Staring blankly at the thick stack of thick books that he apparently had to read, Reivan felt thankful that he was a ten-year-old boy.

Because this was the perfect time to throw a tantrum.

"The first king mentioned people similar to you, Your Highness," Valter said. "He had said that people learned more effectively in different ways. Some found it easier when listening, some when reading, and some had to experience things themselves..."

'Huh. That guy really gets it.'

But his ancestor's amazingness was the least of Reivan's concerns at the moment. Holding a faint hope, he asked, "Uhm, do I have to read them all today...?"

Valter's lips curled up into a small smile. "You don't have to read them all today. These books are yours from now on, so please take a look at them from time to time."

"Oh! Okay!" Reivan beamed. He had thought he would have to read through all of the books as fast as possible. His mood gradually rising, he picked one of the books up, intending to give it a once over.

"These books are copies of tomes that the first king left behind," Valter explained, his tone revealing his admiration for the first king. "He was a visionary. A man that was ahead of the times... if only he'd lived a bit longer... or managed to ascend, gaining eternal life. Perhaps Aizen would be an entirely different place than it is now. It wouldn't have been strange if the world was unified under his rule!"

Reivan's eyes widened at the high praise.

'Isn't that a bit much...?'

How much of a genius could the first king possibly be?

Feeling slightly doubtful, Reivan opened the book labeled "Vehicles".

From seeing the first page alone, his eyes were ready to pop out of their sockets. Soon, he was rapidly flipping through the pages, skimming through the various illustrations and diagrams, only stopping to gawk at something before continuing to flip through the tome.

The hours flew by, and soon the sun was at its highest point, signaling that it was now time for lunch.

Reivan heaved a sigh as he closed the book he'd been reading, having come to the conclusion that the first king — the man he was named after — was, in fact, not a genius.

The first king was an otherworlder. Just like Reivan.

'Trains, airplanes, cars from different luxury brands, various boats... they're all here!'

And they were all called exactly what they were called back on earth. There was even an illustration of a certain electric car brand, complete with the iconic "T" symbol. Even the famous brand with a horse logo wasn't spared. Hell, even the car brand that a certain bald man with sunglasses got famous for was there.

If that wasn't enough, there were even military vehicles of all kinds. Tanks, submarines, battleships, helicopters... Reivan had even seen a page for the F-22.

The latter part of the book stopped being about real-world vehicles, delving into the realm of fantasy. Most of them were dumb or redundant, but the idea that had the most pages dedicated to it was a ship that could sail through the clouds called a Sky Arc.

It was apparent that the first king had been quite passionate about that one. The other vehicles only had vague explanations of how they worked and what they did, but Sky Arcs had numerous diagrams and research notes with actual magic involved, showing that the man had done a lot of research to make it plausible.

'This is insane... also, that guy is way too good at drawing. What the actual fuck? Was he an artist or something...?'

Reivan sighed as he put the book back on the table, giving the other books a quick glance. He was sure they were all filled with earth knowledge too.

All this time, he had thought that his situation of being reincarnated in the otherworld was so unique and convoluted, that there would be no one like him.

And yet, right in front of him, was proof that someone who was likely from his world — the so-called Alpha Realm — had been running around in this world a few thousand years ago, even becoming the king of a nation.

'It's also pretty crazy that I was named after him...'

The existence of an otherworlder also reminded Reivan of a question he'd had at the back of his mind for the past ten years.

"Sir Valter, may I ask a question?"

"Of course." Valter nodded then looked out the window. "But it's about time for lunch, and you seem to have an appointment with the Sword Star, so if you have a lot of questions, perhaps it would be best if we leave them for next time."

"I just have one."

"I see, then please feel free."

Reivan looked into his teacher's eyes and took a deep breath before asking, "Did the first king also invent the language we're using?"

Valter's jaw loosened for a moment before he nodded. "Why, yes, yes he did. But how did you come to that conclusion...?"

'I fucking knew it.'

The fact that English was the language that everyone used had always bothered Reivan, but he'd just shoved the question at the back of his head because he didn't know who to ask.

But today, he finally uncovered the truth.

Valter, not noticing Reivan's exasperation, explained, "You see, in the first king's era, none of the current three nations existed yet. There were numerous countries in Sentorale, and numerous different languages to match. That was apparently when the first king came along, gifting the world with English, which was a much more sophisticated language than the grunting and animalistic noises that some nations used to communicate. Eventually, more and more people took a liking to it."

"Uh-huh."

"By now, English has become so widely used that the entirety of Sentorale uses it, becoming the common language of the central continent. It has even bled into the east and north continents!"

"I see..."

Reivan had stopped listening to his teacher's history lesson, only pretending to listen by giving generic responses from time to time. He was too busy wondering what could have possibly caused the first king to appear in this world.

The number of factors that had to coincide for Ken Kagami to become Reivan Aizenwald were numerous.

Ken had been born with a special ability; A god-like creature had attacked him, and with the assistance of the Planar Laws, fended the creature off; the Planar Laws' interference with him caused him to develop more powers which then made him something the Planar Laws wanted to kick out of the Alpha Realm, otherwise known as earth and the universe it was in; after he was kicked out of the Alpha Realm — by the grace of the Planar Laws that had done the kicking — stuck around as some kind spirit called an [Expelled Soul]; fortunately receive help from a god-like creature that was strangely honorable about repaying favors; and finally, there had to be a unique enough existence that just happened to be born so that he could take their place in that world.

