Aachoo!

(Lex POV)

After having literally sold my life away to a half-elf I just met, the man I'm referring to being Arlan Schmidt slowly had his eyes turn to crescent moons. A mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Well then! Let's make haste boy!"

He spoke enthusiastically and raised his right hand and left hand placed in my head. From there I felt a suction feeling as if a vacuum cleaner was pulling at my hair, but there was also a particular warmth that had a calming effect and dark blue particles appeared from his arm and an expanding rift opened in front of my eyes. Apart from the explosions, he performed when he landed this was my first close look at magic.

It was mesmerizing, it felt as if the crystal-like rays of light were calling to me.

Something I didn't realize was the weird look Arlan was shooting at me and for what purpose...

(Arlan POV)

The boy, Lex, has agreed to my rather comical offer. I didn't expect him to accept since he seemed to have a decent head on his shoulders when fighting against the bork, but it would seem I was either wrong or he's more desperate than I originally imagined. No one in their right mind would willingly choose to become somebody's slave, or at least I haven't met anyone who would in a lifetime yet... interesting.

Though I guess I'll keep my promise to help out his father, what a great master I am!

(Lex POV)

I was watching this guy ruminate over his thoughts, there was any significant change in expression but I could tell he thought something was funny, what he found so amusing would remain a mystery to me for a long time.

Moving on! The oval-shaped portal that I assumed it was created the image of a place familiar to my memories.

The inside of my father's office was littered with stacks of paper and pens. Soon I was pushed in by Arlan and stumbled... I thought it would be as simple a deal as stepping in and being there but no of course, not the world just couldn't help itself, a familiar feeling of nausea permeated in my body like when I first arrived on this continent.

Though this time I could resist a bit more from experience I still felt off. Though when Arlan came through he had a similar expression as mine,

"Damnit why did I have to use the safer portal, who cares if my slave loses a body part or two?"

"I do!"

I yelled at him he looked at me with surprise at my quickly recovering complexion.

"Wow! You sure do recover quickly most people can't help but have the worst reaction, it's as if you've experienced going through a portal before... also make sure to address me as master; once this is all over I'll be sure to brand you."

I nodded in melancholy I was already regretting another one of my hasty decisions this time it was to become a slave!

I didn't want to think about it any longer but I silently observed that I was back in Shara town and the place was chaotic a couple of town guards were in the rear defending and sending citizens down a safer path while 6 city level knights were facing off against around 7 of the zodiacs. Each with varying appearances, but there wasn't time to describe those! I had to think of where my father would be to safeguard himself.

The only viable options were the nearest embassy that had fortified walls and a decent amount of security, or he rented a car that would be pricey for us to afford and is driving further away as we speak! The technology in this world was currently in a state of progressing into steam-related machinery. Being the son of a pretty smart merchant I also had access to various news channels and there were some hints at microprocessing tech.

Though it still seemed far and away for me a guy who'd only be in this world for three months. So no point bothering, instead I asked Arlan if he could search for my father before he was to go and fight the bandits that were harming the citizens who lived here.

"Mmm... yes, I have a method just give me a drop of blood into this vial."

From one of his purple inner coat pockets, he gave me a small glass vial and a needle prick,

"What do I do with this si... I mean master?

"Just a drop of blood will do boy I'll hand you an artifact to find him you just provide him assistance and I'll take care of things over here, these cretins have interesting devices in them it'll take around 20 minutes."

Shaking my head in agreement and understanding, a tinge of light made the drop of blood I put in the vial evaporate, and once again in his pockets, a little spherical compass-like device came out from his pocket.

'He sure does have a lot of little trinkets.'

I mused a little,

"Take this it should lead to the exact location of your father make sure to return it to me, it was rather pricey to handcraft."

A tinge of confidence radiates in the last sort of his sentence. I shook my head a little and sighed. Anyways I nodded and took the little glass sphere and watched Arlan jump from a window and no wind or any other magical thing supporting him. I instinctively wanted to see if he died after jumping but cursed and remembered that I have to get used to these aspects that used to just be fantasy to me.

Running through the halls and down a couple of floors, I found a horse in a stable, and using my memories I quickly understood how to use it. I even got a skill!

[Horsemanship Lv. 2 earned!]

While using the compass to find my way I earned another one.

[Pseudo-navigation earned...]

I looked at it and sighed inwardly because thinking about it did my boxing skills in the fight against that creature not even get some sort of 'Pseudo boxing' skill? Pretty sure I did pretty well...

