In my previous world importance was measured by how high up you worked in a building. I don’t know why that was the case, but it wasn’t any different here. My father huffed under the weight of me and the puffer. We’d gone through several flights of stairs and passed by doors that glowed with all the colors of the spectrum.

I’d instinctively tried to reach out towards a door encased in ice, and another that oozed a sickly green. Dumb baby instincts. I gained control over my actions in time. Neither Marv nor the silver masked man seemed worried about it.

“These guys are big shots.” Marv explained to my dad. “But they’re the nice kind.”

I could feel my father’s nerves. His skin trembled slightly, and even the puffer was quiet.

“Nobles?” That was my father.

“Master Wilhelm is not directly considered a noble.” Silver mask responded. “He is still considered to be the husband of the late Lady Wilhelm. The politics of it are for greater men to maneuver. He is one of our biggest sponsors and the country as a whole is expecting great things from his son.”

“His son?”

“Young Master Wilhelm. True methods of power still remain a mystery, even to nobles. Yet somehow, the young monster-“ He coughed. “I mean, the young master has gotten his hands on an incredible skill during his first night. He is expected to be a genius. Anything less would be considered a disappointment. There is a lot riding on his achievements.”

I pictured a distinguished young man in my mind. It couldn’t be easy having the entire country looking at you at all times. The pressure it would cause was immense. I looked up at the silver masked man curiously.

Why is he bringing us to meet these people?

My question was stopped in its tracks by the appearance of a door. An ordinary door. In the middle of the stairway. It hadn’t been there a moment ago. I would have noticed it. Silver mask opened the door and as my father walked inside, I came face to face with a giant crystal, shimmering with black and purple light. The crystal itself looked alive. Underneath its transparent skin clouds of purple rolled around. A black liquid simmered, hiding its true form underneath the purple mists. It was haunting.

“Our teleportation room.” Silver mask stepped to the side. “Where they’re coming from it costs a gold coin’s worth of materials to activate it a single time.”

My father was reaching a hand towards the crystal, and then hastily drew it back. Marv looked queasy at hearing the amount. I don’t know how much a single gold coin was worth, but clearly it was expensive.

“Our guest is waiting.” Silver mask gestured at Marv. “Help me with the mana supply. We want to make it as comfortable as possible for them.”

I clung tightly to my father’s clothes. Teleportation was real. Silver mask and Marv reached out to the crystal, touching its surface. Symbols floated in the air around them, bright purple. They were quickly bathed in mist as the crystal released the clouds trapped within. A storm raged inside the room, and I saw the crystal through the mist, pitch black liquid swelling in its depths.

Then the darkness shifted, tying itself to something. Three figures walked within it. Marv was sweating, and silver mask’s shoulders tightened. I felt something tug at my body. It was similar to the golden lights that had entered my body. The feeling of mana.

A chime sounded out, breaking through the spectacle before me, and the figures in the darkness were in front of me. I flinched as I spotted the man in front. Gold. So much gold. He wore robes just like Marv and silver mask, but instead of black they were gold and red. Not just any kind of red. The material was made out of ruby. I’d seen some big rocks in my previous world, but each strip of the gem was longer than my father, and as wide as I was. This man could slap me and the cost of cleaning off my blood would be more than I’d ever owned in both lives.

I craned my neck to see the head that rested above the robes. The man was a giant. A golden mask scanned the room, three holes for eyes cut into it, just like the silver mask. I could see a magnificent mane of hair flowing out of the hood, and a braided beard poking out from underneath the mask.

He spotted silver mask.

“Jackson.” His voice was warm. “You old son of a gun. You told me you were going to go to that ball. I had to fend off Lady Yesena’s incessant questions about your whereabouts.”

“Master Wilhelm.” Silver mask, I suppose I should call him Jackson now, was nonplussed. “Welcome once again to Zodiac. I do hope you enjoy your stay.”

“No need to act so formal.” I could hear the playful jest in Master Wilhelm’s voice. “Come, come. You have yet to meet my young one. William.” He turned towards the other figure beside him.

I stared. William looked a lot like a girl. In fact, he was a girl. She was young, maybe in her late twenties. She wore a simple gray dress with those funny little tufts of material puffing out of her shoulders and carried a metal box. She looked at Master Wilhelm and then down at her arms. I followed her gaze, and then realized I was looking at the wrong person. A small bundle that I’d thought was a box lay in her arms.

It was a baby.

Metal rippled across his body, chains, links, and also plates. He was wearing a little suit of armour. In his hands he carried a tiny sword, no bigger than my hand. Cute.

“William.” Master Wilhelm’s voice was soft. “Say hi to daddy’s friends.”

The baby raised a hand and smiled at us. I giggled in response. What a smart little baby he was. He didn’t look much older than me, maybe a year old.

“It is an honour to meet the young master.” Jackson bowed, and my father and Marv followed his lead.

Master Wilhelm turned towards my father, noticing him for the first time. His robes flowed at the touch of his hand, the heavy metals smooth as silk. He held out a hand and I could feel my father shaking.

“G-good to meet you.” My father stammered.

Smooth dad.

