My eyes hovered over the little kid's face, his pinky digging in his ear. "So what's your choice fatty," he snickered, "lick em' or prepare for an ass beating."
My eyes didn't linger and my gaze swept the pack of kids cornering me.
It wasn't long before one of them approached me. He pointed down to his shoe, expecting me to lick them.
A sigh escaped my mouth. About a week ago I died in a car crash and in a strange turn of events I found myself in a completely different world, occupying the body of a child named Konrad Grimm, a typical isekai start, yet this situation was anything but typical.
In stories like this you would expect to reincarnate into the main character or some rich prince, no? For me, that was clearly not the case.
I half-expected to be a duke's son, living lavishly for the rest of my life, sadly that wasn't the case as I looked down at my stubby hands. I was a fat little kid, an only child to a humble merchant, and at the moment I was face to face with what you would call a young master, a group of them at that.
I approached the little minion, Harold, apparently he used to be Konrad's friend.
"Why should I lick your shoe?" I asked the kid a simple question.
"C-cause," he stammered, "you're fat."
The goon squad behind him laughed loudly at his remark and I shook my head, almost forgetting they were a bunch of snobby little kids. I stared at Harold for a couple of seconds, he didn't look a day over thirteen and if I had to guess, he was probably eleven or twelve.
Just as I was about to open my mouth, he spoke, "Are you gonna lick it fatty? Cause I don't like the way you're staring at me." He took a few steps towards me, cracking his small knuckles in an attempt to scare me.
A chuckle escaped my mouth, "I'm only staring at you because–" I paused.
Pointing at his face, my expression turned ugly, "Your face is funny."
The kid took a few steps back, "W-what?...."
I tried my best to hide my smirk. It was all the same with these kids, insult them and they look like they've shit their pants.
"What did you say to me, bastard!"
"You heard me, your face is funny to look at." I raised my hands, "Want me to rephrase? Your face is unbearable to look at so just go fucking die."
My words left a cold silence in the air. Harold looked back at his group with a face that spelled, 'What the fuck is wrong with this guy?'
I shrugged. I've had my fair share of bullies in highschool, this is laughable honestly. My face scrunched in disgust as I walked through the speechless little brats, "Bully some other kid."
Like that I weasled my way through yet another beating. It wasn't so good the other times, however. On my first day I tried to fight back, and it goes without saying how that one went. I rubbed my head at the thought of it, 'This body is utterly useless, I need to do something about it.'
With a loaf of bread in hand I made my way back home, unscathed yet again, "Mother, I'm back."
My mom came running to me, "Konrad, my dear! Where did they get you this time!" her hands traced my entire body, demanding I show her my bruises.
"Nowhere mother, I told you, don't worry about me anymore." I dismissed my mothers concerns, moving her hands away as I reassured her multiple times that I was fine.
Only after examining my entire body did she eventually concede. With a sigh I sat at the table and my mother ran to the kitchen with the bread in hand, "Now we can finally eat!"
A pleasant aroma tickled my nostrils, it was my moms favourite meal, bread soup. Although it was a simple meal I found it extremely scrumptious, the soup was indescribably flavourful and my mouth watered at the thought of it.
My mother quickly prepared the meal and in minutes we began to eat. As I devoured my meal she began to ask about my day, my future and other mundane topics, and oddly, I felt a vivid nostalgia, as if I was used to this.
I stared warmly at my mother, and her long flaxen hair that cascaded far past her shoulders and soft features that accentuated her round face and dark beady eyes stared back at me.
I looked a bit different, although I took after her hair and eyes, my facial features were quite striking, something I took after my father.
Despite me being in this world for no more than a week and only knowing this lady I now called my mother for the same amount of time, I strangely felt at home. I knew this small town like the back of my hand, I greeted neighbours and my regular vendors with familiar smiles each time I left for errands. This meal I ate now still contained this motherly love I couldn't explain and with each bite I took it reminded me of memories I never had.
It was hard to put into words, but even though I wasn't Konrad everything I felt was a stark reminder to his memory.
"Your father wrote the road was rough, he expects to arrive a bit late."
I nodded, for he was quite the busy man. I had a deep respect for Henry Grimm, Konrad's father, from my memory he was a humble merchant and hardworking family-man.
My memories of him were nothing but fond, he cherished me, or Konrad, his son and loved him deeply, he did however scold his habits and painfully stern him to cut down on weight. His mother hated that side of him, though they loved each other they often got into heated arguments on Konrad's behalf.
For the most part I agreed with him, I certainly loathed being fat. Back on Earth I strived to stay in shape, so being in such a body was really hard for me to swallow.
Poking her bread into the soup, my mother looked up to meet my eyes, "Have you thought about what we talked about yesterday?"
I returned my gaze to my food, "Eh? Oh baht, yuh ib given it sum fouht." I replied half-heartedly, chewing a mouthful of food.
'I know I'm really trying to cut my weight down.. but damn does this food hit the spot.'
