She greeted me with a fake smile asking me if I was hungry or thirsty, I shook my head.
*gulp
'I can still feel the looks of the others in here …'
"Um ... I need help... out here is a wounded woman who needs treatment as soon as possible ..." even though it was urgent, I said it in a low voice.
She opened her eyes wide and put her hand on her chin with a thoughtful face.
"B-by chance ... is she short, blonde, and ... light eyes ?!" She said with a worried voice. Her accurate description made me realize that she knew her and that she was probably waiting for her.
"Yes-"
She instantly leaped over the counter with an athletic gesture and ran towards the club's exit.
"TOM! Take care of the counter! "
"EH ?!" A man replied. I did not understand from where, perhaps from the kitchen.
"It's urgent!" She screamed in a trembling voice. The man walked out through a door behind the counter.
She looked at him "Marie!" She screamed at him, her face worried. He nodded.
…
Have you ever felt completely disconnected from the world? As if the things that are happening around you are far away from you. You feel strange, everything seems like a dream, a distant vision, and suddenly you feel nothing more, becoming an external spectator.
So I felt in that moment, as I followed the run of that woman in the apron, while she was panicking and whispering something, perhaps a prayer.
As soon as we left the inn, the woman turned right and then left.
"It's there," I told her, pointing to the wooden cart on our left.
The woman walked over, lifted the sheet, and shivered at the scene.
"Marie ..." she said in a trembling voice, some tears ran down her face.
The injured woman was motionless, unconscious, but still alive.
"Can you save her?" I asked her.
"I don't ... but, I know someone who might ..." She didn't seem very convinced as she said it.
*Waah
The child began to cry, the innkeeper approached him, and the vision of that baby brought a little smile to her face.
"Oh ... this must be Leo ..."
The woman in the apron realized there was no time to waste. For now, she decided to leave the baby there.
She turned and ran to a clearing in front of the inn, on the opposite side of the dirt road.
'Mmh? Where… ' I followed her, unsure of her actions.
The woman started screaming "Rivorio! RIVORIO! " She screamed where there was nothing.
'Did she go crazy seeing her friend hurt!?' I wondered.
However, I was wrong, she was not screaming where there was nothing, in fact, in front of the woman appeared as if by magic, or rather, just by magic, a door made of maple wood, very simple without frills.
This door opened, showing a room behind it, and showing a man in his seventies.
He was bald and beardless, with a huge nose. At first glance his face reminded me of a muzzle of an elephant seal, don't ask me why.
He was dressed in a brown tunic, he was thin, and he helped himself to stand up with a walking stick he held in his right hand. This was thin and black, it ended at the top with a spherical metal knob which had some decoration in bas-relief.
"EHH ?!" He said gruffly and with a frown.
"Rivorio… I need your help! Marie ... Marie is hurt! " The woman in the apron pointed to the wooden cart where Marie lay.
"MMMhh ... take her in," he said, showing no real interest in the girl's situation.
"Thank you!" The woman in the apron turned and ran to Marie. She seemed surprised he accepted so quickly.
"MMMMMh, and who are you ?!" He asked me, his voice was indeed very hoarse and sour.
"Oh? Um, Eizo, sir… " I replied as respectfully as I could at that moment.
"What are you doing here?! Give her a hand, you fool" for the way he said it I wanted to argue, but he was right.
As the old man told us, the woman whose name I did not yet know, and I carried the helpless body of the girl inside and placed her on a dark wood bench, slightly decorated on the sides.
The room I had entered was lit by the same warm light that illuminated the inn's interior. There were various chandeliers, perhaps too many, and some even not working.
One that came down from the ceiling, one very old wall-mounted chandelier of twisted iron ending in a kind of flower in front of me.
To my right, there were two similar ones, one with broken bulbs and the other working. Then, there were three others to my left, of which only one was working.
The room was full of shiny dark wood shelves, with numerous books and small objects that I didn't understand their usefulness.
Then there were books, wandering pages, small objects of any material thrown on the floor all over the room; a huge table in front of me and even an olive tree to the left of the table. It was a room where order seemed non-existent and full of things that at first glance were completely useless.
The old man checked the girl's condition, his face frowned the whole time.
"MMMh ..."
"Can she live?" The woman in the apron asked impatiently.
"EHH ... that's a really good question ..." he muttered.
"You, slacker hero" it was addressed to me, "take me that ampoule with the red liquid inside, there on the shelf ..." He added, pointing to the shelf on my left with his finger.
I opened my eyes, "how-" "Quick!" He blurted out before I could say anything.
"Lilya! Take some olive branches." Now, turning to the woman in the apron.
Lilya and I followed his orders.
