"Why are my ears so itchy?"
Ian wondered who was it that kept talking behind his back as he lay flat on the bed. There was a list of people in his previous world that'd be glad now that he was gone.''No.. It'd be too long even for a list.."He looked back and wondered what kind of life he was leading to get to this point, but after thinking about it for a while, he concluded that it wasn't too bad of a life either.Knock knock."Young Master, the carriage is ready."Ian stood up slowly as he let the voice sink in. It was the day when he was going to check the shops that his father had bought for him, at a high price on top of that. He decided to visit the shops in the evening since that'd attract less attention from the public.He came out of the mansion being escorted by Corner and the other three knights including Arthur and they boarded a very plain and simple looking carriage, unlike any carriage thatIan, who exchanged his extra spicy chicken chili with Arthur in an attempt to improve his mode, was very successful. After that day, just like in the novel, Arthur became a huge fan of spicy food and would always happily exchange his dishes with Ian's whenever they ate outside. But that's a story for later.Currently, Ian was in the middle of a serious meeting with Rob. Actually, it was only him who thought the meeting was serious. He was planning on persuading Rob to help him with new construction plans that he had for those shops. And he thought it'd be quite difficult since the plans he had in mind would look unreasonable to Rob.SLAM!Ian slammed his hand on top of the table where papers were laid out detailing about his plan."-so, as I was saying, I know this doesn't make sense, but that's what I want."He ended his sentence with that as he waited for Rob's judging gaze and disapproving reply. But there wasn't.
Clap clap clap"Wow. That was impressive!""You improved so much since the last time, man! I'm jealous.""That was great. I couldn't find any opening the whole time."The junior knights and the seniors, including Corner himself, all praised Arthur as he showed off his progress. It looked like a scene from a novel where the protagonist was being acknowledged by his colleagues or peers.'Really. So novel like..'Ian, who was resting his chin on his palm, sighed as he watched the main character bask in glory. He was literally shining, well, it was the sun, but anyway! Ian liked scenes like these where Arthur got the recognition that he deserved. But now that it was happening in real life-'So cringey..'He could feel goosebumps rising on his arm as he tried not to think like that. And since he had no intention of ruining the moment for Art, he kept silent throughout the whole time, erasing his presence li
"You actually came."Arthur said as he looked at the robed individual in front of him. He came here with the worst possible outcome in mind so he was actually relieved when someone finally appeared. But the person in front of him, they gave off an weird aura. Arthur, who had honed his skills to the maximum when it came to judging a person or their strength level at least, he couldn't figure out the robed man's level.'He looks weak but what's this sense of danger?'That's what Arthur was feeling from the person in front of him. The eyes hidden within the mask curved up in a smile as he replied."Of course, can't keep my hero waiting, can I?"Arthur, who couldn't figure out if the voice was a male or a female due to it's neutral tone, frowned when he heard what the Robed guy said."Your hero?"He asked back, displeasure visible on his face."Mhm. Now then, shall we go inside?"Ian asked
"Why am I so busy?"Ian wondered as he sat down on his bed. He wasn't the protagonist. And the impact his character had on the original storyline also wasn't something so significant that it'd change the storyline. All that made him come to the realisation that he was working too hard."I should take a break!"He stilled his will as he sprang up on his feet. All he had been doing since he came to this world was set the platform here and there for the protagonists benefit. He didn't even travel anywhere outside the duchy because he had too much to do."Outside the Duchy..."Ian mumbled as he tried to recall the novel's settings. There was indeed many beautiful places described in the novel. Although those places will soon turn into battle ground, that didn't mean Ian didn't have a chance. He still had his chance of travelling those places.Ian grabbed his pen and paper and sat down in his table. As he recalled all those important arcs, he not
Knock Knock."Mother.. Are you inside?"Ian asked as he knocked on Olivia's door, thinking about how he should bring up the topic of the tour to her."Huh? Ian? Come on in!"Olivia, who came out to open the door as soon as she could after hearing Ian's voice, opened the door wide as she smiled. She wasn't expecting Ian to come at this time of the day since Ian usually woke up late. And nowadays, since Ian was busy with many things, he couldn't spend too much time with her either. So the amount of joy she was feeling at Ian's sudden visit couldn't be described into words."Were you in the middle of work, mother?"Ian asked as he sat down on the soft couch, glancing towards the table that was beside Olivia's bed. A huge pile of paper was placed in it and signs of someone working could be seen clearly. Since it was the harvest season, both the Duke and the Duchess was very busy with the work related to the management of
