"Mr. Legot, I need to tell you something...”

He crawled forward; his eyes desperate but determined as he prepared to reveal everything to his newfound permanent partner. The old man, focused on the road in front of him, glanced back to lock eyes with the boy. He noticed the look in his eyes immediately and did not hesitate in throwing a suggestion.

“Ace, I can see that you are serious. Tell me tonight so I can give you my full attention.”

Mr. Legot tightened his grip on the reins slightly and waited for a response from the boy behind him. He was prepared to stop their just-starting journey because of how important this story seemed. His eyes stayed fixated on Ace, who was looking to the floor, thinking of what to do next.

“Uhh...”

Ace was hesitant in giving a response, and clearly confused on which choice he should make. He did not see the harm in waiting until tonight, but he was fully prepared right now and did not want to lose this feeling of readiness. Ace thought, but could not find the words, so his eyes naturally drew towards the pale-skinned Shuna nearby.

*NOD*

Once again, no hesitation from another person. He knew that she wanted him to wait and let Mr. Legot be ready to listen, but he wanted more than a nod. Both chances at revealing his story had ended in failure, so Ace did not know if he could muster up the courage again tonight. He needed some reassurance.

“I’ll be there. Don’t worry, we can convince him together.”

Aliza sensed the extra push that Ace needed and gave it to him, finishing off Ace’s decision. Her words pushed Ace to look back once more at the old mouse and speak his mind.

“Okay Mr. Legot, I’ll tell you everything tonight. Just let me say something please.”

It was now routine for Ace to say these few words to everyone he told his story to. Ace felt that bad luck accompanied these words after the countless failures, but they were words that needed to be said.

“Please believe what I will tell you tonight. I will say the same thing again tonight. Please.”

Wanting to cancel out the bad luck, he put his whole heart into those few sentences. This time, not just his gaze, but Mr. Legot could hear it in his voice. This boy... whatever he was going to say... would not be a lie.

“I will believe you. I promise you that.”

The reassurance from Mr. Legot caught Ace off guard, but he could not trust those words so easily. His parents and even his best friend did not believe him, so Ace did not have his hopes too high for Mr. Legot, who is only a recent acquaintance. He still felt the need to express his gratitude for Mr. Legot’s consideration, which he voiced to the outside of the carriage.

“Thank you, I hope you stick to that promise.”

• • •

The next few hours passed by with idle conversation between Ace and Aliza, and Ace checking his map every few minutes to see the black space be colored automatically. One thing Ace noticed on this trip was... transportation was not as slow as he expected... it was actually exceeding expectations.

“Hey Mr. Legot, is Helen fast for her species?”

Questioning stares were received from both in front and beside, as Ace inquired about the Llorse pulling the carriage. Mr. Legot turned himself to face Ace, his face slightly clinched, wondering where Ace could come to that conclusion.

“Umm... are you being... sarcastic? Sorry, I am not too good with young peoples’ jokes nowadays.”

Mr. Legot’s questioning expression could only be returned by a questioning look of Ace’s own. He tried to clear up the misunderstanding with a small swing of his right hand in front of his body.

“No no, no sarcasm. It’s a serious question...”

The old demihuman was stumbled on if he was being serious, even though it was laid out clearly to him. He decided to continue as if he was being honest, and if he was, his response would tell it all.

“Oh, okay... Actually, Helen is a little on the slower side...”

“WHA-?!”

Ace jumped off the side of the carriage where he was leaning, shuffling the tarp a centimetre or two. This Llorse was most definitely not normal; she was reaching car-level speeds. Mr. Legot watched Ace jump, which shocked him, seeing that the boy was actually serious. How did a human get to Furio Village without seeing the speed of a Llorse?

“And you’re saying this trip will take five days?”

“Yes, it will be around that long. The capital is a decent way away from Furio, which is on the edge of Felona.”

Mr. Legot’s confusion stuck to him, wondering why Ace was so confused about the world. The mouse glanced over at Aliza, who had been listening in on the conversation, knowing the reason behind Ace’s expressions.

--Why is she so calm? This is basic knowledge...

“Aliza, I’m surprised that you’re not shocked.”

Hearing her name called, she could only produce an awkward laugh with a hand on her head, knowing that it would all be explained later. She decided to say what she was thinking, not wanting to leave their new partner in the dark.

“Haha... you’ll understand everything later. It’s linked to the thing Ace needs to tell you.”

That was vague and unsatisfying to Mr. Legot, but hearing that it stemmed from Ace’s story, he chose to ask small questions so he could fill the void just slightly.

“Does he have amnesia of some sort?”

Aliza’s memory shot back into her head, remembering back to her first time meeting Ace, which was only about a week ago. She thought the exact same thing as Mr. Legot when looking at Ace and his bizarre situation. He seemed like he wanted an answer of some sort, so Aliza decided to give it to him, although it would be unfulfilling.

