With a bright green flash, Nathan appeared at the Agares mansion.
Nathan closed his eyes as he reminisced about the time that he spent here before he opened his eyes to look at the mansion in detail.
'...What?'
Nathan was shocked to his bones. The mansion looked ancient. It was as if no one had been there for the last hundred years.
There was dulled paint all over the mansion, probably from the lack of maintenance, and it was clear to Nathan that some areas were in dire need of a fix. For example; the servants' quarters that were connected to the mansion. The quarters looked like something straight out of a horror movie—windows that were blurred due to the dust that gathered on them over a long time, molds that popped out in some odd corners, and paint that gave off a funky smell.
Nathan was weirded out. That was definitely not what his mansion had looked like just 4 years before this. To look like this in just 4 years, there would need to be absolutely no maintenance at all. Nathan swallowed his saliva as he loudly opened the rusty, creaky gate with a slight push, before opening the doors to the mansion.
Nathan's eyes widened as he took in the sight. The insides of the mansion looked no better than what he had seen outside—in fact, one could argue that it looked even worse. Dirt and dust made themselves home all around the mansion, and Nathan's enhanced senses could pick up squeakings that came from mice.
Nathan pinched his nose and started blocking out the smell as he wandered through the large and deserted mansion.
He visited the living room, dining room, laundry, servants' quarters, and before he knew it, he had visited all the rooms in the mansion in a daze.
"...What the f*ck happened?"
[Huh, I guess your death did impact them worse than you thought it would.]
"I can see that. But where are the servants? Even if my parents left the mansion, there should still be some servants that would stay to maintain it."
[As I said; your death impacted them far worse than what you had expected. Perhaps they left the place and took all the servants with them, not wanting to stay somewhere that would only bring bad memories to them. Perhaps they ordered the servants to stay far away from the mansion, to forget about it.] Nathan felt that Kronos was strangely knowledgable about this particular subject, but he quickly dismissed it.
"...Wouldn't they want to stay here to remember the time that I've spent with them?"
[That's quite narrow-minded of you to think like that. No. Some people cope differently. It looks like your parents decided to forget about you.]
Nathan was about to retort but then he stopped himself. He was frustrated. Frustrated that Kronos' words made perfect sense to him
Kronos was right. Everyone copes differently. Some find a way to numb the pain with drugs or alcohol, some ignore the pain through pleasure, and some just…erase the pain itself.
Sekezer and Alisa might have been the third type. Perhaps remembering Nathan, or rather, Sekirai, was too painful for them. Perhaps they just wanted to forget about him.
Nathan closed his eyes and sighed, feeling something brewing inside of him. Guilt brewing inside of him.
[You shouldn't feel guilty about this. It's not your fault.]
That was not of much comfort to Nathan. Nathan disagreed with Kronos' words. He still felt guilty—guilty for first taking their precious only child away from them, and guilty for them falling into a cascade of depression.
'Your fault indeed.'
A voice that lingered in the back of his mind told him. Nathan felt contempt for himself as he found it hard to disagree with the voice.
'All of this could've been avoided if you didn't take my body.'
'...Wait, what?'
For a moment, Nathan's mind went blank as he ignored all the guilt that came from his 'death'. All he could focus on was the voice in his head.
"Take my body…"
"Take my body…"
"Take my body…"
The words echoed in his mind as Nathan quickly made the connection. The body that Nathan was in was Sekirai Agares'. That means that the voice at the back of his head was Sekirai Agares.
'But is it possible?' Nathan asked himself as he found the answer the next second.
It was certainly possible. In most isekai anime and web novels, no one cared about the former owner of the body. The focus was on the main character.
So here comes the question; "What happens to the body's former owner?"
Nathan didn't know. Perhaps they just died, leading to the protagonist's transmigration. Or they could've just disappeared. There were countless possibilities of what could've happened to them.
So yes, the voice in his head could certainly be Sekirai Agares'. Or, he could've just been overthinking it from guilt.
Nathan pinched the bridge of his nose as he shook his head in a weak attempt to make the voice, which was causing him a headache, go away.
'I'm not gonna go away.'
Nathan continued shaking his head as he shut his eyes tightly.
[What are you doing?] Kronos frowned as he 'looked' at Nathan.
'It's nothing. Just another voice in my head. One that hopefully won't stick around as long as you will.'
Nathan dismissed the subject. He didn't want to think about it now.
[...At this point, you should go see a psychologist. You have more mental problems than you do enemies.]
'Didn't ask. Just ignore the subject. Please.'
[...As you wish.]
Click*
Nathan opened the door of Ajuka's office as he walked in and sat on the sofa in the corner.
Ajuka looked at him with pity, as if he had expected this result beforehand. Eventually, Ajuka closed his eyes and asked Nathan, "How did it go?"
"You already know. Why didn't you tell me?"
"...I'm sorry. I couldn't find a way to break it to you."
Nathan laid down on the sofa as he covered his eyes with his arm, "How are they doing?"
"...Not well. I've been keeping tabs on them, and while Sekezer looks fine on the surface, he definitely has mental health issues. And as for Alisa…it's far worse than you would expect."
"...I see."
"Would you like to see them? I can arrange a meeting for you."
"No. Don't. It'd only make it worse."
Indeed, meeting them would do no good for Nathan. It would only add to his guilt and damage their psyche.
"...What will you do now?"
"I don't know." Nathan took a deep breath.
[Go see a psychologist.]
"I'll probably train. I need to practice my control over my energy. I don't want to explode when I use magic."
"Fair enough. Want me to help you?"
"No," Nathan declined Ajuka's offer. "I want to spend some time alone."
But then again, Nathan will never truly be alone.
"...Don't over-exert yourself."
"I got it. See you later."
"Goodbye."