Chapter 1.3 — “Wait?... Where am I?

  In the moonlight a man and woman stood—

  silent—in disbelief.

  “What do we do?” Jen asked, her voice tense with concern.

  “I don't know… maybe—he seems lost!”

  While they went back and forth,

  Leo could′t understand a single word!

  He looked around, scanning his surroundings for something—

  familiar.

  Reassuring…?

  Where is this place?

  Who are these people?

  He studied them both, and his eyes were drawn to the woman first.

  She was striking, with long brown hair flowing elegantly down her back.

  Her warm energy matched her simple attire: a fitted tunic over a plain skirt,

  sturdy shoes, and a belt holding a small pouch—nothing fancy,

  just practical for daily life.

  She looked young, maybe in her early twenties?

  The man stood in stark contrast—rugged, with a beard that made him appear older,

  matching his calm, focused demeanor.

  He wore a slightly worn tunic belted at the waist, a vest over a plain shirt,

  and knee-high leather boots—simple but functional.

  They looked like they had stepped out of a cosplay event.

  Leo’s breath grew heavier; his heart raced.

  His head felt heavier…

  Ahh… it was spinning!

  Jen suddenly stopped, and looked at Leo.

  “Hey”

  “Is everything alright?”

  He was breathing heavier, his face becoming pale.

  “ok… hey.. hey” she kneeled in front of Leo, placing her hand on his chest.

  “there, there… come on now” She said, while gently pressing her palm onto his chest.

  “now, now… calm and slow—breath”

  — — —

  The woman looked me in the eyes, she was trying to match my breathing —

  Slow it down.

  Color started to return to my face.

  Her presence was oddly calming… —

  Putting me at ease.

  “Ahh.. thank you! i'm good now”

  As if she understood, her smile grew bigger.

  She began speaking to me,

  somehow i understood her intentions.

  I think she wants me to take it easy and sit down?

  I did just that and she nodded gently…

  Her radiant smile still brings comfort.

  — — —

  “We need to bring him Grey”

  He looked at Jen, his expression became serious.

  “We can't take someone else's child!?”

  “His family must be near!”

  Jen nodded her head.

  “That might be true!.. but who in their right mind,

  would they leave their child?”

  “Stop it Jen?” his face turned even more serious.

  “We don't know what happened?

  he might have wandered off by himself, for all we know!”

  Jen, disappointed, turned her head away from Grey.

  “just look at him.. you cannot tell me it doesn't concern you?”

  Grey turned his gaze toward the boy.

  “Of course not!.. But what do you wanna do?”

  “Just look at him… does that look like a regular kid to you?” Grey’s eyes sharpened at Leo’s clean, neatly tucked shirt and trousers—a sharp contrast to the worn clothes he and Jen wore. It was just Leo’s usual gaming outfit. He didn’t think much of it, but here, it made him look… almost presentable.

  “If he is a noble, we'll be executed if they think we kidnapped him!?

  Her expression changes slightly, showing a bit of concern,

  while Grey continued.

  “the fact is we don't know what happened?.. and why he is out here alone”

  “I know that Grey, but if we leave him alone and he's a noble!?...

  well— they will execute us for that too!?”

  Grey couldn't argue with that,

  He sighed deeply.

  “Fine… if we can't find his family, we can take him with us”

  Jen nodded, and her soft smile returned.

  “Jen you stay here and take care of him”

  “I'll search the area for his family… —

  they might be close by” Grey took off searching out the area.

  ***

  He went away for a moment,

  I'm not sure what they spoke of,

  but judging by the way they act?

  I would say they are responsible adults.

  The woman stayed with me,

  while the man went somewhere.

  He is probably trying to find my Parents?

  that's really unfortunate…

  the woman′s presence though—

  it's… oddly calm.

  At that moment I heard footsteps.

  Someone was there,

  a man came out of the darkness…

  Ohh — he's back!

  That was quite fast?

  Even though he looks like a tall stick!

  Despite the man′s serious expression,

  I couldn't help but chuckle a bit.

  He shook his head while approaching the woman.

  “No luck… that's just great” he said, while looking even more disappointed.

  “Well, I guess we have to take him, then?” she said.

  A small grin took shape on her face, and she quickly hid her smile behind her hand.

  Grey saw her grin, and exhaled— exasperated…

  This woman!!

  She quickly took Leo by the hand,

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  and pulled him along.

  Leaving Grey behind.

  “Ahh Jen…wait for a second!”

  ***

  I don't know how long we were walking—

  or rather, I should say being dragged by this woman.

  Or maybe… how hard she was pulling me along.

