I woke up before the sun came up. Lost in my thoughts, I stayed in my bed-roll.

I couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to my old life. Did my ex-girlfriend think about me? Or had she moved on to some other guy? I wondered if my little brother was doing alright, he was just graduating high school when I left.

I guess that there is no way for me to know for sure. Or is there? There are beings known as gods in this world. They might have been the ones to bring me here and if they weren’t, they should know who or what it was that brought me here. That brought me to another question, why was I here exactly? As far as I could tell, I couldn’t make that big of a difference in this world, as shown by the fact that an ant, one amongst millions, almost killed me. Maybe I was brought here by accident. I wonder, are there other people from earth here? That is a common theme in the webnovels I was so interested in.

I had so many questions and no way to get any answers.

Actually, that might not be entirely true. The city, Jein, it might have some answers. I should make sure to ask around when I get there.

I saw some light peeking through from underneath my tent flap and decided that it was time to get up.

Walking out of my tent, I found a young girl putting some herbs in a large pot while her mother directed her.

The older of the two, a woman of thirty years, looked up at me and smiled. “Welcome Sir Drew, the food should be done in a few minutes. Unfortunately, this is the last of our rations until we can restock in the city.”

I rubbed some of the sleep from my eyes as I responded in a tired tone. “We should make it to the city by tonight. Could you please remind me of your names? They seem to have slipped my mind.”

“My name is Sher and this is my daughter Catherine, you can call her Cat-” She stopped mid-sentence and looked at my ears. “I mean… You can call her whatever you want.”

I laughed at Sher’s embarrassment “Cat it is. Thank you for making our food.” I nodded at Sher and waved at Cat, who had been hiding in the bushes during my conversation with her mother, before I walked off to take care of my morning routine.

After I had finished with my business, I looked for Saron. He was working with some of the other freemen to chase away palm-sized wolves from what was left of the Anther, the giant ant.

“Saron!” I called out to him as I jogged over. “Have you found someone who can do something with this corpse?”

“Yes, a quiet young man named James said that his father used to work with monster materials, but he says that he doesn’t have the items he needs to make use of the Anther’s exoskeleton.” He said as he grabbed another one of the miniature wolves and threw it away from the Anther’s body.

“I see. Why don’t we load the Anther’s body into one of the old slave carts. Do you think we should invite James into the expedition going into town? That way he can pick out whatever tools he might need.” I said as I motioned for some of the freemen to help me pick up the Anther’s body.

“James would be a great addition to the party going into town.” Saron said before he frowned. “Aren’t you worried that the Anther will stink up that carriage?”

“[Cleanse]” I casted the ability I’d had before it evolved into Purify. The stink of rot that had covered the corpse during the night disappeared.

“Ah. That makes sense.” Saron said with a slight smile.

“Just don’t let me forget to cast it every couple of hours.”

“I will make sure to remind you.”

We packed up and set off soon after we finished breakfast. I saw and heard reports of large creatures in the distance, but none of them bothered us as we traveled.

Traffic started to increase as our road joined a larger one. We had made sure that everyone was covering their human features, but the human’s worries were setting them on edge. I could see their shoulders tense and their hands reach towards weapons, whenever another traveler came to close to the caravan.

I had Luna pick up her pace until we reached Saron at the front of the caravan.

“How far away are we from the city?” I asked as soon as I was within hearing distance.

“If I had to guess?” He thought for a moment, “Maybe another hour? It’s hard to tell.”

“We need to step away from the road and set up camp before someone decides to pull a weapon. Our expedition team can continue from here.” I responded with full seriousness.

Saron looked over the caravan. A rider on horseback happened to pass us by as he was looking back. I could see the realization hit his eyes as the freemen traveling with us tensed. “I see what you mean. We will stop as soon as a proper clearing is available.” It was maybe another ten minutes before we found a secluded spot big enough to fit all of us. A few minutes after that, seven men separated from the caravan. Five of us were riding horses while the last two humans, Leon and Timon, drove a wagon to hold our supplies.

