'Fuck...it hurts...the hell!' Halbert opened his eyes only to find one side of his vision covered in blood red color.
'Blood...' Halbert immediately realized smelling the nostalgic fragrance. Tasting it from the tip of his tongue, he was sure of it. Right now, half of his face was covered with his own blood.
Before him stood two people speaking with each other in a hushed voice.
They spoke in an unknown language, but surprisingly Halbert could understand them perfectly.
They both exhibited anxiety.
"...I didn't mean to...! That fat pig tried touching me so...!"
"But still, my lady...!"
Their voices rang sharply in Halbert's ears, almost from all directions.
'Damn, my ears are ringing, that's not a good sign...' Halbert got up with staggering legs.
The two people, a 12-year-old girl, and the maid froze looking at Halbert. Their expression was that of someone who saw a ghost.
"y-young master! Are you alright...?" The maid hesitated seeing Halbert's strange glare.
"....." Halbert kept his mouth closed, he wasn't sure if he could speak in that weird language yet.
'Sigh...Do I look alright...?' Halbert supported himself on the wall of the corridor.
"Hey! What are you all doing there?!" A guard ran towards the three of them.
"Ah, my lady..."
It was at that moment as if electricity was flowing through every part of his body, Halbert felt his head filled with images.
"Fuck..." Halbert's pupil turned white and instantly his body slammed into the floor.
....
In another room.
Fumbling with the rim of her long sleeves, Allesia bowed her head.
"Sigh...You could have easily taken care of that trash without any harm, but you...!" Allesia's father, Duke Blodraid, held his head with a deep frown.
If Allesia had taken care of it correctly, he could have used this case against Duke Verskein.
At this point, the event that occurred in the corridor had already spread to a large distance. It had become a hot topic for all the families who attended the tea party hosted by the Blodraid family.
"...I'm sorry." Allesia bit her lips in indignation.
She was the one to harm Halbert in the corridor. Who was also her fiance, just in name.
Halbert, or more specifically Nicokel, was a foolish kid who couldn't understand this relationship's deeper workings. It was nothing but a business relationship between two Duke families to collaborate in the exploration of the ruin they found in between their territory.
'...How should I deal with this...the relationship between our houses may become a little wry, but I have no choice.' Duke Bloraid sighed deeply.
"Put all the blame on Nicokel, let's leave Duke Verskein to take care of it. In the end, It was that brat who dared to assault my daughter." This point made him angrier, causing a vein to appear on his middle-aged forehead.
Allesia bowed deeper, finding this decision to be satisfactory in her heart.
....
Middle of the night.
"Haa!" Halbert woke up, finding his body surprisingly heavy. There was no injury in his head anymore, almost like it never existed.
'...It must have been healed by a priest. But still...Who would have thought I would find myself in another body after dying.' A wry smile formed on his chubby face.
'And that too on such a fat brat's body.' Halbert felt bitter internally.
All the memory of the past host of the body was received by Halbert. From all that information, he was sure that he was on the other side of the portal.
'Or it might be another world altogether.' Halbert calmly speculated.
After sighing again, Halbert got up and moved to the mirror to check his face.
In the dark room, only the moon's dim rays entered through the window. The furniture was very showy, with glittery gold and decorations all over the place.
What the mirror reflected was a fat face that would never appear soothing to the eyes. A bulging tummy and nasty atmosphere that of a lecher. The only notable point was his white hair, glowing in a brilliant luster.
'...he did try to assault his future wife in name, I don't think anything good will come out of that incident.' Truthfully, Halbert didn't care much about that fact.
It was just a bad move done by a kid going through adolescence.
'A second chance, huh...' Halbert walked before the window, letting the cold breeze brush past his body.
'Sorry, Galven, everyone, it seems like you will have to wait a little while longer on the other side.' Halbert thought hard, but he didn't feel like ending his life for no reason.
The moonlight was the same as on Earth, it softly engulfed everything below it.
'War, This time I will fight only for myself and not the country. I will enjoy myself thoroughly until I am satisfied with my life in the war. It won't end like in my past life.' Halbert, Nicokel was craving to win on the battlefield.
