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Neo Cosmos
Chapter 10 - Worry

Chapter 10 - Worry

Author's Note: Uploading this from a cafe, updates will be a little slow, since i write long chapters and college exams are nearing. wanted to finish the first arc before exams , but looks like it won't be possible, Thank you for reading Neo cosmos, mon. since the story doesnt take much of a comedy route, i'll try to crack some jokes in the author's section. :)

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Worry

-----------Sara’s POV-------------------

It’s been a few hours since Orian jumped over the wall and entered the forest. I informed Uncle Guez, he was shocked when he heard it. He gathered the rest of the hunters who didn’t need to watch over the village.

They searched the entire village and after they couldn’t find him, they believed me. They wasted so much time, they should’ve checked the forest first. They opened the gates and a group along with uncle were heading out.

I also insisted on going with him, but he told me to wait near the entrance of the wall.

“ But wouldn’t it be better if I also came to search with you?”(Sara)

“ No…….Sara, please try to understand lad. In case Orian is nearby, you can find him easier. And you can inform us by blowing the horn, so we can return when he’s found. That and you already know why you can’t go.”(Guez)

“………….it’s because of the law, isn’t it?”(Sara)

“Afraid so……..again. I’m sorry.” (Guez)

Guez left while I simply stood helpless. If it weren’t for that law, I’d go find that irresponsible brat of a brother of mine. How could Orian jump so high? What was he doing all this time when we weren’t keeping an eye on him? Why did he go into the forest? Just be safe this time, please Orian.

I was only fidgeting around, waiting for him to be found quickly. Hoping he was just playing around nearby somewhere. I checked in the bushes and the trees, not going more than 30 meters away from the gate.

The guards stationed at the top were also looking in the direction Guez had left, in case he sent some sort of signal that Orian was found.

What would Mother and Father do when they find about this? Father isn’t a hunter, so he can’t go into the forest by himself. Mother would only worry non-stop, her body isn’t strong enough to even walk around the village. But both of them, if they find out about this they’ll push themselves enough to find him, no matter what.

Then what about me? As his Sister, what am I doing? Shouldn’t I have been watching over him all this time? All because of that incident a week ago……his friends wouldn’t meet with him. He couldn’t be found anywhere in the village and he’d return around when its dinner time. He isn’t even two years old yet.

What were his thoughts, when he was lonely? Why did he have to resort to step into the forest? Does he even understand what that forest is like?

How many years ago, was it? I think I was five at the time. It was just like this. Uncle gathered the hunters who were still in the village and had gone outside to kill some monster which had suddenly shown up.

They didn’t come for two whole days, I thought they couldn’t simply find the monster at that time. But they returned and I saw them. He had entered the forest with more than 10 hunters. But only came back with six and all them were heavily injured.

I didn’t know much then and I kept asking them what happened like a little kid. Their eyes only had terror, it felt like they could snap at any moment. Two of the survivors died after three days, they were shouting in pain at the end and died with nothing but the same fear they had when they came back from the forest.

Before they died, they simply kept screaming, “ it was smiling at me , really ……..that thing” , “ it didn’t scream or anything, it just …….kept ……….smiling……even when it ate Jvarg’s head” .

The rest somehow recovered as the days went by, but they didn’t want to enter the forest ever again. Even Uncle Guez, he stayed in bed for days. He probably wouldn’t have gone into the forest, if it weren’t for Azela.

They got married, after she bought him back from that nightmare. But when she died during child birth, he became depressed. He didn’t talk much for the whole year, until…… when Orian was born.

He came to see Orian, during his birth. But he left quickly. Me, Father and Mother already knew what he had been through, so we didn’t mind it at that time.

Then it was during my 8th Birthday. I somehow managed to invite him to have dinner with us. Then he met Orian again, after he was half a year old. He didn’t want to face Orian but kept staring at him. It was when Orian was able to call out for Uncle. Just like how he called out to Mother, Father and me.

Uncle finally smiled……after so long, I saw him smiling.

Orian……I don’t know why this happened, but just come back to us safely. Uncle had that same face, the fear that came out from his eyes was the same one seven days ago.

………

------Night--------

It’s almost becoming dark. I’ve been doing nothing but worrying this whole time. What happened to him? Where is he? Is he safe? Why hasn’t Uncle found him yet?

“…..”

