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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Kawaii]
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Chapter 5: Now with Added Amnesia
It was obvious that the servant was late because he was taking a nap.
'Wow, I'm hungry.'
My stomach, which had been starving for days, was starting to wake up and demand food.
'Even someone this handsome gets hungry, huh?'
I suppose I still poop and get eye crusties too? And when my nose gets stuffed, I pick it. How fascinating.
'I must be really hungry to be having such silly thoughts.'
Technically, I could just call someone to bring me food, but my sharp intuition was telling me that wouldn't be a good choice.
Since a doctor had already visited, there's no way they didn't know I was awake. Yet the fact that not a single servant had shown up was significant.
A few possibilities came to mind.
Either I was quite unpopular, or as Joseph said, very few people were allowed to enter. Or perhaps I was being treated like a bomb that people should avoid getting involved with.
'It would be hard to be disliked with this face though.'
Even those supposedly beautiful fairies would struggle to match this level of beauty. I almost cut myself touching my jawline out of curiosity.
‘Sharp jawline hmmm.’
Why do I stray away from my line of thought?
Back to the topic, considering Joseph's comment about me staying cooped up in my room, I likely wasn't a tyrant to the servants.
If anything, they might have looked down on me.
'Surely I'm not being disrespected even by the servants?'
Anyway, I was getting hungry enough that my old personality was threatening to surface.
Before that happened, I opened the door and stepped outside.
Rather than waiting indefinitely, I planned to wander around and find the dining hall, then ask for food.
Even if it wasn't just about food, I'm the type of man who likes to actively gather information by walking around. There's a lot you can learn from just doing that.
'Why was it so hard for me to leave this room?'
...Did you imprison yourself, Allenvert?
Walking through the quiet, empty corridor and stepping outside, I saw a cobalt-blue sea spread out below the castle.
'Wow, what a view.'
It was all sea and sky. It felt like even the dregs of emotion I didn't know I had were being washed away in an instant.
The sky was clear and the sea was bright. I found myself mesmerized by the sight of seagulls flying through the clouds.
A port. This was a port city.
"What a spectacular view."
In the distance, large sailing ships with massive sails were busily entering and leaving the harbor. It was an enormous port.
I could see two distinct areas of the city at a glance - streets filled with tall, luxurious buildings, and streets lined with low, shabby buildings.
Two streets with completely different colors and tones.
'The slums are mostly concentrated on the outskirts.'
At night, the Underworld residents would walk those streets. That was my world, and somewhere I'd eventually need to return to.
'Come to think of it, this really is befitting of a Duke's territory.'
Look at this scale and prosperity that rivals even the kingdom's capital. This must be the capital of the duchy.
'And this is the annex.'
The grandeur of the main building towered incomparably over the annex where I was staying.
Beside it were training grounds, stables, warehouses, armories, and several other annexes each serving different purposes.
The view of the inner castle, built by raising walls and buildings on a high hill overlooking the sea, was too vast to take in at once.
'This is Grunewald Castle.'
A nation of merchants competing to be the best on the continent, and a strategic trading point located in the center of the inland sea.
One of the foremost port cities in the Kingdom of Litvaleur.
It was truly strange. Of all places, to be born as the son of the Duke who rules this place?
'A foreign land I've never visited in my life.'
Yet this place had a familiar scent that reminded me of the small port where I spent the latter half of my previous life.
The fishy smell of the sea. The salty wind. The aroma of dried fish. And then...
Squawk?
"Hm?"
A seagull that had been flying through the sky and walking by the sea landed nearby, tilting its head curiously.
"You're not very wary of humans, are you?"
It seemed to be one of those birds used to getting scraps of fish from sailors.
'When I was Karzan, they wouldn't come near me because of the smell of blood.'
Did that mean no trace of bloodlust clung to this young noble Allenvert's body?
"Or do even birds judge by appearance?"
I'd heard somewhere that even beasts prefer beautiful and handsome people.
Come to think of it, I'd always been the type that small animals avoided. Whether that was due to my smell or my face, I didn't know.
"There's nothing to eat, so go away."
As if understanding my words, the seagull flew away with what looked like a slightly sulking rear.
Had I gained the ability to read animal emotions? That couldn't be.
That's when it happened.
"Oh!"
It was a servant. As he saw me outside after so long, it was as if he had seen a ghost.
"Y-young master Allenvert?"
His voice didn't sound particularly welcoming. Not that it was surprising.
But whatever their previous relationship with me had been, it wasn't my concern.
