A New Beginning

The night was deep.

In the slightly cramped room, the young man lying on the bed was covered in sweat. His eyes rolled restlessly beneath his tightly shut lids, his face contorted in pain, yet he remained unable to wake up.

Clearly, his dreams tonight were not pleasant, or perhaps "nightmare" was a more fitting description.

"Hoo--!"

He suddenly sat up in bed. The young man, having just escaped the nightmare, looked extremely pale, his chest heaving like bellows as he gasped for air. He silently clasped his head with both hands, taking a while to recover from the daily terror.

Not wanting to sleep anymore, Evan got out of bed in his linen pajamas, poured himself a glass of long-cold water, and stood by the window, his eyes dark and unreadable.

"Had that nightmare again."

Evan Garratt, the descendant of a fallen noble family, or more accurately, the descendant of a once fallen noble family. Ever since that night of blood and fire three years ago, his former honor, wealth, and even his family had been lost to this young man.

As a traditional feudal noble family of the island nation of Iliya Kingdom, the Garratt family, holders of the Baron title, had once been illustrious.

The family's origin was legendary. As one of the vanguards of the Age of Exploration, the commoner explorer Garratt, piloting his own exploration ship, had overcome reefs, storms, and ferocious sea beasts to traverse the Treasure Sea. He was the first to discover a new route to the Southern Continent that was both the shortest and safest.

The opening of this new route allowed the abundant precious metals, spices, agricultural products, and raw materials of the Southern Continent to continuously enrich the Kingdom. This propelled Iliya, then at the bottom of the Tulip Alliance, to gain immense benefits and leap to become a regional power.

With this achievement, the explorer Garratt was enfeoffed as a feudal Baron by the Iliya Royal Family. From a penniless commoner, he instantly became a feudal noble, adding a new member named "Garratt Family" to the noble lineage of the Iliya Kingdom.

Unfortunately, this great explorer and navigator possessed a far inferior ability in managing his territory compared to his skills in seafaring and exploration. Under his leadership, the Garratt family not only failed to shine brighter in the Iliya Kingdom but instead continued to decline.

Moreover, after him, every subsequent Garratt Baron proved to be his descendant. They were all adventurers at heart, constantly thinking of seizing benefits in the newly opened Age of Exploration, yet not a single one bothered to properly manage their own territory.

Ocean exploration was not something ordinary people could afford. Immense profits naturally came with immense risks. The family's wealth, even their lands, gradually disappeared into the bottomless pit of ocean exploration!

Ocean exploration required not only ideals and perseverance but also strength and luck. This family seemed to have exhausted all its luck in its initial rise to prominence. After that, no subsequent expedition brought the family the glory and wealth needed to turn things around.

In just over a hundred years and across eight generations of Garratt Barons, the fiefdom, originally equivalent to at least forty knight's fiefs, was reduced to a single remote town—Black Stone Town. If not for Iliya not having restrictions linking fiefs to titles, even the empty title of Baron would have been difficult to retain.

By this generation, the entire Garratt family consisted of only a father holding the title of Baron, living with his two children who had lost their mother at a young age. Their only noble pretense was perhaps the old butler, Leo, who, despite their fallen status, still maintained his impeccable appearance.

Perhaps the gods above could no longer bear to watch. Just as they were about to reach their absolute limit, a turning point arrived.

A massive, rich iron ore deposit was discovered beneath Black Stone Town! One could imagine their elation at the time.

However, they rejoiced too soon.

Even though, legally, not even the King could deny the Garratt family's ownership of this iron mine, the extremely weakened Garratt family lacked the sufficient military strength or support to protect this windfall.

As long as one was willing to use their brain, there were always loopholes in the rules established by humans, especially when the cost of exploiting them was negligible.

At this time in the Iliya Kingdom, newly rising commercial nobles had gained considerable power, and the movement for personal liberation was intensifying. The influence of traditional feudal nobles and even the King had waned significantly.

A new transformation was brewing. In this storm, who was an ally and who was an enemy was difficult to discern, even for the most seasoned politician.

A swarm of hungry hyenas was already eyeing the isolated and vulnerable Garratt family. Among them were new nobles, but also "old friends" from the family's past.

These ferocious predators were all waiting for an opportunity, an opportunity that wouldn't provoke the other rivals to the brink.

Thus, after the head of the family, Forman Garratt, suddenly passed away due to old injuries sustained during his early explorations and the immense pressure he was under.

Taking advantage of Evan and his sister's youth and the temporary vacancy of the baronial title, Black Stone Town, stripped of its legal protection, was lightning-fast overrun by a group of well-equipped "bandits."

The family's last foundation was thus destroyed!

What followed was entirely logical. The "bandits" who dared to attack a noble's territory were "eradicated" by the troops of a benevolent noble. After some undisclosed transactions behind the scenes, the iron mine smoothly fell into the hands of this "kindhearted" individual, ostensibly to be managed on behalf of the Garratt family.

As for the search for the two legal heirs of the Garratt family who had gone missing during this upheaval: Anita Garratt and Evan Garratt, no one bothered to mention them anymore, as if by mutual understanding.

In reality, by this point, the situation was settled. No one cared about their fate anymore.

Evan drank the water in his cup in one gulp, suppressing the turmoil in his heart. In truth, even if the family's assets were ten times greater, it wouldn't have bothered Evan. What caused his recurring nightmares was his own escape, while his sister Anita, three years his senior, had gone missing during that turmoil.

Unable to reveal himself to search for the young lady, the old butler fled Iliya with the sole surviving Evan, eventually arriving in Leopold, a coastal town in the neighboring Faletis Kingdom, also part of the Tulip Alliance.

Old butler Leo discarded most of the items that could expose them and used his remaining wealth and his youthful knowledge of herbs to open an apothecary shop. They settled down in the small town, living an ordinary life until this day.

But two days ago, the old butler, who had never fully recovered from the serious injuries sustained during the escape night, could no longer hold on. Grasping Evan's hand, he slowly closed his eyes.

With the passing of his last relative, Evan, overwhelmed by grief, cried himself unconscious.

When he woke up again, the consciousness of a transmigrator, which had lain dormant within the young body for thirteen years, had finally awakened. It merged seamlessly with Evan's surface personality, becoming one again.

Unlike other soul transmigrators who arrive midway and lack a sense of immersion in their predecessor's experiences, Evan is the transmigrator, and the transmigrator is Evan. Evan's experiences are, in fact, his own.

It was only because his body was too weak in the past to bear the immense soul and memories of an adult that there was a distinction between the surface personality, Evan, and the dormant consciousness of the traveler.

Now unified, Evan would no longer be as weak as the former boy. He no longer feared loneliness or felt lost about the future. With a strong heart and extensive experience, he possessed a clear understanding: what he wanted, and where his path lay.

"I will live a good life!"

The handsome young man with brown hair, black eyes, and fair skin looked at his reflection in the window and quietly told himself this.

At this moment, starlight still dotted the night sky outside the window. The coastal town named Leopold was gradually waking up and becoming busy.

Gothic buildings, predominantly black, lined the streets, and gas lamps cast warm yellow light. Wisps of steam drifted from the street corners, creating a prosperous scene reminiscent of a Victorian port city.

The Age of Exploration had already begun two hundred years ago. The maritime industry and sea trade had become an important part of the nation's assets. The invention of the steam engine seemed to have given this world a powerful engine, accelerating everything towards a bright future.

Well, at least that's how it appeared on the surface, wasn't it?