Elias Ashcroft died a man who built machines that changed the world—and understood nothing about the people he built them for. Reborn in a rural village with his memories and genius intact, he has one goal and one alone: this time, he'll use his gifts to make his family's life easier. Bamboo water pipes. A heated bathhouse. A purification-stone toilet. For his tired mother, his aching father, his adoring little siblings, these small miracles are enough.
But small miracles don't stay small. The
An Old Soul's New Heart - A Stolen Everyday Life
The morning light reflected off the bamboo water pipe, shimmering and swaying.
Elias Ashcroft still found himself remembering the path he'd walked home yesterday, holding Seraphina's hand, with a lingering sense of strangeness.
(Nine days already.)
Nine days had passed since he'd found her in the forest. Her wounds had nearly healed, and her complexion had returned completely to normal. And yet, something deep in his chest remained unsettled. Aunt Martha's voice. The villagers' stares. He could feel such things accumulating slowly around the house.
At the breakfast table, Owen Ashcroft gazed intently at Seraphina's hair while sipping his soup.
" Hey, your hair is the color of leaves!"
Seraphina smiled softly.
" You say the same thing over and over again, don't you?"
" But it really is leaf-colored!"
Lily Ashcroft interjected while tearing apart her bread.
" Owen, you've been saying that three days in a row now."
" But I like it, the leaf color!"
Small laughter spread across the table. Toma Ashcroft also relaxed the corners of his mouth slightly while sipping his tea. Elias Ashcroft watched the scene and thought:
(If mornings like this could just continue...)
That thought had barely formed when it happened. A knock at the door—harsh and abrupt.
Lianne Ashcroft stood and opened it. Standing there was an old man with a long white beard. Bern, a member of the elder council. Leaning on his cane, his eyes—which were usually gentle—were strangely cold today.
" Lianne. We need to talk."
" ...What is it?"
Lianne's voice hardened slightly. Elias leaned forward in his chair, trying to gauge the situation.
" The girl you're harboring—she's an elf, isn't she? Don't pretend you don't know."
Bern's gaze turned toward Seraphina, sitting in the corner of the living room. Her shoulders flinched.
" The Foreign Protection Act. Keeping other races in the village without permission violates kingdom law. The entire village could face punishment."
(The Foreign Protection Act...? I've never heard of such a law.)
A sense of wrongness swelled in Elias's mind. Yet there was no hesitation in Bern's tone. It was smooth—as if he were reciting words someone had fed him.
Lianne stepped forward, her voice trembling.
" ...Where exactly is this law written? We only helped an injured child."
" Whether it's written or not isn't the point. I'm telling you not to endanger the village."
With that, Bern tapped his cane and turned on his heel. He left without looking back.
Lianne stood frozen in the doorway for a long moment. Her back was visibly trembling.
(Don't endanger the village, he says.)
Elias clenched his fists. It was unreasonable. Who was actually endangering anyone?
Then, a commotion erupted from the entrance.
"Lily hasn't come home...?"
It was long past the time she usually returned from the learning house—the small building where Hornberry village's children learned to read and write. The color drained from Lianne's face.
Elias didn't hesitate. He bolted out the door.
(I have a bad feeling about this.)
He ran through the village streets. His breath came in gasps. A seven-year-old body wouldn't obey him the way he wanted. Still, he didn't stop.
As he approached the empty lot behind the learning house, he heard children's voices.
" She's an elf sympathizer! An elf sympathizer!"
" She keeps a monster in her house and acts all high and mighty!"
Stones flew. One, then another. Small sounds as they hit the ground, mixed with duller thuds.
Lily was crouched down, arms shielding her head, knees pressed to the earth. A thin line of red ran from her forehead down her cheek.
" Stop it!!"
Elias's voice rang across the empty lot. The children froze in surprise.
After a moment of silence, someone clicked their tongue and scattered like spiders fleeing, running away.
Elias knelt beside Lily. Up close, the wound on her forehead was deeper than he'd thought. Blood traced down her temple, flowing behind her ear.
His hands trembled.
(It's my fault.)
He knew it. Not logically—he just couldn't help but feel it. He was the one who'd decided to hide Seraphina. And this was the result.
" ...Lily, are you okay?"
His voice came out hoarse. Lily looked up. Her eyes were swollen from crying, yet she still tried to smile.
" Big brother isn't wrong."
Those words pierced sharply into his chest.
" I'm fine, really. I'm really fine."
She wasn't fine. She was bleeding from her forehead, her voice shaking, and yet she was still trying to protect her brother. Elias felt heat rising behind his eyes.
(I've always just calculated everything. What's best, how to move without losing. And yet——)
He couldn't even protect his own sister.
He couldn't hold it back. Tears spilled over. In his previous life, he'd never cried once. Sadness, regret—he'd processed it all as data. Now it was different. His vision blurred and distorted.
" ...I'm sorry, Lily. I'm sorry."
Words wouldn't come after that. Lily, her forehead still bleeding, pulled Elias's head against her chest.
" Don't apologize, you dummy big brother."
The two of them stayed like that for a while, unable to move.
When they returned home, something was wrong in the living room. Seraphina was packing her belongings into a small cloth bag. She'd already pulled her hood back up.
