Ranold staggered in his wooden chair. He held tightly onto the manuscripts handwritten by his ancestors, passed down through generations until his birth. Each cover was imbued with an ancient aura carrying many profound meanings, ranging from simple words to deep senses.

[Book - Transport and Logistics for Beginners]

Reflecting on all the knowledge acquired since his reincarnation, this world was rather underdeveloped as there weren't many technological advancements. The only source of transportation seemed to be small mobile cars for land travel, and sailboats that sailed between continents.

Airplanes, on the other hand, did not exist yet. Airships were the primary means of transportation for the high nobility of society, while commoners made do with simple carriages.

Transportation was mostly favored by many talented and influential individuals in society, as at this time, few people had the means to travel to another country.

Turning.

[Book - Nations]

A shared similarity between this world and his previous world was that the United Kingdom still utilized the monarchy system, while other continents opted for a democratic system. The European continent had countries, each ruled by democratic elected officials and their presidential team. Unlike Earth, each representative was elected for their influence and reputation; the election took place through universal suffrage every seven years depending on the country.

As he continued to turn the pages, there didn't seem to be more information about the situations of other continents than the one from the European continent, which was close to England. It seemed that information flows did not transit quickly enough to describe the current situations of other peoples.

He leaned back while turning the last page.

"Ah... It's torn."

The edge of the page was ripped. There was a remaining page corner that seemed to have been forcibly removed by someone.

He shook his head and closed the second part of the encyclopedia, falling back onto his bed.

"This is the second time this has happened."

He found some scribbles with unknown inscriptions on them, but the relevant part was always torn off at the wrong moment. Sometimes, certain parts of a page or texts were indecipherable or even nonexistent. As if someone had taken care to remove these important parts for some reason.

And it frustrated him immensely.

He fell back on the edge of his bedding.

"Young master, be careful!" cried his personal servant, Elise, who was startled.

He tilted his head towards the young woman's chest. She wore a dress made of light linen fabric, dyed in white and followed by a satin ribbon belt around her waist, delicately tied at the back, accentuating Elise's slender figure. The sleeves were loose and slightly puffed at the shoulders, covering her thin arms, cinched at the wrists by ribbons matching the belt. Unlike a fanciful servant outfit seen in anime, it vaguely resembled the description of traditional attire worn by employees of wealthy families.

"Hm... It's a nice ensemble." He nodded approvingly.

Elise tilted her head, puzzled.

He averted his gaze to the blue window.

[System Quest]

[Read 5 books - Completed]

[You earned 10 boutique points]

Ranold nodded happily. "Finally, it's done."

There was nothing better than a reward after reading!

Each time he read a hundred pages, a notification would appear signaling a gain of boutique points. And after completing system quests, he continued to read educational and historical books daily, while learning the right information to take into account.

Luckily, the family library was full of abundant information, although some parts were off-limits for public reading. Each part was divided into levels, seven in total. The lowest level, seven, was self-service for any employee or family member. Level six was exclusively reserved for the direct family of the family head.

It contained all the confidential information that needed to be kept out of the hands and eyes of the public, considered elements that could disrupt public order if the information were made public. The information usually included unknown entities that had once threatened or existed in history.

Ranold picked up a grayish book he had borrowed earlier from the family librarian.

The first title of the book was astonishing.

[Register - No. 12: Rosen Gate]

The name of one of his ancestors appeared.

Turning the page, he found a title written in gray: [Neutralized Entity]

And looking down, he saw a frightening image with a pale man and a grotesque smile in a photograph. Ranold jumped, looked away but glanced back at the right page, where he saw a ring. It seemed that the photographs showed public information that could be read, while detailed information was not included.

"Wow. It feels like opening a book on a horror story."

[Do you want to archive the information in [Archives]?]

The system window opened.

"Yes." Ranold responded without hesitation.

There were sometimes occasions where the system requested to record information about various things. And surprisingly, the most used feature currently was [Archives].

