The Laziest God Mortal Reincarnation

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Name: Alash Vortex

Age: 14 Years Old

Potential: SSS

Title: Aegis Healer

Special Constitution: Stamina, Intelligence, Willpower

Core: E - White

Stats:

Strength: 50

Agility: 61

Stamina: 181

Perception: 36

Magic: 29

Intelligence: 186

Willpower: 164

Attributes:

Healing: Lv 9

Barrier: Lv 10

Apothecary: Lv 8

Water: Lv 3

Earth: Lv 2

Fire: Lv 2

Gravity: Lv 2

...

Spell/Skill :

Mana Aegis

Special: Main Part of Akashic Key [1/5]

Countdown: 4 Years 11 Months

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For several seconds, I simply stared.

"...Wow."

[Your progress is significant.]

That was putting it mildly.

The last time I had properly examined all of my stats, the differences had been enormous.

Strength had barely passed thirty.

Agility had been in the low forties.

Even my constitution-enhanced stats had been far lower.

Now...

My eyes moved downward again.

Strength.

Exactly 50.

So yesterday’s training really had completed the quest.

Agility had already passed it comfortably.

I suspected that happened months ago.

I simply hadn’t checked.

Master would probably consider that irresponsible.

I considered it efficient.

Why constantly stare at numbers when the System would notify me if something exploded?

My eyes continued downward.

Stamina.

Intelligence.

Willpower.

I whistled softly.

"Master really is a Master."

[You sound surprised.]

"I’m surprised I’m alive."

[His methods were effective.]

"So are avalanches. That doesn’t mean I want one dropped on me every morning."

Still...

I couldn’t deny the results.

Two and a half years of training.

Every morning.

Every evening.

Every miserable exercise.

Every time Master added more weight.

Every time Izabella caught me escaping.

Every healing session.

Every barrier exercise.

All of it was there.

Numbers didn’t tell the entire story.

But they made the suffering disturbingly difficult to argue with.

Then my eyes moved toward my attributes.

Healing.

Level 9.

I smiled slightly.

So close.

Only one more level.

Reaching Level 10 had taken considerably longer than I originally expected.

Not because healing had become harder.

The opposite.

There simply weren’t enough injured people anymore.

The human army had become defensive.

The Beastkin attacks had decreased.

Mass casualty days had become increasingly rare.

Obviously, that was a good thing.

Very good.

People not being stabbed was generally preferable.

It was simply inconvenient for my progression.

I felt slightly guilty even thinking that.

Only slightly.

Still, I was confident.

When I returned to the border, six months remained before the Academy opened.

That should be enough.

Even with fewer wounded soldiers, I was close enough to Level 10 that reaching it before the Academy shouldn’t be difficult.

Barrier was already Level 10.

Mana Aegis had changed everything about the way I could protect myself.

Healing would follow soon.

Then Apothecary.

Level 8.

That one surprised me less.

Unlike healing, apothecary progression didn’t depend on soldiers being injured.

It depended on me successfully perfecting new preparations.

Izabella had apparently interpreted my growing skill as permission to continuously hand me increasingly complicated recipes.

Poisons.

Antidotes.

Regeneration salves.

Mana restoration mixtures.

Treatments for mana poisoning.

One potion had taken me nineteen attempts.

Nineteen.

I still disliked thinking about it.

But Level 8 was satisfying.

I leaned back slightly.

For once, looking at my progress didn’t feel like staring at an impossible mountain.

I had actually climbed somewhere.

Maybe not far enough.

But somewhere.

Then my eyes reached the bottom.

My smile disappeared.

Countdown: 4 Years 10 Months

...

I stared.

The carriage continued moving.

Or at least I assumed it did.

Noise Nullification meant I couldn’t hear anything.

Four years.

Ten months.

My good mood died immediately.

Less than five years.

When I had first awakened, that number had been almost ten.

It had seemed enormous.

Distant.

Something future Alash would deal with.

I hated future Alash.

He was me now.

The divine barrier protecting this world would disappear in less than five years.

Demons would enter.

Other higher beings would follow.

And somewhere out there were four other vessels carrying fragments of the Akashic Key.

I still hadn’t met any of them knowingly.

My Main Quest remained.

Reach SS core.

Establish bonds with the other vessels.

I stared at my current core.

E-White.

Then mentally compared it to SS.

My mood somehow became worse.

"No."

[Host?]

I waved my hand.

The entire status window disappeared.

[You should...]

"We had an agreement."

Silence.

I waited.

[...]

Good.

The System remembered.

I looked down at Dream Haven.

"Full size."

The pillow expanded beneath me.

