"Here, drink this."
A blonde haired girl handed Arthur a bottle of potion as she said. They were currently inside a worn-out building with two other people. One of them was an elf, and the others identity was unclear due to his fully covered appearance.
"How long was I out for?"Arthur asked and gulped down the potion next. Most of his injuries were caused by the mana explosion that happened inside his body. It was a result of trying to merge two different attributes. Attributes are like people, each with a different personality, trying to make them combine was bound to cause casualties. "Six hour, thirty five minute and forty second."Replied the man who was wearing a robe and covering himself from head to toe. Arthur didn't find it weird since he has been with them for a long time now. He simply nodded his head and turned around."And the thing I asked for?"Arthur asked, looking at the elf. She w'When will they stop?' Ian wondered as he rested his head on his hand. He was looking at the two crying and sobbing mess in front of him. Although Lucas was the smaller one, Louis seemed more like a child as he bawled his eyes out. Ian wondered if he'd also react like that if he ever lost someone important and then find them. He was so bored that he was imagining scenarios in his head. It wasn't that he didn't put much importance to the event happening in front of him, it was just that he was too used to seeing things like this in his previous world. 'Although no one ever returned to me.' He thought to himself as he tried to suppress a memory that was trying to emerge. It wasn't just one or two person, the amount of people he lost with the passage of time would probably be uncountable with his fingers and toes. 'Do anyone even consider toes when they count?' He wondered, trying to distract himself. It wasn't good to live in the past. And memories forgotten with the passage of tim
When when they were done with their belated lunch, even after Steve left, Ash kept glancing at Ian every few seconds. And he was being very obvious this time. Ian's back was stinging all over from the continuous stares he was receiving as he headed to bed. "Come here." Ian said as he signalled Ash to sit beside him as he plopped down on the bed. When Ash was within his arms reach, he lifted his arm and ruffled the boys hair. It always calmed him down to an extent. "I'm sorry. For worrying you and making you wait." He said as he kept ruffling Ash's hair. The boy flinched when Ian apologized and lowered his head. To someone like Ash, trusting someone was a very difficult thing to do. And he only had Ian to rely on, in this vast, cruel world. Ian's existence to him was something similar to what oxygen is for humans. Ian knew that as well since he also went through situations like that. So he was apologizing right now for making Ash feel insecure. 'I should make him spend some time wit
"Young master, can I come it?"Asked Corner as he knocked on Ian's door. It was still early morning and the sun was quite benevolent. Meaning since it wasn't too hot, Ian was still sleeping in his room. Which was very normal.Corner knocked again, while knowing this fact. This time, he could hear movements inside the room. Soon, someone approached and opened the door."Huh?"Corner looked at the person in front of him with a confused expression as they opened the door. It was a boy in his mid-teen, almost Ian's size. But definitely not Ian. They had messy bed-hair and was wearing clothes that didn't match their size.The shirt was small and showed part of his stomach like a crop top, and his pants barely reached his knees. Through his long black bangs, Corner could see two puffy red eyes that definitely didn't belong to a normal person.Corner didn't remember seeing someone like that previously and was instantly on guard. He put his hand on his sword hilt and took a step back as a sign
"So they've arrived?" Ian asked folding his arms, sitting on his bed like a king, which he clearly wasn't. He was talking to Corner who came to shower him with good news one after another. The first one was him getting stronger and taking the first step towards becoming a grandmaster, which was more than enough to make Ian's day better. The second was that the teacher's Ian invited for the purpose of training the beast people had arrived. They were finally here. Ian was overjoyed when he heard the news, but kept his composure outwardly. "Yes. They've all arrived and are waiting for you in the mansion." Corner replied, curiosity visible on his face. Ian wondered why people of this world was so curious about everything, specially anything he did. Noah, who was tired of being on the spotlight, felt a little uncomfortable anytime something like this happened. He didn't want to entertain this knight of him so early in the morning so he simply nodded his head and ignored Corner's curiou
"Ugh... So fucking tiring!""!""Young master! Language!"Ian, who was swearing with all his heart, frowned when he was interrupted by an old and wrinkly butler. Of course, they weren't the only ones present inside the room. Someone else who was too shocked by Ian's change in demeanor and language was also present there. It was none other than Rianne herself.If it wasn't for Olivia who asked Ian to give her a tour of the mansion, Ian wouldn't have spent the last hour working his ass off as a tour guide to a little kid. From Noah's perspective, he was simply babysitting. And it bored him to death as he lost his temper and flopped down in a nearby chair."Sorry about that. Since we're done with the house tour, you can just sit down and rest here."Ian said to Rianne, shooing Rob away with his left hand."Bring us some snacks."He ordered before Rob left. The butler was quite reluctant about leaving Ian alone with Rianne but since he didn't want to show any type of disrespect to Ian in f
"Young Master!" Rob shouted as he grabbed Ian's arm and tried to pull him up. "What? Why? What's wrong?" Ian asked, confused as he tried to stop Rob from pulling him up. He wanted to get this over with at once. He thought it'd be enough on his part if he apologized like that. After all, it wasn't a crime he commited himself. "Still.. You shouldn't kneel like that." "Hey.. Wasn't it you who said that I was bothering her for years just yesterday? Then isn't it only proper that I apologize properly?" Ian asked while frowning, he didn't understand this butlers double personality. Just the night before, he was looking at Ian with scorn filled eyes. And now that Ian was trying to save his neck by not making an enemy out of a strong person, he was stopping Ian as if his life depended on it. 'What the fuck does this old man want?!' Ian felt frustrated realising he wouldn't be able to satisfy Rob no matter what he did. To someone like him, even curing his eyes won't be enough to
Among the twelve people that Ian invited, Robert was the one who was more talented than the others, in all category. He was even selected to be the third prince's teacher in the past, but due to a certain 'accident', lost the kings favour. Losing the kings favour was equivalent to getting the death penalty. You'd lose all your social status, nobles of all faction will avoid or scorn you and their live would become miserable. The others also had similar experiences with powerful nobles or aristocrats in the past. They were all people who were rejected by the noble society and had their once bright future destroyed and thrown to the bottom. And right now, they were all gathered together, at the dining table of the mansion that belonged to Adrian, one of the famous trashes of the kingdom, who had enough power not to give a fuck about others. Their situation was such a contrast to each other that it only made them feel more miserable. But still, they
Noah, who was now in possession of Ian's body, was facing a serious predicament right now. It was definitely one of the top ten crisises he had ever faced in his life.More than a dozen eyes were all focused on him, feelings of jealousy and betrayal visible in their gazes. And the criminal who was behind his poor situation was making a proud expression on his face as he humphed.'What the hell-'"World tour?""Brother, you're going on a trip?""Where will you go?""Just the two of you?""Sounds fun..""Will you visit lots of fun places?""I'm jealous.""Me too..."The kids around him all had hunched shoulders and sad expressions on their faces as they sighed or shook their heads.'Is this a new method of blackmail? Why is it so effective?!'Ian scanned their expression one by one as he wondered. He definitely planned on touring the world alone at first. That was definitely the plan. But right now he wasn't so sure anymore."Don't say it like that, everyone. I'm sure brother has importa
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