Reincarnated Assassin

Two men were elegantly dressed outside in the night, one young and the other old. They were looking at each while standing next to a stone sofa. The old man was Benjamin Benedire the l and his hand was extended. Trying to signal to the young man that he was welcomed to sit down with him on a stone sofa. The young man being welcomed was Ritzy.

Ritzy took the offer and sat down, then Benedire sat down as well.

Benedire slouched on the stone sofa, completely unnatural for a noble. Benedire then gave a nice relaxing "ah" as if all his stress was leaving his body.

Benedire,

"This is very nice, it's been a very long time since I've been able to rest like this. I don't even think I can remember the last time".

He gave a little chuckle when he finished what he said.

Ritzy was getting frustrated and thought,

'Who are you, just show me something so I can know if your an ally or not'.

'Wait, I should just wait patiently. Ever since I came to this world, I haven't really been putting to practice my temperament control. Now that I think about it, I always talked casually to Savior. Even when I went hunting, I didn't wait for my chance to attack my prey like actual hunters or true assassins. This should help me get back to my rhythm'.

Ritzy,

"I may seem young but I can relate as well".

Bendire didn't refute Ritzy's word but instead, he became curious about Ritzy's response.

"Really? You young folks should have all the time in the world?".

Ritzy,

"It should be like that but most of us are always tasked to be the best we can be and to improve ourselves. This leaves us with no free time. For me, I spend most of my time either training, pretending to be who I'm not, or doing something I do not like but my parents or teacher believe is necessary".

Benedire laughed and smacked the stone sofa a couple times. The sofa showed cracks and hand imprints but Benedire act as if it was nothing.

Benedire,

"Your words do sound true and make sense. Maybe I should check if they give my grandson some free time".

Ritzy,

"If he hasn't, then I think he would be overjoyed receiving this. Well, at least I would be".

Benedire looked at Ritzy directly and gave a cute elderly smile,

"You know, I hold a position that holds great responsibility and people, in turn, think I would be serious all the time but this isn't true. I'm human like everyone else, I crave companionship".

Ritzy was feeling less and less danger from this man. The barrier he created around himself stopped the sense of danger that emitted from this man reaching him and the way Benedire talked created a safe atmosphere where people could talk about anything. Ritzy was dropping his guard little by little.

Ritzy,

"I hope you're talking about friendship and not the other kind. There are tents over there designed for that".

Ritzy then pointed at the tents that he encountered earlier which had people committing a.d.u.l.teries.

Benedire began laughing even harder, his hand was hitting to strongly on the stone sofa that a chunk broke. This caused Benedire to laugh even harder.

His laughter was infectious and made Ritzy give a lite chuckle.

Benedire saw Ritzy chuckle and he showed a tender smile,

"You finally laughed. Don't worry, I won't tattle on you".

Ritzy was getting more comfortable talking with Benedire.

Ritzy,

"You're not like others, what makes you not act well-"

Benedire interrupted,

"A pretentious snob? Well, I do act normally like that when I have to be professional but I wasn't really raised like this. I was born in the extended part of the family".

Saying one was part of the extended part was another way of saying that they are part of the bastard lineage.

Unlike Ritzy's family, normal nobles wouldn't acknowledge the bastard lineage as part of the family. At most, the child born from a mistress would get to be the highest-ranking knight or head butler. There were few exceptions where they would be allowed to be in line for succession but it only happened when the main wife couldn't have children.

Ritzy's family was a unique case because even though Ritzy was the child of the main wife, Christopher didn't put much emphasis on tradition. He allowed any of his children to be in succession so naturally, Ritzy's older brother was first in line for being Christopher's successor. Especially since Rodrigo has been declared an official successor.

Bendire,

"As part of the extended family, I didn't really have any responsibilities. The only thing I was tasked with was learning basic magic in the morning and after that, I was free to do whatever I d.e.s.i.r.ed. I would usually go around outside and hunt any beasts I could find or go to the libary and read as long as I wanted".

