The man stepped fully into the room, and the door slid shut softly behind him.
He looked to be in his late twenties. Short brown hair rested neatly atop his head.
His emerald-green eyes were calm and clear, carrying a quiet confidence. His expression was relaxed, neither overly friendly nor cold.
He was tall and well-built, with broad shoulders that filled the doorway with ease. Even without armor or weapons, there was no mistaking it. This was a man who had fought many battles—the same man who had pulled Noah back from the edge of death in the forest.
He walked closer to the bed, his footsteps light against the polished floor.
"So," he said, his voice steady and calm, "how are you doing?"
Noah blinked and slowly pushed himself into a sitting position, wincing slightly but managing it without much trouble.
"I... I'm alive," Noah replied after a moment, his voice hoarse. "So I guess that's good."
The man gave a faint smile, clearly relieved.
"That's more than good," he said. "You were in a bad state when I found you. I wasn't sure you'd wake up this soon."
Noah studied him carefully. His calm demeanor and lack of arrogance felt oddly reassuring.
"You saved me," Noah said quietly. "In the forest."
The man nodded once, as if it were nothing worth mentioning.
"I did what I needed to do," he replied. "Rest easy. You're safe here."
The word safe lingered in Noah's mind longer than it should have.
He felt relieved. And yet, deep down, he knew this calm wouldn't last forever.
"But... I couldn't save your companions. The one who was supposed to guide your group safely managed to send an emergency signal to me. He said you were being chased by a Rank C monster. It had just recently broken through to C-rank. I'm sorry I couldn't get there in time to save everyone."
His eyes dropped as he sighed.
Sigh.
Noah did have some memories of this body. They were scattered, but he remembered how he had ended up in the forest.
He had come here with the intention of practicing, killing monsters, and learning how to explore the forest with the help of a guide provided by the guild.
There had been other young men with him. Just like Noah, they had come to practice and gain experience.
They had been exploring an area where only weak, low-level monsters were supposed to roam. It was nearly impossible for a strong monster to exist there.
But the worst had happened.
A high-ranking monster had appeared.
It killed everyone... except Noah.
Maybe Noah had died as well...
And Aron had taken his place.
Noah simply nodded while listening to the man in front of him.
"Don't apologize. It's not your fault. And... thanks again. You still saved me in time," Noah said.
In truth, those other men were strangers to him. He didn't know them.
Their guide being a D-rank adventurer should have been enough for the exploration. No monster stronger than D-rank was supposed to be present in that area.
But it seemed their luck had been terrible.
The forest belonged to a mid-level guild called Ironfist. Noah had paid them for this training so he could train there and gain some experience.
He could remember that much.
The brown-haired man studied Noah for a while.
"You are different from what I heard."
Noah raised his eyes and looked at the man in confusion.
"What do you mean by different?"
"Noah Eldritch... exiled son of Duke Eldritch. You don't have the vile or bad personality the rumors describe."
That information shocked Noah.
'What the heck? Son of Duke Eldritch. An exiled son! What in the name of the gods! This is the worst cliché possible.'
Again, he didn't receive the memories all at once. They were slowly coming back, so he still didn't have much knowledge about himself.
'So I was a retarded young master... who had done vile things... and in the end, got exiled from his family. Damn! This is the worst thing possible.'
He thought bitterly.
Noah started cursing his situation while the brown-haired man continued to observe him.
Knowing that the man was still watching him, Noah replied, "Well... I've changed a lot since getting exiled. Now I understand how wrong I was."
He gave an awkward smile.
Without having much knowledge about his past, Noah could only spout some nonsense.
"Oh... I can understand that. Situations can change people, either for good or bad. It seems it had a good effect on you."
Noah didn't respond and simply nodded.
He decided to change the subject.
"By the way, what's your name? You saved me, yet I don't even know your name, sir."
The man crossed his arms over his chest and chuckled.
"Haha. No need to call me sir. My name is Cedric Winston. You can just call me Cedric."
"Okay. In that case, I'll call you that. Thanks again, Cedric."
"You should rest more. Your hospital bill will be paid by the guild. You'll also get your money back for this training plan, and we'll give you compensation as well."
Noah's eyes lit up at that.
"I appreciate that."
"We can only do that much for you since you nearly died because of us. Anyway, I'll get going. See you later."
"Yeah. See you."
With that, Cedric left Noah alone.
Once he was alone, Noah closed his eyes.
"This is too much. It's a more serious situation than I thought."
He did remember where he currently lived. He also had some money.
It seemed his family hadn't seized his accounts or money.
The real problem now was what the previous Noah had done.
Whatever disastrous things the previous Noah had done, they were now his responsibility to deal with.
"At least I'll get some money and compensation. But why did I decide to take the exploration training plan? Was I really someone who trained hard and wished to get stronger?"
Noah rubbed his temples, trying to remember as much as possible.
Just then, his eyes widened.
'Academy! It's starting soon! I was trying to get stronger and gain experience before the academy starts.'
Noah's expression turned ugly.
He was an exiled and notorious young master.
Then there was the academy.
He could already guess that things wouldn't be easy for him.
Despite having little knowledge about his past, he had a few assumptions about his character's role in this world.
Noah looked outside the window. It was raining.
'It's raining outside its season... since it's early spring.'
He continued to stare outside while mocking his fate.