the darkness at the beginning of the tunnel

"Stay calm, I'll take care of training you from now on."

That's what my father had told me two years ago when he found out I was secretly training. I wondered how he would train me since I was skilled in magic and he was a swordsman. I had never shown any signs of being a good swordsman, but I was hopeful. How did it end? I ended up watering plants with my magic. Essentially, they were using me for their own purposes. Sometimes Rose would help me with magic, and Gerald would train me with the sword, but it happened maybe ten times in total.

Many times, I tried to ask them to help me more consistently, but with Ryan, my new little brother, taking up so much of their time, and their general lack of interest, I was never able to convince them. But everything changed 15 days ago when they told me I needed to pack my bags because they had decided to go on vacation for the entire third season, which corresponds to summer in my world.

We left six days ago. The trip was supposed to take just four days to reach our destination—the home of the Dwile family, close friends of my mother who had visited us shortly after I was born. They had wanted to come see Ryan, but circumstances didn't allow it, so we were going to visit them instead.

I didn't mind. After all, it was the first time I was leaving home to go somewhere else, and I'd heard the Dwiles were filthy rich, so they might have interesting books on magic. I never thought I'd get so passionate about studying, but it's a very particular situation.

Anyway, the trip was supposed to take only four days, but because of Ryan, who couldn't sit still for more than three hours and constantly wanted to get out of the carriage, it took us a few extra days. Not that it was a bad thing; I was bored stiff with so much travel anyway. At least I had time to unwind and hone my fire magic.

Finally, we arrived at the villa. Ryan couldn't keep calm after seeing it, repeatedly saying he wanted to explore it. I was impressed too, but it wasn't anything I hadn't seen before—in my previous life, I'd often come across social media posts of rich kids partying by the pool in their mansions. For Ryan, though, who had never seen another house besides ours, it must have seemed like paradise.

Unlike Ryan, who was thrilled, Tom didn't seem to care at all. Among everyone, he's the one I'm least close to—or rather, not close to at all. The reason is that he's always been bossy: every time we talk, he insists on being right because "he's the older brother and knows more than me." Poor kid—he still has to grow up if he hopes to match my experience. Fortunately, he's stopped bothering me lately. I think it's because I'm not just a prodigy in magic but in other areas too, like math, thanks to my knowledge from my previous world. I'm well-versed in this world's history, as the magic books I read also contained a good chunk of its lore. Plus, I'm more mature than kids my age, given that I'm mentally 16 years old. Essentially, in any comparison between me and him, I come out on top, and that probably makes him feel inferior. But that's just my theory.

When we entered the villa, we found ourselves in a huge hall surrounded by servants welcoming us.

"The Dwiles aren't back yet; they should return around 10 PM."

"They invite us and don't even greet us? Typical Lance," my mother said, then added, "It's 7 PM now, so they should be back in three hours. Let's explore the house a bit, shall we, Ryan?"

But Ryan had already passed out from exhaustion. He had been clamoring to see the house just ten minutes ago, and now he was fast asleep. Great.

"I think I'll go to bed too," I said.

"Alright, we'll wait for them. Good night."

"Night."

The Dwiles had been very kind to me, but I was going through a dark time back then. I still hadn't fully accepted being reincarnated (not that I have now), and I didn't understand the language well yet. I kept hiding from everyone because I wanted to be alone.

I'd like to show them how mature I actually am and fix the image they have of me, but I hadn't slept well for five nights and had no intention of staying up until 10. I'll fix their perception of me tomorrow.

So I went to my room, where something awaited me that I hadn't seen in a long time: a bed. Over the past days, I had slept on grass when we stopped for breaks, in the carriage with my head on Rose's lap, and one night in an inn—the only time in five nights I'd slept in a bed. Too bad I had to share it with Tom because my parents thought it was a great idea to cram the two of us into one already uncomfortable bed.

I threw myself onto the bed, and wow—it was incredibly comfortable! It felt like being hugged by clouds. The bed was enormous, bigger than any bed I'd slept in across my two lives. The room itself was enormous too, so much so that I felt a bit uncomfortable sleeping in such a large space. The only thing that could rival the feeling of lying on the bed was looking out the window at the beautiful view of the fields.

This view, combined with the night and my exhaustion, was the final blow. Before I knew it, I was fast asleep.

If you'd like me to continue or adjust anything, let me know!

Ecco il resto del testo tradotto in inglese:

A FEW HOURS LATER

"Leo, wake up."

I heard someone calling me. I couldn't quite tell who it was since I was still half-asleep, but judging by the amount of magic and the tone of the voice, I could narrow it down to two people: Ryan or Tomas.

Based on the amount of mana, I'd say it's Ryan, even though Tomas has a very similar voice. Their mana levels are slightly different.

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Ryan."

Bingo.

"What is it?"

"I want to explore the house, but I'm too scared to do it alone. Can you come with me?"

I hate hyperactive kids.

"Why are you asking me? Can't you ask Mom or Dad?"

"They'd never get up at this hour—they're too lazy."

Because I'm not lazy, right?

"What about Tom, then? He's older than me; he'll be fine for this."

"Yeah, it's true Tom is the oldest of us three, but he's not as strong as you are."

Hearing that gave me a tiny bit of satisfaction, especially imagining Tom's face if he'd heard it.

"What a pain..."

Since I was already awake, I might as well indulge him and go along. Before heading out, though, I decided to look out the window. I was curious to see the view now that it was daytime. My ability, the Goddess's Eyes, doesn't let me perceive sunlight. It's as if the whole world is illuminated by a gray light, so I can't tell if it's day or night.

I opened the window only to see the same view as yesterday—it was dark.

Why is it dark? It's supposed to be summer. In the area where we live, the sun rises at 5 AM. So why is it dark?

Maybe the sun will rise slightly later today for some reason. Makes sense, hahahaha… Damn it.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Yeah, it's 4 AM."

Of course, instead of sleeping, you come bother me, right? I've decided: I'll never have kids.

"Damn brat..."

In the end, I gave in and got up. I have to admit, the house itself was nice, but thanks to the Goddess's Eyes, I had already seen most of it yesterday while looking for my room. So there wasn't much that genuinely interested me. The only new feeling I had now, which I didn't have last night, was loneliness. While there had been many servants around last evening, now there was no one except for four guards patrolling the house.

After a good hour of wandering, by which time the servants had started waking up, the only thing we hadn't seen yet was the garden. So we went outside to check it out, being careful not to stray too far.

And that's when I realized I still didn't fully understand how to use the Goddess's Eyes. I thought I'd mastered them after having them for four years, but apparently not, because otherwise, I wouldn't have made a mistake like this.

"Look what I found!"

My brother's excited voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I didn't understand what he was talking about at first, but the moment I saw it, my face went pale: Ryan had found what looked like a rabbit. It had red eyes and white fur. Its mana level was so low that I hadn't even noticed it was there.

"Maybe we should leave," I said.

"Huh? Why? I just found such a cute little animal! What do you think it is?"

Of course, he's never seen a rabbit before. But that's not the issue right now. This rabbit is eerily similar to the ones from the second season of Re:Zero. Add a tiny horn, and it's practically identical. Now, I get that this is an anime and all, but I'm not taking any chances. Even if I have to use force, I'll drag Ryan away from here.

"Let's go."

"But—"

"I said, let's go."

Ryan tried to argue, but as soon as our eyes met, he understood he needed to shut up and obey. I'm sorry, poor and probably innocent rabbit, but I'm not giving you the chance to turn this into a Re:Zero reference with me and my brother as victims.

Let me know if you'd like me to refine anything further or add more!