Something Feels Off (3)
Karnak's family, the Baronial House of Jestrad, was one of the lower-ranking noble families of the Yustil Kingdom.
With a history of roughly a hundred years, it wasn't old enough to be called venerable, nor new enough to be considered a rising house—just an ordinary provincial noble family.
Recalling the past, Karnak spoke with a hint of nostalgia.
"It was a truly unremarkable family."
The land was neither particularly barren nor especially fertile—just productive enough to scrape by.
In years of good harvests, they held small feasts; in bad years, the dining table grew meager. They could never dream of luxury, but they managed to maintain the bare minimum of noble dignity.
It was, truly, a dime-a-dozen local noble house.
Karnak's grandfather, Baron Grellid, had always been dissatisfied with that.
"How long must we remain stuck in this backwater? Shouldn't a man aspire to greater things?"
Claiming to harbor grand ambitions, he mortgaged the estate and tried his hand at various ventures.
The result was utter failure.
The businesses collapsed one after another, the few fertile plots of land were lost, and he died of stress-induced illness.
He began with lofty dreams and left behind only enormous debt.
Karnak's father, Baron Kraput, inherited the title next. Clutching a barren domain and a crumbling manor, he struggled desperately to restore the family.
Naturally, it wasn't easy.
It was hard enough to rise again under normal circumstances, and they were buried under debt on top of that.
Still, the eldest son was fairly sharp and grew up properly as the heir, while the second son showed talent in martial arts and became a respectable knight. In that sense, the family somehow kept going…
"Honestly, calling them 'sharp' or 'excellent' was just my father's opinion."
By society's standards, the two sons were merely average. Give anyone the same upbringing and they could probably manage about as much.
Even while presiding over a declining rural estate, Baron Kraput somehow found time to indulge himself.
Clinging to the idea of enjoying life "as a noble," he even took a mistress.
When she unexpectedly became pregnant, he brought her into the household, claiming responsibility—suggesting he had at least some sense of duty.
The problem was that, after bringing her in, he abandoned her.
Karnak's mother, once his lover, was constantly harassed by the baroness and eventually fell ill and died. Karnak himself, a bastard child, grew up enduring endless scorn and humiliation.
"Ah… thinking about it just makes me angry again."
Shaking his head, Karnak forcibly pushed the memories aside and took a silver coin from his pocket.
"Anyway, that should be our family's current situation…"
He rolled the coin between his fingers.
"So where, exactly, did this money come from?"
Thanks to traveling on horseback, the journey from Darha Village to the Jestrad estate—normally a three-day walk—was shortened to two days.
"This didn't save us as much time as I expected," Baros grumbled, glaring at the chestnut horse he was riding.
"You said they were well fed. So why are these guys getting tired so fast?"
Karnak snorted incredulously.
"For a living horse, this is actually pretty sturdy!"
"When would I ever have ridden something like this?"
For reference, the mounts Baros used to ride in his prime were zombie horses, skeletal horses, ghost horses, and the like.
"They don't get tired, you don't need to carry feed, and they don't even poop. Nothing but advantages, right?"
Of course, riding such necromantic steeds meant being slowly corrupted by sinister energy and wasting away—a minor(?) drawback…
"But we were already dead, so it didn't matter."
Thanks to their steady riding, they were drawing close to their destination. Surveying the surroundings, Baros looked past a hill and muttered,
"I can see the domain now, young master."
"Hah… human psychology is a funny thing."
Looking out over the fields covered in green barley, Karnak let out a bitter smile.
"There's not a single good memory here, but seeing it again, it still feels nostalgic. Guess it really is home."
"I'm still just irritated," Baros said, scowling.
"I was hated just as much, you know."
Baros had been an orphan from the domain.
Jestrad lay in the harsh northern regions, where monster incursions were frequent. Orphans weren't particularly rare, and they weren't especially ostracized either.
But Baros's case was different.
His parents had swindled the locals, stolen their money, and fled in the dead of night—abandoning their child in the process.
It wasn't the child's fault to have such despicable parents, but people naturally assumed that the offspring of scum would be scum as well.
