《The Day My Life Turned Into Fantasy》


 1.Descend

    I am a person who has a life full of regrets (well who doesn''t). It was more of something I didn''t do although I had all the means at my disposal to have stopped it from happening. No point crying over spilled milk'', that''s what I always told myself to console myself. I know it''s very surprising and funny to hear such heavy emotions coming from a high school kid. It¡¯s just that I am pissed off and I am just taking off the steam. Life is so boring and here I was wishing for an adventurous life. Little did I know that today my life, for better or the worst, wouldn''t be the same anymore.


    It was just like any other day for a high schooler to walk the lanes of a crowded street. My school is close to my house and that is the reason I go to that school. Sometimes I feel like quitting school cause in today''s world, anything and everything can be learned through the internet. Well, there is still time before I reach, so why not tell you a bit about my past because I am pretty sure that you guys have already started speculating that I might have a dark past and that might be the reason for my gloomy mood. The thing is I don''t want to stay that way, but my upbringing was a bit different than most of the kids I know. My father had a lot of transfers in his job, hence I also had to change school a lot. The thing is, most of the kids would have already formed their friend circles and suddenly, I cannot be a part of that. Although they were always nice to me and I don''t blame them for not involving me in their circle, I mean after all, they(circles) form through bonding and trust, and I totally respect that. I don''t blame my dad either, I mean he was looking out for his family. This boring past of me was narrated to clear the reason for my gloomy mood and it is not because I am sad but because the life till now has been one big boring movie which has been playing over and over.


    "Good Morning, Reo" Yuuto greeted me with a joyful smile as he bumped into me.


    I was startled for a second there, but I had gotten used to his unusual greeting. I greeted him too with a little smile. His full name is Yuuto Takanashi. It''s hard to believe that a person like me even has friends, let alone being buddies. I moved to Tokyo three years ago. That is two years after my grandfather passed away. Before Yuuto, my only best buds were my grandfather and the girl who lived next door. As for her snow-white hair, I always thought she was a foreigner. Her name was something related to her hair or at least that''s how I remember. She was not a nerd like me and yet she came to my house to play chess and other board games. She talked a lot and often asked me questions about my other hobbies and stuff, but I never replied properly. There were two reasons: one, because I was shy around people and two, for some strange reason she seemed attractive and pleasant to have around which destroyed my self-confidence completely. I can''t remember her face quite well even though she came very often to my house, but I do remember admiring her beauty. But, I tell myself that, I was young and naive, and it was totally normal to feel the way I felt as, I was a healthy growing boy after all. But then again even if she did appear in front of me, there is no way I would recognize her. Let''s say I did, and I even mustered up the courage and asked her out, there is no way in hell she would accept a nerd like me. But the very interesting thing was my other buddy.


    It was my grandfather (my mother''s father). Unlike other old dudes I know off, usually take it easy in their old days as they are fully aware of their physical and mental instability. On the other hand, my grandfather was still very stubborn to give up his passion. In fact, I remember him this well because of his strange obsession for chess and other strategy related games. I still remember him sitting beside me, giving directions so as to what to do next whenever I played any squad based RTS (Real Time Strategy) or MOBA (Massive Online Battle Arena) games. These are games where you control single or multiple characters to fight your way through different levels or simply win against your opponent. Here, strategy matters the most and only the best strategist wins. I spent most of the time in my room playing games because I was very good at it and yes, also because it was very addictive (at least for me). But the most astonishing thing was that my granddad''s advice helped me win some of those games. It was funny and a bit strange to see an old man cope with modern technology so well. Most of the adults including my parents discourage their kids from playing computer games. My grandfather was the first and only person who acknowledged my skill and encouraged me to play. But that was also one the reasons why parents argued stating that my grandfather was spoiling me. That was five years ago before he passed away. For some reason, I still vividly remember him and all his crazy stories about him commanding a group of heroes into battle, just like the way I did in my games. Although I told myself that it was my grandpa''s fantasies. I still couldn''t rest my heart because of the way he narrated without leaving a single detail, it was as if he was there when it all went down. Sometimes I felt the urge to ask my mom if the stories were true but then again, I was afraid of being laughed at and called "silly". And now, I know I did good by not asking mom or anyone else. My relatives have enough embarrassing childhood memories to roast me for the rest of my life.


    "G¡­..Goo¡­¡­Good Morning, Mr. Arai", Hinata greeted hesitantly with a bit of shy look.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    "Good morning, Miss Hasegawa", I returned the gesture, again with a tiny smile on my face.


    "Hey, no Good Morning for ¡­¡­¡­..", Yuuto exclaimed with a deviant smile on his face.


    "Go to hell", Hinata replied with a stern face interrupting him before he could finish.


    Yuuto had a look of a dead man as if he was shot down by a girl before he could even propose to her.


    "I will see you at school", Hinata said with a soft voice as she left for school ahead of us.


    As the distant became large, I could see her expression change and her murmuring and cussing. It seemed she was mad at something or someone. Yuuto and Hinata are childhood friends. As anyone can guess, when I first transferred to my current high school, Yuuto was the first one to approach and talk to me. Most of the students didn''t take any interest in me because of my nerdy look back then. But I have changed since then for Yuuto sake so that he isn''t made fun of just because he is friends with me. He never complained about it, in fact, it looked like he genuinely liked spending time with me. Later Miss Hasegawa joined the party. Yet, she always is a bit awkward around me for some reason. I tried asking Yuuto about it, he would get this creepy grin on his face and instead of answering me he would, in turn, ask me some idiotic questions like, why was I so concerned about her? and if I was into her? Well honestly, Miss Hasegawa was not a bad person, in fact, she is like an idol. Everyone admires her and she is my one and only best friend''s childhood friend and I am pretty sure that he secretly has a crush on her or at the least he used to have. That is the very reason I don''t want things to grow awkward between us. Yet I tried and told what was on my mind.


    "Hey, I think Miss Hasegawa should not hang out with us or at the least not when I am around¡­¡­¡­", my voice went lower and lower as I spoke, feeling ashamed of myself.


    Yeah, I know, I am a coward, but I think that it was the best for both of us. By both, I mean Hinata and myself. But I forgot the quality of my communication skills when it comes to speaking my mind and got a totally wrong message through.


    "Hey man, what happened, did she do something wrong? Did she offend you in some way? I know she acts a bit strange whenever you are around but I assure you she doesn''t hate you, actually she¡­¡­¡­¡­.. forget that tell me what she did to offend you and I will make her apologize to you", Yuuto replied with a stern face of conviction. And I knew he was not joking.


    "No no no no no¡­¡­. you have got the wrong idea, she has not ¡­¡­¡­", I heard the school bell go as I was clarifying.


    Damn my luck, I told Yuuto not to tell any of these to Hinata and to come to the roof and I shall clarify myself. Both of us then hurried to class. I and Yuuto are in class three C whereas Hinata was in class three A. I am pretty good in studies, but I soon learned that it also hints to a nerdy behaviour. That was bad, as that would again lead me to have no friends at all. But Yuuto already knows my secret so as to how I try to get an average score and try not to stand out. Probably he already told Miss Hasegawa about this. All of a sudden there is this sound of the door sliding and a sudden silence spreads inside the classroom. That was Miss Reiko Hasegawa. Yes, she is Hinata''s older sister. She is also very pretty but also very scary. All the boys in the school adore her. They say that the apple doesn''t fall far from the tree. She didn''t shut the door behind her after she entered, that¡¯s not right. Last she did this and we all had to clean the school grounds for the whole day. It was partly our fault too because we were the ones who skipped her special class and she had prepared well for it too. She was mad at us for the whole week. Well, I deduced it beforehand because she was five minutes late and she normally greets us back with a broad smile whenever we wish her Good Morning, but that wasn''t the case the day she punished us. Well, today was different but not in a bad way, I guess. She did greet us back but it was a broader smile than usual and then she took a huge breath to calm herself and contain the excitement. There are not many things that excite Miss Reiko. It is just two things: cold desserts and cute girls. The latter sounds a bit creepy but it is true. I have seen Miss Reiko snuggling up to her little sister when I accidentally crossed their path in the mall. Hinata was pretty embarrassed to be caught like that and now that I think of it, that might also be the reason why Hinata acts weird around me. She might be still embarrassed because of that day. Well according to me it was perfectly normal, I mean it shows how much Miss Reiko loves her little sister.


    "Hey, what do you think it is this time. Are we in trouble again? How bad is it?" Yuuto asked in a painful tone.


    I knew that nothing was wrong but I still wanted to have some fun. But when I looked at his grim face, I didn''t feel like making fun of him and hence I told him as it is.


    "It''s not bad, in fact, it is good. I think we have a transfer student. To top it up, it is a CUTE GIRL", I replied with a soft voice with emphasis.


    That was the closest I could get from Miss Reiko''s facial expression and body language.


    "CUTE GIRL", Yuuto exclaimed with joy loudly and now we had the attention of the whole class to the last benches.


    "Well, Mr. Takanashi, I wouldn''t waste my time asking you so as to how you managed to acquire that knowledge but nonetheless you are absolutely right. Class, we have a transfer student who would be joining us today. That''s your cue.", Miss Reiko looked at the door as she waved at the transfer student standing beside it; signalling her to enter.


    She entered softly and gently, her silk white hair gliding throughout her parade like a proud nation''s flag would in a gusty wind. She truly looked like a goddess who had descended from the heavens.

 2.Dying

    She then wrote her full name and then turned towards the class. Her position made it difficult to read her family name but nobody cared. The boys were drooling already. I am sure they have already formed a fan club by now.


    "Hello, my name is Yuki. Pleased to make your acquaintance. Henceforth I will be in your care. Please take good care of me.", she had a soft smile on her face which soothing to the heart.


    "Miss Yuki, if you don''t mind me asking, what is your family name?" Haruto, sitting on the first bench asked in the most straight forward way possible.


    "Well¡­¡­...actually I was keeping it as a surprise, to see if he remembers me", she hesitated with a smile that said ¡®I am so embarrassed''.


    I was the least interested person in the class about the ongoing conversation. Miss Hinami, our math teacher had given some practice sums. Math is my favorite subject as it needs all the elements that a good detective needs to solve a case. I love puzzles that involve logic and not just knowledge. When I was dwelling in my math-adventure, the conversation had moved forward and for some reason, it had become quiet, not that I care. Suddenly I felt I nudge near my left elbow and when I turned my eye towards Yuuto, I saw him signaling me to look forward. I was a bit confused, so as why should I when I am enjoying my math here. ¡®Let''s just get it over with'', I told myself and without thinking for a second or preparing myself, as I usually do and turned forward. HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!!!! The whole class had their eyes on me. Some of them were of jealousy while others were of sheer surprise and astonishment. As for me, I didn''t know what was going on!.


    "Well, what do you know. You were always an enigma to most of us but I didn''t know that you had so many cute secrets up your sleeves.", she said it with a scary smile.


    I was still figuring out what was going on. I felt insecure cause I am always a step ahead of everyone but in this situation, I was totally clueless. The transfer student still was in the front and had the same embarrassed look on her face. I was feeling like an idiot for not paying any attention and letting my guard down near a foreign entity. But for some reason, I didn''t feel like I had to be cautious around her. Well, I learned my lesson very well.


    "I think he doesn''t remember. I don''t blame him for that as it was a long time ago.", she said it with a small sad tone.


    "That is no reason for such irresponsibility", Miss Reiko replied with a stern voice.


    What the hell are they going about, somebody please fill me in. I was in the worst situation ever possible. All these years I tried not to attract attention. All the effort and sacrifice destroyed by one transfer student in a single moment. How rotten is my luck.


    "I know a way to remind him of the past because I know you would never forget your cute little sister. Isn''t that right onniiiiiii-tan?" she smiled mischievously.


    A chill spread down my spine when I heard the last word. It felt like all the feelings like surprise, astonishment, confusion jolted into my brain all at once and hence giving me a headache but metaphorically off course. I looked at the board and saw it. It was written ¡®Yuki Arai''. The girl from my childhood, her name was related to her hair colour or at least that''s how my brain had remembered it. Could it be that Miss Yuki is actually the girl from my childhood?


    "We used to play all the time when we were small. Onii-tan was very shy and kind of nerdy back then. But it was very cute though. He was very kind to me.", she had that pretty smile on her as she revealed my disastrous past and was on the verge of destroying my future.


    "That was enough chatter. Miss Arai takes the empty seat in the last row next to Mr. Arai. Mr. Arai be kind to her as you were back then and show her around. Miss Arai feel free to contact me in case you need any help regarding studies or anything else.", Miss Reiko said in a professional tone.


    I still couldn''t wrap my head around the fact that it was the same girl whose last memory is of five years ago and if that wasn''t enough, she was also my cousin sister. Then why did she live in the room next door and she never came when my parents were around. What if she is staying near my house again? I mean now my parents live in India as my dad works there, she could insist on coming over. The only reason I didn''t go was that it would disturb my studies and it would be a big hassle for me to get used to the environment. When I am happy living alone. But now I think it''s going to work against me. So many years, I had worked hard to build my ¡®average fun-loving high school boy'' image in front of others and I can already it crumbling right before my eyes. I looked over to my right and saw her staring at me with a sweet look of admiration. How much I enjoy it to be stared and admired by a cute girl, this was not the time or the place.


    I looked forward and started concentrating on the class. I told myself that I could worry about that later. Soon time passed by and it was lunchtime. I usually go to the cafeteria to buy something or sometimes Yuuto and Hinata come over and cook something for me the previous night and also pack something up for the next day''s breakfast and lunch. They have always been kind to me and hence it''s my highest priority to deal with the misunderstanding I foolishly created before it gets out of hand.


    During the lunch break, I knew Yuki will try to approach me but I had an advantage. Since it was a cute, kind looking transfer student who was a girl, she would be flooded with people who wanted to be friends with her as soon as it was break time. And that is what happened, just the way I had predicted. This was my chance and I ran like hell. By the time I reached the rooftop, I was fully out of breath. I didn''t want Yuuto to see me in this pathetic manner so I stopped and caught my breath and then proceeded to open the door.


