A New Beginning

Chapter 2 - A New Beginning

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As soon as Arthur woke up, his vision was immediately filled with the effervescent color of gold. He blinked his eyes a few times, causing the fuzzy sight above him to be gradually cleared.

When he came to his senses, he realized that the bed he was lying on was surprisingly very comfortable.

In pleasure, Arthur deeply exhaled, "Now, this is life."

A few minutes passed by.

Next, an hour.

Then, a few more hours... Arthur fell asleep.

"WAIT!! DIDN'T I DIE?!?!?"

A horrifying realization abruptly woke Arthur up from his slumber. He quickly touched almost every part of his body but to his surprise, there were surprisingly no signs of any injuries.

Following that, a strange voice entered Arthur's ears.

"Oh, you're awake."

Arthur turned towards the origin of the voice. He saw a man with long black hair. Although his skin was a bit pale, with the black haori he was wearing, it even seems to perfectly increase his overall charm.

"Congratulations on being the first one to immediately sleep after dying."

"To hell with that!"

"Calm yourself. Then, sit here."

The man casually pointed at the zabuton in front of him.

Now that Arthur took a closer look at the room... no, this couldn't even be called a room. The "space" he is in, although nearly empty, feels incredibly ancient as if it experienced the countless passages of time.

The golden "bed" he was lying on, was in fact just the ground of this visually endless space. Actually, the whole space was made up of this strangely comfortable cloud-like material.

Then, Arthur took a seat.

"I go by the name Asher," said the pale-skinned man while quietly sipping a cup of tea.

Arthur stiffly replied, "U..Uh, my name's Arth-"

"Oh, it's fine if you don't introduce yourself, I already know everything about you.

And also... Yes, you have certainly died."

A moment of silence fell between the two. Arthur was clearly trying to digest the situation that was happening but is clearly struggling to do so.

He then suddenly asked: "Then, are you God?"

"Given your insufficient knowledge about the extramundane world, and the misdirections of faith lead by your so-called religion. It is better if I don't directly answer that question."

"But I died, and you brought me here, no?"

"To be more precise, you are still dead, and your soul was brought here."

Arthur didn't fully grasp the whole situation but he was starting to get the gist of it.

He then threw a random question: "What exactly is this place?"

With a what appears to be an exceedingly patient man, Asher answered Arthur's question.

"It isn't really, but you could call this my home."

○○○

"Then, may I ask what is going to happen to me now?" asked Arthur.

"Reincarnated."

When Arthur heard that word, he immediately became excited, "What!? Really?! That's good, good. Now I will once again see my family."

Soon, however, disappointment covered Arthur's face when Asher said his next words.

"No, no. You will be reincarnated, but it will be in a different world."

"Oh..." Arthur replied languidly.

"Don't be too dispirited, aren't you bored with your previous world?"

"..."

Arthur didn't reply, it was unknown what he was thinking. Meanwhile, Asher was hushed and unfazed as ever.

With an apparent sudden curiosity, Arthur asked Asher another question, "Right, why am I exactly getting reincarnated? Or is it something that happens to everyone?"

This time, Asher looked as though he was considering things a bit. He put his cup of tea on the short kotatsu table in front of him and finally spoke. His scarlet red eyes looked straight at Arthur's.

"To summarize, You are the first ever to have the chance to be reincarnated by me, the reason being a little too unique, so I apologize for not being able to tell you. As for your other question, I don't particularly know much about it, however, it is certainly going to happen to you."

Arthur grew confused by the first part of what Asher said, but he did not say anything once again. Of course, it wasn't because he was too dejected to do so.

After a quarter of an hour had passed, Arthur asked another question yet again.

"Then, what kind of world will I be reincarnated to?"

"A world that uses what your people call magic."

Instantly, Arthur's eyes lit up.

"Then, I look forward to it!"

This time, the almost undisturbed Asher seemed to be slightly amazed by Arthur's easy-going attitude.

"You're surprisingly easy to coax aren't you..."

"Well, we are talking about something that is very appealing to me."

Magic... Arthur longed to use that ever since he was born. But, no matter how hard he looked into it as a child, even to the point of thoroughly studying physics, chemistry and almost every branch of science.

He found out that he wouldn't be able to make a single pencil move with his mind! He was extremely frustrated!

'I feel bad about leaving everyone. But I am so happy that I died!', muttered Arthur silently.

As if he forgot to suppress his exceptionally unfilial attitude. He hurriedly said to Asher, "Umm... Can we do it now?"

With a nonchalant glance, Asher replied, "Of course. However...

"You must always keep in mind that my existence must not be known to the people living in the world I will be sending you in. It is not because I am not willing, it is just for your own good.

"Now..."

Asher slowly stood up. He carefully walked towards where Arthur was sitting. He stretched out his hand, gradually reaching where the center of Arthur's forehead was located, then stuck out his thumb.

"Close your eyes. You might feel a bit of discomfort because of the process, but I am sure you can handle it."

When Arthur felt Asher's thumb touch his forehead. He instantly felt a strange but wondrous feeling course through his body. Although, technically, he doesn't have a body.

Then, when he felt that it was reaching the tip of his toe. He suddenly heard Asher say to him, "Until we meet again."

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