After entering the dining hall, Kalios slowly looked around.
A round sphere hanging from the ceiling brightly lit the dining hall.
An object called a light bulb, made through magic engineering.
In the past, lighting up one's surroundings at night had meant building a fire or using magic stones bought at great cost from mages, but in a world where 200 years had passed, much had changed.
“You are late.”
As Kalios walked over and took his seat, the person seated at the head of the table addressed him.
The head of the Leon Ducal House, Luhaman Leon.
Turning his head at the call, Kalios looked at Luhaman and felt a strange sensation.
‘I never thought I'd get to see my descendant from two hundred years later.’
The contradictory situation of facing a descendant while in the body of a descendant.
He felt the gazes directed at him.
Luhaman, the Duchess, and the younger sister seated beside her.
All of them were Kalios's descendants.
He had to get used to this situation.
“I apologize for being late.”
He bowed his head to Luhaman.
Bowing his head to a descendant did not make him feel bad.
Over the past week, he had fully recognized and accepted his situation.
From now on, he had to live not as Kalios the first family head, but as Leon Kalios, who had only just had his coming-of-age ceremony.
“R-Right.”
Luhaman seemed a little flustered by his apology.
Kalios glanced at him, then turned his gaze to the table.
‘Looks delicious.’
He smacked his lips as he looked at the table laden with quite appetizing dishes.
In the week since he had come back, all he had eaten was bread and soup.
He'd had no appetite while sorting out his thoughts, but now it was different.
While he was deciding what to eat first, he felt eyes on him and immediately looked up.
“Is there something you wish to say?”
“...No, nothing.”
He saw Luhaman and the family staring at him.
Only when he met each of their eyes in turn did they avert their gazes and look away.
‘Guess I make them pretty uncomfortable.’
Inwardly clicking his tongue at their stares, Kalios turned his gaze back to the table.
This body was that of a good-for-nothing.
A good-for-nothing who was the sole object of his family's worry.
It was a situation he had more or less expected, and under his family's gaze, he picked up his fork.
When he cut into the steak, even the feel through the knife was extraordinary.
‘Even the juices are different.’
What on earth had they fed the animal? The meat was incredibly tender, and the flavor was remarkable.
In the past, before he came back, he had eaten meat at famous establishments, but even then, it hadn't been this good.
The kitchen must have taken great care since the family head was present.
If he'd known it would be like this, he would have come to the dining hall long ago.
“Kalios.”
Though Luhaman had called his name, he said nothing further.
He looked at Kalios with a slight frown, and Kalios, finding the atmosphere coming from Luhaman uncomfortable, casually tossed out a remark first.
“It is delicious.”
“Yes, it does not taste good... What?”
“I said it is delicious. The head chef is quite skilled.”
At Kalios's answer, Luhaman stared at him blankly.
He looked flustered, as if an answer that should never have come out of Kalios's mouth had done so.
Paying no heed to Luhaman's blank stare, Kalios reached out with his fork and stabbed a sausage.
Letting one's eyes wander elsewhere in the middle of a conversation with the family head was rude enough, but what could he do?
Kalios was a good-for-nothing, after all.
‘Being a good-for-nothing is convenient for this kind of thing.’
In his past life, there had been so many watching eyes that he'd had to think before even the most trivial action, but with this body, which had lived as a good-for-nothing, no one found anything strange no matter what he did.
They would simply think the good-for-nothing was up to his antics again.
Luhaman didn't reproach Kalios's behavior either and smiled awkwardly.
“Indeed, the food is delicious.”
“Yes.”
Kalios nodded and put a bite-sized piece of sausage into his mouth.
Most of what he ate was rich in protein; to fatten up this body that was nothing but bones and hide, he needed to eat plenty of meat.
He had barely eaten a few pieces and was already getting full, but he paid it no mind and kept his fork moving.
For a while, the dining hall was filled only with the sound of Kalios eating.
When the meal was over, dessert was served.
All sorts of fruit had been attractively cut and arranged in bowls, and besides the fruit, tea and various cookies filled the table.
Kalios tasted every single one of them and felt satisfied.
In his past life, he had eaten nearly ten servings by himself.
Only by eating that much could he barely cover the energy he needed for a single day.
This body ate far too little.
Judging by how it was full after a mere two or three pieces of meat, this body was abnormal.
Now that he was its owner, he had no intention of leaving its stomach as it was.
He would eat even a little more each time to enlarge his stomach, put on weight, and build muscle.
“Kalios.”
“Yes.”
“Your health is fine, is it not?”
He turned his head at Luhaman's question.
He could see worry in Luhaman's eyes as he looked at him.
Gruff as he was, was a father still a father after all?
Kalios calmly met his gaze and nodded.
“I am fine.”
“That is a relief. I received reports that you had been struggling a great deal recently.”
“It was nothing.”
“Is that so...? Then that is good enough.”
Luhaman nodded and sipped his tea.
***
“Did I eat too much?”
Looking down at his bulging belly, Kalios smacked his lips.
It had been delicious, but he had also forced the food down with the thought that he needed to put on weight.
Thanks to that, his belly stuck out like a tadpole's.
“Deon.”
“Yes.”
“How long does it take to get to the training grounds from here?”
This was the Leon Ducal House.
