(A/N: thoughts are written in italics.)
"What happened to you, Blue? I'm happy—actually, I'm genuinely happy—but I'm also surprised. How can you suddenly speak?"
Mary's voice trembled between relief and disbelief. Her eyes were still slightly red from earlier tears, but now they carried something else—confusion.
Ethan looked at her carefully.
"Well… I don't remember anything," he said slowly. "I don't even know who you are. Can you tell me what happened? And who am I?"
"Well, it wasn't a complete lie; I genuinely don't know where I am and who this body belongs to. Then why not just use it to pretend to have lost my memory in the fire accident and gather some information from the cute women standing in front of me without raising any suspicion?"
Inside, he nodded to himself. Yap, that's a perfect plan.
Mary stared at him.
For a brief moment, Ethan felt proud of his quick thinking. He imagined her calmly explaining everything about this world, about magic, and about himself.
He would sit there like a student listening to a teacher, absorbing all the necessary background information.
What he doesn't know is how vulnerable Mary actually was. Her face started changing. Then, without warning, tears began to fall down from her face.
"It's my fault," she whispered. "It was all my fault."
Ethan blinked.
"Hey, hey—lady—why are you crying?" he said, panicking slightly. "I didn't say anything wrong, did I? Please stop crying. What if someone walks in and thinks I did something to you? Don't make me look like a villain."
"What the hell is wrong with her? Does she have some screws loose in her mind?" he thought to himself.
She kept mumbling through her tears.
"If only I had been more attentive… if I had checked on you sooner… it would never have happened. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Blue… Next time, I won't forget about you…"
Ethan frowned.
"You've got to be kidding me," he said. "What do you mean by next time? You want me stuck in another burning building?"
Mary's eyes widened immediately. She stopped crying and urgently said,
"No! No, I didn't mean it like that!"
"Well, at least you stopped crying," Ethan said with a sigh of relief. "Can you please tell me who I am and who you are?"
Mary wiped her tears quickly, clearly still embarrassed about her earlier emotional breakdown. She gestured for him to sit back down on the bed. Then she pulled a wooden chair closer and sat near him, her expression calm.
"So where do I start?"
"Why don't you start right from the beginning?"
"Ok, I am the caretaker of the orphanage you're living in," she said softly. "It's almost 15 years since you came to the orphanage."
"I found you at the door of the orphanage; you were just a newborn baby. I took you in and started raising you with other children."
"For some unknown reason, you were very sick when I found you. The doctors who tested you said that you wouldn't live even a day, but miraculously you did."
"But it didn't come without a cost. You became a mute. Sorry to say this, but that's the only word I could think of until now."
"So I'm an orphan, huh?" Ethan asked casually.
"Please don't say that," Mary replied immediately. "Didn't you have me?"
"Yeah, sure," Ethan said, unable to stop the faint sarcasm in his voice.
Mary, as innocent as ever, didn't catch the tone. She simply nodded gently and continued.
"We live in a small town under the rule of the Keith Empire. It's one of the seven empires on this planet. This world is considered a low-level planet among the countless worlds in the Origin Universe. The planet is called Aries."
Ethan listened carefully.
"What the hell? Why is she using the word 'universe,' and what is the shit about multiple worlds?" He thought to himself.
"So? " Mary said after a pause, clearly unsure why he was staring at her so intensely.
"Continue," Ethan replied. "Well… that's all there is to say," she said hesitantly.
Ethan stared at her blankly. "What do you mean that's all? I just saw people using magic outside the window. Can you tell me about that?"
Mary nodded.
"In our universe, living beings awaken at a certain age. It differs depending on which race you are from. For humans, we are considered adults at fifteen. That's when we awaken."
"And what exactly do we awaken?" Ethan asked.
"It depends on the individual," Mary explained. "Each person gains an ability suited to them. I awakened the ability called 'Cook.' I can prepare food that restores stamina and slightly boosts health. I also learned small healing spells."