    When I opened the door I saw Yuuto on the right side, around the edge of the wall. I thought myself that my look was not that rotten after all, I mean I didn''t have to waste any time waiting for him unlike my other rendezvous with Yuuto, when I had waited even for an hour. That day I had almost concluded that Yuuto was dead. There was a sigh of relief when I saw him there but he had a concerned look on his face as he looked away from me. He didn''t notice me and continued to look in that direction. I called out to him and started explaining before he interrupted me.


    "Hey don''t be angry I remember what you said but¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­", he held his hand massaging his head with a weird smile on his face, as he started explaining himself. It was clear that he had messed up something.


    But I couldn''t care less and all I wanted at that moment was to clear up the misunderstanding and hence I interrupted and started explaining with an affirmative tone.


    "Wait, let me say first, I will listen to your mess later", I took a deep breath "See earlier when I stated that Hinata should stay away from me, I didn''t mean that Hinata was a pain. In fact, she is a wonderful person who is kind hearted and smart and beautiful. To be honest, when you first befriended me, I was kind of concerned for your friendship with Hinata and I thought that it would be ruined just because of me. But, I was totally wrong. She coped with my weirdness and hell, she even cooks for me now and then. She is the best person to hang around with, I like her and I don''t want her to get hurt or be bother to her. See, there is no way I would consider her as a trouble, instead, she has helped me a lot and I have no means to repay her and on top of that, I didn''t want her to get on the wrong side of the people just because she hangs out with me. See, that''s all I wanted to say. Now tell me what you were about to say.", after running my eyes in all of the directions while I was making the speech, I finally looked at him and asked him to continue what he was telling and also apologized for interrupting him before.


    He had this weird grin on his face again. Looking at his face always gets me worried. I hesitated to ask him but I still made an effort.


    "Hey¡­. what happened¡­¡­you were about to say something when I arrived¡­¡­...spit it out already", I asked him hesitantly. I started to stammer as no good has ever come to me when he makes that face.


    "Well my friend, it''s too late for that", he said that with the same face looking away. He did not make eye contact either.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    This is bad, really bad. I started retracing my steps.


    When I came up there was nothing wrong and Yuuto was also pretty serious. I shut the door behind me as I entered the roof. As soon as I started Yuuto wanted to tell me how he messed up and I am sure that was it. I am pretty sure his story was useless as he was going to cry about how he messed up and then beg for my help (Just like the last time). Wait, last time he asked me for a favor he was already on the verge of crying but instead today he was smiling. That doesn''t add up. Then I had a second revelation. When I reached the rooftop Yuuto was looking the other way but his line of vision was very absurd. It was as if he was gazing at something on the floor. Unless he was looking at someone!!!! But I told Yuuto to come alone and not tell anyone and Yuuto is normally the person you can trust your secrets to be safe with. Unless he was confronted by Hinata herself. That idiot couldn''t keep his act together around and she might have suspected something was wrong and this idiot spilled everything. if this all is true then that means the person behind the wall at whom Yuuto was gazing is¡­¡­¡­¡­. I peeked around the wall, onto the other side from where Yuuto was standing.


    "Shit", I said with a low tone as I knew my newly found school life was doomed as of today.


    There stood the grim image of Hinata, with her eyes cast downwards. Her face bright red, my best guess: she is very angry and she just wants to kill me. I started shivering, after all, I had pissed off the school idol by spouting some nonsense for the past five minutes. Although I said nice things about her, she still might suspect that I was lying and deep down I still think that she is a bother. I don''t blame her, I mean it was foolish of me to bring that up and that too in front of her best and childhood friend. It was as if I was trying to conspire between them and break their friendship. I have already accepted my fate. I will listen to whatever she has to say as a final courtesy.


    "I..I¡­..I don''t consider you as a bother either, Arai-Kun", she replied with polite, flustered and a shy voice.


    Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa¡­¡­. What just happened? Well, this is one of those few occasions when my intuition and speculations fall right of the cliff. Human relationships and socialization are two of those areas where I don''t have any success when it is connected with myself. When I try to resolve matters by thinking and taking action strategically. I didn''t know whether to be happy or sad. Well, everything happened for the best. Now it''s best in my interest to finally apologise once to Hinata too.


    "Miss Takanashi, I am very sorry for causing such a big misunderstanding. It was foolish of me. I hope you will forgive me.", that was the first formal apology of my life and for some strange reason, I am kind of happy that it was Hinata.


    "So is it fine if I come and cook dinner for you today? Think of it as an apology from my side for misunderstanding you.", she asked with a polite voice without making eye contact and a bit of shyness sprinkled on top as usual.


    "Sure, why not if it''s not a problem for you. I mean it''s not really necessary. You have really been very kind to me and your friendship is all I ever want.", I said with a smile on my face and a sigh of relief inside my head as it was finally over.


    I headed back to class and took my seat. It was odd as Yuki wasn''t there on her seat. The bell rang and the teacher entered. Suddenly there was a thud of the back door opening. There she was, gasping in panic. Yuki was searching for someone. It was easy to tell the way she was gasping and since she doesn''t know anyone around. Aah¡­. ¡®doesn''t know anyone around'', it resonated inside my head. Does that mean she was searching for me? She suddenly looked at me then sighed with relief. Crap, she was searching for me. She apologised for being late and took her seat. Now that I think about it, I felt a bit guilty. After all, she transferred to this school at this odd time of the year just to meet me. That means she badly needs my help and if her story really checks out, then I, her brother abandoned her in her time of need. I am a crappy brother. Well, that''s nothing new. I was selfish and lost in my own world. I will apologise to her later, and ask her the true reason for her arrival. And the whole day passed by. Nothing interesting.


    It was evening, I stood up with the intention of apologising to Yuki as half the class left after hearing the last bell. As I came closer, a swarm of girls and boys rushed and surrounded her. They all wanted to hang out with her since the classes for the day ended for today.


    "I am deeply sorry but I have some important matters to attend today but I will take a rain check", she said forcing herself to smile and left in a hurry.


    There goes my chance to apologise. Soon Hinata came to the class door and I left with them as Yuuto started spouting nonsense again.


    On the way, Yuuto and Hinata were arguing so as to what to cook for dinner. I was just happy that I was getting a homemade meal so I was happy and didn''t butt into their conversation or argument, whatever it was. They planned to stop by the convenience store on the way and buy the required groceries. As we neared the convenience store, I saw a familiar figure leave the store. Oh, it was Yuki, but why is she here? Didn''t she have something important to attend or, something like that? She stopped and started waving at us. Was she waiting for us?


    "Reo, over here", she screamed, still waving.


    No, she was just waiting for me. Anyway, this was my chance. I told Yuuto and Hinata to go ahead and finish the shopping and I will be waiting outside. Yuuto was about to say something idiotic with his same old nasty grin when Hinata shoved a fist into his stomach and dragged him into the store. Then I turned towards Yuki and pointed at the bench and asked her if it was alright if we sat there and talked. She agreed instantly and we headed in the direction. As we headed I took a quick sneak-peek at her and she was quiet delighted. It didn''t look as if she was in troubled. But then again, it was not my area of expertise when it comes to reading people''s intentions off the battlefield.


    We both sat down. I started with my apology.


    "Sorry for earlier. I wasn''t trying to avoid you but I had to take care of an urgent matter and I didn''t care to ask about you or your well-being. That was rude of me and I am truly very sorry for my behaviour this afternoon. But honestly, I am confused. What is with this sudden appearance? I mean, I have no problem but my parents usually give me prior information about matters like these, especially when someone from abroad would be visiting. (Not like I have regular foreign guests)", I said with an apologising yet concerned tone while I looked straight into her eyes.


    She starred for a second and then giggled and clung to my hand. I was taken aback with surprise and shrugged by mistake. She instantly looked at me when I shrugged, loosening her grip around my arm and went a bit distant from me, a little near her original seat on the bench. Crap, I messed up again. What kind of an idiot am I?


    "I am sorry, I didn''t mean to¡­..", I started apologising while searching for a good excuse for acting like an ass, again.


    "No it''s fine", She interrupted "I know we haven''t met for a long time and you have a lot of questions. But the thing is I am running out of time", she said with a sad voice.


    Running out of time? Wait, is she sick? If yes, why did she approach me? and I don''t have that load of money or know a good doctor. What happened to her parents or her other relatives? Did they just abandon her? While I was thinking about this, I noticed tears rolling down her cheek. She might be pretty desperate, that she reached out to me of all people. ¡®At least do one good thing in your life, you useless asshole'', my inner voice cried to me. Well, I will try my best to support her. Whatever it is, I will be there for her.


    "Reo, we are all done. You coming?", I heard a distant call from Yuuto, waving at me.


    Before I could answer, Yuki suddenly pounced at me. I was flat on the bench with Yuki over me, pinning me down. She was very light and I could overpower her with ease but I couldn''t. Probably because she was literally crying. I possibly couldn''t say no to that face. What could go wrong? Anyway, I had already decided to support her so no biggie. ¡®Whatever happens, we shall face it together'', I convinced myself.


    "Please¡­¡­. HELP ME. You are the only one I can rely upon.", she begged with a desperate tone.


    "Stop crying. You called me brother and it is the job of a brother and sister to help each other in their time of need. So don''t worry I will support you and try my fullest to get you out of the trouble you are in", I said, looking all cool and everything.


    I wished Hinata was there to see me now, in my heroic moment. I am a lost cause, taking advantage of my sister''s position. When I realised, she was still crying but those tears were no more of sorrow but of sheer joy. I was relieved to see her smile. It''s good that the street was empty or else I would have a hard time explaining myself. I am sure that Yuuto and Hinata saw it too, I will explain it to them later. They will believe me when I tell them, I am sure of it, after what happened earlier today. Maybe they might even consider help me.


    "Thank you, so much brother. There is a lot that I should have explained but there is very little time and I can''t risk waiting anymore. I hope you will understand. But I am sure you will figure it out like you always do.", she said smiling but yet tearing.


    Yeah, no kidding. There is a lot you should explain, but, wait, what do you mean by ¡®less time'' and ¡®no time to explain'' and ¡®me figuring out''. What.... are you leaving or something? But I kept those questions for later and tried to console her for the moment.


    "I am your brother after¡­¡­. Mmm¡­Mmmm", I tried to look cool again, when suddenly I felt suffocated and obstructed like something was blocking my mouth.


    It was soft, like ice-cream. But it was warm like hot chocolate. It moved like an eel and although the feeling was a bit strange and new, I couldn''t let go of it. Eventually, I came back to my senses when I realised, what was actually happening. WHAT THE HELLLLLL!!!!!! What am I doing? Kissing my own sister and that too on the lips, I would never be able to explain this. But why would she do such a thing? A moment ago she was weeping and now ¡­¡­.


    All of a sudden I started feeling drowsy. I didn''t know what to do. My limbs felt light and lifeless, everything started to slow down around me. I was losing consciousness. If I had to explain it in a single word, then I think that I was DYING.

 3.Celest

    Where am I? Am I dead? Is this what death feels like? So many questions but no one to answer them. It was dark and seemed very grim. There was something about this darkness, it wasn''t scary. I thought death would be scary. I guess I was wrong. All of a sudden a chill ran down my spine. I felt as if something very soft was pushing me up but at the same time, I felt I was being pulled down. Then, after a second the same feeling reversed with my face being blown at. What kind of an afterlife is this? I asked myself with a bit of dissatisfaction. I was lost in my thoughts when I heard a voice. It was soft and soothing, like a cute girl''s.


    "Open your eyes", what is it? Who is it? What do you want? I murmured while showing my disinterest in her suggestion (whoever she was). But she was persistent.


    "Open your eyes¡­¡­.wake up¡­..wake up¡­..WAKE UP!!!!!!", it looked like she finally lost her patience and screamed.


    "SHUT UP!!!!", She was successful, in pissing me off as I opened my eyes furiously.


    But when I did open my eyes, I needed some time to assess the situation. I finally figured out what was happening to me and as it seemed very true and accurate, I didn''t want to believe it one bit as I saw the deserted-rocky land in front of my eyes. According to my assessment¡­¡­¡­I was falling down from at least a TEN THOUSAND FEET!!!! HOLY SHIIIIT, I AM GOING TO DIE¡­¡­. wait a minute, I thought I was dead already. What the hell is happening to me? In a few minutes, I will have broken every bone in my body. God! just thinking about the pain is making me faint. How much craziness should I go through? Well, I have to say among all the others, this one is the craziest. So this is how it''s going to end? ¡®I am still a virgin damn it, show a little mercy'', I cried, but no one was there to hear it. I looked totally hopeless. Anyway, I am dying, so I will die with honour and hence embraced myself and got ready to brace the impact. My body started rolling in all directions as it neared the ground. It all ends today, I thought to myself when the ground was a few feet''s away and closed my eyes forever.


    After some time (unsure how much time had actually passed)¡­..


    There was a warm feeling that ran all the way down to my chest and lower half of my body. What is this all about? Am I finally dead? But I felt alive. I am growing tired off this. I tried opening my eyes. It was quite bright. Slowly, as my vision cleared, I saw a strange figure. When my vision finally cleared, I jumped back with a mixed feeling of fear, surprise and confusion. It was a strange creature, which looked like a rhinoceros but with a lot of extra horns all over its body and looked a lot fiercer. It too took a leap back making a strange high-pitched screeching sound. Now that I take a closer look, it looked more sacred than me. But it made an attempt to approach me sniffing its way through. I wasn''t sure how to react.


    "I think she likes you", a low pitch, high base voice spoke behind me.


    I turned around just to be surprised again. Crawling back, I stared at the creature. It was a lizard standing upright wearing human-like but old fashioned clothes. Green coloured scales were covering all of its exposed body parts and I am sure his unexposed parts too.


    "I am sorry if I scared you. I know, we Ragnorin''s tend to seem a bit intimidating. Com''on, whom am I kidding, Ok, I admit, a lot intimidating and scary (he smiles widely, exposing his scary and razor-sharp teeth). But I assure you, good sir, you have nothing to worry, especially from me. Because I am but nothing more than a simple travelling merchant. Here, let me help you out", he held out his hand as a friendly gesture to help me get up on my feet. I couldn''t help but notice a strange marking (or rather I should say a symbol) on his hand. It was a letter eight which had wings protruding from the intersection of the lines or that''s what it looked like to me. I couldn''t make out exactly what it was? I withheld my curiosity for now as I was still not sure if the person/creature in front of me was hostile or not. But my options at the time were almost next to nothing, other than running away which seemed pretty dumb and so I took his hand.