It was unthinkable for a ducal house not to have a training ground.
Rather than sitting idle, Kalios chose to train his body at the training grounds.
If only to take revenge on the royal family that had betrayed him, physical training was essential.
With his current body, never mind revenge, it wouldn't be strange if he dropped dead at any moment.
“It is a bit of a walk.”
“Is it farther than the dining hall?”
“It is a little farther.”
Kalios chuckled at Deon's answer.
He'd been panting just from going to the dining hall and back, and this was even farther.
“Not bad. Perfect for a stroll.”
He nodded and looked at Deon.
Kalios didn't know where the training grounds were.
Two hundred years.
That was long enough that it wouldn't be strange for the layout of the Leon Ducal House to have changed.
“Lead the way.”
“...Yes.”
Deon didn't ask anything further and nodded.
Kalios left the hallway and stepped outside, following Deon toward the training grounds.
“Nice weather.”
With a cool breeze and warm sunlight, it was perfect weather for exercise.
Ignoring Deon's gaze, which was full of complicated feelings, Kalios strolled along leisurely.
“It's Young Master Kalios.”
“Sir Deon's with him too.”
“What's he doing out here? He's always stayed in his room.”
The moment he left his room, the servants' eyes latched onto him.
People nervously watching Kalios's mood.
When he turned his head, the servants jumped in alarm and scurried off as though fleeing.
Kalios clicked his tongue quietly and walked on.
And so, they arrived at the training grounds.
Weapon racks and scarecrow dummies, a floor covered in dirt, and on top of it, knights drenched in sweat as they honed their bodies and skills.
No sight could have been more familiar to Kalios.
Every day, he used to rise before the sun and train shoulder to shoulder with the knights.
‘Those were good times.’
Lost in memories, he let out a faint chuckle and entered the training grounds.
Deon, who had been watching him, followed as well.
“Huh?”
“Isn't that Young Master Kalios over there?”
“Why would the Young Master come here?”
The training knights spotted Kalios and blinked.
Kalios hadn't set foot in the training grounds even once in over ten years.
With such a person walking into the training grounds, it was only natural for the knights to be puzzled.
“Carry on.”
With that, Kalios headed to the weapon racks.
A rack holding real swords and a rack holding wooden swords.
Kalios grabbed a wooden sword.
The wooden sword, which had an iron core embedded in it, was quite heavy, and Kalios was once again reminded that his body was in the worst possible state.
All he had done was pick up a single wooden sword.
A wooden sword he had casually lifted, swung, and thrown in his past life—now even holding it up with both hands was a struggle.
“Well, this feeling's a first.”
A body that could barely lift a single wooden sword. He was already starting to miss his body from his past life.
When it came to physique alone, his past body had been superhuman itself.
Just thinking about building that body again made him sigh first.
Dragging the wooden sword, he took up a spot in one corner of the training grounds.
He raised the wooden sword with both hands and took a stance.
‘One thing at a time, starting from the basics.’
Because this body had no training whatsoever, if he tried to use the techniques from his past life, he could end up damaging his muscles, ligaments, or even bones.
So it was right to stick to what he could do for now.
“Hsss.”
Drawing in a breath, he swung the wooden sword from top to bottom.
Unlike his past life, when a single swing would whip up a powerful wind, he now couldn't bear the weight, and the wooden sword hit the ground.
Never mind wind, even the sound of the swing wasn't threatening.
He had swung only once, yet his scrawny arms trembled and shook.
His body screamed that he had to drop the sword and rest immediately, but Kalios paid it no heed and raised the sword to swing again.
Once, twice.
As he swung the wooden sword several more times, Deon approached and spoke to him.
“If you swing like that, you may injure your wrist.”
What's this bastard saying right now?
Deon was now offering pointers on the sword to someone who had once been unrivaled with it.
At a situation that never could have happened in his past life, Kalios could only let out a hollow laugh.
“Young Master. The sword is not something that works just by swinging it blindly. You could get hurt, so please stop.”
Kalios looked at Deon.
Deon spoke with a blank face, as if out of concern, but Kalios could read the meaning in his eyes.
Contempt, as if to say that he might get hurt flailing around with a wooden sword, so he had better stop.
He was speaking with a blank face as though he were worried, but Deon was looking down on him.
Telling him that if he kept flailing around with a wooden sword, he'd only end up hurt, so he had better stop.
“Deon, leave him be. Our Young Master must just want to play knight for a bit.”
Before Kalios could say anything, he turned his head at a voice from the side and saw a knight approaching.
The knight swaggered over and spoke only to Deon, without so much as the greeting he owed Kalios.
All the while, his gaze toward Kalios held contempt.
‘Would you look at these guys.’
In his past life, Kalios had been a Sword Master.
He had been called the Sword Saint, and the swordsmen who had flocked to receive his teachings exceeded several thousand.
And now he was being looked down on by a bastard who, in his past life, wouldn't have come close to reaching even his toes.
‘I was already in a shitty mood. This works out nicely.’
Kalios lifted the wooden sword and rested it on his shoulder.
“Hey, you.”
“...Are you calling me?”
“Yeah.”
“You there, what's your name?”
“I am Lanius.”
He spoke to the bewildered knight.
“All right. Lanius. How about a spar with me?”