Chapter 2
Chapter 2: This Disrespect Feels Familiar. (2)
Ghislaine, momentarily flabbergasted by the title of Grand Duke, frowned and spoke.
“Grand Duke? Are you seriously mistaking me for someone else while locking the Mercenary King in here?”
“Hah, where in the world is there such a king? Do you want to play pretend this time? What exactly is bothering you now?”
Overwhelmed by the soldier’s irritated tone, Ghislaine accidentally voiced his honest feelings.
“…I don’t like being here.”
“Oh, then please go back! Why are you suddenly acting up after a nap?”
“Just go, you say? You think someone like you has the right to release me?”
“No, what right do I have! Didn’t you follow me here on your own? You could just leave!”
His voice was far too sincere to be acting. Only then did Ghislaine sense something was off and cautiously asked.
“…Where is this place?”
“Where else? You came to hunt down the orcs that have appeared near the territory.”
Something stirred in his memory, a ticklish sensation at the nape of his neck.
“…How was my mana suppressed?”
The soldier let out an incredulous chuckle.
“What mana are you talking about? Do you even know what mana is?”
“….”
Being blatantly disrespected felt oddly familiar.
Flustered, Ghislaine glanced around again. That’s when he spotted a flag hanging on one side of the barracks, his eyes widening.
A white wolf emblem on a black background.
Why is the crest of the already fallen Perdium here?
“Why is that here? Are you laughing at me for being surprised… or something?”
The soldier, now responding no further, irritably shoved Ghislaine’s arm aside, forcing him to drop his sword.
In shock, as he was released according to the soldier’s actions, his own hands came into view.
“Whoa, what happened to my hands?”
His hands, covered in filthy scars, were now white and smooth. He looked like someone who had never trained a day in their life.
Amazed, Ghislaine looked at his hands and hurried towards a nearby water basin.
“Uh? Uh?”
He saw his reflection and was taken aback.
Lusciously shiny golden hair, fair and clean skin, and refined features.
The scarred face of the always-drunk Mercenary King was nowhere to be seen.
“Ahhhh!”
Seeing his own face and gasping in shock, the soldier clicked his tongue.
‘He’s lost it. He’s completely snapped. I knew a day like this would come.’
Taking a step back in surprise after seeing his reflection, Ghislaine cautiously peered into the basin again, gasping once more.
Ghislaine was indeed good-looking, but considering the shocked reaction, maybe he was a bit too narcissistic.
Regardless, he was busy examining his face from various angles.
“…I look younger?”
After checking again, he appeared to be a mere teenager.
Is this a dream?
Ghislaine pinched his arm lightly. The sharp pain jolted his senses.
‘This isn’t a dream!’
If that’s the case, then was the memory of being the Mercenary King the dream?
He shook his head inwardly. The memories were far too vivid and brutal to be dreams.
‘It can’t be a dream.’
Every sensation screamed that this very moment is reality.
None of it is a dream. He had memories of living in the future and had returned to the past.
“Huh!”
Ghislaine looked at the soldier with a dazed expression, covering his mouth with his hand.
The soldier’s attire and the emblem attached were undoubtedly from the Perdium Territory.
Pointing with trembling fingers, Ghislaine could only utter a simple exclamation.
“Wow.”
With a pained expression, the soldier sighed in resignation, looking up at the ceiling.
“Have a meal, then return to the castle. You don’t look good at all.”
The soldier turned to leave. Ghislaine desperately grabbed him.
“Wait! Wait!”
“What is it?”
“Um, so… what’s your name again?”
“Ricardo.”
“Hmm, nice name. And good-looking too, I must say.”
“Yes, thank you. You are also handsome, Grand Duke.”
At that, Ghislaine waved his hand embarrassedly and smiled.
“Ah, I haven’t heard that in a while. After all the scars on my face, I hadn’t been called handsome.”
“….”
Ricardo, looking at Ghislaine’s smooth, white face, fell into brief contemplation.