    "Seems like a pretty unusual place for taking a nap. Don''t you think?", as he completed his sentence, I started to understand why and if I had to say so, it was not just unusual but VERY VERY VERY VERY UNUSUAL!!!!The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    And I am not joking or exaggerating. I was in the middle of a crater whose approximate radius would be at least five hundred meters. I had no reply to his question. I started to try and recollect, joining all the pieces because I was as curious as the creature, so as to how I got there? I started to remember as I started my walk to school and my usual encounters with the people I know and my unusual encounter with my cousin sister who I had not met for a long time. Then I solved a misunderstanding, me, Yuuto and Hinata headed towards my house, I met my cousin sis again near the convenience store, we sat to chat while they went shopping for groceries, Yuki started to cry then I consoled her and then¡­¡­then¡­¡­. then¡­¡­WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED AFTER THAT????? All I could remember is falling from the sky. But that didn''t seem right, I had a strange feeling that I was missing something very important. Where the hell was I? what is this place? How did get here and why? My head was flooded with questions again. But I could worry about that later. I didn''t want him to think anything weird about me or be alarmed after hearing my totally unbelievable story. Hence I gave him an ambiguous reply.


    "I am sorry, but I can''t quite remember myself so as to what happened to me that I ended up here.", I replied with a confused smile. I was not sure if he will buy it but I gave it a try at least. I could surely not tell him the actual truth. He would think that I have lost my mind and believe me when I say it; that is not a good first impression to make on someone you just met.


    "Ah, a very unusual case indeed. I wonder, what could be the circumstance to end up in a situation like the one you are in. Do you remember where you live? Your name? I can''t figure out anything from your clothing either? I am quite intrigued and wish to know more about you if that''s alright with you off course. You see I am an aspiring novelist and I intend to write a story that will leave everyone who reads it speechless. You get me?", he was almost lost in his own fantasy.


    While he was telling me about his dreams and passion, the weird looking Rhino went on sniffing me and my surroundings. I wasn''t sure if it was planning on eating me or mating with me because it acted quite strange. Either way, I was shitting my pants here.


    "Oh, there is nothing to worry about. She is my travel buddy Bessie. We together have travelled to many different places together, meeting new people and getting to know different cultures of different races all around the globe. But we still have a lot to learn. We¡­¡­.", as he went on rambling, Bessie came nearer and I got more uncomfortable.


    "As I said, Bessie has grown a liking to you. I think she wants you to feed her. Go on, give here these", he encouraged me, as he pushed some green looking edibles into my hand.


    I raised those in front of her mouth and she quickly chewed on those, carefully avoiding my hands. It felt kind of nice. I was fond of animals in my childhood when I was little. We had a cat at my grandfather''s ancestral house but that is a story for another time.


    "So young sir. Would you like to join us? The nearest town is Celest and we would be happy to give you a lift and we could also use a travel partner to kill the boredom and it''s the perfect place to find work, especially for you. Even though I say it''s the nearest town, it takes almost two days to reach there with Bessie. My cart is up there. So how about we get out of this crater, hook up Bessie to the cart and leave for Celest together on a journey like never before. Now that will be a story worthy to tell everyone. What do you say?", he said with enthusiasm oozing out from everywhere and Bessie matched his exclamation with a loud screech.


    Hey man, it is just a two-day journey. But I didn''t say anything because I didn''t want to ruin their moment. But I was still concerned because I had nothing to pay them back. And that concern clearly showed on my face.


    "Hey, why are you still quiet? Aren''t you pumped with excitement after my great speech? ...Mmmmm¡­¡­... I know what you are worried about. You think you would owe us and you have nothing to give right now, isn''t that right? Well, don''t worry about that. I did tell you I am an aspiring novelist, tell me your story on the way. Two days are enough to get at least some of your memories back right? That would be a big help in itself and I also did mention the ¡®boredom killing part''. See, we would love to have you and Bessie would never forgive me for leaving a lonely, memoryless man to wander in the desert in these harsh climatic conditions all by himself.", he joked while he made his point perfectly clear.


    There is no doubt. He is a merchant all right and a quiet skilled one too. I thought this as an opportunity to gain some information about this world too. After all, it seemed nothing like the afterlife and I had a feeling that I wouldn''t be leaving from this place anytime soon. So I took the merchants offer. We attached his cart to Bessie and departed for Celest as we took one last look at the crater from its edge.

 4.Baren

    Now I was all collected, calm and hydrated. Its evening and yet I was so fresh. Usually, at this time, I would be sulking on my bed in the apartment. This seems like a pleasant break from my usual routine. Now I was myself again, I thought I should start collecting information as much as I can and make the most of this trip. Now that I realise, I held a perfect conversation with a lizard or Ragnorin, as he called himself. Wait, is that his name or his race''s. Would it be too rude of me to ask him that? I was confused again? Before getting intimate, I should start with the basics but be straight with it. It often helps to build good trusting bonds.


    "Sir, I am sorry, I don''t know if you mentioned it earlier but could I know what is your name?", I asked hesitantly.


    "Why are you afraid, young sir? There is no harm in asking one''s name, is there? Anyway, its Baren Baltech of the Clovis clan. A pleasure to make your acquaintance. What about you? Do you have any memory related to your name?", he asked with a broad smile.


    "Actually, I do. Its Ray, Ray Ash. Probably the only thing I am sure off.", I said, forcing myself to smile as I felt bad about lying to a person who trusts me completely whom he met just a few hours ago.


    "Well, Mr. Ash. Looks like you are regaining your memories. It''s a good sign", he said with the same broad smile.


    "Please, call me Ray, Mr.Beltech. I insist", I said with a smile.


    "Then you shall address me as Baren", he said with a stiff yet polite tone and chuckled.


    I couldn''t deny his friendly gesture. And now was the time for some semi-intimate interrogation or that''s what I call like to call it.


    "So Baren¡­¡­.. just out of curiosity¡­¡­.. is this your native language or is there a ¡®Ragnorin tongue'', or something similar to that? You don''t have to answer it if you don''t want to.", I tried to be as diplomatic as possible as I didn''t know where the line was.


    "There is no need for hesitation my friend. Actually, there is and not just one. But you see, as civilization advanced and it did aggressively after the Zarconian war, trade emerged and later, all the races presented each representative who then formed a council. In this council, it was decided that there was a need for the use of one common language that shall be known and taught to all and everyone around the land. This would help in faster and better development of social and professional relationships. Since humans were a majority in terms of population and they were very eager and cooperative, and had also played a major role in the Zarconian war. Hence Nilan was chosen as the universal language. Well, it was also pretty easy and can be spoken by anyone without having to twist your tongue or jaws too much. I hope I didn''t bore you? I tried to keep it as short as possible.", he told with a chuckle.


    Actually, that was quite informative. But I had a feeling there was actually a longer story to that after I heard ¡®Zirconian war''. That was history and as much as I was dying to know about it, I couldn''t waste my time as there were other important things that I needed to know which would increase my chances of survival. But I also had to know about my arrival in this world and try to find a way to get out of this place, in case things got hairy.


    "Baren, how did you find me in that crater? I mean we have covered quite some distance by now but we didn''t come across anything that looked nearly as similar as that crater. Did you see anyone carry me there?", I asked him with a discontent tone.


    Because if I remember, when I was falling down, I didn''t see anything like that below me or anywhere near. Hell! the greatest mystery is that I am still alive. Shit! Now that I think about it, I shouldn''t have asked at all. I hope I don''t raise any suspicion.


    "Actually, that is a good question. You see as I and Bessie were on our merry way, singing. We saw a shining object, like a shard of glass falling down from the sky at a distance and when it finally made contact with the ground, there was a cloud of sand which was formed at the point of impact or at least that''s how we saw it. We then rushed to see what happened, just out of curiosity, off course. And there you were, right in the middle of the crater, alive but unconscious.", he said with a bit of seriousness.


    If he is indeed telling the truth, then it means all of the crazy ¡®falling from the sky'' shit is true and I did fall from over a thousand feet. But I still don''t know how I got that high. I wanted to ask him more but I thought it would be rude to interrogate him like that. So I switched to a lighter topic. Before, I had heard him mention about Bessie like she was actually some kind of friend and not just a pet.


    "Hey, you always include Bessie in your stories. I am curious, what exactly is she? What is your history with her?", I asked with a curious smile showing that I was actually interested in him as a person and was not a mean interrogator.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    "Oh, you remember her name. I see you are a good man at heart. Bessie is a Clokiren, an herbivorous animal, which has beastly strength in its legs and a very long lasting stamina. Perfect for towing carts. But for me, Bessie is my best friend and my travel buddy as I might have mentioned earlier. You are the first person who actually asked about it. It kind of makes me and Bessie happy", he said with a pleasant smile.


    He seemed very happy that I asked. ¡®Nice one'', I complimented myself. I thought that I should rest for a while and save some of the questions for tomorrow as the sun was setting. It seemed like Baren was searching for a spot to rest too. Although every spot in this desert looked the same to me, I thought I should probably keep my mouth shut and not question his expertise.


    Finally, we stopped near a small rock which had an over-shade above our head, like a small roof. I never imagined we would find a place like this. I guess he was actually searching for this place as he seemed very familiar with the route and directions.


    He immediately erected a tent refusing my help, all by himself. He seemed very experienced with it. He even lent me something like a big bag made of wool. I figured it was a sleeping bag but he explained it to me anyway. I will have to think up a way to repay him soon enough. I glanced at the sky above. Everything was normal; dark sky, stars, moon¡­¡­except, for one thing, there were two moons. One was green and the other was white. Both the moons were halved and the halved moons were facing each other like mirror images. I got curious again; no surprise there. I asked Baren if there was a story behind the reason there were two moons. But then I thought that it might be perfectly normal for them to have two moons. And it wouldn''t have taken him much longer to figure out that I came from a world which had only one moon and most of all, the fact that I was lying all this time. ¡®I have got be more careful'', I scolded myself and wished Baren ¡®Good Night''. He wished me back as he crept deeper into his bag and fell asleep and me too after a short while, as I saw Bessie getting cozy with itself.


    The next day¡­¡­¡­¡­.


    "Rise and Shine, Mr. Ray", a loud greeting broke my sound, deep sleep.


    I woke to realise that I was the last one to wake up. Baren was all fresh and packing his things up, ready to hit the road. I didn''t want him to think of me as a bother and hence I hurried and packed up my stuff. While we were on the road he offered me breakfast. It was vegetarian, as he explained to me how he converted into a vegetarian. Not to be rude but it was a lame story. The rest of the day went on pretty much the same way as the previous one. I gained a lot of knowledge about his race and the different ones out there. I came to know about the traditions of the Ragnorins and their diverse cast systems. That was a lot to take in, most of which seemed useless at this point of time. But I did find one interesting set of knowledge. It was about the strange marking on his hand I had noticed earlier. According to Baren, I learned that there are thirteen major continents in this world. Each continent has a goddess who oversees and protects the citizens of that continent (or so is the belief according to me). The thirteen continents are:


    <ol>


    <li>Alcius</li>


    <li>Vulkyria</li>


    <li>Mestlecair</li>


    <li>Precimus</li>


    <li>Celetoir</li>


    <li>Eqinard</li>


    <li>Farutious</li>


    <li>Balcardo</li>


    <li>Nilfrig</li>


    <li>Geldenor</li>


    <li>Helinord</li>


    <li>Rugridge</li>


    <li>Titania</li>


    </ol>


    Most of the names were not even pronounceable. He said that those were the names of the continents before the war. Those names got attached to the goddess''s actual names which later acted somewhat like their family names. He was about to start chanting their names when I diverted him to tell me about the mark on his hand. Either way, I wouldn''t remember their names.


    He explained that the mark is called ¡®Soul Contractor''s Brand'' and it depicts that he is a contractor, a soul contractor to be precise. Here, in this world, we could trade almost anything, including our souls. It was pretty scary but was the truth. You get the soul contractor brand through two different methods. One, when someone offers you their soul as collateral for your services as they have no money to pay yet are in dire need of the services offered by the ¡®contractor''. They will have to work for the contractor to repay your debt and gain the right on his/her soul back. The second was that; some other soul contractor should swear his allegiance to you. The second normally happens in the royal factions. The concept of keeping your soul as collateral was pretty grim and hence I didn''t investigate further and thought of taking it slowly on this particular subject. But it was kind of familiar, like the games I played, where I could summon a hero or champion to fight for me. The only difference is that here there was no summoning involved. He later added that there were some other methods like being born to soul contractor-parents, getting a blessing from the goddess herself. After all these brands represent a particular goddess. His brand represented Tyra Alcius, the lowest one. He later explained that as we go down the list, the strength of the goddess and area of the continent increases. We were currently in Alcius.


    Pity I didn''t have a soul contract. I guess I am not a chosen hero or whatever I wished I was. That''s a bummer. It seems that they appear on different body parts according to the goddess your contract is with. Barren tried his best to explain it to me but I got the impression that even he was not fully aware of how it works. Hence I didn''t question him any further.


    Again, I ran out of time as the moon showed up. But today we didn''t stop to sleep. He asked me to sleep in the cart and he would be awake in case I need anything. When I asked if he was gonna rest or not, he smilingly explained that he would rather stay awake all night so that they could reach Celest early so that he could crash in his friend''s inn there than sleep on a rock under this cold conditions. I saw the point in his argument but also felt sad cause I couldn''t be of any help. Seriously, my incapability to assist him was eating me alive. And hence I slept cursing myself a good night as I curled in my sleeping bag hoping for a good and refreshing tomorrow. I was a bit sad too as my journey with Baren would soon come to an end.

 5.Layna

    There was tinkering, people''s chatter and all kinds of squeaking and crying sounds which were successful in breaking my peaceful sleep. I got up with a slight discontent of being awoken from my sound sleep as any other teenager.


