* * *
“Damn, you startled me.”
Preparing a gift with great effort?
Raizen?
When I glanced at him, his expression was surprisingly serious.
He was staring at me intently, not even bothering to pick up the fork and knife he had set down at some point.
“No, but why are you being so serious?”
Lately, he’s been making me feel ridiculously pressured.
He used to watch me like he was observing something, but now… there’s something different about his gaze.
Obsessive, almost.
It’s suffocating, and to be honest, a little frightening since I have no idea what exactly he’s being so persistent about.
“He won’t even say anything while staring like that.”
Ah, what am I supposed to do with this…?!
In the end, I had no choice but to force a smile as if I was completely clueless and avert my gaze.
I cut into my steak and put a piece in my mouth, trying to act as natural as possible, but I couldn’t taste a damn thing.
“My birthday, huh…”
The realization hit me all over again.
That I was living in someone else’s body.
∗ ∗ ∗
But seriously, so what? It’s not like I asked to possess this body.
Do I really have to feel guilty about it too?
“I was planning to sit back and enjoy the wealth Sean was supposed to inherit from the start.”
Feeling guilty now would just be ridiculous.
Actually, I don’t even know if this discomfort I’m feeling is guilt.
“Guilt? Yeah, right.”
Someone like me doesn’t even deserve to feel guilty.
It’s just… a little unsettling, that’s all.
[Where did the real Sean go?]
So I asked Noah.
He happened to be in my room, snacking alone.
[Why are you asking that all of a sudden?]
Of course, he didn’t give me an immediate answer.
As expected.
I wasn’t surprised.
Instead, I popped a piece of pancake, topped with a perfectly ripe strawberry, into my mouth and let out a long sigh.
Another bite, another sigh.
I repeated the process several times until a new message popped up.
[You’re really something else.]
The wording wasn’t exactly pleasant, but that wasn’t what mattered.
What mattered was that Noah had responded.
I put my fork down entirely and let out another deep sigh.
[Hey.]
Yeah, you’re frustrated because I’m not answering, aren’t you? Huh?
[It’s frustrating when someone won’t talk, right?]
[…Yeah.]
[Then imagine how frustrating it must have been for me~]
After abruptly halting my training, Noah had gone completely silent for over a week.
He ignored most of my messages, too.
Then, out of nowhere, he sent me a message earlier today.
[Training resumes tomorrow.]
Just like that, as if nothing had happened.
Of course, there was no explanation for why training had stopped in the first place.
Not that I expected one, but I still had my own questions, so I figured I’d use this as an excuse.
“I need to at least find out what happened to the real Sean.”
Ever since Arthur told me about the Marquisate of Kreveta, and as Sean’s real birthday approached, his existence had been gnawing at me.
It was all just to ease my own mind.
“I don’t want to feel the nagging guilt of stealing someone else’s place, and more than that…”
What if, after I’ve set everything up perfectly and secured my survival, the real Sean suddenly comes back to claim his inheritance?
Just thinking about it pissed me off.
[Sorry.]
The message finally came through after a long pause.
As cold and blunt as Noah was, he wasn’t completely unreasonable.
If you presented a logical argument, he’d usually listen.
[There’s a saying in my world. It’s called ‘bowing to receive an apology.’ My situation right now is exactly like that.]
I didn’t bother explaining the meaning.
He could figure it out from context.
[Training was suddenly halted, and I wasn’t given any reason.]
It was probably because he was researching the glass bead that contained my power.
[You said there were a lot of unknowns about my power and that we should figure it out together, but then you completely ghosted me…]
[I never said ‘together.’]
[I see. How arrogant of me, a mere human, to misunderstand on my own.]
[…Hey.]
I slumped my shoulders.
[I’m sorry. Hearing about the real Sean’s birthday just got me thinking too much…]
If this didn’t work, I was ready to back off for now.
I’d just wait for the right moment and either negotiate or threaten him later.
Then, a new message appeared before me.
[Fine. Considering the unfinished matter of your last quest reward, I’ll answer exactly two of your questions with absolute honesty. I swear on my name.]
“Huh?”
He’s willing to go that far?
For a brief moment, I was stunned, but I quickly collected myself.
