"Ahhhhh!"
Josué woke up with a start, drenched in cold sweat.
His chest heaved violently as he gasped uncontrollably. He pressed his right hand against his heart, as if to make sure it was still beating.
He stayed like that for several minutes, trying to catch his breath and regain his sanity.
…
"My limbs… I've gotten them back," he murmured in a trembling voice. "How is this possible?"
…
"Where am I supposed to be?" Josué said, still dazed.
He looked around. The room was built entirely of dark, almost blackish wood, with an old and somewhat gloomy appearance.
"At least I'm glad I survived that nightmare…" he muttered to himself.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Three firm knocks echoed on the door.
"Mr. Jeremy, are you awake?" asked an unfamiliar female voice from the other side.
"Yes?" Josué replied, confused.
The door opened gently, and a young woman in her twenties entered. She had porcelain-white skin, intense green eyes, and beautiful golden hair that fell in soft waves over her shoulders.
Without saying a word, she approached the bed and placed a silver tray full of food on the small table beside it.
"Good morning, Mr. Jeremy," said the golden-haired young woman with a delicate curtsy. She lifted the hem of her green dress slightly and bowed elegantly.
"Good morning, Miss…" Josué responded, still disoriented.
"Mikaela Harper Collins," she completed with a polite smile.
"Miss Harper, could you please tell me how I managed to survive and end up here?"
Miss Harper straightened up again, picked up the teacup, and began pouring the tea carefully.
"My brother Troy and I saved your life from an infant Rohayackt."
"An infant Rohayackt?" Josué repeated, incredulous. "You mean that thing was just a child?"
Miss Harper nodded seriously.
"That's right."
She handed him the steaming cup of tea. Josué took it with both hands.
"Thank you," he said softly.
"Usually, adolescent Rohayackts are the size of a medium-sized building," she continued, "while the adults… well, they're literally walking mountains."
Josué froze, the cup halfway to his lips.
"Good heavens… what kind of world have I reincarnated into?"
…
"Well, it's something you should know,"
Mikaela continued. "I heard you used to be a substitute professor at Brighton Academy and that you graduated with honors just a couple of months ago from Lou Reed University."
"So Jeremy was no longer a student…" Josué thought before replying:
"Ah, yes… it's just that my memories are very confused. I can barely remember anything from my past. I only have a few scattered fragments."
Josué scratched his head nervously.
"Hm, I see. So you have amnesia," she said as she carefully served the food onto a fine porcelain plate.
"How did you know exactly that I was in that forest?"
"We were hired by your mother. She provided us with the necessary means to find you," Miss Harper replied naturally.
Josué hesitated. He knew the Washington family was noble and could surely afford to hire anyone, but something didn't quite add up.
He studied Mikaela carefully. Her breathing was calm and controlled, but her micro-expressions betrayed her: she blinked several times in quick succession and flashed brief, fleeting smiles that never reached her eyes.
It was clear she was hiding information.
"What kind of organization do you belong to, Miss Harper?" Josué wondered internally.
"And why do you have to hide something as simple as this?"
…
BOOM!
A deafening crash shook the entire room. The wood creaked loudly, and several objects fell to the floor.
"What's happening?" Josué asked, alarmed, gripping the edge of the bed.
Miss Harper let out a deep sigh and closed her eyes for a moment.
"It's probably because the captain of this old ship hit something," she replied, massaging her forehead with a tired expression.
"Ah, seems like she's used to this kind of thing," Josué thought.
"Excuse me, Mr. Jeremy, I'll take my leave for now. If you need anything, I'll be on the upper deck," Mikaela said in a somewhat weary tone.
She gave another elegant curtsy and headed toward the door.
"Ah, I understand…" Josué replied.
The young woman opened the brown wooden door. Just as she was about to close it, she paused, lifted her head slightly, and added:
"By the way, there are clothes for you to change into in the closet. Since we found you with your body quite badly damaged and only wearing a few rags, I didn't mind putting that pajama on you. I hope you don't mind."
Miss Harper smiled warmly and closed the door gently.
Josué covered his face with both hands, feeling his cheeks burn.
"She saw me naked…" he murmured, embarrassed.
Shame washed over him completely. The idea that an unknown woman had seen his naked body was unbearable to him.
"I'm supposed to be an adult man… why do I feel so uncomfortable about this?" he thought, mortified.
…
After that, Josué got up and dressed in the clothes he found in the closet: a long jacket made of fine wool, an ornate vest embroidered with giant eagles, dark gloves, and good-quality blue boots.
