"Where is the thief who entered our mansion!" the boy shouted.
This time, Colt felt a different feeling. It wasn't just rage. Or it wasn't just sadness. It was also fear.
The one in front of him was definitely him, the Hero, his father, this time.
How could I have confused anyone with him?
Now that Astre was in front of him, Colt thought it was obvious.
The even amount of black and white hair, and the aura. Colt felt like he was against his 66-year-old father he had fought until a few hours ago.
Shit!
He felt his legs trembling as he remembered the fear. It was the same fear that froze everyone who ever stood before his father.
Stop! he screamed at his legs inside. This man killed my mother, he is no Hero!
But his legs refused to listen to him.
Anit must have realized Colt was distraught, so he walked in front of him. "Dear brother, there is no thief here."
Unlike Astre, who seemed hot-blooded, Anit was as calm as one could be.
"Brother, I already heard it from the guard."
Anit clicked his tongue. He was sure he knew which guard had told him.
"Astre!" The sound of the middle-aged man, their father and Colt's grandfather, came from behind Astre.
"Astre, I don't remember giving you permission to leave."
"Permission?" Astre sneered. "Father, I am already stronger than you and my brothers. And I will be the strongest soon. I don't think I need permission from you."
Colt was shocked.
Can I be mistaken once again?
The thought wasn't as absurd as it sounded. The boy in front of him, or his character, to be accurate, was nothing like the father he knew of.
His father was kind and thoughtful. Colt didn't remember his father shouting at him in his 38 years of previous life.
Well, except when he was training him. But even then, he always made sure Colt wasn't seriously injured.
But now, the boy was disrespecting his father.
This version of him… feels closer to the man I faced just hours ago.
Astre in front of him was similar to the father he had fought before regressing in time. Not in terms of appearance, but in how he acted.
"Astre! You cut your training instructor's arm. Do you think their family will let it slide? He is the son of Count Ganame."
The Vera family was a Viscount family at this time, Colt remembered. Only after the Hero's emergence did they become a Duke family.
"Well, it is his fault for being that weak. Also, I told you I need no instructors. I will take the family swordsmanship soon anyway."
Then, Astre turned his head back to Colt, who was standing behind Anit, without waiting for an answer he wouldn't care about.
"You! You seem strong. You have obviously trained your body since childhood. But something is missing."
Colt was not surprised that the boy who would one day become the Hero understood his body's condition instantly.
No, he even understood the system's level had regressed to 1. That was the missing thing.
He had hidden his system from his family; otherwise, it could be revealed that he had reincarnated.
Of course, his father probably had some suspicions about some kind of power inside him. But he couldn't have known, or he wouldn't have let Colt use it to go back in time.
I see...
Finally, his legs stopped shaking.
He is not the same man.
Their bodies were the same. But this man couldn't be the same as his father or the Hero he was scared of.
Colt forced his breath into a steady rhythm.
I can't kill him yet, though.
Colt was still in his father's, or his grandfather's, mansion. So, killing his father now would result in others attacking him.
I am not even sure if I can beat him...
Colt's body had returned to the state it was in when he was fifteen. Thanks to his father's training, his body was in good condition even when he was fifteen.
But it wasn't the same with his mother's teachings.
Divine Power needed one to open their mana channels. But that would only be possible with a holy priest's help after the age of 20. There were exceptions like his mother, who had opened their mana channels earlier by themselves. But Colt wasn't one of them.
Until the age of 20, he had only learned spells and theory. So, he couldn't use them now.
Lastly, his system was back to level 1. So, Colt had nothing but his father's body and weapon training, and his experience.
Is it enough to go against the Hero?
Obviously, the boy was still stronger than him, especially with the system gone. But he had won against stronger rivals before.
Thinking wouldn't change anything now, though.
Probably bored of receiving no answers, Colt saw Astre's face in front of his for a moment too late.
And then, a pain spread from his abdomen before he found himself flying.
With a huge "boom" sound, he got buried into one of the walls of the dining room.
"Ahh!"
The wall around him had also cracked.
He wasn't ready for an attack. But there wouldn't be a second.
Even without his system and the Luminous Order's power, Colt wasn't a pushover. He just wasn't ready before.
So, he got out of the wall under the wide eyes of his grandfather, the guards who had followed him, and Anit.
The servants who were in the room to prepare the table gasped and took a step back.
Colt's abdomen felt sore, but apart from that, there was nothing more. He flicked the dust off his tattered clothes.
Astre started laughing, "Hahahaha! I knew it. You are really a thief. Or maybe a spy! Did that idiot Baron Oget's family send you? Come on now, I only broke his son's arm in a formal duel!"
Colt still couldn't believe this was his father. He was already 15, so there couldn't be such a big change.
Was it my mother who changed him?
Even then, though, one person couldn't change so much. Also, he didn't think his mother would hang around someone like the current Astre.
So, there must have been something else.
However, this wasn't the time to solve that issue.
"I think there is a misunderstanding here. I don't know any Baron Oget, nor do I know who you all are," Colt said. He knew it wouldn't work, but there was no harm trying.
"Then, why are your eyes filled with hate when you look at me?" Astre's insightful answer surprised Colt once again.
He exhaled through his nose, "If a fight is what you want, fine." Colt also wanted to test himself. To take his revenge, he must know his enemy's strength.
Then, he looked at his grandfather, "May I borrow a sword?"
"Hahaha! Now you are talking. Come with me," Astre said without letting his father talk.
The middle-aged man slapped his forehead. But when he saw Colt looking at him, waiting for confirmation from the actual head of the house, he nodded with a small smile.
---
Everyone, including some of the servants who saw them walking through the mansion's corridors and thought something must be happening, followed Astre to what seemed like a training ground.
Even though it was the middle of the night, there were many people, probably awakened by the sound.
The training ground was inside the mansion, but still, there was cold air coming from the windows that were open to let the smell out.
The night air stung Colt's lungs.
There was fresh blood on the ground, probably related to what his grandfather said about Astre cutting someone's arm.
Why was there an instructor here in the middle of the night?
Anit seemed anxious, expecting something bad to happen.
The room was bare—just a rack of swords and empty space.
The swords didn't seem to be of good quality.
Being the Hero's son, Colt experienced a rich life. No, rich was an understatement. They could even buy a country if they wanted. So, the swords hanging at their training grounds were of much higher quality. This was before Colt had regressed, though.
Now, standing at a Viscount's training ground, only normal and low-quality iron swords were available.
Colt didn't mind and chose one randomly. The cold metal of the sword brought back his memories of his father.
But he didn't focus on those memories.
The moment he held the sword, he understood exactly how much his body had changed.