"I'm done!"Ian said as he kept the last pile of clothes inside his storage ring. The amount of clothes and food, medicine, potion and other travel necessities Rob prepared within a single day was astronomical. Ian almost dropped his jaw when he entered him study and saw the huge pile."Is there anything else you need, young master?"Rob asked as he fixed his glasses. Ian looked at him with a judging look as he placed a lemon candy in his mouth, trying to stop himself from swearing."You do realise I'm only going there for a week, right?""Ahem! This is what the Duchess ordered. You can talk to her if you're unsatisfied.""Ahhh.. Now that I think about it, I'll probably need that much."Ian said as he went back to his seat. He looked outside, which was already dark. The moon was very bright as it was just the day after the full moon. It was almost time for him to leave."Well then
'Did the Gods send me here to babysit?' Ian wondered as he took out three slices of strawberry shortcake from his subspace. He placed on in front of each of them, the brother sister duo, and one was for him of course. 'Ash also likes this flavour..' Ian thought as he took a bite of the cake. The other two was still throwing awkward questions at each other as they stayed emerged in their own world. Ian could hear small talks like "How have you been?" "It wasn't too bad working as a knight. What about you?" And then complete silence from the two of them.. And again.. "Are you okay now? Does it hurt anywhere?" "I'm okay. Mister took good care of me." Then silence once again.. 'Wow... So awkward..' Ian tried to ignore the duo next to him as he focused on his precious cake. It was indeed very precious, since the chefs at the duchy spent wee
"Are you sure you'll be okay, son?"Olivia asked as she fixed Ian's collar. It was morning, and time for Ian's departure. He was wearing a plain white shirt and a maroon jacket on top, and black skinny pants. He wanted his attire to be as comfortable as possible.Ash was also wearing similar style clothing and a blue jacket instead. Since he had grown taller and gained some weight, he looked very charismatic in those clothes.'Almost as handsome as me.'Ian thought as he looked at the kid next to him. He wondered why he could find so many similarities between himself and Ash lately, but then he realised he was the one raising that kid. It was obvious they'd look similar, like father and son.Although others would call them brothers, to Ian, Ash was more like a son than a brother. He was too old to have a younger brother that young."Of course, mother. It's something I want to do so I'll be fine."Olivia was full of worries when the ac
Ian returned. After wondering the continent for half a year, he came back with a 'Bang!'. Right when the nobles all around the country gathered to 'show the hero his place', Ian returned. Crazy hypothesises such that Ian being a Devil worshipper, betraying the country and being on the run or that he's actually a demon etc etc all came to an end as he openly took Arthur's side and threatened the other nobles.Of course, most of those rumours weren't too far off the mark. Ian did prefer villains over heroes, demons over angels, he had no love for their country and lastly, he was a darkness ability user with a twisted moral sense. And! To top it all off, he also preferred these rumours over ones that would hail him as a hero. he'd rather be on the run after being called a demon rather than be called a hero and worshipped. Again, twisted morality. But he couldn't do that this time. There were too many people using his name so he couldn't just let it be as those people got treated bad
"It's been a week since young master lost consciousness."Rob wrote in his diary as he sighed. There was a heavy atmosphere surrounding the duchy ever since the day Adrian fell down from the roof and went into a coma. How or why it happened was still a mystery around the duchy but speculations about an attempted suicide was slowly spreading around. Rob didn't believe them though. The Adrian he knew was too selfish and arrogant to do something like that. Yet, even when he was so sure, a small part of his mind kept lingering over that quiet and motionless room where Adrian was."Ah.. It's been a while."With that, Rob went to take another look at the sleeping Adrian for the 36th time that day. Although he was telling himself that Adrian's situation wasn't that serious, that he'd wake up soon, as he tried to remember all the bad things Ian did in his short lifetime just to mask his worry, he didn't even realise that he was unconsciously heading towards Ian's room again. After worryin
Things Ian did(Unintentionally or intentionally) that influenced the future of Arthur's world: First of all, although the effect wasn't that eye-catching at the moment, Ian was going to be known as the figure that erased racial discrimination. Due to him giving shelter to people of all age and race, and the humans around him having constant changes in their views and perspective, it was going to be the seed that erased all future discrimination and racial profiling. Secondly, he was going to be known as the bridge between Humans and the Demons. The Queen of the Demons, Ash's mother who had gone back to the demon world to deal with some 'internal affairs' would soon return with an actual offer of friendship between the demons and the humans. It was Bela's way of showing gratitude to the people who had taken care of her son in his times of need. Ian's love for Ash was plain as day and the care and gentleness he showed when dealing with him was no different from what a parent woul