What’s that sound? Someone’s coming. Is it Orian? Did he come back by himself? Thank God. Let’s get him back to the house. I’ll scold him after I let Father and Mother know about what happened today.

*slow steps*

Why is he coming here so slowly? Aghh! I can’t see anything. Let’s take that torch the torch they lighted using the pillars for now.

“…………..Orian?”(Sara)

------------Guez’s POV-----------------

Orian……where’d that lad go? Why did he come into the forest himself? Sara told me, he jumped over the wall, like that’s possible. Not even A rank adventurers have that much athletic ability and strength. Why’d he have to go to the forest though?

Was it cause he found something interesting, when we took him here? He told me he saw the damn beast on the path we use to the city. I’m just hoping he didn’t go too far trying to find it.

………

Was it my fault? Did he hear us, when I was talking with Dari? Damn it, if only I’d known that kid would do something like this.

If something happens to him, then I won’t be able to live with myself. Because of me seven days ago, we lost Garrem. It’s the same, just like three years ago……..all those men died and I was sulking, not facing my fears.

I can’t face Olivia, unless I bring him back somehow. I can’t face Azela in the afterlife, if my mistake made a kid lose his life.

Let’s search the path for now, he’s got to be there. If he had heard us, he’d go check if that beast returned to the path again. I’ll have to think of something if we have to meet the damn beast again.

………

It’s been a few hours now. Damn it, we still don’t have any clues where he went. We searched half the distance to the city already. Did the beast get him? I don’t want to think that. I don’t care how long it takes, I don’t care if it’s during the night, I will keep searching for him even if the others leave.

Still, did he even go through here? Maybe Sara was only imagining things and we just couldn’t find him at the village.

“ Guez, we’re not going to find the kid and at this rate, it’s going to be dark soon.”(Algon)

“…..Tch”(Guez)

“It’s best if you guys leave, I’ll try to search a little more………..”(Guez)

“Leader, Algon’s right. We need to go back, for now. It’s possible he never even set foot on this route.”(Igo)

He had a point, but …….. it’s just a nagging feeling that maybe….just maybe….

!?

Someone’s coming here. It’s Hid, I stationed him between this group and the main gate. He’s running over here, did something happen?

“Leader……huff………huff”(Hid)

“Calm down, what’s the matter?” (Guez)

“it’s …..the main ….gate…..huff….”(Hid)

“ They’ve called for us……I came to relay that…..phew”(Hid)

They’re calling us back? Did Orian return? So, he didn’t take this path and was probably nearby the gate after all? It’s already dark anyway and we need to check back. We’ll need to be careful when we use the torches, while heading back.

“Two of you, handle the torches. We’re going back.”(Guez)

“Aye, Sir.”(All)

…………..

We came back as soon as we could, I can see Sara trembling there. She’s holding onto someone. That should be the kid, why hasn’t she already taken him inside?

“Oi lad, why are you still standing around here huh? Take your brother, back to your house.”(Guez)

“Uncle……Uncle……Orian he’s …….”(Sara)

“Don’t stutter lad, what’s the matter? Let me take a good look at the kid.”(Guez)

I couldn’t see clearly, since it was dark. I get the torches closer to check if something’s wrong.

…….it’s the kid alright…….but why is he covered in blood?

“Someone take him inside fast. Open the damn gates. Get some towels and medicine. Lad, go call your parents.” (Guez)

“Aye,Sir” (All Hunters)

“uncle….is he….”(Sara)

“Just hold on, lad. He’s still breathing, let’s take care of him.”(Guez)

…………

I was a little worried about the kid. But looks like he wasn’t injured. That means he did go out of the village. So the blood must be from…….

-----------Orian’s POV---------

Huff…..huff……my head is hurting like hell. Ever since I got that notice on my [ Status ], it feels like my head’s spinning like crazy. I wanted to rest, but couldn’t do so at the cave. The Cerberus blood may attract other monsters. I need to wash this off.

This similar feeling……it’s like when I overused my mana. But I checked my [ Status], it hasn’t decreased so much that I would faint. Was the Cerberus poisonous? But it didn’t pierce through my defense, so I don’t even have scratches to get infected. Was this because of the skill? I can’t tell.

I’ll have to get back to the village. I don’t want to stay in the cave, other than because of the Cerberus also due to the corpse being there. I only feel bad memories rising up whenever I think about it.

I can’t climb and hop trees in this condition, and I don’t know where I can rest without a monster attacking me. I’ll have to somehow make it back.

