In the dark of the night, a few scattered campfires by a dusty road lit up the surrounding countryside. Sitting around them were rowdy men, drinking cheap alcohol. On their unkempt clothes, if one looked closely past all the dirt and grime, you could somewhat be able to make out an insignia of a hand tightly gripping a mace. Such a symbol indicated that they were affiliated to a noble house, though they were more of mercenaries than official workers.

They were ‘soldiers,’ but just barely, basically street ruffians hired due to the lack of manpower. And likewise, the gear they carried was also of terrible quality, not helped by the fact that many of them neglected to take care of their equipment. Being paid very little, having to risk their lives and follow orders that valued their heads about as much as dogs, they were just a tad bit better off than being slaves. Having no future, no chance to improve their situations, many of them lived just for the present, gambling and spending the small amount of coppers they had on watered-down ale. It was a place that once you got into, you stayed there until you died, unless you got terribly lucky and made a fortune. Although then you would have to deal with other vandals trying to kill you for it. Jealousy could be a terrifying thing.

Occasionally there would be a somewhat decent person here and there, driven to desperation by debt or some other misfortunate circumstances like political strife. In the end, though, groups like these were unwelcome in nearly all places. Cities disliked them because they reduced public order and led to increased crime rates. Even if they were arrested and imprisoned, they wouldn't change a bit after they were released. Villages feared them because of those reasons as well, but also because they were threats and dangers.

They were not strangers to being robbers, if they found someone to mug or a house to break into, why wouldn't they? Even if they had to kill someone, there would be no hesitation. It was easy money and there was nothing they had to lose after all.

As such, any self-respecting place would reject them or treat them harshly. Other people scorned them and when they felt ‘safe,’ they acted arrogantly and superior, throwing insults and provoking them. Of course, that was only in cities where they had guards to protect them, in the outskirts and countryside, or even the slums, they wouldn’t dare do such things.

Only places that needed cheap labor would hire them, inexpensive to maintain and easily disposable. After all, it was easier to hire a hundred thugs than to train a single knight. More affordable to hire ten poverty-stricken men than to buy a single slave. Such was the way of this world, as cruel as reality seemed. In this way, they survived, loudly, poorly, violently, hopelessly.

“Oi! Garrett! Come on and have a few drinks why don’t you? Where’s yah spirit!”

A burly man called out with a yell from the campfire, other men also letting out good-natured jeers towards a person sitting out a bit farther away from the group. At a first glance, he looked the same as everyone else, brawny, with several faded scars on his arms and face. Wearing the same worn out attire and using the same rusty sword, albeit with a bit less blood and mud on it.

However, a closer inspection would show that his demeanor did not carry a hint of intoxication. If the bonfire was not so bright, you would be able to see that his face was barely red at all compared to the others. Unlike the others, whose eyes were clouded with alcohol, the gleam in his gave proof of his being sober. Shaking his head, he gave a rueful laugh, “Sorry, not tonight Leon.”

The other man scoffed and rolled his eyes, “What, you can’t handle it?”

Clicking his tongue and chuckling softly at Leon’s taunt, Garrett took the leather flagon from the hand of the other’s outstretched arms.

“Well, maybe just a lil’ bit tonight then.” Amidst the rowdy laughter and blazing fire, he held it up to his lips and tilted his head back. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he drank. Wiping his mouth with his arm, he handed it back to the other person.

Perhaps if the burly man wasn’t tipsy, then he probably would’ve noticed that the container weighed the exact same as when he gave it to him. But, he didn’t and all he did was take a huge mouthful and snickered, a few teeth missing from his mouth.

“We got an easy task this time, who cares if we drink. Burn down a few buildings, bit o’ this and that, an’ we each get a silver. A whole silver!” Laughing merrily, he downed the rest of the flagon and belched loudly. Garrett's smile tightened a bit, and he asked back in a nonchalant tone.

“Oh really? That’s quite a lot, is there some reason for that?” In this country, there was no such thing as free money from the heartless that were known as nobles. They wouldn’t give a single copper to the poor on the streets, male or female, child or adult. Raising taxes on their land to the absolute highest, they feasted every day while naming the penniless as ignorant and lazy.

