This Is Awkward

The silence did last long as Dean soon started to bombard Leon with questions. He thought since he was already here, there was no need to brood over his past life. Even though it wasn't really that easy to accept, it wasn't like it would change anything if he rejected it. Now, he wanted to focus fully on this new opportunity he got to live, and if possible, reach the peak of life just like those MCs in novels he read who transmigrated. 

When Dean asked about the world, his parents, friends, and also his relationship with Leon, he got the answer he expected, silence.  

"Look, this isn't something any of us can change, I know it's extremely difficult for you to accept it because of your loss, but right now, we have to settle this properly," Dean said seriously.  

"What we? There is no we," Leon replied in the same cold manner. 

Although the time they've spent together has been short, Dean has started to get used to his cold attitude. 

"Of course, there's a we, you already know what's going on which makes you part of it, and there's no way you can pretend you don't. Also, I'm not saying this to make you feel obligated or anything, but your friend…" Dean went on to tell him everything the previous Dean's soul told him.  

Hearing all this, Leon couldn't help but feel sad once again. Knowing that even when Dean was dead, he still cared about the feelings of his parents and himself moved him. He couldn't say Dean was wrong about how his parents would feel if they knew he was dead though, even he knew all too well how they would feel. And also, the fact that he predicted he would be able to notice the difference between the two also showed how much he knew him. 

Initially, Leon thought maybe Dean was lying when he first said Dean's soul told him not to disappoint his parents and himself. But on hearing everything now, he knew Dean was speaking the truth. He didn't want to tell him anything, but something kept tugging at his heart to tell him. 

He didn't know what it was, maybe it was because of the somewhat familiar feeling he gets whenever he looks at the face of his friend whose body has been occupied by someone else. 

"*Sigh* What do you want to know?" Leon asked dejectedly.

"Good, I knew I didn't bet on the wrong horse," Dean said excitedly. 

"What? When did you bet on a horse?" Leon looked around, puzzled by his words. 

'There aren't any horses here, and who even bets on a horse? Those things can't even fight against the weakest magical beast.' He thought while looking at Dean with a weird expression. 

When Leon heard Dean saying he didn't bet on the wrong horse, he thought it was a battle between magical beasts he usually watches in arenas, so he couldn't be blamed. Although there are a few horses with a powerful bloodline, none were present around this part of the continent that he knew of. 

"I didn't bet... You know what, just forget it. Tell me about my background, my parents, how do I usually act around them? Also, about the city, are there any important things I should take note of? Things like that," Dean asked a series of questions. 

What was important right now was to know about his parents and his usual behavior around them first. He'll learn more from reading. But for now, he wants to know about his parents, and also the people he shouldn't offend. 

"Well, you're from the Dawson family, it's one of the eight big families. My family is also one of them. Uncle Anthony is very..." Leon started telling him about his family background, his father, his mother.

He also went on to tell him about the other six families, as well as their conflicts. 

'Anthony, they even have the same name. Is this really a coincidence? Transmigrating into the body of someone whose name is the same as mine, and the name of his father is also the same as mine. I bet they also have the same traits.' Dean thought while paying close attention to what Leon was saying. 

The name of his father on earth was also Anthony. He was also caring towards him, just like Leon said his father here was. 

According to Leon, he had a good relationship with his father, but they don't speak frequently due to his father being too busy. 

"Thank you for telling me this. Also, tell me about your family since I'll have to spend a lot of time with you. Or don't we usually hang out at your place?" Dean expressed his gratitude before asking about Leon's family. 

If they wanted to pull this off correctly, then he had to know about both families since according to Leon, they spent their childhood together, so he had to be close with some of his family members, right? 

Leon stared at him angrily, but in the end, he still told him about it. 

"Do I have any friends?" Dean asked another question, to the irritation of Leon. 

"Sorry, this is the last question," Seeing Leon's angry gaze he added with a forced smile. 

Having no other option, Leon told him. 

And according to Leon, he had no other friends except him, although there are some people he talks to, they're not close enough to be called friends. 

"Hmm. Okay, so... last question. What cultivation stage are we?" Dean asked while scratching his head embarrassedly. 

He initially wanted to wait till he got home to find out, but he couldn't. His curiosity was killing him. 

"We're at the Body Tempering stage Fourth and Third layers respectively " Leon spoke with a straight face. 

"Let me guess, I'm the one in the Third layer, right?" Dean asked with a long face. 

"Yes, how did you know?" Leon didn't expect he would be able to guess that. 

"*Scoff* Typical cultivation stories cliché," Dean scoffed before looking around. 

"It would've been nice if I got a system though," He mumbled softly. 

"What's that?" Leon, who heard Dean's soft mumble, asked curiously. 

Although he didn't like… actually, he didn't really know how he felt towards Dean currently. But he was quite curious about all these weird things Dean kept talking about. 

