The situation I, Zeir Blackwood, was in was rather perplexing.

Right now I was at my secret spot, a cave in a forest three miles from Alcombey, my home town. It was hidden by a small waterfall. This combined with the fact that locals didn’t really come into the forest meant I had a special space for myself. I came here daily to be away from the sounds of people. I had just finished working in the fields and wanted to rest here while listening to the calming sounds of the waterfall. This was supposed to be my usual routine… except it was now disrupted by the fact a wounded man was lying here.

He had injuries all over his body, the worst being a wound on his side. His skin was pale and his breath was haggard. Even from a distance, I could tell that this particular wound was deep. The metallic smell of blood filled my nose and I took a step back by reflex, knocking a pebble away.

The noise apparently woke him as he stirred awake.

“Are you okay?” I called out to him.

He didn’t respond, only staring at me with glazed eyes while scoffing. That was rude. Then again, I guessed that my question was rather stupid. I inspected the man once more and realized he was dressed in strange attire. He wore an orange shirt with some weird design on the middle. It was a picture of a yellow triangle with red circles in the middle of it. The base of the triangle was brown. Below the triangle were the words “Pizza For Life!”.

What was Pizza?

His pants had a dark blue color and looked like it was made of rather thick and rough material. It clung tightly to his legs. Wasn’t that uncomfortable? It looked several sizes too small for him. Lastly, his shoes were the weirdest of them all. It had a white rubbery material for its base and the rest of it was made of black cotton. There was a white tick symbol on the sides of each shoe. He looked ridiculous. Wait, this wasn’t the time for that!

“There’s a town less than an hour’s journey from here with a doctor, I can carry you over. You’re in horrible condition and-”

“No.” Even though it was apparent it took all he had to give that response, he made sure it had a tone that implied I was being a nuisance.

Stupid fool! No? What do you mean no? You’re going to die at this rate. You’re the one being a nuisance by interrupting my daily routine! I sighed and recollected myself. I needed to assess the situation. Who was he? Some highborn with a weird sense of clothing? Possible. Why was he here and why didn’t he want any help? He must be on the run. His wounds didn’t look like they were from an animal attack. Maybe he was worried his pursuers would find him if I brought him back to town? If he was being hunted, then it was dangerous for me to stay around. I should escape instead of being dragged into some stranger’s mess. That was the logical thing to do. It was perfectly logical…

I groaned. I couldn’t just run away now and leave an injured man behind to die. I hated this part about myself. Why was I so nosy?

“Alright, but stay put.”

Not that he was going to be able to move in that condition.

I left the cave and headed into the forest. It didn’t take me long to find what I was looking for. A small bush that stood out because of its red leaves. Ruby cloves. The leaves had a bitter taste so animals stayed away for it but it was a powerful antiseptic. I gathered a bunch and returned to the cave. The man ignored me when I returned but I began my work regardless. I used a pebble and started mashing away at the leaves, making a small reddish paste. He didn’t say anything or try to stop me when I started treating him. Using my waterskin, I gathered fresh water to wash away the blood and clean his wounds. I applied the paste over his minor injuries. For the large wound at his side, I tore up part of my shirt for use as makeshift bandages, gently wrapping his wound. Throughout all of this, he never once showed signs of pain despite the fact that the antiseptic paste should have caused a searing sensation.

He fell asleep shortly after.

I took out the ham sandwich that I was intending to eat as a snack at my secret spot and left it beside him. He would need to eat or he would have no strength for recovery. This was all I could do given the current situation. All that was left was to let him rest. Since he didn’t want to be moved, I left him there as it was getting late.

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When I came back the next day at the same timing, I was dumbfounded.

He was leaning casually against the walls of the caves, casually reading a book. Where did he get the book? More importantly, he looked like he had made a full recovery! His complexion was no longer pale and he was no longer breathing haggardly. He noticed me enter the cave and beamed me a cheerful look.

“Thanks for yesterday, sorry if I was in a bad mood. You know, being fatally injured and all.”

“…uhm, no problem.”

I didn’t exactly know how to react. It didn’t make sense that he had recovered. His injuries should have taken weeks to heal naturally. Was it magic? Did he have a «Skill»? Beings who were born with an affinity for magic and innate mana possessed the ability to use «Skills». They could manifest mana and alter reality, creating powerful effects such as enhancing their body or creating fireballs. It was only possible to have one «Skill» but they could use it in various ways. For example, someone who possessed the ability to manipulate wind could use his ability to fly or create wind blades. It was possible he had a skill related to healing, like enhanced regeneration or recovery spell. I suspected it was the prior, otherwise he would have simply used a recovery spell in the first place. That was my conclusion.

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“You don’t look as surprised as I thought you would.”

“Hmm?”

“That my wounds have healed.”

“Oh, I figured it was because you had a skill.”

The moment those words left my mouth, his expression changed. He didn’t respond and instead looked like he was deep in thought. Was it because I mentioned skills? I wasn’t blessed with one myself but skills were common knowledge in the Varian Empire. Many people dream of having one but only a few were lucky to be born with mana.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“It’s nothing. Oh, the name’s Sugawara Shigeko.”

