章 4: Horikita?

Alrighty, so let's sum up our current situation.

First of all, personal information. My name—in this world, and the one I'd be using from now on is Loki. No last name. It seems like I am the adopted son of a rich couple who took me in after they were unable to conceive a child of their own.

However, a year after the adoption, the couple gave birth to a son, and then another, and then a daughter.

Guess this Loki fella made her ovaries explode…ehem!

As I was saying, the couple had three kids after adopting Loki—me, technically—but decided to not return me to the orphanage. From this body's memories it is confirmed that they didn't keep me around out of the warmth of their heart or some virtue, but because when they adopted me in the first place, they announced that they'd be adopting a child since it was the nobles oblige.

Loki's adopted family were not high-ranking barons, so this was pretty much an attempt to blend in. Since they made such a huge scene out of it and were openly praised for upholding their duties as the 'superior' ones, they were left with no choice but to keep me.

There was a one-year difference between each sibling and the oldest was 2 years younger than me. Growing up, until now, they were taken to parties in the same fancy clothes, however, the treatment inside the house was something entirely different.

As one would expect, Loki—I slept on the floor periodically in each sibling's room on different days, overlooking them and tending to their needs.

I avoided looking into the specifics since I don't want to watch a sob story.

I might miss a detail of Loki's life, you say? Well, these cuts on my arm tell me everything I need to know.

Keeping the backstory to the side, since I have finally turned 16, it was time for me go to a school. The original plan made by Michella—my step-mother—was to never send me to a school and just use me as butler inside the mansion, however, the stepfather, Duke Arwyn Pritchett had other ideas.

Since they had become the progenitors of the custom of every duke fostering an unfortunate child and treating them justly, it was too much of a gamble for their falsely acclaimed reputation. And hence, he decided to send me to this school.

The one his own children will attend in the coming years.

Tenebris Institute of Magic. This was located inside the heart of Tenebris which was the capital city of The Eleseran Dynasty ruled by the royal family of The Eleserans.

And while I am going to be studying in one of the best schools, the protocol you'd expect from someone who is supposedly the son of a duke was pathetic. From the dilapidated state of the carriage to the clothes I was wearing, nothing screamed nobility.

On top of that, the orange haired boy who was still glaring daggers at me made me feel like a thief.

"What's your deal?" I asked, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"You paid me 10 Silvers. It's bloody 100 nols from Aethbern Dominion to Tenebris." His half-opened red eyes were fierce, and I could feel like he'd punch me at any given moment.

From Loki's memories, the rough estimation of 1 nol could be around 1 mile or 1.6 kilometres. Which means I had travelled around 100 miles. Going by basic novel or anime logic, there are three tiers to the most generically used currencies.

Bronze, Silver and Gold.

Since Loki had no idea how much a carriage cost would—because despite being treated as a slave, he had travelled in privately owned ones—I decided to channel my inner negotiator.

"10 Silvers is already a lot, bossman."

His eyes widened for a bit and then he shook his head. "I am going to fuckiing knock you out and dump you back in Aethbern." He took an aggressive step forward. "It costs a silver per 5 nols. You think you can rob me by paying half!?"

A single tab of the lattice interface hovered in front of me, glowing red.

[THREAD RESOURCES]

NOTICE: EP is critically low.

What the hell is EP now?

As the boy took another step forward, I reached out for the inside my pocket and took out the last remaining few coins. As I took them out, I looked down at them.

"Wait a second, I am giving you." I raised a hand in a placating manner. "Journey drowsiness. Sorry."

The boy huffed and stood back.

Via a quick count, I knew that I had 15 silvers and 10 bronze coins. Hesitatingly, I gave the boy 10 more silvers and after counting them 10 times, he went away. Perhaps it was because I was a new world, I didn't even notice that the creatures pulling the carriage were a mixture of bats and horses.

It had the face of a horse, ears and teeth of a bat. The rest of the body was pretty much like a horse, and it had a pair of grey wings on its back. A nightmare version of a Pegasus.

Anyways…I turned around as I saw the carriage vanish between the flood of other carriages moving towards this place. After all, it was the time of year when new batches of student were to be introduced.

Grabbing the handle of the suitcase I had brought myself—which felt nothing more than a couple of haphazardly packed clothes and some cans?—I started to move towards the gate entrance of the school.

My brain is still managing to catch up with all this information but the least I can do right now is to go with the flow. Since I practically have next to no memory about the orphanage or my parents because I was only 2 when I was adopted.

