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(N) TRT Chapter 3: Seeds of Suspicion
🕑 Added 2025-05-13 04:29:00 +0000 UTCA few days after my rebirth as Gabriel Sturm, I remained seated as a middle-aged woman stood next to me and examined me with her magic. She had a slender build with fair skin, long brown hair, and blue eyes. She wore blue and white robes, the uniform worn by healers here in Lumina. Meanwhile, I wore a set of pajamas made from blue silk.
The two of us, along with my mother, were in my bedroom. I spent the past few days refamiliarizing myself with the place. It was a large and spacious room, with plush rugs covering the hardwood floor. Large windows let in plenty of light from the morning sun, and gave me a great view of Sturm Manor, House Sturm’s ancestral home. They were also enchanted to keep out intruders and the like.
A wooden nightstand stood next to my canopy bed, with a brass censer sitting atop it. This was the source of the medicinal incense, the one enchanted to promote the body’s natural healing. Smoke wafted up from the censer, filling my bedroom with an herbal scent.
Wooden bookshelves lined the walls, filled with all kinds of books and tomes. Most, however, were about magic and magical theory. In one corner stood a wooden desk. In another corner stood a vanity with a mirror attached to it.
My bedroom had three doors. One that led to the hallway outside, one that led to the bathroom, and one that led to my dressing room, which was where most of my clothes were stored. Brass glowstone lamps hung from the walls at strategic locations.
Glowstone, as its name suggested, was a type of crystal that emitted light. The strength and range of this light depended on the quality of the glowstone. On Lumina, people used them the same way people on Earth used light bulbs. They were so ubiquitous that even commoners used them. They could even be enchanted to emit light in different colors.
At first, I found this place strange and unnerving. It was both familiar and unfamiliar to me. During my first life, my bedroom was my sanctuary away from the world. However, that was decades ago. When I first woke up, this bedroom felt like it belonged to someone else. In a way, that was true. I was no longer the same person I was back then.
Now, a few days later, this room no longer felt like it belonged to a stranger. However, it still didn’t feel like it belonged to me. Since I was going to live here for a while, I planned on changing a few things around and adding my own personal touches to the place. I wanted to make it mine.
“How is Gabriel?” My mother asked, pulling me back to the present.
She stood a few feet away with a worried expression on her face. The past few days had been kind to her. The dark circles underneath her eyes had faded away and she no longer looked haggard. Instead, she resembled the radiant and vibrant woman from my memories.
Like when I first woke up, she wore a green dress. However, this one was a shade lighter than her previous dress. She wore her long red hair in a simple bun. A light amount of makeup adorned her face, accentuating her natural beauty.
The healer gave my mother a sideways glance. Her name was Joanne and was House Sturm’s resident healer. She used to work for my mother’s House, but followed along when my mother married my father.
The two of us became well acquainted with one another over the past few days as she helped me recover from my injuries. Without her healing magic, it would have taken me much longer; months, at the very least. Instead, it only took a little under three weeks.
Joanne was also the one who had saved my life after the Incident. According to my mother, without Joanne’s tireless efforts, I wouldn’t have woken up at all. Rather, I wouldn’t have had a body to come back to after the Demon Lord killed me and sent my soul back to Lumina.
What would have happened to me then? Would I have gone to the afterlife? Reincarnated as someone else here on Lumina? Or would my soul have wandered around like a restless spirit? I wasn’t sure, and I didn’t want to find out. I owed Joanne my life.
“Lord Gabriel is in perfect health, Lady Sturm.” Joanne said. “He’s in dire need of some fresh air and exercise, but otherwise he is fine.”
I nodded.
“Thanks to your efforts, Joanne. I am grateful for your hard work.” I paused for a moment. “Does this mean I can leave my room now?”
Joanne hesitated, before nodding. I resisted the urge to cheer. Finally! I thought I would go crazy. The past few days had been unbearably boring, as I rested and recuperated from my injuries. On Earth, I lived an active lifestyle. Hunting monsters, training, etc. Lying around and doing nothing felt wrong to me.
However, I bore with it since I knew that pushing my body before it healed would delay my recovery. Now that I no longer had to worry about that, I wanted to move around.