I had considered using my inventory to carry the supplies, but I had my own business in the city and if something happened to me, I wanted the others to be able to continue on their own.

It wasn’t long before we left the forest and entered farming land. With the trees no longer blocking our sight, we beheld a magnificent city, brick walls surrounded it, with large towers looking over the city. It was hard to describe in words, but it looked exactly as I would imagine a fantasy city to look like.

Large gates were left open as bored guards waved through anyone who was entering or leaving the city without checking them. We passed the gate without anyone stopping us. Although some of the guards gave the hooded freemen strange looks.

As soon as we entered the city, we were greeted by a market square with merchants crying their wares, stalls sat next to or in front of small shops.

Once we found an inn with rooms available, I left the freemen with money and a list of supplies that were needed for us to continue our journey, before I left them to explore the city.

I wandered the streets for a while before I found a comfy looking tavern. Laughter filled the air as I opened the tavern's door. A group of young men were singing an unfamiliar drinking song.

I smiled at the welcoming atmosphere and looked for a corner to sit in as the young men started another round of their song.

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Once I sat myself down, a twelve year old waitress with small horns peeking out of her hair walked up to me “Welcome to the traveling inn! We have some whiskey, rum or beer. And if you have finer tastes,” She leaned towards me and continued with a mock whisper “a merchant from the isles of Jeman just sold us some rare red wine called Nine Isles.” She stood back up and finished in her regular voice. “If you want some food with your drink, we have some tomato based soup heating in the kitchen.”

Even back home, I wasn’t much of a drinker. But I think I deserved to give myself a break. “How much for the wine and some soup?” I asked, smiling at the girl’s antics.

“That will be a half' silver. The wine really was hard to get ahold of.” She had to raise her voice to respond as the drinking song rose in volume.

I reached towards a pocket in my clothing and pulled one of the smaller silver coins out of my inventory. The slavers had not been lacking in money, so I had asked the freemen if I could take a small portion of the money for personal use. They had been happy to give it to me and had even offered me more than I wanted.

The girl took the coin, smiled at me and walked off.

The young men finished their song and were about to start another one when someone yelled out from the crowd “We’re tired of that song. Let’s hear something new!”

Sounds of agreement went through the crowd, before the tavern went quiet.

I thought for a moment before I raised my voice, “I might have one. My friends used to sing it all the time.”

The crowd was silent for a moment before one of the young men yelled out to me. “Well? What are you waiting for! Teach us your song Black Cat!”

Rounds of agreement went through the tavern as customers banged their cups against their tables.

I laughed at the crowd’s obvious good nature before I did my best to sing it with my new tenor of a voice.

Ale the color of horses piss

Wine the color of blood

May your vines grow grapes of bliss

And your horse be a golden stud.

The tavern laughed at me as I did my best. My faced flushed at the laughter, but soon the whole tavern started singing it. Relief went through me as I realized that they weren’t laughing at me, but at the song.

My food and drink arrived a little later. It was a small bowl of soup and it didn’t really taste that good, but I still dug into it like it was a meal fit for a king.

The door to the tavern opened, I looked around at the person entering and my smile disappeared as I recognized the man. His dog like ears lay loosely on his head as he walked in his dirty guard’s uniform to a corner of the room.

This man had given me the food that I had then fed to the slaves.

How had he escaped the battle that killed his companions? My mind went back to right after the attack, four guards had been missing from the dead. This man was apparently one of them.

I stopped paying attention to the revelry and instead watched the man through the night as he spent coin after coin on alcohol. Eventually, he stood up and stumbled out of the tavern. I followed him.

Night had come upon the city and most people were off of the streets by now.

The former guard was too drunk to notice me as I followed him towards his destination.

He turned into an alley and I took advantage of his lack of awareness to appear in front of him.

He stumbled back and squinted at me, “Who are you?”

I looked him over, almost disappointed. “You honestly don’t recognize me?”

