Ruprecht the Gracious

by King's Snake

A woman from our world dies, but instead of the final end, he is given a chance for a new life. All in a new body, new reality, new circumstances and in the new world. But will this new life be something that will restore her faith and will let her carry it for others, or rather he? Only time will show. (one-shot).

Italy

Rome

2013 A.D.

Life is beyond any doubt a very complex process. A state that is difficult to define unambiguously and clearly. From a biological point of view, for something to be defined as life, it must necessarily contain the following characteristics: homeostasis, hierarchy, metabolism, growth, adaptation and reproduction. Something that seems simple, in practice is not, and all this due to the existence of many different definitions of the phenomenon as such. Reductionist, which assumes that life is a set of elements capable of evolution in the biological sense. Cybernetic, according to which, Life is a system of negative feedback subordinate to the overriding positive feedback. Thermodynamic, according to which, life is a complex dissipative structure with the ability to locally reverse the increase in entropy. However, from the point of view of information theory, life is a continuum of self-sustaining information.

However, trying to define this phenomenon does not really matter much, because it is something that simply exists and as mortal beings, we are unable to do anything about it, except to give life meaning and experience, or to fall into nihilism and break out of our body of this wonder of an extremely complex masterpiece, which is undoubtedly the cosmos and the universe.

Not without significance are views on the essence of life. Material, according to which everything is made of matter and life is merely its complex form. Hilemorphic, according to which every being is a combination of form and matter. Vitalism, which tries to proof, that the life principle is immaterial and that there is a fundamental difference between organic and inorganic material, and the belief that organic material can only come from living things. Mechanism or simply reductionism, according to which the phenomena of life can in fact be reduced to the same laws of physics and chemistry that govern inanimate matter. Completeness, according to which physical systems may exist at different levels of the organization; at higher levels they are governed, in addition to the laws proper to the lower levels, complementary laws specific to a given level; With regard to living systems, at the higher levels of the organization of life, apart from physical and chemical laws, specific biological laws apply, and apart from physical changes and chemical reactions, specific biological processes take place.

Regardless, however, all definitions of life and views on it come down to only one thing, an attempt to give everything we feel, what we experience and what we experience some deeper meaning. In the past, the question of the meaning of life was relegated to the background due to the ubiquitous threats from all sides: wild and dangerous beasts, impossible to overcome the forces of nature, or the worst predator that can only stand against a human being, another human being.

But now that the powers of the elements have been mostly tamed, wild animals domesticated and subjugated, and great conflicts like World War I and II no longer take place, many thinking people have decided to start asking this question: what is the meaning of life? However, the answers to this question were different and there were a lot of them. Some, in these times, find the meaning of existence in loved ones, others in great and sublime ideas, still others try to find it in art, or more traditional in god or metaphysical experiences. However, among all these people - or rather next to them - another group of people appeared in large numbers. People who are not satisfied with the answers, who are disappointed with their lives, who are unable to make sense of their own lives, and it's not a matter of failure in life, but more that the world they live in simply does not live up to their expectations . Values such as family, art, religion or ideas make no sense to them, but not because of their low value. It's just that these people were able to see through the lies of the world, to discover how fleeting and unimportant it all was; especially in the face of the power of the universe and its greatness. Simply put, these people broke the shackles of comfortable unconsciousness, ignorance, and were able to see the world as it really is, meaningless and fasting, where nothing really matters, because the importance attached to basically everything is not less and no more than subjective.

One of the representatives of the latter group of people was, beyond any doubt, an individual whose detailed description in the face of his dilemmas and the current situation is redundant and it is enough to mention that she was a woman in the prime of her life, of quite considerable natural beauty. Her current position, because she was climbing to the top of one of the Roman skyscrapers, from which the view of the Eternal City literally took the breath away of the average person, but the woman was not one of those people. In fact, she had experienced all the successes, sorrows, pleasures, and pains that life had offered her so far, and the meaning of it no longer mattered to her.

The individual took step after step, patiently and with a blank expression, ascending the steps of the stairs and approaching the top, the final destination of the journey outlined in his mind this morning, as soon as full consciousness returned to his brain. It was then that the idea of quitting her job, burning down the house she had lived in for the last few years, popped into her mind, deleting her bank account and squandering the money. You can call it irrational and illogical, but it wasn't in the slightest for this particular woman, whose mental state could be safely described as internal burnout. Her life was a struggle from the very beginning, when she was orphaned only at the age of four, and the foster family she found herself in turned out to be a family of sadists, and the head of this family had a taste for children. However, regardless of this and perhaps thanks to this, she gained a great determination to climb the social ladder step by step, stubbornly and without respite, and yet in this very process her inner burnout occurred. Once a selfless, pious and stubborn woman, she was reduced in the long process of life to little more than a worthless shell; a shadow of what it was in its heyday.

However, apart from this very depressing autobiography, the woman finally arrived - after about half an hour of quite exhausting climbing, to the very top of the skyscraper. As she approached the edge, she felt for a moment that her whole life literally flashed before her eyes. All the struggles, all the pain, every single experienced pleasure that had ever been experienced in her life had been reduced to little more than a few fleeting moments that, from this point on, didn't matter much. It was as if they were merely implanted memories in her.

Regardless, however, she finally put her first leg over the edge, and, looking at the city spread out before her, literally froze in place and completely still, unable to even move a limb. It was as if in an instant she could literally feel the pulse of all the souls that live in Rome, regardless of their current condition or location. This led to the young woman almost feeling a surge of great inspiration, as if something in her gut had awakened; it was like a spark that tried to ignite the fire, the embers, and ignite the fire of pure passion. The feeling of excitement seemed to fill every, even the tiniest part and limb of this being. However, a fire without the right fuel goes out very quickly, and it was the same in this particular case. The heat and life began to fade only to slowly give way again to the apathy, stagnation, emptiness and general hopelessness that had gripped the souls of this poor creature for a very long time. So the last stimulus to hesitation was gone.

"I sincerely hope that at least my death will mean enough to someone to inspire someone to do something great, amen." Although her belief in the existence of supernatural forces or any superior being had long since gone, she chose to say it anyway. Then, too, she pushed her body forward and began the long journey down to meet her destiny, the end of this story.

Falling to the very bottom, towards the parking asphalt, the woman was able to see single points at the bottom, with different colors and outfits. These were the people, the vast majority of whom seemed to be still unaware of the coming sensational event. Meanwhile, some saw a woman falling down towards the end, and they seemed either panicked, or shocked, or just didn't know what to do in the face of it all. However, none of them had time to pull out the phone, so they could only, or at best, step aside to avoid colliding with the falling body.

Second by second, the woman was getting closer. In what seemed to be her last moments, she had images in her mind of the few people who had made her life somewhat happy and inspired her to act. The first of them was her primary school teacher, who kindled the flame of ambition in her heart and inspired her to set goals in life and pursue them with all the strength and determination she could muster. She also remembered a college friend and first love with whom she spent the entire seven years, who gave her warmth in life before his life ended prematurely as a result of undiagnosed liver cancer. She also remembered her first boss, a man who was understanding and patient with her, despite the rather sloppy and clumsy nature of the young woman. They all remembered her for one reason, they believed in her and did everything in their power to help a girl with great potential and a difficult future. For a while, she felt a bit bad about the nullification of all their efforts to help her out of her uncomfortable life situation, and all their efforts only led to suicide and a miserable end.

Seconds before direct contact with the hard concrete, the woman closed her eyes tightly and clenched her fingers until her knuckles turned white. All just to prepare for a collision with hard concrete and possible pain. Although she had doubts about whether she would feel anything, she preferred to be ready for any eventuality. This is how she waited for what was to come soon, for the voluntary end of life, which for a tired man, exhausted by existence and its charms, appears more like torture, a nightmare of constant suffering, than something pleasant, than an adventure to experience.