…………

It’s been an hour already, I’m still slowly moving. Five miles, it shouldn’t have taken so long. But my body is getting painful, I have to avoid all the monsters.

………

It’s no good. I’m surrounded by three claw wolves. They look ready to pounce on me. My breathing’s becoming hard. The village is close, I can get there if I get past these things. Can I beat them, right now?

I couldn’t focus enough to use [ Backtrack ]. My headache would increase if I started using it, the same with [ Chamber ]. I already learned their movements from a few days ago. These things can’t react quickly to sudden movements or speed based attacks. They only attack when they are given the first chance. [ Enhanced Defense ] already being active, I use [ Force Rush ] along with [ Weapon Create ] and quickly kill two of them.

I don’t have time to use my weapons. They’ll simply attack when I’m going for the weapons. So the claws will have to be of enough use right now. What’s worse is, I can’t hold the weapons and use any martial arts I know with them right now. I need concentration, but my headache would only increase. So I choose to eliminate them while aim their necks with the claws.

The final one looks scared after seeing its comrade die. It still doesn’t try to run, but instead it’s attacking me. I really don’t know how these things think, is it that confident that it can kill me without acknowledging its surroundings? Claw wolves really don’t give much thought when attacking, do they? After observing them and after all this time, that’s the best conclusion I can come up with.

I didn’t have time to escape the attack, I took it head on. The claws on the wolf broke and I was able to retaliate. I pierced it’s chest using the claws, I think I was able to damage a vital organ, so it fell to the ground. I headed towards the village, it was near and I couldn’t think straight. The headache had increased.

I saw the torches they had planted near the main gate, someone was standing there. I kept moving, I couldn’t see who was at the main gate. Before I could see who it was, the darkness reached my eyes, I had fainted.

--------The Next Day----------

--------Orian’s POV---------------

It was morning when I had woken up and I saw that I was in my room. It took me a few moments to realize the events that had transpired the previous day.

Ah……..this is bad, really bad. The worst outcome which I had been trying to avoid had arrived. The one who secured me back to my house, would’ve already explained what had happened that day. But then again, why was there someone outside the gate when it was already dark outside.

That’s not important, right now how should I explain things? No matter what type of excuse I come up with, they’ll question me how I was able to enter the forest in the first place.

This is that feeling when someone you’re close with finds out how you truly are, like an embarrassing photo from the past or your female friend finding your porn stash. The memories when I had a roommate in the hunter’s association come back to haunt me, when I think of this. why is it that bad memories are the ones we usually remember first?

But this is bad, the people who are finding out the truth about me aren’t random strangers who I got close with. They’re my parents and for some reason I feel as though something worse than the universe ending is going to happen.

Should I make a run for it? I can still escape into the forest, if I go far enough I can get to places with more monsters so they won’t look for me, right? Even risking my life in the forest feels to be a better choice, than having to go through what will come next.

…….. I need to calm down. For now, I’ll go meet them. I was prepared to tell them about all this at some point. Though I don’t think revealing that I’m from the previous universe is going to help much, so I’d rather omit that. Also telling about [ Gift of Time ] is forbidden. It’s a [ Unique ] skill and its mostly from the power that God gave me. Telling everything about oneself is the worst possible idea.

………

I go to the living room which is also the kitchen, where we usually have dinner. Olivia seems to be cooking something. She doesn’t notice me, yet.

Plan B, should I go with that?

She turned back? Did she know I was here? this is bad…….

……huh? It’s a warm feeling. She just hugged my small body on the spot. How did she rush up to me so fast? I can feel her trembling. Is she crying?

“Guu……Orian, where were you yesterday? *sniff*”(Olivia)

I can’t answer her. I can’t say I went and killed the Cerberus, can I? She just kept crying, asking me.

When I turned back, Guez, Sara and Dari are also present near the room. They must’ve came here, when they heard her crying. I am a shameful man who makes girls cry.

……………

A little time has passed, but everyone’s silent. Olivia, Sara and Dari have a sad look on them and Guez serious face is sort of scary.

“umm……”(Orian)

I tried to break the silence, but Guez stood up.

“kid…..come with me, for now please. We’ll listen to your side after this.”(Guez)

I was puzzled. Olivia and Dari had a scared face when they heard Guez. Sara didn’t seem to understand the situation. Well, it’s not like I understood it much either.

