'The hallway is spotless. Though it seems a little different in shape from Howell's memories.'
Fragments of memories Howell Ruin had accumulated during the first five years of his life.
In truth, there was a fatal flaw in them.
Perhaps because they were the memories of a young child, his recollections of shapes and appearances were all over the place.
Even I, who had spent ninety-nine percent of my previous life in the same environment—a bed—had only hazy memories of my early childhood.
How much worse would it be for Howell, whose cognitive abilities had been limited by his age?
'I should take Howell's memories as impressions alone.'
I walked slowly, taking in every detail of the hallway—the gilded decorations on the walls, the atmospheric candleholders cradling light.
More precisely, I wanted to savor every single moment of putting one foot in front of the other.
After spending thirty-five years unable to leave my bed and room, even little things like this were precious to me.
'I really was no different from a bird trapped in a cage.'
Even immediately after reincarnating, I'd been kept in my room for a month for health reasons.
'Even the view through the window felt somehow restricted. Seriously, they were ridiculously overprotective.'
Still, knowing they'd done it for my safety kept me from feeling bad about it.
Whatever the process had been, today truly marked a new beginning.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited.
Of course, I couldn't completely forget the bleak life I'd endured before.
But my previous life was my previous life.
Now was now.
I crossed the hallway and headed straight for the central hall of the nursing home mansion.
'Hm?'
When I reached the hall, I spotted a familiar face.
Director Denia Beria.
When our eyes met, she looked slightly surprised, then smiled softly.
It was similar to the smile my mother had shown me in my previous life, yet somehow different.
'Director Denia's feelings toward Howell Ruin were no different from a mother's.'
That warmth remained intact in Howell's memories.
She was the person who had cherished and raised him from infancy until he was five.
I could only imagine that even after he'd lost consciousness for five years, she'd continued caring for him with the same love.
If someone like her couldn't be called a mother, then the standards for motherhood were far too high.
"Ah, that's right. Today's exactly one month, isn't it? I've been so busy working that it slipped my mind. Howell, are you feeling all right? Are you sure you can walk around?"
"Yes. I'm fine now."
Truthfully, when I'd first regained consciousness, I'd only seemed full of energy compared to my previous life. Objectively speaking, I'd still been quite frail.
Being painfully skinny was one thing, but after surviving for five years on the bare minimum of nutrients, I'd also been severely lacking in stamina.
Of course, that was all in the past now.
At this point, I could safely call myself healthy.
Over the past month, I'd devoured every meal put in front of me and exercised diligently, so I'd recovered quickly.
"Hehe, yes. Even to me, you look much healthier than when you first woke up."
Come to think of it, she'd seen me in my room just yesterday.
Well, it didn't really matter.
After that, I followed Director Denia around and tried to help with her work.
That alone was enough.
The vivid sensation of being alive.
A body that moved wherever my heart desired.
Didn't everything feel like a dream?
"Howell, I can manage by myself, so don't push yourself. Go rest."
Director Denia repeatedly tried to dissuade me from helping.
She was only doing it because she was worried about me.
After all, I'd spent five years asleep because of my sleeping sickness.
I had a feeling the sleeping sickness wouldn't return anymore, but I could understand how Director Denia felt.
'Still, I suppose a place that houses more than a hundred elderly people has to be this large and spacious.'
As I followed Director Denia around and looked over the nursing home mansion, it seemed even larger than the count's estate where I'd lived in my previous life.
Ah, though I was basing that comparison on paintings I'd seen of the estate, so perhaps it wasn't very reliable.
In any case, the nursing home mansion was enormous.
And the larger it was, the more work Director Denia naturally had to handle.
'Does she really do all of this alone?'
I didn't see any other servants.
In my previous life, I'd had two servants assigned to me at all times just to look after me, yet there wasn't even one other worker here.
"Director, aren't there any other people working here?"
"My, what an odd question to ask now. Ah, I suppose your memories might be hazy after sleeping for five years. That's right. There aren't any other workers at Grixita Nursing Home. It may look like there's a lot to do at first glance, but it's manageable if I take it one task at a time without rushing."
"It still seems like it must be difficult."
"Not necessarily. Quite a few of the residents take care of things themselves."
That was unexpected.
Based on Howell's memories, I thought back over the elderly residents I'd met in my room during the past month.
Every elder at Grixita Nursing Home was a great figure who had once vied for the top of their respective fields.
It was strange to imagine people like that doing household chores themselves, despite having once occupied positions where the number of servants or subordinates under them couldn't even be counted.
It was difficult to understand in many ways, yet fascinating at the same time.
All the more so for me, who had spent my entire previous life being helped by servants.
'The more I think about it, the stranger it is.'
"It seems our young Master Howell is worried about me and wants to help somehow. Let's see......"
Director Denia considered what sort of suitable task she could give me, then pointed toward the far end of the hallway.
"Howell, do you see those blankets stacked at the end of the hall?"
"Yes."
"They need to be aired out and dried in the sun. There's a clothesline beside the training ground, so hang them there for me. It'll be easier if you use the cart by the mansion entrance."
I nodded and went to the end of the hallway to gather the blankets.
"Ah, they're heavy, so don't carry too many at once."
"Okay. I won't."
I promptly set a few blankets back down and carried only a reasonable amount.