Seconds, minutes, tens of minutes passed. The minutes seemed like hours, amidst the seemingly deaf and dead silence that followed a few moments, and seemed to go on seemingly endlessly.

Another indefinite amount of time passed, and the entity grew impatient. Is this what life after death is supposed to look like? Is it supposed to be a blissful and endless silence and darkness, or maybe such a fate was reserved only for people like her who voluntarily rejected life? She asked herself these questions, but in the meantime realized that she still had feeling in her limbs. It was strange to her, to say the least, and moments later there was overwhelming disbelief combined with the purest expression of shock one could imagine. Because when her eyebrows peeled away from the skin under her eyes, instead revealed a surreal and seemingly completely impossible sight, which nevertheless took place here. Literally everything around, people, a small flock of a bird or even a hornet flying nearby, just froze in complete stillness, and the woman was no exception. To her utter dismay, she found herself suspended motionless, several meters above the ground. When she tried to move her hand or her toes, and although it was very difficult, she eventually managed to make a slight change in her position. This only deepened her shock and incomprehension of the state she now found herself in. She has experienced a lot in her life, from pain, to sexual pleasure, and ending with a state of drug stupor. Nothing of her previous experience was even remotely similar to this experience, nor even seemed so realistic.

"Life." There was a deep, calm and at the same time resonant voice that seemed to have no specific source at the same time, but instead seemed to come from literally everywhere, which only confused the woman even more and made her doubt her own sanity. "A miracle that I was able to create with the development of the universe. A miracle that gives living beings the opportunity to experience things unforgettable for them, and which in this case has been so easily rejected."

The woman's gaze instinctively turned to one of the passing - or rather suspended in time - birds that seemed to be talking when the voice was omnipresent, or at least seemed to be.

"What?" The entity stammered, not knowing how to behave in the face of something so contrary to the principles of physics or any kind of logic. It was basically the only sane reaction in the face of something so absurd, at least for an intelligent and logical individual.

"Kim..." For a brief moment she hesitated on what to say next, and it's hard to be surprised, her eyes in an uncoordinated, chaotic way, redirected in one direction or the other. "What are you?"

The question elicited an immediate response, and the woman instinctively turned once again to the other side, this time to the hornet.

"Can't you know the one who governs all things and to whom you pray?" With the words, the hornet's mandible began to move towards another dose of the woman's confusion, which had seemingly reached its climax. Have you, dear child, forgotten the identity of the one to whom you once turned with requests for hope, improvement of fate and a better life? Haven't you prayed to me all these years? Haven't you tried to find comfort in what people will take as my word, dear child?"

There was complete silence for a brief moment as the woman analyzed everything she had just heard, and the conclusion that came after a moment basically took away her ability to speak. The shock only increased, and she wanted to believe it was just some form of post-mortem hallucination or something, but the longer she stayed in that state, the more her instincts convinced her that this was no dream or hallucination but reality. which, despite the first impression of utter absurdity, seemed from moment to moment to be only more and more realistic and rational.

"So you understand now." This time, one of the onlookers, who until recently stared in great amazement at the woman falling down, began to move his lips. "You don't have to say anything, because your expression of awareness tells me everything I want to know. You know you're dealing with a god."

"With God!?" The woman screamed derisively, and all shock, fear and disbelief turned into a mocking smile in the face of such a self-presentation from the being who claimed to be a god. "I have never heard a crazier self-presentation in my life. Even if it is accompanied by events that are at least logically irrational, I have not the slightest reason to consider you a god."

Another passer-by, this time a young, raven-haired girl in her twenties, narrowed her eyes at her comment and it seemed that now she was the expression of a being who claimed to be a god.

"You do not have a reason?" The same omnipresent and yet calm voice asked. "Dear child, why do you doubt my identity as a god?"

The woman almost laughed, but nevertheless decided to retain some of her former dignity, self-confidence and quite a lot of conceit, for which the employees and subordinates of the company knew her well.

"It's very simple, sweet god." She replied with pure sneer, a haughty smile on her lips and a cocky twinkle in her eye. "If there was a god or any higher being in this world, we would never have to deal with such a level of moral decay, or such a great level of often senseless violence. If there was a god in this world, no misfortune would ever happen, and people would never know the taste of violence, and they wouldn't have to experience the destruction of literally everything they knew. If there were a divine being, faith, even the weakest, would never be put to the test by the ruthlessness of this world. If you really were a god, my adoptive father wouldn't have raped me for years, sometimes several times a day, with my adoptive mother's tacit approval. Finally, if there was a god in this world, we would never have to deal with a situation where hundreds of thousands of children, and therefore the most innocent beings, suffer from hunger, poverty, violence and persecution.

At that moment, all signs of mockery or lack of seriousness irretrievably disappeared, and were replaced by pure hatred, contempt and disgust, directed at the thin and elderly man, who this time involuntarily assumed the role of being an avatar of a self-proclaimed god.

"Then if you consider yourself a god, this is probably the craziest madness of any rational being that I can imagine. You say you are a god, and perhaps because of the level of power you are absolutely right at this point. However, if with such great power you allow millions of people to suffer every day or night, often completely innocent, then I am not dealing with a god, but at most with a parody of the devil!" She roared at the end with pure venom, then with difficulty contained all her raging emotions and her mood became more than mean, more than a man can imagine. "Some would dare to call you Being X, Supreme Being, or Master Being, but all I see is an arrogant, vain, and indifferent devil who, at this point, has not the slightest remorse or even regret for all the horrors they have a place with your tacit approval; therefore I will call you exactly what you deserve, Devil."

The creature didn't seem to be in the slightest affected by his words or accusations, much less had the slightest intention of explaining to the woman the reasons for his actions or denying them. He just took it all with what must have been a cold equanimity, and all he did was come to a conclusion.

"Although you have moved away from faith to an inner emptiness, there are still small sparks of your former self within you." He replied, and the older man's eyes narrowed slightly. "After all, I do not usually reincarnate people who have consciously rejected less, despite all my kindness. That's why I have to ask you this question: why exactly do you reject a god?"

"Do not understand?" She asked and raised an eyebrow, but when she didn't get an answer, she decided to explain her point. "Because believing in you, even if you are a god, doesn't make the slightest sense, like believing in any ideals. Although we humans have reached an extremely high level of development as a species, technology has not answered our biggest question, it has only made everything much more complicated than it used to be. Basically, everything these days has completely degenerated, and the old authorities have been replaced by idiots who often can't even say a single meaningful sentence. To put it bluntly, I don't believe in god and I reject this concept because modern technology has opened my eyes as well as seeing all you bestiality because nothing in this world makes sense. This is also the reason why I decided to reject this life."

"In other words..." The Devil spoke again, almost as soon as the woman finished this monologue. "If it wasn't for a world where there are more and more questions and less and less sense, would you be able to find faith and meaning?"

"Maybe, but I can't say for sure. Ultimately, people's views and life choices are influenced by many factors, and these are not the only times they live in." She replied almost immediately and without even the slightest thought, but after a moment she shuddered as she slowly began to realize what this whole situation was actually leading to. "But what exactly do you mean by that?"

"You will be reincarnated, dear child." He repulsed the being claiming to be a god, and at the same time, all living things around turned to her and stared directly at her. "You will be given a new life, in another world and another time, which will enable you to get back on the right track! So find meaning in your new life, and let the radiance of your reborn faith shine on everyone around you!"

"What do you actually mean by… Argh!" She screamed as the state of suspension unexpectedly ended in an instant, and the woman's body collided with hard concrete, to the utter horror of all the people gathered and watching.

