Darkness.
That's what surrounded my vision. Nothing but a black void that stretched endlessly could be seen. I tried to move and speak, but I couldn't do anything; I just stayed still. But then memories hit me like a dam that had burst.
I remembered who I was.
I was Royce Bennett, the world's strongest hunter.
Memories of the last battle flashed before me as I remembered what happened.
'Ah, is this the afterlife?'
However, I couldn't help but feel displeased.
'Why was it so heavy?'
It was like something was being pressed down on me.
Was something sitting on me?
Soon, however, I could hear sounds of what seemed like people. I say that although I didn't understand the language at all.
{Hey, don't faint on me again, you bastard!]
That voice felt…familiar.
Where did I hear that voice before?
{Hey, wake up!]
When I heard those words, I suddenly felt a sensation in my eyes. The sensation of closed eyes. The feeling reminded me of the times I heard my alarm but didn't want to get up. However, the weird sensation on my head and arms was causing me to open my heavy eyelids slowly.
"Ugh, where am I?" I groaned out
"Your Highness! Quickly get the physician! His highness has awakened!" Hearing a shout, I furrowed my brows.
'Huh? How did I understand that?'
Trying to move, I found that it was extremely hard, but I quickly realized why.
"My abs, what happened to my abs!"
{Oi, calm down! Your blood pressure is rising!}
Hearing that, I couldn't help but grit my teeth "Fuck you!" I groaned out, but I was then pushed down.
{Don't die as soon as you get resurrected, you bastard!}
What bullshit was this asshole spouting?
"Let go…need to kill…it!" I tried to speak, however my voice cracked and became hoarse.
"Prince Alaric! Please calm down!"
{Jeez, you really have a temper, don't you?}
"B-bastard!"
{Woah, woah, I'm sorry, okay? Take deep breaths}
However, I then opened my eyes.
At first, I was blinded by a bright light; however, after blinking a few times, my vision became clear, leading me to be confused.
Currently, I was being held down by 3 people who had servant attires on.
'Wait, why are they dressed as French maids?'
But then I remembered what was said before.
'Who the hell is Prince Alaric? My name was Royce Bennett! Was I confused with someone else?'
{Great, you're calm now.}
Looking around, I saw in the air that there was a small humanoid-type creature. On its back were a pair of 2 jet black bat-like wings. It was probably around 15 cm tall. Its features resemble those of a human for closely of a child in their late teens. It had jet black hair styled to the side and glowing violet eyes.
"What the hell are you?" I asked
"Prince? Are you alright?" An old-looking butler asked while looking confused
I was also confused; however, the angry shout of the thing caused me to furrow my brows
{They can't see me, idiot! If you want to talk to me, think about it!}
'What happened? Where am I? And why am I in this pig-looking body?'
I could see the annoyed look on its face.
{After our battle, I tried to devour your soul, but it seems that it backfired. As a result, I ended up in this pathetic form. However, it seems that your soul was sucked into the High Realms. Now you're in the body of the bastard prince.}
After listening, I was confused.
'What the hell is a High Realm?'
{Tsk, what did I even expect from a lesser?}
Clicking its tongue in annoyance, my hand twitched. As if sensing my emotion, it flinched before starting to speak.
{The concept of dimensions is a bit complicated; however, each dimension has a certain amount of power. Dimensions with the highest amount of power are close to the spirit world and are often populated with very powerful beings. This attracts higher-dimensional beings who want to devour the world and take its power. Much like, what happened on Earth]
When I heard those words, I glared at him.
{A-anyway, now you're possessing the body of Alaric von Hohenfeld. He is the 4th prince of Caltheria, the holy empire of light, who turned 16 a few days ago}
'I'm a prince?'
{A bastard one, this guy is a dick}
Hearing that, I looked at the small humanoid in curiosity.
'How bad are we talking here?'
Suddenly, a flood of information entered my mind.
Alaric von Hohenfeld was the fifth child and fourth prince of the Holy Empire of Caltheria. His mother was Avalyne Caelberg, the third wife of the emperor of Caltheria and daughter of Duke Severus Caelberg. Three and a half years ago, however, Avalyne suddenly died, and no one knew how.
From then on, Alaric, who was kind and thoughtful, became depressed. Alaric also wasn't given a chance to grieve as his grandfather, Severus, wanted him to become the next holy emperor of Caltheria. To add on to that, he wasn't considered as talented as the rest of his siblings, making others judge him for his lack of talent despite being the son of such a powerful person.
Then one day, the guy did a 180 and became a complete and utter bastard.
He became angrier, which resulted in the maids and other servants being cursed at. When he didn't like his meal or was angry, he'd throw plates and other things at the servants. He would even harass the knights.
He cursed and harassed his teachers to the point that they fled the Black Oak Castle.
'Wow I really am a dick-wait, where did you get this information from?'
{Despite being in such a form, I am still able to directly communicate with other's souls. Besides, you should be grateful, there is no way you could have gathered this information in such a short time.}
'...He's got a point'
I then went through the rest of the information.
This guy became super lazy, resulting in him skipping his swordsmanship lessons. With no exercise and eating a lot, it resulted in him gaining weight.
5 days ago, he suddenly collapsed due to a high fever. The cause itself was unknown, and even with the emperor's power, nothing worked. Around noon yesterday, he passed out, and I woke up in his place.
'So to summarize the situation, I died and was reborn as a bastard prince who is considered trash by the empire?'
It shrugged
{Pretty much.}
Seeing that I was calm, I noticed that the servants in my room were looking at me. Then the door opened again, revealing an old guy who had a blush on his face.
"*Hiccup* a your highness you're *Hiccup* awake" the man said as he walked over.
'I-is this guy drunk? Who is this guy?'
{He's the Black Oak Castle's physician}
The guy approached me, giving me a closer look. The guy was pretty messy, with hair that was puffed up, and his clothes were wrinkled all over as if he had just woken up.
The man quickly brought a stool as he grabbed my hand. When he did that, I saw that his eyes started to glow a faint gold as he scanned my body.
"Hm…nothing abnormal," he muttered. However, I couldn't help but hold my breath.
'Ugh the smell is bad'
I never liked alcohol, thus I never drank it. One of the reasons was the smell, and it also brought back some bad memories.
"Everything seems to be in order," the man said as he staggered out of the room. "I'll check up on you later,"
However, I didn't pay attention to his words, but rather I asked the thing a question.
'Hey, if my soul took on the position of this body, then what happened to the previous Alaric? Did I absorb him or something?'
{Beats the hell out of me}
Shrugging, it started to fly around.
{When we arrived here, there wasn't a sign of any other soul. This probably means the previous Alaric died, and he went to the cycle of reincarnation, or he is hiding deeply in the body. If you absorbed the soul, it would've made things a lot easier}
Ignoring the last part, I looked at the ceiling while contemplating what he had just said.
Judging from what he said, it was most likely that the previous Alaric died from his fever and left his body. While this did relieve the guilt I felt for taking his body, it still left a strange feeling.
{But hey, you stuck it rich}
'What do you mean?'
{Now you're royalty. You get whatever you want. It's a lot better than being a normal person.}
I stared at it for a bit before my eyes widened.
'Wait he's right!'
That means I could achieve my dream!
The life of a slob!
Doing nothing all day while sleeping and eating! And with this reputation, I don't even need to take responsibility for being a prince!
"Hehe"
I couldn't help but chuckle, causing some of the servants to look at me in confusion.
"Your highness? Is something the matter?"
"No, nothing is wrong."