"Yeah, it's me."
I raised my hand in greeting like some neighborhood nobody. The servant flinched and trembled at his shoulders.
"Everything alright?"
"Y-yes, yes."
The simple-faced servant rolled his eyes from side to side while backing away hesitantly.
Familiarly enough, this was similar to Joseph's attitude.
'How absurd.'
Did I loan him money at some point? This wasn't the face of someone meeting their master's son, but rather someone encountering a loan shark coming to collect.
"The fever's gone. It's not contagious."
The servant broke into a cold sweat as if that wasn't the issue.
"I-I'm sorry, young master. I have urgent business..."
I didn't bother stopping the fleeing servant.
'His gait is completely unstable.'
Perhaps he wasn't getting enough to eat?
'In any case.'
Compared to the main building where people bustled about busily, this place was as quiet as a remote island.
While the distant shouts of warriors training in the practice ground could be heard faintly, I wandered freely around the annex building with no one to stop me.
"Ah!"
"Young master?"
"..."
The servants I encountered along the way either gave me awkward greetings while looking at me with uncomfortable eyes or avoided me entirely without saying a word.
Without exchanging any particular words, I observed their various emotions.
Difficulty, awkwardness, indifference, wariness, dismissal, vigilance, pity, unfamiliarity, and curiosity.
"...That's really young master Allenvert."
"First time I've seen him."
"There's no one else as handsome and beautiful as him. He couldn't be mistaken."
"So it was true that he'd awakened."
Wherever I went, gazes and whispers followed like shadows. It felt as if my mere act of going outside was some kind of event here.
"But isn't this the first time he's walking around outside like this?"
"You've been here for two years, right?"
"About that, yes."
"Then you wouldn't have seen it. Because long before that..."
I strained my ears at their conversation that faded with their footsteps.
'Can't hear well.'
The strong wind from the distant sea had carried away their conversation.
'If only I could use mana.'
From what I'd briefly observed, my body was in quite a strange state.
While there was dissolved mana inside my body, there was almost none flowing through my blood vessels.
It was like a sewer system that hadn't been cleaned for so long that its channels were blocked.
'Just how many years was I cooped up in that room for this to happen?'
In any case, at seventeen, if he had been from any other noble family, he should have been busy preparing for his coming-of-age ceremony and proving his worth somehow.
Just by looking at the state of his body and mana, it was easy to tell that Allenvert had wastefully thrown away his most crucial adolescent years, shut in a room.
And that was quite a serious matter.
'In my past life, I was already leading an organization at this age.'
Just when I was thinking that such casual eavesdropping wouldn't be enough to figure out how this greenhouse flower had withered-
"But shouldn't we quickly... ?"
"...Well yes, but at this point..."
I stopped in my tracks when I heard these whispers that seemed intended to report this incident to someone.
I immediately tried to see their faces, but they had already disappeared.
'Wow, how blatant. Isn't this a bit much?'
At this point, it was hard to tell whether this was voluntary seclusion or essentially confinement.
'Always prepare for the worst possibility.'
At least there was no one openly trying to stop or detain me, so my situation, whatever it was, couldn't be considered a complete loss of freedom.
'Whether my seclusion over the years was voluntary or not...'
If even this place where I'm staying has such an atmosphere, it's reasonable to assume I have almost no allies in this ducal estate that feels like a den of serpents.
'Who are friends and who are foes?'
Whose side are those managing this guest house on? To which brother are they reporting about me? Allenvert, just how isolated a man were you?
'...Why hasn't my mother, Lusatia Grunewald shown any sign of visiting her son who has awakened from a fever?'
While the Father being both Duke and head of the family, may have many children, for Mother, children would number at most one or two.
'And what made Joseph so afraid that he kept his mouth shut?'
It felt like walking alone through the fog on a moonless night - such was the loneliness and confusion.
I suddenly felt dizzy.
'Allenvert, you were a pitiful man.'
...But this weak boy is me. Though I died long ago as Karzan, haven't I just awakened as Allenvert?
If even I were to abandon my identity as Allenvert, I couldn't bear the thought of this boy's spirit being forgotten without anyone to remember him.
'That won't do.'
Everything is still just conjecture. As I piece together the fragments, the hidden picture will eventually emerge.
"What's all this fuss about? Whether he wakes up or stays collapsed, what difference does it make?"
Just as I was lost in these thoughts and turning away, my ears caught someone's loud and reckless grumbling.
'Well, well?'
Remember, truth often reveals itself in whispers, not in praises. Having lived in the shadows, I've found solace in a place where no eyes can reach.