---

At first, there was only darkness, and in this darkness at first everything seemed to be only a dark and impenetrable, but surprisingly warm space. Additionally, there was water everywhere, or at least some kind of liquid substance, it was hard to pinpoint. Moreover, the entity that a few moments ago - at least from its subjective and error-prone perspective - had spoken to god and ended up landing on concrete ground, felt surprisingly light and quite weak at the same time. It's as if the process of reincarnation meant a literal rebirth...

"Reincarnation?" The entity wanted to say, but even that was beyond its very limited capabilities, at least in its current state.

With the unsaid words came the full realization of her present condition. While hearing about reincarnation in a new world for the first time, the first thing she had in mind was a scenario taken straight out of an average Isekai anime or manga, in which she is either literally transported to a new world or her soul takes over the body of some unfortunate who had the pleasure of being chosen for it. She didn't even consider the possibility of being literally reborn, or at least so far, it seemed that she was in the womb of some woman, a new mother.

After a while, however, she felt an almost instinctive urge to move forward, and she had no intention of disobeying it. While it was irrational to rely solely on instincts, it was still the best you could rely on in an undefined situation. So the individual, now just a weak infant, rushed forward, and had no intention of stopping or giving up. The road was quite long and not comfortable to travel, sometimes it was tight and it was necessary to squeeze against the wall, or rather the birth canals of the infant's mother. In fact, in her old life, she'd never paid the slightest attention to anatomy, so she wasn't sure where she was going. After a long, indeterminate amount of time and all that grueling wandering, the baby had reached the end of the road, and the presence of the light became more than obvious, despite its eyes being permanently closed. Cold engulfed her body, at least for a moment, until someone took her in his arms and placed her in warm water, and then she was wrapped in a warm and fluffy towel. Still, she heard sounds coming from everywhere, mostly human speech and hurried movement. But that posed a valid question: where was she now? Europe, or any other continent, was once a difficult place to live, at least for ordinary people. Therefore, it was doubtful that a family of ordinary peasants or workers could afford a hospital.

When she began to try to open her eyes, and this coincided with the influx of a new dose of strength, almost immediately and to her complete surprise, she perceived the splendor of the place in which she found herself. Tapestries, shields, sabers, blades and many other wall decorations greeted her eyes. It became clear that she had been reincarnated as the child not of some peasant or working class family, but as the offspring of at least quite wealthy nobility.

At one point, she was able to open her eyes a little wider and the first thing she encountered, after tilting her head in the other direction, was the sight of a middle-aged brown man wearing an elegant waistcoat with a black tie and a white shirt underneath. In general, the man spread a rather warm and undoubtedly friendly atmosphere around him, which also spread to the newly reincarnated child and caused a sincere smile.

"I am the father of a beautiful son." He whispered as he pressed the infant, confused by his choice of words, to him. "Look Bertha, you gave birth a wonderful boy."

After these words, he handed the newborn baby to his wife, a young, blond-haired woman in a white dress with beautiful features. A woman who clearly tried to rest after a rather long and exhausting childbirth, which, however, did not blunt her natural fire and great enthusiasm that seemed to emanate from her literally on everything and everyone around. As for the baby, it didn't - or rather, he - paid the slightest attention to what was going on around him, and instead shook his body. The feeling that appeared moments later - although due to the lack of proper physical and sexual development, it was not too intense - it clearly made it clear that the old body shape and sex have gone irrevocably to the past and the time has come for a new life, new sensations, in every possible sense of the word. Only this made the newborn baby cry because of the realization of all this.

"Oh, isn't he cute?" The woman asked as soon as she took the crying baby in her arms and looked at him closely, paying careful attention to the shape of his jaw and the arrangement of his face. "He's so much like you, Werner."

The mustachioed man laughed heartily in response to this statement, and his almost always relaxed demeanor became apparent once again.

"He may be similar to me in that aspect..." He announced when his raucous laugh finally ended. "After all, his little strands of blond hair remind me of you, Bertha, much more than me."

"Smoothie." The woman replied, more than amused by his comment. "Even so, his name is still something we haven't decided yet, Werner."

"Indeed." The brown-haired man nodded, then began to look at the newborn son with even more attention than a few moments ago and tried to assess him as best as possible. "You gave birth to a healthy and strong boy, and his blue eyes seem like a beacon in the endless night. I think Ruprecht will sound quite good."

"Ruprecht von Gleiwitz." Bertha repeated the name her newborn son would have for the rest of his life. "That sounds quite dignified."

"Otherwise I would never have suggested it, honey." Werner smiled, then placed a quick but unmistakably passionate kiss on her cheek. "Ultimately, he is the heir to the von Gleiwitz name and our vast fortune."

At that moment, the newly named baby's blue orbs practically popped out of their sockets. Before hearing this, he concluded that he was born into a wealthy family. But now that he realized that he had been born into a family of German aristocrats, he didn't really know what to do. It was something he had coveted to some extent in his previous life, and he envied those of better birth for their easy start, which gave them a comfortable, easy life, or at least the part that did not squander their inherited wealth. Now he was well born and wealthy, perhaps almost at the top of the social ladder. Even so, he understood that he had to be careful in his life decisions. The young man's next thoughts and resolutions were interrupted by the next words of his new parents.

"Ruprecht von Gleiwitz, born August 16, 1900." Bertha announced happily. "Just four days after his cousin, Archduke Wilhelm."

"Perhaps the two will become good friends in the future?" Werner thought for a moment after his wife's words. "After all, it might not only be good for our position in the Empire, but it could also provide a good start between the heir to the throne and our son."

"It's way too early to say for sure. Despite

Further exchanges escaped the infant, who simply felt a growing tiredness. The culmination of this was that young Ruprecht fell into a deep sense, first and extremely pleasant, in this new world.

XXX

The new life of the once woman, and now reincarnated boy, was interesting to say the least, at least looking at everything from this point of life. The first six years were extremely dull and unattractive, for above all, the young squire concentrated all his efforts on giving the impression of proper development, with only the subtle traits of being slightly more intelligent than most children of his age. Pretending to be less intelligent was undoubtedly tiring and frustrating. Still, there was one area where he had to excel, and that was language learning. At first, Ruprecht thought he was dealing with a version of German taken straight out of his world. Very quickly it turned out that, in fact, this language is a strange, but a mixture of all known Germanic languages. Fortunately, knowledge of German was quite a good basis for further development in this area.

What is worth noting, however, is that the first six years of his new life were basically pretty carefree and with plenty of rather boisterous parties the young squire had to attend. Most of them took place either in the family estate or in the old castle belonging to the von Gleiwitz family for generations. Other celebrations and parties, such as the anniversary of the unification of former states, principalities and kingdoms into one empire, took place at the imperial palace in the capital, Berun. Also on the occasion of many other parties, Ruprecht and his parents were going to the imperial palace, and all because of the fact that his mother was the sister of the current Emperor.

Currently, young Ruprecht was turning eight, and the celebrations took place in the capital, in the imperial palace. For this very reason, many distinguished guests were invited. Noblemen, industrialists, military leaders or members of the government. Everything was to take place in a large hall decorated with the banners of the Reich Empire. Here, Ruprecht and his parents entertained guests, because officially they were the hosts. However, it was clear to everyone that everything was happening because of the Emperor's cordiality and his indulgent approach to his nephew, which was an open secret in the political backstage. All this despite the fact that Ruprecht was not a prince.

Initially, the young heir was quite surprised by this fact, because as the emperor's nephew, he should actually be second in line to the throne. However, any doubts in this respect were dispelled when Ruprecht read the section of the constitution on inheritance, which made it clear that only male or female descendants of the incumbent Emperor had a right to the throne and were granted a princely title. Theoretically, there was still the option that, in the absence of descendants, the Emperor could designate a successor in his will, but so far in the short history of the empire, this had not yet taken place, so Ruprecht did not have high hopes in this regard.

