“What is this?” Elysian asked, accepting the two items. When he opened the small pouch, a smile spread across his lips as he saw iron chains with a small black sphere connecting the two sides, creating a bracelet. “It seems that old man followed through with our agreement,” he muttered, counting the items inside. “Hey, why are there only seven bracelets in here? We agreed on ten!” he exclaimed, frowning at the thought that he had been scammed.

“Master, I promise I didn’t take anything from it,” Osric hurriedly said, fearing he would be accused of stealing.

Glancing at the soldier, Elysian snorted and muttered, “Relax, I’m not accusing you. I’m fuming that the old man might’ve scammed me.”

‘Wait, that shouldn’t be the case. I haven’t paid him yet. If he wanted to trick me, he would have made sure to get the money first. Besides, I don’t think he would con me for such an amount. One gold coin should be nothing to him.

Hmm… He left a letter, right? Let’s see…’

Elysian quickly opened the letter and read its contents.

image [https://i.imgur.com/kF7tPrV.png]

‘This b*stard! Is he cursing me to my doom? Tsk, why am I always meeting obnoxious entities? Eye, BloodShade, and now this old man. It seems I used up all my luck just to return to my past.

Well, I couldn’t deny that I’m also obnoxious—very obnoxious. It seems that birds of a feather do flock together. Tsk, I’m not a f*cking bird brain, so ‘Great minds think alike;’ that sounds better—much better.’

When Osric noticed the young noble grinning, he turned to the servant, who looked at him and shrugged. Left with no choice, he gently asked, “Master, are you alright?”

“Huh?” After being pulled back from his musing, Elysian nodded and said, “I’m fine, don’t worry.”

“By the way, master, regarding the knife, hmm… I-I don’t know where it is,” Osric stammered, uncertain what to do. After winning the weapon, the young noble took a liking to the worn, rusted knife. Since it had gone missing and he was present when it should have been secured, he felt responsible for its safekeeping. “Maybe… Don’t worry. I’ll ask some of the soldiers if they have seen it…”

“Don’t,” Elysian quickly interjected, glaring at the soldier. “Are you crazy? If you ask them, it’s like you’re admitting that you’re involved in the incident.”

“I.. You’re right,” Osric finally said, realizing the younger boy had a good point. Sighing in resignation, he asked, “What do we do, master? If someone finds it, it will easily lead to you, since many people saw that you won the knife.”

“Hmm? Ah, don’t worry about it,” Elysian responded, smiling at the older boy to alleviate his worry. “The old man mentioned in his letter that the knife wasn’t there; it disappeared.”

“Disappeared? What do you mean?” Oscric asked, looking confused. “Did the old man take it and then lose it?”

“No, he is implying that the weapon really disappeared, as in vanish—poof,” the noble said with an animated gesture. The soldier stared at him for a moment, making sure he heard correctly or that the noble wasn’t messing with him. When the younger boy just returned his gaze with a casual expression, he finally relented and nodded, though he was still confused about how it happened. “If you want to ask me how it was possible, I don’t know, is the short answer. A lot of sh*t seems to be happening lately,” he continued, massaging his forehead from a sudden headache.

‘Yes, a lot of sh*t happens that I can’t explain. From my regression to being possessed by a weapon, these are things I haven’t experienced in my past life, and I’ve seen a lot of sh*t. It’s only a given since I’ve lived such a long life.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Hmm…

Wait, it’s not entirely true, though; I got the Eye of Sacraeon in my previous life. Hmm…. Yeah, but he only talked to me in this life, so…’

“Excuse me, master,” Bran interjected, pointing at the noble’s right wrist. “Is that a tattoo? It’s the first time I’ve seen it?” he continued, looking at the younger boy with confused eyes. “When did you get it?”

“Tattoo?” Elysian muttered, slowly looking at his wrist. Just as the older boy had pointed out, he saw a tattoo with a strip of red and black on the opposing ends, mixing into one in the middle. His eyes instantly widened; he was too shocked to even say anything. When he turned his hand and looked at the area near his palm, he saw the two heads of the snake: the red one was looking toward his palm, while the black one was facing his upper arm. “What the hell?!” he exclaimed, recoiling in panic as the memory of the two-headed serpent biting his right arm flooded back into his mind.

