What Dean Slain realized after staying up all night contemplating on the things going on around him was that his current situation may not be as bad as it seems.
He figured when he took the time to think about the past life of the previous owner of his body, several informations would flood inside his head. Just like when he wondered about the name and what kind of person his current body previously was, the answer came to him as naturally as it was remembering his own name.
'Carl Silversword. Has one younger brother, a mother and father – both alive. A soft-natured person, but useless in everything he do.'
When Dean thought about it, he felt it was perfect that the body he woke up to was someone who was known to be worthless and incompetent, yet unconditionally loved by his family and subordinates. It was the opposite of what he had and used to in his previous life. It was a refreshing situation for him.
Shouldering every burden while bottling up every emotions just because a person was called a genius- Dean was tired of that life. He wanted to experience just once what a normal life would feel like, and with his current situation he felt it was finally possible for him to do so.
Dean, or rather Carl, faced toward the window with a soft smile on his face. As he did that, morning sunlight poured in through the half-closed curtain and rested on his side cheek.
'Seems like I can live the way I want to now.' He gleefully thought to himself.
At the same time, he heard a clicking sound of door and footsteps followed by a voice he was rather familiar with. "A fine weather to start the day, young master.... AHHHH!!"
A man, probably in his twenties, with a butler uniform and neatly combed browned hair entered the room and looked appalled as soon as Carl was on his sight.
"Y-Young master, y-you're awake...?" He nervously looked at his young master who was staring at him with deadpan eyes. Carl, within seconds, could tell who the person was shortly after inspecting him.
"Glenn." He coarsely called out the butler.
"M-My God! You're really awake. How are you feeling, young master? Ah right! Is there anything you need or a pain you're uncomfortable with?"
Carl wanted to inform Glenn of the constant pain he felt ever since he woke up in his new body. But as soon as he was about to open his mouth, a torturous pain so severe swathe his body and blood instantly flowed from his nose and ears.
"Young master!" Glenn ran over to Carl right away. "What happened, young master?!" A teary voice rang out of Glenn's mouth.
Carl grabbed the hem of Glenn's clothing with every strength he could muster and muttered a word. "C-Call... Urgh!"
When Carl tried to ask Glenn to call a medic or a healer or whoever could suffice his pain, he started vomiting an ample of blood. The covers and sheets of his bed were instantly dyed red. And with the amount of blood he was vomiting, Carl knew it was only a matter of time until he fully lost his consciousness.
"Young master, please..." The last thing Carl saw after he finally black out was the face of Glenn who was close to breaking down on his side.
*
A dark and secluded environment enveloped Carl's body. The air around him was devoid of life, and Carl felt it was a really lonely place the longer he was on that space.
'Can it be... I'm dead?'
Carl wanted that to not be the case. Maybe he was wishing for it when he asked Lyndielth that selfish request in his previous life. But the more he thought about his new life as Carl Silversword and the freedom he could have obtained from being him, he knew he did not want to end up dead yet.
'Maybe it was because I fell unconscious that time.' He thought, and was fully convinced about it. Then a thought suddenly crossed his mind.
'What was that kind of pain? I've never experienced such brutal pain ever in my past life.'
He previously had no interest in knowing what the original Carl had done to his body that had led him to his current state. However, after experiencing the brutal pain himself, he felt he absolutely needed to know what was going on with his body.
'After all, that kind of pain should never be experienced ever again.'
When he concentrated and looked back on the original Carl's memories, several informations of what he needed poured inside his head.
What Carl did on the day the explosion took place: who he met, his conversations, where he went to and on what time the explosion took place.
Surprisingly, what Carl found to be the most interesting of them all was no other than the very thing which caused the explosion, and what had led Carl into the state he currently was. If only he were able to move his body at his own will that moment, he would be jumping and laughing until his entirety aches.
'Ancient relic!'
A treasure known to be so valuable that even kingdoms fought each other in order to be its possessor.
'Were they the kingdoms of Vroton and Wruven?'
Carl could not think about it any longer as he could feel his body slowly becoming lighter. With the bare minimum of strength, he leisurely opened his eyes and saw the familiar ceiling he encountered when he first woke up as Carl.
"Carl, you're awake?" A deep voice asked from his side.
Carl turned toward the source of the voice and saw a middle-aged man quietly sitting on the side of his bed and looking at him with tendered eyes. Carl knew who the person was from a single look, and unconsciously, he called out to him.
"Father."