As for the party, it slowly began to grow more and more, as more and more guests arrived. More and more conversations were concluded, and the topics were so different that it is in vain to list all the threads raised and topics in progress. However, what could be sensed was the generally optimistic mood. Ruprecht had some knowledge of economics and immediately understood that the general public had made many investments, mainly in heavy industry and shipbuilding, and most of them expected really big profits because of this. At the same time, listening to all this, the young squire could not help but feel that this is the time preceding the economic crisis, because some guests pointed out the slowly progressing decline in the value of some, but quite large, important companies and concerns in the Empire.

However, apart from that, after a short while, a thought came to the head of the young heir, or rather a reflection, on his life in this new world. Simply put, he was satisfied and happy. His father, although a man extremely busy managing the Von Gleiwitz-Werke concern and making subsequent investments, was a very warm man who always tried to find time for his family and to supervise the progress of his only child. Ruprecht's new mother was a wonderful woman with a heart of gold who devoted as much time as possible to her child and tried hard to instill in him a love of Romantic literature. To his surprise, Ruprecht discovered in the process how many of the classic works of literature from his previous life did not exist in this world, but due to the lack of a deeper interest in literature, the young squire was not very interested in it. But aside from these issues, his new life was very successful. Every day, he got up around seven in the morning and started the day with morning gymnastic exercises that his father recommended, and then lessons with private tutors lasting several hours a day took place and it was not such a pleasant experience. Although Ruprecht had quite a lot of knowledge and skills in the field of economics, mathematics and languages, he had clear problems primarily with chemistry and biology. Despite this, he gradually made up for the shortcomings in this area and tried to expand his knowledge at a fairly natural pace. But what was most memorable - at least in his opinion - were the beautiful gardens on the property and the greenhouse, which was filled with a veritable multitude of flora placed and cultivated there; roses of various kinds, edelweiss or crampsis radicans are just some of the huge number of flower species gathered there, and everything was personally taken care of by Ruprecht's mother and very often Bretha took her son there to familiarize him with the secrets of botany and gardening. Although the young squire loved spending time with his beloved mother, he enjoyed the regular horse riding with his father the most, when the Duke of Gleiwitz rode one horse with his son, and they both really enjoyed it; afterward, the two returned to the mansion, where dinner and the woman with a heart of gold were waiting for them. Another thing Ruprecht loved doing in this new life was learning how to handle and use firearms, which his father tried to pass on to him. Thanks to this, the young squire learned some basics and knowledge in the field of gunsmithing, in the field of continuing and manufacturing weapons. During these joint escapades with weapons, Werner also introduced his son to a quite promising and relatively young gunsmith named Joseph Gewehr. A man who turned out to be a huge supporter of new solutions in the production of firearms.

However, aside from all these stories, it was Ruprecht himself who was very happy with his new life, which, especially compared to his previous one, looked much better and already at this early stage of life, provided him with much more joy than he could ever imagine and expect. . In addition, all the traumas and deprivations of the previous world, practically overnight, seemed to be just a nightmare that just passed and would never come back. In fact, it was probably the first time in his entire existence that he felt he had a real and complete family, not just friends, co-workers, or other people who would never qualify as people so closely related to him, especially in the face of all the natural deficiencies of an earlier stage of life that have now finally been patched up and filled by his loving parents.

Suddenly, the young squire was snapped out of his thoughts as the great ballroom fell silent, and the Imperial Herald entered, dressed in an elegant black tailcoat. He spoke only when he stood in the center of the room and was absolutely sure that he had the attention of absolutely everyone gathered here.

"His Imperial Highness, great defender and sacred heart of our great Reich Empire, Emperor Friedrich III von Prussia! And the heir to the throne, Archduke Wilhelm von Prussia!" He announced with due pomp and dignity, then walked to the side of the hall, and the two men he named entered, who moved with great dignity.

The first of the duo was a graying man in his fifties, with a rather prominent mustache and sizable sideburns, but kept in elegant proportions. His eyes were calm, experienced and full of wisdom worthy of a man like him, who was largely responsible for the development of the poorer parts of the Empire, such as Middle Polania, Galicia, Hungaria or the Reich's Northwestern Balkans. It was also during his reign that the Empire expanded its industrial potential many times and slowly began to fully aspire to become a world power. Personally, Ruprecht regarded his uncle as a warm man who had a great fondness for him and his only son, Wilhelm.

The Emperor's son, meanwhile, looked no less dignified than his father, dressed in a smaller version of the latest Imperial Army uniform - in which the designers had moved away from dark blue to a fairly well-camouflaged olive color - and several medals that were only due to him because of his position as Archduke. But aside from his clothes, he was a kid with brown hair combed to the left side, delicate features and blue eyes. Ruprecht had many good memories with him. The two friends and cousins had been in contact practically from an early age, when their parents saw each other very often, although in Wilhelm's case, he only had a father, as his mother died the same night the Archduke was born, and all because of exhaustion and great loss of blood. However, aside from this unpleasant and forgettable incident, the two quickly developed a bond of sincere friendship. Both Wilhelm and Ruprecht shared many secrets over the years and never hid anything from each other. Together they had many unforgettable adventures, and together they often slipped quietly away from these elaborate parties and reveled in unworthy trips outside the premises where all these parties were held. Naturally, no one ever caught them doing anything, all because of their teamwork and a certain amount of agility typical of young people their age. Their friendship was cemented by the fact that Ruprecht's mother, despite the fact that she was Wilhelm's aunt, actually became a foster mother for him and tried to provide him with many warm, motherly sensations.

It didn't take long for the Emperor and the Archduke to quickly approach the family members and, above all, the birthday boy. A cordial smile appeared on the ruler's lips as soon as his eyes fell on his nephew, while his son was also very happy because of the opportunity to reunite with his cousin, friend and spend more, perhaps once again, unforgettable moments together.

"Ruprecht!" The emperor greeted his nephew warmly and with great joy, almost forgetting his position and dignity. But what could this man do when typically human passions and feelings filled his heart? "I'm happy to see you here in great health and I wish you all the best."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Replied Ruprecht respectfully, making an extremely polite and deep bow, which had been properly drilled into him on the occasion of all these etiquette lessons. "Happiness is mine to meet you under such favorable circumstances."

"Bright and with an impressive vocabulary for such a young age, exactly the same as ever and maybe even better. I hope it only gets better." Then all the attention of the Emperor turned to the father of the young heir. "Werner, I'm glad to see you at your peak, as I almost always do."

"It's my honor, Your Majesty." The patriarch of the von Gleiwitz family replied, who after a while bowed to the Emperor, exactly as court etiquette dictated. "First of all, I am honored that you have offered my family such generosity as the opportunity to host my son's birthday party here in the palace."

"Nonsense Werner, there will always be a place for members of the imperial family in these halls." The Emperor replied, then turned to his sister, dressed in a scarlet and conservative dress, then took her hand hidden in a white glove and gave a passionate kiss. "It's good to see you here, Bretha. Recently I have heard that you have been quite ill and I wish I had been able to find the time to visit my own sister in her hour of need."

"Nothing happened, Your Majesty." Bretha politely replied, who was more than forgiving as always, and it wasn't just because of her etiquette, but because of her heart of gold. "The responsibilities of the ruler of this Empire and the needs of his subjects should always come first and above even family. Otherwise, we may degenerate to a level such as the Russy Empire, where members of the ruling family are more concerned with managing their personal estates and wealth than looking after the needs of the people."

"Very well said!" One of the guests invited here, who, however, has not been identified, stated in response, but his words raised a general consensus among the others.