He’d never trained, yet he’s somehow gathering scars on his face?
He was simply a bit slow in the head, but he definitely seemed mad now.
When Ricardo failed to respond, Ghislaine awkwardly slumped into a chair.
“Hmmm, anyway, about that…”
Unsure how to explain the situation, he paused in thought.
But then, as if he’d made up his mind, he looked up at Ricardo with a serious expression.
“Ricardo, I know this is hard to believe, but I actually died and came back to life… I think I’ve returned to the past.”
“….”
“…Can’t you believe that?”
After a moment of silence, Ricardo showed a pitying gaze.
“You’re not trying to say you want to go to a monastery or a tower, are you?”
When a noble goes mad, they’re usually locked up in a monastery or tower.
Ghislaine’s reputation was already at rock bottom due to past incidents.
Thanks to his identity as a Grand Duke, he had barely escaped up until now. But if it became known that he was mentally unstable, he would be taken away immediately.
Realizing what that implied, Ghislaine concealed his panic and forced a big laugh.
“Hahaha, just kidding, kidding. You don’t seem to get my humor, do you? How could anyone go back in time? Hahaha.”
“…Then, I’ll be on my way.”
“Oh, right. Go do your thing. I won’t keep you long.”
As soon as Ricardo left, Ghislaine bowed his head in despair.
“Ugh, I’m going crazy.”
Of course, no one would believe him. The actual person who returned to the past couldn’t believe it, let alone others.
“Still, this means I’m before I ran away.”
In his past life, he had boldly decided to run away around this time. But with a soldier from Perdium with him now, it seemed he had not yet made that decision.
“First, let’s try to recall my memories. Wandering around may lead to actual confinement.”
Ghislaine composed his thoughts and cautiously stepped out of the barracks.
“Oh….”
The other barracks and the soldiers on watch suddenly came into sharper focus.
The tents looked mostly old and worn, resembling trash, but that only increased Ghislaine’s confidence that he had truly returned to the past.
At that time, Perdium was indeed very poor.
The soldiers who spotted him offered military salutes as they passed by. They did so with courtesy, yet their faces were full of subtle disdain.
This blatant disregard only reinforced his feelings of having returned to the past.
“Pft.”
The incredulous situation made him chuckle.
‘To think I would really return to the past.’
What kind of phenomenon this was, he didn’t know, but the reason didn’t matter.
Right now, his heart was racing uncontrollably.
“Bwahahahaha!”
Ghislaine spread his arms wide and looked up at the sky, laughing maniacally.
Nearby soldiers shook their heads at him, looking ashamed, but he couldn’t care less.
‘I can fix everything!’
All the regrets and mistakes of the past, along with the despair of the future.
All the pain he had suffered throughout his life had not yet occurred.
The people he loved, the ones he had missed, still had time to be alive.
‘But it’s not safe.’
That thought began to seep into Ghislaine’s eyes, glimmering with danger.
Duke Delphine, who destroyed the territory, and those behind him.
The scum who would deserve to be torn apart and killed were targeting Perdium.
‘I will kill them all.’
This time, it would be different from before.
His mind was filled with the information he had accumulated for the future.
Using that, he could grow stronger than anyone else swiftly and prepare for every danger.
‘Yes, I can do it with my current self. There’s no need to get overly excited. Just take them down, one by one.’
Ghislaine took a deep breath, calming his heated body and mind. First things first, he needed to assess the current situation.
‘They mentioned orcs? If it’s an orc hunt… then, yes, that must be it!’
The memory came flooding back. How could he forget the experience that nearly killed him?
He had lost patience with the scornful gazes and, seeking to make a name for himself, decided to join the hunting party.
The so-called hunting party consisted of just one knight and about thirty soldiers.
There were only three orcs in the vicinity. They all thought that was enough manpower.
‘But it wasn’t.’
There were actually over twenty orcs in the area.
The hunting party was brutally ambushed by the orcs, and Ghislaine had nearly lost his life.
It was all the worse because he had insisted on leading the operation.
