1 Riezel Brynhart

It was summer and the weather was clear.

The warm sunlight spilled from the pristine sky, streaming through the window and illuminating the somewhat luxurious room.

Riezel sat on an expensive large bed, covered halfway with a blanket. His complexion was slightly pale, but he appeared to be in good spirits, resembling someone recovering from a serious illness.

Standing by the bedside was a priest.

"It seems you're very energetic today, Mr. Riezel."

The priest spoke while holding a notebook in one hand and a quill in the other. He seemed to be observing Riezel with a scrutinizing gaze, sporting a friendly smile.

"Oh... Really?" Riezel, seemingly oblivious to the scrutiny, nodded in response to the priest. "I do feel much better today. I should be able to get out of bed without any issues."

"That's good to hear." The priest remarked. "Your recovery is much faster than I anticipated. Although we still need to observe, it seems you'll be up and about soon."

With that, the priest began writing down something on a bound parchment.

Strange and mysterious symbols, resembling special runes, were swiftly written by the priest on the parchment. Riezel's attention was drawn to these symbols, not only on the parchment but also on the priest's body.

The priest wore a golden-trimmed robe, adorned with runic patterns in various corners, giving him an air of mystery and subtle intellect.

"As a precaution, I'll use magic to check on you." The priest said gently. "Excuse me."

Setting aside the parchment and quill, the priest raised his hands to Riezel's chest.

After a short while, obscure and hard-to-understand chants echoed from the priest's lips. A faint yet gentle glow emanated from his hands.

The next moment, Riezel could clearly sense his body gradually warming up. It was as if an invisible warm current was flowing into him, enveloping him in unseen warm water. Not only did his body become pleasantly warm, but his mind and energy also improved.

After a moment, the priest ceased his actions and withdrew his hands.

"Mhm, your body is completely healed. All the previous injuries have been treated." The priest nodded. "You should rest in bed for today and can start moving around tomorrow."

As the priest spoke, there was a subtle sympathy and compassion in his eyes as he gazed at Riezel.

With these emotions in mind, the priest hesitated for a moment but eventually urged.

"Your body is fine now, but you shouldn't use magic anymore." The priest delicately continued. "The damage to the 'Gate' inside you is quite severe. It can no longer release magical energy. If you use magic indiscriminately, it may cause magical energy disorder inside you, and then..."

The priest left the rest of the sentence unspoken.

Nevertheless, Riezel responded with a faint smile and said, "I understand my condition. I won't do anything reckless."

"Good." The priest nodded with a slight smile. "In that case, I'll take my leave. Miss should come to see you later. Please endure for a while and rest in bed."

After a few more instructions, the priest quietly exited.

Alone in the room, Riezel remained seated on the bed, silent for a long time.

"Hahhh..."

A few seconds later, Riezel let out an almost imperceptible sigh.

"Magic, huh...?"

Looking at his much younger-looking hands, which seemed paler than he remembered, Riezel murmured to himself.

"Even if you ask me to use it, I probably wouldn't know where to start..."

After all, in the era and world he came from, the concept of 'Magic' was nothing more than a fantasy. It simply didn't exist.

Yet in this world, it seemed to be a perfectly natural and expected phenomenon.

Riezel couldn't help but recall events from a month ago. Recalling the moment he woke up, he realized he had arrived in a foreign world, encountering 'Magic' for the first time.

The shock, confusion, and bewilderment of that time now seemed like a distant memory. At least, the current him had fully accepted the fact that he had transmigrated into this fantasy world.

After a month, he had also come to understand the situation of this world.

In a nutshell, this was a world of swords and magic, another world with extraordinary powers and mysterious forces.

A month ago, he arrived in this world and embraced a new identity.

The original owner of this identity was a native of this world, coincidentally sharing the same name as him.

The only difference was that he was almost thirty in his previous life, while the Riezel of this world had just turned seventeen, undoubtedly much younger.

*Knock! Knock! Knock!*

Just as Riezel couldn't help but sink into memories, the door suddenly got knocked by someone.

"Riezel, are you awake?"