    "Ah, you are awake, young sir.", Barren exclaimed with his usual cheerfulness.


    "Hmmmm¡­¡­", I tried to greet him with a good morning but that was all I could say instead.


    I looked around as I saw crowds of people, many of which were hard to determine if they were truly people or some random fowl. But I was still drowsy and hence didn''t give it much thought. I made an effort to ask Barren about our current location but by the looks of it, I guessed we were in Celest already.


    "Barren¡­¡­¡­.. where¡­ are we?", either way, I asked, just to be sure.


    "Oh, my apologies. We arrived in Celest a few moments ago. I didn''t bother to wake you up as it seemed like you were in a very deep sleep. We are now headed to my friend''s place as I had mentioned earlier. We can freshen up there. I will inform you when we get there, so relax.", he replied while maintaining his focus on the narrow lane we were treading through. The lane wasn''t narrow but was made so by the vendors stalled at both sides of the street.


    He was calm as ever even though he didn''t sleep for the whole night. Maybe this was not his first.


    But now as my journey came to an end, I got tensed. I had no money on me and my clothes were pretty unusual (according to this realm). Barren did tell me that he would assist me in finding myself a decent job but then again, I don''t think I had the necessary skill set to do that. I also felt more and more in debt to Barren. He seemed happy to help even he was a merchant. Guess merchants in this world are kind or maybe he is one of the kinder ones or maybe his race is known for its kindness or...


    ¡­or maybe I am just being naive.


    After a few moments from my conversation with Barren, we stopped. I peeked outside to catch a glimpse of this friend he was talking about. I am sure his friend would be out there to greet him.


    Well to my surprise, we didn''t stop in front of his house but in front of an inn. When he meant of crashing at his friend''s place, he meant in a room in his friend''s inn. Maybe he is a fellow merchant just like Barren here.


    "Come on in, Ray. No need for hesitation. Nobody will bother you when they know that you are with me. You see", he said with a big smile.


    "Do you come here often?", I asked rhetorically with a tone of curiosity (which was totally uncalled for).


    "Often? I was born here. Folks all around here know me. when I was young I was the little notorious rascal. Used to cause and get in trouble a lot. Well, those were some good old days.", he looked up as he nostalgically narrated his youth.


    Now that I think about it, it was very foolish of him to help a stranger wandering in the middle of nowhere. I somehow doubt that it was a decision made in a whim. He doesn''t look like a guy who would make lousy decisions. On top of that, he has a soul contract brand or whatever it''s called. The way he explained it, even though he didn''t know about it completely, it still didn''t seem like something anyone could acquire it that easily. I wonder how he acquired it? what his true capabilities are?


    WHAT IS HIS TRUE MOTIVE BEHIND HELPING ME?


    As I was lost in my train of thought, I didn''t notice that we had already reached the reception. I came back to my senses when the receptionist enquired about me.


    "He is a son of one of my client. He is a bit lazy and not so good with people, a usual problem with single kids. His father sent him with me so that I can find him a decent job. He is a really good man and was really worried about him as he is his only son.", Barren looked at me and then winked while making sure that she didn''t notice.


    The receptionist was a lizardma¡­¡­... I mean a Ragnorin just like Barren. I wonder if she is the friend he was talking about all this time. Anyway, I had to act appropriately to make sure Barren''s backstory of myself doesn''t seem like a hoax.


    "Whatever, that old man was a pain in the ass. I am just happy to be away from him.", I replied like a brat I was described as.


    Well, it was totally effortless. I mean, I was being my true self there. It was a piece of cake but I am pretty sure I pissed off the receptionist with my attitude. That was some quick thinking by Barren, whipping up a backstory which is so believable and somewhat true to my real backstory too, I guess. I was very grateful to Barren for not revealing the truth. Things could have got complicated if he had spoken the truth. For time being, everything went smoothly and I was glad for it.


    This increased my curiosity about Barren even further. To possess such high-grade soft skills. He was no ordinary trader, that''s a given. But I wasn''t satisfied with the idea of him being just a trader who was very good at his work. Something about him felt odd, from the moment he picked me up and until he haggled with the receptionist about my origins, he kind of seemed to be in his element. Normally a few minutes of observation is enough to know what makes a person tick. But Barren was still an enigma and it made me restless. That is something that makes me tick.


    "Home sweet home", a loud exclamation by Barren (as always).


    We had already reached our room and to my surprise, it looked quite good. After what I had seen about inns in medieval ages, I was a bit hesitant about staying in one. But this looked very clean. There were clean drinking water, feather beds and a personal closet. Wait a minute¡­¡­¡­¡­. there is only one bed. Oh, there is a door in the corner of the room. Maybe it''s kind of a storeroom, I will have to rest over there tonight. I opened the door to check it out and voila, it was a small room with a big pot which somewhat resembled a toilet from my world. I started sweating profusely. I haven''t slept with anyone else in the same room and let alone on the same bed. Well, I will have to manage on the floor if I am able to live through the chilly night.


    "Ray, I am heading out for a bit. Make yourself at home. Here are some snacks to keep you company", he said half dressed, as he kept a big basket on the bed.


    Food might be your best friend but it can''t save me from boredom. That is what I wanted to say but he was too nice and being so considerate that I ate my own words for my own good.


    "Oh yeah, I forgot, the servants will bring another feather bed so you don''t need to worry about sleeping on the floor or with me", he laughed silly as I let out a sigh of relief.


    I was looking out at the street from the window like a locked up princess in a tower and didn''t notice Barren leave until I saw him on the street. He was quite famous as every alternate street vendor greeted him as he walked past them. I still wonder who he really is and what are is his real capabilities and limits.


    After a while of my street viewing, I felt a bit drowsy. I lied on the soft feather bed. It was way more luxurious and comfortable than the one in my room back in Japan. Ooooooooo¡­¡­. this feels so gooooood. I closed my eyes for a short nap (although I didn''t do anything at all).Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    The next instant I open my eyes; I saw a cute face which was an inch away from my own. She had feline years bulging out just above the area where the human ears lie. If it were some anime this would be my most clich¨¦ moment where the protagonist would land an accidental kiss and the whole drama would follow where the girl would feel embarrassed and then throw a bunch of things back at the protagonist. But then again this was my miserable life and what followed wasn''t remotely similar to what I just narrated.


    Looking at the face that close no matter how cute creeps me out let alone to be awoken by someone else than my alarm clock (which unfortunately didn''t exist in this realm). I rolled a bit back a bit, giving a startled look which turned into a grim look of a scared person as I realised I had reached the end of the bed and was soon going to land with my face kissing the floor. Which I did, eventually.


    "I am sorry young master. I didn''t mean to scare you", she apologised as she made haste in order to help me get up.


    As I rose, I saw her cute face again, only this time I had more time to observe the tiny details. Her hair was pale gold and so was the fur growing on her ear. Her eyes were of a similar colour too. She was wearing a typical black and white long gown maid outfit. My heart started racing as I realised that; as she was helping me to get up and still asking me if I were all right, she held my arm tightly and very firmly to her bosom.


    I couldn''t think straight (I am a healthy, growing, teenage boy after all) and I didn''t like it when I felt that I was losing my cool (It made me feel insecure). I had no choice to pull off my hand forcefully as it didn''t seem as if she was going to leave it anytime soon.


    "Oh¡­¡­¡­.I....I¡­¡­I am¡­..I am sorry", she retracted her hand slowly with her eyes downcast and a sad look on her face. As if she was about to cry.


    I didn''t mean to be rude but it was my first time talking to a cute girl who was not Hinata. It was the fact that I never received any special treatment like that and hence I don''t know what to do when I receive it. I sound pretty lame but that''s how it is. I am a fighter, not a lover. I still felt guilty for my behaviour and I wanted to apologise. I made up my mind, took a deep breath and I started.


    "Nnnn¡­¡­o¡­¡­¡­..its¡­¡­its¡­¡­my¡­¡­.", GOD, why the hell am I so low voiced and why on earth am I stammering.


    I guess I already have the answer to that. She might cry anytime or at least I thought so and I must hurry and hence I tried again. But luck wasn''t on my side as someone had already entered the room or maybe he was standing there all along. I couldn''t tell as I was tangled in my own situation here.


    "What the hell is wrong with you man. You don''t have to be so rude to her. She was just trying to help. You have got some nerve¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­.", he didn''t look happy about it.


    The way he went on shouting at me and defending her, it seemed as though he admired her. It wasn''t obvious but I have been around people enough to know that. They were of the same race, that was the only thing I was sure of. His fur was orange coloured.


    "Its fine Lucas. It''s my mistake, to begin with. I shouldn''t have startled him like that", she retaliated, giving off a faint vibe that said ¡®I am tired of being protected''.


    "But I am tired of seeing people treat you disrespectfully because¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­because¡­¡­¡­¡­because of your past", he looked at me with disgust as he stammered along his reply.


    "It does not bother me and I don''t need a bodyguard to speak on behalf of me. I can do fine on my own. Thank you. This will be the last time I am warning you", the weak faced damsel in distress situation turned into a feminist moment.


    "But Layna, I was just trying to¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­", Lucas tried to explain himself but it was all in vain.


    "I said enough. We will pick this up later. I want this to be the last time that something like this will happen.", she spoke in a soft voice and then turned towards me with a big smile on her face.


    "Sorry for the fuss, young master. We came to deliver this feather bed that master Barren had ordered. Is it okay if we lay it down here?", she asked in the most polite way possible.


    "Ye¡­.ye¡­. yes, of course.", I replied with a stammer.


    Lucas had already left but he watched me with a look of disgust, that will grow by time. This is what they call ¡®getting on the wrong foot''. Hope that doesn''t come to bite me back. I wonder what he was talking about when he was talking about me treating her because of Layna''s past. Yet another mystery, this is getting interesting day by day.


    "Oh, Layna my dear. I see you have already met my guest here. So what do you think of Layna? Isn''t she the cutest creature around.", he said, having no idea what just happened.


    I gave a weird smile hoping to hint that I didn''t want to continue that conversation.


    "Ok, master Barren. I will leave you two be. And just a reminder that lunch will be served in an hour.", she is the cutest creature I have met so far, I agree with you Barren.


    "Layna my dear, how many times have I told you to call me Uncle Barren or even Uncle would fine. Calling me Master Barren makes me so distant from you and a little sad too", he replied like a small puppy who is very sad and needs cuddling.


    She smiled as she closed the door. I couldn''t keep Barren in the dark and I also wanted to get it off my chest. So I came straight to the point. But Barren got the best of me as he took a seat on the bed beside me with a hand on my back.


    "I know what happened and you needn''t explain. I was outside when it began. I also know that it wasn''t your fault.", he replied like an enlightened monk.


    For a moment I felt relief. Barren was so understanding. He must be the nicest person on earth¡­¡­..nicest¡­¡­¡­.WHAT THE HELL AM I SAYING?


    Damn, this is not right at all. If he really was outside, then I would have got some feedback when Lucas left the room. Anyone would be creeped out to see a person lurk outside a room, even if it were his own. And if he just heard then how can be he so sure that I wasn''t at fault. He is hiding something.


    Wait a minute, is he spying on me? Him going to meet his friends was just an excuse to spy on me. Who in the right mind would leave a stranger in a room with his hard-earned earnings, alone?


    It was this moment that I was certain that Barren had neither trusted me nor was a gullible fool I thought he was. He is just like me. Cannot give up a good mystery. He already knows that I am lying or I am hiding something at the least.


    Damn it, how could I let him fool me. I should be more careful around Barren. Now that I know his motive, it is easier to predict his moves.


    I can''t blame him either. He wants to protect the people he loves.


    That is the reason he took me with him rather than letting me go on my own. He wanted to keep a close eye on me. It''s like the saying that says ¡®keep your friends close and enemies closer''. Barren is surely stronger than he lets out because he was damn sure that he would be able to eliminate me if I turned out to be a bad seed.


    That is the reason the receptionist was so fast to accept my story because it came from Barren. That might also be the reason so as to why people trust him and love him so much in spite of being a merchant who is usually known for their cunningness.


    I should look out for myself. I still haven''t figured out how I wound up in that crater which is in the middle of nowhere.


    I became unstable for a moment, walking back and forth in the room while Barren was going through his luggage and sorting things out. Well, I should say that he got me good there. I still haven''t gained his trust, that''s for sure. I wonder who he thinks I really am.


    That is the point of the day where I got my second shock when I looked straight into the mirror.


    I looked like a freak. The left half of my head had white hair and the right half had black. Although my face looked somewhat the same. What kind of a joke is this? What a freak I am? Is this a prank pulled by Barren? I was hesitant to ask. What if he took it the wrong way? I still made an effort.


    "Hey Barren, when you found me¡­.", I turned around with one of my hand on my head brushing my hair weirdly and continued "did I look exactly like this? I mean I remember my face but the hair doesn''t seem right¡­.", I was hesitant till the end and now I don''t know what will be the reply as he gave me that blank look.


    He suddenly burst out in laughter as he explained.


    "Sorry, forgive my rudeness but you look exactly the same now as you were at the time I found you. Your hairstyle did seem a bit peculiar but seeing you were a human I have seen weirder hairstyles than those, among the people of your race. Not that I mean any disrespect.", he said in his humble manner.


    This day has been a disaster. I should have dinner and call it a day or else my brain will explode soon. I can''t handle so many surprises and plot twists in a row.


    "So, shall we head down. We are running late already and if we are late anymore I am sure Lucia will be furious.", he said breaking into a chuckle.


    "Lucia?", I asked.


    "Yeah, she is the friend I was talking about, all the way to Celest. You met her this morning at the reception. I hope you remember.", he still had that smile.


    Lucia aye, what kind of person will she turn out to be I wonder, knowing that I already pissed her off. Whatever the case I will have to keep my guard up all the time without letting out my secrets. I have already made two people hate me in a matter of moments. Barren is a demi-human (or whatever he is) who does not hate me for my race but I can''t say the same for anyone else I have met so far. Except for Layna who didn''t seem to mind me but I guess she has a history, with my race or not, I still can''t say about her.