  I could not for the life of me, break her grip.

  She was holding really tight, as if to fear I would somehow slip away?

  Yeah—like I have anywhere to go!!

  Also, just how strong is she?

  She had a smile on her face while towing me along.

  I looked behind me, hearing someone huffing.

  The man she was with seemed somewhat to struggle.

  I narrowed my eyes, for some reason couldn't help but to pity him.

  He's sooo weak… how come I have more stamina than him?

  And I′m totally lazy!

  By the way—where is here?

  Soon, they spotted lights in the distance. It didn’t take long for Leo to realize it was a simple wooden house.

  Worn and old from the outside, a sudden waft of hazelnut reached his nose.

  Before they could get closer, the woman stopped and turned to the man.

  They began to converse. I tried my best to listen, hoping to make sense of all that gibberish.

  “What do you think?” Jen asked, a slight concern in her voice.

  “What do you mean?” he replied, confused

  “I mean… are we not relying on him too much? I know you two go way back, but he is still an Archmage.”

  “Former Archmage, I might add. He’s done with that life,” Grey said with conviction.

  “If you’re sure, I trust you. It’s the nobles I don’t… You know how they can be. Who’s to say he won’t just take the boy from us?”

  “Ehh,” Grey said, utterly surprised.

  “Jen… what are you saying out of the blue? Simon would never do something like that!”

  “Well, you know why!” she snapped, her voice trembling with sadness.

  “Don’t worry. I know him well… He’s not interested in that world, and in playing those stupid games—Simon’s words, not mine,” Grey said, trying to lighten her mood.

  Jen took a deep breath and looked at Grey. The tension in her face had eased; she seemed calmer now.

  “Okay, okay… I believe you. Of course, if you’re wrong and something bad happens, I do need a new training dummy for my sword practice.”

  A cold sweat ran down Grey’s neck. He forced an awkward smile and moved quickly toward Simon’s house, silently praying that nothing bad would happen to the boy—fully aware of the horror that would await him if he were wrong.

  “Well, I hope he’s still at the clinic this late,” he muttered. He might have once been a Divine Archmage in the Royal Capital, but our good Doctor has a habit of disappearing whenever you need him.

  ———

  What are they mumbling about?

  I was completely confused! One thing is not understanding anything, but it’s another to just stand here in the forest looking like an idiot.

  Did they have some kind of falling out? Maybe—not sure.

  After a bit, the man finally walked toward the house. Relief hit me—finally,

  something was happening. Do they not understand how cold it is?!

  I was still in my indoor clothes. Just standing here wasn’t doing much.

  While I grumbled like an old man, my eyes caught the man—he suddenly sped up for some reason. A weird expression manifested on his face.

  Huh? What’s that about? Does he need to use the bathroom?

  If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he had the expression of absolute terror.

  ———

  ———

  ***

  We finally stepped inside. The place could only be described as a worn-down,

  magical-looking shop—or so it seems, since shelves were overflowing with books,

  herbs and what looked like vials with red liquid.

  Is that… potions?

  I was so focused on the cluttered interior that I didn’t notice the sweet smell of honey filling the air.

  Despite the shop looking like it might fall apart at any moment, I felt relaxed—almost cozy.

  The owner of the house was a tall man with long blond hair and big round glasses, wearing what looked like a white robe.

  He gave off the vibe of an older, wise man, even though he looked quite young. Since I couldn’t communicate with anyone yet,

  I decided to call him Mr. Glasses Guy. I know… original, huh?

  Mr. Glasses was in the middle of speaking with Mr. Beard and Sweet Lady.

  I’m still not sure why we are here, but going by my observation and his cosplay,

  he might be an alchemist, druid… or even a wizard?

  While I was still pondering, Mr. Glasses suddenly walked over to me.

  Before I knew it, he was kneeling down and examining me. Just like a doctor back home,

  he checked my eyes, throat, and even made me cough while listening to my heartbeat.

  Ehh… wait—did he just give me a quick physical?

  He was fast and decisive. I didn’t have time to think and just went along with it.

  Maybe it’s because back home I’m used to a lax healthcare system?

  Or maybe it’s just that Mr. Glasses gave off such a relaxing vibe.

  Dunno… but I should probably be more careful about letting strangers get this close.

  ———

  Jen and Grey looked on while Simon examined the boy. As always, he was fast and thorough,

  moving with purpose and grace—like watching a dance.

  Jen’s eyes followed his every motion, sharp and focused.

  Grey, on the other hand, stood completely at ease.

  After everything he and Simon had been through, he knew he could trust him without question.