"Hey. Can't you automatically save all the information every time I open a book? That would be faster," Ranold said.

Elise, who was silent, still tilted her head, wondering why the young master was talking to himself.

[Boutique]

[Automation of [Archives] function: 1,000 BP]

I don't have enough boutique points yet...

Tap! Tap!

Someone knocked heavily on the door and opened it, appearing with a candle in hand. Lina, who was awake earlier, came to inform her younger brother of their father's summons.

She wore a nightshirt with comfortable, loose-fitting pants, and a sheath in her right hand that contrasted with her kind demeanor.

"Haha. 'Young master,' our father is 'calling' for you," said Lina, delivering the information succinctly, then left the room to return to her sleep.

Well, being kind is a big word.

"Elise, retrieve the books for me and put them away for later."

"Yes, young master."

Ranold put his book back on the desk, and dressed lightly in a small cotton shirt.

Hm. It had been five years since I fell into this world, and today will be my first baptism, illustrated by our family for five generations, from the first year to our five hundredth year.

Every family heir who had acquired the baptism had become illustrious maniacs of society; everyone who passed through became a good leader influencing the world and the populace.

Now, it was his turn.

He picked up a candle on his desk and walked down the hallway to the entrance of the underground chamber.

However, even though it seemed logical to them, he was still skeptical. How was it possible for every heir to be a genius? Ranold had discovered that they all shared a very specific commonality. He found in some family archives of the seventh level that previous heads all disappeared some time after the baptism.

Each reason given raised questions, but the reason most often mentioned was a hunt for "malevolent entities."

Honestly, he didn't really believe in that kind of superstition.

Even though now, he was starting to have some doubts.

He arrived at the main entrance of the underground chamber.

Strike! Strike!

The two old soldiers stationed in front of the door stood aside, seizing the candle carried by their young master.

Ranold assumed an upright posture, placing his candle on a metal desk in front of the red door.

"Come in." A certain deep voice emanated from the crevices of the chamber door, before the soldiers took the handle and opened the double-entry door.

He stepped inside the underground chamber, completely different from his thoughts. He would have expected to see dilapidated and nauseating places because it was the basement, but it was the opposite. The morbid cellar was a spacious room leading to an entrance to an even more imposing door.

Just behind this door, his father awaited him calmly with a candle in hand.

The rear door closed with a dull sound.

Ranold advanced calmly, holding back his stifling breath. "I'm here, father."

Always being in front of his father made him uncomfortable, because the feeling that emanated from his soul made him confused. It wasn't a logical disgust, but instinctual, coming out of his own body.

Robert, ignoring his son's blasphemous thoughts, stepped forward. "I've been waiting for you for a while. Let's go in together."

He pulled an old key from his pocket and inserted it into the small lock before turning it and activating a mechanical system that resonated in the chamber.

"This world has automatic doors? No, it looks like they are operated by gears that work like a chain reaction..." Ranold murmured his thoughts unconsciously.

Robert scrutinized his son with puzzlement. "An automatic door? What's that?"

He remembered his mistake. "Oh no, I meant that this system looks very complex."

Of course, this world was not yet technologically advanced enough to develop automatic doors.

He followed his father and entered a second chamber. The confidential and important room kept since the first family head who had once amassed a certain amount of wealth.

A river of gold flowed from one place to another, scrolls were stacked on top of each other, totems were buried by tons of special and unknown objects emanating an aura of wealth.

There was a red carpet spread out, forming a path from the entrance to a place at the back of the family chamber.

"Why do we have so much wealth buried under the family manor?!" he unconsciously shouted.

Robert scratched his beard with enjoyment. "Haha! You must be curious, and very impressed. It doesn't surprise me that my 27th heir has that expression, considering how much you love to read and learn. But to answer your curiosity, no one can come here, it's the family treasure guarded by our family."

He was too stunned to hear his father's words.

He couldn't help but count the numerous coins covering the entire marble tile. The pillars supporting the room were also built of marble.

"You can take some gold coins when your baptism is over," he said as he continued to follow the red carpet.