Noah, who was usually so rigid, was suddenly offering two whole questions?
It felt like an incredible privilege.
But… I couldn’t let my guard down.
“This is simply the compensation I’m owed.”
He had already brushed off my previous quest reward, after all.
“I can’t forget—I’m the one at an absolute disadvantage when it comes to information.”
Either way, this was the opportunity I had been waiting for.
It was a shame I only had two questions, but it was better than nothing.
I asked the one I was most curious about first.
[What happened to the real Sean?]
[The real Sean’s soul no longer exists in this world. And he will never return. I swear on my name.]
“So that’s how it is…”
Of course, my doubts weren’t entirely cleared.
If Sean’s soul wasn’t in this world, then where was it?
Why was Noah so certain he wouldn’t return?
And… when exactly did his soul disappear from this world?
“But at least I got the answer I needed.”
Now, it was time for my second question.
[Can I return to the world I came from?]
It took quite a while for the answer to appear.
[That depends on your choice. Once everything is over, we have agreed to give you the option. I swear this is the absolute truth.]
“Haha…”
I covered my mouth and barely suppressed a hollow laugh.
Honestly, I debated.
Should I ask if I could go back, or should I ask about the true purpose the ancient gods had in bringing me here?
After much consideration, I chose the former, and it didn’t seem like a bad choice.
“The ancient gods brought me here to… prevent Raizen from becoming the villain, right?”
They seemed to believe that the key to that was lifting his curse.
“So… that’s why they summoned me?”
“…Honestly, I don’t know.”
Noah had said that my power was a unique form of divine energy.
Even the ancient gods didn’t seem to fully understand it.
Noah had outright admitted that, and the fact that they took the glass bead for research proved it.
“It’s hard to believe that someone like me, from a world without magic or divine power, could possess such abilities.”
One thing was certain, though—it wasn’t the power the real Sean was supposed to have.
According to Arthur, the Kreveta family had always produced heirs with talent in magic.
“But that’s… strange.”
Why did I, someone not originally from this world, have such power?
And how did the ancient gods even detect it and bring me here?
“But my biggest question is something else.”
A suspicion that had been growing in my mind for a while now.
“Is lifting the curse really the way to prevent Raizen from becoming the villain?”
He had solved two mysteries, but only two.
As he mulled over the endless stream of thoughts looping in his mind, he took a bite of his pancake.
The fluffy texture and the sweet taste of whipped cream filled his mouth.
[Thank you. Thanks to you, I’ve figured out two things.]
Well, whatever.
At least he didn’t have to worry about the real Sean returning later.
On his birthday… that might make things a little uncomfortable, though.
[But you—aren’t you forgetting something?]
…What’s that supposed to mean?
[Forgetting something? Me?]
When the message popped up, he couldn’t help but jump to his feet.
[Your name, your birthday, your age. The real you.]
[Sean’s birthday is your birthday too.]
“…That’s a lie.”
There was no way.
He was himself.
He was someone who had possessed a character in the novel ‘From Transmigration to Hero…’
“…I…”
…Who am I?
∗ ∗ ∗
“Sei.”
“……”
“Sei…?”
No response, even when his name was called.
Until now, he had always answered right away, as if his entire attention had been fixed on the caller.
But not this time.
The clear, sparkling eyes that usually followed him so intently were now unfocused and distant.
Even when he tightened his grip on their intertwined hands, Sean didn’t react.
“……”
Raizen didn’t like that.
Not one bit.
‘Why isn’t he looking at me? I’m right here—so why is he thinking about something else?’
A surge of emotions he had never felt before roiled inside him.
Annoyance at Sean for not paying attention to him, frustration and jealousy toward whatever had stolen Sean’s focus, and a creeping unease—what if Sean never looked at him the same way again?
What if he never got Sean’s full attention back?
A gnawing sense of urgency and impatience told him he had to fix this, now.
But Raizen had never been good at recognizing his own emotions.
So, he simply understood all of it as displeasure.
Normally, he would have kept a cool head and found a way to draw Sean’s attention back to him.
But the discomfort he felt was too overwhelming to ignore.
In the end, Raizen did something he had never done before.
He tightened his grip on Sean’s hand—then yanked him forcefully toward him.
* * *
And so it begins!