At the foothills of the Haidin Mountain Range, which stretches across the west of the Empire, there exists an ancient fortress.
An ancient fortress so old that people would not hesitate to spew hollow flattery about how “antique” it was.
Its old grayish-white walls, encircling the fortress like an oval, announced that these ramparts had been built in an age before cannons were invented.
And the two towering spires stretching as if to touch the sky proudly revealed the crude architectural style and masonry of their era.
In the banquet hall, built at a time when glass was still precious, colorful stained-glass windows flaunted themselves, gaudy and eye-searing like the clothes of a nouveau riche.
And inside the banquet hall of this “antique” fortress, a feast was in full swing.
“Munch, munch… Son, is it not to your taste?”
A middle-aged man stuffed his mouth with an entire rare game bird caught by hunters and spoke to me with a worried expression.
“This banquet is held to celebrate the coming-of-age of you, our proud heir. It is bad manners for the guest of honor to make such a gloomy face, my son.”
This time, a noblewoman with so much powder on her face that one could not tell if she was a corpse or a doll cut a sausage made from piglet entrails with a knife and looked at me.
“Don’t worry needlessly, Father, Mother. Our dear brother is acting like that because he’s full from eating some high-class confectionery ordered from the capital. His palate is so refined that our family’s finances will hit rock bottom, truly.”
A girl with radiant golden hair curled up the corners of her mouth, looking down at me as if mocking me.
Feeling each of their gazes, I raised my lowered head.
A middle-aged man with a rugged, bandit-like appearance tearing meat with his teeth.
A middle-aged woman hiding her wrinkles beneath excessive makeup.
A brat ruining her pretty looks with an insolent expression.
They were all my family.
More accurately, should I call them my second family after reincarnation?
Because my life before reincarnation in the Republic of Korea remained as vivid as a photograph.
“…Father. Mother. And sister.”
“Yes, my son.”
“What is it?”
“…Why are you suddenly using that stiff voice?”
“I… am leaving the family.”
Stopped short.
The moment those words left my mouth, the busy movements of hands froze in an instant.
Among the frozen figures, my younger sister was the first to regain her senses.
“…What do you mean by that? Brother?”
“I mean exactly that. I am an adult now, so I shall leave the territory and go to the capital.”
“Ah, haha. For a first joke from someone with no sense of humor, it’s quite funny.”
As I quietly looked at my sister giggling as if she had heard something absurd, she let out a few hollow laughs before falling completely silent.
She had probably realized that my words were sincere.
Bam!
“…What do you mean?! Leaving the family?!”
“Father.”
“Yes! Has someone been tormenting you?! Have the servants of our family been wagging their tongues again?!”
“No. The servants have always been loyal people.”
“Then why?!”
“The biggest reason is that I want to see the wider world. I do not wish to spend the rest of my life in this ancient fortress.”
“What?”
Father wiped his greasy, glistening fingers on the rough rye bread beside him and looked at me.
“What on earth is the problem, my son? You know full well that you are the only son to inherit our family.”
“I know that very well.”
“When I die, vast farmlands! Lush forests! This antique fortress itself will all be yours, yet you would leave the family?”
“Yes.”
“Good heavens!”
Father stared at me, speaking so calmly, with eyes that said he could not understand, then coughed dryly at my earnest gaze.
“Son.”
“Mother.”
“I am rather worried. It is not this place surrounded by clean nature, but the capital filled with filthy air to which a frail child like you will be going.”
Mother lightly tapped her cheek, from which white powder fluttered, and looked at me with a worried expression.
“Life in the capital will be completely different from here. There is a giant clock tower there, and all the people live their days to the bells ringing from that tower. They enter damp factories before seeing the blessing of the blazing sun, and collapse into sleep before receiving the gentle gaze of the moon. Therefore, you must not expect the same kindness from them as from the people of our territory. They are already sick people.”
“I am well aware of the capital citizens’ lives from the newspapers.”
“Oh, my son. There will be far more cold-hearted people than you imagine. A warm-hearted boy like you will not be able to endure among them.”
“We shall have to wait and see about that.”
No matter how coldly they treated me, could they be colder than the modern people of my previous life?
I did not think so.
But even if I said this, they would not let me go.
It seemed it would only cause unnecessary worry, so I had no choice but to reveal what I had been keeping secret.
At this rate, no matter how much I talked, it was obvious that nothing would get through to them.
To focus everyone’s attention, I let out a brief sigh before opening my mouth again.
“Hoo. Father, Mother. And sister. I am not going to the capital without reason.”
“Hmm?”
“Actually, about a month ago, this fell beside my bed.”
Rustle.
I placed the object I had prepared on the table with an audible sound.
Everyone’s eyes were drawn to the black letter with silver script that I had placed down.
The stationery, an uncommon hue, displayed its sheen smoothly, flaunting its quality just as fine paper does.
“…What is this?”
“I asked the elderly butler, and he said it is an Academia summons letter.”
“What?!”
This time, Father was more violently shocked than when I had said I would leave the family, hastily grabbing and unfolding the letter.
But he soon coughed dryly and handed the envelope to Mother, who had been fanning herself.
“Ahem! Ahem! What does the letter say?”
When I first learned that an upper-class noble with vast territory could not read a single letter, it had seemed incredibly strange to me, one who carried the memories of a modern life.
But now, after spending a long time with my second family, it was a sight quite familiar to my eyes.
Because the family my father leads as head is a knight family, there is a custom of considering reading to be rather shameful.
Especially because he is a high-ranking knight who can bequeath his territory, due to the family tradition that doing the lowly deed of writing and reading would greatly damage the dignity of the family head, Father still cannot read.
It was an old custom that nobody would care about now, but just like this ancient fortress, our family traditions were outdated and thus continued.
On the other hand, since Mother is the lady of the house, she could read.
Every time I saw what could and could not be done simply because of the difference between men and women, I was struck by the realization that I had truly been born in a barbaric era.
“Let me see… To Jin Prah, firstborn of House Prah, the Empire’s spearhead brave as a lion. You are hereby summoned as a student of this year’s Academia. Please come to Academia, the cradle of deep history and tradition attended by your proud ancestor who inherited fairy blood. A guide shall be sent to you by the designated date.”
As her words briefly paused, my sister, who had been listening intently, asked again with a disturbed expression.
“…Is that all, Mother?”
“P.S. Should you refuse this summons even after reading this letter, you shall be taken immediately to the Empire’s High Tribunal as a suspect without any separate trial. Therefore, please take care that no unsavory incident of refusal occurs. Glory in the name of His Imperial Majesty. Den Brown, Headmaster of Academia.”
After Mother finished speaking, a deep silence followed.
I nodded with a calm expression toward my family members, who stared at the letter without moving an inch.
“For that reason, I must leave the family. Well, I shall take this opportunity to see the capital and return.”
Since I had given a proper reason, there was no fierce opposition like before.
As expected, should I have presented the justification first instead of speaking my true feelings?
Even though I had lived quite a long time since my rebirth, I still felt like someone clumsy at dealing with people.
Thanks to that, I received worried gazes from my family, but to drive the nail in, I asked once more.
“It is all right, is it not?”
“…Yes.”
Since Father, the head of the family, had given permission with his own mouth, I could go now.
Father’s voice after giving permission seemed more gloomy than I had expected, but because I now had justification, I could leave the family more smoothly than I had imagined. Perhaps that was all for the best.
It was fortunate that I could leave before I grew even more attached to these people.
These people were too good for me; an outsider like me did not belong here.
And so, in the year I turned fifteen since being born into this world.
For the first time, I left the ancient fortress and set off toward the world.