Chapter 27: Reunion
After running out of the inn, I took out the map that Mentor gave me to look at, if I went farther to the west border gate, I would be able to go to Vaira forest, which was connected straight to No Man Zone.
If I went in the direction the map told me to, I would be able to get to Veta town, a border town of Warsaw Kingdom in about 9 days or so.
This was not the time to mourn for Mentor, I may have a chance to see him again someday, hope he was still alive.
"Advisor, scan this map and show it on your screen!"
"Roger that!"
Then Advisor scanned the map then showed it on its screen, I also asked Advisor to show me the shortest route to go in that forest. I would according to what Advisor showed on its screen consider my move.
Then I immediately ran to the border gate of the West, the people on the streets saw me but they seemed didn't have any reaction at all when seeing my face, I didn't wear any hood at this time.
Maybe the quest to hunt me down hasn't been posted yet, this time was still noon, the quest would be posted the next day morning so that was so lucky for me, must take this chance to escape.
Then I ran fast to the border gate of the West, at the time I got there, the guards doing guard there were very cautious. At the time they saw me, they immediately pointed their spears at me as if they had recognized me as John Rigen.
The guards immediately formed into a horizontal line, about 10 of them were now surrounding me, pointing their weapons at me.
"The mayor of this town has ordered us not to let any male get out of this town an hour ago, he said the Adventurer's Guild's leader has complained to him that one of their quest paper has been stolen."
"Not just that, that quest paper contains the wanted of a man named John Rigen with the price of 400.000 Attas."
"That target is now in this town, our mayor ordered not to let any male escape, you return now or we will arrest you!" - A guard that shouted to me
"Tch!"
I have already hidden a Flashbang grenade behind my back in case I got into a hard time situation.
When I was about to pull out the Flashbang's pin to throw it on the ground to make the guards blinded and deaf for a few seconds for the escape, a voice came out.
"Halt!" - A voice shouted loud
Then after hearing that voice, the guards stopped surrounding me, they split up each other, then a few seconds later. I saw a man in black armor coming near me, this man was Grenze, the commander of the border post.
"This man is allowed to go!" - Grenze shouted to the guards
"But Commander, we are allowed not to-"
"I said this man is allowed to go, if anyone of you against my word, I will kill you right away!" - Grenze roared at his guards
Then Grenze stared at me, as if to say something.
"Sir R-, I mean Sir, I can only help you this time, as the time you got out of this town to get into the forest, you have to protect yourself on your own." - Grenze said to me
"Thank you very much, Grenze! I won't forget this favor."
"You must go now Sir, before too late!"
I made a last handshake to Grenze then immediately ran out of the border gate, I had to look at Advisor's screen every time to make sure I won't lose the track. Advisor had shown me the route that it said shortest to get to Veta town, I hate Advisor when it was idle, but when I need it in combat or to show the path, it always shows me that it's very useful.
The forest I got into was quite dense with trees, grass and bushes, Advisor said to me to avoid going on the trails and not to let the people see me.
So I had to go out of the trails to go another route deep inside the forest, it took time but Advisor said this was the second shortest route compared to the trails.
I hope Milch and Erissen are still okay, if I had gone on the trails, I would have had a chance to meet them but I have chosen to go deep into the forest.
After a long run deep into the forest, when I was running, Advisor suddenly warned me.
"John, I saw the road you are about to head to has about 4 people hiding there, just away from you more than 200 meters, they may be hostile to you, what do you say?"
"I'll head there, I want to find out!"
Then I ran into the area Advisor said to me, when I was away from there about 50 meters, I saw a figure of a little girl wearing a white dress, wielding a magic staff. I saw that girl's face a bit familiar, wasn't that Lynn, one of four of the kids I had accompanied on a quest?
Then I slowly walked toward Lynn then stopped when I was away from her about 10 meters, that little girl looked straight at me. Her face showed a lot of nervousness, then she said to me while a voice was trembling.
"Sir, I mean, Sir Rigen, I don't want to do this, I'm very sorry! I'm sorry! My father is a mayor of Swei town."
"I had heard my father's conversation with Adventurer's Guild's leader, I also peeked at the quest paper that man brought, he said one of the papers has been stolen, I saw your face, you are John Rigen!"
