Step right in, step right in! To our humble abandoned building. To our right, we have a bunch of kids fighting for scraps in rags. To our right we have a bunch of burly men fighting for scraps. In what you might ask? Also rags!

Dirty floor, ceiling with holes, some mold plastered in the walls, yup, downright abandoned. Oh wait, there were people here so- oops.

“Wh-what are we doing here again?” I asked.

“They’re your guarantor,” Den said.

“My what?”

“Guarantor; someone who vouches for you and-”

“I know what it means!”

Before long, the guys in rags cleared and brought out stools. Three. Two for me and Den and one for a burly man in rags. This one had even less cloth on; just enough on his loins for me to not see stuff. I still saw stuff though. Anyway- “Ah, welcome. Denkar.” He grinned, giving Den a shake.

“Good to be here, Sharmon.”

This Sharmon man had wavy hair, a handsome-ish face with chiseled jaws, and poking facial hair. Maybe he’d cut them last week but they were growing wild. Modest muscles, with rather lumpy pecks.

“Are you like selling me or something?” I whispered.

Den gave me a rather awkward glance- as though implying ‘what are you smoking?’ “Anyway, this is Sol. Soler Arnius.”

“That woman’s son, huh…” He perked his lips almost as though forcing them out. “Well, son, from today on, your name’s Soler A. Barack.”

“Wh-why?”

“He didn’t tell you? I mean, we’re a noble family you see.” He waved his hand around.

How exactly? Dude barely had anything on and was living in a pile of nothing but ruins. And he was nobility? Was this supposed to be a joke? Was I supposed to be laughing?

Hey!

“And?”

“I heard you were smart but, maybe still young…” He paused. “You see, we’re going to sponsor you to the university as if you were one of our own. That way, most people would treat you better. Since nobility do still have some respect here.”

“How are you nobles, again?”

“Oh, in name only of course,” he shrugged. “So do be aware that if you ended up screwing up and just dragged our name down, we wouldn’t really be able to get you out of any danger. The purpose of changing your name is to prevent minor squabbles.”

Uh-huh. “But what rank are you, sir?”

“Viscount.”

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Hmm… that actually wasn’t bad. I suppose using his name was going to be a good thing after all. “You’re not falsifying your title or anything though, right?”

“Of course not~!” He chuckled.

Yeah, he definitely was. Regardless. “Well, as long as I don’t cause any major incidents, it wouldn’t be an issue, I suppose.

“By the way, what should I be aware of the family? I mean, I won’t mention much about the family and pretend, but I do have to know enough to pull that off. Like family history, names, estate and stuff.”

The man flicked his finger and someone brought out a book. It was more of a bunch of papers bundled together but got to job done I suppose. What job you might ask?

Well-

Sharmon Barack (Family head)

Alayla Barack (Sharmon’s wife)

Shia Barack (First child)

Then I saw a whole bunch of other kids. Like ten of them. Mostly from the mistresses and stuff. I guess those were the other kids who were looking at me.

And lastly- Soler A. Barack (Second Child)

Apparently, the other kids weren’t counted among the ranking, since they weren’t official heirs. Technically I wasn’t either though. So, they’d already agreed to take me in like that… but why? I got that they were indebted to Den, but why go this far? Hmm…

The Barack family was based in the northern Atlantia city, the city of whales, in Slovia. They made a name for themselves there and gained the attention of the local noble Count Behilde who appointed him as a Baron first and then a Viscount. However, after an assassination plot, The Barack family had to run from their homeland and come here to live in exile. With no real wealth left, they were working from paycheck to paycheck. That was the official story.

Very believable, if you asked me. But good enough. Viscount was a middle of the pack noble rank. And if I used it just right, I could live a dignified life. I wouldn’t be bullied and I wouldn’t really be subject to harassment from the noble brats either. But maybe money would be an issue. Nobles tended to have lots of money even if they were going through poverty. So they would expect me to splurge a lot of cash here and there. Oh wait, I could just say, I hated my family’s wealth and wanted to earn my own cash. A hard sell, but I could make it work.

“This’ll work,” I whispered. “Actually, this is better than I could have hoped for,” I said. “Thank you, both of you.”

Sharmon crossed his legs, smiled. “Anything for Denkar’s brat.”

It was getting awfully dark, so they started lighting up pyres here and there. The more they lit up the place, the shabbier it looked. Actually, I’d have preferred this place remain dark.

“I’m not his brat,” I said. “Yet,” I shrugged. “Oh wait, technically, now I’m your brat.”

Sharmon broke into laughter. “Fair enough.”

“So, where’s my mo…ther and sister.” I almost stumbled. But got over it anyway.

“Alayla works in a nearby church,” he said. “Shia’s at school. Oh wait, no, she was supposed to arrive already?” Who the hell was he asking. “Shia!?” All of a sudden dude just yelled.

“Yeah Dad?” a girl yelled from the other end of the room. Huh? One of the kids was larger than I’d anticipated. She was a foot taller than me. Yellow hair, although she did wear a dress, it had holes and patches here and there. And kind of dirty. “What’s up?” She came over, cheery, bubbly almost. ‘Bout thirteen?

“This is your younger brother, Sol. He’ll be attending the school from next week.”

Next week. Meaning, they were going to show me around and stuff?

“Oh, hi. I’m Shia, fifth year.” She spread her hands, and smiled warmly. Honestly, I was expecting a brute, given the state of this place. But I suppose I was too hasty to judge.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Sol.” I gave her a shake and though she let go immediately. Something about that gaze… why was she staring at me like that?

I guess she wasn’t happy I’d just blitzed into here and used her family as a… no- she wasn’t looking at me with anger or discontent. Rather… curiosity. Oh well.

“If you find anything difficult, or need any help, don’t hesitate. We’re family now,” she snickered and left for the back of the room.

“Thanks,” I mumbled. “What about the rest?”

“I’ll introduce you guys but I don’t expect you to remember their names,” he shrugged and introduced them to me.

Most had blond hair, some brown and oddly similar faces. Yup, this guy really was a womanizer that was for sure.

And as he said, I didn’t catch any names.

I spent the night in an inn with Den.