Having given him what he had asked us, the old man with a gesture tore almost all the leaves from the olive branches that Lilya had given him and dipped them in the cruet I had given him.
The liquid inside the ampoule began to boil, thicken and turn pink.
"W-what is it" I couldn't restrain my curiosity.
"MMh ?! EHH, it's a healing ointment, "red heart" powder, distilled water, and olive leaves… " The old man then asked us to leave his work area.
{TO BE CONTINUED ...}
He removed all of Marie's robes, even the cloth around the wound in her leg that I had put on, which made me look away from embarrassment. Then, the old man raised his walking stick and brought the metal knob towards the woman's body. Then he muttered something and the woman's body, previously dirty with mud, dust, and blood, was thoroughly cleansed. 'MAGIC!?' He too, like the old woman who had welcomed me into this world, was a magician. Well, maybe I shouldn't have reacted so surprised, after all, just before, he had opened a door out of nowhere. 'I still can't get used to the idea that magic exists in this world ...' Now that the woman was completely clean, I noticed how beautiful she was. The old man took out of the ampoule some of the healing ointment he had created and spread it over all the wounds, abounding in that on the woman's leg. "Good!" The old man said, "Now we have to let her rest for at least one night..." "Will she be cured?!" Asked the agitated innkeeper. "E
The room, in addition to the bed with clean beige sheets and a blanket made from bear fur, had a dark wood nightstand next to the bed, a small empty two-door wardrobe of dark and shiny wood to my left, and a candlestick which descended from the ceiling with five arms and lighted candles.These candles illuminated the whole room with soft light. I noticed that the candles did not have wax collectors under them, however, looking more closely, I saw that such candles did not wear out and the wax did not melt at all.The floor of the room was in light parquet while the walls were white, although the candlelight yellowed them a little.The only negative point of that room was certainly the lack of windows, which gave me a thread of claustrophobia.'Now that I think about it ... not even the living room where I was before had windows...'I took off the shoes, the fur coat and put the sword by the side of the bed, and lay down in bed. I was tired but, even if now I was alone, I still could n
I followed Rivorio into another room in the house, small and gloomy. There was only a source of light that came from the ceiling through a circular oculus. This illuminated above all an open gilded casket, placed above a low column of white marble in the Corinthian style. "W-what is it?" I asked. The casket was not very large. This featured, on the front face, a bas-relief depicting a man plucking a heart-shaped fruit from an apple tree. "HEHe" He laughed smugly, "This is my greatest invention!" He said fiercely, "It's a magical crafting box, specializing in healing and buff potions ..." he smiled at me. Seeing me not entirely enthusiastic, he made a face and spoke again, "Tsk ... look ...". The old man turned to a shelf on his left. He picked up a glass bottle, a twig of something, and a blue leaf, and placed them inside the casket, closing it later. I watched the process and was confused by it. After all, when he told me we were going to make a potion, I imagined she was usin
'I have to take courage ... either I cross this bridge or I will have to swim it ...' the idea of swimming in the icy waters of that lake did not invite me at all.I decided to untie the sword belt from my waist and place it on the ground, this in order to have as little weight as possible with me during my reckless walk on that bridge.I took the first step, another creak, second step, and history repeated itself. I kept walking, trying to be careful not to put my feet in the parts where the wooden boards were moldy.*Crrrk!I was now halfway across the bridge when, placing my right foot on a plank of the bridge, it yielded in the center, almost knocking me forward.At that moment, instinctively, I tried not to fall by holding up with the parapet to my right, this at first held my weight, however, in the end, it too gave up.Now, instead of falling forward, I was about to fall into the void to my right left by the parapet. This would have been even worse as I would have fallen into
The chimera continued to advance until only five meters remained between it and me. After that, the beast also stopped and began to scrutinize me. The air around me became colder than it was already, then, I began to perceive something strange, it was a new emotion, I realized that what I was feeling was the killing instinct of the beast in front of me. Its violent "aura" made me shiver.I realized I had to put myself back together as soon as possible, and then study my opponent.Its eyes were not completely white, nor could I see mushrooms attached to it, so I found that I was not dealing with an Errant.'If it is not an errant ... what is it?!'I stood still, but on guard, waiting for my opponent's move.Its tail began to wrap, while the end of it soared upward, curving forward at the height of its external ax-shaped skeleton. The way the beast moved its tail vaguely reminded me of a cobra.'That tail of its seems the most dangerous thing'The beast began to take a few steps toward
At the moment of my awakening, I found myself in a rather familiar room, it was the bedroom where I had my first sleep in that world. I was therefore in the residence of Rivorio. 'How did I end up here ...' I noticed that I did not feel pain along my body, it surprised me not a little, so I tried to sit up, however, as soon as I tried to lift my torso, an excruciating pain ran all over my back. "AHHKh!" As absurd as it may sound, the back pain I felt at the time was even worse than what I felt during the fight with the chimera. I remembered, then, that it was the same in football, and similarly in all sports, when you recive a foul, the real pain comes at the end of the day when your body has cooled down and the adrenaline in your body is reduced. Because of that pain, I could not help but lie down again. *Gurgle My belly began to grumble, I was incredibly hungry. Unable to move, I realized that my only chance to get Rivorio to notice me was to scream, although I didn't like the
When I was left alone in the room, I finally cleared my mind about what had happened.'This time I really risked dying ... however, having managed to defeat that chimera ...'My actions last day made me happy and proud at the same time, after all, in the world I came from I was certainly not considered a brave person.I checked my pants pockets. As I suspected they were empty.'So they used the flowers I picked for Marie…' Of course, I couldn't be sure without asking Rivorio, but I was convinced it went just like that.I looked around, I saw my fur coat hanging on a small clothes rack, placed next to the wardrobe to my right. As absurd as it may seem, I only noticed in that instant that I was not wearing it and that both my clothes and my body were clean.'Hmm, I guess I have to thank Rivorio for that ...'Not being able to leave the room, I stayed all day staring at the ceiling above me, thinking back to the absurd first two days spent in my new home.'So this will be my new home ...