It was an unmistakable sign that the state mentioned earlier by Breth was indeed in decline. Basically, recent projections, newspaper articles and intelligence reports indicated that the mood in the society was practically on the verge of revolution. Taking into account the extremely backward nature of that country, the level of corruption in the administration and the almost feudal social structure, completely unreformable for all these years, such a scenario was not even the slightest surprise among those privy to the details.

However, apart from this minor episode, the party went back to normal in the later part and discussions on various, often completely different topics, were still continued. However, what resonated among some guests was the topic of Ruprecht himself, or more precisely, his extraordinary intellect, at least for such a young age. It was one more of the young heir's efforts to attract the attention of as many people in the Empire as possible, presenting himself as someone slightly more intelligent than children of his age. The reason was very simple and rather easy to predict, and it was the desire to enter adulthood as soon as possible and gain universal respect in the upper classes. As it turned out, such action had the intended effect, because the aristocracy and the army perceived him as an outstanding representative of those times and an exemplary example of the best son that the Empire could only put on the battlefield. In addition, among the invited guests was one of the most intelligent representatives of staff officers, approaching forty, Lieutenant Colonel Hans von Zettour. This man had heard several times about the young squire's well-known interest in military matters and military equipment in general. Personally, the Lieutenant Colonel was curious not so much about the talents and interests of the young squire, but more about what kind of person the Emperor's nephew was. This interest was shared by his colleague, two years younger, and a good colleague from the general staff, Colonel Kurt von Rudersdorf.

The party continued for the next few hours until it was finally time to give Rupreht the presents. Many guests bought a lot of quite expensive gifts for the birthday boy, all for reasons of wanting favors with the Emperor Friedrich, as he was very well known for treating family friends or those with whom he had good relations. Knowing Ruprecht's great interest in militaria, many of the invitees bought exactly this type of thing. In this way, the young heir received many books that day, figurines of soldiers or models of military ships, uniforms from around the world, replicas of old decorations, sabers and other antique weapons. However, what particularly stood out against this background of obvious attempts to gain favor was a gift from Lieutenant Colonel von Zettour and Kurt von Rudersdorf.

Both of them courteously gave two very special gifts that surprised not only the guests themselves, but also the Emperor, the von Gleiwitz couple, Wilhelm and, to the greatest extent, Ruprecht himself, but for completely different reasons than it might seem at first glance.

"Knowing the great interest of the young heir in military equipment, we decided to present the latest technical innovations." Lieutenant-Colonel von Zettour declared, and his younger colleague nodded in response, after which they both took out the contents of the wooden and rather neatly made chests held in their hands.

Both had two and different types of firearms to offer. The colonel was the first to introduce and describe the weapons held in his hands.

"This is an extraordinary invention from the Unified States, it may be the first semi-automatic rifle in history, the M1 Grant, caliber 7.62 mm. The maximum range of the weapon is about 750 meters, and the bullet velocity is about 825 m / s." He announced, then handed the boy a gun, and Ruprecht, to everyone's surprise, was able not only to hold the gun in his hands, but also to aim at the ceiling. Of course, all without pulling the trigger.

"Thank you, Colonel." The young squire replied as soon as he stopped taking aim and mastered his shock at seeing a weapon strikingly similar to the M1 Garand he had known from his old world and was shocked by the remarkable similarity between the two rifles. Then he turned to the Lieutenant Colonel. "And what weapon do you have to offer? Judging from the small size of the box, it must be some kind of pistol."

"Indeed, that's what it is." Von Zettour nodded with a smile, clearly pleased with the young squire's interest, and then pulled out a well-known pistol from inside, which, however, in those days, could appear as something revolutionary. "Colt 1908, another technical novelty from the Unified States, which has recently been adopted by the army of this country. It is a semi-automatic pistol, with a single-stack magazine that holds 7 rounds inside. It has a manual wing safety, an external hammer set to the safety position and a safety grip on the back of the handle, which allows you to shoot only when the gun is properly placed in your hand.

After the presentation, the Lieutenant Colonel handed the boy a new construction, and the young squire began to examine it closely. Although for most of the gathered it might have been unthinkable that someone so young was holding a firearm in his hands, his parents, and above all his father, had no problems with it. The main reason was the knowledge of his son's actual skills in the use of firearms, which impressed him to a very large extent.

After a moment, Ruprecht put down the pistol on a nearby table, then, with a broad smile on his lips, turned to both officers from the general staff.

"It is undoubtedly a very interesting type of firearm, I am grateful for it and thank you." The boy stated with a smile on his lips, then turned to the Emperor. "Could I test it right now."

The question surprised Friedrich, the boy's parents, Wilhelm, and the vast majority of the people gathered here. Colonel von Rudersdorf and Lieutenant Colonel von Zettour. Who could have guessed that this eight-year-old kid would be so willing to test new 'toys' in such an open and direct way?

"I don't mind, Ruprecht." The Emperor agreed with a smile on his face, to the even greater shock of all the people gathered here. "In fact, I think the palace staff could have the shooting range ready for use in a matter of minutes."

It was an easy-to-read statement of consent that turned out to be very true. In fact, the servants were ready to prepare a shooting range in one of the garden segments, where all the guests had gathered. It was a place where the Emperor practiced his marksmanship with great passion many times, if he had enough time for it and had no other duties for the day.

Meanwhile, Ruprecht and his father - who was helping him prepare the pistol first - stood about fifty meters from the target, which was a clay dummy without any markings, and the reason for the lack of any aiming aid was at the request of the young squire who wanted to make this experience a bit more realistic. Of course, to anyone familiar with military weapons and aware of what a real battlefield looks like, it was clear that this trial would have little to do with the often chaotic and dynamic nature of the battlefield.

These matters aside, however, the preparations were completed moments later, but Werner decided not to stray too far and stood a few steps behind his son to help him if necessary. Despite everything, he decided to remind his only son some small, but at the same time extremely important things.

"Remember to keep your breathing regular and fire every few seconds, otherwise your body will simply give up due to fatigue." Then he caressed the hair on his son's head, which was almost always combed to the left side, an action that made Ruprecht silently sulk: "Good luck, you can always call me for help if necessary."

"Thank you, father." Ruprecht replied, and a warm smile appeared on his lips, which appeared practically every time his father expressed his willingness and readiness to help him.

After his words, Werner took a few steps back and, like the rest of the people gathered here, began to wait impatiently for the start of testing the newly handed weapon to his son.

Looking at the gun held in his left hand - because Ruprecht was left-handed - the young squire couldn't help but think about his life so far in this new, but at the same time very similar to his old, world. Until now, everything had been the opposite of his past, because now he lacked literally nothing. He had a comfortable life, a loving family that would always do anything for him and he for them, or a high social position. In addition, Ruprecht developed many interests that he had never had before, such as a love of militaria and broadly understood military. And yet, he felt that something was missing. As if all this would hide some inner emptiness that has never been filled. But what was it exactly? The young squire did not know.

Regardless, Ruprecht prepared to fire the shots literally as he had learned many times before. He assumed a firing position, then began to breathe regularly and evenly so as not to waste energy unnecessarily. Although having a small and objectively still weak body, thanks to previous physical training and strengthening, Ruprecht was able to hold a rifle earlier and had no doubt that he would be able to take shots.

A few seconds passed, and the gathered guests began to grow impatient. Particularly curious about the result was Archduke Wilhelm, a few days older than Ruprecht. Although he had just turned eight years old a few days ago, he was extremely bright and was rumored to be as precocious as his cousin, although he had no particular marksmanship, but they shared a similar interest in the broader military and issues related to it. related. He was also extremely curious about his cousin's abilities.