    Burdened with these thoughts I headed down to dine with Barren as he showed me the way.

 6.Job

    I was nervous, tensed and a hell lot of scared. I wasn''t sure what would be their reaction when they will know the truth about my origin. Was there someone else before me. If yes, what was the treatment he received? The more I thought about it, the more tensed I got. I didn''t know what was happening or what was about to happen to me in the near future.


    Until now, I was relieved thinking that Barren would shield me from all the dangers. Today''s events made sure that it will never happen. It was naive of me to think that someone would help a stranger just because he looks lost and poor, found in the middle of nowhere. The only reason he took was because he knew that he could overpower me in a physical fight. I needed to watch myself, my every move from now on or else I will end up dead sooner than I imagine to be.


    As this chain of thoughts flowed through my mind, my crumbled forehead started to show a sign of stress. This was the first time I have been so lost or the second maybe. I have never been in such a tight position. Barren wasn''t lost like me and noticed the growing tension on my face.


    "Well, you look like you were kissed by a wraith. What happened? Why the grim look? Oh, I just found out something¡­¡­something related to you¡­¡­something that might pique your interest.", he exclaimed with a satisfied smile.


    WHAT¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­what did he find out about me? Oh god, this day just keeps getting worse. I feel like jumping off a cliff. What did I do to deserve this?


    "Wha¡­¡­. what might that be?", I asked in a shallow, feared voice.


    "Oh, I found out why you can''t remember anything. It''s because you have something called amnesia. I checked with a local physician and listed out the symptoms. She was quite sure about her assessment yet she insisted on meeting you. Don''t worry she is a wonderful lady. She will give you candy too if you behave like a good boy", he burst into his usual chuckle.


    What am I? A ten-year-old. Well, I suppose he never saw me as someone to be very smart but given my circumstances, I wouldn''t think highly of myself either.


    "Ooh, ooh another thing before I forget, I also found you a job suitable for your physique. I think you may like it. Don''t worry, it''s a decent job with decent pay.", his smile widened as we entered the dining area.


    It was a public dining area, or in short a ¡®restaurant''. But it''s day time, hence the tables were occupied by staff members of the inn. There were eight members in total, including Lucia. Lucia too had green scales on her but they were of a much lighter shade as compared to Barren''s dark olive green colour. The other seven were all demi-humans too.


    Lucas and Layna were seated at the adjacent table to the one I and Barren were seated. Layna smiled as I returned the gesture but it seemed like Lucas was pretty mad judging by the cold shoulder he just gave. Then there were two members with horns who sat at the far end; at the table that was the nearest to the entrance to the kitchen. The other three looked similar to the famous fantasy creature called elf. The most astonishing part was that there was not a single human. I was feeling misplaced as my insecurities kept on increasing in number without a ray of hope.


    Everyone stared at me as I took my seat. Not sure that the reason; was it because it was the first time for them seeing a human or because they just hated my kind.


    "Feels a bit intimidating doesn''t it. Don''t worry, it''s just that Celest is a city with the maximum population of non-humans/demi-humans as you might have already figured out. They are just surprised to see one in person as most of them have not seen humans¡­¡­¡­¡­.", as Barren was making excuses Lucia interrupted him.


    "Stop lying to the kid Barren. Look, kid, you messed up big time. Your father must have been pretty mad at you for sending you here. Well if you have any brains, you might have already figured that humans and demi-humans don''t get along, at least not in this city", she said as she set the bowl full of hot vegetable soup.


    Well I know those are edible vegetables because I had seen them with Barren''s baggage. Well, as for Lucia''s advice; it didn''t need brains but eyes.


    "Well, things might have not been this sour if you had arrived a few months back I guess¡­¡­¡­..", she murmured as if she did not intend to say it.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "No use of dwelling in the past, aunt Lucia", Layna interrupted in a consoling tone, with a small and forced smile.


    Aunt Lucia¡­¡­hmmm¡­¡­there is no way in hell she is Layna''s real aunt but they are very close. I wonder, is it just because she is Layna''s employer? and what was this past she was talking about?


    At that moment Reo didn''t know what they were talking. Thinking of it as a mundane matter not worth worrying about right now, Reo leaves the matter with the intention of researching it later. After all, Reo was going through a lot at the moment. But little did he know that this was the very first moment where he received the first hint that there was something greater at play and that he wasn''t the only one around, hiding secrets.


    Later that night, after finishing dinner nothing much happened. I went with Barren to the room and called it a day. Before I fell asleep on my soft, warm feather bed, I thought so as to why was Barren staying at an inn? As I remember this was Barren''s hometown. Doesn''t he have some kind of ancestral home here? is he not welcome there?


    There is so much I want to know but the more I think about, the more complex it gets. For now, I should worry about myself and get ready for whatever is coming tomorrow. I curled up and drifted off with a slight hope of waking up in my own world.


    The next day, early morning¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­


    "Goooood morning Ray. Rise and shine. We have to hurry or else Lucia will not give a second thought about sending us empty stomach.", Barren giggled.


    Yeah I know, it was foolish of me to wish for my return into my world after the fact that it didn''t happen the last two times I fell asleep. Even in this new world, the mornings were just as lazy as the ones in my previous one. I guess some things never change no matter which world you are in.


    "Common Ray get up. Layna would be up any moment to clean the room. You wouldn''t want to cause her any trouble. She is the kindest soul you will find at least around here. We will also have to pick up new clothes for you so that you don''t stand out much, hence we are leaving this early. You wouldn''t want to be late to your first day of work, would you?", he said with a slight concern.


    I woke up with a lazy yawn. Then I headed to the bathhouse and took the fastest bath of my life. Refreshed, I then had breakfast with barren. It was some porridge but I had no time to think about it as Barren was up my ass. I had a drink which was white and tasted similar to milk.


    On the way, Barren bought me two pairs of a shirt, pant and sleeveless overcoat. It looked like the clothing of the people living in the countryside in the western countries of my world. At least it wasn''t weird considering the fact that it was originally made for demi-humans. I changed into one of them in the shops trial room. Barren offered to help but I managed just fine.


    After walking for around fifteen minutes we reached an empty space with a big pole erect right at the centre which had a flag, which I think is the country flag to which Celest belongs. The sigil looked like a bird soaring straight up to the sky with its back facing the observer. There were three roads leading away from the empty space, in three different directions, one of which we had arrived. In the fourth direction, there was a massive structure that looked like some government office. If my guess was correct, we were probably at the centre of the city.


    "This is your new workplace. Magnificent isn''t it?", he said with his ever-growing enthusiasm as we started moving towards the building.


    The building had a very large entrance, as though it were a palace. I wasn''t sure what kind of rule was employed here. Given the era, the safest bet would be monarchy but I will have to confirm it later. We entered the building and approached the reception desk. Barren made entries for both of us. He then waved at the elvish receptionist as we continued on and received the gesture back from the elf.


    As I walked, I observed that it was no different from the government office from my world. I guess that examining my physique, Barren must have thought that clerical work would be most suited for me. I sighed with a sense of relief.


    We then started climbing the stairs and climbed three huge floors where we finally stopped, since it was the last one. But I initially remember the building to be a little taller then what we just climbed.


    As we waited outside on the bench, outside a big door on the third floor, I noticed that Barren was well known as every third person to pass by waved at Barren and he returned the gesture. I noticed something similar when we walked up the stairs and also when we passed by the cubicles on the ground floor. But the most horrifying thing was that I still couldn''t find a single human. The thought was becoming more and more grim but I had no choice at the moment but to play along.


    Finally, a lady with bunny ears approached us.


    "You may go inside. Lady Marcella is waiting for you", she informed us with a pleasant smile.


    Lady? Is she royalty? Library? What is a royal doing in a library? I mean don¡¯t they have their own libraries. Guess I will soon find out.


    Reo without realising was entering the place where he would finally get answers for the questions he was asking himself for so long. This was the place where he would learn about his new world which will make him come to a decision that would lead him to go on an epic adventure like no other, with friends he never imagined to make and do deeds he never fathomed to do.

 7.Reo........

    As we entered, my doubt about the building being taller vanished. The library was no joke. It was three storeys high and its book collection was massive as hell. Something this fascinating wasn¡¯t present in my world.


    ¡°Lady Marcella, it¡¯s been a long time since we last met, hasn¡¯t it?¡±, he had a professional look on his face, something I had never seen before.


    ¡°Sir Barren, it has been a long time indeed!¡±, she replied which looked a bit like sarcasm than a greeting.


    ¡°Well, I am no Sir¡­¡­...not anymore. You know that¡±, he replied with a smile.


    ¡°Then you should know that I am no longer a LADY either, just a woman who supposedly is the head librarian. Unless you were mocking me, were you?¡±, she replied with a devious grin.


    ¡°Oh, I wouldn¡¯t dare. I am sorry¡±, he replied.


    ¡°Relax, I was just teasing. I get bored sitting here the whole day, arranging the books and sorting them out. Repeating the same cycle every day and yet the servants say that I do a lot of work and steal most the work from me¡±, she whined.


    Marcella was beautiful for her age. Her robe resembled the traditional Chinese dress which, if remember correctly is called Qipao. It had golden coloured embroidery made on the purple satin dress. Her hair was long, straight layered with fringes; it was deep dark olive green. She had green eyes, which looked straight at us and has been looking from the moment we entered.


    She looked like an authoritarian with great confidence and a hell lot of charisma. It was evident from her body language and her glowing personality. Yet it looked like I was missing something and her profiling didn¡¯t seem complete.


    But why were they referring to each other as Sir and Lady? Hmm¡­... I need to start getting answers. But I didn¡¯t know how, until today. This job could be helpful in more than one way. This might be one of the best things that have happened to me yet after arriving in this world. This might be my chance to finally get some answers as books don¡¯t think and gossip like humans.


    ¡°And¡­...who might this young man be?¡±, she asked turning towards me.


    ¡°Well¡­¡­...this¡­...is¡­¡­¡±, with a bit of hesitation, Barren narrated the story that he had, to Lucia.


    ¡°The amount of truth in that story is too scarce. I can¡¯t understand the reason for your lie but I trust you. Hence I shall not question your motives.¡±, she replied.


    Haha, ¡­she caught on to the lie but her reaction was very peculiar. Was it Barren¡¯s hesitation that gave it all away? I don¡¯t think so. Barren was a person always full of confidence and enthusiasm but for the first time, I was seeing this other side of Barren which I had never seen before. Maybe because he already knew that Marcella would catch on to his lie. Who is she?


    ¡°So about what we discussed yesterday, are you¡­¡­.¡±, Barren¡¯s voice crawled on the ground.


    ¡°Well, he looks quite interesting. Yes, I will hire him and if you prove interesting enough maybe I will teach you to read and write too. I am bored anyways, with a lot of spare time to do nothing¡±, she replied in a creepy way eyeing me up.


    Interesting? The more this lady talks, the more creeped out I get. But she was helping me out and it would be rude not to thank her. And she is the last person I want to piss off.


    ¡°Thank you, Madam. I will be in your care. Please look after me and guide me through.¡±, I replied like an intern.


    ¡°Madam? I am not that old you know. I am just around forty.¡±, she pouted.


    Well, that is a bit old and appropriate to call ¡®Madam¡¯ but whatever makes her happy.


    ¡°So, should I call you Miss?¡±, I asked making an innocent face.


    ¡°oooooh sooooo cute. Barren is this boy really a brat like you claim him to be.¡±, she asked Barren rhetorically.


    Then she faced me and replied ¡°No, I am not used to that. Just call me Marcella. I know it¡¯s a bit too forward. Consider it as an effort on my side in pursuing you to tell me who you truly are?¡±, there was that devious look again.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let him fool you although you are too smart for him¡±, Barren casually commented.


    ¡°Well, you can start from tomorrow. Go home enjoy the day. I am feeling lazy today. I think I will take a nap.¡±, she yawned.


    ¡°Thank you for seeing us lad¡­... (clears his throat) Marcella¡±, he said, as he left.


    ¡°Thank you¡±, I followed.


    We then journeyed to the bottom floor, made our entry and exited the building. That fresh air again feels nice.


    ¡°It''s hot outside. Come, I will treat you on the occasion of getting your first job. We can then go and meet the physician that I mentioned yesterday. Sound good?¡±, he looked at me for a reply with his usual pleasant smile.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°Yeah, sounds alright.¡±, I replied with fake enthusiasm.


    Because I was a bit nervous thinking about the physician. What if she found out that I wasn¡¯t from this world at all? I wonder what would follow? Well, I cannot hide forever. Although I am scared to death so as to what might follow after that. If an alien ever landed on earth, I don¡¯t think it would bode well for the creature. But I can¡¯t stay scared, I will just have to face it when that happens. I determined in my mind as I promised myself not to be scared anymore and followed Barren.


    We exited the complex through another road than the one that we had entered it. I still had no sense of direction in this world. This was bad. I quickly looked up and saw the sun emerge from the left side of me, as we left the building. For now, I will consider that direction as east. That means we arrived at the building through the south, the building was in the north and were now heading towards the west. I will have to confirm these too but for now, I think I can manage.


    Marcella, although creepy, was very kind. Now that I think about it; no one would have given a decent job like that to an illiterate person in my world. Further so, no would have cared for me either. Yet I will have to be wary around her. She looks like a person who can catch up on things pretty quickly after seeing her catch Barren¡¯s white lie.


    As I was thinking, I didn¡¯t notice but we had reached an alleyway and it looked like the not-so-prosperous region of the city. We continued for a while as we crossed some household women and children all demi-humans and all staring at me like I was some weird creature being escorted to its cage. I tried and smiled at the kids but they would just hide and the moment I would turn the other way I could see them staring at me, again. I was confused and not sure as the vibe I was getting from them was totally different from the one I received from the staff members at the inn. It looked like they were scared as I observed some women rush inside their houses dragging their children along with them. I felt a bit sad and a little lost.


    The latter feeling was because I couldn¡¯t figure out why were they scared or angry? What is that Barren¡¯s hiding from me? Something bad has happened for sure. If Barren is not going to tell me then I will have to ask someone else. After I have come to this world I have no one that trusts me and this is going to turn out badly if this situation continues.