Ethan's eyes widened slightly.
"So that's why I healed so fast from my injuries?"
Mary shook her head gently.
"No. I am only a low-level awakened being. My abilities are limited. Even with my ability, it would take at least two or three days for someone to recover from burns and smoke inhalation like that."
That's why I was surprised when I saw that you were completely fine after only a few hours."
Ethan had no answer to that.
Truthfully, he was just as confused. "Did my body heal itself? Or is there something else?"
He pushed the thought aside for now.
"Sister Mary," he said. She looked at him. "I'm fifteen, right?"
"Yes."
"When do you think I'll awaken?"
Mary hesitated. "Actually… you're not quite fifteen yet. If I calculate from the day I found you, you should reach fifteen in about six or seven months."
"Six or seven months, so my awakening hadn't happened yet."
Mary stood up from her chair.
"You should rest," she said firmly. "I need to check on the other children. Don't walk around too much. Sleep."
She turned toward the door.
"Sister Mary," Ethan called. She paused and looked back. "Is there a library in town?"
Mary's eyebrows lifted. "You've changed so much," she said quietly. "You used to be completely mute. Now you're talking, asking questions, and wanting to visit a library. All of this happened in just a few hours."
She studied him carefully. "It almost makes me want to believe your body is possessed by some evil spirit."
Ethan forced a smile. "You have no idea how close you are to the truth," he thought.
Aloud, he asked casually, "So… is there one?"
"There is," she replied slowly. "But commoners like us don't usually go there. It's not forbidden, but people don't look kindly on it."
"I understand. Thank you."
Mary nodded once more and left the room. The door closed softly behind her.
Silence filled the space. Ethan leaned back against the bed and exhaled deeply.
"So…" He looked at his small hands again.
"I got transmigrated."
Questions began flooding his mind one after another.
How the hell did I end up here?
What happened to my original body?
Is it still floating in the ocean somewhere? Or did it sink to the bottom and get eaten by fish?
He shrugged faintly. "It's not like I care much about that body anymore." Still, the process of transmigration itself confused him.
How did my soul get transferred? And why did it have to be this body?
What happened to the original Blue? Was he dead? If so, how did he die?
And why didn't he inherit any of Blue's memories?
"In all the light novels that I have read, transmigrated protagonists usually gain the memories of the body's previous owner, right?"
"Then why have I not received anything?"
"My mind was completely empty. I only have the memory of my previous life, which I think is not going to help that much in this life."
"Did I just overwrite him?" Ethan muttered quietly.
He shook his head. There was something more important.
"Where is my golden finger?"
If those light novels were even half accurate, a transmigrated protagonist should have some kind of cheat ability. A system. A hidden power. A special artifact. Something.
He searched his belongings, but he doesn't even have pockets in his dress. He saw his finger to see if there was any ring, but there was nothing. So much for thinking of an old man in a ring.
"If I really got transmigrated, then I should be the protagonist, right?"
He paused. "What the hell? When did I become so conceited?"
He let out a dry laugh. "Am I getting arrogant because I transmigrated? Or was I always like this?" Maybe it was just a defense mechanism. If he treated this like a story, it felt less terrifying.
He stared at the ceiling. So magic and awakening exist, and from the way she talked about the universe, the planet I am living on is somewhat very insignificant.
Six or seven months until awakening. I have very little time to prepare. I don't know why, but I think I should develop my physical capabilities before the process of awakening.
I should definitely visit the library to know at least some information about the process of awakening and about general knowledge.
He lay down on the bed, looked towards the ceiling, and thought to himself, "So I got drowned in the ocean."
"The next moment I opened my eyes, I was surrounded by fire, and now when I open my eyes again, I am in this epic fantasy setting."
"I don't think a day similar to today will ever come in my life again. Whatever, let's sleep for now."
His consciousness slowly drifted to sleep. What he doesn't know is most of the questions are going to get answered while he gets awakened.