‘This is definitely the day.’
Looking at the scenery and layout of the barracks reassured him.
Before they had even stayed a day, they were ambushed and nearly wiped out by orcs.
‘Wait, how much time is left?’
Panicking, Ghislaine looked up at the sky. It was past noon, and the sun was starting to dip.
‘I need to prepare right away.’
The orcs would aggressively push through before nightfall.
At this rate, the orcs would appear before long.
‘They didn’t plan their attack, so there’s a chance.’
Originally, the orcs had happened upon the hunting party and decided to attack.
So, if he prepared in advance, he wouldn’t suffer the same massive losses as in his previous life.
‘If I’m going to return to the past, I should’ve come back a bit earlier!’
Ghislaine grumbled inwardly.
Suddenly returning to the past left him dazed and confused, struggling to organize his thoughts.
He wasn’t even accustomed to the current situation, and yet he had to face orcs right away.
‘But I can’t just do nothing.’
In his past life, many people had lost their lives because of his actions.
Ghislaine himself had barely survived but could not escape the blame. That had been one of the reasons he decided to leave his house.
Now, at last, he would be able to correct the starting point of all those regrets. Avoiding it would be the foolish choice.
‘Right, let’s think positively. This is the first step toward changing the future.’
From today onward, the future of the territory would be completely different from his previous life.
With resolve, Ghislaine raised his head, the confusion gone from his face. Only determination remained.
“Alright, then. Let’s start by saying there are not three orcs, but twenty…”
As he moved to find the commander of the hunting party, Ghislaine paused momentarily.
At this time, he was considered a useless, bratty good-for-nothing in the north.
Yet if he suddenly declared that there were more orcs, he would surely be ridiculed for being insane.
“What should I do? I doubt anyone would be persuaded.”
Persuasion requires grounds and trust to be effective.
With his current status, he would be ignored no matter what he said.
After pondering for a moment, Ghislaine found a clear solution.
“I guess there’s no choice. I’ll just have to take command myself. That seems best.”
This might not be much different from how things were in his past life, but he had no other options.
“How did I manage to take command back then?”
Ghislaine wrestled with his memories. Faint memories began to emerge.
— I’ll be leading this! There are only three orcs!
— You think you can act up and still stay safe? Do you think I’d just let you go when I inherit the territory?
— You dare look down on me? I’ll show you I can do it! You’ll hand it to me!
……He’d just wallowed there.
“Ugh… I whined like a little brat.”
Ghislaine chuckled wryly at himself.
He had struggled against being disregarded, even with no abilities of his own. It was silly enough to kick the blankets while sleeping.
“Hmmm, I shouldn’t have to go that far.”
It was still necessary to take command. However, he wouldn’t act childishly as he had before.
Unlike then, he was now much more matured and experienced.
“Okay, let’s politely and dignifiedly ask first. I am an adult now.”
Ghislaine stepped lightly toward the knight leading the hunting party.
The knight frowned the moment he spotted Ghislaine.
“What is it?”
Faced with such obvious hostility, Ghislaine cleared his throat and steadied himself.
‘Wow, it’s been ages since anyone has made that face in front of me. This is hard to adjust to. But I must speak kindly and gently.’
“Hmmm, so… what was your name again?”
“Skoban.”
Skoban internally clicked his tongue.
How could a Grand Duke not even know the name of a knight under his family?
This guy was clearly lacking in any quality.
Unaware of Skoban’s true thoughts, Ghislaine raised his voice purposefully.
“Oh, yes. Sir Skoban, I came to speak with you about something urgent.”
“What is it?”
Though the reply was curt, Ghislaine didn’t lose his smile.
‘Be polite, be polite… though shouldn’t they give what I ask for without question?’
“Hand it over.”
“Pardon?”
Surprised by the baseless demand, Skoban questioned back, to which Ghislaine replied firmly.
“Give me command.”
To Ghislaine’s standards, that was sufficiently polite.
At least he hadn’t resorted to physical violence.
