Chapter 2. Rise of The Lord

"Tobias Archibald?" asked Taichi, who was now called Tobias.

He looked at his palms carefully. He was already totally different from Taichi. Now, he had to live a new life, not as Taichi but as Tobias.

Occasionally Tobias glanced at the large mirror as tall as an adult. From the mirror, the young man could see his reflection clearly. The only thing he didn't like about Tobias' body was how thin and muscle-less he was.

Suddenly the maidservant started running out of Tobias' bedroom. She walked quickly in order to tell the rest of the Archibald family about Tobias' recovery.

Tobias got up from the bed and walked towards the window. Both of his hands opened the window's curtains and saw an expanse of green areas in front of the Archibald residence, ranging from gardens, parks, and the agricultural regions, to forests.

"What kind of world have I come to?" asked Tobias.

One by one, the Archibald family members arrived. The first to arrive was a 23-year-old adult woman. She had long hair, fair skin, and a beautiful face. Her lips were thin, her nose was sharp, and both eyes were quite large.

What caught Tobias' attention was her body shape which was taller than most women in general, probably reaching a height of 178cm. She ran over quickly and hugged Tobias' body tightly.

"Tobias!" the woman greeted, sounding emotional as she held Tobias' head in front of her chest.

"I'm glad you're awake," she continued.

Tobias, who didn't know who she was, was silent as he was treated like that. She looked at his body from the bottom to the top of his head, ensuring there was nothing unusual about Tobias' appearance.

"Do you remember what happened before you fell into a coma?" the woman asked. Tobias shook his head.

"It's okay. There are some cases of amnesia in coma patients. You seem to have that symptom as well," the woman said, smiling broadly as she rubbed Tobias' cheek.

Not only she but many members of the Archibald family came into Tobias' room. There was a 30-year-old adult man, a 10-year-old child, and two older adults who Tobias assumed were his parents.

They took turns hugging Tobias' body, including his parents. The young man was silent, as he didn't recognize them.

"D-do you remember who I am?" asked a middle-aged woman, pointing at him.

"I'm sorry, I don't remember," Tobias replied, bowing his head.

The woman smiled widely. She had expected that Tobias wouldn't remember her. This was based on the length of time Tobias had been in a five-year coma. One would despair if their family had been in a coma for that long, but not Archibald. They were sure Tobias would wake up in time.

The long-awaited day arrived. They joyfully welcomed Tobias's awakening; even Tobias's father intended to arrange a party to welcome Tobias's consciousness.

But before that, all members of the Archibald family began to introduce themselves one by one. Tobias' parents were Lussie Archibald and Thompson Archibald. Tobias is the third child of the Archibald family, his older sister is Giselle Archibald, and his older brother is Darwin Archibald.

Tobias also has a younger brother, the last child of the Archibald family, Luke Archibald. In total, the Archibald family had four children, and Darwin would be the one to inherit Thompson's authority in the future.

While Tobias was listening to them, he suddenly felt sick and vomited right into his right hand, which was trying to cover his mouth. Seeing Tobias' poor condition, Darwin immediately helped Tobias to lie back down on the bed.

"Don't think too much. You should get a full rest for today," Darwin pleaded as the servants of the Archibald residence rushed to serve Tobias food and drink.

Tobias' father then said goodbye to the people in the place, followed by his wife, Darwin, and Luke. Unlike Giselle, who was still in Tobias' room, the woman intended to help her younger brother recover.

"What happened to me?" asked Tobias, curious.

"At the magic academy, you were seriously injured during a battle with another student," Giselle replied, telling him why Tobias was in a coma.

"You won the fight, but that student didn't accept it and started attacking you physically. Your head hit the hall wall causing you to fall into a coma," Giselle continued.

"But I hope you haven't lost your magical abilities, Tobias," Giselle said, smiling broadly as her right hand rubbed Tobias' head.

Tobias was confused. This was the first time he heard the word magic, as the Japanese term for such things was ninpo. What surprised Tobias even more, was that Giselle said he could use ninpo.

If asked whether Tobias could use magic, he would say that he couldn't at the moment. The only thing Tobias still remembered was his sword skills, the Myurajin mountain moon sword art.

"I cannot use ninpo," Tobias said, trailing off.

"What did you say?" asked Giselle, squinting, confused.

"Magic. I cannot use that," said Tobias, correcting the word ninpo to magic.

