Shintaro Izawar

The first cries filled the wooden hut in the middle of the forest.The voices of the ghouls outside rose at the moment of birth, as if they were anticipating the arrival of a new warrior to their clan.
The father – a massive ghoul bearing battle scars – stood tense, while the mother, a strong ghoul with golden eyes, held the newborn in her arms.But when she raised his body before everyone… silence fell.
Pale gray skin, thinner than he should be.Faded, unsettled eyes.His magical energy – something ghouls usually sensed the moment of birth – was so weak it was shocking.
The father furrowed his brow:“This… the son of a squad leader and an elite ghoul?!”
The mother looked at him with slight disdain, and said coldly:“Even the weakest infant in the clan is stronger than this. What disgrace has the heavens brought us?”
The ghouls around them exchanged glances.None of them dared to mock the squad leader out loud… but in their eyes, contempt was clear.
As for the newborn… his mind was not empty.Me…?Why can’t I move? My body is small… no, this isn’t my body.I… am not a child. I… am Leonard.
But the words would not come out. All he could do was release a weak cry.
The father shook his head:“This child will not live long.”
Seven ghoul years later (≈ ten and a half human months)
The years – or months – passed like a dark dream.The small ghoul’s body grew a little, but compared to the other young ones, he remained the weakest.
While the others ran with taut muscles and sharp fangs, he gasped quickly, his legs trembling.While the young ghouls brawled violently for fun, he received blows without being able to strike back.
The father rarely looked at him except with eyes of disdain.The mother did not treat him as a son so much as a heavy burden.
“Shintaro.” That was how they called him.The name his mother gave him with indifference, as if it were nothing more than a label for a burden she did not want.But for him, it was a declaration of a truth he could not deny: Leonard Grand was no more. He had become Shintaro Izawar.
On a cloudy morning, he approached a small pond among the trees.He sat, staring at his reflection.
He did not see a successful man in a suit with a cigarette in his hand.But a gray-skinned creature, with small yellow eyes, and faint fangs barely visible.
“Monster…” he whispered inside.“How did I become something like this?”
But he was not just a monster. Deep inside, there was a different spark.His human memories had not completely disappeared.His thoughts, his questions, his sharp mind… all remained.
And because he carried the mind of a man trapped in the body of a ghoul child, he felt every look of contempt, every whisper mocking him.But he did not break.
“You see me as weak… but I will prove you wrong.”
While he was drowning in his thoughts, he noticed a strange glimmer on the surface of the water…As if a tiny star had reflected in his right eye.
He shivered, slowly reaching his hand toward the pond.“What is this? Is… there something else inside me?”
Before he could think further, a deep voice came from behind him.It was his father.
“Stop staring at yourself. Tomorrow you’ll join the clan’s young ones. If you’re too weak… you’ll die. That is your fate.”
He left without looking back even once.
Shintaro remained sitting, staring at his reflection…Inside him, a mix of fear and anger.
“Weak? Maybe… but that is not my destiny.”“If I was reborn as a monster… then I will become the monster that changes this world.”
To be continued in the next chapter…