Ritzy,

"Sounds really nice, I wish that's how it went for me but it didn't. All I did was wake up to train and before sleep, I would study whatever my teacher gave me".

Benedire,

"Man, that must've s.u.c.k.e.d. Oh, back to my story. One day I stumbled upon a book about mercenaries and about how they were given jobs. I found it quite interesting because these jobs were like adventures. They got to travel the world while being paid. It was dangerous but I feel like that's what made it interesting".

Ritzy,

"Sounds like your an adrenaline nut".

Benedire wasn't mad but intrigued instead,

"Adrenaline nut, sounds catchy. What does it mean?".

Ritzy just noticed that he used a term in his old world.

Science wasn't much of a thing here so Benedire didn't know what adrenaline was.

The most sciency thing in this world were magicians trying to understand magic. But even then, they really didn't study the natural world, only its basic or powerful elements. Things like organs were barely known anything about. People only knew that being stabbed in the head or in the left-center of the c.h.e.s.t can result in instant death. Nobody knew what a stomach was, only that they had a belly that made a noise when they were hungry. Every organ was just called an organ. Even a bone would be called an organ.

Ritzy,

"When your excited or feel endangered, do you ever feel like a strange energy awakening in your body?".

Benedire,

"Yes I do, I just thought that was my body waking up to its full potential. You know, since we can't keep a completely ready state forever. Why, is that adrenaline?".

Ritzy,

"Yeah, adrenaline is that energy. Saying one is an adrenaline nut is like saying one is a fighting nut. That they are addicted to that sensation".

Benedire,

"Well call me adrenaline nut because that's what I d.e.s.i.r.e. Continuing with the story, I was someone who loved this so-called adrenaline. I wanted it so much that I decided to become an adventurer. Since I wasn't part of the main family, there wasn't really anybody stopping me from leaving except my mother".

Ritzy,

"Poor mother, how did she take it you leaving?".

Benedire,

"She threw a fit but then I manage to convince her that I needed this. That this could allow me to make a name for myself and become a noble this way. She was excited because the reason she was a mistress was for the chance that the main wife passed away, resulting in the possibility of becoming a noble by being the next wife".

Ritzy,

"Sounds like the women in the family wanted to kill each other".

Benedire,

"Yeah, it was kinda sad. Wait, you said that you're from the Reds family right? The family that treats all the mistresses and main the main wife equally".

Ritzy,

"Yes".

Benedire,

"Must be nice, having love for one another instead of being like how my family used to be".

Ritzy,

"Eh, not really. Like I said, I spend most of my time filled with responsibilities. I didn't really have much contact with my siblings. The only time I saw them was when we passed each other by the manor, during meals, or special events. I didn't really get to meet them".

Benedire,

"Oh yeah, I forgot".

Benedire wasn't showing any actions someone of his status should show but Ritzy enjoyed this.

Benedire,

"Hey, you want a swig?".

Ritzy,

"A swig?".

Benedire reached into a secret pocket in his cape and took out a metal flask.

"This is a special kind of alcohol. The Dwarven kingdom are the only ones that produce it. I'm not sure of its name and I'm only able to get it by a merchant that passes once a year on my territory. He brought it last year and said drinking like this is called a swig. When he told me the name, I was currently taking a swig and the taste left me in a trance so I didn't really get what he said. I just bought all he had in stock and quickly took it home".

Ritzy grabbed the flask and took a swig. Immediate joy appeared in his face, as if he was finally allowed to relived himself for a long time.

Ritzy's mind,

'This is whiskey, oh how I miss this feeling'.

Ritzy didn't really find anything that resembled whiskey in this world so he was kinda missing it.

Benedire,

"Nothing like what is usually served right? I had the same expression as you when I first tasted this. This is like a hidden blessing because all the alcohol here is the same. The rich drink wine and the poor drink ale. They is nothing new that could be bought, It gets boring fast".