With a quick and decisive pull on the trigger, the round flew out of the barrel, traveled fifty yards, and hit the chest, quite close to where the heart would normally be located. With successive and regular shots fired, thoughts filled the mind of the young squire.

First of all, thoughts about the country in which he now lives. The Reich Empire was a powerful and heavily industrialized power, not to mention a very high-quality, professional army. Basically, the similarity that came to the young heir's mind at this point was the German Empire, but it wasn't entirely true. Militarism and far-reaching social discipline went hand in hand with surprisingly high religious and ethnic tolerance. At this point, a much more accurate comparison of Empire - especially in view of certain geographic facts - would be to combine the German Empire and Austria-Hungary. Geopolitically, however, the comparison to the Hohenzollern Empire alone made more sense. The empire was the latest addition to the list of world powers, whose power and status only increased, practically from year to year. However, the neighboring and established powers were not too willing to accept this new addition, and especially reluctant were the Francois Republic and the United Kingdom of Albion, the world's greatest colonial powers and very similar to their counterparts in Ruprecht's world. Also, relations between the Empire and the Legadonia Entente Alliance were not warm, and the main reason for this was still unresolved territorial disputes and occasional border frictions. On the other hand, the Reich maintained neutral or relatively warm relations with the Kingdom of Iloda, the Iberian Republic and the Waldsttäte Confederacy. As for diplomatic relations with the Russy Empire, they were cool and resulted from the fact that during the failed January Revolution four years ago, Vaterland took quite a large part of the Western - and at the same time more prosperous - Polania from the Tsar's Empire.

Simply put, the Vaterland Empire was at a real disadvantage at the moment with four hostile countries. A question rightly arises at this point; how exactly could someone so young acquire so much knowledge without drawing much attention to themselves? Well, the answer is basically quite simple, his mother was keenly interested in politics - domestic and international - and tried to know as much as possible about it. Quite often it happened that Ruprecht either overheard her long conversations with friends, or asked her about it, pretending to be simple and childish curiosity. Once again, the young heir almost blessed this woman with a heart of gold who could be his mother in this new life. It was also thanks to her that he learned that the society of this period was literally those of the turn of the 20th century, in the worst sense of the word, such as poverty, hard work exceeding eight hours a day in factories or mines, all reserved above all for the lower classes.

While childhood was no doubt a pleasant experience, and Ruprecht was undoubtedly more relaxed than other children of the period, his father still imposed a pretty strict regime on him in terms of education and discipline.

"You must remember one thing in life, Ruprecht, that our duty is to obey God, the Emperor, and the Vaterland. If you are able to be obedient and committed to your duties towards Vaterland, only then you will be have a clear conscience." Werner von Gleiwitz, his beloved but then absolutely serious father, told him one day.

For his part, Ruprecht always tried to comply and showed great respect to the Emperor, the Reich, but still remained highly unconvinced about god. Despite the fact that a divine being was responsible for his reincarnations, he still had great doubts in this matter, which for the first time since his arrival on this world took on such great proportions.

What snapped the young man out of his thoughts was the sound of an empty magazine, which clearly communicated to him that his gun had just run out of ammunition. So he put the gun down on a nearby table, where Grant's M1 lay loaded and ready to fire. So Ruprecht grabbed his rifle and took aim at the new, fresh target that had been replaced by servants moments earlier. By the way, he remembered his first time, when he grabbed a rifle and tried to fire, which ended with an injury and a dislocated hand, due to the inability to control the rifle. For this reason, his mother gave him and his father a long and sharp lecture about caution and potential danger. Now, however, his situation was completely different, and all because of the fact that he already had quite a lot of experience with firearms. But when he pulled the trigger, everything literally stopped, as if time and space had stopped.

Ruprecht almost immediately recognized the feeling of that unfortunate day when he had successfully committed suicide and had been reincarnated into this new world.

"How do you like your new life, my child?" From everywhere came the same deep and calm voice that Ruprecht remembered all too well.

"Is that you?" The young man asked in response and deliberately did not use any epithet in reference to the god.

"Indeed, dear child." The ubiquitous voice replied with a hint of amusement. "Even so, you still haven't answered my question. So I'll ask again. How do you like your new life, dear child?"

"It's great, and I'm grateful for that." Ruprecht replied, smiling despite the fact that changing position was something really difficult in this state. "However, if I can afford to be completely honest, then I am grateful not so much for the comfortable life, but for the family and the values that I received from them."

The young man, before continuing with these words, simply fell silent and fell into silent contemplation as he considered the right choice of words he was going to address to the supreme being.

"I will say it straight, although I doubt that it will come as much of a surprise to you, but I gave up my previous life, purely because of the lack of meaning in that existence in the next world. At that time, I did not know true love, family or any higher values and everything was for for me it was just an empty cycle that started at sunrise and ended at sunset. There was nothing deeper about it that could give my life a deeper meaning." After that, he took a deep and slightly tense breath before deciding to continue. "Here, however, I received something more than just a luxurious life, which I sincerely wanted, but that's not what made me a happy person. much more than they gave me. I got everything from them, but above all values such as Vaterland, honor and…"

He hesitated for a moment, so the being who had sent him into this new world decided to end the speech for him. Then he decided to ask him a question that was quite appropriate and appropriate

"And god, dear child. However, even so, your faith in me is not as great as you might expect. I see in you a willingness and willingness to believe in me, compared to your previous state, before reincarnation. You really a lot and a lot of progress, but you are still hesitating. Why?"

Ruprecht pondered this question for a moment, but was unable to quickly put together an answer and give it. It was a good question, and he himself could not give a complete answer. Despite everything, he decided after a while to give the simplest and most honest answer to this question.

"Because I still find it hard to believe in the existence of a good god when there is poverty, hunger, needless bloodshed and deprivation in the world all the time. reluctance to put faith in higher powers. Regardless of this, and in the face of the facts cited earlier, I still have great doubts on this matter."

"I see." It was all that the supreme being said for a moment, and the silence that followed felt like an overwhelming eternity, until his next words came in, this time much more intense than before. "However, don't forget to give you a mission when I reincarnated you into this world."

"Missions?" asked Ruprecht, surprised and completely confused by these words, because he couldn't remember anything like that.

The young man, however, did not even have the slightest opportunity to say anything, because the self-proclaimed god decided to remind him of something that Ruprecht had forgotten during this new life.

"So find meaning in your new life, and let the radiance of your reborn faith shine on everyone around you!" He reminded him, word for word, without the slightest mistake: "So far you've only accomplished half of this mission, but your faith has not been restored, at least not to the extent that could be considered sufficient or acceptable."

"Can you blame a lack of faith in god on a man who has had a full taste of want and suffering?" Ruprecht answered the question with a question, but not with malice, but with complete sincerity. "I find it hard to believe in a being who was actually killed by humans, by violating every possible commandment of God, repeatedly and with total intent."

"I see." The almighty being replied without appearing in the form of any avatar. "Perhaps a minor miracle would open your mind to God's will."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Ruprecht became restless and visibly nervous almost immediately, and the reason, directly related to his past, was more than understandable. "What exactly are you up to this time? The last time you had any intent, you ended up being reincarnated in a time remarkably similar to the dark age of humanity from my previous world."

The Supreme Being seemed to be more than amused by his frayed nerves, or at least it could be felt, but regardless, the answer came extremely quickly.

"Something that will allow you to work miracles in a world of technology and highly developed science." An enigmatic reply came from everywhere, and moments later the suspension of time and space ended.

Although seemingly nothing changed, the eyes of the young squire flashed for a brief moment with brilliant and pure magical energy, while the projectile fired by pulling the trigger emitted the same magical energy. And upon contact with the target, there was a not-so-impressive, but still, explosion, with shrapnel spraying several meters around the blast site.