“No haha, I thought the same when I first met him.”

Mr. Legot continued to be unsatisfied but hearing about their first meeting made him interested. These two, who bicker all the time and are very enjoying to watch, the old man wondered how the two met. He dropped the old topic to satisfy himself with this new one.

“Oh, how did you two first meet?”

Aliza gave a dumbfounded look, wondering how to answer that. She did not want to leave another one of his questions unanswered, so she fidgeted a little before deciding to tell their story without spoiling anything important.

“Oh, I can answer that a little.”

Once it got to actually recalling the story, she began to laugh a little, even though the memory itself wasn’t very funny. It was because they went through it together and came out okay that she could look back and laugh at it.

“Hehe, sorry. It’s not very funny, but I can laugh knowing how bizarre it was. Here, I’ll start. Okay, I was in a bar one night, just eating a little, and Ace walks in, all bloody.”

Mr. Legot tensed up a little but remembered that the two were right in front of him and okay, so his shoulders relaxed, and he continued to listen in on Aliza’s retelling of last week’s events.

“He walks in, barely able to talk and on the verge of passing out. As soon as he enters, he drops to the floor. All the customers were demihuman, so... yeah, they didn’t react too well. I got up quickly and used my healing magic on him, then took him to a nearby inn for the night. After one night, I leave the inn, but I get chased the next morning by Ace, who crashes into me like his life depended on it. We talked from there and just became friends, I think...”

Mr. Legot smiled hearing the end of her story, thinking that was such a ‘them’ way of meeting. He still had lingering questions though, but he dropped them, thinking they might be related to Ace’s story.

“Hoho... sounds dangerous, but if you can laugh, then I guess I may also.”

Ace sat back, listening to Aliza retell the story. A smile also poked itself onto his face as he looked back and thought back to how lucky he was that he met Aliza.

• • •

About another three hours passed, the sun starting to set for the day. Mr. Legot stopped Helen and the three moved into the forest next to them to set up camp for the night.

“Okay, this seems good. I’ll go gather some wood.”

Aliza stopped at a small area in the forest, then immediately went to gather some wood to start a fire. Mr. Legot set the carriage in the small area, then also set out to retrieve some meat to feast on as they spoke.

“I will gather some meat, don’t worry about me though, I am quite proficient in hunting.”

Aliza was a little skeptical, but trusted in Mr. Legot, and left him to his job. Ace sat back with Helen until the two finished, feeling a little useless, but also felt that there was nothing he could do about it right now.

---

------

The two returned, Aliza much quicker than Mr. Legot, who came back about an hour later, animal in tow. For what seemed like a fragile old man, Mr. Legot came back surprisingly quickly. Ace did not know too much about hunting and this world was most definitely different from Earth, but an hour seemed short to hunt an animal, especially for an old man.

“I got really lucky today it seems.”

Ace’s suspicions transformed quickly, smelling the meat over the fire, then transformed once again remembering his situation. A sweat dropped by the side of his face, half of it from nerves, and the other from the heat.

“Here.”

Aliza stuck a cooked piece of the animal in front of Ace, directly underneath his nose to take his mind off what would come next. Just meat did not seem like enough though, so Aliza plopped herself next to him, and offered some words just as she did earlier.

“Remember, I’m here. We’ll convince him.”

She placed her hand onto Ace’s shoulder and locked eyes with him. Ace’s head was pointed towards the ground at an angle, but feeling her hand on his shoulder, he had no choice but to glance at her.

“Thanks.”

Mr. Legot also dropped himself on the floor nearby, directly in front of Helen, using her as a hold as he lowered himself. A piece of meat in one hand and the other petting his partner, he readied himself for Ace’s story.

“I’m ready when you are. Don’t rush yourself though, we have all night...”

He could tell that Ace was sensitive to what he was about to speak about, and he felt appreciated that Ace gathered enough courage to share it with him. The old demihuman made sure to reassure him and play his part as the listener to this story.

“Yeah... I won’t...”

Ace glanced around once more, seeing his two companions’ kind faces. His nerves eased and he felt the need to get it over with. He quickly munched on his piece of meat, blowing on it as it entered his mouth, but swallowing it after a few seconds. Ace did not want any distractions as he spoke and wanted to let it all out at once.

“I’ll start now.”

He linked his hands, locked his eyes with Mr. Legot this time, then spoke the words that needed to be said, with no hesitation.

“Okay, I said this earlier, but Mr. Legot... please, believe me...”

A quick nod was sent back, then Ace dropped his head once more. His lips opened to speak with no hesitation, but their task changed from speaking to breathing as Ace took one deep breath in. As he drew air, his eyes closed themselves and Ace thought of how he looked right now.

--Wow, I’m uncool...

