“Hey, young man, are you alright?”
“Mm…?”
I heard a man’s voice. Still drowsy and with my eyes closed, I instinctively jolted up and distanced myself from the voice. While staring at the man, I checked my body to see if my limbs were functioning normally and if my senses were intact.
“Whoa! You scared me! I only asked because I saw you lying in a heap by the road. No need to be so wary!”
I glanced around, taking in the man’s attire and the surroundings. Everything seemed strange. I had just carried out a suicide bombing on an asphalt road in the enemy’s capital, yet here I was, my body intact without a scratch, and my mind clear.
Moreover, this place looked like a quiet suburb with evergreen forests stretching far and wide. The main road was cobbled, but the rest were dirt paths with wheat fields extending on both sides, nothing modern in sight. Even the man before me looked like a medieval farmer. Or rather, it resembled the world depicted in the story [Unfortunate Rosalind]. No, my instincts told me this was indeed that world.
“My clothes… have changed too…”
Just moments ago, I was wearing a suit, but now I found myself in casual attire that matched the descriptions in [Unfortunate Rosalind].
“Hm…”
I took a deep breath and started to think. A spy must be able to stay calm, grasp the situation immediately, and adapt to any environment without panicking.
“I’m sorry. I just hit my head when I fell, so I’m a bit disoriented…”
I responded to the man with a reassuring smile. If I could understand him, he surely could understand me.
“Is that so? Sounds rough. You’d better see a doctor in the city.”
As I thought, there was no language barrier. I asked another question to eliminate an important doubt:
“May I ask, what is today’s date according to the Creation Calendar, and where are we?”
The Creation Calendar was the method of counting days, months, and years in the world of [Unfortunate Rosalind]. It was said that the sole deity, Sakusha, created this world.
The calendar system here was similar to the Gregorian calendar in the real world, with twelve months in a year, equivalent to three hundred and sixty-five days, divided into four seasons. Due to the approaching Little Ice Age, summers were not as hot as in modern times.
And Rosalind was born on January 1, 1090.
“Oh, this year is 1100, a nice round number! And today is October 1. This is the outskirts of the capital. Look, that city over there is the capital!”
Following the direction of his finger, I could see a city beyond the wheat fields. It was indeed Londinium, the capital of the Kingdom of Albion, just as I had seen in the illustrations of [Unfortunate Rosalind].
“As expected of the capital of the Kingdom of Albion, it looks like a magnificent city even from afar.”
“You bet! Well, I’ve got to get going now.”
“Thank you for your concern, sir.”
“Don’t mention it. Goodbye, lad.”
After the man left, I went to a nearby pond and looked down at the water’s surface.
“Hmm, it’s my face.”
The reflection was indeed my face. It seemed I had been transported to this world with my appearance unchanged. After checking myself, I looked around once more.
“There’s no mistake… This is the world of [Unfortunate Rosalind].”
I wasn’t sure why I was here, but if it was the year 1100 in the world of [Unfortunate Rosalind], then…
“Rosalind is 10 years old, and Olivia passed away a year ago…”
… there was only one thing I needed to do.
“I will bring happiness to Lady Rosalind.”
From what I knew, Lady Rosalind always faced adversity with determination. Even when throwing herself off a cliff, she blamed no one, instead blessing her rival and the person she loved. Truly a noble young lady.
So, I would become Lady Rosalind’s servant and quietly support her, ensuring that the unfortunate events and ending of the original story would not occur. I would make her happy by any means necessary, even if it was just my one-sided imposed kindness.
Having made up my mind, I started heading towards the capital.
As a devoted fan of the story, I knew the map of Londinium and confidential information that would normally be very difficult to obtain. This included: the residence of Nisha – Lady Rosalind’s benefactor, names and faces of the big shots and various street gangs in the slums, locations of hidden gold, secret codes, safe passwords, and so on.
Moreover, I knew the thoughts, feelings, and backgrounds of each character that no one else knew… no, even information that they didn’t know.
“The Bellclant estate where Lady Rosalind is staying is quite far from the capital… I need to prepare first.”
Also, Nisha, whom I wished to be happy after Lady Rosalind, was living in the slums of the capital. She must be 12 years old now.
“Let’s go save Nisha first…”
My plan was this: First, I would break into the mansion of an influential gang boss, steal valuables from the secret safe (preferably gold, silver, precious stones, or jewelry that wasn’t too bulky, hard to detect as stolen goods, and easy to convert to cash). After securing financial resources, I would make Nisha my companion and then go to the Bellclant estate to become a servant for the Bellclant family (or more precisely, exclusively for Lady Rosalind).
As I walked and planned, I soon reached the main boulevard of Londinium. The scenery of brick buildings in medieval European style and cobblestone sidewalks unfolded before my eyes. The people there were diverse, from nobles in luxurious attire to commoners in shabby clothes, and soldiers in rugged armor, just as described in [Unfortunate Rosalind].
I placed the index and middle fingers of my left hand on my right wrist to check my pulse.
“A bit fast, huh…”
I seemed to be very excited. This feeling was no different from when I eagerly went to buy the latest volume of [Unfortunate Rosalind].
“Now then… shall we begin…”
Fortunately, dusk was falling. This was a good time to sneak into the mansion. In Londinium, the two most powerful gangs were Logos and Salome. My target for this theft was the mansion of Macmillan Stefanos, the boss of Logos.
“…”
I pretended to be a passerby and glanced at the mansion. The front gate had several guards with guard dogs, and the back gate was similar.
“Full of openings, huh…”
As I was preparing to infiltrate the mansion, Macmillan got into a horse-drawn carriage and left.
“What perfect timing…”
I muttered while covering my head with a burlap sack with two holes cut out that I had picked up along the way, and sneaked into the mansion from the guards’ blind spot.
