"F-Fascinating! This is fascinating, Lord Garwin!" the physician exclaimed excitedly, adjusting his glasses as he gazed at Lohran, who was now lying down, with fiery passion and wonder.
"I have never seen such a resilient youngster! The internal wounds this kid suffered have somehow miraculously healed to a certain degree in just the few dozen minutes I was gone!
Although I would advise young master Lohran to refrain from any physical activity for the next seven days, he should be as good as new after that! I simply cannot believe that a young man survived a Threat Level 2 Zorphling attack!
Perhaps your house will produce its first Shielder soon, Lord Garwin—hahaha!"
The red-haired runt, however, merely furrowed his brows in confusion.
He understood that his current ten-year-old body was somehow attacked by what was called a Zorphling, though he did not know what the damned thing was.
From what the nerd beside him was saying, he shouldn't have had any chance of surviving, leading the middle-aged man to associate him with what was called a Shielder, which Lohran assumed to be some kind of tough guy.
'Hmph, of course. Even though I somehow ended up in this little red runt's body, what else would you expect from someone like me? Naturally, I'm a tough guy. Shall I pursue the profession of being a Shielder in this world?' Lohran thought, feeling pleased with the four-eyes beside him.
Judging by the reaction of the man who was supposed to be his father in this life, the Shielder profession likely raked in quite a lot of money.
'And with that, I shall build my own gym, regain my former size, and complete my quest of conquering beauties! Hahahaha! A brilliant plan! Not only am I strong, but I'm smart as well! Not bad, not bad at all!'
Lohran's triumphant thoughts were quickly cut off by Garwin's next words, though it also reinforced his idea of pursuing the tough-man role of a shielder.
"Hahaha! Physician Vitali truly knows how to lift my spirits. While I do not reject this idea and wholeheartedly welcome it, our family has never been able to produce a Shielder. If my little troublemaker truly becomes one, as you say, it would be a tremendous boon to the house indeed."
"Hahaha! Lord Garwin is too humble," Vitali laughed cordially. "However, the young lord's mental condition is less than ideal. While there are no life-threatening issues, his memories are unlikely to return, given that he suffered a severe blow to the head and body from the Zorphling. This is already the best-case scenario, though, as it is truly a miracle that the young master even survived."
The improving mood in the room quickly darkened as the physician reiterated his earlier diagnosis.
Lohran Neyvaris, second son of the Minor Aristocratic House of Neyvaris, had permanently lost his memories due to the trauma of being ambushed by a nightmarish creature and would likely be somewhat—or perhaps entirely—different from who he once was.
They would have to rebuild new memories with him from this point forward.
It felt as though they had lost a part of Lohran.
Nevertheless, this was far better than losing him entirely, and so Garwin and Celina Neyvaris would have to find contentment in that.
Another red-haired runt, however—this one of the opposite sex and two years younger than Lohran—suddenly burst into tears.
"M-Mom, Dad, will Lohran not recognize me as his sister anymore? What if he hates me now?"
Kiora, the youngest of Garwin and Celina's children, turned to Lohran with teary eyes. "Lohran, I will call you big brother from now on, okay? I won't steal your candies anymore, alright? So… don't hate me, okay?"
Overwhelmed, Lohran's face twitched. He was not good with kids.
"Y-Yeah, don't worry about it. If it's just candy, you can take as much as you want—just don't annoy me too much, and we're good, yeah?"
Kiora didn't fully understand what her second brother meant, but she nodded adorably, happy that Lohran was at least willing to give her another chance.
She had been terrified upon learning that Lohran had suddenly run away from home and nearly died—convinced that it was all because she had stolen his favorite sweet lime candy.
The smaller red runt was happy that things turned out fine in the end.
"Now then, I shall take my leave, Lord Garwin. I recommend giving the young master some space for a few hours—he is likely overwhelmed from being surrounded by people he does not recognize."
With those parting words, the middle-aged physician took his leave.
The Neyvaris family members soon followed suit, finally granting Lohran a moment of peace to process everything.
However, the young, pink-haired maid—who appeared to be around eighteen or nineteen—remained by his side, preventing him from feeling entirely at ease.
Since Milly was ordered to stay behind and watch him, she likely wouldn't leave even if Lohran told her to, so he decided to just ignore her and instead took in his surroundings while lying down.
'Hoh, pretty well off, aren't we? Is it finally my time to be born with a silver spoon in my mouth? Is this the compensation those gods or whatever are talking about?'
As he mused, fragments of his past life surfaced—memories of being a street rat with no parents.
Thoughts of the old man inevitably crept in as well.
'Sigh… I'm dead in that world too, so why am I even bothering?'
With another sigh, he continued to survey his room.
A huge, luxurious chandelier hung in the center of the ceiling, illuminating the room's lavish furnishings—plush sofa seats, finely crafted ironwood tables, and what appeared to be a strange television alongside what was likely a computer.
A small bathroom sat at the far end of the room, while three tall bookshelves stood packed with countless volumes at the opposite end.
His room alone was the size of an entire house back in his old world—one an average office worker could only dream of owning.
'Hoh, even my windows are this tall… not bad. I could also train inside my own room if I wanted to,' Lohran mused.
Back on Earth, he had always loved watching the dawn, often gazing out the windows of his manor.
It pleased him to know he could do the same here.
Shifting his attention back to Milly, Lohran asked the short, average-looking maid:
"Hey, you're called Milly, correct?"
"Y-Yes, young master Lohran. I'm Milly, your personal maid. Do you need anything?"
"I just need to know the time."
Quickly checking the small locket strapped on her neck, Milly responded, "It's currently the ninth hour of the day."
Lohran blinked and furrowed his brows in confusion.
'Ninth hour? Wasn't that 9 AM back in my world? Or does time work differently here? Yeah, that's probably it…'
He frowned.
"What do you mean by the ninth hour? How many hours until morning?"
But then, Milly suddenly sighed.
"Right… you don't remember, young master Lohran. There are no mornings here…"