  “Hmmm, I see.. interesting,” Simon said with a monotone voice.

  “Ohh, so you found something?” Grey's mood lifted, hoping for a clue.

  “Well no, I found nothing… The boy is fit and healthy.”

  Jen was relieved “ahh good, so he is not understanding when we speak to him, is it due to any injury?”

  “Noo, from the looks of it, there are at least no physical signs of anything wrong with him,

  but his mental state I can′t say yet. You found him out in the field you say?”

  “Yes… He just stood there alone. I tried to look for his family, hoping they would be nearby but to no avail.”

  Simon looked somewhat puzzled at Grey.

  “You found nothing? "Are you sure?”

  “Yeah I was surprised too, the nearest town is too far for a child to walk,

  and we know everyone who lives here.” Grey said with a troubled look.

  “Why did you two even go there in the first place? Most monsters hide in the forest, sure,

  and the field is a bit safer—but still. It's reckless going there by this hour, even if you have Jen take care of it”

  A small grin spread across Simon’s face as he looked at Grey, mockingly.

  “Hey, not cool, you know I can take care of myself Simon!”

  Grey became quite flustered, so much so that Jen could not help,

  but let out a small chuckle—trying to hide it behind her hand.

  “Well… Grey got somewhat excited when a sudden light appeared, it looked like a meteor fell,

  so Grey rushed over. That is when we found the boy” Jen explained.

  “Hmm… I see.”

  Leo looked somewhat confused at the entire scene. He blinked, trying to piece it together.

  He could only guess what they were talking about.

  Why do I get the feeling I'm gonna regret meeting these people?

  ———

  Simon, with a serious tone, went to one of his shelves and took out a big roll of paper, which he rolled out in front of Leo.

  “Well, he might not be able to communicate with us but he can at least point us in the right direction.”

  A big map was rolled out in front of me. Mr. Glasses then pointed at what looked like a town,

  as expected, I couldn't read it—but how come the letters looked familiar?

  I looked around the entire map for clues… Then—i saw it!

  No… no way—there is absolutely no way!!!

  An emblem was hovering over what looked like a capital city.

  My jaw dropped and my eyes widened in utter shock.

  For countless hours this emblem has been etched deep into my skull.. There is no way I wouldn't immediately recognize it.

  "Feuerhartz!... it′s FEURHARTZ ROYAL CAPITAL” Leo shouted, shocking everyone around him.

  Leo then realized he had shouted and was very embarrassed. “Ahh, sorry,” he said.

  ———

  ———

  A moment went by, then Mr. Glasses began to gesture to me pointing at the map. It was a no brainer. I knew exactly what he wanted me to do. But I just couldn't believe it, looking at this map I knew where everything was. This was the map of the JRPG game I spent so many days trying to complete. And the place they had pointed at was Heimzuch Village! one of the early stages in the game.

  Why am I here, why did I become a kid again?

  While trying to process everything, Mr. Glasses repeated the gesture—snapping me out of my trance. Ohh right, they want me to point out where I am from.

  I sighed, not having much choice. I pointed outside of the map, the man repeated the gesture and I did the same. They looked a bit confused at one another.

  ———

  “Is he serious? he can't be serious?” Grey said somewhat displeased,

  “He is a small kid, maybe he doesn't understand?”

  Jen looked closer at the boy, “No I think he does, Grey.”

  “That can't be true! It's impossible, right… Simon?”

  Simon corrected his glasses with his index finger, pondering the event.

  “I can′t be sure, but it seems the boy is being serious. He might be a small kid but looking at his behavior I would say I seem to at least understand what we are asking of him” Simon explained.

  "Ahhh…." My head is gonna burst!” Grey said while holding both hands on his head.

  “What does it mean, Simon?” Jen asked with a concerned voice.

  “Im not sure, what we know is he is pointing outside the continental barrier. At this point I will need to investigate further to find more answers.”

  Simon narrowed his eyes, thinking of the next step.

  “Well then, it seems we have no choice. We need to inform the Village Chief and begin a formal investigation to find his family.”

  Simon took his coat on and gestured for Leo to follow.

  “Jen, Grey, you two inform the Village Chief. Tell him to find out what he can, I will also be investigating this myself, with all of us working together we should be able to locate his family.”

  “Soo, what's the next step for the boy then?” Jen asked curious, but also with a hint of concern in her voice.

  “Not much choice but to rely on her.”

  “Her? Who’s her?” Jen asked, confused.

  “The old witch running Cleinwalth Home Orphanage.”

  “The Holy Sage, Tessaria.”

  ———