    We finally reached a small house that looked apart from the other apartments around.


    ¡°You will be glad that you came. Believe me¡±, he exclaimed, as he knocked on the door.


    ¡®Believe me¡¯, seriously? Like you believe me? but I kept my mouth shut.


    As the door opened, I saw and I was so happy that I was about to cry and hug that person. Not because it was a beautiful female with big breasts and short white hair with fringes and a beautiful pair of earrings. But because she was HUMAN!!!!!


    ¡°Oh, so you are the young human ¡®Barry¡¯ was talking about.¡±, she smiled like a goddess.


    She was one of the most modest, kindest, sweetest and loveliest (not sure if that¡¯s even a word) person I have met after landing here. She wore a regular, women-style shirt and trousers. Her eyes gleamed of golden brown colour. And her navy blue hair. It¡¯s been so long since I last saw a human.


    ¡®Glad¡¯? I was thrilled. This might be one of the best things that have happened to me. Wait, I guess, I already said that before. Aha, who cares?


    She then took us inside and told me to take a seat. I gladly obliged. I was so happy that I felt kind of high. I didn¡¯t know what I was doing or saying. I was totally under her charm.


    ¡°So, young man, What¡¯s your name?¡±, she enquired with that elegant smile.


    ¡°It¡¯s Ray¡­¡­Ray Ash.¡±, I was surprised that I didn¡¯t give my real name.


    ¡°Ah, nice name. My name is Cecily Corsica. A pleasure to make your acquaintance. Barry told me that you were suffering from amnesia. Oh sorry I mean you can¡¯t remember¡±, she asked, explaining herself.


    That name sounds familiar. I know what¡¯s amnesia but what¡¯s with that cheesy nickname for Barren. Don¡¯t tell me, are they dating. Well, she wasn¡¯t my type so I wasn¡¯t jealous at all but I know Barren although only for a short while. Along that time, I learnt about Barren, enough to tell that she was definitely not his type. So why the hell am I so bothered by it? Concentrate Reo, concentrate. I scolded myself to get my head out of the gutter.


    By the time I knew, she was already examining my body, touching all over my body as I wriggled in a weird feeling of joy and awkwardness.


    ¡°I am sorry, I guess I got carried away.¡±, as she backed away a little with her hands retreating.


    ¡°Well, there are no signs of manhandling or an injection mark. So I guess it must have been caused due to a blunt force directly to the head.¡±, she replied as she noted it down.


    ¡°You came to that conclusion just by touching me¡±, I was confused.


    ¡°Yeah. I used the appraisal spell and channelled it through my hand. It will alert me when my hand moves over an area that contains any kind of discrepancies. But in your case there were none¡­¡­.. Except for a scar on your left shoulder but I guess injury to the shoulder can¡¯t cause memory loss¡±, she replied while still writing on her pad.


    ¡°If I may ask, do you remember how you happen to receive that scar. I mean it looks quite painful, to me at least. Memories related to pain are very strong so¡­...¡±, she asked hesitantly, although not sure of the reason for her hesitation.


    ¡°No, I am sorry. But I did notice it earlier.¡±, I replied with a hesitating smile.


    Actually, I do remember, it was caused when Yuuto dropped his scalpel when I at the same time was on the ground searching for my fallen eraser in the science lab. That might be the point where I became acquainted with Yuuto and became friends later. I still remember the school nurse, taunting me for how I cried like a baby while she dressed the wound and I yelled in pain.


    ¡°You must have been quite the handful¡±, she smiled.


    Hm¡­¡­. I have heard that before. But currently, I was more fascinated by the way she explained a scientifically-unexplainable phenomenon. So magic does exist in this world. I still can¡¯t believe; I am in a fantasy land.


    Barren and I got up and got ready to leave as she had finished with our work. She accompanied us to the door. I glanced at the glass bottles containing specimens. She was quite an enthusiastic collector.


    When we reached the door, Barren opened the door and exited first. I followed when I saw two hands of the doctor emerge from both sides above my shoulder; then rested on them. I wasn¡¯t sure what was happening. She then came close.


    ¡°I hope this isn¡¯t your last visit. I wish that your memories come back soon and when they do, please share it with me. This is a unique case, at least for a small city doctor like me.¡±, she then came even closer and whispered.


    ¡°Be safe on your journey home¡­¡­¡­¡­ dear Reo¡­¡­¡­¡±, she said, as she retreated back.


    A sudden chill spread through Reo as he turned and saw Cecily close the door with a gentle smile that no longer looked gentle to him.

 8. The Inn

    It was getting dark as we were heading back to the inn. Barren was fearless as ever although, I was shitting my pants recollecting all the stories I have read of what happens to people who walk empty alleyways at night. We soon reached the brightly lit street where the inn was located. Lucia from the previous night was present at the reception as usual. We entered the inn and noticed that it was very busy. Guess this place is famous. But then again, I didn¡¯t notice much competition around. She exited the counter and walked towards us as we were just entering. I got a bit anxious cause of the impression I had left earlier on her. I hope she isn¡¯t too hard on me. But I was glad she ignored me as she asked Barren.


    ¡°Where were you so late. I was getting worried.¡±, she said in a flustered manner.


    ¡°Calm down I was just taking a stroll.¡±, Barren replied.


    Well, and the conversation continued as a cute couple would. Well, the inn must have great service because I just noticed that the whole inn was full, and some people were even standing. Well, they had their booze to give them company. Although there was alcohol being served, I could still see families with their little ones around. Well medieval times, I guess. And that¡¯s when I heard a loud thud and plate breaking sound. Whoever he was, he was successful in drawing everyone¡¯s attention and probably that was his motive as I later deduced.


    ¡°You messing with me girl. Serving me this shite. I didn¡¯t order this. I want the meat not your vegetables, you piece of shite.¡±, he yelled at Layna clutching her hand forcefully.


    He looked like a problem and had to be diffused as soon as possible. He was half drunk which was even more of a problem. The manager wanted to intervene but before that could have happened there was our unexpected, totally unwanted hero, LUCAS!!!


    ¡°Let her go you monster¡±, he yelled at the guy, pulling the hand that had grabbed Layna.


    The guy was built like a bull, one swing sent the 15-year-old (my educated guess) Lucas flying to the wall. There he lay unconscious. This shook Layna mentally and the other guests were startled too. The crowd around was getting more and more uncomfortable. This guy was ready to trash the place and Barren was getting ready for a fight. I don¡¯t know why but I am just allergic to fights like these because they feel so dumb. And for some reason, I didn¡¯t want to go to bed thinking everyone I know is in a rotten mood. I mean life was just getting better for me. Then again, I didn¡¯t want to end up like Lucas. I had to take a gamble and play it smart. This could be an opportunity for me to land on the good side of the manager. After all, I will be staying here for a while. And hence I charged before Barren could or Layna would get hurt. Besides she was the only one who was genuinely honest and kind towards me without any ulterior motives.


    ¡°Woah, Woah let us all calm down there.¡±, I approached as he was charging up a blow for Layna.


    ¡°Well you want some too then?¡±, he turned towards me.


    ¡°I believe you have caused enough ruckus to make your point mister¡­...¡±, I waited for a reply, acting civil.


    In this way, I could convey that I didn¡¯t want a fight and I acknowledged his strength and his problem.


    ¡°And why should I give you my name, you bastard¡±, he replied arrogantly as expected.


    From now, I had to play my cards right and hence I began my passive-aggressive strategy. The first objective is to grab his complete attention and make him release Layna.


    ¡°I am afraid I will have to ask you to let go of the girl sir. You have made your point clear and I apologize for the disservice you received but your current behavior is unacceptable¡±, I replied with a stern voice.


    Well, that worked marvelously if I shall say so because within no time that bull had let go of Layna and was holding me by my collar. I was about half an inch above the ground and I will not lie, it was bloody scary. But this is the second and final step of my plan. If this doesn¡¯t go smoothly then God please help me.


    ¡°Dear sir, I get you are upset but I believe your approach isn¡¯t right. If you don¡¯t stop then the patrol guards will. And I think that will not end good for you but before that look around yourself¡±, he turned his eyes around and I continued after giving him a moment.¡± There is a high possibility of you ending up as the victim of mob justice and you might end up dead too. That is surely not good for you and real pain for us. We will be losing a customer and you will be losing your life.¡±, he continued to stare at the angry crowd which was all ready for a beat-up.


    Now they knew that it wasn¡¯t a singular feeling and they all had ganged up. The guy was gaining his senses back and hence, he lowered me down. He picked up his stuff and was ready to leave. And that¡¯s when you add a final touch. Marie came forward with a package.


    ¡°I humbly apologize for the inconvenience caused to you. As a token of our apology here is your actual order free of cost. We doubled it. We care for our customers and I hope you will visit once again with your family¡±, I replied as I noticed a little surprise on that man¡¯s face.


    It was a good advertisement for the inn¡¯s customer service but even more, it saved a lot of chaos from breaking out. Everyone else got back to their tables and I saw Layna tending to Lucas. Everything went quite peacefully although not completely for free. The inn still suffered a loss.


    Although it would have gone a lot smoother if Lucas had acted the way he did. Well, I am just glad that everything went well.


    That made me hungry and a lot thirstier. Marie came back with a glass of water for me. Damn this girl can read my mind. I thanked her and gulped down the whole glass. Suddenly, I received a thud on my shoulder.


    ¡°Well damn. That was something. So, you aren¡¯t so useless after all. I mean your dad did warn me about your peculiar talents. Mainly that was the primary reason he told me to be careful, but this is something on another level¡±, he said laughing and still beating my back.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    I slowly started noticing the attention I started getting from all the people in the room. As if I had achieved something extraordinary feat. There was a lady who was staring at me from between the curtains of the VIP room, but the stare turned into a grin the moment I looked back at her. She then closed the curtains back.


    Well, that was weird. I didn¡¯t understand though. I am a 20-year-old man who was good at negotiations, but they all were staring and gossiping as I did something great. I mean I did build my fake background story of a merchant¡¯s son.


    ¡°Well so aren¡¯t our regular batch of brats¡±, the manager had somehow appeared near the bench I and Barren had seated after the scene had ended for our dinner.


    ¡°I believe we have never been properly introduced. Hello, my name is Lucia Renard of the Clovis clan. If Barren hasn¡¯t told you about me already.¡±, she starred at Barren.


    Barren retreated with an expression of I ¡®didn¡¯t do anything.¡¯


    ¡°My name is Ray Ash. Son of Rayan Ash, a merchant of the Mestlecair empire. Good to make your acquaintance. I apologize for my rude behavior on the first day we met. I was in a bad mood.¡±, I replied.


    ¡°I see so you are not completely without manners. Well, it¡¯s a good thing. And I thank you too for what you just did. I don¡¯t think I could do it any better. Cause I am neither a merchants¡¯ son nor a human.¡±, she smiled as she left.


    Being a merchant¡¯s son doesn¡¯t mean I inherit his skills just like that (Although practically I am not) and what does it have to do with me being human. Although I am one of the few humans I have seen recently (two to be exact). I still feel there is more to this story.


    Soon Layna made her visit and for some weird reason I got up from my place to show my respect when she approached the bench. I still wonder why I did that. Perhaps because of her kindness.


    ¡°Thanks a lot, Mr. Ash. You helped me a lot. You have been kind and treated me like a friend since you first arrived, but I have been causing you a lot of trouble. I am very sorry. Hope you will forgive me.¡±, she said in an apologetic tone.


    It was one of the cutest apologies I had received and man, I was flustered. I was taller than her and she looked so sad with that tone. I felt like I had to make it right cause, to be honest, she was the one who was kind towards me. She is still the only one I feel completely safe to be around. I had to make this right.


    ¡°Oh, no-no. There is nothing to apologize for. Mistakes do happen and we learn from our mistakes to grow even more than what we were before. Remember, apologizing to others is good after making a mistake but apologizing to yourself is a big mistake.¡± I continued. ¡°but if you truly consider me as a friend then that¡¯s more than enough reason for me to help you out. And please call me Ray.¡±, I hope I didn¡¯t sound too cheesy or desperate.


    Now that I think, it is quite unusual for me to intervene some fight just like that. Guess Layna was the only reason I considered to do so. She was so kind but also gullible. She might not survive the world being so innocent. Probably one of the reasons Lucas is so proactive around her. Wait why is he so enthusiastic though. I am not sure if he has a crush. Because his behavior is closer to a childhood friend than an admirer. Some of his behavioral traits depict as he is constantly trying to do things to gain her approval or something like that. It¡¯s weird but I too have many holes in this assumption. I mean I could be wrong too. Well, I shouldn¡¯t be thinking about that so much as I have other matters to be concerned about.


    Later that night, after finishing my dinner I headed to my room and hit the bed.


    Next day¡­¡­.


    I was woken up by Layna. I saw around and spotted Barren at the other corner of the room on his bed. As I recall, Barren came very late to the room last night. I wanted to know the reason, but I respected his privacy. Besides I was already half asleep. But I distinctly remember that ¡®tired sighs¡¯ he was giving off.


    I wonder what must have happened. What got a cheerful lizard, like Barren so down? Well, I am sure he will figure it out. And I stopped worrying, got out of bed, went to the bathroom and had a hot water bath. I came back to the room, changed into the second pair of formals that Barren had bought me yesterday. Put my other pair in the laundry basket. Then headed downstairs for breakfast. As I left the room, I heard Barren¡¯s yawns. I was afraid I woke him up due to the noise I had caused. I ran downstairs shamelessly.


    I was having a delicious meal although I had no idea what it was, it was quite edible. In the middle of my breakfast, Barren walked down the stairs. He greeted everyone


    ¡°Good Morning, everyone¡±, he yawned.


    Everyone returned the gesture. I too waved because of my incapability to speak due to my stuffed mouth. I was in a bit of hurry. I finished my breakfast and got up. Marie came to clean up the table. I washed my hands and was about to scoot when Layna came with a box which was my lunch.


    I was about to cry. I always wished I had someone like this who would cook and take care of me. Well just joking I always preferred to be alone because the world was too mundane but having someone as Layna as a sister wasn¡¯t a bad idea. Besides relationships are a burden and I don¡¯t want to get involved in that. But perhaps I came to that conclusion just because I have known more bad examples of relationships than good ones.


