Chapter 183: Another “Me”

Chapter 183: Another “Me”

Without waiting for Klein to respond, Azik, who was gazing into the depths of the mausoleum, continued speaking on his own:

“I also remembered what happened when I first died and revived. I was lying amid a field of pale corpses, swaying as I stood up. My heart was filled with terror. I did not know what had happened, nor did I know where I was.

“Before the Church personnel could collect and purify the bodies, I staggered away from that place. Like a wandering soul, I drifted through wilderness, villages, and cities, unable to remember who I was or where I had come from.

“During that period, wherever I went, I could hear countless cries and see priests presiding over large numbers of burials. I only felt that sorrow permeated every corner.

“Later, by chance, I rescued a noble girl and entered her family’s manor. She was a sunny and cheerful girl, while I was like a beast that had walked out of the forest—sensitive, suspicious, self-abasing, frightened, and often revealing a cold, indifferent, cruel side that did not conform to human morality.

“She was very curious about me. No matter how I avoided her, no matter what bad things I did, she would approach me, infecting me with her smile, influencing me with interesting matters. Without realizing it, I grew accustomed to her mischief and accustomed to her presence.

“We quietly came together. She was very worried, afraid that her father would not agree to let her marry a former vagrant, now a servant.

“Seeing the sadness in her smile, I felt for the first time as though my blood were boiling. In a rush of impulse, I told her that I would leave this place, but I would return with a title and a bridal garland.

“I went to the army. I became a knight. Holding a three-meter-long lance, I charged at the enemy. Amid the remaining chaos of the Northern Continent at the end of the Fourth Epoch, I became a baron and gained my own fief.

“I fulfilled my promise. Bearing the king’s decree, my family crest, a knight’s sash, and a garland I had woven myself, I married my bride.”

At this point, Azik’s expression gradually softened, as if he were savoring and commemorating something. Even the corners of his mouth unknowingly lifted.

Listening, Klein’s heart stirred. It was as though he had once again seen the familiar Mr. Azik.

“What happened afterward?” he cautiously guided.

Azik looked ahead and said, “Afterward… afterward, we built a castle in our fief, and we had a child. He was a boy who grew very quickly. It was easy to foresee that he would become very tall and very sturdy.

“He liked fighting. He was always dragging a broadsword around, saying he wanted to become a knight.

“I thought it was only a temporary childhood interest, something he would find difficult to persist in. But even when he scraped his legs and bruised his head, he still did not give up practicing. He thought that by hiding in his room with his face twisted as he clutched his wound, I would be unable to see. Heh. He underestimated his father far too much. Every spirit in the entire fief secretly served me.

“Year after year passed. I recovered more and more memories. My wife constantly complained that the castle was too gloomy and wanted to go somewhere sunny and warm. I satisfied her request, but only much, much later did I realize that she did not dislike living in the castle. She was afraid of the changes happening to me bit by bit. She was afraid of the me who became increasingly cold and increasingly unfamiliar.

“She never told me any of this. She continued treating me as she always had. We had a wonderful period of life by the southern seaside, and even considered having another child, but sadly, we did not succeed.

“Only when I sensed that my next death was approaching did we return to the fief and to the castle.

“My eldest son—that boy—told me he wanted to go to Backlund and become an attendant to viscounts and earls, beginning his own path toward knighthood.

“I asked…