"Who should we save first? We should leave right now. If we don't hurry, General Harry will be executed soon!"

Violet was excited but fretting at the same time.

"Woah, there. Take a step back."

Seeing her flying...

"Er, take a flutter back?"

Daire needed to stop her before she got too ahead of herself.

Besides, General Harry doesn't exist here.

They couldn't rush headlong into danger. Many of the people he wanted to save would either be in perilous situations or in places that required them to be stronger. Daire nearly got mauled by wolves in the proverbial starting zone!

No. They needed to exchange information first. It would be such a shame to go in half-cocked and end up getting hurt or failing to rescue anyone.

"For now, we should talk. We need to get to know each other a bit more."

Violet paused her fluttering.

"Ah, you're right, sorry..." thinking for a moment, Violet managed to reign in her excitement before continuing, "where should we start?"

"I suppose I will start."

Breathing in deeply, Daire took a seat in the shaded grass. His hair somewhat dry, he took a hair tie, tied it half into a bun, letting the other half of it fall freely. Gesturing to Violet, she flew down and landed on his upturned knee. Daire was surprised she didn't weigh anything.

...Like at all.

Violet would be glad to hear this.

Instead of voicing his observations, Daire picked up a nearby stick and used it to gesticulate.

"To reintroduce myself, I am Daire King. Yes, I know my parents were quite the pranksters. Daire is pronounced 'dare' even though my parents slapped an 'I' in the middle to make it fancy. There was quite a lot of bullying in childhood, but I've learned to live with it. You can just call me Daire. Don't bother with my last name."

He was rambling.

Violet was nonetheless engaged. Since she didn't grow up on Earth or around other humans in general, Violet had no clue as to why his name would incite bullying. It shouldn't have anything to do with his initials.

D.K. are normal initials...

Violet dismissed the strange thought.

His name sounded royal. "King" sounds especially fitting for the main character. She said as much, but Daire responded with: "I am not the main character. We are going to save the main characters, right?"

"Right!"

Violet nodded in agreement, but she wasn't sure why he didn't want to be called the main character. Maybe he was trying to avoid unnecessary flags.

"I am not from this world," he continued, "I am from a world called Earth. Technology is quite advanced there, but there is no such thing as magic, mana, the occult, and gods don't exist. Well, that is debatable, but suffice to say they aren't active at all."

He waved a stick.

"We are currently on the Joral continent, and we should be somewhere in the Meist country."

Pontificating unnescesarrily.

"Meist's capital is Rist, a port city that directs trade on one side of what could be considered an enormous canal. Or perhaps it is just a sea?

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He rummaged for the right word.

"A strait? Yes... a strait."

Daire took the small stick he picked up and was drawing in the dirt to make a map. A rather crude map, but it would work for now. Violet wondered what a professional map might have looked like.

"Rist sits on the southern tip of the Joral continent. Several dozen miles away, immediately to the south is the Shen capital city of the Long country. It is also a coastal city that controls half of the strait between the continents."

"Are there other continents or countries?"

"Of course, but those aren't important right now. I can draw you a full map later if you like?"

Violet nodded enthusiastically.

"Please!"

"Alright then, I will bump it up my list."

He paused for a moment, emphasizing what he was about to say next.

"Now, here is the interesting part. The story of this world. Or at least a part of it."

"The story is a simple one, yet it is quite realistic and gritty. Both countries have been at war for ages. Rist controls trade and access to the rest of the world since it sits at the southern tip of Joral. It is a mainly human society with nearly any other race being discriminated against, subverted, treated as vassals, slaves, or worse. There are a few exceptions, but this is generally how things are. Typical cliche fantasy tropes."

Violet gulped, realizing that she could have been in a lot of danger if she left Willow. Picking up on her emotions, Daire continued to reassure her.

"It's not as if other races are collared on sight, but there is a lot of scorn from the human citizens. Some humans treat the beast-kin as savage animals. I know drakes and gnolls are seen as monsters and many citizens aren't tolerant of them at all. Goblins are treated as vermin similar to rats or crows. I know of a particular innkeeper that is good friends with all of them, though."

Daire looked off in the distance remembering something he was quite fond of.

Shaking it off, he returned to his explanation.

"The Long country is run by beast kin and is generally the opposite or Meist. It is much larger, containing warmer climates and the like."

"Will we ever get a chance to visit?

Violets heart beat a little faster. The entire world is open to her now. Setting foot outside the grove is new land entirely. Daire chuckled at her enthusiasm.

"Maybe someday. We'd have to cross the ocean. But I can guarantee you that there will be exciting things to see once we leave this grove."

Violet bobbed her head, grinning. Daire took her action as a cue to continue.

"While Rist is a traditional monarchy, Shen is ruled by a prime minister, who is basically the puppet of the head priest. It is an incredibly pious society.

Daire rubbed his brows, trying to prevent a headache. He enjoyed political intrigue and loved books involving conspiracies, rebellions, and corrupt governments, but this world was a mess. They were only going over basics and he was already tired of hearing himself talk.

He put down his drawing stick and turned the topic over to the main character.

"Why all that matters pertains to the 'main character' of this world. His name is Liam Ryuji. You can likely guess by his name that he was born from a tryst between the ruling classes of both countries."

"Liam escaped an assassination attempt in Shen and fled with his mother, a half-elf, to live in seclusion on the Joral continent. They successfully hid for seven years before they were found. The mother was killed and, Liam, who was watching from a distance, swore revenge before escaped to a nearby village where he was accepted into an orphanage."

Violet tucked her legs in, frowning.

"How sad."

Violet felt sorry for Liam.

"It is sad. But the problem is that Liam Ryuji is an anti-hero."

An anti-hero is someone who achieves their goal no matter the consequences. Their goal can be ultimately good, but they could end up killing people in the process. They can often be misconstrued with villains or antagonists.

"When Liam left the orphanage at fourteen, it fell to ruins shortly afterward, and the rest of the children became beggars and paupers. Nearly all of them died shortly after."

"Did Liam not know that his friends at the orphanage were in trouble?"

"No, he knew. However, he never really considered them friends. He spent most of his day's training with a sword and magic, blinded by revenge. The kids' fates didn't weigh on him, and this wasn't the only instance where he left people behind; this was only the beginning."

"How cruel... are those children the ones we are going to save?"

"Yes and no. Unfortunately, most have already passed. It has been about four years since he left. Liam should be about eighteen now, and there are only two orphans left. We will save those two, but there is another who is already running out of time."

Daire took a deep breath, calming himself. All his plans relied upon saving the first person. She was key to everything. At the very least, saving her would act as proof of concept.

"There is a woman named Iris Black. Who only has about a month left. We need to save first."

"Will we have enough time?"

Violet rested her chin in her hand. Worried.

Daire bit his lip. Thinking about what Iris was going through. It was heartbreaking. He wanted to run out right now and save her because this month would be incredibly tough to survive. However, he also knew how weak he was.

And Iris is strong.

Daire couldn't even kill a rabbit yesterday, and while he managed to defeat two starving wolves, he was still a far cry from being able to save Iris. That was why he needed to grow stronger.

"Yes. I believe we can. "

Daire looked at Violet, who still rested on his knee.

"First, we need to train the bare minimum."

Turning his gaze, he looked up at Willow this time, speaking to it directly.

"That is why we need to learn magic."