Subaru felt a deep chill upon deciphering the writing. He unconsciously touched the place where his heart is. It wasn't too visible under the shirt, so he quickly undressed, only to see a small but gaping hole before his heart. And it is pulsing inside his ribcage. Subaru's breath hitched.
"How am I still alive?!"
Despite his horror at the grievous injury on his body, Subaru forced himself to calm.
His heart is still beating. As for how, it may be related to his transmigration.
"Damn it, although I keep telling myself that, it can't be that simple."
Subaru began searching around the room, and his eyes landed upon the grayish-white pipes and metallic-gridded lamp on the wall beside the study desk.
This was the most common gas lamp of the times, known for its stability and illumination capability.
Before Louanna fell into a coma, Heinkel's family was still well-off, so a gas lamp wasn't that out of the question. Although with their situation now...Subaru could only wince.
The gas lamp was for Heinkel's many nights researching different criminal cases, he was a policeman, after all. He was actually a quite capable one back then. Although not necessarily talented, he managed to solve numerous cases that he got promoted to his current stature. Although considering his current state, perhaps it won't be long until someone else takes his place.
Actually, now that Subaru thinks about it, although the living conditions may not be the best, Heinkel was capable enough to make ends meet. He was desperate for new cases to solve and to progress through the ranks, since while they were not starving now, it was a delicate balance. Heinkel was even considering dropping Reinhard out of school.
Subaru shuddered at the fragmented memories. He approached the study desk and saw the gas lamp's switch.
"I should turn it on. This red tint is grating on my nerve."
He began twisting the as lamp's switch. A sputtering sound, and he could hear a spark mostly from friction, yet light didn't appear as he expected. Subaru clicked his tongue and tried a few more times to no avail.
"This is not it…" Subaru tried to focus and once again access Heinkel's memories.
A few moments later, he made his way toward the door where a machine installation was inside into the wall, grayish-white pipes connected to it. He quickly took out a coin from his trousers pocket. It was a coin with a bronze sheen and engraved on it was a portrait of a crown-wearing queen, with a simple '1' on a clump of wheat on the back.
Heinkel van Astrea knew that this was the most basic currency of Loen Kingdom, a copper penny. Its value was roughly around 60 to 80 yen before his transmigration. Such coins had other denominations such as five pence, a half-pence, and a quarter-pence. Despite having many types, the units were not small enough. The consequences are that from time to time, one had to buy several things just to spend a single coin.
The coin was minted and circulated after Queen Capella Emerada ascended to the throne. Subaru flipped it over a few times before inserting it into the gas meter's coin slot.
"Capella, huh? Little goat? It probably had some other meaning in this world."
After it reached the bottom with a 'clang' sound, the grinding gears started making sounds, and the machinery came to life.
"Huh…neat." Subaru nodded to himself before returning to the desk and once again twisting the gas lamp's switch.
This time, a fire plume ignited and rapidly grew after a sharp sound and some sputtering. The room was then blanketed with light. The crimson sheen covering the room quickly receded. Subaru felt his unease soon melted away.
"The wound…it seemed better." Looking at his reflection at the mirror, Subaru quickly realized the abnormality. The wound seemed to be closing at a discernable speed. Subaru was no medical professional, so he didn't know how long it would take to heal completely, but it would probably be not for long.
"Hm…this healing factor, is it reliable? Or it's just the effect of my transmigration?" Subaru thought about it for a moment, before letting out a long sigh "Nothing I can do about it now. At least I'm still alive…"
Searching Heinkel's memories, Subaru quickly found some soap, a towel, and some clean clothes and went to the public bathroom in the apartment.
"I must clean up the bloodstain. I look like a murder victim. It will be problematic if Reinhard sees this in the morning."
Subaru opened the door to the corridor. It was pitch black. The crimson moon cast an ominous glow at the end of the corridor, making his paranoia spike. He felt as if being watched.
Subaru took a deep breath and quickly made his way toward the communal bathroom, his footstep made a slight creek every time, and Subaru winced at the sound.
When Subaru entered, the moonlight was abundant in the room, allowing him to see everything clearly. Wasting no time, he turned on the tap and tried to wash away the bloodstain on his chest.
Suddenly, a harsh sound came from behind the door, and it was swung open. A purple-haired man wearing a top hat, a vest, a black suit, and a monocle stood at the entrance.
"Who is there-" The man shouted but immediately closed his mouth at seeing Heinkel.