My moms eyes squinted slightly, and suddenly the air turned cold. "Konrad Maxwell Grimm, look at me when I'm speaking to you."
I felt a cold shiver run down my back, 'Scary..'
I quickly swallowed my food and unknowingly my back straightened, "S-Sorry, um, yeah I did give it some thought and I think I know what my answer is."
I recalled the serious conversation I had with my mother yesterday.
"I can do it." I added confidently.
My mothers eyes lit up at my answer, "Wow, great! I thought you would never say yes." A visible surprise dripping at her words.
Yesterday my mother brought up the topic of my weight, in a kind and non-disdainful way. This time she seemed serious and proposed an interesting solution, and to be quite frank I found it extremely baffling.
To join the army.
At first I found it surprising to hear such a thing but now it felt nothing more than natural. In this world war and conflict was a common thing. People fought daily, be it for status, territory or food, that was the harsh state of this world.
It was also common for young children ages eleven to fifteen to join the army and serve their kingdom. It wasn't anything serious nor was it a mandatory service but it was a token of respect and pride in a world like this one.
Yesterday, the idea marinated in my mind and I pondered deeply at the proposition. It was very tempting, I would lose this belly whilst also learning a thing or two about this world and how it functioned and the good thing about it, I didn't lose anything in the process.
It was a foolish question, I accepted.
***
The days passed calmly.
I used my time familiarizing myself to the world, although I did have Konrad's memories, they only came back in bits and pieces. One thing I came to find out was the more I learned the more the information came back clear and concise.
At the moment I sat reading a history book, this world was very interesting, a stark contrast to my modern world. My family lived in the Aucorus Kingdom, one of the five great kingdoms of Helios and it seemed information was extremely vague and scarce in this world for it took me a few hours to find anything useful.
During my time reading a couple things I learned were; in the past fifty years there had been a total of a hundred and sixty nine wars, it took me a while to digest that fact, how is that even possible? Another odd thing was, a majority of the wars were barely documented, and vague terms such as 'creatures' were written frequently across the countless history books. It was a headache to read and I took such information with a grain of salt
'I need to find a better library..'
Closing my book I took a deep breath and headed back home.
It was quite early so I didn't need to worry about crossing paths with annoying kids. Mindlessly whistling a tune I moved forward until something caught my eye. In the distance I saw a small crowd, curious, I approached carefully.
"Get him Arthur!"
"Don't allow such disrespect from this plebian!"
"If I were you I'd kill him on the spot!"
A myriad of folks shouted threats and words of violence as they made a large circle, pumping their fists and weapons in the air.
Taking a closer look I could see two men standing in the centre.
One of the men, a younger fellow, about in his early twenties, raised his fist as he spoke loudly, "I, Robert Gully, solemnly demand you to a duel!"
Across from him stood a slouched older man–about in his mid-fifties, similarly raising his fist, "I, Arthur Hendrick accept your request."
Just as he finished his sentence they both lowered their heads, "With blood and strength I wish you the best." They said in unison.
Suddenly, Arthur pulled out a long sword from his back and without delay Robert also removed his daggers
Brandishing his daggers Robert spoke. "You've grown old Arthur." A smirk crept on Robert's face.
They didn't waste any time, Robert was the first to make a move, his body closing the distance as his daggers whistled in the air. In an instant Arthur raised his sword, moving not a step from his position. "Fast and boring."
Swish!
Robert inched closer, and as he did Arthur's sword came beckoning down without warning, cleaving the air in half.
My eyes blinked robotically, 'This old geezer is something else…'
For his age that man is undeniably strong, even now I could feel the breeze of his attack.
Robert dodged and retaliated just as quickly, his daggers flying up towards Arthur's face. From where I stood, just barely could I see Robert's expression turn ugly.
I frowned.
'What..'
I didn't know when it started but sweat began to drench my back.
Time almost seemed to slow as it became clear to me, if I blinked for even a second I was bound to miss what was going to happen.
Then, it happened. Arthur, whose foot had been slightly raised, kicked the air in front of him, connecting cleanly with Robert's abdomen, not a breath later did Arthur's lips curl upwards as he took a single step forward.
Fwoosh!
The longsword gripped tightly in his hands came crashing down yet again, and it was at this moment did it become clear–
–Arthur had won.
My body shook as I stared absently at the crimson blood soaking the ground beneath him.
"Tsk." Arthur clicked his tongue, taking out a handkerchief to clean the blood off his sword.
Suddenly, the crowd's deafening applause roared, breaking me out of my pathetic state, with bated breaths I looked around at the crowd
"The Mad Dog hasn't lost his skill just yet."
"This is the fate for those who disrespect the Esteemed."
"What a pity, that young man's loose tongue was the end of him."
The crowd conversed leisurely as I watched without an expression at the head rolling on the ground. 'These fucking psycho's.. someone just died and their just talking like nothing happened?'