No one wanted to take him in. And the domain wasn't wealthy enough to maintain orphanages or welfare facilities.
The one who extended a saving hand was Karnak.
Unlike his usual timid self, young Karnak stubbornly insisted on taking Baros as his personal attendant.
No matter how mistreated a bastard child might be, a noble was still a noble. For the sake of appearances, he needed at least one servant. Since Baros's fate was also troublesome to decide, Baron Kraput gave his permission, thinking of it as taking out the trash.
"Still, I was the only one who ever looked after you, right?" Karnak said.
"And I was the only one who ever looked after you, young master. Why brag about it now?" Baros shot back.
As the two bantered, the horses steadily carried them onward.
They entered the fields, and the figures of farmers became clearly visible.
"Everyone looks busy," Karnak remarked.
"It's weed-pulling season," Baros replied.
"Probably best to pass through quickly, then."
"Agreed."
Among the people of the domain, Karnak and Baros were known simply as the hooligan youngest young master and the even worse scoundrel of a servant who egged him on.
There was no way meeting them would provoke a good reaction, so they were about to hurry past when—
"Ah! Lord Karnak!"
"You've returned!"
The villagers who spotted them lit up and greeted them from afar.
Some even had tears in their eyes.
"You must have gone through so much!"
"Oh my, how hard it must have been for you…!"
It was completely different from what they remembered.
Karnak let out a hollow laugh.
What on earth did I ever do to deserve being pitied like this?
But everyone greeted him as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and he couldn't exactly ask, "Why are you so happy to see me?"
Waving awkwardly, the two urged their horses on and quickly left the area.
Glancing back, Baros frowned.
"It feels like I'm stuck in some kind of nightmare."
"Same here. We need to get home, quickly."
Standing before a massive stone wall, Baros muttered,
"Young master… what in the world is this?"
With a deep scowl, Karnak replied,
"Don't ask me. I don't understand anything anymore."
Before them spread the sight of a magnificent manor.
High walls of fine brick stretched out to either side; beyond them, an elegant garden shimmered faintly into view. At its center stood a dazzling two-story mansion, terraces gleaming under the sun, adorned with various statues.
"This is the Jestrad manor, right?" Baros asked.
"Yeah," Karnak nodded.
It was undeniably the house and buildings he remembered.
At least, as far as the basic structure went.
"The size of the walls is the same, the garden's the same, and the building itself hasn't changed…"
"So why does the manor look this pristine?"
"Exactly. It's been completely refurbished."
The Jestrad baronial estate had been an old mansion over a hundred years old.
Calling it 'classic' was generous—honestly, it had just been worn down and gloomy.
Due to chronic lack of funds, proper maintenance hadn't been done for decades.
Yet now, every corner of the manor was spotless.
Refined, elegant, dignified—it looked almost like the ideal noble estate people imagined.
"Where are we?" Baros asked. "Just where in the world did we come?"
Karnak understood that question all too well.
It wasn't just about the manor.
It was about this world itself.
"I… don't know. Let's go inside first."
"Well, I'll be damned. Are people as shabby as us really allowed into a place this grand?"
Hesitantly, the two walked toward the main gate.
One of the gatekeepers spotted them and greeted them brightly.
"Ah! Lord Karnak!"
He was a man in his mid-forties—someone Karnak clearly remembered.
Keeping a straight face, Karnak nodded.
"I'm back, Katile."
Katile hurriedly urged the other guard.
"Quickly, inform the head butler! Tell him the young master has returned!"
"Yes!"
Watching this, Karnak let out a quiet sigh.
The manor from his memories, and people from his memories, were welcoming him. On the surface, the situation matched what he remembered.
But the feel of it was completely different.
The manor gleamed, the servants' clothes were spotless. Even laundry cost money, and he had no memory of them being dressed this neatly.
And this warm welcome?
He could say with absolute certainty that they had never treated him so kindly before. Scorn and cold disdain were not things one could forget, no matter how hard one tried.
I'm going to lose my mind.
Baros leaned in and whispered,
"Young master."
