A day in the city

Normally in this kind of situation, a clique conversation where we have an emotional moment and get to know each other would happen. But I want nothing to do with a woman that almost killed me, so I hurriedly marched away.

I wasn't keen on being involved with such a violent person. Those kinds of people always got into trouble, and the last thing I wanted was to get pulled into situations that I want no part of. Kara, knowing my name, was already a sack of problems waiting to be opened.

"Wait!"

She called out to me, but I was already across the hall before she could even try to catch up. Obviously if she really wanted to, she'd be able to catch me, but that would require her to use aura.

"Maybe I should quit the academy," I muttered as I neared the faculty room.

Even if I wasn't here, the story would play out. All I need to do is get rid of the other variables before leaving.

When I knocked on the door, it opened by itself. "I heard you caused some trouble with the third years," to my surprise it was headmaster that greeted me.

"They bothered me when I was minding my own business."

"You still provoked them and caused more damage," Augustus Cloud's large frame covered the light, completely putting me under his shadow. "Because of that, you will be suspended for a week, while third years will be suspended for two."

That actually seemed like a fair punishment, and one that I could benefit from. "Understood," I saluted and hurriedly left.

"Oi!" I heard the master call out, but I was already long gone.

------

I never got the chance to explore freely before, but now that I am, I couldn't help but admit how beautiful this world was. The sky was a lot clearer, and the air felt a lot better to breathe. The houses around were an odd mix of medieval and modern. It was like the way it was built was taken from the modern era, but they stuck with the medieval theme.

I liked it.

It was the same for the clothes. The common folk wore medieval clothing, while a few people wearing modern day suits occasionally walked by. And even some casual clothing popped up sometimes.

"Makes me wonder why a telephone isn't a thing yet."

As I was admiring the city, something crashed into my legs. When I glanced around me, I noticed the people laughing and chuckling. Checking below me, I saw a little girl with black hair dog ears.

"The pest is done for. She just hit a noble."

"Good riddance."

I heard the whispers of the bystanders. The little girl was covered with small scratches and looked really tired. When I was about to pick her up. They must have recognized me as a noble due to my hair. Bright hair colors were a trait the author of the novel gave to characters that had high social standing. Like the royal family's red hair, the Slywood's blonde hair, and the Gray family's silver hair, so it doesn't surprise me if the residence of this world used it to identify important nobles.

"There's the monster!" I heard a kid yell, then a stone hit my arm. It didn't hurt me at all, but it did draw my attention to the group of kids. The kid at the front was bigger than the rest and was holding a bunch of stones in his hand. The other kids behind him were either holding a stick or stones as well.

It was obvious that this little girl was running away from these kids that were bullying her. My glare and letting out a small bit of aura had an immediate effect. "I deeply apologize for me son's actions!" one of the bystanders from earlier quickly got in between me and the brats.

A few seconds later, the other parents of the kids rushed to their children's side. The parents had been here the whole time, which meant the bullying was happening within their sights the whole time.

"Is disciplining your children not common knowledge here?" I asked as I picked up the little girl.

"I'm sorry," she said weekly as she squirmed and tried to get out of my hold.

"We're really sorry!" The group of parents bowed in front of me.

I really didn't like causing a scene, but the thing I hated most was bullying. As a person with poor social skills growing up, I was often bullied during my school days. So bad that I decided to not go to college and just started working.

"A potion."

"Sir?"

"Give me a potion," I demanded.

One of the parents scrambled to hand me a low-quality potion. "Drink this," I lowered it to the little girl's mouth.

"You're giving it to the demi-hu-"

I glared at the one that spoke up. I had to slightly force the little girl to drink the potion since she was refusing to accept it. Only a few scratches on her body healed. "Another one."

One of the parents gave me another low-quality potion and when I was about to go give it to the little girl, the city guards arrived. "What is going on here?"

None of the parents dared to speak up, choosing to remain kneeling on the ground. "Does this city not have any rules against racial discrimination?" I asked, not looking at the guard.