Outside the door, a voice as light as the wind and as clear as water interrupted his reminiscence.

"I'm awake." Riezel snapped back to reality and responded. "Come in."

With those words, the door swung open.

Standing there was a girl of roughly the same age as him.

Dressed in a convenient and elegant dress, she exuded a noble aura from head to toe. With delicate features and a slender figure, her waist-length bright silver hair adorned her body, not appearing the least bit peculiar. On the contrary, it accentuated her nobility, adding a touch of grace that made every move pleasing to the eye.

She walked in from the door with an air of natural elegance, radiating an indescribable sense of beauty. Even Riezel, who had grown somewhat accustomed, felt the urge to sigh in admiration.

Of course, he didn't do that.

As he watched the girl walking towards him, his face maintained a faint smile.

"You're here again, Miss Yuri."

Yuri Frenzel.

That was the girl's name and the person who saved his life, bringing him to this place.

At least, for Riezel, the girl was just that—a savior. If it were the original owner of his body, meeting her might have rendered him too nervous to speak akin to a typical protagonist in some Japanese novels.

Unfortunately, he wasn't this world Riezel. Even though he knew from the original owner's memory how noble and unattainable the girl before him was, he only held a heart full of gratitude.

In response, Yuri shook her head.

"Just call me Yuri; no need to be so formal."

The girl's voice, just like when she was outside the door, was light as the wind and clear as water, genuinely pleasant. Riezel even thought, somewhat impolitely, that with a voice like hers, she was wasting her talent for not becoming a singer.

"Judging by your appearance, it seems you've recovered quite well." Yuri sat down at his bedside, observing him carefully. "How are you feeling? Can you get out of bed?"

"Tomorrow should be fine..." Riezel replied, expressing gratitude. "Thanks for your care, Miss Yuri. I'll repay this favor sooner or later."

"I've said it before, no need to be so formal..." Yuri sighed lightly. "Your current situation is somewhat related to me. It's strange to see you so polite now. Wouldn't it be better if you were like in the beginning?"

Maybe recalling 'that time' improved her mood somehow. But this left him somewhat speechless.

Back then, his attitude was far from good. He just couldn't help it.

When he first transmigrated into this world, he woke up in bed, in excruciating pain with severe injuries all over, while an unknown girl stood by his side. His initial reaction was naturally filled with hostility and caution.

If it weren't for later realizing that something extraordinary happened to his body, Riezel would have thought he stumbled upon a dirty conspiracy, and some people were trying to harm him again.

Memories from his previous life flowed through, causing a slight ache in his heart.

'Thinking about it, my situation in this world doesn't seem much different from my previous world.' Riezel self-mocked in his mind.

Not knowing what he was thinking, Yuri noticed his sudden silence and changed the topic, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

"Still no way to repair your Gate?" Yuri inquired.

Though it seemed like a change of topic, what she brought up was, to some extent, more sensitive than their previous conversation.

"No." Riezel maintained his calm expression. "The damage seems quite extensive, with no signs of recovery. I was just warned not to use magic."

"Really...?" Yuri sounded somewhat regretful.

In this world, the ability to use magic directly determines one's social status. To use magic, one needed a certain amount of magical energy. Magical energy was the fuel for magic. Without it, magic was impossible.

Fortunately, people in this world were born with magical energy. The difference lay in the quantity—some had more, some had less, and some had enough to use magic, while others did not.

The so-called 'Gate' referred to a kind of nerve in the human body with magical properties. It served as a switch, a channel, and a storage for storing magical energy—the source of using magic.

Once the 'Gate' was damaged, it became difficult to call upon magical energy. In severe cases, the stored magical energy could be lost entirely.

His Gate was damaged. What's more? It was intentionally damaged by someone.

"Have you found out who did it?" Riezel asked nonchalantly. "Who wants to harm me?"

This was the reason he ended up in this place.

He—or rather, his body's original owner, was murdered a month ago. He was severely injured and didn't make it through.

Riezel thus transmigrated, took the dead body, saved by Yuri, and spent a whole month recovering in this luxurious mansion as Riezel Brynhart.