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I don't want to kill you!" - Lynn showed her regretted face, she was about to cry some tears
Then I heard some noises coming behind Lynn, I took a look and saw Todd and Jinn coming out of the bushes, they stared at me the time they got out like to see me as their bounty.
"Lynn! Stop the talking with this man, just kill him fast and take the prize!" - Jinn said to Lynn with a serious face
"Uhm!" - Todd made a nod as if to agree with Jinn
I was wondering where was Frank, he should be staying with his friends, he may not join this hunt...or he was around here, waiting to attack me.
"You guys stop! I don't want to kill Sir Rigen, I just told you guys about that quest and you guys had made up this thing, stop!" - Lynn trying to protect me from her friends
"Don't be always kind like that, you little brat! Only the stupid don't care about this man's head, the price of his head can make us live in luxury!" - Jinn said to Lynn
"Just stop, you guys!" - Lynn said to her friends, begging them to stop
"Yahh!" - A voice shouted loud from behind my back, I didn't have time to turn around to react
"No!" - Lynn suddenly rushed herself to go behind my back
"Stab!"
I was shocked as the time I turned around, Lynn was stabbed by a longsword for protecting me. The man who stabbed her was Frank, he was hiding behind me for a long time to wait for the time to attack, his face was now very panicked.
Lynn was now coughing some blood because of that stab, the stab got through her chest, if she didn't protect me at that time, I would be dead.
"Plea-hic, please...sto-, stop the...killing...!" - Lynn trying to speak some words while being stabbed
"Lynn! Lynn!" - Frank was so panicked right now, he pulled out his sword in panic, which would make Lynn's condition worse
Then Lynn fell to the ground, blood kept spurting out non-stop from her chest, she kept staring at me, then at her friends, trying to speak a word.
"Please...stop killing..." - Lynn's voice was very weak now, she would have died sooner or later, cannot help
Lynn was the only healer of the group so the others cannot cast healing magic, wait! If there is a healing potion here, there will be a chance to save her!
"Dammit! Anyone of you have a healing potion?" - I rushed to hold Lynn, trying to comfort her then asked her friends
Lynn's friends kept looking at me, they seemed very annoyed when they heard I said that word.
"Who the hell are you exactly, John Rigen? There is no such thing as a potion that can heal people exists!" - Frank yelled to me
Lynn's friends were now expressing their depressed faces, they very much regretted making up this hunt.
I also felt the same, how can I be willing to look at a little girl die in front of me!
"Please...kill me...I...I...want to...end...this...suf...fer..." - Lynn begged her friends to kill her
Then Lynn's friends went silent, they showed their regretted faces, they didn't want to kill their friend.
"Let me, I will do it myself!" - I said to the kids
"No! I can't let my friend die like that!" - Frank and the others shouted to me
"You people want to end her suffer here, or want her to bear it?"
Then the kids went silent again, I slowly pulled out my M9 Bayonet and then pointed it to Lynn's throat, if I stab her here with a strong blow, the knife will hit her brain and she will die instantly, ending the suffering.
"Hey, it will pain a little bit, but it will end soon."
Then I immediately stabbed the knife into Lynn's throat, ending her suffering as she wanted.
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"Thank y-" - Lynn was about to say her last word but I killed her before she could finish her line
After stabbing Lynn, I slowly pulled out the bayonet and then returned it to my knife holster, her friends were so shocked after seeing that scene.
They went silent to mourn her death, I also did the same as them, after a few minutes, Frank finally spoke a word.
"We'll take care of her body, go now! Before we change our minds!"
I looked back at the kids and Lynn for the last time and then ran into the forest, the scene of that little girl's death was now still haunting my mind but I tried to forget it.
It was night so fast, I managed to find a river nearby and then stayed by it, I didn't make any camp, no campfire, I just lay there on the ground, standing against the cold that was about to swallow my body.
"John, I see you are very sad right now, want to have some chat?" - Advisor asked me
"Leave me alone, Advisor...I will take a nap right now...call me to wake up in the morning."
Then I tried to sleep, the scene about Lynn's death was still haunting me, I tried to sleep, forgetting about that scene, that would be very hard to forget, but I still try to do it.