‘This can’t be happening!’

“Master, are you alright?!” Osric immediately asked, concern on his face when he saw the young noble’s reaction. As the servant was about to grab the noble, Osric quickly yanked the older boy away. “Don’t!”

“But the Master—” the servant protested, sighing as he saw Osric shake his head. Feeling deflated, he stepped back, watching the noble stare at the tattoo.

Ignoring all the outside noise, Elysian was fully focused on his situation. He slowly moved his left hand, gently poking at the tattoo. When it didn’t react, he gained a little more confidence and inspected it closer while continually poking it.

‘This is certainly the snake that bit me. What the hell is it doing in my arm? Does this mean the serpent is inside my body?

Sh*t!

The snake was likely the god that those f*cking cultists worshipped. If not, I’m sure they’re related somehow. Does this mean the snake could possess my body like it did with BloodShade? If so… Ah, I don’t like this!

Damn it, I don’t want to be associated with those cultists. Just thinking of the atrocities they’ve caused makes me want to vomit. Those b*stards were crazy! Now, their god might be inside me.

They don’t exist in this timeline, right? Surely, they shouldn’t exist. If I remember correctly, their Patriarch died in the memory I saw. Yeah, I’m sure they are gone.

Hmm…

Didn’t we get attacked by cultists in my past life? They aren’t related, right? There are plenty of strange and crazy religions that exist in Creation. The likelihood that they are related is close to zero.

Yeah, like the absurd reality that you can regress to the past.

F*ck!’

When Osric saw his master’s expression growing more terrified by the minute, he finally asked, “Master, is everything alright?”

“Huh? Yeah, I’m fine,” Elysian muttered, not giving much consideration to the question or his response as his mind was still lost in thought. Without hesitation, he channeled his aura into his eyes, staring intently at the tattoo on his right wrist.

image [https://i.imgur.com/i9yOv5M.png]

‘B*stard! You’re the one who started this. You’re the one who told me to get the f*cking knife! How dare you blame me!

Ugh, sh*t! Why did I even touch those f*cking snakes? Now, I’m in another mess again. Don’t tell me I’m going to be a crazy person who will suddenly kill anyone.

No, it can’t be, right? I still feel fine. Also, Eye is with me. No matter how much he irritates me, he wouldn’t just let anyone take control of my body. Well, BloodShade did possess me momentarily, but Eye did help and gain control again. I doubt it will let that happen again. That b*stard is extremely prideful and arrogant.

Sigh.

What do I do now?’

“Master… Master!” Bran exclaimed, his voice getting louder as concern spread across his face. “Can you hear me?! Are you alright?”

“Hey, don’t shout; I’m fine,” Elysian finally responded, his annoyance clear in his voice. However, when he saw the worried faces of his two companions, he sighed before a smile appeared on his lips to reassure them. “I’m sorry for that. Don’t worry, I’m fine. I was just lost in my thoughts.”

“Okay,” the servant said, studying the noble carefully, concern still apparent in his voice. “It’s just that your face suddenly became very terrified. We didn’t know what was happening.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that,” Elysian muttered, trying to find words to explain the situation. “I’ve just remembered things related to this tattoo. And it’s not very good. This seems to be related to a very dangerous and terrifying entity.”

The eyes of his two companions suddenly focused on the tattoo, scrutinizing it.

Out of curiosity, the noble suddenly channeled some of his aura to his right wrist, putting a small amount of energy into it. He prodded, seeing if something might happen. Unexpectedly, something really did. The tattoo suddenly moved as if it was alive, slithering on his wrist.

“M-Master, what’s happening?” the servant asked, his eyes widening in bewilderment. Not only him, but even Osric was also startled by the unfolding event.

“I don’t know, big fella. I don’t know,” Elysian responded, panic starting to overwhelm him again. “Stay back!” he ordered, which his two companions quickly obeyed. With desperation, he tried to flick the serpent from his wrist, but to no avail. It was a tattoo, after all, deeply imprinted into his skin.

‘Damn it, what am I going to do with this?!’