……..

A few minutes later, we were out of the house and had reached a building which always looked out of place in the village. It had four pillars supporting the ceiling and had an entrance to a single room. I didn’t really know what it was, since nobody explained it to me. A building with a single room didn’t exactly pique my interest, I thought it was where people would store things but was simply left unattended.

“ Orian, this is the shrine of the God we follow. Lord Rudra resides here.”(Guez)

Ah…..so this is a shrine and the deity the village worships must be called Rudra. I wasn’t much of a believer, but I had met one after all. Olivia did say this world had many gods.

“ so why am I here, uncle?”(Orian)

“ To be judged, Sara told us that you jumped over the wall.”(Guez)

Sara was fidgeting. Was she the one who I felt the gaze from yesterday? Of all the people…….

“A normal child shouldn’t be that strong, especially someone your age. So we’re here to check, if you are blessed or not.”(Guez)

“ Blessed?”(Orian)

“The Gods bless us humans during birth with superior powers from time to time. Such humans, we call them the [ Blessed ]. If you could use [ Status ] magic, you should be able to tell. But you can’t use magic until you mature. So entering the shrine, can tell us if you are blessed or not.”(Guez)

Basically I get the gist of it, it seems there are superhumans in this world who are known as the [ Blessed ]. If the [ Status ] allowed us to know that fact, then that would mean I’m not one of them. I check it every day, there was no such indication.

I enter the shrine, to see if something would happen.

……..nothing. Surprisingly there was no change. I even checked [Status]. No blessing, yet. The Gods must really hate me.

“that’s enough kid, you can come out now. Looks like you aren’t being possessed by some monster.”(Guez)

Huh? That’s not what you said before.

“Sorry for lying there. Although we can’t tell if you are blessed or not right now. We made you go inside, to check if you were being possessed in case.”(Guez)

Olivia and Dari sighed in relief. It looks like they were worried.

“ what would’ve happened if I was being possessed, uncle?”(Orian)

“well, you would be burning from the holy fire of Rudra in case that happened.”(Guez)

…….WHAT? burned? How can you casually say that?

“but I’m glad kid. Chances are you must be blessed by Lord Rudra or another God. But the only god we worship is Lord Rudra, so it being another god is less. If you were favored though, then that would make one of blessed from the legend thousands of years ago. Lord Rudra hasn’t blessed another human for almost five thousand years now. We’ll know when you become of age, so don’t worry.” (Guez)

“But….I’m not blessed.”(Orian)

“…..what?”(Guez)

I don’t plan on hiding the magic I can use right now. I suppose right now is a good time to tell them. I’ll have to tell them about the Cerberus as well, otherwise what’s left of Targ’s father will be eaten by other monsters. We need to make sure to give me a proper burial.

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“ Can we head home first? I want to talk about yesterday.”(Orian)

Everyone nodded and we headed back.

…………

It took a while but everyone listened, from when I first understood how to use [Status] and how I learned about various skills. I didn’t tell them about [ Mana Sight ] since they’d probably learn about [ Gift of Time ] by constantly observing my eyes at some point. I just told them I did it with the same feeling as [ Status ].

“…..I see. So you’ve been training to go travel the outside world one day, huh?”(Guez)

I nodded.

“But kid, you’ve broken the laws of the village. Not only did you enter the forest, before you were of age. You also said that you found the beast’s lair, that it had three heads not two and you killed it. It’s hard to understand that as child of not even two years, you killed a monster which was of S rank.”(Guez)

Guez slowly explained to me, that various monsters had ranks and this was the same for adventurers. If word got out, that I had killed something like that outside the village, there’d be too many problems to deal with for everyone.

He explained that this village was formed because of people who were banished to the forest long ago. That outside the village, there was endless discrimination against us and any others who didn’t follow the God of Light. I wanted to doze off against so much information, but the situation didn’t allow me to.

“ Orian, didn’t you promise me that you won’t leave the village until you were 10 years old.”(Olivia)

“I’m not going to leave the village, but I need to know what’s outside if I want to survive. I don’t want someone else to risk their life for me, because wanting to go outside is due to my selfishness.”(Orian)

Olivia stayed silent, her face was downtrodden. I also felt bad saying that, but I want to assure her I’ll stay here as I promised.

I prostrated before them, I had to make this request.