At least he had the decency to introduce himself.

“Soogah… what?”

What sort of name was that? Was he a foreigner from the small tribes outside the Varian Empire?

He laughed at my attempt to pronounce his name.

“Just call me Shige, sheeeeeee-geeeeeeeh.” He made sure to enunciate it extremely slowly so that I would get it.

Damn it, he’s treating me like I’m an idiot.

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A new routine began for me. Everyday, after work, I would head over to the cave to talk with Shige. Shige refused to get lodging in town, opting to stay put in the cave. Although I was against it initially, I eventually gave in and started bringing him food from town. He would ask me all sorts of questions, like where we were and which kingdom the town belonged to. I found them peculiar but I happily answered because I was glad to have company. He avoided most of the questions about himself but he’d answer some from time to time. We continued like this everyday, just two guys chatting. This might have been a normal experience for others but it was special to me.

We were sitting around a fire next to the waterfall doing this when I decided to finally ask the question that’s been at the back of my mind.

“What’s a pizza?”

He gave me a face that implied the question was incredibly stupid.

“Oi.”

My annoyed face made him laugh out loud.

“Imagine an open pie that’s made with bread instead of pie crust. Instead of your regular sweet fillings like apples or other fruits, you have a savory base that’s topped with melted cheese and meat. It’s mouthwatering just to think about it already. Pizza is amazing.”

“It just sounds like an open sandwich.”

“You can’t compare it to a sandwich! Pizza is limitless in its possibilities, you can use different cheeses and meats, you can even add vegetables or mushrooms to add to the flavor. The combinations are endless.”

“But can’t you do all of that with a sandwich?”

I felt instant regret the moment I said those words.

Shige started going on about how I was a fool and didn’t understand anything. He began explaining the intricacies of pizza and I started getting lost when he began using weird terms like gas pizza ovens which were apparently inferior to traditionally wood-fired pizzas. By the time he was done, my head was filled with nothing but pizza facts. I didn’t even know the types of cheeses or herbs he mentioned even existed. Mozzarella sounded amazing. Could cheese really stretch that much?

“Fine, fine, I get it! Pizzas are amazing. I’ll add it to my routine in the future, since you’ve taught me everything I need to know about making pizza.”

Shige seemed satisfied with my response.

“I’ve always wondered, what’s with you and routines? You mention them a lot.”

Memories started flooding my mind.

“I’m an orphan.”

“What? That doesn’t answer my question.”

“Shut up and let me explain.”

I ignored his offended face and continued.

“My parents were merchants, they traveled from town to town in the outlands, trading goods. One day, while they were traveling to Alcombey, they encountered a dire wolf and were mauled to death. It apparently killed them for sport and not for food because their bodies were left untouched. Villagers from Alcombey discovered their bodies. My mother was pregnant with me at the time. I was born from her dead body. I was taken in by a kind old lady. She was the one who raised me.”

Shige was all ears now, patiently waiting for me to continue.

“Honestly, it was a miracle I lived but the other villagers didn’t see it that way. They said I was a cursed child, being born from a corpse and all. I grew up as an outcast. The other kids took after their parents, mirroring their attitude and stayed away from me. It was hell but at least I had Nana. But then three years ago when I was fifteen, an illness took her. I was left with nothing. To top it all off, the rumors about me worsened, the other villagers said Nana only fell ill because of me. Somewhere along the lines, I started wondering whether or not I was really a cursed child.”

“You’re not.”

I smiled. Shige was probably just consoling me but his words were strangely convincing.

“Life was hell. I was miserable. I didn’t know how I could keep living being so isolated. I even contemplated ending it all myself… but that would be spitting on all the things Nana had done for me. So in order to distract myself from all those negative thoughts, I gave myself things to do. I’d focus on doing things on a day to day basis. Basically, it led to me creating a routine. In the past three years, I’ve more or less done the same things everyday. Sleeping and waking at the same times everyday, working the fields, having the same meals. Stuff like that. Until now, anyway.”

He gave me a puzzled look.

“I’ve added talking to my new friend to my daily routine.”

“Who’s that?”

“You.”

He paused at my answer.

“It’s really gross when you say it like that.”

“Screw you!”

He started laughing. Just when I thought we were having a moment…

We continued bantering back and forth into the night. Eventually, I got up to leave. It was starting to get late and I could feel myself getting sleepy.

“Goodbye, Zeir.”

“?”

His words struck me as odd. Over the past few days, Shige had never once said goodbye. Instead, he would make some troublesome request like “Bring me some fresh apple pie tomorrow!” or “I want some more of that ale you brought the other day.”

“Can you bring me fresh milk and some cheese tomorrow? I feel a dairy craving incoming.”

"…"

At the time, I thought I was overthinking about something pointlessly. I had no idea how much my life would soon change—that not only would I become a skill user myself, but that I would be dragged into a battle that had the fate of my world on the line.