"What?"
"At this point, I don't think anything else could surprise me anymore."
"…Same here."
It didn't take long for their expectations to be shattered.
Soon, a neatly dressed old man came hurrying out of the manor.
Grandpa Tafel?That's right—he's still alive at this point in time.
Tafel Flyde was the old butler who had served the family since even before Karnak's father's generation.
"The young master has returned, sir!" the gatekeeper shouted.
At that, Butler Tafel scolded him in the sharp, familiar tone Karnak remembered all too well.
"Mind your manners, Katile. How long do you intend to keep calling him 'young master'?"
Then—wearing a gentle expression completely absent from Karnak's memories—he bowed deeply to Karnak.
"Welcome home, my lord."
The two could only stare at each other, blinking in silence.
The young master is the lord?Me?
The lavish reception room was adorned with elegant paintings and decorations.
Steam gently rose from the teacup set on the table.
Staring at the cup, Karnak wore a dazed expression.
Tea…
In this period of his life, he had never once tasted such a high-class luxury.
Glancing sideways, he could see Baros standing beside him, also struggling to hide his confusion.
Old Butler Tafel looked at Karnak and spoke in a calm, measured voice.
"It has already been over half a year since you ascended to the position of head of the family, Lord Karnak…"
Judging by the circumstances, he must have been around twenty—having inherited the barony immediately after coming of age.
"Did you accomplish what you set out to do?"
"What I set out to do?"
Karnak echoed the question absentmindedly.
The butler looked briefly puzzled, then continued.
"That is why you deliberately went on that journey, was it not?"
Realizing his slip, Karnak hastily glossed over it.
"Ah… more or less."
Fortunately, the butler didn't seem to find it strange.
"That is good to hear. The late lord would have been pleased as well."
What? My father is dead?
As Karnak reeled internally, the old man's voice continued.
"If Lady Isabella were still alive, how proud she would have been…"
Isabella was Baron Kraput's lawful wife—Karnak's stepmother.
Don't tell me she's dead too?
"When even Lord Tessil passed away, I truly did not know what we should do. Only now can I finally rest easy."
Even my eldest brother is dead?
At this point, curiosity was unavoidable.
Then what about Brother Paralt? What happened to that bastard?
At least one thing was clear—he wasn't safe.
If his second brother were still alive, there was no way the title of lord would have fallen to Karnak.
But what on earth had happened?
This is driving me insane, but I can't just ask outright.
He didn't even know what this so-called "purpose" was supposed to be.
If I think about the purpose of my journey at this point in time, it's obvious, isn't it?
To secretly master the power he had stumbled upon—necromancy.
There couldn't have been any other reason. The current him was definitely learning necromancy.
But there's no way I told them that outright.
If that truth had come out, instead of warm smiles, a warm execution pyre would have been waiting for him.
So what does old man Tafel think my purpose was?
Another question gnawed at him.
Originally, Karnak had learned necromancy to gain power and take revenge on his family.
But looking at the current situation, it seemed like all thoughts of revenge were already moot.
He was the lord, recognized by those around him, and everyone seemed to regard him favorably.
If I'm living this comfortably, why did I even learn necromancy?
He didn't know.
He couldn't even guess.
If my powers were intact, I'd mentally subdue someone and pry the information out—but that's not an option right now…
Deciding this couldn't go on, Karnak subtly signaled to Baros.
Do something!
Communicating purely through eye contact sounded ridiculous—but after doing it for over a hundred years, it was a different story.
Baros immediately caught on and smoothly joined the conversation.
"Butler Tafel."
"What is it, Baros?"
"Lord Karnak is exhausted from his long journey. Would it not be better to continue this discussion tomorrow?"
"Ah, my mistake."
The old butler clicked his tongue and stood up.
"My apologies, my lord. This was my oversight. Please, rest for now."
"Very well."
Feeling as though he had been walking on thin ice, Karnak stood up as well, letting out a quiet sigh of relief. He urged Baros inwardly.
Let's get out of here first—quickly.
Couldn't agree more, young master.