It covered nearly the entire interior of the carriage, transforming itself into a thick silver mattress.

I dropped backward.

My body sank into paradise.

The Aura of Serenity activated.

The anxiety that had risen from the countdown softened.

Not gone.

Never gone.

But distant enough that I could breathe.

I pulled part of Dream Haven beneath my head.

Then another section rose naturally along my side.

"...This is ridiculous."

[You sound pleased.]

"Very."

I closed my eyes.

"Wake me when we reach the estate."

[The driver will do that.]

"Even better."

I smiled.

Then everything became quiet.

***

I slept.

And slept.

And slept.

For perhaps the first time since awakening, several entire days disappeared without consequence.

No training.

No attacks.

No emergency healing.

No strange beastkin.

No kidnapping.

No Akashic quest appearing halfway through the night.

Just sleep.

Wonderful, uninterrupted sleep.

Whenever the carriage hit rough terrain, Dream Haven absorbed the movement.

Whenever the temperature changed, the artifact adjusted.

Whenever sounds outside became louder, they simply ceased to exist.

I didn’t know whether the journey took three days.

Four.

Five.

It could have taken two weeks.

I wouldn’t have complained.

Eventually...

"Young Master."

A distant voice entered my dreams.

I frowned.

"Young Master."

My eyes slowly opened.

For one horrifying second, I thought it was Master Valerian waking me for training.

Then I remembered.

Carriage.

Journey.

Estate.

I sat upright.

Dream Haven shifted beneath me.

The carriage wasn’t moving.

I stared at the closed door.

"We’re here?"

"Yes, Young Master."

I looked down at Dream Haven.

Then smiled.

Best.

Journey.

Ever.

"Normal size."

The mattress immediately contracted.

Within seconds, my silver pillow rested beneath my arm again.

I opened the carriage door.

Sunlight struck my face.

I squinted.

Then stepped outside.

The Vortex estate stood before me.

For several seconds...

I simply stared.

It looked exactly the same.

Massive stone walls.

Tall windows.

Blue-and-silver banners displaying House Vortex’s crest.

The enormous central mansion rising above the surrounding gardens.

Nothing had changed.

And somehow everything felt unfamiliar.

Nearly five years.

That was a long time.

I expected someone to be waiting.

Father, perhaps.

My sister.

Maybe my stepbrother.

At the very least, someone from the family.

Instead...

Servants.

A lot of servants.

Several maids were lined near the entrance.

The head butler stepped forward.

"Welcome home, Young Master Alash."

The others bowed.

"Welcome home, Young Master."

I blinked.

Then looked behind them.

Nothing.

I looked toward the upper windows.

Nothing.

I looked back at the butler.

"...That’s it?"

His expression faltered.

"Young Master?"

"No one else?"

"Her Grace and the young masters are currently occupied with preparations for tomorrow’s ceremony."

Ah.

Of course.

My sister’s Awakening Day.

The entire estate was probably in chaos.

Still...

I had expected at least...

Actually, no.

Why had I expected anything?

This was House Vortex.

Father was probably working.

My stepmother was organizing the ceremony.

My siblings had their own lives.

And I had been gone for years.

I adjusted Dream Haven beneath my arm.

"Never mind."

The servants began taking the luggage from the carriage.

I walked toward the estate.

The moment I passed through the doors, familiar scents reached me.

Polished wood.

Flowers.

Clean stone.

The faint perfume nobles apparently considered necessary to spray everywhere.

My footsteps echoed along the marble floor.

Servants occasionally stopped and bowed as I passed.

Some stared slightly longer than necessary.

Probably because the ten-year-old boy they remembered had returned as a fifteen-year-old.

Or because I was carrying a pillow through the main hall.

Actually...

Definitely the pillow.

Thanks to Mundane Veil, none of them had any idea that the harmless silver pillow beneath my arm was an SSS-rank artifact.

I smiled.

’They’re looking at it.’

[They are looking at you.]

’No. Definitely the pillow.’

[You have been absent for nearly five years.]

’Still the pillow.’

I continued walking.

My old bedroom was upstairs.

I could already imagine my bed.

A real bed.

Combined with Dream Haven.

The possibilities were extraordinary.

Maybe I could sleep until tomorrow’s ceremony.

Or until the Academy opened.

That sounded better.

I reached the central staircase.

Then stopped.

Someone was walking along the corridor ahead.

At first, I paid no attention.

A servant, probably.

Then sunlight entered through one of the tall windows.

It caught on something.

Hair.

Longer than I remembered.

Soft.

Familiar.

Violet.

My footsteps stopped.

Penelope.