Ranold nodded hastily before following his father.

"Guard my gold coins carefully here, I will come back for them later!" He made a promise in his heart.

They arrived in front of a marble plaque that was raised by a pillar a meter high. And on this plaque were iron handcuffs attached to the edge, in each part where a limb could be.

"Lie down on it," Robert said.

He lay down as his father commanded and inspected his father who firmly handcuffed him to the marble plaque, like a criminal being punished by death sentence.

A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead.

"What do I do now?" Ranold asked nervously.

His father turned to a workbench hidden behind the plaque, his back turned to him.

He took a bottle filled with an unknown fluid and poured it over his body.

"It's cold!" he exclaimed in surprise.

Ranold shivered from the cold, before managing to speak. "Why do we need this liquid, and what is the baptism process..."

As it was a secret family baptism, he had not been informed in advance of the process. However, given the situation, it didn't seem like something trivial.

"This liquid preheals any kind of illness, as well as effects like curses and others. And the baptism process... You'll know soon enough."

He continued his preparations with his back turned to him, paying no attention to his son's physical condition. He took out a radiant pendant with a ruby embedded in the center before turning his head towards him.

"What is this pendant?"

[Hostility Alert]

A red window appeared in front of his eyes, as his attention was captivated by the pendant.

"Non, who are you?" His father would never have such an attitude towards him. He understood that someone who had taken on the appearance of his father stood before him.

The man laughed. "You are truly an exemplary and amazing child. Even without compulsory education, you have continued to learn and read books since your birth. You are the only one, since the beginning of our family, to have discovered my true identity... And at the age of five, no less, it's truly remarkable!" He applauded in Ranold's direction.

Given the way he expressed himself, he must have lived a long time and... is he the only member of the family since the beginning? Wait...

Ranold struggled against the iron chains. "Are you Arthur Gate, the first head of our family?"

The man claiming to be his ancestor did not respond. "I still need a little time to finalize my transfer to you under the best possible conditions. You can consider yourself lucky. In the meantime, I will explain to you the family history and the decline of our lineage..."

Ranold felt a bad omen. This place was isolated from the outside world, as evidenced by the thickened walls meticulously prepared for these inhuman scenes.

He would never be able to leave here if he did nothing to free himself from these restrictive chains.

[Alarm]

And the red window kept appearing, filling his vision with warnings.

"I know that too! Open the shop system for me now!"

He crushed the frame by smashing the portrait into a thousand pieces.

"However, it was a grave mistake to become so attached. When he began to age, he was afraid of dying. It's laughable, any human would be afraid, because a human cannot live beyond the time set for them from birth. No exception can break the rules of nature, not even me. And ultimately, only a painless death would have awaited me."

He quickly scrolled through the system shop.

"And then? You must have succeeded in breaking the rules of nature; since you're standing in front of me," he said, slowly expressing his intentions to buy time and search for a way out of these chains.

He laughed weakly, then strongly. "Haha! Even I didn't succeed in breaking the rules of nature! In fact, I had to abandon my main body and move my consciousness into a pendant! That red pendant that radiated a thousand fires contained my consciousness and allowed me to travel into the bodies of those who touched the receptacle."

"You killed all your descendants just to live eternally..."

He began to connect the different inconsistencies in the family texts.

The reason why previous family heads disappeared after baptizing their sons.

"That pendant was my hope, the goal of a lifetime. After stealing it from Count Rate Lunsin, I started using it to steal the body of my own son. After experiencing such ecstasy, I could never give up the idea of continuing to live, like a cockroach," he smiled.

At the same time, he found an item and bought it hurriedly from the shop.

[Purchase completed: Teleportation Gem]

Arthur finished the final preparations and turned around.

"And you, Ranold, you will be my 27th host so that I can live in a new era... Gahh!"

After jumping out of the marble slab, he grabbed the candle he had placed near the table and used it to plunge deeply into the man's chest, narrowly avoiding his hand.