Being comforted by Aliza, looking pitiful in front of his new partner, and the look of a man gone from his actions made Ace feel like a baby. He’s gone through this story three times now, looking the exact same every time... pathetic. He could not put on a smile, but he tried to drop the negativity from his body and speak properly without needing support. His head raised slightly, and his lips opened once again, this time to speak.

“Okay, I’ll start from the beginning...”

• • •

Ace spoke slowly, but not hesitant as he told his story from start to finish, trying not to miss a single detail or gap that would need to be confirmed later. He told Mr. Legot about Earth, being transported, Deepa, the menu in his head, the farewell with his parents and friend, his goal, and his enemy. Mr. Legot ate and listened, not doubting a single thing that Ace said to him. Most of it did sound unbelievable, but he could tell that Ace was not lying... that was the one thing he was sure of.

“And that’s everything...”

Ace focused himself forward to catch Mr. Legot’s reaction and what he would do to get Mr. Legot to believe him. He knew there was still the chance that Mr. Legot would believe him, but Ace did not put too much hope into that.

“I understand.”

The old mouse believed Ace with everything he had... but, if this was all true... this boy has been through quite a lot. Mr. Legot’s face appeared troubled as to how to approach this. He felt sorry for this boy and wanted to comfort him, but that was not the mood right now. Ace has gone over this and is done with comforting, so Mr. Legot proceeded normally.

“First... I would like to say sorry for all you have been through. I cannot speak for everyone, and this is most definitely not how everyone feels... but I apologize on behalf of the demihumans. You are not a human from this world, so you should not be hated just as the humans from this world are. I am sorry.”

His hands placed themselves on his robe where his knees were and his head dropped, bowing to Ace who sat in front of him. Ace was a little surprised hearing an apology as his first response, but his expectations had not changed. He remembered back to Isa’s response and the ‘mental illness’ that Isa thought Ace contracted.

“Also, just for everything you have been through. It seems like a very hard experience to go through, being forcefully separated from your family like that for a selfish reason like saving a world you’re not even from. You got very lucky with meeting Aliza and how that turned out, but that encounter resulted from your perseverance, so good job not giving up. I have many more thoughts on all your experiences, but I will move on for now, as it seems you have something to say.”

Ace watched and listened as Mr. Legot hit the nail on the head. He felt the need to clear up any misunderstandings, just as there had been with Isa, because he would be with Mr. Legot for the next year. He cannot move forward on what he thinks to be a lie, so he spoke up.

“Mr. Legot, thank you for your words, but I have to ask... do you really believe me? You heard me speak about my experience with my parents and best friend, so I wasn’t expecting you to believe me, so I need to clear up that I’m not lying early. I don’t want to move forward thinking that you don’t believe me.”

Ace did not know why he was asking. Even if Mr. Legot gave an answer, Ace could not truly believe him. He would need to prove it somehow, so Mr. Legot did believe him.

“I can tell that anyway I answer this question, you will still do some explaining.”

He caught on.

“All I can say is yes, I do believe you. I could tell that earlier in the carriage, you put your whole self into telling me to believe you. There’s no way I wouldn’t believe you after that, but if you still have a way to prove it, I will accept it.”

Being acknowledged like that made Ace trust Mr. Legot a little more, but he still felt the need to prove it somehow. The only problem was... how? Back on Earth, he had Aliza and magic, so it was not too hard, but here... what did he have? What was different?

“Yeah, I’m sorry, I just won’t be satisfied until I prove it. I don’t know what to show you though... my level boost is an option, maybe... but that isn’t really related to my old world.”

He thought about his world and anything that might have been different. He remembered back to his return and Aliza, then thought of something that was in plain sight. He quickly shot his look beside him to Aliza, who had been letting the two converse.

“This is probably the only thing I can show you, and it’s not very convincing, but Aliza’s clothes. Specifically, her top. This is called a sweater and is a piece of clothing from my world. You’re a merchant, so you know there’s no other clothes like this out there, right? Also, the clothes under my robe.”

Aliza was wearing the sweater she borrowed from Ace’s house back on Earth, which Ace used as proof. He then lifted his robe to show his shirt and shorts, which he had on since getting back from Earth. He couldn’t think of anything else to show Mr. Legot, so this was the best he came up with to convince him.

“Ah, I see. I have always wondered why Aliza’s clothes were so unordinary, they were from another world. That makes sense...”

A quarter of that line was acting to satisfy Ace, and the other three quarters were genuine curiosity, coming from a merchant. Ace seemed satisfied though, so that line did its job.

“Okay, I guess that’s all I can give. If you still don’t trust me... our road together is not going to go so well...”

Mr. Legot changed the topic to something that piqued his interest more so that Ace could forget about needing to worry about trust, and so that he could satisfy his own curiosity.

“I trust you, I trust you, I promise. Now, may I ask about this Deepa...?”