"Stop it. Your voice is too loud."
'No, I'm fine. Don't try to stop him.'
This was my chance to learn about Young Master Allenvert's true reputation and situation and the kind of things one couldn't hear openly.
"Did I say something wrong?"
That's right. Keep talking.
"I'm just speaking the truth. How many years has that young master been in seclusion? Seven years already, isn't it? His older siblings have all established their positions, and even the youngest has properly mastered the sword. Meanwhile, he's achieved nothing, proved nothing."
So there are no good-for-nothing wastrels among the siblings? Having capable competitors isn't good news.
"Becoming heir is out of the question. The only thing he has going for him is his face, and even that has such serious flaws that they can't even send him off in a political marriage..."
Now why would that be? With looks this good, are there really no noble ladies in this country who could benefit from this face?
I waited for more.
"Well, with mixed foreign blood, other noble houses wouldn't welcome him."
'Foreign blood?'
Now this was interesting.
What kind of foreign blood - some fairy lineage? Given these looks, it must be quite a unique bloodline.
"Anyway, if it were me, I wouldn't live like that. Living like a flower in a greenhouse with no sense of desperation - that's what it is, desperation. Like a fool."
This bastard's words are getting harsh. After listening to him, it's clear he has quite a loose tongue.
"Stop it, Marco. I'm scared someone will hear. Damn it."
So his name is Marco? Good, I'll remember you.
I'm a man who forgets neither favors nor grudges equally. Just as I remembered Joseph, I etched the name of this insolent-mouthed bastard into my mind.
"How can you know the minds of the noble ones? And honestly, if I had gone through what the young master did..."
"You fool. Who's worried about whom? The truly pitiful ones are people like us. No matter how hard we work or bow until our backs break, we have to feed our families with money that wouldn't even cover one meal for the noble ones."
That's true. In my mind, I nodded, thinking as Karzan would.
'But your mouth is too reckless and rough, Marco.'
If you had worked anywhere else but this place, that mouth of yours would have brought great trouble.
'They're everywhere. Those types who are full of complaints and can't help their itching mouths that must badmouth someone behind their backs every single day.'
If you go to taverns in the back alleys, you'll usually find such fellows gathered together.
They spout nonsense about how the country is this and the king is that.
But it would be hasty to punish that careless mouth now. Besides, compared to the insults I'd heard while working in the Underworld, this was nothing.
'Sometimes you need to act like a deaf and blind man.'
That's when the man who had been trying to stop Marco said something I couldn't just ignore.
"Don't be like that. He's destined to die young anyway, isn't it? It's better for us if he just stays quiet and passes away without causing trouble."
'...Die young?'
What's this about now?
"Right. So even if he's starting to wander around outside now..."
I quietly left without listening to the rest.
'Destined to die young? Me?'
Then a memory I had forgotten came flooding back.
'An incurable illness of unknown cause.'
So this body... in other words, was living on borrowed time.
Even with all the ducal family's wealth, there was no solution. This young master was simply waiting for his death. That was the true identity of Allenvert Grunewald.
'Well, this is just perfect, isn't it?'
Even through the eyes of Mad Dog Karzan, who had risen from a street orphan to an Underworld kingpin through countless hardships, this situation was nothing short of a disaster.
'What kind of difficulty setting is this? And here I thought this life might be a bit easier.'
I had hoped that being born as a duke's son would let me play puppet master from the shadows like the Dark King.
And I won't deny that I was secretly thrilled about being reborn as a noble young master with looks that went beyond handsome.
But as they say, fortune comes with misfortune? The more I learned, the stronger my premonition grew that a thorny path lay ahead of me.
'It's fine. There must be a way.'
In this world, there surely exist legends of gods, saints, and mystic medicines that can even resurrect the dead. And if they don't exist, I'll find them. Sitting quietly waiting for death isn't my style.
It was then that I spotted the boy running toward me.
"Oh my goodness, Young Master! I've been looking everywhere for you! How could you wander around without saying anything? And in your condition too!"
"Oh."
I could tell at a glance that this was the servant Joseph had mentioned.
'Hmm, he looks a bit dim-witted.'
He seemed far more loose-lipped than Joseph.
'Perfect.'
If I play this right, I might be able to get some useful information through that mouth of his.
Perhaps that's why, at this moment, this kid looked like a golden goblin hoarding precious information.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Kawaii]
Join our Discord for release updates!
https://discord.com/invite/dbdMDhzWa2
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