He looked at me harder for a few seconds before realization hit his clouded eyes. “You were one of the other guards!” Worry started to enter his voice as he backed away, “I didn’t mean to! Everyone was dying. There was no way for us win.” Tears ran down his face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to run. I’m so so sorry.”

I looked down at the drunken mess with pity. “It’s ok. I don’t blame you.”

He looked up at me with reverence, before looking down at the ground. “Thank you.”

I grabbed him by his collar and made him look at me. My nose wrinkled at the smell of alcohol and uncleanliness. “Why were you there in the first place?”

Confusion filled his face “I don’t understand.”

“Why would you work for a slaver?”

“I- What do you mean? What other choice do I have? Who would hire a man thrown out of the city guard?" He thought for a moment and continued in a more somber tone, "I can’t afford to go hungry. Someone relies on me to keep food on their table.” Sorrow entered his voice as he spoke. “What other choice do I have?” He whispered again.

I let go of him. “What am I expecting from you?” I whispered to myself.

I placed my hand on the pommel of my sword and studied him.

I spun around and walked away.

It probably would have been a good idea to kill him. He knew more than was good for him. And I’m sure that one of these days, he will do something that will make me regret letting him live.

But I am not a killer.

And that man, that poor sniveling man, he was a coward. A disgrace.

But he did not deserve to die.

It didn’t take long for me to find the inn that the freemen and I would be staying at. I was the last one to arrive at our room and I could hear a sigh of relief from all of them as they finally took their hoods and hats off.

“How did it go?” I asked as I sat down on the cot I would be using as a bed.

“It went as well as could be expected. The merchant should have most of the supplies we need within the next couple of days.” Timon answered as Leon made sure everyone had a bed to sleep in.

James, the man who could do something with the anther corpse, spoke up, “The blacksmith told me that the tools I might need to use the skin of the anther should be ready by tomorrow and any other tools I might need will be finished by the end of the week.”

I motioned to Anna, a woman who was a merchant before she was captured. “Why don’t you and Anna travel back to the camp tomorrow after you get your tools? That way you can get started on that anther corpse and we can see if the camp needs anything else while we are in town.”

Leon spoke up “I would like to go back as well, there is something that I need to check up on.”

I nodded at Leon. “That sounds like a good plan. Meanwhile, I am going to see if this inn offers a bath. It has been way too long since I have cleaned up properly.”

Leon and Timon chuckled. I looked at them with a questioning gaze and Timon spoke “You speak like a noble we used to know. He couldn’t stand being dirty. In fact, you remind us of him quite a bit.”

“I’m not sure if that’s a compliment.” I responded.

Timon lost himself in his memories for a moment before he responded “He was a good man, but he had some odd quirks. I remember that he would always take his shoes off whenever he entered his home and-” He stopped when he noticed that he had the whole room’s attention. “Those were some good times.” He finished with a sad tone.

The room grew quiet as everyone remembered their own good times.

“You will have to introduce me to him when we get back to the human kingdoms.” I said, breaking the silence.

Timon looked up at me with a smile. “I will.”

James and Anna left early the next morning, while I still lazed around in my bed. I had forgotten how good it felt after a nice long bath. The only way I could clean myself while traveling with the freemen was to use every stream that we came across and rinse myself off.

If only i’d had some kind of cleaning magic…. Wait. I sat up in bed as I realized what an idiot I was being. I did have cleaning magic, I used it to clean the anther corpse.

I layed back down and silently cried at my idiocy.

After a few minutes of self pity, my thoughts turned to my decision last night. Had I done the right thing in letting him live? I am sure that most people would disagree with my decision. But then again, they weren’t standing there with someone’s life in their hands, they wouldn’t have to cut through flesh to end a life.

On the other hand, why was I even considering ending his life? He hadn’t done anything to harm me.

It was because he was one of the few people in the city who could recognize the former slaves even with their hats and their hoods.

I got out of my cot and forced myself to stop thinking about my decision, what was done, was done.