Abraham woke up. His face was filled with sweat. His breathing was heavy. “Huff. Huff. Huff…”

Abraham clenched his fist. His face looked horrified. “For god’s sake. That damned old hag… How long is she planning to haunt me…”

“Is there a problem Abraham?” A familiar, monotone voice ringed in Abraham’s ears. Abraham looked at the direction the voice came from. He was shocked. He stood in his position staring right at Alfred. He slowly moved his hand beneath his pillow. Grabbing a small knife firmly. It was the same knife he had received from Alfred. ‘His magic is powerful. I will die if he casts a spell.'

'I need to wait for my chance… Thankfully, he seems to be quite slow.’ Abraham had been monitoring Alfred for the past few days. He had come to the conclusion that Alfred can easily kill him. Of course, this also meant he had looked for Alfred’s weaknesses. He had noticed that Alfred’s spells were slow to cast. If he looked for the right time and attacked, Alfred would die.

Alfred slowly walked closer to Abraham. ‘This is my chance!’

Abraham tightened his grip on the knife. He lunged towards Alfred. His legs were unfortunately still not completely healed… But it was enough for him to carry out this task. Abraham aimed the knife at Alfred’s neck. And went for a stab.He put all his strength inside that attack and couldn’t think of anything else at that very moment. The knife got close to the neck. And just when it was about to stab through- ‘What?’

Abraham’s expression crumbled. He stood still in the air. Not being able to move an inch. “Too slow.”

When Alfred said this, Abraham was sure of it. He had lost. “Don’t worry. I won’t hurt you.”

Alfred spoke.

“How should I believe you? And, how do you know me?” Abraham spoke. “I am a faithful servant of our lord. He wishes to talk to you. I will not harm you.”

“Lord? You mean… The king?” Abraham asked. “No. I mean our god. The true god.”

Abraham became confused. ‘There was more than one god?’

Abraham originally thought this world worshipped only one god but it seems he was wrong. He wasn’t too surprised though. Even his world had several religions. “How am I supposed to trust in this god of yours in that case?”

Abraham spoke. Alfred began laughing he then softly spoke in Abraham’s ears. “Stop talking as if you have a choice. You read the diary, didn’t you? The original owner of the body was a fool. As soon as the king finds out… You’ll die.”

Abraham became bitter. He knew his fate won’t be good if it was found out Carl had been conspiring with foreign forces. And he also knew it was only a matter of time before he is found. “I know what you mean by that, But I still require some benefit. I already had plans for what I am gonna do. Oh, how about we start by making my body normal again?”

Alfred let Abraham go. “Plan? What kind of plan? I know all about you. You’re just an Incompetent, Loser.”

Alfred spoke. Though this didn't affect Abraham at all. At least not in a way Alfred could see.

“Anything else? Oh also, Don’t think that you can make me join you by lowering my morale. I am someone who built his army from scratch and threatened the greatest forces in my world. I can survive without your help.”

“Don’t get arrogant. We know all about your past. Survive without our help? Then why did you jump off a wall and almost got yourself killed for no reason? Also, Don't bother mentioning the fake amnesia. There were much better ways to do that.”

“You were merely trying to escape. Escape from reality. What do you think? The king will let you go because you're part of the royal family? Don’t be naive. That isn’t happening.”

“You’re weak. You don’t know anything about this world. Your talent in magic is nonexistent. How are you planning to survive?” Alfred looked at Abraham straight in the eye. Alfred continued throwing insults at Abraham in a harsh voice. He then smiled and spoke in a soft voice.“Join us. Abraham. We will help you survive. and… perhaps even help you return. Besides, you can never survive here alone.”

Abraham thought about this for a moment. Several situations were going through his head. After a while, he made a decision ‘Alfred… I don’t trust him. I don’t like him either. In fact, I hate him.’

‘But.’

‘I will make sure to survive, Using any means necessary. Just like I have been doing up until this point.’

“I accept."

‘

***

Wearing some somewhat rough, Old medieval-styled clothes, Abraham and Alfred were walking through a small street.. The street itself was quite empty, the houses around it were broken down. There was a weird stench to this place. And the only people that they saw were people with dirty and torn clothes. This looked like a slum. The people in here also looked like they hadn't eaten for a long time. But for some reason, they didn’t seem to notice them until they came extremely close to them. ‘Weird… why are they not noticing us? The street is completely empty and soulless.’

Abraham thought as he saw with his sharp eyes. He thought of a few possibilities for a bit but he already had the answer from the start. ‘Invisibility’ or some kind of presence reducing spell.

“Sir… may I get some food?” Two children came over to Abraham and Alfred. Both of them looked similar and had red eyes. “We don’t have any, now get lost.” Alfred spoke.

After hearing Alfred, the children started clinging onto his clothes and spoke “Please give us some food… Your god will bless you!”

One of the children spoke.

He looked to be a boy. The child’s voice was very feeble and helpless. But, also sounded confident. “Damn beggars…”

Luckily for them, Alfred was bought.

He looked very irritated but, he took out a loaf of bread and gave it to them. The children looked very happy. They took the bread and said a few praises before running away. While watching all this, Abraham got quite curious. A smiled and spoke to Alfred “You sure are loyal to your god aren’t you?”