It was unknown whether the empire he was in was the same one which invaded the Earth. There were other empires on this continent after all.
'This body lost his virginity six months ago, hmph, he must have awakened his carnal desires. I will have to stick with the Playboy title too.' Nicokel found this world to be a lot more open in sexuality, unlike Earth.
Nicokel's family, Verskein was one of the major noble houses, guarding the north border of the empire. Due to this, he could easily join the war that was occurring right now.
'If I remember correctly, a kingdom is waging a war against the empire. Ah, it's like I'm destined for the Verskein family, I can get practical experience there to see how wars are fought in this world.'
The situation in this world was different from Earth, there was war all around the place. Hence, Working as a mercenary didn't seem that bad in Nicokel's eyes too.
'The first task in hand should be for me to get my body in shape.' The moment Nicokel finished thinking this far, his chubby cheek suddenly froze.
'My analyzing talent...! I still have it!'
It has not even been a minute, within it, he already planned and considered what to do for his future.
Personally, he called this skill understanding. He got it the moment the portal opened into the Earth, it had been with him throughout his military life.
A small smile formed on his face as he lay flat on the bed. His talent was the sole connection he had with the Earth now, it was the symbol of all his past feats and suffering.
'Was my talent connected to the soul or everyone's talent is connected to the soul? Whatever it may be, I still hold a good weapon in my hand. Yawn~'
'Let's keep changing my plan according to my future circumstances.' Nicokel closed his eyes, falling asleep within a few seconds.
....
The next morning.
The gazes of the servant stung the back of Nicokel's head.
'Some nasty rumors must have spread across the mansion. So annoying, I should return to my house quickly.' Nicokel tidied himself and ordered the servants to prepare for his departure.
The servants scurried away to inform Nicokel's escort party.
The escorts were quick, they prepared to depart within the afternoon. Throughout this, Nicokel continued ignoring the gazes of the people around him.
Especially during the departure.
"What are you staring at?" Nicokel asked Allesia with a blank face. It has been more than 30 seconds since Allesia continued glaring at him.
The Blodraid family was of course informed of Nicokel's departure. They couldn't just ignore this, they had to send Allesia for the farewell.
'This man tried assaulting me...But I have to keep acting like a proper noble for the cooperation of two families. It's more frustrating than I thought.' Allesia bit her lips in disgust.
On the other hand, Nicokel closely looked at Allesia too.
Allesia had both the looks and atmosphere of a proper noblewoman. Her silver hair was as smooth as silk and her blood-red eyes shone brightly in killing intent, a symbol of her bloodline.
'I can tell why the former host of this body couldn't hold himself. She is still just a kid though, I am not interested at all. I look forward to her future growth, I won't mind a one-night stand then. Which is pretty much impossible, haha.'
In reality, it appeared that Nicokel took a glance at Allesia and nodded his head, then got on the carriage. He ran out of patience to wait for her to speak anymore.
"Huh...?" Allesia was dumbfounded seeing Nicokel's action, she just froze in her place.
It was considered a fact at this point that Nicokel was infatuated with Allesia, he always stuck to her side like a shadow. But the current situation was the opposite, it was almost like Allesia didn't even register in Nicokel's eyes.
"Let's go."
"U-understood." The Carriage's coach responded before beginning to move. The carriage was pulled by two salamanders, the symbol of the Verskein family.
These salamanders had verticle golden eyes and their scale was tough. Flames spewed out of their noses whenever they exhaled.
The departure was quick, and the power of the mid-sized salamanders was very fierce, the carriage had almost zoomed off to the end of the Road.
Duke blodraid, who was looking at all this from the window of his room, felt stupefied.
'Those eyes...They held indifference and...the same as that man.' Strangely the back of his palm twitched.
'Those were the eyes of a murderer and a man who lived his whole life in the war. The same as the mercenary king...But how?' Just remembering that nightmare Duke Blodraid faced in the past made him feel chills.
Duke Blodraid's eyes were stuck on the departing carriage. His heart beat faster and faster, with confusion all over his face.
'...It might be a misunderstanding, I could have seen it wrong.' Duke blodraid calmed himself, but his instinct never stopped.