CAN I MAKE A GOOD COUNTRY IN THIS REINCARNATION? -2-

 Original story by: StarlessNight

Original publication by: Palo Novel

Fan translation by: Kei034

-2-

I felt like I was dreaming.

But now I am in my mentor house.

Sitting in a chair, in a room filled with books.

“What happen?” my mentor asked in his strange dialect, adjusting his glasses.

I looked around at his book filled house.

An elderly white man. His hair greyed thoroughly, almost bald. His short white beard give him a vibe of a wizard in stories.

“Dream?” I whispered, looking around.

I have not return here since finishing high school. So, I’m still in my high school, and all the thing that has transpired was all dream?

“Aha! the butterfly dream of being a caterpillar or the caterpillar dream of being a butterfly then?” He asked when seeing me in dazed state.

 

I was born in a city outside the capital. Even though it is a city, it still outside the capital.

Around my house there was a rental bookshop.

In the evening, when everyone else hang around or playing sports, I would go to this bookshop, reading.

The owner got tired of chasing me away, so he let me stay.

I love books. I love stories. Stories of heroes pulled me in, but the thing I love the most was history.

Human’s thoughts and progressions obsessed me.

Before long, I finished all the books they have.

Whether the owner wanted to get rid of me or wanted to help me, she introduced me to a man.

An old man in his fifties or sixties.

Balding greyed hair, wearing a white short beard, fitting his age.

A foreigner.

Some says he was a missionary.

Others says he was a retired professor.

No one knows who he really was, where he was from, or what was he doing in this country.

His house was filled with book, and he let me read. That is all I care.

I learned of various things from that house.

A wide collection of books.

When I read all the books in Thai, he taught me English.

I read many stories; rise and fall of empires, Japan civil war, reforms, adventures, colonization, revolutions, ideas from people and wisemen, developments, changes, heroes’ tales.

I wished to be like them; an agent of change, bringing about a better world, leaving my name behind.

The me in the dream just now, the adult me, might forget the reason why, but the me now, the young me, still feel it vividly.

I feel relaxed, to find out that it was all just a dream. I am still a child. I am still in my familiar place.

No guns.

No corruptions.

No stained hands.

“In the dream, I made mistakes; thinking that good thing could be born from evil deeds.” I told my mentor.

He nodded like usual.

The bearded visage directed a faint smile.

“That is good. You are still young. The young can learn to correct the mistakes.” He told me.

“Don’t do it again this time.”

“Wha…”

Before I could digest his words, thing move around rapidly.