["Oh right here!" Boxing lv. 1 earned!]

I glared at the system but perhaps my death glare that scared even that creature didn't scare them yet...

["..." Death glare lv. 3 earned!]

Wow, it seems that this is my highest level skill but seriously do I look that scary when I do that... guess dying two times does things to someone aye system?

No response...

Anyways! I was now riding a luxurious black horse through the streets following the sidewalk shouting at people to move because the streets were filled with panicked people. Eventually, I saw a vehicle in the distance. I recognized it as a car that we had rented out recently from some aspiring entrepreneur, coincidentally them also being the one who invoked jealousy in that rival company.

Now that I think about it I don't believe that they could afford to hire the zodiac bandits since they're on a similar level of wealth as my family. Perhaps is there someone behind them? I don't have time to make guesses right now though, I should first follow my father's car. Quickly galloping through the crowds suddenly a projectile broke through the windows of the car.

"Father!"

I yelled assuming the worst but instead when I approached closer with my eyes looking in the direction of where the projectile came from and there was no one. I saw my father curled up hand over his neck and the driver's dead body. I coldly look at the man choking on his blood, and the arrow pierced into his neck.

getting off the horse I quickly went to grab my father.

"Father... it's me Lex I've come to bring you to safety."

A shocked look appeared on the slightly aged man with red eyes and aged silver-grey hair. His eyes turned a little moist as he looked at me.

"How... how are you alive? The bandits told me they had already gotten to you."

I had already thought of an answer to this question beforehand but I chose to hold off on that till we were brought to safety that sniper could still be out there...

"No time for that dad! We need to move quickly I have an artifact to shield us for a couple of minutes so we can find a safe place to stay, or we can head to our residence."

I accidentally called him dad opposed to how Lex Armine calls him father but he didn't seem to notice, a habit of mine from earth. My father, Lucas Armine, nodded seriously and came out of the car. The sniper hadn't shown any visible movements. Even though it was near broad daylight there was no sign of someone on top of the buildings,

'I hope they can't turn invisible.'

I grumbled inwardly, if they could then it would change into a whole different level of pain in my ass. They could have also recognized me and chose to report to their... colleagues? coworkers? I don't know what they'd be called to each other.

Anyways so I opened the shop which was surprisingly still available and use 25 of my 50 remaining points to purchase a [Medium level true force field]. It will only last three minutes but our home was nearby and so we could make use of it. There weren't any guards but we could make use of knowing the layout better than they do.

Activating the force field there were no visible signs of any shield being there, but once an arrow hit it we could be certain. This time the arrow came from the opposite side but once again I couldn't see where the sniper was.

Feeling a bit frustrated, I kept on running the force field covered the space where my father and I stood. Our home was a villa situated near the higher-income areas of the city.

A very nice three-story home that possessed quite a few rooms and lots of space for it to hide and make us of. By now Arlan should have finished it's been nearly 15 minutes. Though I wasn't going to rely on that perhaps he's facing more difficulty than expected, or maybe he's having an issue finding me? Though his knowledge seems vast I doubt he lacks another spell to find me unless he only has the spell requiring a drop of my blood.

Inside our home, we ran directly to the second floor that way we'd be able to hear entry from the top or bottom floor. We're in a storage room with no windows and various boxes filled with mostly random junk and memories from this childhood. Lucas, my father, and I both picked up weapons and steadied our breathing. My father is a pretty well-built man, even more so than Lex Armine. Though I'm probably more than enough to face him during the daytime, I could probably manage a few minutes of contact to put him to sleep too.

Soon a creaking could be heard from the floor above and we heard a voice,

"Kekeke, hello Armines~ our employer and us would like to figure out how the son survived. If you'd be so kind as to turn yourself in to reduce the hassle it would be oh~ So! kind of you~."

A husky and deranged voice came from above our heads. Walking slowly and giggling like some sort of horror movie rendition of the god of mischief. My luck got a boost after having to fight near death with some unknown beast. Though now I could feel myself recovering I worried my luck would diminish rapidly again. Sadly my worries turned out to be true as...

My father while being extremely focused and hiding behind a shelf of sorts suddenly his nose twitched. Then he blocked it and soon his eyes flickered. I knew that look and could only swear to the high heavens and whisper urgently,

"No, not now! You can't sneeze here!"

Then under careful management, he calmed down, but the universe said "Fuck you!" and

"Aachoooo!"

The giggling upstairs stopped and in a husky tone a voice spoke,

"I found you~"