"I'm Alexander. You're John, right? I didn't you to be so handsome, they said you were a criminal, scarred, and heartless!"
He seemed excited to talk but not very experienced in social matters. He struck me as a bookworm, I knew his type well, I was one myself a long long time ago.
"I'm not sure how to react to that description, anyways, can you help me out a bit?" I got to the point.
"Of course, you helped me out!"
"I just have a couple of questions."
"Mother said I should invite someone for tea if I want to befriend them! Will you have tea at my home?" He was so excited that I couldn't turn him down.
We walked outside and my attendants were waiting.
"Are we going home directly, Master?" Marc asked me.
"You can head home and rest, I'll be having tea at Alexander's place," I explained.
"I have to remain by your side, Master. And sis- I mean the maid, said she was preparing dinner." Marc replied.
"Then we can't be late, you can tag along."
.
.
.
.
I walked with Alexander to his home, the small talk on the way mostly concerning his life before the Ville.
We were both bastard children but the way life had treated us couldn't be more different.
He grew up comfortable in a branch family, raised by a loving mother who doted on him, kissed his booboo, and hugged him in the winter. In all five of my lives, I had only myself to weather the worlds and their permafrost.
Jack Jones, the International Spy. Nathan Morn, the Crimson Mage. Damian Black, the Divine Healer. Rivian Rand, The Sword King In all five of my lives, I was an orphan with no arms open to hold me, not a single time did I experience love or affection, all I knew was purpose and whatever mission life happened to throw me.
I always moved forward no matter what.
Yet, in my fifth life, the call never came. I lived on the streets, did what I had to, and just waited and waited to no avail, the call of the heavens never came. I was free, lost, but free.
...
We arrived at the house, I greeted his attendants and we sat down for some tea. I started questioning him directly.
"The ones with the blue hair, who are they?"
"They're members of the family's [Divine Bloodline], like your father."
Alexander wasn't as simple as he looked, I had the feeling he was trained but I wasn't sure yet. One thing was for sure, he had information.
"My father, tell me about him and the 'divine' bloodline." I dug deeper.
"When the Gray family was established, they say a deal was struck with the gods. Blessed talents beyond others would appear in the family, marked by blue hair and eyes and the talents and temperaments of geniuses. Your father was the best example of this, the greatest genius in the history of the Gray family, a master who achieved the level of Sword-God at the age of 38 and slew his first demon god at the age of 42. With his strength alone he achieved the near-impossible feat of ascension into godhood and established family as the peak of the world. That's why his disappearance and perceived death in the demon realm shook the family so greatly." He explained calmly and in great detail, that he was truly in his element.
"How many children did he have? And who succeeded him?"
"Three children excluding you and the current head of the family is Deimon, your first uncle. I'm surprised you're not curious about the Ville,"
I was now sure, Alexander was surely trained and very heavily at that.
"I know you can't tell me, and I've already surmised it's off-world, either Panacea or Liomen-"
"It's earth. The Ville is on earth." He surprised me.
"Bold even for a joke."
"You'll find out soon enough. Anyways, did anyone tell you the rules of the Ville yet?"
"Rules? I gathered it was a private academy for the Gray family successors."
"It's a military fortress, we currently only have access to 10% of the space. There are five instructors and eight challenges hidden in the Ville, each student has a five and an eight set to them. Each one passed increases your security access in terms of both information and where you can go, completing all of them means you passed the Ville in its entirety. Once six students complete it, the Ville will be concluded and the others will be declared failures unfit for the higher ranks of the family."
"Interesting, this place is not what I thought it was, who knew it'd be so..."
"Dangerous?"
"Fun!"
We chatted for a while more and I felt like a small bond had formed by the time I left.
"Welcome home, Young Master, I prepared dinner!" Lucy opened the door excitedly and practically pulled me into the dining room.
The table was covered in different types of food, each plate more beautiful than the other.
"I didn't know what you liked, so I made a lot of different things," She was anxious to see my reaction.
"Thank, I'm sure it's all amazing,"
Even though It wasn't familiar to me, I picked up a fork and dug into some chicken and pasta.
'How many lives has it been? Countless years of life...'
As I tasted the food, I felt a rush of joy fill me.
"Y-young master! You're crying?? is it that spicy?!"
"I'll get some water!" Marc hurried.
"No! it's amazing, I enjoyed every moment of it but it's too much, so sit down and eat." I wiped my face and invited them to sit. I could surmise it was unusual from the proud nature of the other successors but It was no concern of mine.
"That's simply inappropriate, Young Master!" They complained.
"Enough, it's an order."
....
That night was one of the most peaceful in all of my lives. No target to eliminate, no monster to slay, no pandemic to battle, no demon king to hunt, just good food, and new friends...