“I knew it! You’re a crazy person! I saw a couple of guys like you in town, shouting nonsense and leering at me with those disgustingly perverted gazes…” the woman in armor said as she continued pointing her large blade towards me.

I looked around and picked up a rock about the size of an apple and continued approaching her.

“Stand back! Do not mess with me! I am Natalia, a proud guardian from the ranks of the Amadeus Empire, I have received the god’s highest blessing!”

“… Highest blessing?” I paused as I recalled the few final words I heard from the god of fortune.

So did she also make a contract with the god of fortune? If that’s the case then she must be a survivor like me, and we could team up and help each other.

But why is she wearing the armor of the invaders? Did she forget all of her memories and became a soldier instead? No, if she did make a contract with the god of fortune like I did she shouldn’t have lost all of her memories. She should’ve known that the Amadeus Empire that she’s speaking of is most likely our enemy.

“Nooooo!” Natalia cried, “I said too much… we’re supposed to keep the fact that we were warriors summoned from another world a secret… Louis is going to kill me for this…” she held both of her temples as she bowed her head in despair, the large blade still tucked in her right hand.

The more I look at the way she held her weapon the more I doubt if it was actually a real blade. The way she handled it seemed like it weighed no more than a wooden stick.

“We heard that.” Said the crimson haired girl behind me.

“Nooooo! I DID IT AGAIN!” the woman in armor howled, wearing a more dejected expression than before.

After a brief moment of silence, she let out a deep sigh.

It all happened in an instant.

Natalia pounced towards my direction and brought her blade downward with incredible speed. I doubted if the blade she held was a real one, but as soon as it went across my face I knew it was as real as the tragedy that befallen my family and my village.

The impact threw me face first onto the ground. My face felt warm and wet, I could smell the strong scent of iron seeping through my nostrils. It was at this moment when I realized that I could no longer see through my right eye. Soon, I felt my face being overwhelmed with excruciating pain. I couldn’t help but scream in agony.

I heard the girl behind me gasp in shock.

“I guess it won’t matter if the both of you died.” Natalia declared, “I doubt the two of you matter in the main quest anyway…”

When rolled over on my back to get a better glimpse on what was going on, I noticed the pain I felt was gradually fading.

“Main quest?” the red haired girl said, preparing herself to fight.

Natalia slashed her blade upward. The crimson haired girl was able to block her sword with the thin blade, but the sheer force of Natalia’s attack threw her up into the air before hitting her back on the trunk of a tree. The force of the impact caused countless leaves and branches to fall around the tree’s vicinity.

“Hey! Are you still alive?” she began pacing towards the girl’s body.

As I watched the events unfolding right in front of me, I noticed my eyesight returning to my right eye. I touched my face to check if my wounds were still there, but other than the blood that still lingered on my face, I felt nothing out of the ordinary. Is this what the god of fortune meant about the highest blessing? It wasn’t being reborn as the same person, not being able to keep my memories, but this?

“Please be dead…” Natalia said as she stood above the girl’s unmoving body.

Having fully recovered, I took this chance to sneak up behind her as fast as I could and smash her head in with the rock I picked up.

“Stabbing her vitals wouldn’t hurt. Well, at least not for me.” She raised her sword, preparing to pierce the girl’s petite body.

Before she could do anything else, I took one well-placed hit on the back of her head causing her to fall flat on the ground.

“All that armor is useless if your head’s all exposed.” I muttered.

I kicked her body to see if she was really unconscious, then I turned my attention to the crimson haired girl. I positioned her upright with her back resting on the tree behind her, I checked to see if she was breathing. Fortunately, she was still breathing. But her left shoulder seems to be dislocated.

I was no stranger to injuries like this. A while back, I decided to stalk a wild boar after seeing one roaming around the river near our village. It took me almost an hour before I saw a good opportunity to attack it. I shot an arrow aiming for its head, but since I was still a novice I missed and hit its right thigh instead. As I tried to chase it down I noticed two wild boars running charging at me from behind. I didn’t have enough time to shoot another arrow, much less two, so I decided to jump into some thick shrubbery in order to lose the two of them.