In a world without surveillance cameras or sensors, even breaking into a royal palace would be easier than taking candy from a baby.
If the information from the “Macmillan’s Secret” chapter in the side story was correct, the secret safe should be under the bed in Macmillan’s bedroom.
After maneuvering to avoid detection by the servants, I reached my destination, but the door was locked.
“Just as I calculated.”
Using a wire and a small nail I had obtained from a construction site on the way, I picked the lock in a few seconds, entered the bedroom, locked the door behind me, and pulled out the combination safe from under the bed.
“Right 5, left 7, left 5, right 7, right 7…”
With a slight turn, there was a click, and I successfully unlocked the safe. Inside were many gold coins and precious stones, as well as banknotes.
I scooped up a handful and stuffed them into a leather bag I found in the room, locked the safe again, returned it to its original position, left the mansion without anyone noticing, discarded the burlap sack on the way to a general store, bought a travel bag, then stopped by a clothing shop to buy a few outfits before heading straight to the Spandau Inn.
This inn was run by the Muller couple from the neighboring Kingdom of Gustaf. The wooden structure consisted of two floors, with the ground floor serving as a tavern and the upper floor for lodging. The main clientele was tourists and middle-class residents.
The innkeepers’ character and the personality of the waitress created a cozy atmosphere that even made Prince Karl sneak in from Gustaf’s territory to drink there.
“Welcome, dear guest! Oh my, what a handsome young man~”
As soon as she saw my face, the landlady Claudia exclaimed excitedly.
“Hey, old man, the missus is smitten with someone else!”
“This guy’s drop-dead gorgeous! Watch out, or you might lose Theresia!”
“Even the pimps and male prostitutes over there can’t compare to you, young man!”
“You’re all too kind.”
I bowed slightly, thanking the men for their praise, and was met with cheers and whistles in return.
“Landlady, I’d like to rent a room for two for about a week, is that possible?”
“Of course it is! We very much welcome long-term guests, and if it’s a handsome man, we’re even more delighted! Theresia, show the guest to his room!”
“Yes, mother. Please follow me, sir…”
The waitress Theresia, with her long red hair, and wearing a dirndl dress, approached while looking elsewhere. As soon as she saw my face, she froze.
“Is there something on my face?”
“Ah-ah no, it’s just that you’re so handsome… I was a bit surprised…”
“Thank you. You’re very beautiful too. Like an edelweiss flower.”
“Th-thank you…”
When I replied with a sweet smile, Theresia lowered her flushed face.
“Hey old man, this doesn’t look good!”
“Our Theresia-chan…!”
“Shut up! Don’t bother the new guest!”
“I apologize for the noise,” Theresia said apologetically as she led me to the guest room.
“Not at all, I find it lively. I like places like this.”
“Th-thank you. Oh-oh right, may I ask your name, sir? I need to write it in the registry…”
“Raptor. I’m an orphan, so I don’t have a surname.”
“I-is that so? I’m truly sorry. Then, may I call you Mr. Raptor?”
“Sure, that’s fine. Can I call you Miss Theresia?”
“Y-you don’t need to use such a formal term! Th-this is your room!”
I entered the small room for two people. It included two beds, a wardrobe, and a dressing table with a mirror.
“The toilet and bath are shared on the ground floor. Laundry and bathing services are charged separately, just let us know and we’ll prepare them. The basic fee only includes lodging, food, and drinks on the ground floor are charged separately.” Theresia explained as she lit candles. “Will your roommate be arriving later?”
“Yes, they’re expected to arrive tomorrow. Theresia here’s half the lodging fee for a week. Keep the change as a tip.”
I took out a gold coin from my travel bag and handed it to Theresia. She hesitated:
“Th-this is too much…”
“It’s fine, please keep it. In return, I might trouble you a bit more from tomorrow. Is that okay?”
“Y-yes! I’d be happy to help!”
After that, Theresia went down to the ground floor with a bright red face. I put down my luggage and divided the gold coins and precious stones into three parts. I kept one part and hid the other two parts in the ceiling and under the floor before going down to the ground floor.
I sat at the counter and called out to Michael, the bartender.
“Barkeep, I’ll have a beer, whisky, and something tasty to eat.”
“Coming right up!”
Along with the bartender’s reply, a mug of beer and a glass of whisky were brought out.
“Gulp, gulp…”
First, I moistened my throat with beer. Due to the lack of technology like draft machines or refrigerators, the beer was slightly warm, but the taste was identical to that in the real world.
“Phew…”
After emptying the beer mug, I moved on to try the whisky. I could sense a sweet vanilla-like aroma in the alcoholic taste, not bad at all.
“Food’s ready!”
After sipping the whisky for a while, the food was served, including steak and eggs, sausage, steamed potatoes, bread, and soup, accompanied by a knife, spoon, and fork.
Common use of knife, spoon, and fork; potatoes; public baths; sewage system. These factors alone put this world on par with modern Europe, but in terms of hygiene concepts, this world had surpassed 18th-century Europe, comparable to the late 19th to early 20th century.
“Mmm… delicious…”
Both the food and drink were beyond reproach. Moreover, having a meal in the world of [Unfortunate Rosalind] filled me with a deep sense of emotion.
After finishing my meal, I returned to my room and threw myself onto the bed.
“Phew…”
A day full of changes, but that’s what life is all about. I thought I had died, but ended up in the world of the novel I loved. According to some philosophers, “Death cannot be predicted, all values exist outside the world.” If so, then such an occurrence isn’t all that mysterious. Besides, for me, this is where true value lies.
I convinced myself of this, then drifted off to sleep while planning how to save Nisha tomorrow.