Of course, they donated quite a few hefty sums to the church. After all, they were simply the kindest and most sympathetic people in the land, how could they offer anything less to those selfless priests who devoted their lives to Iteus, the God of Light? Only the shining glimmer of gold coins could show their honesty and faith. Those who didn’t were obviously evil and sinful, and had to be brought to justice to be executed, their property and assets used to appease the anger of Iteus and his servants.

As such, normally they wouldn’t give more than a dozen coppers to them for even the most exhausting of work. Garrett didn’t, and never would believe that they would give out money like that. Leo clearly knew this as well, and leaned in closer to whisper.

“Heard that somethin’ happened to the lord, like an assassination attempt. Girl came from some village, Beles or somethin’ it was called. ‘parently she tried to seduce him and kill him with a firebomb, but he barely survived an’ got out.”

Grinning like he was revealing a conspiracy, he continued, even quieter this time. “Rumor got it that his whole body's been burned to the bone, can’t even use his legs or arms. Even hired an Archbishop, an Archbishop for god’s sake, but even he couldn't do anythin’ ‘bout it. Probably gonna be scarred for the rest of his life.”

‘Ah, no wonder.’

If there was one weakness about nobles, it was their arrogance, trying to fix everything just by throwing money at it. Although they were quite stingy when it came to charity, when they spent, they spent a lot.

It was likely that their employer was furious and didn't consider how much money he was going to be spending to get his revenge. There were about sixty of them here, so just for a small mission, their employer had spent over sixty silver. Assuming one lived frugally off of it, they would have enough to be able to buy food for at least a month with just one.

The one thing that nobles were the most proficient at was using up gold and silver coins like they were drinking water. To an Earl, sixty gold coins was just another drop in the bucket, let alone sixty silvers. To us people though, it was probably more than any of us ever owned at once in our entire lives. Knowing that the were just surviving because of another man’s pocket change really was kind of depressing.

Sighing regretfully, he silently prayed.

Underneath the dim sun, a man prayed in front of a blazing flame.

For himself,

For the village,

For this group,

For this country,

……and for this world.

Looking at the humanoid form laying on the ground facing the sun, Calvin felt his head hurt a little. It had simply sat there the whole day, ignoring him. Occasionally it would make some gestures back, but so far, it just looked like it was sleeping. Calvin also wasn't sure what to do with it. He really wanted to bring it back to his village, but looking at its current actions, that was highly unlikely.

Seeing that it had no name, it was much more likely that it was an abandoned ‘defective’ construct or golem created by the dwarves. It seemed much more intelligent than them, although he had no idea if it could talk or not. As such, being the person who found it and caused it to be ‘restored,’ he gave it a name.

Era, named after Lake Erador, the goddess of destiny. For only she could’ve arranged such a fateful meeting.

‘Ahhh, I really want to bring it back with me….’

Curiosity demanded that he stay longer and find out some more stuff about it, but his mind said no. The longer he waited, the longer the villagers would suffer from those incurable fevers. As much as he wished he could remain longer in this peaceful place, he had to go back.

Just the thought of his sister’s frail body made every second he lingered stab him with a knife called guilt. He could always come back, but what were the chances that this golem would still be here? A week back to the village and a week back to here, it would likely be far gone by the time he got back. No matter how much he asked for it to come with him, it always ignored him, and he had no idea how he could communicate the idea with it.

‘At the very least, the cloth should be worth a bit……’

Consoling his heavy mind with that sole thought, he reluctantly he chose to leave in the end. Bidding it farewell with a small wave, he headed back into the forest, back towards his village. Towards his home, Belas.

‘Even though it was only for a short while, I was able to see something new’

A brown-haired youth, jogging through the dark woods, silently gave thanks to the Goddess of fate and destiny.

‘Thank you, for giving me the chance to see something new.

Then he paused, his gait slowly down a moment before speeding back up again.

‘…… if I become an Adventurer, won’t I be able to see many more things like this?’

And such, his desire to explore the world grew even stronger.

‘I will become an Adventurer,’ a boy repeated to himself, over and over as he ran through the forest, spurred on by both his wish to travel the world, and his wish to see the looks on his parent’s faces when he brought back the herbs.

It seemed that human had finally left. Sticking around for a whole day, it seemed he finally went away to take care of some business. What he did was none of my concern though. At the moment, I was still quite weak and slow, so I continued to lay in the sun.

However, now I needed to decide what to do. As of this moment, I had no information on where I was or what I supposed to be doing. Normally, upon my activation, I would've been given a command by the primary vessel to carry out and fulfill. But now, everything was a blank, I did not know where the primary vessel was nor how I even got here.

