{Bahahahah}
Hearing the laugh, I held myself back.
'Endure, endure, endure'
Opening my mouth, I let the tasteless porridge into my mouth. It rested on my tongue for a moment before I swallowed it. If I were being honest, I'd take instant noodles over this any day.
While I was told I would get more food later, I couldn't help but look at my bulging belly.
'Yup, this won't due'
Yes, I did want to laze around, but I didn't want to be stuck in such a shitty body!
So after a few days, I started to do stretches, loosening my muscles. After that, I started to run around the castle. This did elicit a few stares and whispers, but I didn't care.
My goal was simple: to get my body back in shape.
That, though, was easier said than done.
'Hold! Hold! Hold!'
Looking at my trembling arms and legs, I couldn't help but grit my teeth. After another minute, I sank to the floor.
{Congratulations, you held for 10 minutes}
"Fuck off," I panted as I lay on the floor
{Hey, it's only been a week, and there's already an improvement}
Slowly getting up, I looked behind me to see a giant, flamboyant mirror. Reflected in it was a fat boy with silky blonde hair and bright golden eyes. While I'm still pretty fat, it was better than before, when I barely saw my neck.
Now I could see the outline of a pretty handsome face that could use some work.
While I didn't exactly know the height of the people here, I guessed I was average in height, though, despite the encouraging words from the abyss king, I felt even more depressed as I looked at my round belly.
In my previous life, I worked out tirelessly to get my body to its peak form. The reason was simply due to my pride as a man, nothing else to it. Also, it made the slob's life way easier. But this? This is depressing…
{Shouldn't you keep a positive mind? You can do it! I believe in you!}
Seeing the small humanoid start dancing like a cheerleader, my face became blank.
'Did I beat its brains out too?'
{Fuck off!}
***
From what I heard from the Abyss King, I was staying in a detached part of the giant castle called the "Black Oak Castle".
Despite its name, though, the castle had a very lush garden and decorations fitting of a noble. Apparently, it was built by the emperor when Avalyne was discovered with a baby Alaric. As a result, the place was decked out in all sorts of facilities that were built to raise a prince.
From luxurious bedrooms to a big library, there were a lot of things.
However, I couldn't really find any good places to laze around other than my bedroom. There was the greenhouse; however, there wasn't much space to hide or lie down despite its size.
The garden, on the other hand, seemed nice; however, I heard a lot of gossip from the servants, resulting in it being put in the maybe pile.
I kept thinking of that as I worked out in the private gym. While the equipment was kinda primitive, it got the job done. But from time to time, I needed to go to the knight's training grounds as it was bigger.
Looking at myself in the mirror, I nodded. While my double chin was almost gone, my stomach still bulged a little; however, this was a massive improvement from a week ago.
That being said, I then thought about something.
"Hey, is there magic here?" I turned toward the abyss king.
{Yes, however, it's a little different from what you're thinking of}
"Different?" I tilted my head
{How to put this…while there is mana here, it is separated into 2 categories. Spells and Aura. Spells are what you are probably used to with elemental attacks and ranged casters, while aura is slightly different. Those who wield a blade can harness their inner strength when they get to a certain point and concentrate it on their blade to form what they call "aura".}
"Are they that different?"
{Yeah, despite aura itself existing in every living being, from what I could find, mana was something that existed outside of the human body and was in the environment, like plants or bodies of water}
"I see," but at that point, I remembered something, "You said something about the emperor's holy power, what's that?"
{I'm not entirely sure, however, from what I gathered it is a special type of power that is gifted to humans by the god of this world, showing his love or something}
It said, scratching his head.
{The current emperor, your father, is said to have the highest levels ever, even with the long history of the empire. It's why he is referred to as a demi-god.}
"Oh? So how much holy power do I have? Do I have so much power that I'm trapping you or what?"
{0}
"Eh?"
{Ziltch, Nata, you got no holy power in you whatsoever.}
"Seriously!?"
{How do you think I made it here? If this guy had the slightest amount of holy power, then there was no way I would be inside his body.}
"Shame," I replied, dejected, and ignored the curses soon after.
{You asshole! Do you really think you could've survived without me? If I didn't give you some of the knowledge, you'd be considered an evil spirit if you ever met a priest and would be exorcised right away!}
Hearing that bit, I was shocked; however, I sighed.
'Well I guess that wouldn't be a total surprise'
I had met my fair share of religious lunatics; however, if divine power existed, then I guess evil spirits did too. And if what he was saying was true, then I'd be cooked.
However, I frowned
"What exactly can holy power do?"
{From what I gathered, it can heal, affect the soul, and improve body constitution, not allowing a person to get ill and so on}
"Then who has holy power in this castle?"
{No one}
My frown deepened "No one?"
{Well, aside from that drunkard, no servant in the castle has holy power; if they did, they would've stopped the body possession}
"Hm, is holy power that rare?"
{We're living in the empire of Caltheria; its influence extends to the entire continent. In other words, it means that this place is where people with holy power gather from all over the continent. To put it simply, it is strange that there is only one servant with divine power here. Not even the servants seem to know}
Hearing that, I remained silent as a sudden thought hit me.