[Quest!]

[Success condition:]

[Survive your family baptism]

[Confine the entity in front of you]

[Failure:]

[Death]

[Reward: ??]

"You are a horror that should not exist in this world." Ranold said with assurance, furrowing his brows.

"Shit. It doesn't matter if you are my ancestor or the first head of the family, if you try to kill me, I will never allow it, by any means necessary." He repeated, dripping candle wax onto the open wound.

"Don't talk nonsense!" the man shouted, pulling out the tip and grabbing the candle before throwing a punch at Ranold's chest, causing him to recoil a few meters.

"System, heal me!"

He held his chest in pain, spitting blood, then got up.

"H-How can a five-year-old child do this?" he said, with fear.

The man's expression was one of fear. A five-year-old child who had taken a blow at full force got up after spitting blood from his lungs, yet did not step back and even advanced confidently. Arthur was also a madman, but he would never have gotten up as quickly as the child.

"I see. You are not my child, but an entity that has slipped through the cracks. A child could never do this." Arthur said in a cold voice.

Ranold spat on the ground. "I don't know what entity you mean, but it doesn't matter. You will die here."

Arthur pulled out a strange gauntlet from somewhere.

He firmly held his ground and disappeared before reappearing in front of him and striking him with all his might in the stomach again, then kicking him with his right leg.

"Urgh!"

Ranold's body was hit and sent flying to the other side of the room, into a pile of treasures.

Cough! Cough!

Ranold understood that he had to find a way to win quickly, or he would die before even fighting back!

"System, find me a way to win!"

[Shop]

[Racial Trait: Magic I]

I'll buy it!

Immediately, an unknown force entered his body and instinctively, he knew how to use it. He struck the man who was already in front of him with all his might.

"What?!" The man was thrown back by the blow, while Ranold took the upper hand and delivered punches imbued with magic.

The scene seemed like a fireworks display.

Colors projected as fists collided.

Finally, Ranold managed to deliver a coup de grâce by breaking the man's internal organs.

"You'll never be able to kill me!" he shouted, trying to back away.

However, Ranold had a few moves ahead and took the pendant hanging around the man's neck. He struck him heavily, sending him flying far from his position.

"Haha! You made the worst mistake of your life, evil entity! You have come into contact with my main body, you will become a new host for my consciousness!"

He felt another unknown force trying to interfere with his mind.

[Alarm!]

[An unknown entity is trying to take control of the host's body]

[Setting up technological defense system]

[Threat identification]

"What? Why can't I enter your mind... What is this?!"

[Immediate elimination of the threat]

"A-ah-ah ?!"

The pendant, which was shining, began to slowly lose its condescending glow.

The system opened a window.

[The threat has been eliminated]

[Extraction completed]

[Entity confined: 1/1]

The pendant in his hands disappeared, dematerializing to be integrated into the system message.

The deceased body of his father lay on the marble floor. He closed the corpse's white eyes sharply and got up slowly to prevent the internal injuries from opening due to the damage from the fight.

The underground chamber had turned into a battleground.

The walls were destroyed, while the pillars supporting the ceiling were dented by magical punches.

He had never believed that magic would have such an impact as he had imagined. The fight had been fierce, so he hadn't been able to pay attention to the chamber, but seeing this, he sighed in relief that it hadn't collapsed on its own.

He took a slow breath.

The situation had become too chaotic, and too much information had entered his mind. He had come for his baptism, only to discover it was a trap. He had faced the man who had stolen his father's identity and killed him after battling him for a while, before confining the entity.

[You have completed your first mission]

[Reward: Magic II]

"At least the quest reward is truly encouraging."

"How can I clean up this scene and react now that I've killed the man pretending to be my father?"

[The system says you need to prepare for the situation quickly.]

"I already know that."

He took the candle, which had been damaged during the fight, and headed towards the exit of the underground chamber.

"System, can you find a way to convince my mother and sister?"

He rubbed his temples and furrowed his brow, thinking about the future situation.