Plop!
Something tugged near my float. I yanked the rod instinctively, and a small fish flew out of the water, flopping onto the grass, thrashing its tail.
"Hey now," Paul grinned. "See? Patience is everything."
I picked up the fish and stared at it thoughtfully.
"And if I hadn't caught it?"
"Then you'd just cast the line again."
"Brilliant. I've found the meaning of life."
Paul just snorted, clearly pleased with himself.
We were sitting by a lake far from the village. Earlier that morning, I'd woken up from another nightmare and was about to head out for my usual run when Paul stopped me right at the door. Apparently, he'd memorized my routine.
"Get ready. You're coming with me today."
"Where to?"
"You'll see," he cut me off. "Dress warm. We're going fishing."
"...Why?"
"Don't ask dumb questions," he said. "Just follow me."
And that's how we ended up here. Fishing. I'd never done it in my previous life. Never even cared to. Mostly because it meant going outside or sitting next to some pond that reeked of rotten eggs. I'd much rather stay indoors with a computer. However...
The scenery, to be honest, was nice. Tall reeds, mossy banks. Frogs hopping everywhere, croaking over one another. Birds fluttering between branches in search of bugs.
"How long will this take?" I asked offhandedly.
"Depends on luck."
"But statistically... What?"
"Luck, I told you. If we're lucky, we might catch a few more of these..."
We had remarkable patience. I'll admit, at first I was bored out of my mind. Especially since it took twenty minutes before anything so much as nudged the hook. Paul stayed quiet, lazily rolling a pebble under his boot.
Plop.
Another fish caught, dropped into the bucket alongside the rest.
"Rudy, you're on a roll today! And this is your first time fishing..."
"..."
Paul gave me an approving pat on the shoulder. I glanced at his bucket... empty.
"You're five, and you look like a man out to feed the whole village."
"Just bored," I muttered.
"Uh-huh. Sure looks like you're savoring every second of it."
I snorted, eyes fixed on the water.
"I'm savoring how the mosquitoes are crawling all over me."
"Then it's real fishing. There's no such thing as the real thing without mosquitoes."
"In that case, I've changed my mind. I'm not being a fisherman."
Plop.
"I've noticed you don't have any friends," Paul said suddenly, tossing a piece of bread into the water.
"And you do?"
"Hey, I've got plenty!" he said, slightly offended. "Like Rowls."
"He's your coworker. Do you hang out with him or just drink?"
"And what's the difference?"
I rolled my eyes.
"So why don't you have any friends?" Paul pressed.
"I don't like kids," I shrugged. "And they don't like me."
"What's so bad about them?"
"Everything."
"Yeah… I bet girls especially are always chasing after you…"
"That's not it. They just annoy me."
Paul snorted.
"Kid, you realize how weird that sounds? Like some grumpy old man trapped in a five-year-old's body?"
I shrugged again.
"Have you even tried talking to them?"
"I don't want to dig in the dirt, poke cow shit with a stick, or argue about which girl has the cutest braids."
Paul narrowed his eyes and smirked. Why was he even asking all this? Just looking at those kids irritated me. What was I supposed to say? Paul, I'm actually almost forty. Not physically, but mentally. And I can't stand dumb little kids because my IQ is too high?
Given my situation, I couldn't really connect with them. I couldn't play their games, join their dumb conversations, or poke shit with a stick—whatever kids my age do.
The very thought made my left eye twitch. What would we even talk about?
Paul sighed deeply.
"Rudy… I wish you wouldn't take life so seriously."
"…"
Honestly, fishing was boring as hell. But I didn't have much choice. I just sat there, a puppet made of flesh and bone, waiting for something to happen. Nothing better to do anyway.
"I was just thinking… maybe you should go to a boarding school for noble kids. Might find someone with common interests... What do you think?"
"Are you sure you're my dad? You hate nobles."
"Well, I've got to pass that hatred down to someone, don't I?"
Paul grinned.
"When I was your age, I went to one of those schools. Awful place. The students? Bastards. Snobs. Arrogant little shits. Most of the teachers weren't much better. Asura's nobility is just a nest of snakes, where the smallest ones are still learning how to poison people properly."
I remembered that Paul used to be from a noble family. Though he didn't really seem like an aristocrat. More like a good-natured guy—just with massive muscles. Still, at least he'd brought some variety to my otherwise monotonous days. A weird kind of variety, but still.
"So were you one of the snakes?"
"I was a fool," Paul said with a shrug. "Picture this: you've gotta show up at a banquet wearing tight breeches and a corset that crushes your ribs. Everything pinches and squeezes. You can't breathe, can't fart. Then you smile and nod politely while some old fart breathes rotten fish in your face and says, 'Ah, Baron, what a fine codpiece you've chosen for your sword!' Disgusting."
I imagined it—and shuddered. Just thinking I could've ended up in that kind of backwards society...
"Horrible."
"Exactly!" Paul laughed. "And noble brats are no better. You get it? They're bred for it—mental abuse runs in their blood. From the moment they're born, that dirty sense of entitlement is drilled into their skulls. That's why I left. I wasn't gonna waste my youth groveling before puffed-up asses and licking mud off their boots!"
I wasn't sure why he suddenly opened up like that, but whatever small curiosity I had about noble kids vanished. Not that it had been burning hot before. I'd just assumed they'd be smarter than the village bunch…
He went quiet again, and I could tell he was about to say something serious.
"Thing is, Rudy… I want you to have a choice. A real one. Not like I did."
That made me pause. Choice… I hadn't had much of it in my last life. Or maybe I had—and just never used it.
"You didn't have a choice?"
He gave a small laugh and shook his head.
"No. When I left, I had nothing. No support. No money. No one to back me up. Just a sword and a few tricks. I got lucky. If I hadn't... well."
He paused.
"I want you to be able to choose. Be a mage? Go ahead. A swordsman? Sure. A merchant? A shepherd? Don't care. As long as you're not trapped."
I nodded silently.
Plop.
Another fish.
"Now, about magic and the language…"
"Hey! Don't start—I don't know jack about that. Zenith said kids shouldn't touch it. She's not changing her mind. She thinks if a child messes with magic too soon, they'll either burn down the house or blow themselves up."
"So what should I do?"
"Wait till you're fifteen... or find a way to study behind her back." He winked.
I squinted at him.
"Did you just give me permission to break Mom's rule?"
"I said find a way. That doesn't mean I approve. But if you pull it off… I'll be impressed."
I thought about it, then nodded.
Challenge accepted.