"Haha, that will only be proven by practicing magic when you get better," replied Giselle, still not believing that Tobias had lost his magic ability.

Tobias stared at Giselle closely, full of seriousness as if he wanted to know what kind of world Taichi was in. In the end, Tobias started asking basic questions, what kind of world is this? Then how many kingdoms are there, and how about the job distribution of the kingdom's people?

He asked such things to discover and minimize people's suspicions of him, considering that the current Tobias was different from the previous one.

"How bad is your memory that you don't know many things?" asked Giselle, looking sympathetic.

Tobias didn't reply to Giselle. He was still looking at his sister with curiosity, evident in the young man's expression.

"All right. I'll explain everything in detail," Giselle said, sitting back in the wooden chair.

Giselle began to describe the place in this world. People called this world Iuthania, a place identical to the green and black areas that divided this world into two places, the human and forbidden regions.

"The human areas are far more abundant than the forbidden areas. Some people in the past started to build kingdoms to protect them and their people," Giselle replied, turning her head towards the room window.

"Until now, only three kingdoms have managed to survive. You, me, and everyone here are in the Kingdom of Equestria," Giselle replied, smiling as she grasped the back of Tobias' hand.

Not only about Iuthania's territory but also about titles of nobility. Giselle explained that the Kingdom of Equestria was a small kingdom, so the number of nobles was limited according to the royal fund.

Archibald became one of the important nobles in the kingdom. The King of Equestria appointed Archibald as the Marquis. Giselle explained what the duties of the Marquis were.

"Archibald's territory includes Mount Gargantuan, Langdale Town, Stratham Town, and Llyne Town. The location of Archibald's territory is in the northwest, bordering the Gargantua mountains and the Valcke Kingdom," said Giselle, pointing to the southwest where the Gargantua mountains were.

Giselle didn't forget to explain that the Gargantua Mountains were the border between human and forbidden territories. No one was allowed to enter the forbidden area because it was said that no human had ever returned from there.

"Are there swordsmen in this world?" asked Tobias, curious.

"Swordsmen? I don't think so," replied Giselle.

"Why are you asking that? People stopped using swords to fight because of magic, except royal soldiers," Giselle continued.

"So, there wasn't a non-military person who used a sword to fight?" asked Tobias. Giselle nodded.

The servants of the Archibald residence arrived with a tray of food and drinks. Seeing their arrival made Giselle leave immediately to Tobias, of course, so the servants would not feel awkward because of her presence in Tobias' room.

Giselle stood up and rubbed Tobias' hair tightly. She told him she would visit him again when he finished resting. Tobias nodded his head as he watched his sister leave.

"Is she that close to me?" asked Tobias, one of the young maids nodded.

"She's very fond of Young Master. When Lord Tobias fell into a coma, Lady Giselle was the first to punish the person who hurt you," the maid replied. Tobias was silent as he looked at the menu the maid had brought.

"Lady Giselle' also came daily to see how you were doing. She's been doing that for five years, " the woman beside Tobias continued.

Tobias was saddened. He hadn't expected Giselle to wish for his recovery so long ago. He felt guilty for not knowing anything about the Archibald family.

"I don't remember them at all. All I remember are Taichi's memories," Tobias said.

The maid was silent as she stirred the rice porridge she had brought for Tobias. She began slowly feeding Tobias, the young man taking mouthfuls from her.

"You should get better soon because we've been hiding for a long time waiting for you to wake up," the maid said, which confused Tobias.

"Hiding? Hiding from what?" asked Tobias, curious.

The waiter was silent. She knew that even though she spoke to Tobias in a low voice, the Archibald family's magical abilities were not to be underestimated. They could hear with the help of ultrasonic hearing system amplification.

The only thing the servant could do was to provide information with a piece of paper. He hoped Tobias could remember what he was trying to do in this region.

"Finish your meal, Lord Tobias. You'll find the answer later," the waiter replied.

About twenty minutes after eating the porridge, The waitress placed the empty bowl on the table. Tobias must have been confused because the woman had arrived here with a bowl but left without it.

Tobias picked up the bowl and saw a light blue pill at the bottom of the bowl. The man opened the capsule and saw that Tobias could easily read the text in this world.

The small paper explained the rebel forces and the moment of awakening. It said the rebel forces were hiding, waiting for their Lord to awaken.

Tobias compared the writing on this paper to what the maid had said. With both eyes squinting, it was certain that Tobias was the 'Lord' they were referring to.

"What the hell is going on?"