"Shit!"
Abiral's heart fell to the ground when he was met with the face only a mother could love.
His hair fell to the front of his face making him look like one of those cheap horror movies trying to scare the audience with a pale ghost-looking kid. While his clothes almost fell from his shoulders to his waist.
"Young man refrain yourself from indecency," the man's wrinkles drooped from his skin. It was like he came out of the womb looking the way he was.
Born to be an old man.
Abiral was still stunned as the man looked down at him. Both of his hands were pressed at his lower back, he looked used to people being scared of him.
'Do they just hire anybody here?' Abrial's eyes started to return to normal as he caught his breath, 'First, the women are built like powerlifters on steroids now this?'
His body must've also noticed that it was a false alarm because the color on his face began to return as well.
The old man stood straight and stiff like a nun as Abiral clenched at his heart groaning to get the blood to regulate again.
"I apologize mister, but if I may," he turned his head a few times unable to take in the sights of the luxurious hallways and decor, "What kind of place is this?"
The man's eyes peered out of the sack his skin had, "Did you suffer damage to the brain?"
'What's that supposed to mean?'
Abiral gave the man a stupid look—he didn't realize that he looked like a small child with a stink face and not a grown man face-to-face with another man.
"Are you unable to recall where you are?" The old man didn't look the slightest remorseful or pitiful as the tone of his voice.
Abiral let his voice become irritable but his manner remained respectful, "Apparently," he raised both of his arms and shrugged his shoulders.
He still didn't have his 'triggering' moment to get the owner's body's memories. He was an airhead floating around in some different world until he could understand.
"Allow me," the old man reached his hand out towards Abiral.
'Does he think I'm a-'
Abiral wanted to slap his forehead, his ears flushed an embarrassing red as he held his hand up to the old man.
"Young man I am asking for the thing in your hands."
'He didn't want to hold my hand?' Abiral took back his right hand and handed the ribbon to the other man with the other along with flushed red ears.
"You are too old for that," the senior's voice was twisted with disgust and judgment.
Abiral kept his head straight but let his eyes stare with full force at him.
'How insensitive. This boy was stuck in a bedroom all his life what's wrong with wanting to be treated as a kid?'
The man began walking with no warning but it was clear that Abiral was intended to follow him. He wedged his feet further into the slippers so they wouldn't fall off.
"This place is the residence of the Ser family, as you can see they're not short of one penny," a joyous smirk slowly appeared on the old man's face.
Abiral took it as him being bashful in his pride of the family he was working under.
"You must've been blessed in your past life, the king's son is the one who found a sickly fate-ridden peasant such as the likes of yourself," he looked around meticulously at the wording of his words.
"How kind of him," he tried to sound like he was amused and moved by his words. Although it was something he was already aware of.
Then Abiral noticed how the elder had a more shady aura to him, 'Was this some kind of secret?'
"Stretched out over there are the largest mountains you'll ever come across in your lifetime boy and a few blocks down are nobles—keep walking and you'll see people just like you."
Abiral squinted his eyes, 'How saline is this man?'
The two of them kept walking passing by the many rooms before coming across one that looked as if it had no entrance.
"If you stupid boy then let me tell you one thing; not many know of the eldest son's existence. Very limited, but soon your life will be helpful to the young master."
The senior smacked the back of Abiral's head for staring too hard at the door and they continued walking around.
"I shall bring you to your teacher, she was the one who first fetched for you."
"The tall one?"
"Sophia," the elder spoke her name with such a distortion that it felt like an action player in a popular game being introduced.
Abrial chuckled at this thought, 'Sophia!'
When you expected to see a slender woman, there was a woman built like a bear barreling out onto the screen.
The man slapped the back of Abiral's head as if he could read his thoughts of making a joke of Sophia.
'Damn, are his hands made out of sand?' Abrial rubbed the back of his head, his face returned to the irritable version from before.
He replayed the elder's words before asking, "Teacher?"
"Your purpose."
Goosebumps raised the hair on Abiral's skin, it was almost like the old man was attempting to spark his memories.
He could feel a new strangeness in his pulse then a thought raised to the front amongst all others, 'Why would the son choose him?'
Abiral began to dwindle with his hair, a fairly new habit he picked up on after being reincarnated with long hair.
It was now understandable to him why women always played with their hair in awkward moments. It was like an immediate stress reliever.
When Abiral looked up he noticed the old man abruptly stop walking. With a more perplexed expression, "I'm surprised how well you are behaved."
A wind picked up through the open designed corridors, "Why is that, sir?"
The old man didn't turn his head to look at Abiral, instead, he pressed his fists harder into his lower back, 'Was he smiling?'
"You and the young lord were always," he paused smacking his tongue on the roof of his mouth.
A feeling of nausea started to blend in with Abiral's saliva and the dizziness started to return.
'I thought Ludus fixed me,' his hands dropped from his hair and crossed over his stomach, "Always what?"
"Rowdy."
The old man was not staring entirely at Abiral.
"You used to never be able to stand still," he softly chuckled.
It was like the work of his mechanic throat could be heard whirring up a "Ha" sound, "Did the near-death experience change you?"
Abiral's eyes dropped in a monotone display with a flat effect.
The elder bent down and flicked at his forehead, "You act more civilized now and not like some nong."
The grip around his waist tightened, and a cold sweat started to break on Abiral again, "Sir how far is Sophia?"
The elder slapped his head more rigorously this time.
Abiral groaned, "Teacher, I meant teacher."
"We still have some ways to go, you and I must run an errand."
He wanted to return to his bed at once but the old man commenced his steps. Abrial gathered some strength to match his pace alongside the elder.
The elder glanced over to the boy next to me and with a low susurration, "They don't make men like they used to."
'Who's keeping this sap of a man alive? Someone must be praying hard for this guy.'
"Deliver this to the lady in that room boy."
'What am I a dog?'
"Yes sir," Abiral snatched the parcel from the elder's hands.
He had to use both hands to push both hands with the parcel in between his left armpit. The clothes loosely hung from his wrists.
"Ma'am?"
Abiral tipped around the dark-lit room, 'There isn't a soul around here.'
Further in the room with a large black curtain, he pushed past it. A desk and a silhouette of a woman clothed in piles of fabric became visible.
She turned her head swiftly, "What!" Her words came out in hisses.
Abiral flinched and then held out his delivery, "The elder wanted me to give this to you."
She snatched it from his hands and ripped it open.
'Is she mad?' Abiral looked around, 'Probably the reason why she's cooped up in a room like this," he ran his finger against the wood—piles of debris and filth covered it, 'This is worse than my place. Do they have to order someone to keep a room clean?'
He tried to get a good look at what the woman had in her hands, but her hunched posture blocked any peeking.
"Do you require any assistance, madam?" Abiral reached his hand out to the woman skeptically.
He could hear groaning come from her reluctantly he wanted to step away from her and never return. Her strange behavior reminded him of someone—someone whom Abiral didn't want to be reminded of.
"Get out! Out!"
Before the woman could turn around Abrial had already left the room.
He ran until he was clenching onto the leg of the elder, gasping for a breath from his tightening chest that would make him feel at ease, "What's wrong with her?"
Unfazed, the old man gave Abiral another slap and said no more as he shut her door.
'Why would he make me go in there?'
He could hear the elder's steps resume.
The man continued walking as if nothing happened until he stopped again at another door.
Before he advised Abiral to open Sophia's door, the elder decided to exchange a few words with him.
"You have no sense lad," The man went silent to hear any noise before finishing his words, "He was watching you while you were in the room with the ladies, it's quite a wonder how you didn't notice his pair of eyes."