Dream Life Volume 1 Chapter 1 Part6

Chapter starts here.

I was also able to acquire a certain amount of information on the retainers of the Lockhart family.

Let's start off with Walt. His full name is Walt Basil and it seems like he's been serving my grandfather even before he rose to knight status. He's a master of the spear and has a very taciturn personality. I only heard his voice when he greeted others or trained. Although his son, Enos, also serves our family, he's not very good at fighting. He's always scolded by my grandfather or Walt during training. Enos also seems to be my father's childhood friend and often goes drinking together with him.

Mel's father is Hector Marlon. He's a user of the bow and a member of the village's vigilante corps. Among all the members, he's the most popular because of his cheerful personality. He met his wife, Polly, in this village. She's a whole twelve years younger than him, so you could say that Hector's a really lucky man, being blessed with such a young and pretty wife.

Nicholas Garland is the most intellectual person in the Lockhart household. He wields a one-handed sword together with a s.h.i.+eld and has an orthodox sword fighting style. Nicholas' has a calm and placid personality that inverts into something much fiercer when he wields his sword during training. His daughter, Jean, serves our house as a maid. It seems like they're planning for a marriage between Jean and Enos, Walt's son.

Sharon's father, Guy Jakes, was an adventurer. Drawn to grandfather's charm when they were subjugating monsters together, he decided to serve as his va.s.sal. Guy has a lot of experience with monsters and is able to use both the sword and bow. He's responsible for patrolling the village outskirts together with the village hunters. Because of that, he usually can't be found in the village.

So, the va.s.sals of the Lockhart house are: the Basils, the Marlons, the Garlands, and the Jakes.

In the period of one year, I learned and memorized all of the information above. In order to move on to the next stage, I decided that it was finally time for me to reveal my secret to my family.

I really struggled with this decision.

Personally, I think that I've built up quite a promising relations.h.i.+p with my parents and their retainers. Other than my grandfather, who I don't understand very well, I think that at the very least, my father and mother would be able to accept my secret. But on second thought, no matter how good my relations.h.i.+p is with my family they still probably won’t accept such a bizarre secret. The truth is just too weird, they might think that I've been possessed by a demon or something. When I was in j.a.pan, I remember hearing stories about families who had their close bonds torn apart after being drawn into and deceived by some religious cult.

Even if revealing my secret causes something like that to happen to me, I'm still determined to do it. This is a barrier I will absolutely have to overcome if I ever plan to make full use of my knowledge and abilities. As I said earlier, the worst that could happen is that they treat me as some kid possessed by a demon. They might even try to dispose of me. Since it was G.o.d who sent me here, I think the possibility of that happening is low. However, it's not impossible.

My birthday is on the 25th day of May.

After preparing myself for the worst, I decided that today was the day I was going to tell my family everything.

On the morning of my birthday, when my grandfather, father, and mother had all finished their breakfast, I hardened my expression and said,

"Ojii-sama, Father-sama, Mother-sama, I have something I need to talk about with you."

In a steady tone unimaginable for a four year old child, I initiated the conversation. My grandfather asked, "Why so formal?" and as for my parents, they merely continued to smile while looking at me.

"I’ve previously lived in a different world."

The frozen expressions on each of their three faces looked hopelessly blank as they remained silent without saying anything. It seemed like they weren't able to comprehend a single word I said.

"My original world completely different from this world. I was born in a peaceful country named j.a.pan and lived there up to the age of 45. When I came to this world . . ."

I revealed everything. Starting from how I was a j.a.panese engineer all the way to my conversation with the G.o.ds in my dream. Although they periodically sighed and shook their heads, they still desperately tried to understand my story. They listened obediently until the end without interrupting me even once. After I ended my tale, my grandfather, Govan, was the first to speak.

"We had always realized that there was something quirky about you. However, who would've thought that you were this quirky."

Well, this was to be expected, I thought. I felt discouraged as I lowered my gaze. However, my gaze shot straight back up when I heard his following words.

"Anyway . . . it's fine isn't it? If G.o.d really did summon you from a different world, we have no choice but to accept that."

"You believe me?"

"How could we not believe you? You were nothing but a three year old and yet, you were always busy burying yourself in the books Matt and I kept in our rooms. The first time I spotted you reading them, I had to rub these old eyes twice to make sure they weren’t seeing things. The books you were reading obviously weren't meant for children. They're advanced books, crammed with numerous technical terms. The only people in our whole family who can fully grasp them are probably Nicholas and Kate."

I stated earlier that Nicholas Garland was one of the Lockhart house's retainers. He was the one entrusted with managing our territory, kind of like a government official. Nicholas and his wife, Kate, were both intellectuals who had received a decent education, something rarely seen among commoners such as them. When I heard my grandfather say that the books I read were on their level, I received quite a shock.

I thought that I had done everything I could to avoid them from becoming suspicious. Heh, looks like it was a total failure. I guess they think I'm some weird freak now huh?

The moment I tried to ask them that question, Tanya, my mother extended her arms around me and embraced me close to her chest.

"Zack. You're my child. Nothing will ever change that. If you were indeed, chosen by the G.o.ds, then nothing would make me happier."

She pulled me in even closer and wrapped her arms tightly around me.

"Besides, I've never even sensed a single trace of malicious intent from you. Otherwise, we would have never given you the chance to speak with us."

Matt, my father, also gently stirred up the hair on my head as he caressed it.