As such, I needed to create a plan to follow at the moment. Assuming that the primary vessel was still intact, locating it would be of the highest priority. All remote units were also equipped with a transmitter and receiver as well as the primary vessel, I had already sent out several signals. So far though there had been no responses, so it was likely damaged or broken, but that did not matter, as it could be repaired by salvaging parts from myself. Or perhaps something was interfering with the signal and making it undetectable, aside from plain distance.

…………

……yes, after it was up and running, many of the current problems would be easily resolved and I could return to my normal functions.

Of second priority would be locating the other units if they were active as well, wherever they might be. Of third priority would be gathering information on my surroundings, as it would be vital towards developing procedures in the future.

Of fourth priority………

Of fifth priority………

Of sixth priority………

…………………………...

…………………………...

…………………………...

With a solid set of guidelines for me to follow, I could now start acting upon it. Standing up, I began to survey the nearby surroundings. Although I was not at maximum power, it was enough for me to start moving, and I could charge at the same time. Thinking back towards the human, I realized something. As troublesome as it was, it would have been a good source of information had I been capable of communicating with him.

‘Well, he’s likely not going to be coming back soon.’

No matter, I would just have to start searching from nothing then. Looking around, I was in a wide open area, next to a lake. All around were dense woods, with thick branches making the forest seem like it was dusk even though it was currently… what time? My internal clock was completely in disorder and out of sync, activated only when I awoke. Since then, exactly 738 minutes had elapsed. Aside from that, I had no method to track time.

There were two suns in the sky, one close to the horizon and the smaller one was higher up in the sky, and I was not sure which one indicated whether it was day or night…or whether this place even had the concept of day and night. I would have to wait until it turned dark to estimate the length of a day, so I noted the current positions of the suns above. Then I walked towards the edge of the forest and went around the perimeter, looking into it as I skirted the area.

When I finished making a full round, I sat down in thought. The entire time, I had only seen endless trees and tall grass, and a rustle of a bush here and there, indicating the presence of an animal. There were no openings in the canopy of the forest, so once I went inside, it would be challenging to recharge.

That itself was not a problem.

From a hundred to zero percent energy, I would be able to cover a great deal of distance if all I did was walk. The only problem was the size of the forest. How long did it go on? Would I be able to make it out before my energy supplies were exhausted? I did not know.

There were too many unknowns in this place, too many possible events which I could not predict, and I didn’t have a clue in which direction the vessel might be. Therefore, my current approach should be to probe out the region and gather useful information, all the while maintaining my current energy levels.

As the sky turned darker, I slid back the cover on my chest to keep it safeguarded. If it was damaged and rendered unusable, I would have failed before I even got past the woods.

Hm, how strange, one of the suns had remained in the sky while the other has gone down, and does not seem like it will be doing so anytime soon. How troublesome, with this, I won’t be able to analyze the stars even if it’s during the night. Well, at the very least, I can confirm that the larger, orange star affects this planet’s day and night the most, the second, blue one gave out softer light, like it was always a full moon. Even so, I would keep the solar panels offline, the damage it might incur is not worth taking for the minute energy I would be getting in return.

Now, however, at nearly a quarter full of power, I headed out in towards the forest under the blue sun. I would head in until I encountered an obstacle or after using up 10% of my current energy. Any life forms would be avoided unless there was confirmed to be no danger. This was the side where than human had left, so I would assume that this would be the shortest way out, or at least, lead towards a settlement. Standing before the looming forest, I took a step and walked into the shadows.

Acrid smoke filled my throat and stung my eyes as I woke up to a cacophony of noises. Screaming, yelling, and bells clanging all only served to confuse me further as I woke. The smell of burning, the feeling of sweat on my skin, I fumbled around in my dark room.

‘What’s...what’s going on?!’

Sitting up on the wooden bed, I pushed the wool blankets off and tried to stand up, but tripped as my legs failed me. Biting my lips from the sharp pain as I fell down on my knees, I tried to get up when a wave of dizziness and nausea hit me like a bucket of water and I collapsed.

Falling back down onto my hands and knees, I breathed heavily, trying to calm down my hyperventilating. It was not helped by the fact that the entire room was getting warmer by second. ‘Mom… mom… where are mom and dad!?’