" ...I'm leaving."
Her voice carried a hardness it had never had before.
" Because I'm here, everyone gets hurt. You saw Lily's face."
Her jade-green eyes wavered. Elias looked into them and understood. She'd been swallowing these words all along.
(She's leaving again.)
Something pulsed violently in his chest. Logically, if she left, the village's suspicions might clear. They might become safe. He tried to tell himself it was all according to plan.
But his body moved on its own.
Elias grabbed Seraphina's hand as she moved toward the entrance. He held it firmly.
" Don't go."
The words were short. But he could hear his own voice trembling.
" ...Elias."
"I'll protect you. I promise—I'll protect you."
It wasn't calculation. It wasn't irony. It was just his heart crying out from the depths.
A single tear fell from Seraphina's eyes. Then, as if a dam had broken, tears poured out one after another.
" ...I'm scared. I'm scared of people getting hurt because of me."
With that, Seraphina threw herself against Elias's chest. Her small body trembled.
Elias gently wrapped his arms around her back.
(What is this feeling?)
It was a sensation he'd never known in his previous life. The desire to protect someone and the desire to be close to someone—they rose from the same place in his heart. He still couldn't quite put it into words, but Elias understood this was what love was.
A flat voice echoed in his mind.
'Heart rate abnormally elevated. Third detection.'
(Shut up. Be quiet now.)
Elias answered silently while tightening his arms around Seraphina just a little.
Night fell.
When the entire household had fallen asleep, Elias saw torchlight approaching from outside—several flames drawing near.
A bad premonition seized him.
(So many... five, no...)
He didn't have time to count.
CRASH!!
The front door was kicked in from outside. Wood splinters flew.
" Don't move!!"
Five men with torches surged into the house, boots tracking dirt across the floor.
Toma burst out of the bedroom.
" What the hell do you think you're doing!!"
Toma raised his fist. But there were five of them.
CRACK!!
A club came down from behind. Toma's knees buckled.
" Damn...!"
A kick slammed into his stomach. A groan escaped him. His hair was grabbed, his face slammed against the floor.
Lianne screamed and rushed out.
" Stop!! Please stop!!"
She was shoved in the chest. Her body hit the wall. She slid down, collapsing.
Lily and Owen's screams echoed through the house.
" Dad!! Mom!!"
One of the rough men—the leader, marked by a thick scar on his arm—kicked into the bedroom.
" Found you, elf girl."
He grabbed Seraphina's arm roughly.
" Let go!!"
"Stay quiet. You're worth a thousand gold coins."
She was dragged out. Elias grabbed a kitchen knife and rushed forward.
"Let her go!!"
He swung down. But his arm was caught easily.
CRASH!!
He was slammed against the wall. The taste of iron filled his mouth. Blood traced his jaw.
" Don't get cocky, kid."
A foot pressed down on his head.
Pain. But before that, his vision darkened and sank.
(Again.)
A distant memory cracked in the back of his mind. That room where he'd died with no one to see him off. He couldn't even remember his wife's face. His children's voices had been nothing but data to process. The more he was praised, the deeper his loneliness had become. That life.
(I couldn't protect anything. Not then—not now.)
Despair seeped up from deep within his body.
"Elias!!"
That voice cut through the darkness.
For the first time, the flat voice in his head trembled.
'Emergency situation detected. Dark attribute mana, critical threshold exceeded. Control impossible. Prioritizing master's survival.'
Black mist erupted from his entire body.
" What the hell is this!!"
" I can't see!!"
The mist filled the room. The rough men collapsed to their knees one by one.
The leader crawled backward on the ground, gasping.
" Monster... he's a monster!!"
Something warm spread between his legs—visible even in the torchlight. The man didn't even notice, desperately crawling away.
The mist fed on the rough men's terror endlessly.
But the mist was consuming Elias's own body at the same time.
His skin turned pale blue. His breathing grew shallow.
"...!"
Strength drained from his legs. He collapsed to the floor.
The mist cleared. All the rough men lay unconscious.
In their center, Elias lay motionless, breathing shallowly.
"Elias!!"
Seraphina rushed to him, cradling his cold body in both arms.
" Please... open your eyes... Elias, please..."
Tears fell endlessly. Drops from her jade-green eyes fell onto Elias's cheek.
Lianne staggered forward, trembling fingers reaching for Elias's neck.
" ...His pulse is there. Mana depletion syndrome. His life isn't in danger. But..."
Her words trailed off.
" ...He won't wake for several days."
Seraphina didn't release her arms. She held his cold body and wept silently.
Toma slowly pushed himself up, his face covered in blood. Protecting his stomach, he reached for something on the floor.
A short dagger the rough man had dropped. A strange crest was carved into the hilt.
" ...Darius Trading Company."
His voice was low, wrung out. The name of a merchant company that operated widely in the south—he'd heard it mentioned once at the market in Langlen.
Toma gripped the dagger tightly. Blood seeped from his fist.
" ...I'm going to the lord."
His voice was quiet. But beneath it burned a fury no one had ever seen before.
The scent of black mist still lingered in the room. Seraphina held Elias's motionless form, never letting go.
The night's darkness settled quietly over the house. No one spoke. No one moved. Only time passed.
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