"Wake up, Russell Blair!"
A thunderous shout jolted me awake.
What?
Before I could even grasp the situation, an unidentified middle-aged man thrust his face into mine.
"Where have you left your mind wandering? Are you even listening to me?"
As I stared blankly at the man, he clicked his tongue, tsk tsk. It felt unjust to be berated without knowing the reason, but I had no time to argue.
"I've told you multiple times that status is meaningless here, yet you seem completely unable to understand. I suppose I have no choice but to make you realize it personally."
He crossed his arms and declared for all to hear.
"From today on, your mentor is Flamel!"
Not knowing what that meant, I just stared at the man blankly. Taking that as defiance, he crumpled his face once more.
"Oh, so this isn't enough for you? Then you'll have to collect this month's Moonlight Flowers yourself!"
"P-Professor Duke. Isn't that going too far?"
An old man standing nearby started in surprise and tried to dissuade him. But the man called Duke shook his head, paying him no mind.
"I need to fix his habit for good this time."
"But collecting Moonlight Flowers is...."
"Mentor Flamel will be going with him, so it will be fine! Let him feel the reality of his skills to the bone this time."
Duke snorted and glared at me again.
"Then hurry back to your room! Shouldn't you be preparing to go to the Moonlight Forest tonight?"
"Huh?"
"Right now!"
Because he yelled so suddenly, I stood up awkwardly, opened the door behind me, and walked out.
CLICK.
As I closed the door, fatigue from the sudden commotion washed over me.
'What is this?'
I looked down at my palms. The clothes I was wearing felt incredibly bothersome. I was dressed in a style I had never seen before in my life.
'Middle Ages? Or is it the modern era?'
Anyway, it was the kind of clothing one would see in a world history textbook. Though I didn't know which country's style it was.
'The floor too.... No, the walls as well. Is that perhaps a chandelier or whatever they call it?'
Looking around, everything was utterly unfamiliar.
Did someone put me on a plane while I was sleeping and send me on a trip to Europe? It seemed like the Palace of Versailles I had seen on the internet looked something like this.
'No, that can't be.'
Such a convenient thing couldn't possibly happen. If that were true, I shouldn't be walking on two feet right now; I should be lying on a cold operating table. There would be no reason to do such a thing other than organ trafficking.
'Then there is only one option left....'
I wasn't completely dense.
People calling me by a name I had never heard before, acting like they knew me when I didn't know them. Clothes and architectural styles I had never seen in my life.
This was possession.
'Is it fortunate that I've read a lot of novels?'
No, then am I currently missing in the original world? That can't happen. Today is my younger brother's birthday.
I was on my way home after buying a cake.
'Damn it. What am I supposed to do if I turn his birthday into the day his brother went missing!'
I had to go back immediately. What was the time ratio here? At this very moment, my brother must be waiting for me to come home...!
While I stood there confused in the incredibly lavish hallway, someone tapped my shoulder.
"Russell Blair."
"...Me?"
When I turned around, a man with a cold impression was looking at me. As I asked back inadvertently, his face became even colder.
Purple eyes revealed through black hair displayed an unrealistic color.
I had never seen anything like that in my life.
"Then where else would Russell Blair be here other than you?"
Come to think of it, it seemed Professor Duke had called me that too.
'Russell Blair.' I had guessed it, but this place seemed to have a setting close to the West.
"...Strange."
When I didn't give much of a response, the nameless man frowned slightly.
"You heard the talk. That we're going to the Moonlight Forest tonight."
"Ah, yeah."
"If you prepare now, you won't be late. Since I bear some responsibility for this incident, I'll play along, but there won't be a next time."
"...Really?"
I didn't know how to answer. As I spoke vaguely, the man narrowed his brow blatantly this time.
"What's wrong?"
"What?"
"I expected you to spout nonsense like 'How dare a commoner speak informally' or 'I can do it alone without the help of someone like you' by now."
Hmm. It seemed the original 'Russell Blair' before the possession had quite a nasty temper.
I scratched my cheek awkwardly.
"Did I?"
"...I don't want to be your mentor or anything either. But given Professor Duke's personality, he won't retract it just because I ask, so if you're thinking of that, give it up."
Aha. This guy must be the mentor 'Flamel' that Professor Duke mentioned. It seemed I had bullied him quite a bit using status as an excuse, but for that, his attitude was quite confident.
'This rude way of speaking, I feel like I've seen it somewhere....'
A strange sense of déjà vu washed over me. It tickled my mind, as if I were about to remember.
"Tonight at 8 o'clock. In front of the dormitory. Don't be late."
He tossed the message at me and turned around just like that.
'Ah!'
Purple eyes, that way of speaking, the quarrel picked for being a commoner, the Moonlight Forest, and the Magic Tower!
Combining the hints that had appeared so far, only one thing came to mind.
''
It was the fantasy novel my brother had been clamoring about, saying it was fun!
Because of that recommendation, I had tried to read it a few times, but I could never get past the beginning.
It was because the unique settings of this novel were too complex and vast.
'Listing 3 pages of purely self-made settings was a bit too much, honestly.'
It was a novel that naturally made one say, "Who cares, you nerd?" But of all places, I was inside that novel?
'Wait a minute. Besides, isn't this an event that happened in the novel!'
Even in the Magic Tower that pursued fair education regardless of status, there were bound to be idiots. I, Russell Blair, was practically the leader of that aristocracy.
He was jealous of Flamel, who had better grades than him despite being a commoner, and bullied him countless times. Eventually, he was caught and received the punishment of collecting Moonlight Flowers....
When I recalled up to that point, cold sweat ran down my spine.
'Because this Russell Blair is a character who dies in that very Moonlight Forest.'
No, I'm about to die as soon as I possessed him. Is this right?!
⸻
When I asked the dormitory supervisor where my room was, the supervisor looked at me with a face that said, 'What kind of bullshit trick is this again?'
I had to exhaust myself making him understand that I wasn't trying to find fault to torment him.
Even after a long time, the supervisor didn't withdraw his suspicious gaze as he handed me the spare key to my room.
'Damn Russell Blair.'
Just what kind of things had he gone around doing that even the supervisor reacted like this?
The number of students whispering when they saw me on the way was too many to count. Everyone avoided me as if they would die if they made eye contact.
Even the students parted left and right like the Miracle of Moses every time I took a step!
'And that Russell Blair is me now....'
Just thinking about it made a sigh come out naturally.
CLICK.