Glimpse of Eternity [A Reincarnation Isekai Fantasy]

"Alright, alright. Break it up, you two." The middle-aged-looking man casually restrained the drunkard by using one hand to hold both of the young man's arms behind him. In a light-hearted tone, he started speaking in a practiced manner. "First off, my name is Nelsor. And as you can see from the fancy black uniform I'm wearing, I'm part of the Peacekeepers. I believe that you have seen people dressed just like I am, many, many times before. Including when you just arrived in Aizen's domain."

"Y-yes..." Blondie stuttered out a response while he anxiously looked around, seemingly seeking help. As beads of cold sweat formed on his forehead, he gulped. "I-I'm very sorry, sir. I just had a bit too much to drink..."

"Understandable." Nelsor nodded before putting on a large smile. "Sir, may I ask for your name?"

"My name's M-Modal... sir."

"And Mr. Momodal, how old are you?"

Not even bothering to correct the Peacekeeper, the trembling man replied, "S-sir, I-I'm nineteen."

"Nineteen..." Nelsor bobbed his head in thought for a moment. "By Aizen's standards, you've only been an adult for a year. However, by the Republic's standards, and forgive me if I'm wrong, I believe you've been an adult for three years, yes?"

Modal nodded nervously.

"That's a considerable amount of time, no? I think that's enough time to understand that you shouldn't be going around raising fists in public, right? In fact, I don't think you have to be an adult to know something like that. Am I wrong, Mr. Momodal?"

"N-no, you're correct, sir."

"Perfect. I'm glad we've reached an understanding." Nelsor took out a small piece of rope from his spacial ring. It then flew out of his hand and wrapped around Modal's arms, locking them in place behind the scrawny man's back. "Now, I'm going to place you under arrest. Please note that any attempts to resist will be met with an excessive amount of force. As I — an officer of the law — along with the rest of the wonderful people in this crowd, witnessed the entire series of events unfold with our very own eyes, any excuses you can come up with are invalidated. You will now be imprisoned for about a week, maybe more, while we prepare to deport you back to your nation."

"No! Please!" Modal's eyes widened as he turned around to face the man. "M-My father will kill me if I get deported! I have to graduate from Aizen University or it's over for me!"

"Well, perhaps that's something you should've thought about before getting drunk in the middle of the day and making a fuss, hm?" The Peacekeeper chuckled lightly as he suddenly grabbed and hefted the scrawny man onto his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Thank you very much for coming to our lovely nation. We're, uh, sad to see you go, I suppose. Do come again once your 300-year ban ends."

With an adult man on his shoulders, Nelsor turned toward the crowd with a smile. "I'm afraid the show is over folks. Nothing to see here. Please go about your usual business and have a wonderful day."

Some people cheered or clapped, while some shrugged, but after a moment or two, everyone dispersed to return to what they were doing. The plaza returned to the boisterous mood it had before the little incident began.

All was well.

"Uhm, Sir Nelsor...?" The large man that Modal had been about to punch hesitantly spoke up.

"Yes, sir?" Nelsor maintained a good-natured smile as he faced the foreigner.

"Well, my name's Devran, and I'm sure you've noticed but I'm also not from around here..."

"Why, yes. I've noticed that." Nelsor chuckled lightly before shaking his head. "I know what you're thinking. And let me just say that you have nothing to worry about, sir. As I mentioned earlier, I saw the entire thing play out. So I am aware that you've done nothing wrong."

The Peacekeeper then turned to the wine vendor, who also looked on in anxiety. "Naturally, this respectable stall owner, who was only doing some honest business, has no faults as well."

Devran and a pudgy man behind the stall both heaved sighs of relief.

"What do you mean he has no faults!?" Modal screamed in protest, his legs kicked out. "He was trying to make moves on my girlfriend!"

"Hey!" Devran panicked. He hastily explained himself to the officer. "I swear I didn't know!"

"Hmm..." Nelsor frowned for a moment before grabbing Modal's legs and gripping tightly, making the young man squeal in pain. "I said no struggling. And although your anger is understandable, stealing someone's girlfriend is not against the law here. So Mr. Devran is innocent. He's an ass, but he's innocent."

It was at that moment that a pretty young lady with flowing blonde hair suddenly butted in. "Uhm! Excuse me!"

Nelsor's smile returned as he turned toward the woman. "Yes, dear citizen? What can I do for you on this fine afternoon?"

"Sofina!" Modal suddenly yelled, his voice filled with hope. "My love! Please help me!"

"Stop calling me that!" Sofina yelled, pulling up the hood of her cloak to hide her face from the gazes of those around them. "I kept telling you I'm not interested in you! Geez! I was just trying to be nice and help you out cuz you're not from around here! Get a clue!"

"S-Sofina... Please tell me you're joking..."

Nelsor clicked his tongue and shook his head in exasperation. "It seems youthful indiscretion has claimed yet another victim..."

"Sofina....!"

"Oh, shut up, will you?" After knocking the poor fellow out with a light hit to the head, the middle-aged man started walking off with his prize, leaving everyone else behind.

Watching them go, Devran turned toward the pretty young lady beside him. "So, uhm. Let's start over? Hi, I'm Devran."

"And I'm not interested." Sofina indifferently turned around and strode off as well. "I have a boyfriend. That's what I was going to tell you before that creep cut in."

"Ugh." Devran's face twisted into a scowl at the almost instant rejection. He glanced at the pudgy stall owner and held out a finger. "Give me another one."

 

---

 

"Aaaaaah!" Hector yelled in frustration as he furiously scratched his head. "If only that Peacekeeper hadn't shown up...!"