"What idea do you have about mana?" Rivorio suddenly asked me."I don’t know ... but ..." Having no direct experience with this "energy", I focused on thinking about fantasy stories or video games from my world where it was present."Mana ... I think it is a kind of energy present in nature ...and which can be absorbed and fruited to do absurd things ... like spells or other ...""EHH, of course, of course, I was asking you more in detail ...". Rivorio muttered, "well, actually mana itself is hard to describe, as its nature is changeable and sometimes it behaves as if it were made of matter, other times it feels like something else ... mana, as you said, is present everywhere in nature, and sometimes it is also present in objects… ”. He paused with thoughtful faces, "For a human being, imagining mana is difficult, that's why first of all you need to learn to perceive it ... after you are able to perceive it, you will finally have an idea of what mana is ..."'Oh … mmh, indeed, if I ex
And so, Ruh told me his story and how he had met Rick and Sofie.Ruh, as I had guessed, was once a warrior, or rather, a knight belonging to an order called "Lion's Heart". This order, as the name suggests, was made up of the bravest knights of the Saar region, and was born about seventy years before my arrival in that world.When this order of knights was born, this world was at the dawn of the advance of the Plagues armies, especially the first Plague from the north, in the Saar region.All the craziest and most complicated missions that were devised to try to stop the Plagues were given to the knights of this order.Ruh was born in a small town northwest of a few inhabitants named Vidù. This town fell to the First Plague army when Ruh was only 8 years old. Almost all the inhabitants of Vidù were massacred.Ruh was one of the few who escaped this massacre, hiding in time by his parents in a secret underground closet. Ruh, that day, from that closet, heard the screams and the bodies
When the sun went down we decided to settle on a natural clearing among the trees, staying close to the road that led north.Fortunately, the first day of walking ended smoothly, in fact, we did not meet anyone that day.The group of merchants I traveled with consisted of three people: a man in his fifties named Ruh, a woman and a man in their thirties, named Sofie and Rick. Apparently, the latter had decided to start a family when they arrived in SaarKal.Ruh had a massive physique, was tall, and dressed in a dark gray medieval tunic. He had blue eyes and short blond hair. The first time I saw him he gave me the idea that he was some kind of Viking or something, he didn't look like a merchant at all, and instinct told me he was very good at fighting.Sofie and Rick, on the other hand, didn't have the same "aura" as him, they looked like two normal merchants. She was dressed in a dark blue suit, now a bit worn, while he had a thin physique, and did not seem to hide much strength. They
Rivorio then began to tell me in detail about the northern part of the region we were in, advising me to choose the fortress city of SaarKal as the first stop on my journey. SaarKal was not a very large city, having a population, at the last census, of about 18,000 inhabitants; it was, however, the fastest-growing city in the region. Tom then spoke to me of many rumors that indicated this city as the city with the strongest body of knights in the region, and that, that was the reason for the splendor of the city. Rivorio then showed me the roads I should take to get to SaarKal. This city was northwest of where I was and it would take me three weeks on foot to reach it. 'Mmh ... and those two cities ...' I noticed two cities quite close to each other, these seemed bigger than SaarKal. "Sorry Rivorio ... and these two cities?" They were located in the extreme northeast of the Saar region. "Ehhh ..." At my question, Rivorio frowned. "These two are the cities of Fo and Vert ... they
I spent most of the following months training and studying the plants and animals in the area, which I needed to survive out there.First of all, I had to learn how to perceive mana. To do this, I followed the advice of the book that Rivorio had given me.As Rivorio had also told me, the book explained how the simplest way to achieve this was to risk your life in deadly combat with preferably magical beasts.However, as much as I wanted to perceive mana as soon as possible, I would not have willingly wanted to risk my life. For this, I decided to follow another path described by the book, based on meditation, breathing exercises, and physical effort.Meditation, thanks to the herbal tea for which Rivorio gave me the recipe, turned out to be quite simple, in fact, already after five days I was able to meditate for hours and hours without getting tired.Physical exertion, as reported in the book, served to make the body aware of mana fluttering in the air, and was obviously achieved wit