“ can you please let me explore the outside forest? I want to know….otherwise something like seven days ago will happen again. I promise to come back safe. If I broke the rules, then shouldn’t I be thrown out?”(Orian)

Both Guez and Dari held their heads low. This must’ve seemed like they allowed a kid to take care of adult matters. But it won’t stop me from going out.

Guez sighed.

“well that’s how it is, Olivia , Dari. You can’t keep this one confined here. He’ll jump to danger the first sight he sees.”(Guez)

They both stayed silent. Guez turned to me.

“kid…. We made the laws for the village as such, so children wouldn’t be in danger. So things won’t go out of hand. We won’t throw you out because of this.”(Guez)

He paused for a while, then continued.

“Rather, we’ll take you as a apprentice hunter from now on. It’s best if you went with us rather than alone.”(Guez)

“Brother……what are you saying?”(Olivia)

“That’s right, Guez, no matter what he did, he’s still our child, he shouldn’t be out there…..”(Dari)

“ it doesn’t matter, even if we bind him to the village. He’ll find out somehow and go outside. If he could kill a Cerberus, I don’t think even with all the hunters try we can hold him down. I’ll make the same promise as I did to you, Dari. I won’t let harm come to the kid, even if it costs me my own life.”(Guez)

………….

The conversation continued for some time, but my parents finally accepted my request to survey the forest. I guess I can do that for the next eight more years. But they prohibited me from entering the city, I should only go there when I was a proper adult. I conceded.

Sara was pouting about me getting preferential treatment, but Guez told me about how worried she was. Siblings sure are weird.

……………….

After all the matters were settled, I went to Targ’s house. I gave him the pendant his father was holding onto. His mother recognized it and said it was a present that they had exchanged when they got married. She had a identical one. Targ was crying again and hugged me with snot still running down his face. I don’t know what I should exactly call this feeling. I feel disgusted as well as happy.

Gina arrived when I was still at Targ’s house. After Targ explained what happened, she also cried for a while and apologized to me. I don’t know why she did that anyway.

……….

It was already afternoon and since there was still time, I asked the hunters to accompany me to the lair of the Cerberus. They showed surprise, when Guez told them I had killed it. Most of them probably participated to go, so they could confirm that the deed was done. I saw the guard who was there on the first day, looks like he remembered me. He started yelling monster all of a sudden.

“….Shut it, Garun “(Guez)

“But…..but…..leader, he really had black skin …..like a monster’s….”(Garun)

“hmph… this is why you haven’t become A rank yet. That’s a higher level [ Enhanced Defense ]. Even as a A rank, I can only use the first level. But those of S ranks can use 2nd level and sometimes higher. I’ve seen it being used by them when I had gone outside the city.”(Guez)

So that doesn’t make it special, [ Enhanced Defense ] was something adventures could use. It’s best if I don’t make those of S rank or higher my enemies.

After Guez explained about the skill, the other hunters started accepting as to why I was able to kill it. I should tell them, that beast doesn’t actually care about defense. But then again, it wasn’t able pierce through my skin. Even if I hadn’t used the drug, as long as it couldn’t pierce the defense, it wouldn’t get the necessary grip to force on both sides. Being careful never hurt though. I can’t say that the armor that covers me right now is made from strong material. At best it would be slightly stronger than steel. I still don’t know why it feels like hardened graphite.

I later explained it to them how I killed it. They were in awe when they learnt the method. Guez planned on making use of the Sleep balls in the future. We left after that.

While going around the forest till the river where the cave was located, we encountered a few monsters. The hunters took care of the Claw Wolves easily, since they had the number advantage. I suppose this is how they worked till now. We were able to reach the cave after that without much incident.

Everyone stood surprised as they saw the corpse of Cerberus. After witnessing the other body, they gathered a lot of firewood and burnt the corpse of the brave hunter. I wonder if I can use that ability to save him.

Luckily it had not been much time since the beast died and monsters rarely set foot here. So the body still remained, but the rotting smell was difficult to deal with. They dismantled the Cerberus for its fur, took the claws and fangs as well. Guez told me they could be used for certain equipment and weapon as well. I doubted at first how the fangs could be stronger than normal steel.

But then I remembered how the boar with a iron hide was killed. Looks like they could sell the items for a lot of money at the city. Thanks to that, I learned the currency system humans in this world use. It seems the currency was divided into copper, silver and gold coins. Copper coin was the most basic currency and one silver coin would be equal to 100 copper coin, respectively one gold coin to be 1000 silver coins.