But it turned out on the other side of those bushes was a ledge, and I fell from a height at least three times the length of my whole body. I ended up dislocating my right shoulder and breaking my elbow. I returned to my village broken but happy that I was still alive, and fortunate enough to be with my family once again.

I could still remember how our village healer fixed my dislocated shoulder back them. It was extremely painful, so it’s no surprise I couldn’t forget about it.

Firmly, I held the girl’s right shoulder and grabbed her dislocated shoulder with my other hand. I tried to be as quick as I could so that it wouldn’t be as painful. I prepared myself and then, pushed her dislocated shoulder back into its socket. The girl came to and began screaming in pain. The agony she feeling was written all over her face. She glanced at me and immediately pushed my hands away.

She glanced at the unconscious Natalia in front of her, “Did you do this? Wait, how you are still… Didn’t she just kill you?” she said, very confused at the situation.

“Apparently, my injuries take no time to fully heal.”

“Apparently? You say that as if it’s the first time you saw it happen. Are you really a god?”

“Sure. Well, no. I guess I’m more like a… proxy.”

The crimson haired girl stood up and picked up her fallen blade, “She’s unconscious… now’s our chance. We need to kill her.”

“Hold on—” I stood up and grabbed her arm.

She cried in pain once again, “Argh! Don’t pull on it, it hurts…”

“I’m sorry… it’s just that I have a couple of questions I wanted to ask her. Let me talk to her first, and maybe you won’t have to kill her afterwards.”

“You don’t understand, if we don’t kill her now we won’t get out of here alive!”

“That won’t be a problem, I heal fast.”

“Good for you, but normal people like me can’t do that!”

Suddenly, Natalia grabbed the girl’s leg and threw her onto the ground.

I didn’t expect her to recover that quickly. I could’ve sworn I hit her hard enough. Maybe it’s because like me, she received the god’s highest blessing.

“O-okay… I’m starting to get… really annoyed now…” Natalia stood up and picked up her large sword.

As soon as she glanced at me, her expression changed.

“WHAT? HOW? WHY? WHO?” she muttered in shock, “I just killed you!”

“I received the highest blessing from the god of fortune, just like you did.”

“God of fortune? So you also made a contract with a god…” she held her chin and looked as if she was deep in her thoughts, then she glanced at me with a grin on her face.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

She plunged her blade right through my chest.

Even with my enhanced recovery, the pain I get from getting injured is still as punishing and agonizing as ever.

Natalia gradually pulled her long blade out of my bleeding chest. I could feel the cold, heavy lump of steel grind against my flesh. Every second felt like I could die, but I still had enough strength to keep myself standing. Eventually the pain I felt grew less and less, and the blade shaped whole on my chest began to close up until nothing was left, not even a scar.

“Whoa, so you were telling the truth…” Natalia said as she flicked her sword, staining the grass below with my blood.

I wiped off the remaining blood with my hand, “Now that you know I’m the real deal, let’s become partne—”

“This is great! If I took you to Louis then he’ll forgive me! I just need to bring you to him.” She said seeming to be overjoyed. She took out something from a gap in her armor. It was a piece of rope which looked about 5 meters in length.

“Okay, stand still. I just need to put this thing around you. Don’t worry, it won’t hurt.”

“Do you really need to tie me when we’re supposed to be comrades?” I said, confused at her actions.

“Well… it’s because… um… this rope is very lucky! It’s a good luck charm, from god. If you wear this rope then you’ll be… um… you’ll never get in an accident!” she said as she began coiling the rope around my body. A bright smile radiated on her face.

It seems as though this woman have received other blessings from the god of fortune, she even received a divine rope. She must be a valuable ally indeed.

Out of nowhere, the crimson haired girl kicked Natalia with enough force to send her tumbling into the bushes.

“Don’t tell me you actually believed everything she said, she was obviously lying! That rope isn’t some divine gift from god, it’s just rope! She wants to capture you!”

I glanced at the rope hanging around my body, I noticed that it looked dirty and used. Nothing about it looked or felt divine.

“But, why would she lie to me?” I asked the girl in front of me.

“Because she’s a soldier from the empire, she’s the enemy. She didn’t even hesitate when she stabbed you through the chest. You think she considers you an ally?”

