On their way back home, Aydem watched the surroundings while sitting on his mother's lap. They moved through deep forests with gigantic trees, crossing villages in green fields, seeing towns and cities large and small.

His father knew the routes perfectly, realizing which ones were dangerous and which were safe. Let it be night or daylight, Xander would always identify and choose the least dangerous path thanks to years of experience in transporting goods.

Once they got to Northgate, their small little town, Aydem immediately realized the strange behavior of the other people around. They purposefully tended not to make eye contact with him or his family, although commoners failed miserably at that, showing worried looks and stealing some glances here and there. Still, everyone kept their distance from the cart, trying not to encounter Xander or his family.

Arriving at the home's entrance, Xander noticed the outside door hanging open. Anxious and concerned, he stopped the horses by a sudden force, stepping down from the carriage and running into the house.

Emine took Aydem in her arms, following Xander into the house. They saw him standing in the hall looking at the trapdoor beside the staircase, a wooden covering on the floor lifted up wide open. Xander went inside to check the cellar alone.

Moments had passed until he finally came back up. Swaying on his feet, he managed to sit on the bottom stair.

"The food and drinks are gone," Xander said, his hand's palm touching his brow in dismay and despair.

It was as clear as day who had done this.

"Eraldims... that wicked son of theirs has finally started his moves. May the gods' curse be upon them."

Normally, commoners would report any robbery to the chief. However, since Eraldim family ruled over the town, the whole town worked against his parents.

They looked heavily distressed. As Emine put Aydem down, she went into the same gloomy state as her husband after taking a seat.

"I can start weaving garments and carpets in my free time," she said. "We can sell them at a good price."

"Do you have any idea how expensive fibres and threads have become? The final price is only good if the starting material used is also high-quality." Xander explained in detail. "Beside that, it would take months for you to finish it. Those are all under the assumption that the people in this town would still give us the necessary materials, which I highly doubt."

Looking unsettled and worried, she desperately tried to come up with ideas in her mind to resolve the devastating problems threatening her family, but no matter how much she tried, any attempts to get out of the current situation came to be futile, the major obstacle being the shadow of Eraldims over the town.

Judging by the looks of the citizens back in the way, they didn't want to anger Eraldims or risk their lives and jobs, so most of them had decided to cut all ties with Xander and Emine. That meant they wouldn't buy products made by them, give them farm to work on, or have any other relation that would help his family provide their day-to-day needs.

"We can no longer work here, so only one option remains," Xander said. "I'll go to the nearby cities to search for a job. I'm bringing a quarter of our savings with myself. The remaining threequarters must be enough to meet both of your needs for about six months. Depending on how far I have to go, it may be a while before I get back with enough money and food."

By examining Emine's expression, Aydem could tell she didn't appear to like that idea.

"But what if the people here don't sell us food?" she said, trying her best to change Xander's mind.

Xander hesitated, a dark frown appearing on his face. With an upset expression, he said, "I hope there is a limit to Eraldims' wickedness, but if they are planning to deny us food, I'll have to stay here for a bit. There must be some honorable men out there who're willing to help us. Of course, we have to be careful to keep it a secret. Otherwise, Eraldims will put them under pressure too."

Following a moment of silence, his father continued, "I will talk to the priests in the temple. They are pious and righteous servants of gods, after all. Their fear of gods surpasses their fear of mortal men."

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"What if something happens to us?" Emine said, protesting her husband's decision. "You're gonna leave a mother alone with her child in a place ruled by those wicked people?"

Aydem always remembered his mother acting like a kind woman, a caring and agreeable person especially when it came to her family. However, at that moment, she was constantly raising her voice, making faces to show disapproval or displeasure.

Her worried emotions, which became apparent via her facial expressions, were met by Xander's outburst as he broke down in tears.

"Do you really think I want that?" he said, shedding tears while looking at her with sorrowful eyes. "Do you think it'll be easy for me to leave my family, my everything, here, and spend days, weeks, and even months away, always living with the fear of losing you, yet being powerless to do anything to help?"

The tension in the air abated, a gloom spreading wide over the place. "Then tell me," Xander said, breaking the silence, "what other options do we have?"