He remembered Dean speaking of webnovels, webtoons, anime, movies, comics, mangas, TV series, video games, etc. Being the first time he had heard of these things, he was quite curious about them. 

"Don't worry, I'll tell you all about it later. Not just that, I'll also tell you about different things from my world," Dean flashed a smile at his new friend. 

"Hmm, okay", Leon nodded. 

It wouldn't be bad to learn about new things, and from how enthusiastic Dean was, it seems like these things are quite a few interesting things. 

"Shouldn't we head back now?" Dean asked. 

Since he came to this world, all he had seen were trees and Leon. He wanted to see how the world looked like, from their clothing, he had already guessed they were in a medieval world. Although in his opinion, it would be boring since there aren't phones or TVs. 

"You should change your clothes," Leon suggested grumpily when he remembered they had to head back. 

"Yeah, about that, do we have storage rings or something we store things in?" Dean remembered seeing a ring in his hand, but he didn't know if it was one of those mysterious storage rings he read about. 

"Of course. How did you know? Do you also have storage rings on earth?" Leon raised a brow, surprised by Dean's knowledge.

"They wished they had," Dean scoffed. 

"Uhm, how can I access the ring?" He asked after a while. 

He had tried everything he could possibly think of, but he still couldn't access it. 

"You don't know how to access it?" Leon asked, puzzled. 

He thought Dean would be able to use it since he knew storage rings. 

"No," Dean replied, looking at his feet. 

"It's quite easy actually, all you have to do is..." Leon went on to tell him how to use his consciousness. 

"Well, that's easy," Dean laughed lightly. 

Using his consciousness, he searched his storage ring and soon found some clothes. He also saw some weird things he had never seen before.

After changing, they walked towards the exit of the forest. Just as they were about to exit the forest, they saw some group of men on horses coming towards them at a fast speed. 

Dean stared at them for some time, when he realized they were heading towards them quickly, he unconsciously took a step back, hiding behind Leon. 

An amused smile unknowingly appeared on Leon's face when he saw this, but his expression soon went back to its nonchalant way. 

"They're your family's warriors," He said while shrugging Dean's hands to the side. 

"Oh! I thought they were enemies," Dean scratched his head with an awkward smile. 

"How did they know we were here?" Leon asked curiously. 

Except for the bastards from the Dale and Claude families, no one else knew they came in this direction. 

"Young lord, master Leon, It's good you're alright. Your father sent us to get you," The leading man came down from his horse before bowing towards both youths. 

"How did he know we were here?" Leon asked the warrior. 

The warrior went on to tell them about the rumor which had circulated in the city. 

"Those bastards," Leon gritted his teeth angrily. 

Dean on the other hand just watched from the side, not saying a single word. 

'Seems like my father is very caring towards me. I forgot I was the young family head of the family. The life of a young master..*sigh* I could get used to it,' Dean thought while climbing onto one of the horses prepared for them. 

The warriors didn't come with a carriage, so they had to make do with horses. Luckily, this wasn't his first time riding a horse, else, it would have been an awkward experience.

Twenty minutes later... 

Dean looked at the city walls which stood at a height of over fifteen meters and with a thickness of over five meters. 

'It's just like those medieval movies and anime,' He thought while looking at the walls. 

Entering into the city, they weren't stopped by the warriors guarding the city gate. Recognizing the elites of the Dawson family, they quickly made way so they could pass through. 

During the journey, neither Leon nor Dean spoke a word. Leon was still reminiscing about the times he spent with his dead friend. Dean on the other hand was staring at everything with great curiosity. 

They soon got to a luxurious mansion. It was the household of the O'Brien family. 

'So this is where I live,' Dean was awestruck by the delicate design the mansion had. 

It was a totally different feeling from seeing those huge mansions back on earth. 

"The lord and lord Mason are inside," The leading warrior pointed at the mansion. 

Dean and Leon came down from their horses and walked inside. On getting inside, Dean saw two middle-aged men speaking. They were both standing, and there was a distance of about five meters between them. 

Looking at both men, he couldn't help but feel they had some sort of resemblance with one having a bigger build compared to the other. This gave him a headache because he couldn't tell which one was his father. 

When the two men heard their footsteps, they ceased their conversations and looked in their direction. 

"You're okay, that's good then," Mason said with a soft smile. 

Seeing that Mason was the first to speak, and thinking this was his family household, Dean concluded that he was his father. 

"Dad,"

He said while walking in Mason's direction. 

"...."

"Huh!"

Mason let out a surprised exclamation. 

Not only him, Anthony and Leon also did the same. 

Leon facepalmed when he saw this and quickly coughed to draw Dean's attention. 

Dean, who had almost gotten close to Mason, was surprised by the weird look he was giving him. When he heard Leon's cough, he subconsciously looked back and noticed him signaling him with his eyes that his father was the second man. 

'F*ck! This is awkward!' He exclaimed inside.