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Chapter 2 …
I Am an Adult (2)
A month had passed since he regained memories of his previous life.
During that time, while lying in his crib, Arvian had learned several things.
Arvian raised his hand before his eyes.
‘This body is estimated to be five months old now.’
Wiggle. Wiggle.
Five tiny, stubby fingers moved clumsily.
As Arvian stared blankly at his own hand, something was suddenly placed into it.
Reflexively, he gripped the object with all his strength.
Jingle.
A clear ringing sound echoed from his left hand.
Squish.
From his right hand came the soft, plush sensation of fabric.
‘This is the best possible start. I don’t know why, but these people called my parents are showing me an incredible amount of attention.’
Jingle jingle, squish squish.
Arvian shook the rattle in his left hand while kneading the soft doll in his right. Then suddenly, he flung the rattle away.
Soon, he grabbed the doll tightly with both hands and brought it to his mouth, chewing on it.
“Oh my. He was playing with it so well earlier. Has he already gotten tired of it?”
“Well, he’s been using it for a whole month. It’s only natural. It seems he’s more interested in the doll milady made for him.”
Arvian met the gaze of the man and woman looking down at him.
They were Count and Countess Dayvriel—Arvian’s parents.
He had never heard of the family name before, so they were probably not an old noble lineage. Still, as expected of a rising noble house, their finances seemed excellent, and they appeared to care sincerely for their territory.
Countess Dayvriel—his mother—picked Arvian up.
“See? Mommy’s handmade toy is the best, right? Isn’t that right, Arvian?”
“Ah-oo.”
It wasn’t that he disliked the rattle enough to throw it away.
For ages, rattles had been considered essential tools in a child’s development.
There was nothing better for helping infants understand the simple concept that shaking something produced sound.
But there was one problem.
The rattling sound kept drawing his attention without him realizing it.
‘A rattle is truly a terrifying object. I’ve already spent several days shaking it in a trance….’
If he wasn’t careful, another month would pass in the blink of an eye.
That would be disastrous.
‘I’ve already wasted enough time because of that rattle. From now on, I need to move efficiently.’
The goal of this life was the same as in his previous lives.
Find the Hero and defeat the Demon King.
Thanks to awakening his past-life memories early, he had gained five extra years in this life.
He couldn’t afford to waste such precious time.
‘Playing with this doll will help my development more than the rattle.’
Squish squish. Squeeze squeeze.
To develop fine motor skills, one needed to touch and knead soft objects like this often.
Focused entirely on the doll, Arvian puffed out his lips and mumbled to himself.
“Uuung. Uuuung… huuung.”
“When he concentrates like that and sticks out his lips, he looks exactly like you.”
“My lady… did I truly do that?”
The count and countess burst into happy laughter.
Whether they laughed or not, Arvian continued diligently chewing and sucking on the doll.
‘My body needs to grow quickly if I want to prepare to fight the Demon King.’
Having experienced countless reincarnations, Arvian knew how to make a body grow quickly.
…Though admittedly, he had never been this young before.
Still, the best way to grow rapidly was not to overthink things but to keep moving the body diligently.
‘Now that I’m five months old….’
Holding his own bottle and drinking from it, repeatedly clenching and opening his fists, bringing toys to his mouth—
He needed to awaken his body’s senses through all kinds of stimulation.
Squish squish. Soft soft. Munch munch.
The instincts of a child made him cling tightly to the warm, soft doll that smelled comforting while chewing on some unknown part of it.
How long had he been doing that?
His stamina finally ran out.
“Hwaaam.”
His mouth opened wide in a yawn. His eyelids fluttered sleepily.
Seeing this, his mother smiled, leaned Arvian against her chest, and pulled out a prepared storybook.
“Arvian. Mommy and Daddy are going to read you a story.”
“Ahem. Daddy practiced a lot for this. You should look forward to it.”
“Uuung.”
Arvian knew a few storybooks suitable for children.
Honestly, nothing surpassed the classics.
‘It’s probably <The Moonlight Postman> or <The Rabbit’s Dreamland Journey>.’
However.
The contents of the book were completely different from what Arvian expected.
“Today’s story is called <Twinkle Twinkle Hero Star>.”
“Bu…?”
Arvian’s eyes widened.
It was a title he had never heard before.
Seeing his apparent interest, the countess smiled softly and began reading in a quiet voice.
“A very long time ago, a terrifying Demon King appeared in the world.”
The countess lightly poked the count sitting beside her.
The count cleared his throat as if making up his mind, widened his eyes dramatically, and shouted:
“Hahaha! I am the Demon King! Kneel before me!!”
“Ahhh, the Demon King appeared here too! What a terrible Demon King! Kyaaa!”
The count lowered his voice and laughed wickedly.
Arvian stared blankly at the count, who had completely thrown away his dignity in shock.
The two were acting out the scene of the Demon King’s appearance with complete sincerity.
“The Demon King swallowed mountains, froze rivers, and even stole away the laughter of children. And when the world became dark, a Hero appeared!”
“Uwaa.”
“You wicked Demon King! I’ll defeat you!”
The count played the Demon King, while the countess played the Hero.
They must have practiced extensively, because their acting was surprisingly good.
Good enough that Arvian unconsciously became immersed in the story they were reading.
They even pretended to fight using toy swords.
Thanks to the count running around the room declaring himself the Demon King, the room became a complete mess.
But somehow, watching him hopping around so enthusiastically was both funny and entertaining, and Arvian burst into cheerful laughter.
“Kya-haha, kya-haha!”
Satisfied by her son’s reaction, the countess smiled and continued.
