In a grand mansion—silent, orderly, and built to impress without trying—a small boy sat in its vast library, on a luxurious chair, reading a thick volume nearly half his size.
The boy looked to be around five years old, with deep jet black hair and ashen grey eyes.
The expressionless look on his cute childlike face gave him an oddly mature, almost unsettling atmosphere.
He was examining the content of the book in his hands with such seriousness that it made the simple task of reading feel much more important.
Time continued to pass when suddenly, he closed the book and let out a tired sigh.
"I still can't find a connection," he murmured.
"Even this kingdom doesn't match any of the stories I know."
Turning his head, he looked toward the window of the library.
As he observed the scenery outside, he made some calculations to guess the current time.
Then he lightly stretched his limbs and murmured again.
"I think this much will have to be enough for now. I will read more tomorrow if I get the time."
He stood up from the chair and started walking deeper into the maze of shelves while holding the book he had been reading in his hands.
He navigated the towering, ornate bookshelves as he made his way through the maze of the library.
When he finally stepped out of the shelves, he looked toward the library's entrance.
There, a man was seated on a chair behind a table close to the entrance.
He was writing something on a sheet of paper, and a stack of paper was on the side of the table.
The boy slowly walked toward the man and placed the book he was holding on the table.
Noticing the boy, the man stopped what he was doing and sat straight.
After making sure he had the man's attention, the boy spoke in a flat yet commanding tone.
"I have finished reading this book. You may put it back now.
Also, find a book about the major events in the history of Feralscar Domain. I will read that book the next time I visit the library."
The man slightly lowered his head and replied in a somewhat submissive tone.
"I will make sure to do that, young master Adrian."
The boy looked at the man's face briefly without any change in his expression.
Then, he turned toward the door of the library and left as if he had nothing more he wanted to say.
******
Adrian's POV
As I stepped out of the library, a small wave of frustration simmered quietly inside me.
'To everyone who has ever been reincarnated, I have only one question:
What kind of life did you live on Earth to adapt so quickly after reincarnation?'
'I've lived 25 years of my life on Earth. Expecting me to adjust to an entirely different world in just five years is unrealistic.'
While walking through the hallway, I observed the paintings hanging on the walls and the crests and symbols that occasionally appeared. Looking at them made it too hard for me not to compare them to things on Earth.
The designs looked familiar in concept—like something I'd seen in fantasy games—but none of them matched any emblem I could remember.
The way this world worked was far too different from Earth, and as someone whose entire mindset had been shaped by life on Earth, adapting to this place was anything but easy.
I have too many questions I want answers for, yet every time I find something, it only raises more doubts.
This world resembles the fantasy settings I've seen countless times in web comics and games, but no matter where I look, I can't find a single detail that perfectly matches any of them.
Which would mean that I'm not inside a web comic or a game, but it would still be foolish to dismiss the possibility entirely.
I let out a frustrated sigh as I navigated through this new mansion, making my way toward my room.
'Unlike on Earth, this world has an actual god watching over it—and he even responds to his believers, though rarely.'
That naturally raises one question: was the one who dragged me into this world the same god? And if so, why me?
I am a completely normal person by Earth's standards. I possess no particular talent or ability that could be tempting enough for someone to kidnap me in my sleep and stuff me inside a child of another world, so if the one who reincarnated me had a purpose to fulfill through me, then why choose me specifically? Why not someone else?
'Honestly, I wouldn't have questioned my reincarnation if I had actually died and then reincarnated… probably. But going to sleep and waking up reincarnated mid-sleep would be too much for anyone to accept.'
I glanced around the mansion as I walked and noticed a few servants stealing glances at me, which somehow only increased my irritation.
After skimming through those books in the library, I found one particular detail that was actually helpful.
In this world, children develop mentally far faster than children on Earth, and some even become as smart as a ten-year-old Earth child by the time they reach my current age.
It explained several doubts I'd been carrying—things that never even crossed my mind back when I used to read reincarnation web comics.
Why could I think as a newborn baby, even though my brain should have been far too underdeveloped for that kind of complex thought process? Why does no one in this mansion find me strange, no matter how mature I act or what I do?
This information at least answered those lingering doubts. The babies of this world are simply different from those on Earth; their minds develop quickly enough to handle that level of complex thought. As for the people in this mansion, they probably just assume I'm an unusually intelligent child.
After walking through the mansion's hallways for who knows how long, I finally reached my room.
'Why did they have to make this place so big? Navigating through this place is such a chore.
It would have been so much more time-efficient to move around this mansion if only it was smaller.'
As I came to a stop in front of my room's door, I noticed that a different maid was standing beside it.
Each family member has a personal servant assigned solely to them, and those servants don't perform other tasks unless specifically ordered.
The one assigned to me is the maid I saw for the very first time after I woke up as a baby.
So the maid standing beside my room's door should have been that same maid. Yet seeing a different maid in her place made me curious.
I walked up to her and asked in the same commanding tone I had learned to use whenever speaking to any servant.
"My assigned maid doesn't seem to be present here even though I have given her no orders. You are standing where she should be, so explain to me why."
The maid slightly bowed her head and spoke in the same submissive tone most servants around here used.
"I have been ordered to bring a message to you, young master Adrian.
Your assigned maid is temporarily working in my place as I waited for you in order to convey the message."
"Who is this message from?" I asked, irritation bubbling more and more.
"It's from your mother — the lady of the house," the maid replied, her voice becoming even more submissive as she mentioned the lady of the house.
'If this world had something as simple as smartphones, they wouldn't need to waste human resources on errands like this.'
"Convey it," I ordered.
"The lady of the house has instructed," the maid continued, "for young master Adrian to meet her in her room for discussion. The sooner it is, the better."
'Mother, huh.'
After contemplating for a few seconds, I replied to the maid.
"You may go and inform her that I am on my way to her room."
The maid gave a deep bow, then turned around and left.
I sighed as I watched her walk away.
'I really don't want to meet her, but it's not like I have any choice in the matter. If this "discussion" is about my so-called talent again… it might finally decide what kind of life I'm allowed to live in this world.'
Then I turned around as well and started walking in the same direction the maid had gone, without even entering my room.