I could move about the day after my rebirth, but since I hadn’t fully recovered, my parents forbade me from leaving my bedroom. To keep myself occupied, I spent a lot of time reading. While I still remembered a lot from my time as Gabriel Sturm, my memory wasn’t perfect. I wanted to review what I remembered, and shore up any gaps in my knowledge. Besides, I found relearning things about Lumina fun. One example was this realm’s political landscape.
Lumina was ruled by two major powers: the Solarian Empire and the Lunarian Kingdom. Both were massive, spanning entire continents. Respectively, they were led by the Sun Emperor and the Moon Queen, immortal demigods who had lived for tens of thousands of years.
However, they showed little interest in the day-to-day governing of their respective domains. Instead, they left all that to the Houses. In practice, both the Solarian Empire and the Lunarian Kingdom were more of a collection of fiefdoms ruled by the Houses instead of unified states. It was all quite feudal.
“Is that really necessary?” My mother asked, once again pulling me back to the present. “Why not rest for a few more days?”
I made a face at her. Ever since the Incident, my mother liked to fuss over me. For some reason, she blamed herself for what happened and was trying to overcompensate for it. I didn’t know why, since she refused to tell me whenever I asked.
When I tried to stop my mother, the hurt expression on her face made me feel so guilty that I retracted my words right away. Besides, I didn’t hate my mother’s fussiness. I just found it embarrassing.
“I feel cooped up in here, Mother.” I said. “As Joanna said, I need fresh air and exercise.”
My mother bit her lip.
“I know. It’s just…” She trailed off, before sighing. “I want to wait until after the priest from the Church of the Sun arrives and examines you.”
I gave her a baffled look.
“Why?” I asked. “Joanne did a superb job. Why would I need a priest from the Church of the Sun to examine me?”
There were two kinds of healers here on Lumina. Wizards with Water magic, and priests with Holy magic. While neither kind was better than the other, the Houses preferred the former over the latter. This was because asking a priest for healing required permission from the Church of the Sun, which could take a while. It was faster to simply hire a Water wizard when needed, or keep one as a retainer.
For commoners, it was the opposite, since the Church of the Sun charged little for its services. Sometimes, they offered healing for free. It depended on the circumstances. Also, unlike the Houses, it took much less time for commoners to seek permission from the Church of the Sun.
“I want to be sure of… Everything,” my mother said in response to my earlier question.
“Are you talking about that?” Joanna asked.
My mother nodded.
“It’s better to be safe than sorry.”
“The chances of that happening are low.” Joanna studied me with an appraising eye. “Though, to be fair, Lord Gabriel does seem a bit different from before.”
I looked between the two of them with a frown on my face.
“What are you two talking about?”
My mother gave me an apologetic look.
“I can’t tell you, Gabriel. At least, not yet. However, I’ll explain everything later.”
I narrowed my eyes at her.
“Is this related to the marriage you brought up a few days ago?”
My mother nodded. Joanna looked surprised by this.
“So that’s what your plan was.” She chuckled. “Clever.”
I resisted the urge to grab Joanne and demand answers from her. What was everyone talking about? They knew about some big secret, but refused to tell me about it. If they hadn’t mentioned anything related to this secret, I would’ve been fine. However, they kept dropping hints about it, which I found maddening.
Agh! Just tell me or don’t. Pick one! Stop teasing me!
When she noticed my expression, my mother gave me a sympathetic look.
“Oh, my child.” She said. “I know it’s frustrating, but wait a little longer. I’ll tell you everything then. I promise.”
I sighed.
“Very well.” I said.
Joanne bowed to my mother.
“If my services are no longer needed here, I shall take my leave, Lady Sturm.”
My mother gave her a nod. With that, Joanne exited my bedroom. After she left, I stood up and stretched. My body felt much better now than it had when I first woke up. It no longer felt heavy and the pain was all gone. The gaping emptiness at the center of my being remained, though I would fix that after I formed my mana core.
However, I needed to build up a foundation first and reach a certain level of physical fitness Otherwise, the strain of forming a mana core would injure me, undoing all of Joanne’s hard work. I might even die again, an experience that I didn’t want to go through for a third time. Dying twice was enough for me.
