5 I'm Not a Bad Person, Okay?

"We need to talk'', said the emerald-haired young woman.

Her lips were tomato red and thin, symmetrical on either side. Her appearance could only be described as elegant and extremely beautiful.

However, despite her noble looks, she had a strange, rude way of speaking, as if she was angry all the time. There was also a certain disinterest in her voice, and the sentences that came out of her mouth had a relatively monotonous cadence as if she were a character in a written novel.

"My name is Celeste, Celeste Lotus Silverin of the noble ducal house Silverin," she gestured with her hands and then rubbed the back of her head nervously. ''This may have seemed sudden, and my tone certainly wasn't suited to the situation, but it's a pleasure to meet you Kailan Rhaast.''

Kailan nodded in agreement, but inside all, he managed to do was let out an unintelligible grunt. Assuming his defiant stance to the end. Kailan sat proudly, although his physical condition was weakened and he felt a little sore.

The young woman who had saved him earlier, but who had a rough language and shook him by the collar angrily moments before, was now in front of him, standing and formally introducing herself.

Kailan gestured for her to sit down, hoping she wouldn't get annoyed over simple things again. And his action paid off, as the girl's previously unmoving face now showed a slightly satisfied look.

"Well, we started the wrong way earlier. But I appreciate that you took the trouble to save me, and also to come here where I'm staying to introduce yourself'', Kailan's manner and tone of speech changed instantly, he sounded like a true noble speaking. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Silverin, thank you very much for the help you rendered to my person when I was about to die."

He placed his hand on his chest and bowed slightly 90 degrees, still sitting in the chair and making no move to get up from it. The young woman followed suit and did the same, saying words like 'it was nothing' and 'I did nothing more than anyone else would have done.

''Before you can say anything serious, can I ask you something? Of course, if it's not a bother.''

"Feel free to do so", she replied.

''What date are we on at the moment? Tell me precisely the date, month, and year if possible. Please'', Kailan begged.

She looked at him as if she found the question strange, but ignored that thought and just answered the question Kailan had asked her.

''It is the twelfth day of the second month of the year 1478, according to the imperial calendar.''

There was the confirmation for his theories — he really had gone back to the past. Apparently, Kailan had been sent during the beginning of the entrance tests to the renowned Draco-merlin academy, seventeen years before the day he died.

The boy fell into complete silence, a little stunned by the realization that he had been reincarnated in the past. But he didn't let it show on his face, maintaining a rigid, immobile expression that indicated no emotion at all. He was a pro at keeping a poker face at times like this, having learned this useful skill in his past life.

"Alright,", said the green-haired woman, snapping Kailan out of the trance he was trapped in. "Anyway, I think we're having some kind of peace and understanding here."

''So let's get to what I really came to talk about.''

She picked up the wooden chair she was sitting on and took a few steps forward, sitting between Kailan and a bejeweled desk, the curtains swinging behind her.

The shimmering light coming from the open window made the outline of her head look prettier than before, and her facial expressions could be seen more easily now.

"Okay, you said you'd like to discuss something serious. What did you mean when you said those words?'', the boy said slowly, crossing his arms and sitting up straighter than before.

Celeste stared at him for a few seconds, but there was nothing pleasant or happy about that look. Instead, it looked unsettling, reminding Kailan of Marian's gaze at him in that hall...

Her mouth opened and closed several times as she tried to find the right words to say.

''Well, you see. The academy management sent me to investigate some strange things that happened in that place you were,'' she continued looking into Kailan's eyes, searching for the smallest of the twitches his eyes made.

She distrusted him, he knew it. No, she wasn't the only one who suspected Kailan; the academy administration and the entire kingdom were certainly suspicious of him. He no longer had the prestige of a hero that he once had, after all, he had been sent to the times when he was just a useless commoner abandoned by society.

His looks and voice weren't the nicest either, and although people said you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, he knew the world didn't work that way. Therefore, doubting the provenance of such a person's speech was a very easy thing to do.

"I shouldn't be talking about this with you, but an incident involving unidentified magic at immeasurable levels was recently discovered around the kingdom. And shortly after that occurrence, we found you by accident on our frequent patrols through the city. We barely rescued you from that river you were on.''

Kailan was understanding where this conversation was going, and he wasn't enjoying it at all.

''Well, I know it's going to seem very disrespectful of me... But do you for some reason have any correlation with these cases of unknown magic that shook the whole world?''