I tried to call out for my parents, but choked as the smoke entered my lungs and I started coughing violently. Heading for the door, crawling on the wooden floor, my knees were getting scratched and bleeding, but I didn’t notice. Tears formed from the smarting of my eyes and blurred my vision, so I had to blink violently to get rid of them. Crawling unsteadily, I slowly crept towards my wooden door. ‘Almost there, just a little bit more.’ I told myself, when,

A giant ‘crack’ sound was heard, and a pile of burning wood fell down onto my bed on the left, setting it afire. The force from the impact staggered me and knocked me over onto my side as the light from fire came through, blinding my eyes. The heat also grew much stronger, and I felt my tired body growing heavy with fatigue. ‘...no I cannot, I have to… keep… going…’

Struggling to get up, I heard loud footsteps and a click as my door opened. I could not make out the person through my tears as they grabbed my arms and pulled me out. A soft voice spoke quietly in my ear, and I felt my entire body relax as I heard my mother’s choked voice as she embraced me and hugged me close to her chest. “Abby, we have to go, now!” She whispered quietly yet forcefully at the same time as she pulled me onto her back. Hoisting me up by my arms, she started and headed towards our back door. I noticed how dirty and black her clothes were, how strange it was for my mother who was so strict on tidiness, a habit retained from treating injured people almost daily.

Opening the back entrance, I nearly fainted from the smoke and smell of burning flesh. I would’ve fallen off if my mom wasn’t holding my arms and legs tightly.

As I opened my eyes, my body quaked, and tears threatened to fill my eyes, not from the burning of the smoke.

‘...why, why is it all burning?!’

The village, the whole village was burning, wood and thatch igniting to form a raging inferno that poured out acrid black smoke into the night sky like ink spreading inside a cup of water.

‘...why, why is this happening!?’

Penny’s house, who wove a crown of flowers for me when I was too sick to go out and play with the other children, was burning down.

Old Darrel’s house, along with the herb and flower garden he had nurtured and cared for before I had even been born, was burning down.

Miss Lana’s house, who always gave the children pieces of bread for helping her to deliver pastries, was crumbled down into an unrecognizable pile.

Javon’s house, who gave me apples and fruits whenever he came back from hunting, was gone.

Miss Palmer and Mister Bentley’s house, the old couple who had been together for over thirty years, was no longer existing.

Miss May’s house, who taught all the girls how to make dolls out of straw, was burning as quickly as dry grass.

And…and Charles, who gifted me shiny rocks from the river and small flowers, who stuttered when he spoke to me, his house…was gone.

Our village, our home….my home…………

I could no longer hold back my grief, and tears started to fall down like rain, quiet sobs coming out from my chest soaking the fabric I was clinging to.

‘Wait...where's dad?’

Pulling at the collar of my mother’s shirt as she carried me out of the village, I mumbled into her ear.

“...dad....where’s dad?”

She lowered her head as she crouched down, and said without looking at me.

“He’s out there, once we get out we’ll wait for him in the woods. Don’t worry, your dad’s not that weak.”

Taking a few minutes, we snuck out of the village, going around houses and avoiding all the roads, and when we just got past the last few houses, my mother stopped in her tracks.

In front of us was a man, holding a small torch. Behind him, I could see several others as well, all wearing armor and carrying swords. And on the corner of their tunics, a small emblem was stitched onto it, the symbol of Earl Balgen’s house.

My mother sagged down onto her knees and cried out, begging to them, “Please, you have to help, bandits have-”

‘Schk’

She looked down in disbelief at the arrow that was sticking out of her chest, and tried to stumble away, and crashed down as she fell, a pool of blood gathering around her. Gasping for breath, she grabbed me and clasped me into her bosom, wrapping herself around me tightly. Curling her legs up to me, she took in shaking, heavy breaths while laying in a pool of bloody mud.

I, who had never seen a person die in my life, was so shocked that I simply could not react, too unrealistic that I didn’t feel a thing. Looking at my mother’s face, which was already beginning to grow pale, I reached my hands out and shook it a few times.

“… hey… hey… mom… we still have to get dad… hey… please… I’m sorry that I ate all the jam… let’s go now… please……”

“I’m sorry that I used your brush without telling you…”

“… I’m sorry… so... please… mom...... wake up……”

As a shadow fell over me, I looked up, and saw the face of a man, a scar over one eye, and then everything went black.