‘Why does trouble always find its way to me…’

To be quite frank, Lucian was already in sort of an odd mood after finding out he had not only died, but had now reincarnated into this odd world.

But after hearing this rough looking youth speak, his mood quickly changed from odd to sour.

“How… interesting,” Lucian muttered to himself.

He was still somewhat amused by this whole situation.

“What was that?”

However it seemed his old habits were coming back to bite him already, as he had spoken his thoughts aloud unknowingly.

But it seemed the brawny youth wasn’t that interested in what Lucian actually had to say, as he glossed over it in only a matter of moments.

“Here I thought you’d never show your face again after what happened last week.”

The boy, at least twice Lucian’s own size, sneered.

“Thought you could hide away forever, huh?”

Lucian’s mind shifted through the lingering memories of his predecessor.

Eventually, after thinking hard and long, a vague recollection started to form.

This was Roderic, a constant thorn in the side of the previous Lucian.

As previously stated, he was twice Lucian’s size — in both height and girth, as Lucian himself was actually quite short and skinny for his age.

He was the sort of bully who thrived in places like these, where the weak willed were gathered for easy pickings.

But instead of fear, Lucian felt something quite different.

Amusement.

It was like watching an insect crawl across a perfectly laid experiment, thinking itself significant.

“Roderic.”

Lucian called out to him, testing the name on his tongue.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?”

The hint of sarcasm in his voice wasn’t subtle at all, and it must have struck a chord.

It seemed Roderic wasn’t used to the previous Lucian responding back to him like that.

His expression darkened, and he took a threatening step forward, fists tightening at his sides.

“Don’t play games with me, runt. I said pay the hall tax.”

Lucian tilted his head, feigning ignorance.

“Hall tax? I don’t recall such a thing being in the academy rule book?”

Of course, Lucian was just mocking Roderic again, Roderic just didn’t know it.

In truth, the memories of past encounters with Roderic had flooded Lucian’s mind now, with the faint memories clicking into place.

The old Lucian had indeed been squeezed dry by this brute, giving up whatever allowance he’d been given by his father every month to avoid confrontation.

But the old Lucian was gone now.

The notion of parting with currency, of being coerced by such a pitiful child was laughable to the new Lucian.

He let out a soft chuckle, almost giggle since it came out of his prepubescent, 12 year old mouth, before meeting Roderic’s gaze directly.

“You believe you have leverage over me because of a few coins?”

Roderic blinked, momentarily thrown off by the sheer audacity in Lucian’s tone.

“What—?”

“Fascinating…”

Lucian went back to his old habits again and started murmuring to himself.

His eyes narrowed as he regarded Roderic as one might a particular specimen under a microscope.

“What drives you I wonder? A sense of entitlement? Power? Or perhaps just a base craving to dominate the weak?”

At this point Roderic’s face had flushed with anger.

He stepped forward, raising his fist threateningly.

“You little—!”

But before he could finish, the door along the hallway behind Lucian swung open with a heavy creak.

The atmosphere in the hallway shifted instantly.

Roderic’s fist, which had been halfway through its arc, froze in mid air.

His face twisted into a mask of frustration and confusion.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

The man who emerged was striking — a solidly built figure with a presence that seemed to command the air around him.

He was dressed in a dark robe-like garment, somewhere between the simplicity of a martial arts gi and the elegance of a scholar’s robe, cinched at the waist by a broad leather belt.

The garb was adorned by some faint lettering of this world’s language, that spelt out the words ‘Combat instructor’.

His hair, long and tied back in a simple knot, was streaked with silver despite his youthful face, and his eyes were a piercing shade of blue, the kind that seemed to see through every layer of a person.

A subtle aura of power radiated from him, nothing like what Lucian felt from Roderic’s stocky, bodybuilder-like figure.

Lucian could tell that he was the type of person that, when stepping into a room, brought all of the attention naturally onto himself just from his presence.

“Is there a problem here, kids?”

He spoke, with his voice being calm, but there was an undercurrent of authority that brooked no argument.

Lucian straightened, with his interest in this person piqued.

He glanced at Roderic, who had immediately shrunk back, all of his intimidation vanishing as if he had been doused in cold water.

“N-no, Professor Kaldor!”

He stammered when he spoke, with his face on the verge of turning pale.

“Just… having a chat with my friend Lucian here!”

“Friend?”

Kaldor’s gaze shifted between the two of them, settling on Lucian with a faint, almost imperceptible frown.

“I wasn’t aware the two of you were on such friendly terms.”

Lucian offered the professor a disarmingly innocent smile, knowing that a zero tolerance policy was in place at this academy.

If one went down, they both went down.

It didn’t matter who was on the receiving end or not.

“Oh, absolutely. Roderic here was just asking me to contribute to the welfare of the academy.”

“…”

“…”

The corners of Kaldor’s mouth twitched, as if suppressing a chuckle of his own.

“I see. Quite the philanthropist, aren’t you, Roderic?”

It didn’t take an idiot to figure out what was going on between the two of them, and Kaldor was no idiot. It was obvious that Roderic was in the midst of bullying Lucian before he stepped in. But with both sides denying anything had happened, what was he supposed to do?