“I really wish you would wait until the priest arrives.” My mother said.
I gave her a questioning look.
“Is there any particular reason why?” I asked.
My mother hesitated for a moment before shaking her head.
“No. I guess I’ve become a worrywart. I almost lost you once. I’m afraid that if something else happens, I’ll lose you for good.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that. Considering what happened, that was a valid fear. After I died(?) the first time and transmigrated to Earth, I thought I would never see my family again. Honestly, it was a miracle that I ended up back here after dying a second time.
“How about this?” I asked. “Until the priest arrives, I’ll limit my activities to walking about the estate. Otherwise, I’ll stay here. Does that ease your mind?”
My mother smiled at me.
“A little, yes. Thank you for putting up with an old woman’s worries.”
I snorted.
“Now that is a lie if I’ve ever heard one. You’re not even forty years old. Not only that, you look like a woman half your age.”
I said that without flattery or exaggeration. My mother gave birth to me when she was twenty years old. I was eighteen years old now, physically at least, meaning my mother was about thirty eight years old. Despite this, she only looked a little older than me. I didn’t know how or why.
As a whole, wizards aged slower and lived longer than regular humans, though the difference wasn’t that extreme. For example, my father was forty three years old, but looked about ten years younger or so. However, that didn’t explain my mother’s appearance. Maybe she just had a really good skincare routine.
My mother laughed, before she walked over and gave me a playful poke on the shoulder.
“Flatterer.” She paused for a moment. “As a reward for putting up with my nonsense, why don’t we go on a family trip after Kaylee returns home? Your father and I already discussed the matter, and he agreed to the idea.”
My younger sister, Kaylee, was away from home at the moment. She was off at the Solarian Imperial Academy, the Solarian Empire’s most prestigious academic institution. Students lived on campus and only returned home during breaks.
It wasn’t even possible to send Kaylee a message, or receive one from her. To maintain a proper atmosphere and curb any outside influences, the academy sealed itself off from the outside world at the beginning of each semester. It wouldn’t open up again until the semester ended.
Spring just started and the current semester wouldn’t end until the beginning of summer. This meant that I wouldn’t see my little sister again, or even hear from her, for another three months. And that was at the earliest. If something happened, it might take even longer.
“Did you have a particular destination in mind?” I asked my mother.
She nodded.
“Eastwatch.” She smiled. “I’m not sure if you remember, but we went there once when you were a child. You were about eight years old, I recall. You loved swimming in the waters there.”
I frowned. Eastwatch was a city located along the southeastern coast of the Solarian Empire, right next to the sea. It was famous for its beautiful beaches, musical culture, and local cuisine. This made it a popular vacation destination during the summer months. However, there was just one problem.
“What are you talking about?” I asked. “We never visited Eastwatch when I was a child.” My memory wasn’t perfect, but I remembered that much. “When I was eight, we…” I trailed off as I racked my mind. “…I remember now. We visited Lakeside.”
Like Eastwatch, Lakeside was also a popular vacation destination. It was a small city located along the shores of Giant’s Basin, a massive lake on par with the Great Lakes of North America back on Earth. Plenty of fruit tree orchards dotted the land around Giant’s Basin, making it a great place to visit during the harvest season.
My family visited Lakeside around that time, back when I was eight years old. We walked through the fruit tree orchards, visited the nearby beaches, and had a good time overall. I loved swimming in Giant’s Basin, due to my affinity for Water.
Why did my mother say we visited Eastwatch instead of Lakeside? Had she forgotten? Or was there some deeper purpose behind it? I studied her, gauging her reaction to my words.
“Oh,” she said, “You’re right. I must have forgotten.”
Despite her attempts to act nonchalant, I noticed the relief in her eyes. Oh. That question had been a test. Did my parents suspect me already? Well, I didn’t blame them. Of course they noticed that I wasn’t the same Gabriel Sturm they knew. From their perspective, it was as if I had become a different person.