"Wow… this outfit is really over the top," he muttered as he buttoned the vest. "It's like the clothes rich people used to wear at those fancy parties my old friend used to drag me to."
Josué sighed as he looked at his reflection in the full-length mirror.
He slowly ran his hand over his face.
Jeremy's skin was no longer pale and gaunt like that of a walking corpse; now it looked healthy, with attractive features that would make any woman look twice. A handsome young man—the kind who drew attention without even trying.
In his previous life, Josué hadn't been ugly, but he wasn't particularly attractive either.
His appearance had been completely average: the kind of person who blended into a crowd without anyone noticing them in particular.
…
Josué left the room and made his way down the narrow, worn, blackish wooden hallway.
Walking there felt like being inside a bottle that someone was constantly shaking. The floor tilted sharply from side to side with every wave the ship took.
He leaned against the wall to keep his balance, but it was almost useless. Every time he managed to steady himself against one side, the ship's movement and gravity would fling him hard toward the opposite wall.
He advanced with difficulty, staggering from side to side, until he finally reached a steep staircase.
Gripping the handrail with both hands, he climbed carefully until he reached the upper deck.
…
The golden sunlight blinded him for a moment. Josué covered his face with his arm, but lowered it shortly after as his eyes adjusted to the brightness.
"Very good, gentlemen! Keep it up!" shouted a bearded, middle-aged man from the center of the deck.
Josué looked around carefully. The deck was bustling with activity: several sailors climbed the rigging, others cleaned and checked the cannons, and a small group stayed close to the captain.
The bearded man noticed him and his face lit up.
"Young Master Jeremy! How are you, Young Master Jeremy!" he exclaimed enthusiastically.
He raised his hands in an effusive gesture, ran toward him, and wrapped him in a powerful bear hug.
"I'm Sparrow Barrow," he said in a hoarse but warm voice. "Your father and I were great friends—almost like brothers."
Josué shook his head, still bewildered.
"Young Master Jeremy is suffering from amnesia, Captain Barrow," Miss Harper explained calmly. "That's why he can't remember you."
She was sitting on a pile of straw sacks in a corner of the deck, with an open book in her hands. With her other hand, she absentmindedly stroked the golden hair of a young man who was sleeping with his head resting on her lap.
"That must be her brother Troy," Josué thought.
"And when will he recover?" asked Captain Barrow.
"Weeks, maybe months… or even years. It's hard to say," Mikaela replied. "I don't even know what type of amnesia Mr. Jeremy has, so I can't give a precise diagnosis."
The captain let out a deep sigh.
"Haaah! Seriously… and what good are those powers of yours if you can't even heal his mind, woman?"
Miss Harper yawned lazily and raised an eyebrow with clear displeasure, not bothering to respond.
…
Several minutes passed while Captain Barrow recounted, laughing, dozens of anecdotes from his youth with Jeremy's father: stories of epic fishing trips, wild nights out, and conquests of girls in the ports of the Karthus Empire.
According to him, Jeremy's father had been one of the most respected historians in the entire empire. He had died when Jeremy was barely fourteen years old.
When the captain finished speaking, he gave Josué a pat on the shoulder and returned to the helm.
Josué remained silent for a while, discreetly observing Mikaela and her brother Troy, who was still sleeping with his head on her lap.
Until…
BOOM!
"Another collision?" Josué asked, tense.
Mikaela's eyes widened.
"No… this is different," she murmured, sitting up slightly.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The vibrations came from the sea—deep and menacing.
"These vibrations… they're coming from below," said Mikaela. Her green eyes seemed to glow with a strange light.
Suddenly, the sky darkened completely. A violent storm exploded over them in a matter of seconds. Rain poured down furiously.
And then, in the blink of an eye, hundreds of non-humanoid figures appeared around the ship, emerging from the water like shadows.
Ziuuum!
An object shot past at high speed and pierced through the chests of several sailors before they could even scream.
It was heading straight for Josué.
Mikaela reached out to help him, but before she could react, time seemed to stop for an instant.
A robust man with golden hair appeared out of nowhere and caught the projectile in mid-air, just inches from Josué's body.
Time began to flow again.
"Wow, that was close, wasn't it, buddy?" he said with a confident smile.
The object was a sharp trident.
Whaaak!
An anthropomorphic creature with a fish head let out a high-pitched, blood-curdling screech from the railing.
Josué remained paralyzed for a few seconds until he finally managed to blurt out:
"Shit!"