After the incident, the local Police force quickly launched an investigation. Unfortunately for them, they yielded nothing valuable. Most of the perpetrators vanished into thick woods, and those that were captured ended themselves with cyanide pills before they could be interrogated.

  I must give it to them, they were professionals.

  I’d instructed Sola and Luna to keep our conversation a secret. Officially, this incident was concluded as a foreign espionage operation.

  But I knew the truth

  They were other reincarnators, just like me. From what I heard, this world was a game, possibly one like dungeons and dragons, fallout and half life.

  And, I was the only reincarnator who had never heard of this game.

  I died in 2006, so it was possible that something like a smartphone and games that could run on it came out after my death.

  Or perhaps they were from another alien dimension.

  Either way, I don’t belong with them.

  Sola and Luna, on the other hand, weren’t disturbed by our interaction.

  I once asked Sola,”So, it appeared that our world was a detailed novel in another dimension.”

  She blinked, tilted her head, and replied, “That sounds interesting.”

  Unfazed.

  Still, these people seemed to have future knowledge, and they weren’t too keen on having me around doing things off-script. So, before they came for me —

  — I’d have to exterminate them.

  It’s a cruel world, either kill or be killed.

  My Father was deeply concerned about me, he assigned fifty dragoons as my personal guards.

  I accepted his offer. After all, having a small army protecting myself from the lunatics seemed to be a fair precaution.

  But, let’s set all of that aside.

  Today was a special day.

  Both Borse and Galahad were home.

  Why would this be special you might have asked?

  Well, in this country, when children from middle and upper class turn twelve. Private tutoring would end, and they’d be sent to a boarding school to learn independence.

  This age limit was tied to the superstition that children shouldn’t travel before they’re 12.

  Five days of school and two days of holidays. Usually students would spend their holidays with their friends rather than their families.

  With me being ten, and my two brothers were thirteen and fourteen. I was the only child in the manor for the Majority of the time. Which was also the reason why Father was so protective of me.

  Today, the two of them came back for an annual tradition: a hunting game.

  Two hundred years ago, our ancestor — the first Marquis of Camelot— was a nameless orphan living in the forest of Avalon as a hunter; the locals call him by the name ‘Hunt’.

  One day, a necromancer named Morrigan, was washed ashore and found by patrolling soldiers.

  She was brought to the capital of the Camelot March, which was ruled by the House of Greenhaven at that time.

  Legends has it, the necromancer slaughtered everyone in the March, including the House of Greenhaven. And she turned the corpses of her deceased victims into soulless husks.

  She defeated Marquis Greenhaven’s Army and the Homeland Guard of the King.

  After conquering the border, she began her march towards the heartland, and crossed through the Avalon forest to save time.

  That’s when the goddess Werralda, Protector and Mother of the Anglo people, blessed Hunt with combat knowledge, magic to reshape even the terrain, and the divine sword Escalibourne.

  Their battle lasted for 3 days, and in the end, Hunt slayed the necromancer.

  After that, he was granted lordship over this land and took Camelot as his surname.

  It's a bit of an irony that in our world, King Arthur fought the Angles. But in this one, we are in service of the Anglos.

  Anyways, Hunt wanted to remind his children of our family history, and to pay our gratitude to Werralda.

  So, every year, we’d hunt boars and offer the finest one to the altar in our family tomb.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  It used to be my Father and Arthur doing this. And now it’s our turn.

  “Big Brother, I want to come, too!”

  I asked Borse politely just before he stepped into the carriage.

  He turned with a hesitant smile.

  “Aren’t you a little bit too young for this?”

  “But I want to hunt boars just like you!”

  He scratched his head, troubled by my request.

  On the one hand, I was his cute little brother, but on the other, boar hunting was a dangerous sport. The boars would charge at anyone they deemed a threat.

  “Just let him.”

  A calm voice called out from inside the carriage, it was Galahad.

  “He knows how to defend himself. Plus, isn’t he quite skilled as a mage?”

  I’ve heard rumors that he had changed a lot because he lost a duel to Lancelot. Some say it was the boarding school that fixed him.

  He was no longer the insufferable brat—now he apologized for his mistakes.

  Borse thought for a few seconds and relented, gesturing for me to get on the carriage.

  I looked behind me, telling Sola and Luna to join the other servants.

  Then the convoy began moving, along with 70 or so riders escorting us. Overprotectiveness of my Father.

  “I heard you had some troubles a few weeks back.”

  Galahad asked with concerns.

  “It’s not a big deal, just some highwaymen, that’s all.”

  I responded coldly, acting as if I still held a grudge against him.

  Galahad let out a sigh.

  “Listen, I truly am sorry for calling you a sissy boy.”

  “Oh? And what changed your mind?”

  “Life.”

  Galahad closed his eyes, leaning back, in heavy reflection.

  “I saw my own insignificance, and I saw what I wanted to become.”

  “I used to act as an aggressive go-getter because I wanted to prove myself by becoming the next heir.”

  “I pushed people around me away because I believe I could do everything on my own.”

  “But in school, it truly feels powerless even when I was the strongest.”

  “And after my duel with Lancelot, I saw something from him. His charisma made people follow him.”

