1 New Life
"Hey! I am free, pass the ball!" A little boy, roughly 10 years old, shouted at his friends on the outdoor basketball court.
It was already close to 8 PM so the kids were finishing their last game. The man around 18 to 22 years old dressed in a black coat kept watching kids play from the up-high nearby construction site. Sitting on the scaffolding with his legs free in the air, dangerously swinging by. One small mishap and the man could end up falling from the height of 20 meters.
'I wonder what would it be, living like that...growing up like that. Having friends to play with, experiencing the first crush.' The man thought with a faint smile on his face and an unusual soft look in his dark eyes that usually looked deprived of any happiness.
However, it didn't take him too long before his smile completely disappeared from his face as he looked towards the horizon at the dusk.
'I guess there is no reason to daydream about such childish things. The world is much a darker place than those children think...What am I thinking...it is even darker than what regular adults think. Getting through the break-up, working at a very demanding job, paying the rent...those things are already hard enough for most people. Fortunately or maybe, unfortunately, I don't have to even worry about those since my entire life is being controlled by others.'
The man's thoughts started getting more and more cynical but at the end, a faint smile returned to his face as he turned his sight to the kids on the playground that were already getting ready to go home.
'Well, if I can continue doing this dirty job so others like them can live their lives carefreely...I- I think it's not that bad. Unfortunately, most of the children lose their innocence and honesty after becoming adults...however I can't truly blame them as they need to adapt to today's society.'
Man released a relieved sigh before getting up while patting the dust off his coat. "Well, I spent enough time idling... the night is about to arrive, might as well prepare for tonight's hunt."
When the man was about to leave, he stopped and took a last look at the kids running, crossing the street. When he saw the kids' eagerness to get quickly home to avoid their parents' scolding, he couldn't help but chuckle out of amusement.
.
.
.
"Your Highness?! Your Highness!"
'What is it? I was just in the middle of yet another 'hunt' and I suddenly hear someone saying such weird words? The weirdest thing is that I subconsciously think that they are meant for me...? Huh?' The man finally felt as if he was in control of his own body and opened his eyes just to be surprised by the sight in front of him.
What he saw in front of him was civilization...several eras behind.
'W-What is this? Weird dresses...I only saw those in historical movies, what are they even made of...?! Quickly, where is my lovely modified Beretta?!' The man stood up from his seat and started patting the area right above his hips however he was quickly interrupted by the old man next to him.
"...Your Highness? ...Your ruling?" The old man asked while holding some papers while watching the man with a puzzled expression.
"Hehe, what is he doing?" Even the crowd of better-clothed women and men started whispering while chuckling at the man's actions.
"Huh? What rul-?! Ack!" The man turned his head at the old man and wanted to question him but he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head as unknown memories started flowing inside him, showing him bits of images of someone else's life. All of this happened within just a few seconds but the man saw more than enough to know in what situation he currently is.
"Oh...ruling! I have been distracted by today's fine weather. As for this...ehm, witch, I am moving the 'trial' to the next day. I don't feel well today, therefore I would like to retire to my room and rest for a bit before announcing my ruling." The man suddenly changed his expression from a confused one to a tired one while pressing his hand to his forehead. Like one of the bests Hollywood actors, the man adapted into "his" role without even thinking about how ridiculous he found this situation and instead tried to buy himself a time to think about the situation.
The man who was so suddenly addressed as His Highness took a quick look at the "witch" who was supposed to be hanged in front of many people right in the middle of a square. His eyes slightly widened as he saw the witch's build since she had a bag over her head.
'This is...a witch? Do they really want to hang her in front of so many people? She is a freaking kid for fuck's sake!' The man thought, gritting his teeth as his gray eyes now contained an unbelievable amount of rage. When his eyes fell on the crowd of well-dressed women and men who were still gossiping and even more than before, they completely shut their mouths and audibly gulped their saliva in front of his cold steel stare.
"Your Highness, this is no joke. We must deal with the witch as soon as possible before she attracts other witches!" This time, a man in armor was the one who brought the man back from his thoughts.
'If I remember correctly, he is named Carter Lannis, a chief knight. He should be loyal to this body- I mean to Roland Wimbledon and me as of right now.' The man was glad that he was interrupted from his murderous thoughts and decided to face this chief knight of his, weighing his combat capability but he found it hard to achieve an accurate result with that armor blocking his view.
"It's just one witch and if more come, it would be unfortunate if I had to hold this ruling more times in a row. Let them come all at once if they want, I hope you are not afraid, my chief knight." The man now known as Roland said towards the knight with a smirk, using public to pressure his "proud" chief knight.
"That..." Carter was hesitant at first however once he noticed people looking at him and gossiping, he quickly changed his mind.
"O-of course not! My duty is to ensure your safety, Your Highness and so I just thought that eliminating this witch could make your life safer."
"Hmm, thought so...Everyone may disperse now...And guards, take that witch back to her cell!" Roland said decisively before walking towards his residence, leaving people to watch his back with confused looks on their faces.
That is, everyone except the crowd of well-dressed people who alone were wearing slightly frightened yet angered expressions.
"*What was that?*"
"*I don't know! Isn't he normally timid?!*"
"*Then how do you explain that stare?! It felt like I am to be hanged instead of that witch!*" Woman and man were arguing in whispers while others were silently watching Roland's back.
.
.
.
Roland returned to his room and quickly shut the doors close with a confused face.
"Don't bother me unless it's something serious!" Roland said with a raised voice to make sure no one would dare to even question his decision to avoid his duties for today.
Roland went directly to his bed, dropping on his pillow face first. It took him more than an hour to reorganize his original memories and memories of his new body. Then, he took another hour to accept his situation.
It wasn't as if he was panicking or him being in a denial, he was simply trying to come up with good reasoning for this situation but he found out that nothing makes sense, so he might as well accept it if this wasn't just a dream.
"Kingdom of Graycastle...Witches are the spawns of the devil. Church...All of those are relatively acceptable but...what the hell is this black screen with yellow text in front of my eyes?!" Roland murmured while looking at the ceiling but in reality, he was looking at the black screen with yellow text floating in front of him. When he tried to slap it away with his hand, a black screen swiped to what looked like another page.
'This...it looked a bit like swiping on the smartphone but what are those numbers?'
----
[Name: Roland Wimbledon
Titles: Fourth Prince (+2 CHA)
Stats:
STR: 4
AGI: 5
END: 4
STA: 4
INT: 5
CHA: 6 (8)
??? [locked]
Undistributed stat points: 0
----
'Am I inside the game? ...Not sure if I should be offended by that intelligence but...I can't argue even if my knowledge and intelligence is already counted in.' Roland thought with a bitter look on his face. In his previous life, he was never a studious type, not to mention he didn't have much of a choice even if he wanted to study.
'I used to be freaking hitman, how am I supposed to lead people? Not to mention my knowledge of the original body is very minimal! I only know how to kill and even that was partly taken away from me since I no longer possess my modified Beretta! This is going to be much more difficult than my entire previous life.'
"Well, first of all..." Roland got off his bed and walked towards the doors before stopping in front of them, remembering the scenes of those kids playing on the playground.
"-I am going to save that kid down in the prison!" Although he said "kid", he was aware that she could barely be called kid due to her petite build otherwise, he was guessing her age to be close to 18 years old. However, even if she was that old, in Roland's eyes she still looked like a kid.