The resulting shockwave was felt by all the guests gathered nearby and forced them all to cover themselves and try to avoid any potential injury. No one paid any attention to the display of raw power now displayed by the young heir and cousin of the Emperor himself. Only after a few moments, when everyone noticed that no one was injured and the Emperor was fine, only then did they turn their attention to the son of the Duke of Gleiwitz.

At the same time, Ruprecht almost fell to the ground due to exhaustion, and the only thing that stopped this chain of events was the intervention of his father, who immediately grabbed his son in his own arms and only the rifle fell from his hands.

"Take it easy, Ruprecht." His father whispered to him as soon as he realized that for a moment his son seemed not only very tired, but also completely lost. "I'm with you, although I have to admit that this show was pretty impressive."

"Impressive?" the boy asked in surprise, then he saw quite a lot of smoke, as dark as an autumn night sky. He tried to say a few more words, but the strength definitely left him, his eyelids began to close, and his hands literally and figuratively went limp.

"Relax, my dear." The father patted his son on the shoulder, a warm smile on his lips. "That was quite impressive, Ruprecht. While I expected you to inherit a certain talent for magic from your mother, I didn't expect it to be as impressive as what I just witnessed."

"Magic?" asked the half-conscious heir as his body grew weaker and weaker and drained of life energy. He vaguely remembered the concept of magicians being quite young in the world in general, and not more than thirty, but it was still a scientific fact in this world.

"Yes, magic son." His father replied, somewhat amused by his blissful and half-conscious state. "Maybe you don't remember it all that well, or you're too tired to remember it, but your mother in her early youth had more to do with the adventurous and exciting tomboy than the calm and warm mother, which she is now. "

Only now did Ruprecht remember one of his parents' most important stories, about their past and how the two met. Bertha, as the daughter of the then and increasingly declining health of the emperor. Back then, the empire was not so tolerant of women, but the boy's mother did not care and did everything in her power to enlist in the army of the Reich, until one day, and with the support of a few childhood friends who became professional soldiers and officers, she managed to successfully pose as a man for several years and serve in the army. What ended this process was her application to test a new rifle for the army - Erm Kar98k - and during these tests, the young Princess had to go to the Von Gleiwitz-Werke company, which at that time was still owned by Ruprecht's grandfather, Duke Carl von Gleiwitz. Regardless, the fact was that during the accident there was an incident, and one of the failed prototypes simply and literally exploded in the hands of a young girl and the shrapnel severely injured her right arm, but thanks to the natural talent of magicians for faster regeneration than the rest of the common people. Nevertheless, the charade could not go on much longer and the secret became public, and the then Emperor, William III, was furious about it, but his anger did not last long as he died of a heart attack the next day. In addition, the first person who rushed to the young Princess's aid was the Duke's son, Werner, who fell in love with Bertha practically from the first moment and did everything in his power to get the young woman's attention, which he eventually did. succeeded. In addition, after this event, the young Princess began to push the newly crowned brother more and more to give women the same rights as men, which was eventually implemented, and support for the throne and the Emperor became perhaps the greatest in the history of the Empire.

However, coming back to reality, all the guests gathered here, including von Zettour, von Rudersdorf and the palace servants, immediately ran to the father and son to help one of them if necessary. However, to the relief of everyone present, none of them was hurt, except perhaps for soiled clothes.

The first person in the crowd to rush over to Werner and the already unconscious Ruprecht was Bertha, who thought nothing of it and simply took her son in her arms, who had practically been snatched from his father's embrace.

"Ruprecht!" The terrified woman screamed, in a completely natural and healthy reflex of caring for her own child, which should not surprise literally anyone who knows how to love and is capable of feeling and empathizing with other people. "My son! My lovely boy!"

Her cries, on the verge of fury and despair, resounded with great force through the garden and tore the Emperor and Wilhelm out of their stupor, who, not wasting a second more, ran to the exhausted member of the family. The rest of the guests soon after also rushed to help, and Von Zettour was the first of them and it was he who quickly assessed his condition.

"He's alive, but if I'm not mistaken, he's unconscious, perhaps from fatigue." The people gathered around him received this diagnosis with undisguised respite and relief, because the incident ended with a fatal outcome in the imperial palace could have resulted in a considerable scandal.

However, regardless of the boy's current state, immediately after that, one and completely legitimate question arose.

"What exactly happened here?" It came from the mouth of the Archduke, who spoke with undisguised admiration and a curiosity that truly was worthy of a kid his age.

The question caused almost consternation among the guests, but it was answered by an elderly man in an older-designed dark blue uniform with gold epaulettes, whose insignia clearly indicated the rank of Field Marshal. His eyes were green and still full of vitality, despite his gray hair, weakened physique due to age and the continuing aging process. Even so, he still looked pretty good, because being a mage had other perks besides having better recovery from injuries, and that was better enduring the advancing aging process, intellectually and physically.

"It seems that we have just witnessed the birth of one of the most gifted magicians of our era." Said the man with a calm, measured tone of voice, and his words were not without meaning and were taken seriously literally by all the people gathered here, because the man's authority as a specialist in magicians was undeniable.

He was retired Field Marshal Erik von Guderian, a very old military man who had reached his rank back when the Empire did not exist, but there was the militarily and economically powerful Kingdom of Prussia. This man, in those very times, began to push his concept of the development of mages and their use on the modern battlefield. In fact, he can be considered the creator of modern battalions and mage units, because his methods of selection and organization became a model for all other armies of this world. What brought him particular fame and drew attention to his concepts and doctrine ideas was the book 'Achtung Magiers!'

The people gathered around mother, son and father looked surprised

"My son…" Bertha began in surprise, but she didn't have the strength to finish it because there was nothing else to say.

"Our son has a talent for magic and can successfully join the army?" Werner asked in surprise, but he didn't say anything else, because all speculation on this subject was cut short by Erik.

"Not at such a young age and when his talent remains so volatile." Field Marshal von Guderian replied, effectively putting an end to any other speculation on the subject. "Nevertheless, I must say from my many years of experience that we have a great talent ahead of us when it comes to magic. Basically, most children in the Reich are tested early enough to determine whether a child is a magician or not."

"It's not even an open secret, Field Marshal." The Emperor stated in response, who, however, seemed to be quite concerned about the direction he was heading, and at the same time also remained curious. "However, I am wondering what exactly you want to tell us?"

"That children with a special talent for magic are not discovered right away, Your Majsesty." Erik replied immediately, then went on to explain the point further. "That's why there are several tests every year, because the talent of the most gifted is only discovered at a later age. I don't know why, and my hypothesis is that the body of such people is trying to adapt as best as possible to the enormous level of power that these people are supposed to wield."

"But why did my son use it so suddenly..." It took Bertha a brief moment to remember the name of a specific magic formula. "Artillery Shot?"

"It's the uncontrolled use of magic that happens in these cases, and I speak from experience." His words were accompanied by a knowing smile, which, however, turned into embarrassment and moderate uncertainty after a while. "After all, this is the first time that magical powers have manifested themselves in this way."

He considered his next words for a moment before deciding to say anything more, actually asking a question.

"Has he considered his career paths?"

The question was not much of a problem for the boy's parents, not even for the Emperor and the Archduke. Taking into account the young heir's interest in militaria and his numerous declarations in this regard, it seemed all too obvious.

"Yes," replied Werner, who also smiled at the question, for he could not hide his pride in his son's eagerness. "As soon as he mastered the ability to read and became a little more aware, he began expressing a desire to join the army almost immediately. He always gave the impression that he wanted to fight for the Vaterland and the people of the Reich."

"A person with his natural talent and undoubtedly sharp mind, he would be a very valuable relic to our great army and a vital thing to maintain our high quality."