    Either way, I had more important things at hand now. I thanked Layna but apparently, Lucas had cooked it. Well, he has more chance than me, if you know what I mean. Anyway, I wasn¡¯t going to waste any more time searching for Lucas and thanking him. I just scooted right off declining Barren¡¯s offer to escort me as I was familiar with the path to the Library, my new workplace.


    As I drifted further away, I looked back once and saw Barren and Lucia both at the door and it seemed they were conversing but no eye contact.


    Previous night¡­...


    ¡°Barren, listen closely. The only reason I am allowing your lie to slide by because I have known you for a very long time and I know you would never do something so foolish to put the ones you care for at-risk¡±, after pausing for a moment. ¡± But I think you are taking a big gamble here and I fear what will follow if you are wrong,¡± she completed her argument.


    ¡°I know. What you just saw was out of yours and my capability too. Almost like magic. And yes, I am taking a gamble. What if he turns out to be the key to our problems? I mean he fell from the sky. And yes, I am no believer of faith, but this is a hunch I can¡¯t let go off.¡±, he sat down in a desperate tone.


    ¡°What do you mean a hunch? If it goes wrong and he turns out to be a hitman or an assassin or something even worse. I mean seeing his soft skills I can¡¯t stop imagining things. But I know for a fact he is stronger than he seems. Who knows what kind of tricks he has up his sleeves? I am scared at the thought you both sleeping in the same room. And I am even scared for Layna. What if he is really what I just mentioned and finds out about Layna. He will¡­. he will¡­. will¡­¡±, she started stuttering.


    Barren held her hand firmly and shook her ¡°hey hey hey. Listen¡­... Listen. I will not let anything bad happen to you or anyone here. I swear my life upon it. If he is anything that you say. The moment I come to know of it is the moment I will end him, just like the last time. So, I want you to believe me.¡±, he gave her hope.


    They both dispersed after a while and so did LAYNA¡­¡­...


    She heard everything from across the kitchen door but wasn¡¯t sure if she should have intervened. She wanted to believe Ray was a good guy and defend him. She was tired of people looking after her and doing her job. But at the same time, she loved and trusted Lucia and Barren as they had almost acted like her true parents after her biological parents¡­¡­.. besides she was astonished at Ray¡¯s demonstration of his intellect.


    Ray unknown to him has done a grave mistake. Layna knows the disaster heading towards Ray but doesn¡¯t trust Ray yet.

 9. The Library

    current day¡­¡­...


    After Ray left Layna and others got to their work as usual. As Layna was going about her daily chores around the inn, she remembered the previous day¡¯s conversation that took place between Lucia and Baren.


    She is genuinely worried for Ray and afraid if Baren or Lucia try to overstep and eliminate him for precautionary measures even before confirming his identity.


    Layna was always a caring child. She had two brothers and one sister. The Sister was the oldest and then two brothers in the middle. Layna was the youngest and hence was the most loved and cared for. Although this love, surprisingly never spoilt her. She grew even more loving and caring woman. But this also made her too gullible.


    She grew ever too sad thinking Ray might lose his life just because of her. She thought of distancing herself from Ray but on second thought she knew it might lead to other complications. Baren or Lucia could easily misunderstand that for a sign of me being uncomfortable. And¡­...


    She knew it was a bad idea to distance herself as it would raise a lot of unwanted false suspicions about Ray. So, she finally decided that she would take responsibility and find the true nature of Ray. She hoped that he was clean and didn¡¯t want him to end up hurt in any way. With this newfound determination, she continued with her work.


    A little later at the Library¡­¡­


    ¡°Well, this is fun?¡±, I stood at the entrance of the lavatory.


    I was in deep shit right now. It was the bloody juice. God, I need to control myself. Don¡¯t drink the whole jug just because it¡¯s tasty. Ok, lesson learned. Now please someone tell me which among this is the male lavatory. I am about to cry now¡­¡­please someone.


    ¡°Oh, Mr. Ash you seem to be in a lot of pain. What happened? Why are you dancing like that in front of the washroom¡±, Julia asked with great concern.


    Oh, a Goddess. Thank the heavens. I made no delay.


    ¡°Please could you tell me which one is the male lavatory among these? Please¡±, I begged although not sure why.


    ¡°you don¡¯t need to beg like that. Sure, I can. This one. Sorry, I forgot you couldn¡¯t read.¡±, she said apologetically.


    I hurried in thanking her hastily.


    I returned after a while to make sure I didn¡¯t bump into her on my way back. It was awkward, and I didn¡¯t want to get more embarrassed. Believe me or not, I have always been a bit self-conscious about these things.


    I returned to my position which was that of a chaperon. Well, I am just kidding but it was close to that. Since I couldn¡¯t read or so yet, I


    ¡®had to look around and politely monitor people and help them if they need any.¡¯


    Well, this was what told to me at least and so far, I think I have been good at it. Although I think this as a disguised unemployment as this seems too good to be a legitimate job. I believed she came up with this position because Baren enquired about an opening.


    Still, I am not sure how Baren and Marcella are related. And then there is a case of that scary doctor who knows Baren and the real me. It would be really bad if she turns out to be some bad news. I am worried but with my current status, I can¡¯t do jack.


    So that brings back to the current situation. Marcella told me that she would help me to learn to read and write but for that, I had to do the simple job I am assigned right now. And I didn¡¯t do anything catastrophic despite the linguistic barrier between me and the people who surround me. But I must make sure not to raise any suspicion.


    Some kids were running around making noise and as a result, ended up disturbing others. Well, people find kids hard to reason with, but I know the trick. You see kids have a small and narrow brain. Not trying to be rude here but it¡¯s the truth.


    All I had to do was lure them towards the drink that I had foolishly gulped down a few moments back and bam works like a charm. But I will not say that I was not mad. I was always irritated by the fact of the existence of irresponsible parents who will bring their children to public service but not be responsible for them. Well, can¡¯t do much about it.


    I continued to direct people to different sections of the library when enquired about it. Occasionally would help someone get a book that was on the higher shelf and the person who needs the book wasn¡¯t sure about his ladder-climbing skills.


    At the end of the day, I was very tired and seriously the term ¡®occasionally¡¯ is an understatement. Once they saw I was available for that job people were asking for the service all over the place. There were people who, after I had climbed down the ladder, would tell me it was the wrong book and they needed the one that was next to it. That would be the most frustrating moments.


    Anyways I was happy that the day had finally got over, but I understood that my job wasn¡¯t and hence I had to bear this for the time I take to learn to read and write. I mean, I am a quick learner so it shouldn¡¯t take much time but let¡¯s not get ahead of us.


    I was helped Julia in closing her work. She was a nice and decent girl who had godly patience. I respect her for that. For a moment I felt like beating the shit out of those old hags.


    Julia was an assistant librarian. Her job was to manage the clerical work of ¡®book borrow and return¡¯ and do the things that I was doing today. Well now that I am here, her workload is probably reduced by a significant amount.


    She was the in-charge of the history section. It was a small section and often visited by old scholars and small children who would just accidentally wander off. Julia didn¡¯t mind at all. She was a full born extrovert and loved to interact with people and kids alike. During the working hours, I would often catch her brooding on the desk playing with her red hair and her dark green eyes searching for something constantly. She had the animal ears which, was becoming very common for me now that I have seen a bunch of them.


    Sometimes I think if she is happy having me share the workload. Honestly, I don¡¯t want to find out.


    She finally finished up her work and started closing the section. She was very hardworking and simple-minded. I kind of felt sorry. I mean I wasn¡¯t sure if this world forced her to be like this or she wasn¡¯t aware of the opportunities available.


    Anyways I ended up reach a bit late than usual. I figured from the dinner that was served on the table. It seems everyone was waiting for me. That was surprising, to be honest.


    Well, everything that night went as usual. I had dinner, helped the staff to clean up and hit the bed. The only peculiar thing was Layna¡¯s behavior. She was ever so anxious whenever I passed by and the way she looked at me with those troubled eyes. She was trying to hide it but it was evident. I wanted to ask her about it but I didn¡¯t want to be too nosy. She didn¡¯t ask for my help, besides my last attempt in trying to be the hero who saves the damsel in distress made me end up here. It pained me but I didn¡¯t want to take any more risk.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    And so nearly a week passed by¡­¡­.


    This world¡¯s people also had a paid holiday (like Sunday) and the day before that is a half-day.


    I was returning from my job. I was proud of myself as I had learned a few letters of the common language here (Nilan).


    I had it all planned. I would sleep for about an hour or so and then help around the inn just like the last half-day. But as soon as I entered the inn, I was caught by Layna asking if I accompany her as she was leaving for the market to get some groceries for the inn. I hate it when my plans get disrupted like this but since it was Layna I agreed unwillingly. She has been genuinely polite and a lot friendly than anyone here.


    I went upstairs, freshened up and came back down. I saw Baren ready to leave with us. I wasn¡¯t sure what was going on. I was sure since it was Layna, the shopping list would be very small. In all honesty, she doesn¡¯t need me either. What is going on?


    ¡°Hey there, I will give you kids a lift to the market. I am bored anyways.¡±, he exclaimed.


    What the hell. I mean it¡¯s just a few minutes of walking. Baren and his fake gestures towards me were wearing me off. I wanted to decline the offer or bailout from going at all. But then something very surprising happened.


    ¡°Its fine uncle Barren, we can manage. It''s just a few blocks away. Besides, you didn¡¯t give a bath to Bessie all week. I sure she is pretty angry either you know.¡±, she replied with a strong statement of rejection.


    Barren tried to make a comeback, but Layna handed me a bag and started walking out.


    Well, I will be damned. So Layna isn¡¯t the completely shy, gullible girl I thought she was. She shut down the ever so persistent Baren.


    As we were walking towards the market, there was this awkward silence. I mean I have never been alone with her till today. And my sense of humor is next to null. I was never the conversation starter and how was I supposed to do it now? I think she is ok with the silence though. I never perceived her as a talkative kitty. Yeah, no matter how long I will spend here, I will never get used to those ears. It''s one of the reasons I still believe this could be a dream.


    Anyways I thought this as the day to break some of my bad habits and socialize for once. This way I can show my gratitude towards her. But as the trailing me tried to approach the leading cat, I caught a glimpse of the same anxious look that I have been observing for a while now. I am not sure if its all the time or just with me. I felt like I should clear the misunderstanding, but I wasn¡¯t sure what I was getting myself into. Hence, I thought if waiting it out and I was hoping she would come to me when she feels comfortable.


    We reached the market and started shopping. I say us but it was all her. I was just carrying the goods. I am not complaining but I was feeling kind of left out. She was crossing out the stuff on her list as we bought things. It looked like she was very fluent in NILAN. Whom am I kidding she knows it; she is from this world. It should be natural for her.


    As we were walking from stall to stall, I saw the items getting crossed over in the list. It wasn¡¯t a lot in terms of weight but a lot in terms of variety. There was a lot of crowd in the meat selling part. I never tried meat in this world and considering that I am from another world, I don¡¯t want to discover the side effects if any. I am being too cautious cause I have a feeling that if I die here, I will probably end up dead in my world.


    I was making my way towards a meat stall which was pointed out by Layna. This time because of the crowd I was leading Layna. I felt like a man for once. Suddenly I felt a jerk as I was held by my hand. I looked behind but by that time I was already dragged out of the crowd onto a thin side lane; a small area between two stalls,


    ¡°I want to ask you something and I want you to answer honestly¡±, she said in an anxiously stern manner.


    ¡°Uh¡­. ah¡­¡­yeah sure¡±, I said still looking behind.


    I had made a small horrifying discovery. There was a man at a distant store pretending to buy stuff but as I thought for a second while making a conversation with Layna, I remembered him from the inn in the afternoon. I looked away from him acting to converse with Layna and that¡¯s when he saw us. I spotted through my peripheral vision.


    From when is he following us? What does he want? Whom is he following? I hope it''s not related to this face¡¯s previous owner. This isn¡¯t fair, I am getting wasted before I even have a chance. I had to think quick before he gets to know that I have discovered his presence.


    ¡°Who are you, Ray? I mean for real, who are you? and remember you promised me the truth¡±, she asked thinking I was still listening.


    I turned the other way grabbing her hand. This will make her panic and hence I had to show proof to get her complete cooperation. So, I had to show her what I saw.


    ¡°From your right look at the fourth stall. There is a man in a blue hood looking our way. Don¡¯t make it obvious ok?¡±, I paused so she can verify. ¡°He has been following us for a while now. Do you know anything about it¡±, I asked.


    She shook her head with a feared look. Well, at least I have her cooperation, but she didn¡¯t stop panicking. I needed her to stop it for me to focus.


    ¡°I will try my best to get us out of it. I am so sorry if I am the reason for this mess. If it feels like I won¡¯t be able to make it then I will make sure your safety at the least. So please stop panicking.¡±, I tried giving her confidence.


    Her fear didn¡¯t stop. It looked like I just added more fuel to the fire. I was dragging her through around. At this point, I am sure the guy has knowledge about our awareness and is on the move. I made my way out of the crowd. We reached an alleyway that I had no idea about.


    Layna was panicking at her max with tears and stuff. She was mentally shut down. Well, this is bad. I need to calm her down. I thought of hiding somewhere in a small corner but the more I went deep in the alleyway, the more I felt a familiar feeling.


    Suddenly it struck me. The doctor, Cecily Corsica, it¡¯s the same one. I started to remember my way around. The alleyway was a bit dark, blocking the daylight. I didn¡¯t possess the courage to look behind. I just made my way to the doctor¡¯s office. Although, I wasn¡¯t sure how safe will I be and I didn¡¯t fully trust her either but she was my only gamble at the moment. I didn¡¯t want to cause any trouble to Layna at the least, I could drop Layna at her office.


    I finally reached her house-office. I started banging. After a few bangs, the door opened.


    ¡°Dear me. You look like you saw a ghost, what happened?¡±, she asked with concern.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have time to explain. We are being chased and I think its probably because of me. Can you keep her safe? I will try to lure him away.¡±, I said gasping heavily as I saw a shadow approach slowly from the corner of the alleyway.


