Chapter 4 - The world as the boy knows (3)

The Baron's house wasn't magnificent by any means.

It was located within the luxurious district of the north but near the western outsirts, close to the shopping district. The house, however, looked very ordinary compared to the mansions in the distance. It was a small two story house with a tiny garden in the front. It had 6 rooms and a decent sized living room with 2 bathrooms total.

The Baron only had two servants. One was James, the butler. He lived within the house and tended to the old Baron's daily necessities and other work.

The other servant was a maid who was responsible for cleaning the house and cooking.

The maid washed up the boy and dressed him with some spare clothes whilst the Baron sat in the living room with a cup of tea.

When the boy, now clean, arrived at the living room, a small plate of sandwiches was prepared by James as the Baron gestured at one of the chairs for the boy to sit with a smile. The boy had a small piece of yellow paper in his hands but the Baron ignored it.

The boy sat as James gave him a plate of sandwiches to eat.

The Baron watched the boy cautiously taking a bite at the sandwiches as he smiled before asking.

"My name is Hendrick Silverwing. What is yours?" He asked.

"...I don't know." The boy paused for a moment before responding.

He knew that he did have a name, but at a certain point in the lab he had forgotten a lot of his memories. A part of this was his own name.

"Hmm..." The Baron contemplated for a moment before asking. "Is there a name you wish to be called by?"

"..." The boy silently continued eating as he thought. He had never thought about this before. His entire brain had been occupieid with the sole thought of surviving the day. A name didn't feed you, it was a waste of time and energy for him to think about it.

"Well, let me ask you this first. Would you like to stay here?" The Baron asked.

The boy dropped the sandwich in shock before slowly raising his head to meet the eyes of the old man before unknowlingly nodding.

It was warm here. He felt fresh and clean after the bath and his clothes were soft. The sandwich tasted good and the old man seemed kind. The boy grab

"Would you mind me giving you a name then? I can't call you 'boy' or 'son' all the time if you decide to stay." The Baron smiled as he spoke.

The boy continued to stare at the old man's eyes before slowly nodding again before looking down at the paper.

"Hmm... May I see the paper?" The Baron noticed the paper again before curiosity sprung up inside him.

The boy hesitated for a bit before handing over the paper over to the old man.

"Ahh... Where did you find this? These are good words." Hendrick smiled and nodded as he read the lines that were scribbled onto the paper.

"When I woke up... It was in my hands." The boy realized at that moment that this old man wasn't the person that had saved him. He was slightly disappointed but tried his best to not show it.

The Baron noticed the changes in the boy's eyes as he chuckled. "Whoever gave this to you must've been a very good person. How about this, I don't want to force you to do anything so I'll let you pick your own name. If you need help then you can ask James or check out the study. There should be a lot of books that shoud help out."

"I... I don't know how to read." The boy spoke out in panic.

"I'll help you with that." The butler, James, responded from his side. "Come, lets go upstairs."

Hendrick smiled as he watched James take the boy, and his half finished plate of sandwiches, up the stairs as he leaned back on his chair and turned to look at the large window.

A hint of sorrow could be seen in his eyes.

---

It didn't take too long for the boy to learn how to read. Of course he didn't know what the majority of the words meant but the language of this world was phonetic. This meant that each of the alphabets were shaped in such a way that it represented the way the mouth moved or was structued whilst making the said sound of the specific alphabet.

A single week was all it took before the boy was reading on his own though still supported by a small dictionary on the side. Of course this was still fast from the standard and James could only describe him as 'smart' or having 'talent' in languages.

The Baron was pleased at the words before asking again whilst they ate dinner together.

"Did you decide upon a name yet?"

"...Shin." The paused before responding.

"Shin? Shin...Hmm." The Baron thought for a moment before nodding. "Alright then. Shin, do you have goals in your life?"

It was an unusual name for this part of the continent but he knew that the boy must've found something whilst reading a book. The boy was smart, at least to his knowledge, so he respected his choices.

Shin thought for a moment after pausing his meal before responding. "I... I wish to become a knight!"

"A knight? Hahahaha!" The Baron laughed out loud. "Tell me Shin, why do you wish to become a knight?"

"Monsters... I shouldn't be the only one like this right? I'm sure there are others who have become like me or even worse... I... I don't like that. It hurt a lot. I don't want others to be in pain..." The boy drooped his head as he thought back to the few memories he had prior to his time at the lab.

The Baron's laughter stopped as he boy spoke, he stared at the boy for a moment before asking. "How old are you Shin, do you know?"

"I think seven? I should be seven." Shin looked up at Hendrick. There were flames in his eyes. Passion or hatred? The old Baron couldn't tell. But if it was hatred, the boy also had a talent in acting.

Hendrick thought for a moment before asking James. "What were the requirements to join the Academy?"

James, surprised, hurridely asked. "Do you wish to enroll Shin at the academy?"

"Why not? We have a placement after all." A tint of sadness wisped past the baron's eyes again before he repeated. "What are the requirements?"

"At least 8 years old with an invitation sir."

"Hmm... Alright James. Bring Shin to the basement tommorow morning." The Baron smiled as he got up before leaving.

"The basement? What's at the basement?" Shin asked James. He hadn't yet to go down to the basement in his time of stay yet.

"...The training area." James responded.