I watched the handshake with interest. Master Wilhelm’s skin crumpled as my dad’s fingers dug into it, and I realised it wasn’t actually skin. It was gold that had been shaped to look like human skin. The man was covered head to toe in the world’s worst protection.

Who covers themselves with the thing people want to steal?

“Lovely to meet you as well.” Master Wilhelm looked at the puffer on my dad’s shoulder with interest, and then he spotted me.

I gave him my best smile. My face was still covered in dirt, Jackson had only cleaned my throat and mouth.

“I thought that the young master might like some company his own age.” Jackson adjusted his silver mask as he spoke. “The aristocracy can be so dreadfully boring. Not to mention they’re all backstabbing snakes.”

“Oh?” Master Wilhelm’s head shot up in surprise. Then he took another look at me. “Interesting. Do you mean this boy is-” He received a heavy slap on the side from Jackson. “Yes. Yes, that makes sense. My poor child is starved for company.”

I stared at Jackson. He was treading dangerous territory, but Master Wilhelm didn’t mind. I looked at William, and he stared at me. The last baby I’d seen had been drooling at the mouth. William looked like he belonged in a doll collection.

I waved at William. Master Wilhelm looked at his son, and the woman stepped forward. The baby looked down at me with wide eyes.

William opened his mouth. “Father, surely you can’t be serious. I will not lower myself to the level of this dunce. Look at it. It has dirt in its mouth.”

Excuse me?

I’m not sure who was more shocked, my father or Master Wilhelm. The gold mask drew back, and he put his hands on his head in dismay.

“Holy Fue. I’m so sorry.” Master Wilhelm apologised profusely, leaning down, and taking my hand in his. "I hope he hasn’t hurt your feelings, young one.”

He had. I used my free hand to wipe the dirt away from my face. How embarrassing. I looked up at my dad and saw he was holding back a laugh.

“Master Wilhelm, you do not have to be so formal. My son can’t even walk yet, let alone talk and understand sentences.” My father turned towards William. “Rather, it’s impressive that your son can be so… eloquent.”

Hey. Don’t you have a spine? Defend me right now.

I gurgled in protest, and then paused. My father was right. I’m an ordinary, few month-old baby. With the mind of an adult. That’s why I could understand the people around me. William didn’t look much older than me.

I stared at William and saw that his eyes were on me. I saw something there, an intelligence underneath the baby blue irises. He scanned the room and I followed suit. Everyone was distracted by Master Wilhelm’s apology. Then I looked back at William, and he raised a finger to his lips.

Then he winked.

What?

Why is this baby winking at me? Creep.

Wait. No. Why is he winking at me?

I’d seen babies in this world during the first night. None of them were as intelligent as I was. Then again, I did reincarnate. Now this new baby was talking and winking at me. What did he know?

Is he also a reincarnator?

I shook my head. Thoughts were racing through my mind and my heart was beating forcefully against my chest. This could all be a coincidence, and there were simpler explanations. Maybe he’s a beardless dwarf.

It was Jackson that stepped in. “I believe I have a solution to all of our problems. Letitia can bring the children to the nursery, and we shall continue our discussions.”

“You have a nursery?” My father’s attention shifted from the apologising man in the gold mask.

“Of course. The nobles demand only the finest of distractions so that they don’t have to deal with their children.” Jackson’s silver mask was facing pointedly towards Master Wilhelm.

The door to the teleportation room shut behind us, and we quickly found ourselves in front of a door with a baby bottle etched into it.

“There’s enough protection in here to withstand a hurricane.” Jackson stayed outside as my father and William’s holder dropped us off. “Plus, this.” He handed an object to my dad. “Should anything happen, which it won’t, this will alert us.”

“You behave.” My father pinched my cheek and I smiled. “I don’t want to upset the nice man that’s wearing more than I’ll ever own.”

So, he’d been thinking about that too. I gave him a final smile and he put me down. I looked around the new area, a smooth dome that was filled with toys. I pressed a hand against the wall. It was soft. Really soft.

No wonder they could leave babies in here. Magic was wonderful.

“No! Letitia, no!” William shook his head as Letitia let go of him. “I don’t want to. You bring me away from this wretched creature right now.”

“You two people enjoy your time together. The adults have things to talk about.” Letitia gently closed the door behind her.

William grew quiet. I waddled away from him. They’d let the baby keep the sword. I didn’t trust a grown man with a sword, let alone a puppy-fatted infant.

He turned towards me, and I was caught off guard by the smile on his face.

“My apologies for the earlier insults. I had to make myself sound as spoiled as possible, you understand of course. You never know who might be listening.”

I stared at him with a wide mouth. This was a strange baby. His entire demeanor shifted. His shoulders rose, and he even stepped onto his feet. The armour looked a lot less silly.

“I see you have the dumb baby act downpat.” He raised an armoured hand towards me. “Tell me, how long have you had [Wisdom].”

He was talking to me like a normal person. Somehow this baby had figured me out. I had to convince him I was an ordinary baby. I’d taken acting classes before, I just had to channel my inner movie star to come up with the most masterful and elegant deception of my life.

“Googoo gaga. Me baby. Wah.”

Nailed it.