    She nodded and took Layna inside but when I was about to leave, dragged me inside with herself. I wasn¡¯t sure how to react. I was glad but at the same time feeling guilty of causing trouble. I was about to argue


    ¡°For now, don¡¯t question anything and help me make this soup. You both must be exhausted from all that running and I can''t bear to watch you in this pathetic state of yours. Meanwhile, Layna, go have a bath. I had already prepared one for myself so you can go immediately. You can get in after her.¡±, she replied with an authority.


    We had no choice and we both did as we were told.


    After a while when we had finished the soup and with the bath. I was still confused about how was she so calm even though I said had told her that we had a stalker. But her opening was very surprising;


    ¡°You think you are the only one holding lies here huh Ray. Or should I call you¡­¡­ Reo ¡°, she asked with a poker face that was held for the rest of the following conversation. That calm gentle smiling face she owned last time was nowhere to be seen.


    She was revealing the secrets that she somehow knew about me. This made me more afraid of her than Baren. But right now I was more curious about what she had to say about our current situation.


    I got a feeling that she already knows what¡¯s going on. So, I didn¡¯t bother acting smart and asked her straight forward. To which she replied in puzzle again,


    ¡°Well, I am not going to give you a direct answer. You are smart but you have been staying greatly distracted recently. You won''t survive that long if you continue this. Let me give you a hint. Recall everything that Layna did or happened to her. That might at least give you an idea¡±, she replied sternly.


    I started recalling. In the beginning, I wasn¡¯t sure what to look for. Layna was a polite, shy girl who could stand for herself when required. She has a great circle of acquaintances who care for her.


    But¡­¡­. But it scared the shit out of her knowing we had a stalker. It was as if she knew it was for her. I was scared but her fear was almost overflowing. Wait¡­¡­. wait wait wait¡­... This isn¡¯t my world. Education is a privilege in this world. Then¡­¡­ then how was she able to read the list. Oh my god, I was blind. She is right; I won¡¯t survive long if I continue like this.


    But before that, I had to confirm if I was right. But when I looked at the guilty face of Layna, I knew for sure something was wrong. Who is Layna? Why were we stalked like that? Why was she so scared?


    A plethora of questions and emotions rushed. I knew I had finally caught the thread through which will soon reveal a huge mystery and I was ready for it. I will finally get some answers.


    But little did Reo know that this would be one of his MAJOR turning points. From here on he would grow ever so strong to overthrow a king all by himself. Here he will know and become the very thing he was introduced at the beginning. The SOUL CONTRACT.

 10. The Honesty

    ¡°Your face¡­¡­. seems that you figured the discrepancies at the least¡±, she stated.


    ¡°Before I explain myself, I believe I deserve some answers too. I want you to answer my question. Who are you? And please be honest¡±, she said to me, in a stern tone. After a pause, she continued,


    ¡°But before that, Mrs. Corsica, I want to know why you believe in him so much? You must have already seen his memories then why is uncle Baren so wary around Ray. What did you say to him that he is so worried¡±, she stopped with a discontented look.


    There was someone else with a lot of questions too. To be honest, even I want to know the answers. And if I heard her right, she mentioned Corsica seeing my memories. If that¡¯s the case it doesn¡¯t even matter what I say. Let¡¯s see how this plays out.


    ¡°I believe in him because I have not sensed any malicious feelings within him. Even after I revealed that I know one of his secrets, he didn¡¯t take any action against it. That¡¯s proof enough of his innocence concerning his nature. In short, he is a good person. As for your second query, I couldn¡¯t read all his memories. There was a major part of it that was inaccessible, protected by some strong magical force. But I did find some discrepancies like the name he gave us was probably fake as there was a strong bond formed with the name Reo than Ray. You see names are given to us when we are born, and they stick with us for our lives. Hence, Baren was not sure if he could truly trust because of Ray¡¯s lies¡±, she replied.


    Hmm, so she doesn¡¯t know the whole story. This is good. She thinks that she has got me cornered here but I can still make it out alive. Using the memory loss blindly won''t work this time. I must revamp my story, so it is satisfying but without revealing too much. The feeling of distrust is mutual here. And here I go¡¯


    ¡°I am sorry for my lies but, in my defense, I was scared too. To be honest, I still don¡¯t know what happened to me or how I ended up in the middle of nowhere. Yes, I am no merchant¡¯s son, Baren found me in a crater formed in the desert, two days from the city, in the direction where the sun rises. He was kind enough to help me out. I was surprised when he was so friendly with someone, he had just met but then I came to know that he was equally capable of overcoming me in all possible ways. I still want to know how I ended up here and why can¡¯t I remember anything¡±, I replied, with a pinch of sadness.


    I had to sell it this time and make sure that this doubt doesn¡¯t arise again. But I also wasn¡¯t sure what she meant by protected memory. Honestly, I still don¡¯t remember the few seconds before I reached this world. I want to know too about that protected memory. But still, it''s scary how she knew me through and through from mind reading. I must be careful around her. If I get to know how to keep my memories protected, then I will be a lot safer.


    I was not sure how to proceed from this point onwards. I was being constantly attacked and surprised in ways I wasn¡¯t ready for. It was weird for Mrs. Corsica to have so much trust in me. I have a feeling she will turn out to be something like Baren; something hidden under her sleeves. I must be careful, now that they know I lied once, will probably suspect me of repeating it.


    For now, let''s see what Layna is hiding. Corsica mentioned something about me not being the only lair. I wonder why she is being so just and fair towards an outsider.


    ¡°Looks like it''s my turn now¡±, she paused, took a deep breath calming herself.


    ¡°Let me start with my name. I am Liliyana Valtoch the daughter of Walkonic Valtoch and Merieal Valtoch. Sister to Mordreck Valtoch. They were the former ruling family of the County of Celest; one of the few places left after the war, that doesn¡¯t discriminate against demi-humans.¡±, she paused again, she was losing courage.


    Her eyes turned red foreshadowing what was about to come.


    ¡°They are all¡­¡­¡­.¡±, she couldn¡¯t do it.


    ¡°It''s fine I get it. I am not a heartless person, but I need to know why that is so important that it had to be kept as a secret¡±, I asked calmly.


    ¡°The story doesn¡¯t end there Reo. Listen¡±, Corsica intervened.


    ¡°It all began on my 19<sup>th</sup> birthday. I wanted to surprise my family by giving them a surprise visit. I was pursuing my education at the Royal University of Mestlecair, a prime university around the eastern half, for politics. I wanted to become a great ruler like my dad and modernize Celest and make it one of the best places in the Alcius empire.¡±, she took a small breadth regaining the lost courage.


    ¡°I told my friend to give me a proxy so that my parents wouldn¡¯t be notified. I was an A grade student, so I wasn¡¯t worried about missing a class or two. I convinced Rugrid, my chaperon to accompany me and he was the one who drove me here. He was old but a reliant man.¡±, she paused.


    There was fear all over her face slowly coming back to her as she was recalling it.


    ¡°I had a small disguise. We traveled with a merchant friend who was leaving for Celest so that wasn¡¯t a problem too. It had been years since I had visited Celest publicly hence nobody in the city doubted my identity. When I reached Celest¡¯s heart; the marketplace. I told Rugrid to wait there for me. I knew a secret passage to the Castle hence there was nothing to worry about me. That was the first time when I suspected something different; there were more guards on patrol than usual. Ignoring the signs I proceeded towards the passage when I saw a guard mistreating a woman. I was furious and wanted to stop him. When suddenly a man who I assume was her husband came to apologize and solved the matter which kind of left a bad taste in my mouth. When I finally approached the passage, to my surprise, many guards were guarding it. This was never the case because it looked like a common house from outside and it was meant to be a secret. Why are they revealing it like that? That¡¯s when I got a second sign; I saw the atmosphere around. The people looked gloomy and discontented. There was sadness in the air. And then I heard¡­¡­¡±, she couldn¡¯t control her emotions anymore.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    Tears started rolling down. The rest was continued by Corsica. She explained, in the crowd, Liliyana or Layna (so that I don¡¯t get used to her actual name and accidentally spill it out) heard about the execution of the formal Royal family for non-cooperation with the latter king. The further story elaboration is a bit foggy.


    So, this is what believed to have happened from multiple reliable sources. ¡®King Walkonic was lured into challenging an unknown HUMAN (not acquainted with the king or his subjects) by lying about how he was discriminated against, by one of his subjects. The king, to save his pride and prove the innocence of his allegedly accused subject, challenged the human to an affair d¡¯honneur or ¡®justice by combat¡¯. One of the common ways to settle an argument, especially between soul contractors.


    This is the point where I lost it. What do you mean justice by fighting? That¡¯s total stupidity. I am sure it was invented by some anarchical idiot and now followed by everyone. But what was about to follow was totally out of my comprehension capability.


    She added that it wasn¡¯t necessary for the people who had a conflict of interest to participate in the combat. They could choose a summon, the contracted soul which can do their bidding.


    And this was supposed to be justice. A load of bull I say. Anyone with the right brain can turn this into their favor.


    The story continues, where the human, since was the challenged party could now select the amount or the value of the wager. He wagered a bag of thousand gold coins. Supposedly, he was a rich merchant.


    The fight began, the human had put forward a double-handed swordsman. With swords in both his hands and an intimidating look, he was a perfect killer. He was built like a tank with high damage sustainability. But the most astounding factor was that he was a demi-human and showed no regret of going against his kind. But Corsica elaborated that he was bound by his contract to do his masters every bidding.


    King Walkonic, on the other hand, summoned his most trusted shadow. An assassin class combatant. Swift in his movements and highly lethal moves. All he needs is to land a few good hits and it¡¯s over.


    I know the result from the gloomy mood spread in the room, no need to elaborate on that but I listened quietly.


    After the king lost was the most surprising and interesting thing happened. The king lost everything. The ownership of the palace and everything he ever owned inside it and the governorship of the kingdom. A devastating loss. It¡¯s believed that the other human who was accompanying the merchant from the very beginning was a sorcerer of some kind and had placed a spell on the king to give everything to the merchant. The duel was just to convince the people.


    And then the new king, King Darvious, the human¡¯s name, asked Walkonic to call all his direct family members to come and accept him as their new king so there will be no revolt among the people. He gave him a day. In this time gap, the prime crown¡¯s guard, Loreithen, who is Lucas¡¯s brother. followed the new king into the sorcerer¡¯s room and tried to kill him, when he was seeking advice from the sorcerer. He was unsuccessful and ended up killing the sorcerer. Then was knifed to death by a soldier who then became the new crown¡¯s guard.


    Later it was decided by King Darvious that it was Walkonic who had ordered his assassination, hence Walkonic¡¯s whole family was sentenced to death. That day was Layna¡¯s birthday. The day she had returned to Celest and is traumatized to date.


    Lucas¡¯s brother was no surprise. Getting the whole royal family a death sentence. He will soon get Layna killed too if she sticks around him so much.


    On the other hand, this story sounds too fabricated. There were very few witnesses and can¡¯t believe the Royal statements that were released. God knows how many people were concerned and the levels of fabrication it underwent before being released.


    Although there was one peculiarity in the story that I couldn¡¯t let go of; why did the merchant lure the king into challenging him? He could have himself challenged the king. No, he wanted the right to declare the ¡®wager amount¡¯. That could be a good starting point for my investigation. And a crown''s guard fails to kill a single human in solidarity but instead kills the sorcerer? How could such an incompetent idiot be appointed as a crown''s guard? or....... just maybe...... I think that guy with a merchant could be the key, he could be the mastermind behind the whole drama.


    I look at Layna, who still hadn¡¯t stopped crying. I felt sorry for her. I know, I know, the last time I felt so for someone made me end up here, but I couldn¡¯t help myself at that moment. But then again, I had no idea what they were expecting from me? they had to have some kind of demand when they decided to narrate me this story or was this just some kind of trust-building session. Either way, I decided to depict that I had no idea of their expectation and keep my mouth shut. But watching Layna¡¯s helpless state made me feel sad too. So, for the moment I thought of consoling her and offer my grievances.


    ¡°I am sorry to hear that. I had no idea that you had gone through so much. It must have been hard recalling that awful stuff back again¡±, I said in a low and calm tone.


    Corsica had contacted Baren with some kind of telepathy magic I suppose. He reached within a few minutes. He rushed in and hugged Layna then looked at me and smiled. Later asked me if I was hurt in any way. Well, that was a bit partial of him. We both were around 20 years old with Layna being a bit younger. I admit I am in my world younger than Layna but still that was unfair.


    We rode back to the inn. Everyone enquired about our wellbeing. Layna was incapable of speaking. Everyone thinks it is because of the stalker but I know the actual reason. Corsica didn¡¯t inform anything about our chat to Baren, hence I did the same. I narrated briefly about the stalker and Baren asked for a description. I didn¡¯t get a good look at his face, but I tried my best.


    Later we had dinner immediately after my interrogation (not really) as it was ready. I didn¡¯t see Layna after that for the rest of the night. I wonder how many of these people know the truth about Layna besides the few obvious ones. That¡¯s right, I wasn¡¯t told how she met Baren and the others. Well, I will have to ask it later. Though it¡¯s a sensitive topic for her, it could be a crucial point in the investigation. I had this train of thought of different ways to approach and investigate this. With the same mood, I entered my room and lit the candles myself which would be normally lit. I think it was Layna. Well, I should put some effort here, at least for her sake.


    ¡°Well, you took your sweet time. I guess you are not as enthusiastic to meet me as I was to meet you. Shame¡±, the hooded stalker said with a faint smile.


    He stood beside the open window holding Layna with a knife to her throat.


    ¡°I hope I don¡¯t need to tell you what happens if you shout. Now, do I?¡±, he had held on to that same devilish smile.


    As he took off his hood the image became more and more clear. It was the same man who had caused a ruckus a few weeks ago. Ray had no idea about the reason for his return and could only think that it was revenge for publicly humiliating him that day. Ray broke a cold sweat as his presumptions of Lucas getting Layna killed were on the verge of being fulfilled through himself.