Helen's lips curved into a smile as she made a V-shape with her fingers. "Victory."

As Reivan chuckled, he handed Helen a 50-lumen banknote. "Congratulations. Here you go. Don't spend it all in one place."

"Mhm." The girl practically beamed when she received the bill. She looked at it for a moment before stowing it inside her spacial storage ring while humming.

'Cute...'

He couldn't help but think so. The Mercer clan's resident glutton usually maintained a stoic countenance, but she was being surprisingly expressive today. A welcome change, in Reivan's opinion.

Hector rubbed his hands together while shooting his sister a nervous glance. "Uhhh... I don't have to pay you, right? I mean, what's mine is yours and what's yours is mine, right...?"

Helen's smile vanished, replaced by a frown. The little glutton's eyes narrowed into slits, her glare boring holes into her brother's skull. She held her hand out and silently demanded payment.

"Ugh... fine." Hector took out the money bag again, counting the money inside. "Uhm. We were supposed to split the money that big sis gave us in half, so my share should be..."

While the twins continued their imitations of a debt collector and a down-on-his-luck guy who borrowed a little too much money, Reivan mentally asked Valter about what Peacekeepers were.

Mainly, he wanted to know about the gun and its origins. But he couldn't very well ask that outright, so he decided to ease into it.

Reivan nodded along while he was telepathically receiving a lecture on what the Peacekeepers were.

 

---

 

Apparently, Nelsor and all the other Peacekeepers in Aizen were part of the Order of Peace.

By all standards, it was full of people who were as strong as knights everywhere else in the world. However, Peacekeepers weren't classified as knights in the kingdom of Aizen.

Because they were failed knights.

In Aizen, the title of "Knight" was only given to those who managed to form a contract with a Soul Armament. Which seemed simple. But it was absolutely not.

Aside from Ascendants, Transcendents, and those who carried the blood of the royal family, others had two conditions to fulfill before they could form a contract with a Soul Armament.

One, they had to willingly agree to serve the royal family for the rest of their lives.

Two, they had to have unlocked their Qi before the age of thirty.

It was the second condition that usually caused squires to fail at becoming knights. And sadly, the vast majority of knight cadets don't make the cut.

But anyone who'd undergone the gruesome training to become a knight — up until they were thirty years old at that — usually had an immense desire to get stronger, enter the military, or serve the royal family.

With such an intense passion, would these individuals give up just like that?

Yes, some of them succumb to the reality that they lacked natural talent. Those people would seek out another profession. Or perhaps attempt to become a royal scholar. There were even several who would offer their services as tutors and trainers for children from wealthy families that wanted to become knights. A few would even become assistant instructors for actual knight cadets.

However, the answer for most failed knight cadets was a big "No". They weren't ready to throw in the towel and live like ordinary citizens just yet.

And so, the Order of Peace was where they went.

Peacekeepers, despite their strength and skills, were Aizen's weakest military unit. As such, they were usually kept away from the nitty-gritty combat and bloody wars. The Order focused more on internal defense. In other words, they were Aizen's version of a police officer while knights were the equivalent of soldiers, marines, and special forces.

They were not to be looked down on, however. Since plenty of Peacekeepers were at the peak of the Mortal realm or close to it. It could be said that most, if not all of the Peacekeepers still hold on to the dream of becoming knights.

A perfect example would actually be Donovan. The old bastard had been an assistant instructor and a Peacekeeper for most of his life as a Mortal before finally Ascending. It was a success story that served as an inspiration for many.

Now if only the man didn't have such a sharp tongue...

As for the guns... Apparently, they were a weapon that Aizen's soldiers used in the first king's era, when there weren't as many knights. The weapon eventually fell out of use because it couldn't hurt people above a certain level though. Currently, Peacekeepers used the guns for when they wanted to subdue someone without resorting to lethal force — which was very ironic to Reivan, who'd come from a world where guns were the lethal force. Of course, a lot of the knights were skilled enough to hold back against overwhelmingly weaker opponents, so guns saw even less use in recent times.

'The first king's era, huh?'

Back then, Aizen still had to gather a large army composed of thousands just to protect its small territory. Now, the knights were more than enough to ward off external threats. And the Peacekeepers sufficed for internal affairs, like apprehending hoodlums and maintaining order in the homeland.

"Ugh..." Reivan rubbed his temples. It seemed that having a lot of information shoved into one's head could cause migraines.

'Well, there goes my idea to just have Valter shove the lessons directly into my head instead of having to actually learn stuff like a normal person.'

"You okay, Van?" Hector raised a brow as he put a hand on Reivan's shoulder, using the other hand to tuck away his much lighter coin purse.

The prince smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry. I'll live."

"Psh. Weirdo. Well, since you're fine, let's go around some more!"

"Sure."

Reivan scanned the surroundings for something interesting when his eyes caught sight of a group of street performers setting up shop a few stalls down. He couldn't tell what they were going to perform yet, but he could see that they were dressed in colorful outfits. They also had an assortment of instruments with them.

"Hey, guys, look over there," Reivan said, pointing to the performers. "Wanna go check out what they're doing?"

The twins turned to look in the direction he was pointing, and their eyes widened in curiosity.

"Let's go!" Hector yelled as he ran off, leaving his sister and friend behind.

Helen also nodded, her hand still clasped tightly around Reivan's.

"C'mon." Reivan didn't really mind the hand-holding at this point. With the glutton in tow, he followed after Hector.

The three friends hurriedly made their way over to the performers' stall, eager to see what kind of show they had in store.