Nobody argued with this, and the Emperor very quickly decided to resume the party, in his ribald and good-natured style. Meanwhile, Ruprecht was taken by his parents to one of the guest rooms, and the tension between them resulted in the couple occupying the second, neighboring room and unforgettable moments that turned out to bring a visible effect after a certain time determined by nature.

Regardless, the party continued, but discussions were dominated by the young heir's display of magical talent and his supposed career as a military man.

As it turned out, this event inspired another of the people present to choose a military career. Wilhelm felt an almost instinctive urge to follow this path with his cousin. Although he was not a mage and his talent for magic was not detected, the orach Archduke resigned to this fact, nevertheless, he decided to try and fight for the Empire if necessary.

On that fateful day, the threads of what was to happen less than twenty years later were woven.

---

My name is Ruprecht. Ruprecht von Gleiwitz. Father, Werner von Gleiwitz, owner of Von Gleiwitz-Werke and Duke of Gleiwitz. Mother, Princess Bertha von Gleiwitz-Prussia. Younger sister, Lotharingia von Gleiwitz.

I was born on August 16th, 1900 U.Y. within the walls of the family estate of the von Gleiwitz family, near the town of the same name. I spent my childhood mainly on the family estate, taking lessons from private tutors and then passing the tests necessary to complete the classes. History, economics and, above all, military became my interest from an early age.

I am writing these memoirs and information in the sincere hope of preserving as many details and information as possible that could serve future generations, give them a warning and the opportunity to learn from the mistakes of others. Above all, however, I am writing this with historians in mind and to facilitate their work.

Now that we've got that explanation out of the way, let's get to the point. As mentioned earlier, my childhood passed peacefully, and my companion was almost always Wilhelm, and after birth, my younger sister. Then there's our circle of acquaintances, mostly children of other nobles of the Empire.

After graduating from elementary school, I volunteered with Wilhelm for the Cadet Corps, which took place after our sixteenth birthday and lasted for the next two years. Even though Wil wasn't a mage, that didn't stop him from becoming an officer. After completing the course, we both went to War College where we were accepted due to our excellent results. However, after that, our paths diverged to some extent. Wil was sent to the General Staff on recommendation, where after a few years he was promoted to Lieutenant General and appointed Inspector General of the Imperial Armed Forces.

In my case, the military career was definitely less spectacular and slower. As a talented Second Lieutenant and mage, I was assigned to the 157th Mage Battalion as a squad leader. It was a time of training, peace and quite frequent patrols in the east, on the border with the Russy Federation established a few years earlier, after the brutal and bloody March Revolution.

Then I met a person quite important for my future career, the then Corporal of the 157th Mage Battalion, Hermann Meier. He was one of the best and most capable people on my team, so very quickly he became practically my right-hand man and whenever he was promoted, I took him up with me. Eventually, and due to Major Rudnicky's retirement, in 1922 U.Y. I was promoted to Major and thus commander of the 157th Mage Battalion. The service, however, did not change much and patrols, training, tactical exercises continued, and whenever I had the opportunity, I began writing my postulates regarding the creation of new Mage units, Mage Independent Brigades, which would consist of three Mage Battalions in my assumptions, and thus provide maximum strength, which could then be used as a spearhead for military operations. The concept - while undoubtedly having quite a bit of risk - nevertheless caught the attention of my superiors and members of the General Staff. In particular, this solution appealed to the then Chief of General Staff, Lieutenant General von Ludwig, who was a particularly strong supporter of such an experiment. Eventually, 1st Mage Independent Brigade 'Archduke Wilhelm'. Organization, integration and training turned out to be quite a challenge for me, but thanks to a talented subordinate in the form of Hermann, it was not that arduous and turned out to be quite satisfying.

Apart from that, in the meantime, I managed to make a lot of innovations in the relatively well-developed army of the Empire. My first work was cooperation with Joseph Gewehr and implanting in his mind the concept of creating a new, semi-automatic rifle for shooters based on the M1 Grant, which resulted in the creation of the Gewehr 19, which, unlike the original, had a magazine, with the possibility of loading ammunition boats and without need to replace the magazine. However, the new Imperial semi-automatic rifle, although approved by the Inspector General of the Imperial Armed Forces and tested in harsh conditions, did not replace the traditional bolt-action rifle by even thirty percent, and was primarily sent to formations considered superior to the rest. Another thing that I can attribute to myself is the emphasis on motorization of the army, our logistics and a definitive departure from horse-drawn wagons. In this respect, the Von Gleiwitz-Werke factories, which mainly produced trucks or civilian cars, turned out to be extremely helpful. The contract for mass-produced trucks for the army brought incredible profits and the opportunity to build more factories, and at the same time the development of Von Gleiwitz-Werke.

By the Norden Incident, my concept had been fully realized and the brigade was basically ready for action. However, the aforementioned incident was something completely surprising to me. Legadonia Entente Alliance, for several years struggled with considerable economic problems, and a high level of corruption in the administration. Only the army of this North European country retained any semblance of power, but when confronted with the Empire, it was just pure suicide that had no chance of succeeding. However, for reasons I don't understand, this country decided to invade, and to be honest I'm still not sure if it was a conspiracy between Francois Republic, the Principality of Dacia and the Legadonia Entente Alliance to destroy the Reich and prevent our growing hegemony on land, or perhaps merely a chaotic combination of circumstances which, combined with the foolish shortsightedness and indiscretion of our General Staff, ultimately ended up as they did. Millions of victims who were carelessly sacrificed on the altar of history. One would like to blame God for this and blame him for all this, but it would be too easy and unfair for the creator. For God created this world, us, and left free will to sentient beings so that they can decide for themselves and always have the last word.

Regardless, it was then, in June of 1923 U.Y. started this World War, the Great War, or my favorite term: Weltkrieg. A war that was to change the world as we know it forever.

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AN: And this is the over of this short one-shot. Despite the fact that I watched Youjo Senki few years ago, it was only after watching the film that I came up with the idea for this short work with an open staircase, with no ending.

As I was writing this, I was thinking about reversing the situation of Tanya, her worldviews and the situation in which she was reincarnated. Ultimately, here's my OC, suicidal with no sense of purpose in our world where there's just more and more information and less and less sense.

To some extent, I also wrote something like this under the influence of realizing how difficult it is to distance the meaning of life, in our existence, where all values and ideals turn out to be only ways to gain or keep power, and very often both. In fact, almost always throughout our history, something like this has simply happened.

It was also another motivation to write this work, a thought that appears in my head from time to time and which undoubtedly sometimes also appears in you, my dear readers. The thought that in this corrupt, sick and unauthentic world, it's just not worth of living.

There was a time when we intelligent people were willing to take a political leader and supposed representatives of god at their word. However, probably most of us, after some time, made the painful discovery that in fact the ideals and alleged commandments of God serve only corrupt individuals to achieve their goals.

We intelligent people tore off those blindfolds that blocked our view of the truth, and we saw reality as it is: dirty, decaying, ruthless and brutal, and all this regardless of time or circumstances. Some of us took it differently. Some, due to the inability to accept the truth, decided that this world is not worth living, as the main character of this story, who experienced suffering and learned the truth. Others passively accepted reality. While still others of us - consciously or not - have joined the baseless liars in whose hands there is some power over the fate of humanity as a whole.

In the face of all this, there is only one crucial question left at the end of the road. This question should never be how did someone die? But how did he live and what did he leave behind?

However, lest it be too sad and depressing, I want to say something to comfort you: we still have a certain power over our lives and destinies, so we are not doomed to vanity. No matter how we have lived so far and what illusion we have believed in our lives, we are still here. Because there is always a solution and there is always hope.