If one had 100 gold coins, they could live for most of their lives without earning. Wonder if there’s a lottery, where I could win the jackpot.

The fur and claws themselves would earn more than 500 silver coins and a single fang would cost around 1 gold coin. WHAT?......that’s a lot. I hit the jackpot. Would I get a share?

When Guez noticed my greed, he said I won’t be getting any. That all the money from this would go to the development of the village and my share would be taken as compensation for breaking the laws and allowing me to go outside. He said that because Sara would be angry if I was spoiled without a reason.

But still……

……….

After finishing up the work at the cave, we headed back. I spotted two Iron Boars on the way back. It doesn’t matter if I don’t get the money. The pigs will satisfy me for today.

I was able to neutralize them using the drug. I didn’t want to use force, since we’ll get the whole meat this way and it also saves time. They’re small compared to the first one I had met. Too bad the Cerberus killed it.

That day, the village was in a good mood. Two full grown boars were caught, there was still money from the Cerberus, the path to the city was secure from now on and finally there were zero casualties. There was a feast today and everyone got drunk and danced around the whole night. Amidst all the merriment, two people still were restless. Even Dari was happy at the good news, but Olivia and Sara still had sullen faces.

I promised Olivia that what I was doing was ultimately for mine and everyone’s safety. Even though she was listening, she still couldn’t accept that.

“ Orian, I’m glad you’re growing up. But at this rate, I’m just afraid you’ll grow up too fast.”(Olivia)

“I won’t grow up fast mother, I’m only learning magic fast. But I still don’t know what to do when my friends are sad. I don’t know how to cheer others up. But everyone else in the village are always positive, even when we know it won’t be safe. I still can’t do that. So I won’t leave until I’m old enough.”(Orian)

I said puffing my chest out. What am I being proud of? I just revealed my bad points.

Olivia smiled.

“haha….you try really hard for others. I’m just worried whether you’ll come back when you leave the village.”(Olivia)

“I’ll come back. I have to. Mother makes the best boar stew.”(Orian)

Olivia finally seemed content. That restless feeling didn’t show on her face anymore.

I wonder how to cheer up Sara, she’s always angry whenever I talk to her. Speaking of which, I think I’m forgetting something………

Ah…..that’s right. Her birthday, it’s the day after tomorrow. She’s going to be 9 years and when she hits 10 she’ll be a full-fledged adult. Ah….I’m glad I remembered it in the nick of time. This time I can get a good gift from the forest. It’s kind of odd though…..

Wasn’t I more careful and alert whenever going in to the forest? Am I getting conceited? Let’s just keep that in mind, either way I can’t really think of any gifts from the village. I’d just make the same thing as the previous year. Wonder if she’ll be happy with boar meat?

…………

I went to the forest alone the next day and I found some shiny stones in the cave. I was reluctant to enter it but it doesn’t bother me as much before. I’ve been wondering about the ability I got in this place from yesterday night. If I had summarize it, it’s a message from a future possible timeline. I named the ability [ Message ], since that is what it basically does.

I thought about saving Targ’s father using this. I didn’t want to use it since caution was advised. From what I understood, if the me from the present sends it to the past and if the future doesn’t end the same way as the sender then that possible timeline is erased and it’ll become a memory to the timeline which I had sent earlier. Basically if I use [ Message ], then its game over for the current me unless the one I sent to also ends up with the same result.

Then why use [ Message ] in the first place, isn’t it to change the past that one would send the message? I didn’t want all the experiences I had , the lives of people who lived along with me to become simple memories to the me of some other time. But I wanted to save the person whom my friend holds dear. I wrote the detail about where the Cerberus was located, when it would attack, the right skills to defeat it, the sleep drug and the day to attack it or just prevent the carriage from leaving in the first place into a small block on [ Status ].

I used [ Message ] and sent it, by imagining the day and time for it to be sent. I made it to be sent at least 4 days earlier.

……….huh?

Failed

What the……

I’m sure I did everything correctly. So why? I tried to read the detail about [ Message ] again.

Huh? Was there this part last time?

Message: Sending the information to the past self to change the future. Caution advised not to use, since time would be affected for your present self. If the past changes to something different from the future, the time lived by the sender will be transferred to the only existing timeline of the recipient.

Restrictions:

The skill cannot be used on the time before its origin.