"You think it's because of this guy?"
{I suppose that's possible, even though he's the son of the Holy Emperor, he has no holy power. And combined with his personality, he would have bullied other people who used holy power}
"Is that it?"
{I don't see what the problem is, those bastards that have divine power and are sensitive to souls aren't here, that's good for us, no? We have a lower chance of getting caught}
"What about my father?"
{...meet him without regrets}
Hearing that, a shiver went down my spine, and the abyss king shook. I then decided to continue a little bit.
"Well, even without holy power, these guys are strange,"
Excluding the knights, in the castle, there was one personal servant, 5 maids, a housekeeper who also attended to the garden, a cheif, and a librarian.
That in itself was pretty weird for this large place; however, the servants themselves had… distinct personalities.
As I was thinking that, I heard a knock.
"Your highness, it's me, Carla, may I enter?"
'Speak of the devil'
"Enter,"
The door opened, revealing a maid with an exquisite figure. She had long brown hair that fell past her shoulders and shiny silver eyes that seemed to cut right through me.
"Here is your breakfast, your highness," she said while bringing in a tray that was covered. Putting it on the table, I watched Carla closely before I sat down. Revealing the dish, I couldn't help but gulp.
'Looks good'
On a plate was a sandwich cut in 2. I could see it had egg and some other toppings on it. Normally, the breakfast would've been bigger; however, it was by my request that the chef cooked a little bit.
And it was good too.
When I took a bite, the flavors exploded in my mouth. However, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the maid, Carla, watching me with her arms stretched as if reading to catch something.
{She's waiting for you to throw the plate}
My brow twitched. However, I then decided to ask a question, "Carla, you seem to be quite strong"
{She just thought, "What is this pig going to do now?"}
Holding my curse, I looked at Carla, who still had a stoic expression.
"That's because I am able to harness Aura,"
"Aura!?,"
'Fuck she's an Aura wielder!?'
However, it seems she mistook my shock for confusion "Yes, your highness, aura exists around us, and is the basis of life that spreads evenly throughout the world. Those who can form an aura core are called "Resonants", I believe you should be aware of this,"
"Ye-yes, my memory has been hazy lately, you see," giving an excuse, I continued to eat but I then thought of something, "Aren't Resonants mostly knights?"
"Yes, when a person has reached the level of a Resonant, they are eligible to take the Imperial Knights entrance exam."
"So…"
"Yes I also took the exam," she stated plainly
'Why the hell is a knight in training here!?'
Seeing my expression, Carla seemed to hesitate before speaking, "Your highness, you see, you were…harsh with the servants,"
{She wanted to say imperial dickhead,}
'Thank you for your splendid commentary'
"The servants became injured due to your…outbursts,"
{Tantrums}
"They would get injured, resulting in most of them quitting,"
{Oh? It seems like your grandpa tried to cover this up, too}
"Despite a high salary, no one wanted to take the job,"
As she continued, my face got darker.
To put it simply, this bastard abused the servants to the point where they all quit. As a result, the holy emperor decided to hire people whom he couldn't just hurt.
So he put up a job posting for Resonants?
Despite others saying that it wouldn't work, he simply replied with "there are always exceptions."
And so there were.
At the same time, Carla had entered the capital and taken the knight exam, but it was difficult as a result she took the job.
{And thus the strongest maid was born}
It chortled
{Hey, it seems you and your father both have a few screws loose}
'Shove it!'
There was a bit of a pause as I cursed at the abyss king, causing Carla to tilt her head.
"Are you alright, your highness?"
"Yes?"
"Usually the talk of Resonants makes your highness…angry,"
'She was going to say throw tantrums, wasn't she?'
{Yup}
"You'd throw dishes and curse,"
'You know, the more I get to know him, the more of an asshole this guy sounds'
I held my head as I felt the approaching headache "I'm sorry,"
I said that, but I then noticed something strange.
'I-is she disappointed?'
{She's thinking about how fun it was to catch the throwing plates}
"..."
{...}
'This place is filled with lunatics'
{Agreed}
After eating, I leaned back in my chair, and Carla took away the tray.
"You know, with Aura and divine power, this place is really turning into a fantasy world," I muttered to myself
{It shouldn't be surprising that with low-realms like Earth, they barely have any energy before what you call gates appeared}
"Speaking of which, were the gates your doing?"
{No, the only gate I was responsible for was the one where we died,}
"That so,"
With a sigh, I looked at my palm "Could Alaric have an innate ability to harness Aura or something? After it doesn't seem like he has any divine power,"
I had examined my body countless times; however, unlike the people around me, I couldn't sense mana or aura in this body, unlike my previous body.
{No, you should know this well, in a human world, there is a difference between the talented and the untalented. No matter how hard one trains, it is basically impossible to harness aura, while talented ones can do it at a young age. And sadly, Alaric seems to be one of the untalented ones as unlike his brother he couldn't form a foundation.
Clenching my hand, I started to walk
"I guess I should start training," I grumbled with a frown
{Turn that frown upside down, friend, life is always unfair. So keep fighting for our continued existence.}
'Die!'