“After fighting for a very long time, the Hero finally defeated the Demon King! And then, a golden ray of light descended from the heavens!”
“Ghk… f-frustrating…!!”
Thud!
The count collapsed dramatically on cue.
Arvian, who had been giggling, suddenly froze.
Setting aside the fact that he had become far too absorbed in the story—
‘Wait. Defeated? The Demon King?’
Arvian had reincarnated countless times and stood against the Demon King over and over again.
But humanity had never once defeated the Demon King.
At best, they only managed to suppress the Demon King’s army temporarily or drive it back for a while.
“Uuu! Auu!”
Tap tap!
As if urging her onward, Arvian smacked the book with his hand.
“Soon, a voice that everyone could hear echoed from the sky.”
The countess gently stroked Arvian’s head.
“Hero, you have driven away the darkness and saved the world. You made flowers bloom once more upon lands stained with blood, and returned smiles to children who had only known tears.”
“…….”
“I shall remember your courage and love. Therefore, I shall turn you—and all those who fought against the Demon King until now—into stars in the heavens.”
The count quietly got back up and sat beside the countess.
Arvian stared at the book with a serious expression.
Unaware of his thoughts, the countess turned the next page.
“Now you shall leave the earth and become stars in the sky, shining upon the nights of mankind and guiding hearts that have lost their way.”
“And so, the Hero became the Hero Star, and people were able to receive the blessings of the Hero who became a star.”
“Goodbye, Twinkle Twinkle Hero Star. Thank you again today!”
On the final page of the book was an illustration of people basking beneath descending starlight.
Quietly staring at the picture, Arvian let out a small sigh.
‘The Hero who defeated the Demon King became a star and grants blessings? There’s no way something so absurd could actually happen.’
Defeating the Demon King was humanity’s lifelong wish.
Yes. People often created stories like this.
Surely this storybook had been made to inspire reverence and admiration toward Heroes in children and plant hatred for the Demon King within them….
At least, that was what he thought—
Until the countess said:
“My dear, I wonder what kind of blessing our Arvian will receive someday? I’m already curious.”
“Let’s see. My lady received the ‘Blessing of the Labyrinth Guardian,’ didn’t you?”
“That’s right. Thanks to it, I’ve never once gotten lost since childhood. And as you know, exploration teams constantly ask me for help nowadays.”
“And I received the ‘Blessing of the Night Shadow.’ That’s why my night vision is so excellent.”
The count and countess chatted affectionately.
As if ‘blessings’ truly existed.
‘What in the world are they talking about?’
Tilt!
Arvian’s body tipped forward while he sat there blankly opening and closing his mouth.
His large round forehead bonked directly against the page of the book.
Bonk!
“Oh dear! It’s alright, it’s alright.”
Laughing, the count gently straightened Arvian back up.
“He’s already this energetic. Once he starts walking, he’s going to cause all sorts of trouble. We won’t be able to take our eyes off him.”
“At this rate, he might receive a ‘Blessing That Prevents Injury From Falling.’”
The countess joked playfully while hugging Arvian tightly and burying her face in his downy-soft hair.
The powdery scent unique to babies drifted upward softly.
“Arvian. No matter what blessing you receive, just grow up healthy and brave.”
“That’s right. Just like the Heroes who defeated the Demon King and became stars.”
Arvian kept repeating the same thought over and over.
‘The Demon King really… died?’
After that, Arvian became obsessed with <Twinkle Twinkle Hero Star> for an entire week.
The count, the countess, and even the nanny read the story to him over and over while telling him various things.
As a result, Arvian was finally able to summarize the current situation.
First. The Demon King was dead.
Second. The Hero became a star.
Third. The Hero who became a star grants ‘blessings’ to people.
Strangely enough, it wasn’t only the previous Hero who defeated the Demon King that became a star.
Apparently, all past Heroes and their companions had become ‘Hero Stars’—in other words, ‘Guardian Stars.’
When children turned five years old, the Guardian Stars bestowed various blessings upon them, both great and small. It had already been a little over one hundred years since the world changed this way.
‘That’s roughly within the timeframe I expected.’
Since his final life, he had estimated that he reincarnated somewhere between ten and two hundred years later.
Still, he had never imagined the world would change this much.
‘There are many things I’m curious about. I still can’t believe the Demon King is truly dead.’
It was difficult to believe that the creature who seemed immortal throughout his entire life had finally died.
Though admittedly, by the end, even that monster had been heavily exhausted.
Anyway.
There were still many unanswered questions, but right now, there was a more urgent matter before him.
Something far closer and more threatening than the Demon King—
Namely, this spoon.
“Now then, young master. Say ahhh. Aahhh~”
The nanny held out a small spoon filled with thin rice porridge toward Arvian.
Arvian puffed out his lips.
“Buuuuuh….”
“Oh dear, it’s delicious! Young master, this is very tasty, you know?”
Sweating nervously, the nanny pressed the spoon against his lips. The spoon tried to pry his mouth open and slip inside.
That’s right.
At five months old, it was about time to begin weaning food.
Arvian was attempting solid food for the first time in this life.
However….
“Young maaaaster. Waaaah!”
Drip.
The porridge flowed down his chin without a single drop entering his mouth.
Whether the nanny pleaded or not, Arvian tightly shut his mouth and turned his head away. Then he puffed out his lips in dissatisfaction.
‘It tastes terrible.’
Begone, flavorless porridge without even the slightest seasoning.
Bring me the rich, savory taste of Harvenia—the finest powdered milk with five hundred years of history, produced on the Algrain Plains!
“Bubububuuu.”