Hmm, it appeared that I needed to tell my parents the truth sooner rather than later. Otherwise, they might suspect that I was being possessed by a demon or an evil spirit. Even on Earth, that had been a valid concern, not mere superstition. The Church of the Sun even had exorcists who specialized in dealing with malevolent spiritual entities.
“I would love to visit Lakeside again.” I said, giving my mother a smile.
She nodded.
“Indeed.” She clapped her hands together. “I’m sure you’re eager to go about your business, so I shall take my leave now.”
With that, my mother left. After she closed the door behind her, I sighed. Even after dying and transmigrating twice, my relationship with my family remained complicated. In fact, my transmigration added a whole new layer, making everything even more complicated.
However, that was a problem for future Gabriel to deal with. Right now, I just wanted to change and get started on my training. The rest could wait until after I told my parents the truth about, well, everything.
I entered my dressing room, which was like an upscaled version of a walk-in closet. Several racks and shelves occupied almost the entire room, each one filled with a variety of clothes. They were all organized too. In one corner stood a full length mirror.
I looked around with a wry smile on my face. Honestly, I had forgotten that I had this many clothes. High society placed great importance on fashion, because of course it did, and I played my part in order to not embarrass my family.
At least, I did during my first life. After spending twenty five years as Brandon Norwood, I was a little out of touch. However, that didn’t matter. I planned on interacting with high society as little as possible.
Besides, it wasn’t as if I had any fond memories of high society. Most of the social events I attended resulted in my humiliation and embarrassment. My lack of magical talent made me an easy target for my so-called peers, who enjoyed bullying me.
Assholes.
I searched around my dressing room, until I found a pair of loose brown trousers, a loose white shirt, and a pair of black leather shoes. Perfect. After I put them on, I examined myself in the full length mirror.
It still felt odd to see Gabriel Sturm’s face in the mirror instead of Brandon Norwood’s. Like with my bedroom, it felt as if it belonged to someone else altogether, a stranger. However, I would grow used to it in time. I knew because I went through this situation before, when I reincarnated as Brandon Norwood.
If anything, things were better this time around. At the risk of sounding vain and arrogant, I was gorgeous. I inherited the best parts of my parents’ appearances. From my mother, I inherited her fair skin and beauty. From my father, I inherited his wavy silvery-blue hair, silvery-blue eyes, and striking features. My only complaint was that I was more beautiful than handsome, giving me an almost effeminate appearance.
While there were some similarities between my current face and my previous one, my soul’s influence no doubt, Brandon Norwood had a far more plain and average appearance than Gabriel Sturm. If my teammates from the Vanguard Guild saw me now, they would tease me for being a pretty boy.
Thinking about my life on Earth made my heart ache. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The joy of reuniting with my family mingled with the sorrow at losing all of my loved ones from Earth. My teammates, the guildmaster of the Vanguard Guild, Teacher, etc. I would never see any of them again.
After I became a hunter, I tried to find a way to return to Lumina. I met with several beings that knew how to travel between realms and asked them about my home realm. However, none of them had heard of it. Nor did I find any reference to Lumina in any of the archives and libraries I visited.
Traveling between realms was difficult and dangerous. If you didn’t even know where your destination was, it was akin to suicide. Since I couldn’t find out how to reach Lumina, I gave up and resolved to make the best of my life on Earth.
While there was a chance that I might find a way to reach Earth here on Lumina, I doubted it. I already tried chasing an impossible dream once. I wasn’t going to put myself through that again. Neither could I let my sorrow get in the way of my life here on Lumina.
I recalled everyone I knew and loved back on Earth, imprinting them in my memory so I would never forget them in this life. After my emotions settled down, I opened my eyes and left my dressing room. It was time to begin my training.
Comments
Lon
I guess his mom is worried that he is something like an evil spirit huh, which hey totally a valid worrisome thought. Imagine seeing your loved one being puppetize by an evil being, it would be a madding and sad scene. Imagine, if a Gate leading to Lumina opened up when Gabriel came back… Or maybe because of time fuckery it will open in the future. And maybe Gabriel will have a scolding from his Teacher because he was not good enough to win against the Demon King and got killed. Would be funny and I would laugh a lot about it heheheh.