"Who are you?!" the guard angrily shouted at me.

One of the other guards grabbed the angry one's arm. "That's Raveil Gray," he whispered, and the other guard froze.

It seemed no one else wanted to speak, so I focused my attention back on the little girl in my arms. She had fallen asleep, probably due to the potion draining what was left of her energy to heal her.

"I will handle the situation here," a man in the crowd suddenly stepped forward. He was bald and had a somewhat large frame. "I am an off-duty knight. I saw everything, so I will take care of things here."

"Saw everything but did nothing."

I remarked as I began walking away. The man claiming to be a knight looked away with gritted teeth. I walked past everyone, releasing a slight pulse of aura. That did nothing but simply show people the white aura unique to a few people. Normally, the aura had no color, but since I had an attribute, my aura had a faint white glow.

Once I was a good distance away, I released a heavy sigh.

"I need a drink."

I was thankful that eighteen was still the drinking age in this world, otherwise I'd be fuming after finding out I became younger.

Finding a pub was easy since they had a huge sign with a mug of beer on it. The place was open but had no customers at all. I approached the counter with the little girl still tucked in my arms.

The bartender looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Give me something hard."

The bartender shrugged before starting to make the drink. "Anything to go with that?"

I glanced at the menu above the counter. "Give me two set B's."

The meal was a simple steak with mashed potato, something that should be hard to fuck up.

Looking around, I saw a large mirror covering an entire side of the pub. With everything that had been happening ever since I woke up in this world, I never actually got a chance to reflect on myself.

Beautiful silver hair and onyx eyes that seemed to shine. And unlike my original face, Raveil was handsome, a lot taller, and in shape. Me and Raveil couldn't be more different, so it makes me question why they give me this body.

Why not some random commoner?

Why give me the body of someone who's death was a factor in the future?

Raveil's death was brought in the last volume before the author of the novel had disappeared. Kara had used it to appeal to Argonius Gray in order to gain his support.

"Should I fake my death?"

Sounded like a good plan to me.

"Here's your drink," the bartender handed me a mug of some blue liquid.

"What is it?"

"It's called 11th hour, it's the only thing that gets aura users drunk."

"Seriously?" Kara was never mentioned going drinking in the novel, so this was new to me. Taking a sip, I felt a faint trace of Aether. "Does this have..."

"Aether essence," the bartender said.

I shrugged.

------

It was almost sun set when the little girl finally began to wake up. "You must have been really tired."

The little girl jumped off me in shock. "I-I'm sorry mister," she bowed, shaking a bit in fear. "P-Please don't hurt me."

I frowned. "I won't hurt you," I patted her head. "I need to know where you live so I can take you home. I don't want an issue like earlier to happen again."

The little girl looked hesitant but nodded after a few seconds.

"What's your name?"

"Eris," she answered as we began heading to her home.

"Does happen often?" she nodded weakly. "Does your parents know?"

She shook her head. "I don't want to worry mama."

"I think she'll worry more if you come hurt."

It was already dark when we reached her home, and a crying woman greeted us.

"Eris!" the woman hugged her tightly, crying as she held her. "Where were you?"

"She fainted after a healing potion was used on her," I spoke up, gaining her attention.

"I-I'm so sorry my lord," the woman bowed, while hugging Eris tightly.

"He's very nice," Eris spoke up. "He saved me."

The woman wiped her tears. "I'm Eris's mother, Lisa. I can't thank you enough my lord."

Aside from the black hair, the woman looked nothing like Eris. She was normal human woman around her late twenties. There was nothing special about her unless you counted her mature charm.

"You're welcome," I looked at their home. It was just a worn-out shed that was the odd one out of all the houses surrounding it.

"We don't have much, but if you need anything my lord just tell me. I'll do what I can."

"It's alright. I'll take my leave now."

Lisa and Eris bowed as I began walking away. "Safe travels."

Hearing those words felt nice.