Bab 4: Awakened in the body of the king

Chance opened his eyes widely and gasped. His surroundings are not all white anymore and found himself lying on the bed. He exhaled loudly out of relief that it was all a dream.

"Wish! Come here!" he called out, not opening his eyes. He tapped his belly loudly so Wish could hear but the cat did not come to him. 'He must still be sleeping.' he thought.

He stood up, went to the sink to wash his face and looked for the plastic of Wish's cat food but he couldn't find it. He sighed knowing that he will spend the little bit of money left from his pocket. He forgot to change clothes last night as he went straight to sleep.

Chance, still half awake, walked towards the door and left his room. He slept early yet he feels so tired that he couldn't fully open his eyes. As he walked down the stairs he could hear the men's laughter and noises of their chattering. 'Since when did this condo building get so noisy?'

"Sir Ward, are you clearing out for today?"

Chance stopped walking as he heard someone calling him. Well, not exactly calling his name, but he felt like he was the one that the man was referring to.

"But, how come you did not pack all of your things? Are you going to stay for a bit longer?"

Confirming that someone was indeed talking to him, his eyes opened and turned to see someone looking at him over the counter of the bar. 'Wait, bar?' he thought, immediately got him fully awake.

Confused by his behavior, the man looked at him suspiciously, "Are you all right, Sir Ward?"

"Oh, let him be, it is natural for his head to be above the clouds early in the mornin'!"

"Yes, right. It is too early for his brain to function well, he may still be asleep!"

The man at the counter snorted, "Oh, please. You are not one to talk for drinking so early."

The loud and deep laughters from the men drinking woke him up even more and he looked around the place, "An old inn?!"

He gasped and realized that he said it out loud. The people inside went dead silent and they turned around to look at him. "It is a privilege to stay at an inn close to the palace! It is not even that old, I just opened this place last month!" The man over the counter who appears to be the inn's owner said.

Chance apologized instantly and rushed outside without turning back.

"What a rude one, that man!" said the old man as he took his final sip of beer and slammed the mug on the table, laughing together with the others.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Shit." he cursed, dumbfounded as he stood outside the inn. Fancy buildings, people in simple yet beautiful dresses, compared to the fashion of his time, it's very different. He could hear the galloping of the horses with the carriages where you find most of the wealthy people. The voices of the chattering as they shop. He rubbed his eyes and pinched himself, "A-am I really in..."

"19th Century of Antares?!"

He could still not believe what he was seeing as it was absurd. How could he suddenly be in the past of Antares?

He jerked when he felt someone grab his hand and put a piece of bread, he turned to see an old man looking at him with pity, "You are such a handsome man, yet your pretty face does not make you rich." said the old man.

The old man grabbed another one of his hands and gave him a small bag, a cloth tied to make it into a pocket. "This is all I can give you. Eat the bread and I think 3 suns is enough to buy yourself more clothes." he said, he tapped Chance on the back and walked away.

'W-what was that for?' he thought, confused. He looked at his clothes, a plain, cotton long sleeves shirt and trousers. His shirt is just a bit dirtied with the dust from the inn, but besides that, what was the problem?

He took a bite from the bread. 'I guess they think I'm poor despite my handso—oh wow, they called me handsome.' he laughed.

But then he remembered what happened last night, "It's either this is a continuation of that dream or maybe last night wasn't a dream at all."

He rushed back inside the inn making them all silent again because of the sudden opening of the door. "Sir Ward!" the owner called out.

He was ignored as Chance was rushing his way up the stairs and back to his room. The men downstairs at the bar stared at the owner and laughed, "Do not laugh! It is not funny." the owner sulked.

Chance went inside the room he was staying in and looked around the room. 'Didn't my bag come with me? What about the book?' he searched all around the room but there was nothing like that inside.

He sat down at the bed and closed his eyes to think. 'I just came here into this world, or rather in this past, but the owner already knows me.' he thought. 'Maybe I already existed here even before I came. He called me Ward. Did I come here awakened in another body?'

He nodded, 'That may be it.'

His eyes landed on the top of the table, 'A sword? Isn't this illegal for a commoner to bring? Is this Ward guy a knight or something?' he asked in his mind, pulling the sword from the scabbard. It was not like any other sword that mercenaries use, the blade was obviously high quality and the scabbard has a fancy design. 'He really must be a knight. What do I do? If I can't even fight with my hand, how can I fight with a sword?'

He sighed and left the room, taking the sword with him. He went downstairs again, the owner hesitating to call him because he thinks that he will be ignored again. But the owner saw the sword he was holding, "I see you are about to leave. Your one night stay costs one sun."

'One sun?' he thought. He remembered what the old man told him. The man gave him three suns. 'Right, a gold coin is called a sun. A silver coin is a moon.' In his time, the Antares currency was called Celes so he was used to that term. Even the coins in his time are called Celes.

The people living in the star kingdoms in the 19th century, buy things with coins, minerals and jewelry.

He stared at the owner who was waiting for him to pay up, but Chance was planning to return it to the old man. "I...have no money." he muttered. The other people dining inside the bar seem to be friends with the owner. The men laughing earlier became silent and seriously looked at Chance.

Chance gripped the sword tightly, 'Oh Goddess, Am I gonna die here?' he cried out inside. The men were alert as they noticed him gripping the sword tightly. They approach him carefully, thinking that he might be trying to wield the sword.

One of the men gave a signal to hold him but Chance suddenly ran outside the inn. "You! Your payment!" the owner yelled. The men ran after him to help the owner, "Stop, right there!"

Chance kept running to escape the people chasing him, "I seriously don't have money! I'm sorry!" he shouted. The group still chased him, the crowd gave way to avoid getting involved or hurt.

Chance looked back and saw their serious and mad faces, when he returned his eyes in front of him, he ran into someone. The person who he bumped into didn't even move an inch. He stood still like a rock while Chance immediately lost balance but the man supported his back with his arm.

Chance sighed with relief, "Thank you." the man's brows slightly furrowed while he stared at him with confusion and surprise. "Yo--

"There you are! Go and catch him!" The group from the bar stopped and blocked Chance and the man with him so they wouldn't escape. "Pay up or we will take you to Tartaria¹!"

The man removed his hand around Chance's waist and took out his own sword. 'He also has a sword. Is this man also a knight?' Chance thought.

"The ones who are going to Tartaria..." The knight muttered and pointed his sword to the group. "Are all of you!"

The group looked angry, like they were all ready to fight but they were bewildered as they felt the ground shaking. "Is it an earthquake?!" the others asked. "Grab the man before he escapes again." another man whispered to the other.

Two of the group were supposed to go to Chance but they felt something sharp on their necks, "Prepare to go meet Asteria¹ in prison, fools." the knight said seriously, glaring at all of them.

The other men stayed put, hesitating to help as they knew that one move from them would make the knight slice their brothers' throats.

The ground continued to shake and they turned to the direction where they heard the people's gasps. The galloping of the horses was what made the quaking. A lot of horses stopped in front of them and were followed by a big single carriage. 'W-what..? What noble would order for a dozen escorts and a carriage larger than a normal?!' he grimaced, "What a show-off." he whispered, making the knight look at him.

The escorts riding the horse got off and they stood up straight all at once, A man came out of the carriage, "Give your greetings to the prince!"

"Your Royal Highness, Crown Prince Charles!" they all bowed their heads while raising their hands high with open palms. "Blessings from the Goddess! Glory to Antares!"

That was where Chance realized that he was in the body of the subject of his research.

In the body of the dead King.