This [ Status ] literally is a collection of information on simply what happens, isn’t it? It’s saying this now, after I had to go through of writing such a long message.What kind of cruelty is this?

But that means, I can’t send a message before the first one I got. I only received it when I had killed off the Cerberus and had found that corpse. So I can’t save him after all. Why couldn’t my future self send it earlier?

If I think about it, all the abilities I got were because I had some kind of desire associated with time. At that time, I wanted to avert any danger for those I cared. Thinking that way, I didn’t have any such desire before I faced off against Cerberus. So the point of Origin is fixed for all possible futures. Was it some me from the future who realized this and sent it? I wish I had a better manual than [ Status ] right now.

I tried a few more times but since it failed, I had no choice but to give up.

I got back home with Sara’s present and slept my worries away. Even though I have the ability to change a timeline with the risk of erasing my existence of this timeline, I still can’t do everything. I suppose I’ll have to understand the rules of time of this world to make use of [Gift of Time ] effectively.

………

The next day, I finished Sara’s chores by myself and let her have the day free. I had gone to the forest also to hunt for a boar. I couldn’t find a large one, but rather an infant. If I see it carefully, it looks the same as the child of the large Iron Boar. Maybe it’s alone now that its parent is dead. It was scared of me, so I used the drug to catch it easily. I wonder if the younger ones have tender meat. I’m looking forward to the delicacy, it will be made into today.

Sara seemed a little happy today, I was hoping she won’t get angry on me. I invited Targ and Gina to celebrate as well.

I showed today’s dinner to Sara, one of the hunters named Igo was going to help us butcher it. But……

Sara didn’t let us, the Boar infant suddenly woke up and had run behind her. She said she wouldn’t like for Boa to be eaten. That’s right, she named it Boa. I sometimes question the naming sense of this world’s inhabitants. Right now, I’m sad I can’t taste tender boar meat. Please grow up fast, Boa.

But its good, thanks to that she doesn’t seem to be in a bad mood. The birthday ended on a good note.

--------Two Months Later--------

“ now tell me, how did the kid run off this time?”(Guez)

“ I’m sorry, leader. We couldn’t stop him. He’s too fast. We even tried the net, he escaped it like he already knew that it was going to be there.”(Hid)

“that brat, he does the same thing every day, even though we warned him to come with us. How am I going to tell this to Olivia and Dari?”(Guez)

“ He sure plays us like fools. Huh?”(Algon)

The village was lively as usual, it had gotten used to the existence of Orian who held the role of the blessed child of the village.

----------Orian’s POV-------

I’ve already searched about 6 mile radius of the village. That’s not much compared to when I started. But this forest really has a lot of different monsters, although none were like the Cerberus. I found monsters called Blade Vipers, they are similar to snakes but their fangs are extremely strong and sharp as well. They attack in groups and try to bite the victim to death.

I can’t really say if their fangs contain any direct poison. Hunting them was quite hard since I couldn’t find one alone. They ganged on me but their fangs hardly grazed my skin. That tickles, you little rascals.

I captured quite a few of them because of that. Though I couldn’t learn any skills, I took them to the village and extracted the fangs for materials. It seems their skin can be sold for good price and their meat was exceptional as well. The age of pigs is over. It is now the grand era of vipers.

There was certain monster similar to the Somniferon, but the agent it released aroused other monsters into attacking the one who had the scent nearby. I don’t really have any idea on how to use it, but I was able to extract and create another drug. I kept the drug in its liquid state and store it in a glass container from the village. I don’t really want to keep it in a ball form like the sleep drug, monsters are easily attracted by its smell.

For me who frequented the forest often had to make sure return early, so I was only able to survey so less even though I went to the forest daily. I had to make sure I spent time with Targ and Gina, otherwise Sara would rant about how I had become a forest maniac. I also had to make sure I didn’t fail in training my body, so I was occupied until the day ended.

Every week I tried to hunt at least a few Vipers or Boars for food. No matter what, meat is tasty. In a few days, I’ll be two years old. Eight more years to go.

Having a good day, I went to sleep early as usual. A child’s body requires a lot, so it can develop. Looks like I’m already getting a good dream. Hope Gina is in it.

Hmm…. I’m sure dreams don’t start with a slab in front of them. No, that’s…..

My [Status] had opened up on its own…..

Please, save Olivia no matter what. Please I beg you.