The once friendly atmosphere in the room became completely tense in a second, and even though his raw amount of power was weak, a certain murderous aura dispersed from Kailan's body throughout the room.

"Why do you ask me this?" Kailan was smiling, but his eyes were colder than ice. "I don't think I need to answer that question, just look at the state I'm in right now because of mere waves. Your suspicions are based on complete superstition and don't even make any sense."

He knew that unknown magic had something to do with the shadow creature and the spell that took him back to the past, but he had to make it look like he wasn't involved in any way.

After all, if they found out about his involvement in that event, he could end up being used as an experiment subject by mages and mad scientists, as he currently didn't have the power to get out of such a situation.

It took a moment for the tension-filled air to ease. Celeste cleared her throat dryly, and Kailan cursed and groaned inside. The girl got up from the chair and walked to the front door of the room.

There was no way to extract more information because of the complicated atmosphere between them, so she would just walk away with what she had now.

"Well, sorry to bother you with that then. I'll get the doctor to examine you, and soon after you'll probably be sent to the academy", she placed her left hand on the doorknob, turning it as she spoke. "I will be there as a sophomore to witness this year's rookie admission test. I wish you good luck."

"Thank you." Kailan's tone showed no emotion. Be it bitterness, anger, or happiness; there was simply nothing in that word he had just uttered.

The woman studied Kailan one last time and left the room as she straightened up some loose ends of the plaid shirt she was wearing. The same moment she opened the door, the owner of the room where the boy was temporarily housed came to supervise him along with a doctor.

That disgusting woman was exactly the same one Kalian remembered from his past life, from her actions to her appearance. Juliet Shina Chakarian, a noblewoman who publicly had a facade of being kind and cherishing the lives of needy and weakened people, but inside she was nothing more than a rotten person who only cared about her own benefit.

When the war between the races became more violent than ever, that bitch simply fled with all her fortune, leaving thousands of people starving to death in the streets of the kingdom.

She didn't say anything, just looking at the boy with a huge smile on her face. It was almost as if she wanted to make it clear that she was a 'saint' with a good heart, but Kailan wasn't fooled by that mask she wore on the outside.

''Have you felt any pain in the last few hours?''

''Did you feel sick or tired?''

''blablablabla...''

A barrage of questions was fired at the boy, completely overwhelming him in just a few minutes. The doctor with the long mustache placed a stethoscope-like object on Kailan's chest, examining his body gently.

Of course, there was nothing unusual about his physical condition other than a few minor aches and pains that didn't pose any danger. A few moments after finishing examining him, the doctor diagnosed that Kailan was healthy and that he could be present for the academy's admission test, which was to be taken the next day.

Kailan was quite anxious, thinking that some trouble would happen after or during the visit of these two people before him. But now he was happy, smiling like a child, because contrary to his expectations, everything went smoothly.

He liked the news the doctor gave him and even had a casual conversation with the middle-aged man. The mustachioed man had a gentle personality that differed from his stocky appearance and felt sorry for Kailan's accident, sympathizing with the boy.

He patted the boy on the back and chatted with him with animation in his voice, making some comments related to the academy entrance exam that would start tomorrow, and even asked several times how Kailan lost his balance and ended up in the river.

Hearing the doctor ask the same question three times, Kailan managed to understand something. That man had a wrong idea of ​​the situation Kailan had been subjected to before, but he faithfully believed he had a keen understanding of what had happened to the young man.

Kailan couldn't deny that the situation he was found in gave the impression that he might have attempted suicide. But the people around him who thought that were wrong, he had just been sent to the past by a magic he had no idea how it worked, and so he ended up in that dangerous place.

But who the hell would believe he'd traveled through time, similar to time travel movies?

After all, no one in that world but him knew about special effects technology, let alone the movies he had in mind.

''We have already contacted Baron Hortfort, who is currently responsible for organizing the academy competition, but we have not yet received any response.''

''I see, thank you.''

''Don't worry too much,'', the woman who hadn't spoken so far, opened her mouth for the first time since arriving in the room. ''You must know that he is a very busy person, and he must be busy these days due to the growing demand of candidates for the academy. Baron Hortfort is a great businessman and one of the best swordsmen in the realm, but he has a good heart, so you can trust him. He needs to focus on a lot of important things, so his answer might take a while to arrive, but you'll be able to meet the test without any problems. Do you understand?''