...
"John! Wake up, man!" - A voice called me
Wait! That was a dream, right? Somehow I have dreamed back of the time when I was fighting in Afghanistan.
I was 16 at that time but somehow I had been sent there to fight though the legal age to enlist into the US military was set at 17.
If I remembered right then I was from the US Army at that time before studying to become a Marine after returning home from the war in Afghanistan.
I was sent there to fight in the last 3 months before the war ended, I was in Kabul, right? The people there were now running away from the Taliban and our soldiers were about to leave to return to our homeland.
I saw I was sitting doing guard at the airport, maybe I was asleep while doing the guard.
"Kid, wake up! We are about to go home now!" - A voice called me, I remembered that the soldier was named Greg
I slowly opened my eyes, Greg then sat next to me, seemed to say to me something.
"You know, kid? I have fought here for about 4 years, I discovered many mysterious things about the Taliban but there is a thing that I cannot answer."
"Why did you get here, Rig? You look so young to go?" - Greg asked me, the name Rig was a short name my buddies used to call me, I think!
"Ah! My mom forced me to get here, if you want to ask, ask her, don't ask me!"
Wait! I have a mom? I remembered I was just an orphan, what the hell had happened to my memory?
"What? Do you mean your first mom, John? Lieutenant Kaori? Well, you unlucky son of a bitch, that old bitch always behaves strictly to our guys, we all hate her, you know?"
"Very opposite to that old bitch, your second mom, Colonel Amanda is better, she always cares, always sociable to ours."
"I have to admit it to you, kid! Though both of your mom are very old now but I would like to "bang bang" both of them, though they passed their ages of 40!" - Greg expressed his feeling about my moms
Maybe I should silent to remember now.
"I'm just an orphan, Greg! Both of them just adopted me for a reason I didn't know, they didn't tell me about that. And stop using those words, just swear as you like Greg! You know I'm just a kid!"
"Oh, about using words, I tried not to use the F word on you, you know? But don't say like you know nothing, kid! I know at your age, you have watched too much "Hub", and some "Anime not for kids". Maybe you know what I mean."
"Ha! You're right, Greg!"
"You damn son of a bitch! Come on, let's get to the airport, we are going to get back home!" - Greg said to me
Then I grabbed my stuff and went alongside Greg to the airport, when we were close to a chopper that we were about to go in, suddenly a man dressed as an Afghan citizen came near us.
That man had been stopped by the US soldiers that were doing guard behind me.
"What's wrong, kid?" - Greg asked me
"I want to look at Afghanistan last time, I just want to see that Afghan man over there, he must be angry at us."
"Just ignore the people here and take care of your life, kid! I know the Afghans are very angry when we leave them but...Sigh! Okay kid, just take a last look at long as you like!" - Greg accepted to let me see
Then I looked at that Afghan, I saw he was very odd, he wore a black Pashtun dress, seemed like to get in but he was stopped by the soldiers. The US soldiers seemed to have a bit confused when they saw the man, maybe they didn't know how to speak the Afghan language.
"You are not allowed to go here, mister! Please go away!" - A soldier doing the guard told that Afghan to go away
"Hey, you know Afghan, man? How can that man go away if we keep speaking English?" - The soldier beside that guy asked him
"Nah, man! Not a single word."
Then I saw that Afghan slowly holding a thing in his right hand that I cannot see precisely, looked like a button that thing was too small.
"Allahu Akbar!" - That Afghan shouted a word then exploded
That was a Taliban disguised as a civilian, the effect of the explosion made shook me down on the ground, I cannot stand up now! Damn it! Fuck!
"John!" - Greg said to me
Then I saw Greg checking my body, he seemed very relieved. I later closed both of my eyes, they were so itching so I closed them for safety.
"You're lucky, kid! No wound!"
"Hey, what the fuck happened here?" - The voice of other soldiers coming out
"We have lost more 3 men by a suicide attack, you two take this kid to the chopper immediately!" - Greg said to the soldiers
"Damn! What the hell are those! Are those Taliban? They are attacking us, over there!" - Those soldiers talked to Grey
"Bring this kid to the chopper, quick! I will hold them off!"