As soon as I asked him, I saw in him a reaction that I did not expect. It wasn't irritation, that in his eyes was fear, fear of rethinking the past.We sat facing each other as we ate breakfast on the table in the living room.He didn't seem to have had a hangover from the previous day, maybe he had drunk some of his potions.I strangely did not feel bad, just a slight headache.I had just asked Rivorio why he didn't leave the house.He tried to sidetrack the question by changing the subject several times, however, his tactic didn't work for me. I wanted to know about his past, my grandfather always told me: >."I don't want to talk about it ..." Rivorio finally admitted that there was something in his past that he didn't want to talk about."Mmh ... but ... if you tell me about it I cou
I followed Marie to the inn, where a small banquet organized by Lilya and Tom was waiting for me. Like the first time, as soon as I walked through the door of the inn, everyone inside turned their attention to me, however, this time their gaze was filled with gratitude.Some people approached me, thanking me and shaking my hand as a sign of respect, and others asked me how I had done it. Finally, they invited me to drink and eat with them, I couldn't tell them "no", and so, a kind of party began, a party that gave off a familiar warmth, in which, strangely, I never felt out of place.The food wasn't much, and the beer wasn't the best, however, everything in there seemed to taste better.We danced and sang in chorus for hours, not worrying about the noise we made, until it got dark.Many began to doze off on the ground and the party slowly faded away.Only Tom, Lilya, Marie, and I remained awake. We sat in creaking chairs and around a circular table. As soon as I sat down, my head beg
"What idea do you have about mana?" Rivorio suddenly asked me."I don’t know ... but ..." Having no direct experience with this "energy", I focused on thinking about fantasy stories or video games from my world where it was present."Mana ... I think it is a kind of energy present in nature ...and which can be absorbed and fruited to do absurd things ... like spells or other ...""EHH, of course, of course, I was asking you more in detail ...". Rivorio muttered, "well, actually mana itself is hard to describe, as its nature is changeable and sometimes it behaves as if it were made of matter, other times it feels like something else ... mana, as you said, is present everywhere in nature, and sometimes it is also present in objects… ”. He paused with thoughtful faces, "For a human being, imagining mana is difficult, that's why first of all you need to learn to perceive it ... after you are able to perceive it, you will finally have an idea of what mana is ..."'Oh … mmh, indeed, if I ex
When I was left alone in the room, I finally cleared my mind about what had happened.'This time I really risked dying ... however, having managed to defeat that chimera ...'My actions last day made me happy and proud at the same time, after all, in the world I came from I was certainly not considered a brave person.I checked my pants pockets. As I suspected they were empty.'So they used the flowers I picked for Marie…' Of course, I couldn't be sure without asking Rivorio, but I was convinced it went just like that.I looked around, I saw my fur coat hanging on a small clothes rack, placed next to the wardrobe to my right. As absurd as it may seem, I only noticed in that instant that I was not wearing it and that both my clothes and my body were clean.'Hmm, I guess I have to thank Rivorio for that ...'Not being able to leave the room, I stayed all day staring at the ceiling above me, thinking back to the absurd first two days spent in my new home.'So this will be my new home ...
At the moment of my awakening, I found myself in a rather familiar room, it was the bedroom where I had my first sleep in that world. I was therefore in the residence of Rivorio. 'How did I end up here ...' I noticed that I did not feel pain along my body, it surprised me not a little, so I tried to sit up, however, as soon as I tried to lift my torso, an excruciating pain ran all over my back. "AHHKh!" As absurd as it may sound, the back pain I felt at the time was even worse than what I felt during the fight with the chimera. I remembered, then, that it was the same in football, and similarly in all sports, when you recive a foul, the real pain comes at the end of the day when your body has cooled down and the adrenaline in your body is reduced. Because of that pain, I could not help but lie down again. *Gurgle My belly began to grumble, I was incredibly hungry. Unable to move, I realized that my only chance to get Rivorio to notice me was to scream, although I didn't like the