***

Roderic opened his mouth, but no words came out.

He glanced desperately at Lucian, as if pleading for some kind of support, but Lucian merely tilted his head, the picture of obliviousness.

“Well, regardless, I’m sure Lucian is perfectly capable of deciding where to place his generosity, if he so chooses.”

Kaldor’s tone hardened slightly, the playful edge vanishing.

“Yes, Professor…”

Roderic mumbled, his shoulders slumping in defeat.

He shot Lucian one last, baleful look before shuffling down the hallway, his steps no longer as heavy or confident as they used to be.

Silence reigned in the corridor as Kaldor watched the boy’s retreating back, his expression unreadable.

Then, he turned to Lucian, still with a blank look on his face.

“You’re different.”

He stated plainly, as if he were just commenting on the weather. His eyes gazed over Lucian imperceptibly, like he was dissecting him with just a look.

“Not the same meek boy I remember.”

Lucian blinked, momentarily caught off guard by the man’s perceptiveness.

‘Have I been caught out as a reincarnator already?’

For a split second, Lucian felt the urge to break into a full smile at Kaldor’s comment, and he almost broke under his own pressure.

It was amusing how quickly people noticed changes when they actually paid attention.

He could almost see the gears turning behind the Professor’s piercing gaze. Like there was an intense and complex clockwork going on behind those piercing eyes of his.

But it wouldn’t do him any good to reveal too much.

He might have inhabited the memories of the previous Lucian, but as was evident from his encounter with Roderic, he actually had to focus hard enough to be able to recall them. Lucian instinctively had a feeling that things would mesh together as time went on though, with the previous Lucian’s memories becoming his, with no need to siphon through them or decipher their meaning.

And in the current moment, he didn’t quite understand enough about this world to go around revealing such a big secret.

For all he knew, it could be like the middle ages in Europe where people even suspected of magic or heresy were executed. In fact, judging by the architecture and manner of speaking these people had, he had no doubts this might be the case.

The distinct lack of anything electrical, or industrial was all the evidence he needed to see that this world was far, far behind his previous on.

As of the current moment, he didn’t know the customs of this place, so it seemed he had to tread carefully with his words and actions for a while, at least before he understood the laws of this land a bit more. But that was only while he still got a grip on things.

Once he learned more, understood more about this world and educated himself enough to call himself knowledgeable about this place…

Well, he had no doubt that he’d continue his experiments from his previous life, just like they had never ended in the first place. And his job in his previous life wasn’t exactly… legal.

So for the time being, he decided that he should start to act more like the previous Lucian would, and gradually make changes to his outside persona over time, rather than act like his real, old self, out in public.

‘This time with Roderic will have to be the last, a one off until things settle down.’

Lucian mulled over his options, swiftly crafting up a response that would hopefully convince Professor Kaldor. He wasn’t particularly willing to out himself so quickly after reincarnating.

He had plans — things he’d like to accomplish, and he wouldn’t let a small hurdle like this stop him.

“Changed?”

Lucian shrugged lightly, sculpting his expression into a mild, uncertain face that his predecessor might have worn. For someone with so much control over their emotions like him, it wasn’t a difficult thing to put on an act like this.

After all, he put on an act every single day for the first 25 years of his previous life — a few more years in this place was not a big problem.

“I suppose I just… got tired of being a doormat.”

He offered a lighthearted chuckle, like it pained him to speak about it.

“I guess it was more like… a wake up call.”

Kaldor’s gaze lingered on him, uncomfortably sharp, as though it were peeling back each layer of his mind to examine it under a harsh, unforgiving light. He seemed suspicious, rightfully so, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on why…

Lucian swallowed, allowing his body to tense just slightly.

A trickle of nervousness, something Lucian hardly ever felt, could sell the story.

He had to appear vulnerable enough to match the expectations of the people who were in regular contact with his body before he inhabited it, while showing just enough of his new resolve to satisfy the Professor’s curiosity.

“A wake up call you say…”

Kaldor’s tone was neutral, but there was something beneath it that Lucian was unable to place. It was almost like a spell, or a trick. In fact, Lucian started to feel like his mind was slowly starting to loosen up a little, and his eyes gazed into the deep abyss of Kaldor’s own, seemingly sinking deeper and deeper within the longer his gaze lingered.

‘What… is this?’

For the first time since he found himself in this place, this body, Lucian felt genuine confusion. Something was taking control over his own mind. Something he couldn’t contain. Something he couldn’t control.

‘Get… the… f*ck… out!’

But with his willpower, he managed to force whatever it was out of him. He was once again engulfed in a mind-pounding headache, but he was free of that controlling, deluding feeling that had just taken hold of him.

It was hard to tell.

But it seemed to have worked.

Kaldor loosened up his piercing gaze, and a smile creeped back onto his face.

“Well, good for you then Lucian. You are dismissed, you can go back to class now.”

He walked away with his hands behind his back, not taking another glance at the short boy.

‘What in the world was that?’

But he left a rather confused Lucian behind, who had never felt confused since coming to this strange world.