"Yes, of course, I understand, ma'am."

Although he had a hatred for that walking piece of shit before him, Kailan currently didn't have the power to kill her. But he swore inwardly that he would make her pay for her sins, as well as cleanse the world of the other useless vermin that inhabited it.

He would create a world worth living in, create a kingdom where people could spend their lives in peace. No doubt he would. His mission would be a success, as long as he didn't give up halfway.

His expression hardened a little at the thought of these things, and Juliet and the doctor thought he was feeling sad or sick.

The doctor hurriedly added: "Just as Ms. Chakarian told you, you don't have to worry about anything and for now you should just rest. Your participation in tomorrow's entrance exam is guaranteed, so cheer up young man!''

''And for this day, while you're still settled here, some local employees will bring your meals from the restaurant to you.''

"Thank you, Ms. Chakarian and Mr. Doctor." He bowed slightly.

''No need to thank me for it, I'm just doing my job helping people when they need it.''

'I didn't ask you, you worthless slut.', he thought.

"Goodbye young man, I hope you perform well on your admission test", the doctor said, waving at Kailan before leaving the room.

And as soon as Juliet and the doctor left the room, Kalian nearly bit his tongue violently after hearing what that bitch had said. She would insist on maintaining that holy appearance for far too long... and he would have to put up with it and swallow his rage until he had the strength to banish her from the world of the living.

He may have lived a miserable life up until now, but he would certainly make up for it with his own effort and the help of the system he got. He had training methods developed by himself while he was still the sword saint, and others developed by his peers, which were more effective methods than those scattered around the world today, and also unknown to the others.

There were many ways he could use to strengthen himself, and many things he could practice, even things he had never done before. Surely the system would help him with all this, he thought.

If that system really worked the way Kailan remembered it from the games, then maybe by completing these quests he would end up getting stronger and unlocking more abilities.

He got up from the chair he was in and began to exercise, thinking about the mission system window, which appeared before his eyes at the same instant, and seeing the number of squats increase each time he finished a repetition.

Some time passed that way, and his previously dry body was covered in sweat. His clothes were soaked to the point that he looked like he'd just gotten out of a heavy rain that had soaked him completely.

He was dripping buckets of sweat, but he didn't even stop to rest.

[Daily Quest]

[Squats done so far: 92/100]

[Squats remaining for quest completion: 8]

His leg was sore, but he fought to keep going, so he could finish the mission given him by the system as quickly as possible.

''94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99...'' he counted breathlessly, standing up and crouching down again and again.

Huff. Huff, Huff

The sound of his heavy breathing filled the empty room.

As soon as he reached the maximum amount of moves, the screen appeared in front of him again and a new notification message appeared with a red glow, alerting him that the mission had been successfully completed.

[Daily Quest completed]

[5 exp was granted to the user as a reward]

[Level 1 (0.05%)]

[Experience Index: 5/100]

His chest, which rose and fell repeatedly as he breathed heavily, was filled with an invigorating feeling of happiness as soon as he read that message.

''This...this is good...now I know how this thing works...'' Kailan said lying on the floor, he was panting but the satisfaction was evident in the tone of his voice.

He then jumped up off the floor, thinking about some serious things as he walked towards his bed.

In his past lives, once he became an adult and assumed various responsibilities, rest was indescribable to him. While other people rested and enjoyed vacations or holidays, he was always given work and also diligently training to get stronger.

He never traveled around the world for fun like other people, always prioritizing his position above all else - this had happened in both of his lives, and so, while still living on earth, he didn't even have a passport to his name.

That bed in front of him was like heaven itself, even more so after he forced his already sore body to exercise.

"At least I can finally sleep properly in decades."

Kailan comfortably rested his head on the soft bed after plopping himself on top of her. At the moment, he was away from deadlines and demanding jobs, so he could finally feel comfortable stretching out on the blankets as if he were buried in cotton candy and clouds.

The first step in building a proper civilization was to acquire contacts and help from influential people. And what better place to get those things than the Draco-merlin academy?

If his assumption was right, and he managed to pass the academy admission test, he might end up meeting some people who had been his teammates before. But he would be careful, because, after all, he could also come across some of the traitors who were dispersed around the campus of the place.

''Tomorrow will be a great day.''

Finally, he surrendered to sleep, there was a strange smile plastered on his face from ear to ear as his eyelids closed completely.