Abraham spoke to Alfred with a smile on his face.

“Shut up and follow me.” Alfred said and began hurrying through the path. After he gave the children food everyone around had started keeping an eye on Abraham and Alfred. But they all soon seemed to forget about their existence. This confirmed Abraham’s thoughts even more. They began rushing through the empty streets. Abraham following Alfred. But, Abraham decided to take a look behind one last time.’Pity. They should’ve ran as soon as they got the food.’

***

‘Where are we even going…’ Everywhere Abraham looked there seemed to be muddy roads, broken buildings and starving people. It seemed the further they went the more they were getting deeper into this slum. But he still kept on rushing through it.

“Hurry up. Don’t make a commotion. Be as quiet as you can. We need to leave quickly. They might’ve found out by now.” Alfred spoke In the same monotone voice. Abraham’s face darkened. He was also sort of a ruler in his past life. He knew how badly traitors were treated. As soon as he was caught, he would be tortured for information then executed.

The previous owner of this body, Carl had been secretly conspiring with foreign Human nations to overthrow this kingdom. In return for a high rank in the foreign enemy's forces. 'His relationship with his family mustn't have been so great for him to betray them so easily.' Abraham's eyes turned damp. He felt sympathetic towards Carl.

'What even happened to Carl? Did his soul transport in my body? Or… did he die? Wait who am I kidding he would die either way.' Abraham had several questions that he wanted to be answered. But it wasn't the time yet. He had much bigger problems he needed to worry about."Alfred. Where are we going?"

Abraham asked. He did not trust Alfred. For all he knew, Alfred could very well be taking him to be captured. "Just shut up and follow me. Don't forget, you will die without me."

Alfred spoke. This raised Abraham's suspicions even more.

'Should I just run?' He thought. He already did not like Alfred. And this recent behaviour made him even more convinced that Alfred was his enemy. 'I need to escape… But first. I must learn more about magic from him. I need to make sure he can't sense my presence.'

Thinking so, Abraham stopped right in his tracks and called Alfred.

"What is it? Say it quickly. We have to hurry." Alfred spoke. His face looked like he was starting to get annoyed.

"Alfred. It seems none of us trust each other. I think it is essential for us to have trust for each other during this trip." Abraham spoke. His voice was quite Innocent. He spoke softly while having a big smile on his face and acting as respectful as he could. However, Unlike Abraham's expectations. Alfred turned quite angry. "Trust huh? You're right. That is quite important. Now, What do you suggest we should do to ensure that?"

Alfred spoke in an annoyed manner.

This response made Abraham smile. He felt confident, he knew that Alfred was slowly falling in his trap.

"That's right! Trust is indeed important. So how about you tell me your full capabilities?" Abraham spoke with the same smile on his face. Alfred stroked his forehead with his fingers and spoke. "Tell me what you truly want. Don't try to small talk it. Or, do you truly think I would fall for something as stupid as that?"

Alfred spoke.

Of course, Abraham didn't expect him to answer that either. Considering Alfred's almost doll-like straightforward personality, He expected a response like this. But…

"Also, drop that acting good. I know everything about you. That won't fool me. You're just a murderer who killed his ow-" Before Alfred could even finish, Abraham gave him a cold stare. His eyes were wide open and he was staring quite intensely at Alfred. “Watch your tongue, Alfred.”

Abraham spoke in a calm but hoarse voice.

His smile vanished from his face.

Alfred just stood there looking at Abraham. “Where are we even going? If you do not answer I won’t come with you.”

Abraham regained his composure and began questioning Alfred again.

Alfred quietly looked at Abraham for a bit before sighing.

“We’re going to the meeting spot where I’m supposed to go back with my comrades. Now, can you please shut up and follow me?” Alfred spoke. His voice had toned down quite a bit. The arrogant attitude he had couldn't be heard. Abraham however kept staring at Alfred still full of suspicion. “Fine. If you don’t have even the slightest faith in me. How about we make a vow?”

Alfred suggested.

“A vow? Is that the best thing you cou-” Before Abraham finished speaking, Alfred cut in and spoke “By a ‘vow’ I meant a blood vow. It’s unbreakable and, If you do attempt to break it, the penalty is severe and torturous pain and quite possibly death from it.” Alfred spoke.

Abraham thought for a while and then responded to Alfred with

“No. I do not trust you. You can very easily trick me. I know next to nothing about magic.”

Abraham wasn’t ready to give up. Eventually, Alfred gave up.

He stood dead on the tracks and closed his eyes.

‘Oh, great lord almighty. You are the one who created all that exists. You are the one to liberate the poor. You are the king of the whispers. You are the beginning of everything. You are the one who will guide us all. I pray for you to have mercy upon this devout follower of yours. I pray for your loving grace. I pray that you would help me deal with this problem that has occurred while doing the task you assigned me.’

Suddenly, a change occurred in Abraham.

“Alright, Alfred. Let’s make a vow.”

***

Author - PeacefulMyst

Editor - Stein

***

Stein- Hello