Apparently, gilfeith hospitality includes offering visitors some very spicy dried meat, and milk in small ceramic cups.

A weird combo I know.

Anyway, I’m pretty sure I never in my life drank milk that wasn’t highly transformed by some giant of the food industry. Well, the stuff they have here is goat milk straight from the animal. This stuff is strong. It's like each mouthful comes with as much taste as a whole bottle of milk. It's quite thick too, almost sirupy. Just swallowing the first mouthful wasn't easy.

I didn’t really have a choice though, because after trying some of the meat I really needed a drink to clear that burn. It looked so innocent too, round slices of meat a couple cm wide, with tiny pieces of green leaves. Very similar to the dried sausages we have back home. Except it stings like the meanest Spanish chorizo you can imagine.

At least the place is dark so it’s probably hard to tell that I’m red as a tomato and tearing up.

Although I swear I saw Pheyis silently chuckle when she walked in and glanced my way.

Curse that woman.

Zaimeia walked in shortly after Pheyis. She had a firm look in spite of her kind face. Probably not one to be trifled with, even though she looks young.

She must be in training to be the next head of the village, it takes some authority.

Yeah.

While Pheyis casually grabbed a cup of milk and a couple chunks of meat before somehow vanishing into the shadows when she settled down somewhere to the left, Zaimeia took a spot right next to Guemeros clearly indicating a relationship of equals.

The atmosphere became truly ominous when she turned her piercing eyes my way. Then Guemeros spoke up, looking much more focused than what I had seen so far.

“Thanks for coming you two. Let’s get down to business. Marc, I understand you’re an outworlder. This brings a lot of questions but the first one is: What are we going to do with you?”

Yes, this is quite ominous indeed.

My hearthbeat picked up the pace at his question. I’m clearly under trial but I don’t know what he’s expecting here.

“Well, to be honest I didn’t really have any plans, then Pheyis appeared out of nowhere and dragged me here.”

"Pheyis brought you closer to the village, but you're the one who chose to cross the last stretch until Zaralius found you."

I mean... Yeah. But they seemed to want me here and now they are trying to kick me out? What is going on.

"I... I just followed really. You seemed to want me here."

Zaimeia leans forward a little as she speaks up, her tone is hard.

“It’s simple enough, do you want to stay here?”

Somehow it feels threatening, like if I say that I want to leave I'm just asking for a backstab the moment I'm out of the town.

Well, staying beats trying to survive alone anyway. That was not going well at all.

“… Yes?”

“Then tell us, what can you bring to the village except trouble?”

That’s unexpected.

“I… I’m sorry, what trouble?”

“Just answer the question.”

OK lady, calm down. I look around for some support but Guemeros seems to have gone back into his aloof old man act and Pheyis is grinning like she’s watching a couple of kittens fight.

Cute kittens you think? The kind that deserve a hug?

I repress the urge to face-palm and focus back on the question. What can I bring? The obvious answer is progress. But maybe that’s actually trouble for them?

In spite of her angry glare, I take a couple seconds to order my thoughts and say things properly.

“I have knowledge. Ideas, science and inventions from my world that could help your village progress and improve your daily life. In my world, humans once lived much like what I’ve seen in this place. But that was centuries ago. We don’t have magic and we don’t have a system, we mastered nature through sheer ingenuity. I grew up in a world where the tallest buildings were just as high as the mountains around this village. I decided to leave my home alone to explore a new world and I arrived here three days ago. This wasn’t really what I had planned, but… Wait.”

Wait just a second.

Everything is wrong.

Suddenly, a lot of small inconsistencies came together in my mind, as I spoke those words that really don't make sense to me. Little things I didn’t really notice while going over my memories.

Oh.

Oh no, now is not the right time Marc.

I shouldn’t be here alone.

Where the fuck is…

“Where the fuck is whoever I entered the Study with?”

I spoke out loud, and there was violence in my voice. But I don’t care. Now that I’ve noticed, there’s a glaring hole in my mind. A person-shaped hole. And all I can say about it is that it’s everywhere.

The same realization that would have utterly crushed me just a couple days ago when I was alone and lost in the wild now sparks something brutal.

I can't help but scream in anger and frustration at the world. A deep groan that shakes my throat as the realisation hits me like a truck.

Perhaps for the first time in my life, I’m truly furious. I close my eyes and hold my head in my hands. This isn’t a flare of temper. No, it’s a very cold feeling, an icy burn. Hatred that I didn’t know I could hold. Anger that is pushing everything else out of the way.

I knew something was wrong. I knew things didn’t add up.

Fuck the Knowledgeable. They removed bits and pieces of my mind, of me. They want to study us? To know what happens? I’ll find them and I’ll show them what happens.

I don’t know how and I don’t know when. But I’ll figure things out. I’ll harden myself in this forsaken place, and I’m going to show them.

The three gilfeiths are looking at me with puzzled looks after my outburst. Even Pheyis.

I take a deep breath, focusing on the ice to ground me down. And I speak up in a voice frozen by anger.

“I want to learn everything I can. I’ll work hard, and I’ll leave in a year.”

“I’ve just figured out that I have a revenge to take against some people who erased some of my memories.”

Pheyis scoffs as she answers.

“You could barely survive alone and you want to go ahead and pick a fight? Foolish. Would you still be alive if I hadn’t brought you back? You’re weak. All it would take is a monster or a beast in a bad mood to end your life.”

“So what? Dying would suck but it wouldn’t stop me. In fact,” I raise my voice to the point of practically yelling, “Unless the Knowledgeable give me back my memories right now, no matter what, I’ll be relentless!”

Bro, now they are looking at us like we’re crazy.

Well I did just dismiss death, and yell at unseen observers. From their perspective that's probably crazy talk.

Suddenly, Pheyis is laughing.

“See old man? That’s a kid with some spine. Level 1, all stats show up as irrelevant except intelligence, and he’s ready to take on his gods or something. I keep telling you, your hunters are too soft.”

Wait, what does she mean by my stats show up as irrelevant?

She walked to the door as she spoke, and leaves with a last word directed my way.

“Find me during sunrise for training.”