Novels2Search
Reborn in a strange middle age
To live is to suffer

To live is to suffer

As Ethan was instructed, he sat at the table where the grandfather quickly placed a cup of milk and a piece of stale bread. Then, the grandfather sat on the other chair in front of him, and after taking a deep breath, he spoke in a solemn tone:

"...We have to talk, Ethan."

Ethan, on the other hand, was too hungry to pay attention. He didn't care about the appearance of the bread, and without hesitation, he attacked.

‘Oh, my gosh! it seemed like I hadn't eaten for hundreds of years!’

During this, his grandfather started to say: “I know that you don't want to go to the army, but I think that there are no options…”

At this moment, Ethan almost choked on the bread when screamed: “A-army!?...”

Pieces of wet bread were scattered across the table.

“Ew! You're gross, be more polite! Let me finish talking!”

“W-wait, old man, you know that I'll die, no?”

“Sigh… Understand, I won't be around much longer, and you, as an alphabet in the downtown, probably will die quickly without me. Moreover, with these wars in the entire world, only the nobility and graduates can enjoy a peaceful life without stepping on the battlefield. Unfortunately, I don't have the money to send you to school. The only option left is to become a soldier.”

When Ethan tried to speak, he was interrupted: “Look, son, in this cruel world, if you die in a battlefield, you would have lived a good life.”

‘This old man is crazy!!’ Ethan complained in his thoughts. ‘Die to have a good life? What kind of logic is that, crazy old man?’

“I almost forgot. Obviously, I don't want you to die, but despite it being a bad option, looking for the world, young man, it's the best option for us, poors. Anyway some have to suffer to have a kind of good life. ”

‘I... I already heard something like that… "To live is to suffer"… Haah, It brings back memories…’

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The memories of Ethan's previous life seemed to always disturb him, not as a weakness, but rather as something rooted in his soul. He recalled memories with his mom in the stack of shacks. One of these memories stayed with him forever. In it, his mom was lying down in some trash, dying perhaps because of some illness, but before it, she said with her eyes immersed in tears: “Son… To live is to suffer… enjoy life despite everything…”.

‘Haah, I should have lived, mom, I'm sorry…’

After a deep reflection on how to live life, he replied without hesitation:

“A-although I believe I'm going to die there, if you think I haven't any options for a decent life, I agree to enlist..”

The grandfather became momentarily surprised. The young man who minutes ago was scared with the word “army”, now seemed full of courage and motivation. He got proud and confused.

“Ah? What did you say?”

“Yeap, I'll be a soldier.”

“O-oh, I-I think I got it…”

The young man couldn't deny that he was a little scared to join the army, but if living was suffering, it should be overcome, and although this body wasn't originally his, he would do everything to have a good life, overcoming suffering.

“Then everything seems fine. I'll take the tunic for you dress.”,

“I think so.”

Then, the old man walked towards a door beside Ethan's room.

‘Haah… Things are happening very quickly… I should think about how I own this body with my same name, where I was before that, and even who was the body's former owner… But I have a new life that needs to be experienced. Anyway, what could I do to reverse this?...’

Ethan did have a well-formed way to think. If he didn't know how this new world was, and couldn't see the memories with more precision, what purpose would serve to keep trying to find plausible answers without a minimum level of knowledge? Indeed, the new world needed to be known.

Anyway, after some time, the old man returned with a white tunic over his hands.

“Here it is. It's not anything too extravagant, but in a way, it's usable.”

Such a tunic was a kind of medieval clothing, in which its cuffs had brown embroidered details, like its waist. In addition, there was a leather belt as a clothing accessory.

After a brief observation, the young man took the tunic of the old man's hand and forced a smile. The old man, who noticed that forced smile, ignored it completely as if expecting.

Then, the young man went to his room, where he stayed for a few times. With it, he returned dressed in that tunic, self-assessing.

The young man's brown hair, in a way, matched with the brown tunic's cuffs, and though he didn't think so, he looked very elegant in that inexpensive tunic.

“Hmmm… it's acceptable.” said the grandfather.

Listening to this, he pretended to be content with the assessment. The young man believed that receiving something willingly and having the courage to complain was the ugliest thing in the world. Even if you didn't like what you received, the right thing was to be happy with the kindness of others.

“I'll take you to the city, get ready quickly.”

“I got it, grandpa.”

During this, the young man went to his room to search for possible information about the former owner of the body. There might be interesting things on the desk or even hidden in the room. It would be worth trying.

When he entered, he quickly went towards the desk, which, painted brown, had two drawers one next to the other. As it didn't seem too refined, there was no locking system on the drawers, just needed to open them.

'Gulp… What can be there?...’

With his eyes fixed on the drawers, he opened the one on the right. Respectively, surprised by what was inside.

‘There's… nothing?...’

That drawer was empty…

Momentarily, the young man became uncertain about finding anything, but soon focused his eyes on the other.

The young man's hands shook towards it.

The drawer was a bit challenging to open, it seemed stuck, but he finally managed.

The white book, too rudimentary inside it, sent shivers down the young man's spine, but his grandfather's screams snapped him out of the trance.

“It's time to go, don't make me wait!” the grandfather screamed.

“... I'm, I'm going!” quickly he took the book and placed it in a handbag he found in the room.