I heard the sounds that my body getting carried by those soldiers to the chopper, I heard a lot of gunshots, very near me. Seemed like the Taliban had used that suicidal tactic to open a secret attack.
"Danger close! Danger close!" - I heard more sounds from the other US soldiers
I also heard sounds like they were in close-quarter combat, I heard gunshots, also the sounds of stabbing, smashing. But I lost my consciousness a few minutes after getting on the chopper when I heard it engine when I got inside.
I kept dreaming, I wonder what dream I will be going to have next.
"John Rigen!" - A voice called me
In front of me was now a woman that dressed in US military uniform, looked like an officer, that woman seemed aged.
Her face looked like an Asian with black short-haired. Who was this woman, exactly?
"My son, you have been promoted from Corporal to Sergeant, I'm glad that you are still alive in that war."
"Your achievements in Afghanistan are just enough to be a Corporal but with Colonel Amanda's and my positions in the military, I have successfully ranked up you." - Amanda? Wait...I felt that name familiar
"Sorry, my son! You said you want to try hard, to learn hard to achieve the things you want by your hard work but I have disturbed you."
"But my son, this mom won't do anything to help you when you go to join the Marines Corps, you will have to study alone to graduate."
"My son, you have finally killed people, you got out of the war alive, I can see in your eyes that you have no hesitation to kill right now."
"I have raised and trained you perfectly, my son! I'm proud of you." - This woman must be a psychopath or a sociopath, why did I have an adopted mom who has no sympathy for people? Wars are hell!
"Remember, my son! You just need to care about your life, the soldiers that died in Afghanistan, they died for nothing. Those people should have stayed home, live with their families and die in peace." - That woman said to me
"You mean Greg and the others died for nothing? Tell me! Why, when you were sitting on this chair, they had fought hard together! They fought for our homeland!"
"I'm a Japanese, my son! Americans' matters are not my matters, I only care about you." - That woman, she seemed like Lieutenant Kaori that Greg told me
Greg died? I didn't remember much about my previous world but seeing my buddies die also made me sad.
How could this woman behave like that? She had no patriotism? Or she was Japanese who still have the ultranationalist Imperial Japan ideology in the past so she hated and didn't care about the United States?
"You!" - I saw myself was about to charge at that woman to kill her but I was held off by someone behind
"Calm down, my son!" - A voice called me
Then I looked behind to see who was holding me off, that was a woman with brown short-haired, also wearing an officer uniform. She was now trying to hold me, preventing me from killing the woman I considered Kaori.
"Stop! My son!" - That woman called me
"Let me go, Amanda! I have to kill that whore Kaori!"
Amanda, I remembered that was my second adopted mom according to the intel that Grey and Kaori said to me
"What Kaori did for you is just want to bring you good things, calm down, my son!" - That woman Amanda kept calling me to hold back
"What's good? That woman was always strict on me, she forced me to join that war, forced me to see the death, she said those things would make me stronger!"
"Stronger what? I only see her as a psycho but you keep protecting her, why?"
"We cannot tell you why, my son! Kaori very much wanted to care for you in another way but she was very scared of her change! Please calm down, for your own good!" - Amanda kept calling me to calm down, this woman was surely crazy
"My son!"- My vision saw Kaori pulling out a pistol and then pointing to my right shoulder
"Kaori, you can't!"
"Don't worry, Amanda! I know what I'm doing, don't worry, our son won't die like that, he will get stronger after this!" - Kaori said to Amanda
"Bang!" - A gunshot appeared, I lost consciousness after that
Dammit! What a bad dream, no, I would say it was a nightmare, can't sleep properly, even dreaming about bad things.
I was very exhausted right now, it seemed like I managed to sleep during that night, I could see the sky was now very bright, though I was still very sleepy.
"Hey, sis! What should we do now, it seems like he is still sleeping?" - A woman's voice came out from behind me
What was that voice exactly? That voice has spoken in English? I didn't want to get up, I was very exhausted!
"Let... I do...it...Sarah...watch..." - Another woman's voice also came from behind, that voice spoke in English
"Tuku tuku tuku!" (I'm scared, Sarah) - Another woman's voice, also came from behind, that voice didn't speak in English, what was that strange language, actually?
