A heat that invades the body.
A searing pain, as if a living creature is rampaging inside me.
The word “death” flashes through my mind.
Until now, it had always felt distant, something unrelated to me. But now, that single word felt closer than anything else.
In the unrelenting pain, my consciousness began to blur.
And then, like noise mixing into my thoughts, a clear disturbance emerged.
At first, it was only static. But gradually, it took shape.
Then suddenly, a massive surge of information flooded my mind.
The raging torrent of memories was from my previous life, where I lived as Yuto Jinguji—not in the Carmine Kingdom, nor even in this world, but in a different world altogether, in Japan on Earth.
In my previous life, I lost both parents in a plane crash when I was just a baby.
So, everything I knew about them was from what Grandpa had told me.
My father worked at an investment bank, clocking over 100 hours of overtime a month, coming home on the last train every night.
My mother returned to her job as a structural architect after just six months of parental leave.
These two, relentless workaholics, left me quite a substantial inheritance.
Thanks to the investment trusts they had and the term life insurance from an overseas company, I inherited enough to live modestly without needing to work.
But I wasn’t left to be exploited by relatives who might have taken advantage of my inheritance; I was raised with care.
Grandpa, a kind-hearted yet laid-back man who hardly seemed to be the father of such a strict man as my dad, took care of me.
“Listen up, Yuto.”
His rough, calloused hand would tousle my hair, and I loved that hand, rough yet filled with warmth.
“A man’s duty is to protect his family. When you find someone precious, make them family and protect them with all your life. That’s what it means to be a man.”
“Got it!”
Grandpa, born and raised in Kumamoto with a strong dialect, valued family above all else.
Perhaps Grandpa’s way of thinking is a bit old-fashioned by today’s standards. But to me, starved of the love from my father and mother, it was more appealing than anything.
In my past life, I carried a constant feeling of unfulfillment.
And without accomplishing anything, I died as a college student.
This time, I’ll make it right—
“Hah… hah… that was…?”
I struggled to sit up.
With this high fever, even lifting my upper body was exhausting.
Desperately, I forced my feverish, overloaded mind to function.
My name is… Kuhn von Belzeart.
The fifth son of the Viscount Belzeart family.
…Yes, I know exactly who I am.
Though there was some confusion due to the memories of my previous life, both personalities had neatly merged into one.
Reflecting on my previous memories, I realized that this situation is, essentially…
“A reincarnation into another world, huh.”
Just like in the web novels I used to read back then.
Back then, I never imagined it would happen to me. But now that I’ve been granted a second chance at life, I want to live it properly this time.
“Still… I was truly blessed, wasn’t I?”
Now I carry the memories of living as both Yuto and Kuhn.
With these two lifetimes of experience, I can say it with confidence.
In my previous life, I was blessed.
Even though I lost my parents, I had Grandpa.
Thanks to Grandpa, who used the inheritance for my education, I could afford cram school and study abroad trips. I even attended college without needing to rely on scholarships.
Cough, cough… And yet, in this life, I’ve been entirely abandoned. Almost refreshingly so.
In contrast, my parents in this life are… beyond disappointing. It’s like they’ve completely abandoned their role as parents.
Even while I was on the verge of death with a high fever, neither Father nor Mother came to see me.
As the penniless fifth son of a viscount’s family, as soon as I’m of age, I’ll be thrown out as an unneeded burden.
If I died, they wouldn’t care at all.
They might even be glad to have one less mouth to feed.
“No way am I… dying here.”
My current life can hardly be called fortunate.
But because of that, I have a powerful thirst.
I don’t want to die.
I can’t let it end like this.
Because… I haven’t achieved anything yet.
This is where it starts.
From this moment of awakening, from the moment I was reborn anew—my second life begins.