“Aaahh… ouch… there are rocks over here… a lot of them…” Natalia muttered from the other side of the bush.

“We need to leave before she comes back.” The crimson haired girl pulled me with her as she sprinted away.

All of a sudden I felt a sharp pain coming from my back, then an incredible force blasting me forward and into the trunk of a nearby tree. I looked below me and saw a long and thick piece of metal protruding through my chest and embedded into the tree in front of me. I tried pushing myself away from the tree, hoping I could let the piece of metal slip through my chest the same way Natalia’s sword was pulled through mine. But it seems as though something on the piece of metal is preventing it from slipping through. I tried to move the piece of metal around, hoping it would loosen and eventually fall off the trunk the tree, but it was incredibly heavy. It might even be heavier than a whole sack of rice. Try as I might while I endured the excruciating pain, I found myself unable to get out of this predicament.

“Hey! Don’t you go stealing him from me. I can arrest you for that, you know.” I heard Natalia say. I tried my best to turn my head and get a glimpse of what was unfolding behind. I managed to see the crimson haired girl at the edge of my eyes, she was bracing herself for an attack.

“Oh I almost forgot, I’m supposed to kill you.” Natalia dashed toward the girl and brought her large sword down, the girl barely managed to dodge it. I saw the ground break as her sword dug into it.

“Can’t you just stand still!” she shouted as she charged at the girl.

I could see the crimson haired girl glance at me before throwing something on the ground. I have no idea what she threw but whatever it was, it summoned a light so bright that I blinded me for a brief moment. After the light dissipated the girl was gone, only leaving a small trail of smoke behind.

“Aaargh! This is so annoyiiiiiing!” Natalia’s armor rattled as she stomped her feet, infuriated at the fact that she lost her prey.

She sheathed her large sword and let out a brief sigh. She then took out another piece of rope from one of the gaps in her armor. She began pacing towards me, clearly in a bad mood.

“Please… please don’t resist, I had enough for today.” I heard her say from behind.

She proceeded to tie the rope around my body before pulling out the piece of steel that impaled me on the tree. It still hurt a lot, but at least she pulled it a lot quicker this time. I still find it odd how she could handle something so heavy with ease.

With the end of the rope in her hand, she tugged me with her as she began walking away from the clearing.

Once again, I was captured, shackled, and dragged along against my will.

“… Are you truly my ally?” I said, my anger and resentment welling up inside.

She let out another sigh, “We’ll have to find out.”

----------------------------------------

The sun was starting to set when we approached some sort of town outside of the dense forest. The town looked different from the ones I was used to seeing before the invaders attacked us. But unfamiliar as it may be, seeing it still managed to make me feel glad because it meant I would finally have a chance to sit on something when we arrive. Maybe even drink some water, or eat some food. Well, all that depends on the generosity of my current captor.

I don’t really have an idea on this woman’s current mood. Unlike our first encounter, she became a lot more quiet and her expression more calm. She never even glanced at me as she pulled me along with her, not even once. It was almost as if she had a lot on her mind.

But it’s not like I wanted to talk to her either. After all that had happened earlier, I have my doubts on what her plan with me really is. I will definitely not let my guard down. Not again. Not to mention that crimson haired girl who left me stuck on the tree.

I can understand why she did it. It’s not like she had any real obligation to help me, and she definitely had a hard time dealing with this Natalia woman. But still, there’s nothing wrong with expecting to be helped when help was given. She would’ve been left for dead in that forest if it weren’t for me.

“Hey…” Natalia said as we got closer to the town, “Don’t speak. If you say even one word to anyone in this town, I’ll send your head flying.”

For the first time since our trek through the forest, she look at me. Her gaze was cold, the tone of her voice intimidating, and the expression on her face calm. Seeing her look at me like that made me remember being dragged behind the cart with the rest of the people who were captured from my village, the gazes of the soldiers sitting in that cart, the lingering smell of smoke coming from the village behind us.

At that point, all of my doubts have been cleared.

She is my enemy.

“Welcome back, Madame Natalia!”

“Miss Natalia looks as beautiful as ever…”

“Please Madame, try our bread, its fresh out of the oven!”