"Let's leave here together," Emine replied. "Why leave us alone? We can go to another city and live there."

"In that case, we all have to sleep in the streets or stables. Do you want Aydem to spend his childhood like that?"

Emine didn't seem to have any response prepared for that. However, before she could come up with any, the mention of Aydem was enough to let them realize their son is also listening to their heated argument.

Looking shamefaced, his parents stopped the intense exchange. Emine, putting her usual motherly face on, stepped towards Aydem.

"I'm sorry for that, sweetie," she said. "Let's go upstairs to my room."

She picked Aydem up, holding him in her arms while going up the stairs. Entering her individual room, she put him on the squashy bed that lay at the end of the place. "Stay here, sweetheart," she said with her usual soothing voice. "Your father and I are going to have a talk. Wait for me to come back."

Closing the door shut, Aydem could hear the sound of his mother's steps going down. Although he noticed them arguing downstairs again, it was difficult for him to actually recognize their exact words since the thundering shouts in the hall became soft whispers once they got to Aydem in the second floor.

He rested his head on the warm pillow, lying down on the bed and closing his eyes. Feeling tired, he sighed.

I wished I were more specific. We wouldn't have these problems if we were rich and had social or political status. Yes, it's all about status and power. Those without it get to struggle like us. That damn goddess should've known it, and yet I was reborn in these poor conditions.

In the darkness, where the mind gives no attention to the sight, his hearing became sharper, picking out voices that couldn't be heard with open eyes.

Among the whispers coming from the downstairs, he noticed a voice with a different tone, whispering along the others, but it didn't belong to his parents. The whispers still came from the below, yet not as far as his parents' noise which kept reaching there from the first floor.

His parents' sounds vanished as the whispers dominated Aydem's mind. Even by concentering to distinguish the voice and discern what it said, he failed to understand it. However, by listening to it more, Aydem could tell that it carried a ominous tone, one that gave him a sense of unrest.

Finally, Aydem found the source of the voice. It was coming from under the bed. He bent down and turned up the covers to see what resided below there. The light in the room possessed enough brightness to provide a somewhat visible sight of contents under the bed, allowing him to inspect the poorly lit space.

With the whispers getting louder, Aydem noticed a book laid on the floor below the center of the bed, engulfed in darkness. He reached forward to grab it, touching its leathery surface. The moment he touched it, the disturbing voice disappeared, letting Aydem once again notice his parents arguing downstairs.

Once out in the light, being properly lit and visible, Aydem could see it clearly. The cover wasn't the only part of the book that had a pitch-black color, as all the pages, from the first to the last, were completely tinted with such a blackness that could hardly be distinguished from the cover only by the eyes. To his surprise, the book had no title. Flipping the dark pages, Aydem found no written scripts on any of them either.

What is this thing?

3-year-old Aydem didn't have a problem holding the book in his hands, showing how lightweight it was despite the huge amount of pages that it possessed, which, when put together, would appear as a solid black box rather than separate sheets of paper.

If something like this had happened during his previous life, he would've blamed it on mental exhaustion and taken a rest. However, the whispers, the unusual looks of the book, and the fact that this world was different than the previous one, were all witness to the conclusion he had come up with.

If I'm not imagining things, the whispers grew stronger as I was getting closer to this thing. This book definitely can't be normal anyway. Anyone can tell that. by the looks alone.

The thought of bringing it with himself crossed his mind, but realizing that Xander and Emine had just finished their talk, he heard the sound of footsteps coming from behind the door, which gave him no choice but put the book back where it was, since Aydem had no way to hide it from his parents in the way to his room.

Resting on the bed once again, he saw the door getting open, as his mother, Emine, entered the place.

"I'm sorry to let you stay here alone, sweetie," she said. "I think it's better if you sleep with me from now on for some time until your father gets back. I just feel so uneasy when you're alone at night."

She stepped towards Aydem and kissed him on forehead. "All right, you can sleep if you feel tired," she said before looking around the place. "Oh, I forgot. Wait for me here, sweetheart. I'll go get your toys right now."

Deep in thought, Aydem didn't seem to react to his mother's affection. After all, in that moment, only one thing stood as the dominant picture in his mind.

That book...