Loading them onto the small cart parked by the front entrance and moving them went smoothly.
The closer I got to the training ground, the louder the commotion became.
Shouts of exertion?
Groans?
And beyond those, the sound of metal grinding against metal?
They weren't sounds one would normally associate with a nursing home.
At least, not an ordinary one.
I rounded the corner of the nursing home mansion and suddenly stopped.
'What in the world are these old men doing?'
Thinking I might have seen things wrong, I shook my head once.
"......"
No.
I wasn't seeing things.
It was still the season of cold spring winds.
And yet, for some reason, steam hung thickly over the scene before me.
The muscular elderly residents weren't merely showing off their health.
The heat of their exercise had become so intense that their sweat was creating a visible haze.
'That's fascinating.'
Normally, something like this would only happen in a tightly packed space.
It shouldn't have been easy in such an open area.
Unlike clouds, it was a faintly damp-looking distortion in the air.
A strange effect created by the heat of their training, intense enough to overpower even the cool weather of early spring.
Lean muscles, hulking muscles, and even muscles that simply looked healthy—the physiques came in every variety.
'They're incredible.'
Some of the elders trained their bodies with simple exercise equipment, but even more of them displayed movements that bordered on bizarre.
An elder who had been standing right before my eyes would suddenly move so fast he seemed to vanish from sight.
The elders sparring with iron rods moved their hands with something close to magic.
'These old men are real monsters.'
Even I, who had lived a life far removed from martial arts, could tell with certainty.
They were overwhelmingly superior even compared to the knights of the count's family from my previous life.
It might have made sense if they were young men or middle-aged.
I could perhaps have accepted it if I stretched the definition and said they were in their fifties.
But the fact that every one of them was at least sixty was simply astonishing.
As I stood there watching the elders train, I could feel my own body warming with excitement.
'Well, I should hang the blankets first.'
I gathered the blankets and began fastening them to the clothesline.
I was handling the fifteen or so blankets I'd brought over one after another when several elders from the training ground approached.
"Now, now. You still need plenty of rest."
"Exactly, exactly. I'll have a word with Denia, so you go rest."
"We'd rather do it for you."
And with that, the elders really did start hanging the blankets in my place.
For a moment, I simply stared blankly at them.
Once again, my entire perception of the heroes I'd read about in storybooks crumbled away.
Of course it did.
Storybooks only ever tried to depict their coolest and greatest moments.
There was no way they'd write about heroes hanging laundry.
'That's why I like it even more.'
Suddenly, memories of my previous life surfaced—the countless people I'd supported, living vicariously through their achievements.
The stories I'd only ever been able to watch from afar or hear about through reports......
Now they seemed to be breathing right before my eyes.
Even the small, mundane actions of retired heroes.
'This must be part of the real world, too.'
Thrilled, I kept carrying and hanging blankets alongside the elders.
Both they and I wore bright smiles the entire time.
And so, day after day, I spent my mornings exercising and my afternoons helping Director Denia with miscellaneous chores around the nursing home.
Sometimes I would settle into a corner of the training ground to exercise, and whenever I did, I could feel the intense gazes of the elders training there.
A week passed like that.
Today, too, I was exercising at the training ground with an excited heart when a hearty voice suddenly boomed in my ears.
"Kwahahahaha! Howell, you little brat!"
It was loud enough to make my ears ring.
Among all the elders at the training ground, this muscular old man stood out the most.
Aaron Tulba.
Commonly known as the Mercenary King of the Desert.
He was a legendary man whom everyone in the Frida Desert knew.
Of course, he had retired and was currently living at Grixita Nursing Home.
'He's huge.'
Standing face-to-face with Elder Aaron, I was struck anew by the difference in build between a young boy and an old man who stood at the pinnacle of martial strength.
He looked like a human monster armored entirely in bronze-colored muscle.
Veins bulged across a fist nearly as large as my face, looking ready to burst.
'Elder Aaron's muscles are incredible no matter how many times I see them.'
Their sheer size was impressive enough.
But even visually, there was no mistaking the natural hardness packed into them.
And then there were the countless scars decorating his entire body.
'Is he really human?'
You could bring any knight or warrior I'd met in my previous life and they wouldn't even be worthy of comparison.
If a veteran who had survived a hundred battles and stepped straight out of a military history book were to come alive before me, perhaps this was what it would feel like.
Elder Aaron placed his hands on both of my shoulders.
"You little brat, working hard is all well and good, but your form is a complete mess. Keep that up and you'll only end up hurting yourself. I'll teach you properly, so watch closely, follow along, and learn."
"......"
What was this now?
He'd suddenly walked over and said all that, so I had no idea what his intention was or what had brought this on.
I was so caught off guard that I could only stand there dumbfounded......
'......Wait.'
Something knotted deep within my heart suddenly began to pound.
It was a longing I'd forgotten while reveling in this healthy body.
'Why am I only realizing this now? Grixita Nursing Home and more than a hundred retired heroes...... And if I could learn from them......?'
I couldn't even imagine how much I might accomplish with my own hands, through my own efforts.
Limitless potential for growth.
Wasn't that exactly what I'd yearned for again and again in my previous life?
I wanted to learn something—anything—right now.
"Elder Aaron! I'll work hard and learn everything you teach me!"