  He opened his eyes, reaching a conclusion.

  “So now I realized the only way to prove myself worthy was to make those around me stand by my side.”

  I smiled happily.

  “Glad to see you've grown.”

  “Good on you.”

  Borse followed up after me.

  Internally, I was more annoyed than I portrayed.

  Uh, I wished that he could’ve stayed a scum so there were more ways to dispose of him without anyone raising an eyebrow.

  Like getting him exiled by poisoning Borse, getting either one of them killed during a duel, making them fight each other and forcibly take over while they were weak.

  Now those plans are all useless.

  We arrived at the hunting grounds and split into teams.

  I was with Sola and Luna.

  Borse was with three other friends.

  And Galahad was paired with Lancelot and two others.

  “?Hola! Se?orita y su adorable amo, we’ve met yet again. Esto tiene que ser el destino”

  “Stop flirting with us and our Master,”

  Sola declared firmly, followed by Luna

  “We’re not interested.”

  I was surprised that he could say that in front of so many people. Though in this liberal world, they didn’t send people to mental wards for being homosexual. It was still a taboo relationship that would make people frown.

  But, compared to lancelot’s tendency to commit adultery, this wasn’t a big deal.

  “Such a shame, pero, whenever you feel solitario, I will always welcome you with open arms.”

  He said with a wink.

  Borse rolled his eyes and passed two rifles to me and Galahad.

  It was a rolling block rifle, chambered in .450 black powder, enough stopping power to even kill a bison.

  Then, Borse clapped his hand, calling for everyone’s attention.

  “Alright, the rules are simple. We had already released the boars a few minutes ago, so there should be plenty of them around here.”

  He held out his pocket watch.

  “It’s currently 1:32, we will be regrouping in two hours, which will be 3:32. By that time, the servants would light a bonfire to mark the rendezvous.”

  He then held out a stick.

  “This is a signal smoke launcher, you point the opening to the sky and channel mana into it to launch a smoke bomb into the sky.”

  “Use this in an emergency if anything occurs.”

  “Also, each team has a horse, a male servant for transport, and a dragoon for security.”

  “Let the hunt begin.”

  Our team moved through the woods—me, the twins, a servant, a horse, and a dragoon.

  The 50 or so riders I had tagged along with me were now just reduced to one.

  Most of my escorts had been posted around the perimeter to avoid anyone from trespassing.

  Plus, having too many guards would just ruin the fun.

  As we walked, a question tugged at me.

  “Have you ever killed anything before?”

  I asked the twins.

  “We have never taken a life, why do you ask, Master?”

  “I was just wondering whether you two would hesitate.”

  “If the lament of a life is beneficial to our Master, then we will carry it out without hesitation.”

  Sora answered, her tone was serious.

  “If our hesitancy leads to the demise of our Master, it’d be regrettable," Luna added.

  I gave a thoughtful nod.

  “Say, if I wanted you to snap the neck of an innocent bunny, would you oblige?”

  “Of course,” Luna replied sweetly. “I’d certainly regret disappointing my Master.”

  If our two other companions weren’t purposely distanced from us, they would be disturbed right now.

  For the other twin, Sola was now hesitant.

  “I will obey…”She whispered

  Luna wasn’t happy about it.

  Luna frowned. “Sola, say it properly. You’re happy to follow Master’s orders, because you love him, just like me, don’t you?”

  Sola trembled “But…Luna, love isn’t just blindly listening to the other side, a healthy lover has to point out the flaws of their partner.”

  I stopped, turning around to look at Sola, she looked away. I lifted my hand up to adjust her gaze to meet my eyes.

  “Sola, you love me, don’t you?”

  “Yes…”

  “Then don’t say things that disappoint me.”

  Tears began coming out of her eyes, marking the start of her outburst.

  “I always know you twisted my thoughts, I don’t want to love you” she cried, “I hate you for manipulating me, and I hate myself for loving you.”

  “Then embrace your hatred, hate me, harm me, murder me.”, I said coldly.

  She shook her head.

  “I don’t want to hate you… I want to love you… I want to be loved…”

  Her emotion was conflicting, a reflection of her mind

  “Please, I just want to know, do you even love me?

  Then, I dropped my expression, no more fake smiles, no more fake laughters.

  “No, I don’t.”

  Hearing my flat voice, her sobbing stopped, replaced by shock.

  “I don’t feel love because my emotions are dull.”

  She was now heartbroken

  “Love is a tool for me to manipulate others. My affections are just a way to earn trust. And if it is necessary, I’ll stab anyone in the back.”

  “I know you wanted to be loved like a pet instead of used like a tool. But that’s just not who I am.”

  “I use love to manipulate. I give affection to earn trust. And if I must, I’ll stab anyone in the back.”“I know you wanted to be loved like a pet instead of used like a tool. But that’s not who I am.”

  Sola’s mind spiraled—hate and love tangled into a knot.

  And then… she ran.

  Deeper into the forest.

  “Stay with the others. I’ll go after her.”

  From a distance, the dragoon and servant smiled warmly at us.

  In their eyes, it looked like a romantic quarrel.

  Ah, youth.

  Luna stood quietly. She felt betrayed by her sister but showed nothing on her face.