As we walked through the busy streets lined with stalls and all manner of building, the people in the town waved and greeted her, some even threw flowers, while I was met with sneers and disgusted faces.

“Look at the filthy man behind Miss Natalia, is he a prisoner?”

“He must be one of the bandits that raided Cermont days ago…”

“To be stripped naked and captured by Miss Natalia, surely he deserves whatever punishment he will get…”

Try as I might, I couldn’t avoid hearing the cruel words of the townspeople. How can they be so cruel to me, one of the people who fought for this land, and yet so kind to Natalia, a fully armored soldier of the Amadeus empire?

Shouldn’t they loathe her? Shouldn’t they be directing all those cruel words to her? Shouldn’t they have exiled her from this town?

…

These are my people, aren’t they?

Soon we entered what looks to be an inn near the center of the town. It was large, probably one of the largest structures in the town. The architecture also looked odd, I’ve never seen any other building like it before.

“Ah, welcome back Madame Natalia. Would you like some tea?” said the man well-mannered on the counter in front of the door.

Natalia let out a deep sigh, “Yes, thank you. Send it to my room.”

She began walking before suddenly stopping in her tracks. She turned towards the man behind the counter once again, “By any chance, did Johan pass by earlier?”

The man smiled and nodded, “Yes Madame, he did. He wanted me to tell you something. He said-’

Natalia held out her hand, “Hold on, tell me later. I need to take care of this first.”

“Of course, Madame.”

Natalia began walking towards the nearby stairs. I couldn’t help but notice her acting more cheerful, even humming some sort of tune as we continued up the steps.

The interior looked quite fancy for an inn. Countless trinkets, statues, paintings, and other items were placed neatly in along the walls and shelves. Even the lights looked different. Once again, I’ve never seen anything quite like this back in my day. I guess a lot of things just changed when the Amadeus empire arrived, including the people.

Thinking about it gave me another question; what year is this?

I remember the god of fortune saying that time flows differently in the gods realm than in here, which means that a lot of time had already passed ever since my time in that dungeon. I have no idea how much time had passed but seeing all of these changes in the land I can’t help but get anxious. I fear that I might have been too late.

After going up the last flight of stairs, we reached a long bright corridor with multiple doors on each side. Natalia continued pulling me along with her before stopping in front one of the doors and opening it with a key. She then pushed me onto the floor of the dark room, my body still bound with rope.

“Don’t go anywhere. Don’t touch anything. If I found out you did something, if I don’t find you in the room when I come back, that head of yours will go pffffff-” she shook her hand and moved it in the air, as if trying to describe something, “Understand?”

She closed the door, not giving me any chance to reply.

After a brief moment, the door opened once again.

“AND DON’T TOUCH MY TEA!” She said before slamming the door.

I stood up and walked around the room. It was big, probably as big as our house back in my village. I tried to look for a lamp or anything that can help me see in the darkness better. But after feeling my way around the room, I couldn’t get anything.

Nevertheless, I continued my search. Unlike in my old cell where despair watched me in every cramped corner as I stared back for days on end, this room is large enough to give me. There might be some chest, some container that will have what I’m looking for. After all, if I could see better and have an actual weapon, I’ll have a better chance at dealing with that armored woman when she comes back.

Out of nowhere, I heard a noise from somewhere inside the room. I’m not sure if I knocked something onto the floor but it sounded loud. Not loud enough to be heard outside but enough to alert me.

I felt a cool breeze coming from behind. I turned and saw an open window, the curtains dancing around in the wind. Did the wind force it open?

Then suddenly, the room got bright. The bright light came so instantaneous that it reminded me of what that crimson haired girl did before she escaped.

“Shhh.. Keep quiet.” I heard a familiar voice.

I rubbed my eyes and gradually recovered my eyesight. I saw the crimson haired girl stand across the room, her hand touching some sort of tiny structure on the wall behind her.

“This is how you turn on the lights, by the way.”

She stood there, eyes gradually drifting downward. Her calm expression abruptly changed into that of shock and embarrassment. She frantically tried to cover her eyes with her hands after throwing the bag she was carrying at me.

Then she shouted in the quietest scream I ever heard, “GO WEAR SOMETHING ALREADY!”

CHAPTER END