"What..?""That's absurd!""Is that sorcery? Does he think he can fool us so easily?!"There were looks of disbelief, shock and confusion on everyone's faces as they looked at Ash. But no matter how tough they acted or how oblivious they tried to be, the bone chilling aura coming from Ash that slowly filled the room was undeniable. It was an aura that was impossible for any human to manifest, dark and scary."It doesn't matter whether you believe me or not.""I'm not the one behind bars looking at lifetime imprisonment and possible death sentence."Ian shrugged his shoulders in a casual manner as he signaled for Ash to stop. He was only here to give these people a chance. A chance at repentance. If they refuse to grab it, he didn't care less whether they died or lived inside a cage forever. 'Human resources are valuable after all.'That was one of the other reasons why Ian was here. He wanted to bind all these people under contract and have them serve the country. It didn't sit right
"You're gonna let them go?" Arthur asked, conflicted, as he looked at Ian. They were currently in an underground prison, the biggest prison that was made on Ian's request under the Duchy. The war criminals, the cult members, were being held here. Seven days had already passed since Ian's soul returned to his body. He was forced to have complete bedrest this whole time by his parents and the kids. They finally let him go after he managed to manipulate them emotionally with everything he had. It was a difficult job indeed. But nothing was impossible for Ian. "Let them go? NO?" Ian asked back in utter shock instead. But it wasn't Arthur's fault that he misunderstood. Ian did indeed say something that could be easily misinterpreted. "But you just said 'It's time to go out.'..?" That's what he said. To the criminals. Not that he meant it literally. "To the hall. TO.THE.HALL." Ian repeated himself twice, once for the criminals and once for Arthur. Everyone captured already had
Ian's time with the kids were cut short as the Dicarious couple arrived in a haste. A part of Ian was happy to see them again after so long. But a part of him was also wondering if they really were there for Ian. What if they were expecting their son to come back? What if the person they expected to see coming to his senses was Adrian and not him? How disappointed they would be. With a mixture of these various emotions coursing through his mind, he failed to make any type of expression when faced with those two people. Neither could he smile wholeheartedly nor apologize and cry. The kids were guided outside by Arthur and Albert, giving Ian and his parents the room to themselves. Ash was reluctant to leave seeing Ian's expression, but the atmosphere was too heavy for him to interfere. So while everyone else went to another room, he stayed, waiting while standing outside Ian's room. The others also didn't force him to leave since they didn't know which was better. "Are you
"YOU!"Smack!"THOUGHTLESS!"SMACK!"BAS-! JER-!! PERSON!"Ian had to wake up from his peaceful sleep with the sound of someone's shout along with the obnoxiously loud yet not so painful smacking of the pillows."Ow ow ow.. what the hell...?""Huh?""I'm back?"Ian woke up rubbing the back of his head that was the victim of continuous battering and looked around. The changed bedroom and the familiar faces made him aware of the fact that he had indeed come back. "What?""What are you talking about, young master? You didn't go anywhere."Both Albert and Arthur looked concerned as they checked Ian's status for any abnormalities. Only after multiple checking did they finally sigh in relief. "Ah no.. ""Hey guys.. Long time no see?"Ian greeted the kids and the Prince and the Knight all together while leaning back on his bed. The one responsible for the ruthless battering from before still had a massive pout on their face as they silently glared at Ian. "Are you angry? I'm sorry. How lo
Ian enjoyed the tea from hell while having a long and informative conversation with death, or at least that's who he assumed the other person was. He learned about the past that he had locked away and the people he had forgotten. But it all felt distant, like he was viewing the life of somebody else. "Why did I do that? Lock my memories?"Ian was curious. Just by watching the memories of Noah's future, he could tell that he lived a pretty okay life. The daughter he adopted also turned out to be great. She became his family. These were precious memories. So he couldn't understand why he'd lock them up like this. "After I presented you with my request, this is what you told me."Death continued showing Ian another set of completely different memories. An old man, wrinkly hand, white hair, hazy eyes. The room looked similar to the one he was in right now, and so was the person in front of them. "The me right now cannot save a world.""The blade has already lost it's edge.""I've grow
"What do you mean by welcome back?"Ian asked, confused. As far as he could remember, never before in his life did he see this man or these scenes. And these weren't circumstances that he'd forget 'by chance' either. "After your first death, you came here.""First death.. Ah.. When I jumped down the bridge?"Ian remembered his last moments as Noah. The music that played, the scenery he watched on top of that bridge, they were all very memorable. Yet, he had no memory of coming to this place.But unlike Ian's thoughts, the guy in front of him shook his head in denial. Not understanding exactly which part he was denying, Ian tilted his head to the side slightly."What death are you talking about then?""You didn't die back then."The guy sat down on the bed, facing Ian and the endless hell behind him as he spoke. "When you were at the verge of losing consciousness, you heard a childs cry.""A child?""Yes. It was the final monster outbreak." Ian wondered what this guy was talking abo