Even one of those things should've been hard to achieve, and yet the first king had apparently gone through something similar, causing him to get isekaid into this world.

'Oh, but wait... wasn't I the first [Expelled Soul]?'

According to [Supreme Insight], he was the first person to have ever been expelled by the Planar Laws like that.

'So that means the first king got isekaid through other means...'

Reivan massaged his temples. The previous lecture had tired out his brain, and now there was this thing. He really felt like he was going crazy.

That's why he just gave up for now.

'The future me can worry about all of this. It's not like what I have to do changes.'

Regardless of the reason behind the first king's appearance, Reivan's goals wouldn't change.

Keep the people important to him safe, be happy with them, and help them achieve their own dreams and goals.

And of course, he had to find a way to revive Kyouka and Hanzo — provided that a method to do so existed.

'No. If it doesn't exist, then I'll just make one.'

If he became an Ascendant, he'd be able to remove the threat of old age. That meant he'd have forever to find a way to bring his lost family back.

'Eternity is a long time. There will be plenty of chances.'

And if an Ascendent's powers weren't enough, then he would strive to become a Transcendent instead. Or even further beyond that.

The higher one went, the wider their field of vision became. Gaining more power would broaden his options.

And with more options, hopefully, he'd be able to fulfill his goal.

Happiness.

That was all he wanted. And yet, it seemed so hard to achieve. The voice at the back of his head that told him he'd never achieve it was getting louder with each passing day...

But, as if in response, the flame of desire within him burned hotter and hotter.

'Well, one step at a time, I guess.'

For now, he was a puny little mortal boy. He had a long way to go, but he'd get to where he was going.

Or die trying.

"Excuse me, Your Highness," A high-pitched voice called out from behind the door. "It is time for lunch. The rest of the royal family is waiting for you in the dining hall."

Reivan snapped out of his thoughts. With a smile, he turned toward his guardian knight. "Shall we, Sir Valter?"

"Yes, Your Highness." The purple-haired knight nodded. "We'll end it here for today."

The young prince threw all the books into Zouros' stomach before standing up and heading for the door.

 

---

 

Standing just outside the dining hall, Reivan cocked an eyebrow at his guardian knight.

"Will you really not be joining us, Sir Valter?"

"I'm afraid not. Your Highness." The knight shook his head. "These meals are meant for the royal family to spend time with each other. An outsider like me will only be a hindrance."

"You're not an outsider though?" Reivan pointed at himself. "Are you not my guardian knight? I thought you were supposed to stick to me like glue?"

"That is normally the case, but you're in the palace at the moment, and there is no safer place for you to be than here." Valter kneeled on one knee, placing his eyes on an equal level as the prince's. "You can be assured that I will always be by your side when you leave the palace though."

"Hmm..."

'Well, I guess I don't see big brother's guardian knight a lot, so this must be how things are normally done.'

"Very well, please have a pleasant lunch." Reivan smiled as he waved him off. "But why does it seem like you're a bit excited to leave?"

"Ah..." Valter's eyes widened in surprise before his face broke into a wry grin. While scratching his nose awkwardly, he spoke in a somewhat embarrassed tone. "Well, my wife has returned, you see. And I've not seen her for a while..."

'Hey hey hey. What's this?'

Seeing the normally calm stoic-faced knight get bashful, Reivan couldn't help but smirk mischievously. At any other time, perhaps he would've teased the knight, but at the moment, his family was waiting for him in the balcony-slash-dining hall that they liked to eat in from time to time.

'Consider yourself lucky, Sir Valter.'

"If that's the case, then you shouldn't keep your wife waiting." Reivan shooed him away and pushed the doors open.

 

---

 

"Rein!"

The moment he'd pushed the door open, a pleasant cry like that of tinkling bells echoed outwards as Reivan felt his body sail through the air, only stopping when his face was met with a familiar soft sensation. Right after, two arms wrapped around him in a tight embrace.

Having expected the entire series of events, Reivan merely returned the intimate hug as best as his flimsy little arms could manage.

"Mother, you're here." Reivan extracted his face from his mother's bosom, looking up to see her smiling warmly at him. "Where've you been? You weren't at breakfast..."

"Sorry about that. It's because I've been busy preparing a present for you!" Vianna chirped before she gave her son a peck on his forehead. "It's taking a bit longer than I'd like though."

"Of course it is." Rodin dryly chimed in from the side while massaging his temples. "Do you think learning English is possible in just a few hours?"

"I don't intend for them to learn the whole language, just some simple things," The wolf-eared woman replied as she placed her very confused son in the seat right next to her. "Anyway, Rein, look forward to it!"

"Uh, okay?" Despite his bewilderment, Reivan still nodded in response.

'What the hell are they talking about...?'

What did a present do with the English language? Reivan felt like he'd arrive at an answer if he thought about it hard enough, but the previous lesson and the discovery that the person he was named after was also an otherworlder had exhausted his mind.

Reivan understandably wanted to give his tired head some rest for now.

"I'm hungry. Food please." The young prince — who'd just shut down his brain — picked up his knife and fork, demanding to be fed.