"Ah, Yura! Don't scare, our Commander is a good man, if he makes you scared then stay behind me, okay?" - That woman's voice again, she said very purely, like a child
Then I heard some footsteps coming near me, they wanted to rob me or what? Or not, I heard them spoken in English, wait! The people here didn't speak English, then who were those women? Are they familiar with my world?
"Ugokanaide..." (Don't move) - That woman's voice called me, I heard that word, it seemed like a Japanese word though I didn't know what it meant
Then what appeared in front of my eyes was a woman who looked like an Asian with long black-haired. Her face looked about 19 to 20 years old, wearing US military uniform, pointing a rifle that looked like an M21 Sniper Rifle at me.
Not just that, she also wielded a sword that looked like a katana on her left belt, that woman was a freak, I would say that! Her face looked emotionless, her voice also cold.
"Do...not...move...you know what will happen if this gun...shoots...you..." - That woman then slowly stepped away from me, I raised my head to look at her movement
After staying away from me for about 8 yards, that woman suddenly dropped her rifle, let it fall freely to let the strap hold it then did a military salute to me.
"Commander...Private Shizuka Hatano is here to report for duty...Operation Rigen has successfully completed." - That woman, Hatano said to me in English, who was this woman exactly?
What the hell?
"Sis! Seems like that plan has made our Commander upset, sorry, Commander!" - A woman's voice said in English, then I saw that woman coming out of the bush behind me with a hooded girl
That woman was a caucasian, also wearing US military uniform with an M4 rifle. Her face seemed about the same age as that woman Hatano, she had long brown-haired with a ponytail.
"We don't know how to greet you when you and we got split up for a long time so my sister chose this way for more "friendly", hehe!" - That voice, must be the girl named Sarah
"Who the hell are you two?"
"Eh?" - The woman I considered Sarah suddenly shocked, about that Hatano girl, her face still like the same, emotionless
"Oh, Yura! Our Commander is very kind, don't scare!" - Sarah talked to a girl that wore a green hood behind her, I wonder who was that woman
"You don't remember us, Commander? You know how hard for us to find you?"
"Sis! Our Commander is so heartless, he doesn't care about us!" - That girl Sarah then expressed her disappointed face like very sad with the girl Hatano she called sister
"Commander...you...are...so...heartless..." - That girl Hatano said to me while looking at me with that emotionless face
"Commander, at least you have to remember my name, haven't you?" - Sarah asked me
"No!"
"Ahh! He doesn't even remember my name!" - Sarah squeezing her hair, seemed very angry at what I say
"Tuku tukututuku tukutuku tukutuku tuku!" (Sarah! Why don't you ask your friend why he doesn't remember you and your sister) - The woman named Yura talked to Sarah in a strange language
Oh! Commander, did something happens to your memory when you got to this world?" - Sarah asked me
"Somehow I lost some of my memory, can you tell me who are you two?"
"That's so? Um, let me brief it for you, Commander!" - Sarah said to me
"I'm Private Sarah Hatano, this is Private Shizuka Hatano, my older sister and this is Yura, our Elf-friend!" - Sarah reintroduced for me to understand
"Elf?"
"Talk about Yura later, Commander! You were with us doing a night patrol at Virginia beach, or exactly at the sword mountain."
"We were all stuck inside the sword cave during an earthquake, our way out had been blocked by rocks that fell by the lightning strikes."
"So you mean you two were the marines that doing the patrol with me then we got separated somehow when I got in this world?'
"Yes!" - Sarah answered me
I slowly remembered Katia, the Goddess that reminded me about those two.
"Ahh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" - My head suddenly got a bad headache
"Commander, are you okay?" - Sarah asked me
Then suddenly that headache ended for a few seconds, I remembered everything now, but my head was still hurt a bit so I can't concentrate to remember.
"Tell me back everything that you remember before we got here, Sarah! Seem like I have remembered all of it somehow but my head is now still hurt."
"Okay, Commander! But that will be a long story." - Sarah said to me
"Just tell me, everything that you can remember!"
"Okay!"
Sarah's perspective