Heinkel was shirtless, with countless bloodstains still marred on his body. His face was hidden by the shadow, saved for a mop of his red hair, and the crimson moonlight shined upon his body gave him a rather ominous appearance.
"A-ah! Mr. Heinkel! Uh…coming back from a mission?" The man lowered his voice, seemingly frightened of him.
This is Joshua, and he is the landlord of this sorry place. He was an annoying stickler for rules, at least in Heinkel's memories. He had a set of rules that his tenants must follow and watched them like a hawk for any mistakes. Joshua seemed to be quite narrow-minded and prejudiced toward low-income people, although he never said it directly.
And guess what? He is always bragging to everyone about his big brother, who is oh-so very influential and refined. Heinkel couldn't care less, and Joshua knew better to get in his way.
"Get out." Subaru said in a gruff voice, and Joshua quickly backpedaled, not forgetting to close the door behind him.
Subaru wondered what kind of reputation Heinkel had to incite such a response.
"I will think about it later…" Subaru quickly scrubbed off all the bloodstains in his body and washed away the lingering blood on his ripped shirt. His work didn't get rid of all the blood, but luckily the shirt was dark-colored, so unless people look at it closely, they won't be able to figure out if something wrong.
Subaru quickly returned to his apartment after that, and began his job of cleaning the residual blood. Apart from some splatter on the dark wooden floor, it appeared that the suicidal effort of Heinkel didn't make that much of a mess, which was curious. He seemed to have stabbed himself in the heart and expired shortly after.
'Everyone will die, including me' That line in the notebook still unsettled him deeply.
What does that even mean?
No signs of struggle, so this is likely to be a real suicide.
The writing had a hopeless feeling in it. What could have driven a policeman like Heinkel into killing himself? Or who?
And it didn't make sense that there was so little blood. Subaru had studied in school before, and know the heart is a vital structure for blood production. There was no way for a stab to the heart to be so…clean.
"It must be because of my transmigration…"
After a while of fruitless pondering, Subaru changed into his new shirt.
This man's situation is too complicated! I don't want to deal with it!
Subaru began to think about returning back home. He was sure he would jump at the chance of going to another world, but now he had second thoughts.
His parents…what will they think? They must be worried sick and probably thought that he had run away. Although it was easier for Subaru to think that nothing would change for them, he himself knew that this wouldn't be the case.
They would blame themselves for his disappearance…
"No way…I must at least try to return."
Subaru racked his brain for anything that could be the reason for his untimely transmigration. Was this just bad luck, after all?
Bad luck…Yes, I tried a luck enhancement ritual before dinner today!
Subaru has always obsessed with stars and constellations since young, probably because he was named after a cluster of stars called Pleiades. He prided himself on knowing the name of many stars and its meaning. Though he had no friends to share his passion for the cosmos, his family was more than enough to make up for it.
He remembered the event yesterday. He was walking home, there and then he spotted a fortune teller sitting in a tent, waving him over. Curiosity overcame him, and he approached for a quick divination.
'Your stars were bad…' was her verdict.
The uncanny reference to stars made him on edge immediately. In the recent month, he had some sort of a bad luck streak. Stumbling on a rock, falling down because of a loose sewer lid, and he could swear he saw an owl staring at him through the window the other day. While Subaru was not usually superstitious, it was too much of a coincidence.
The fortune teller told him of a simple luck enhancement ritual. He thought the ritual was simple enough, so he made an attempt at it.
All he needed was to get four portions of the staple food in four corners of his room. They could be placed on furniture such as cupboards and tables. Then, he must stand in the middle of the room and take four steps in a counter-clockwise fashion to make a square.
The chant, which he must recite sincerely, was as follows:
'Blessings Stem From the Ageless Sage of Heaven and Earth'
'Blessings Stem From the Towering Sage of Heaven and Earth'
'Blessings Stem From the Exalted Ruler of Heaven and Earth'
'Blessings Stem From the Favored Chosen of Heaven and Earth'
After the four steps were taken, close his eyes and wait for five minutes without moving. Then the ritual would be completed without a doubt.
He was disappointed that nothing happened back then…
Then again, who would have thought that the ritual actually caused him to transmigrate?
Transmigration! It's not a small thing!
"Hm…I should try this again tomorrow. Perhaps I will be able to transmigrate back. Or better yet, I can establish connection between both world!" Setting down the ornate knife he was gripping tightly, Subaru stood straight up.
Unreliable, but this is all I have now…
I have to do it!