tropes,” he said. 

I grinned and clapped him on the shoulder. 

“Don’t let the movies fool you. We’re all a bunch of nerds at heart,” I said. 

“That is good to know. I was afraid I would have to explain everything from the beginning.”

“By the way, can they understand what we’re saying?” I asked, jerking a thumb towards the women behind us. “I don’t wanna accidentally offend anyone with something sharp and pointy in their hands.”

“Oh, goodness, no. I’ve taught them a bit of my language, but not English. I only know English from online gaming,” he said. 

“Damn, kid. I’d have figured you were formally educated,” I said, nodding approvingly. 

“English is taught in school, but my online friends helped me refine it. I’ve always been gifted with languages though. I can do Mandarin and Korean as well,” he said, a note of pride in his voice. 

“I do some German and Arabic myself, not that it’ll do me much good here,” I said. 

“You never know,” the boy said. “The Goddesses like to pull warriors from across our world. In recent years, we’ve almost all been Japanese, but that wasn’t always the case. It’s unlikely that the Goddess will summon another anytime soon, but keep your language skills sharp. They may come in handy.”

“Good to know,” I said. “Good to know.” 

After what felt like an eternity, we hit some steps, and began a leg-achingly long hike upwards. As we climbed, my new friend filled me in on the details. 

There were five continents in this world, each named after its own Goddess. We were on the human continent, Metanior. There was also Eluvuel, the home of the elves, Drugn, home of the dwarves, Huetah, home of the faeries, and Salarum, home of the demons.

This world, which had no proper name that anyone could tell, was connected to Earth via spirit portals. When someone died on Earth, their spirit passed through here on its way to…wherever. The Goddesses could set out a spiritual net of sorts, looking for particular types of souls. When a soul entered that net, it would be brought into this world with a body more or less identical to the one it just left, with whatever clothes, equipment, and weapons it had on at the time. Something about a thaumaturgical imprint left on the soul at the time of death. 

Look, I’m a redleg, not a wizard. You want a 155mm howitzer shell dropped through the sunroof of a particular car, I got you. If you want a rabbit pulled out of a hat, find someone else.  

Metanior, the Human Goddess, was the only one of Her sisters who captured souls from Earth. After all, Earth was a whole world of humans, and the other Goddesses were loath to bring in outside races to help with their problems. They had tried capturing souls from farther down the chain, as it were, but the results were too bizarre or alien to survive for more than a few moments. They would, however, “rent” souls captured by Metanior from time to time. 

“Metanior will likely appear to you in your dreams tonight to tell you what She expects,” the boy explained. “She never casts a net without a particular need in mind. I was summoned to defeat a powerful sorcerer who threatened Salarium. People from Nihon- Japan, that is, are blessed with a high resistance to magic. Now that I’ve completed my mission, I have officially retired. The Goddess calls on me from time to time to perform tasks that no one else could, but otherwise I live a life of simple luxury with my wives.”

Yeah, he said wives. 

I whistled appreciatively. 

“That’s not a bad gig. How long did it take you?” I asked. 

“Ten years, give or take.”

“Damn dude, I picked you for sixteen, at the most,” I said. 

“That’s how old I was when I reincarnated,” he said. “Time passes much more quickly in this world than our old one, but my body still ages at Earth rates. I’ve been here for nearly seventy years already.”

“So, you’re functionally immortal,” I said. 

“And you are too,” he said. 

“Must be hard on the harem,” I said.

The boy, no, the old man, shook his head. 

“Not at all. Those who are destined to have their fates intertwined with one of the Goddess’s chosen will age at the same rate, once they’re bound.”

“Destined,” I said with a grimace. “That’s…uh. Not a fan of the idea that there’s some poor woman out there who doesn’t get a choice in the matter.”

“I was too,” he said, patting me on the shoulder. “But in this world, one is always free to reject their Destiny. Think of Destiny as gravity. When the Goddess links a Knight with his Destined, She doesn’t bind them together with ropes, She simply creates a gravity well around which they’ll both orbit. To escape one’s Destiny, one needs only enough willpower to go their own way. In any event, She does Her best to only bind Knights with Destined who are ready and willing to serve the cause of the greater good.” 

“That makes it a little better,” I said. 

“The Goddess has had a long time to work out the kinks in Her system. Trust me, everything has been arranged to make things run as smoothly as possible.”