Yugo Kurei was your average, everyday high school student. If there was one thing that set him apart, it was his absolute obsession with heroes.
From the masked knights straddling their Iron Steeds to the colorful warriors who fought in unison, and even the "pretty and powerful" magical girls, he loved them all. Perhaps influenced by these icons, he grew into a bright, honest, and remarkably good-natured young man.
He was athletic and physically sturdy. Having grown up with parents, teachers, and friends all telling him he was cut out for a job helping people—like a police officer or a firefighter—he had spent his days thinking that such a life wouldn’t be so bad.
Then, on a certain sunny day, Yugo’s life came to an abrupt end.
He had gone out to buy a tokusatsu magazine and was wandering through a local shopping mall when he had the misfortune of encountering a slasher attacking people with a knife.
As the mall fell into a panic and people fled in every direction, Yugo saw the attacker lunging toward a mother and her child. Without a second thought, he threw himself forward, using his own body as a shield to protect them.
The knife plunged into his chest. Even as his face twisted in agony from the unimaginable pain, Yugo managed to knock the attacker unconscious with a burst of adrenaline-fueled strength. It was a victory, but the price was his life.
Watching the mother and child he had saved weep for him, Yugo spent his final moments thinking with his usual optimism that it wasn't such a bad way to go. He closed his eyes with a smile, reasonably satisfied with the life he had lived.
"You're disowned, Hugo! You're a disgrace to this family!"
"Huh...?"
When he next regained consciousness, it was to the sound of those venomous words.
A middle-aged man with striking red hair was screaming at him, his face flushed a shade of crimson that matched his locks.
"To think you would lose a duel to some commoner of unknown origin while wielding Galandil, the Sacred Sword passed down through our House of Clay for generations... You are the lowest, most pathetic failure! I overlooked your minor misdeeds because you had talent, but I no longer have any use for someone who drags the House of Clay’s name through the mud! You're disowned! Get out!"
"U-Um, excuse me. I’m sorry, but what are you talking about? And, uh... who are you, exactly?"
"Enough with the jokes! I'm finished with you! I’m taking Galandil back, and you’re to vacate the dorms immediately! Be grateful I’m even willing to cover your tuition! Ugh, because you lost to that nobody, Lady Claire has been taken from us! All my careful planning, gone to waste! I don't want to see your face ever again! Don’t you dare use the name Clay again, Hugo!"
"Ah, wait a—!"
Having spat out his piece, the middle-aged man stormed out of the room in a fit of rage.
It was only then that Hugo realized he was lying in a bed in what looked like an infirmary. With a metaphorical question mark floating over his head, he tried to make sense of the situation.
Judging by the tone of the man who had just finished berating him, that was apparently his father.
However, that man looked nothing like the father Yugo knew. For one thing, he didn't even look Japanese.
Wait, didn't I get stabbed in the chest and die? As the confusion mounted, Hugo happened to glance toward a nearby window. When he saw his reflection, he gasped and let out a strangled shout.
"Wh-wh-what is this?! Who the hell is that?!"
Reflected in the glass was not the face he had known for seventeen years, but a red-haired young man with a decidedly villainous look about him.
Even his confused expression looked menacing. Hugo stared in shock before his natural easygoing nature bubbled to the surface. Wait... isn't this guy actually kind of handsome? He immediately gave himself a mental "tsukkomi," telling himself that wasn't the point. As he tried to regain his composure, the infirmary door burst open and a boy rushed in, calling his name.
"Brother! Brother Hugo! Thank goodness, you’ve woken up!"
"O-Oh...!"
The boy calling him "brother" looked young, perhaps still in elementary school.
With black hair and a somewhat introverted aura, the boy looked at Hugo with an expression of profound relief.
As far as Yugo remembered, he didn't have any siblings. His eyes must have betrayed his confusion, because the boy’s expression shifted to one of concern.
"Brother, what’s wrong? Are you in pain?"
"Ah... look, I’m really sorry if this sounds bad, but... who are you?"
"Eh...? B-Brother, don't tell me... your memory?! Did the shock of that last attack give you amnesia?!"
"Y-Yeah, I think that’s it. I’m sorry, but could you tell me who I am, who you are, and exactly how I ended up like this?"
The boy turned pale at the realization that Hugo didn't recognize him.
Feeling a pang of guilt, Hugo played along with the amnesia theory. The boy began to explain everything with meticulous detail.
"Your name is Hugo Clay. You’re the eldest son of the House of Clay, a prestigious family of knights, and the chosen wielder of our family's Sacred Sword, Galandil. I’m your younger brother, Fee Clay. We’re half-siblings, and because of my weak constitution, I can't be a knight like you... Before you passed out, you were in a duel with a classmate. And, well... you lost. Lady Claire, your fiancée who was the wager for the duel, was taken by the winner. Father was furious, saying your defeat brought shame to our name, and so—"
"Ah, I see... I think I've got the gist of it."
In truth, he was still missing a lot, but it felt like the right thing to say.
Nodding to himself, Hugo realized one thing with absolute certainty. He whispered under his breath, sounding like he was talking about someone else's life.
"So this is that 'isekai reincarnation' everyone talks about... and I've ended up as the villain who gets served a heap of karma. Well, first time for everything."