Hence, I have nowhere to go as well. And because this is a new city where Loki has never been to, it is hard for me to just skip school and venture somewhere.

Especially knowing how the capital, while being a haven, is also teeming with crimes due to the influx of immigrants pouring in Eleseran due to the ongoing war between Lyrathian and Drakthar Dynasties.

Those names sure are a mouthful…HAHA.

Looking down at my gruff hand, I let out a long sigh. For now, I think I should find a mirror and see how I look. Going by traditions, I am an ugly fuck who will grow beautiful as hell by progressing in magic. Hehe!

Wait, wait…no hehe. I am a fucking adult in the body of a teenager. Which means…only minors will be attracted to me…NOOOOOOO!

Alright, calm down Garfield…I mean, Loki…calm down!

There are more pressing matters!

Pulling the suitcase after me, I started walking towards the two gates that were held in place by two brick pillars. Atop the pillars were two gargoyles, each one holding their head up towards the sky, tongue jutting out of canine-laden mouths.

I felt a shiver up my spine. The main school building was still a bit afar seeing how I could not see it from here. Flicking my finger from down to up, the interface of Lattice System came in front of me.

When the boy was getting aggressive towards me and I felt like fighting too, there was a notification. Something about my 'EP' being critically low. As I looked at the slab on the left, it shifted places with the centre one. It had a light red colour and was humming slowly.

I looked at the one on the right, but it had a lock on it.

Strange.

Anyways.

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

THREAD RESOURCES

HP: 750/750

EP: 10/200

FP: 220/250

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

Hmmm. Yeah, no idea. I guess I must click on the arrows. It had been the case until now, but this time when I clicked on the icon next to them, nothing happened. No information, no explanation, nothing.

Letting out a long, tired sigh, I shook my head. Guess I will have to figure this out myself.

"You."

A voice called out to me as I looked up.

Long raven hair that was let loose on tender shoulders and a single thin braid that formed a loop around her shining hair like a crown and a pair of gradient red eyes.

Oh no…is she going to ask me why I was staring at her?

Oh, wait no, wrong anime.

"You were looking at me. Why?"

"Horikita?"

"What?" Her hair waved once more as she looked at me with an exasperated look.

Shaking my head, I sighed. "Look, I wasn't looking at you. If I was, I am sorry. I was thinking about something and might be zoning out." I tried to be as humble as possible. Looking as how she had her hands on her hips and was standing with her feet in wide stance, I was assuming she wasn't letting me go.

Her brow furrowed as she crossed her arms under her chest, clearly unconvinced. "Zoning out? Convenient excuse."

I exhaled slowly as I adjusted my metaphysical nerd glasses.

"Statistically speaking (🤓), the human mind wanders about 47% of the time during mundane activities like waiting. Given that I was alone and standing still, zoning out isn't exactly far-fetched."

Her eyes narrowed, still sceptical. "So, you just happened to be zoning out while staring in my direction?"

"Visual focus doesn't always equate to conscious attention." I gestured vaguely toward her. "You were simply in my line of sight. Peripheral vision exists for a reason."

She tilted her head, scrutinizing me. "You seem oddly prepared with that explanation."

Her fingers drummed on her arm, clearly debating her next move. "Fine, let's say I believe you. Why were you zoning out in the first place?"

I gave a half-smile. "Unless this is an interrogation, I do not feel obligated to disclose personal thoughts."

Her lips twitched like she was suppressing a retort. "You're deflecting."

"Am I?" I raised an eyebrow. "Or are you reaching for a conclusion that fits your narrative?"

Her eyes flickered with annoyance, but she didn't respond immediately. I could see the gears turning in her mind, weighing whether pressing further was worth the trouble.

Before she could decide, I offered a slight Japanese bow. Somehow all the other worlds in novels have Japanese traditions. So, it was worth the try.

"If you're still suspicious, feel free to observe me. Just be aware that watching someone for too long might cause you to zone out."

Her expression tightened, but she didn't take the bait. "You're insufferable."

"An observation, not an argument." I stepped past her. "Have a nice day."

I didn't look back. Best to leave before she found another reason to engage.

As I entered the gate, a thick plume of grey fog rushed towards me.

"GRAH!"

An unrestrained gasp escaped my lips as the fog clung to my body and lifted me off the ground. The unexpected shift made my grip on the suitcase weak as I lost grip of it and was pulled high up, into the sky.