Reincarnated as a Sword (Volume 1) - Live by the Sword

A twelve-year-old Black Cat beast girl had been captured and enslaved. On her way to market, her carriage was attacked by a vicious monster. Her short life seemed to have come to an end, but then a magic sword called to her!

Reincarnated as a Sword (Volume 1) – Live by the Sword

What happened?

The sword was sentient and was able to transfer its skills to the girl, allowing her to fight for her freedom. However, one of the slavers survived and demanded that she hand over the sword. Well, the sword wasn’t having any of it and sliced the slaver and the contracts in two. The girl who had almost forgotten her name remembered that she was once called Fran. The sword liked it. It was the reincarnated soul of a human from Earth and also had no name. Fran called him Teacher as she hoped he would teach her everything she would need to be able to evolve.

Teacher had gained a number of abilities ever since arriving in this world, however, he had gotten stuck in the mana-draining mud of the forest, where he had stayed for many months waiting for someone to save it. Now that he was with Fran, he hoped that together they could make something of their lives. Teacher had acquired many rare animal bodies during their initial hunts so if they could find a town, they could make some money.

When they arrived at Alessa, they sought out the Adventurer’s Guild in the hopes of becoming adventurers and earning money as they slayed dragons. Teacher told Fran to keep his true nature a secret. The receptionist at the guild tried to talk Fran out of joining. She even had to complete a trial against an ogre called Donadrond. She passed with flying colours and became an adventurer. After getting into a dispute with some mercenaries in the Guild, Fran defeated them all, saving the receptionist. Then, a dwarf tracked her down to offer her some armour that he had prepared for another adventurer that never came back. For payment, he wanted to know about her sentient sword!

Reincarnated as a Sword Volume 1 The Sword finds Fran

What did you think?

Firstly, let me say that I enjoyed this book. Fran is really likeable character and the sentient sword is an interesting spin on things. However, I can’t help but wonder why this is even an isekai. It feels like a bit of a gimmick as there seems to be no benefit to him being from another world and having lived another life. Maybe things will change. So far though, it would have been exactly the same had he just been created and given life.

There were a few similarities to another series I’ve read recently – Roll Over and Die and while I enjoyed both, Roll Over and Die was a far superior story. Of course, this is just after one volume so there are plenty of chances for things to change. Basically, this is your run-of-the-mill isekai story with a reincarnation gimmick. If you enjoy stories like that, then you’ll probably enjoy this one too. So far, there’s nothing that particularly stands it apart from the others… other than the gimmick.