There was a dense cloud of dust and smoke that obscured his view. The fortress wall in front of him was turned into nothing but a gaping hole and a pile of rubble. Ah, that was expensive, he thought.

He felt several presences behind him and sighed deeply. Everyone should have been able to escape—rather, they should have been forced to escape. The spell he cast was meant to cause a full-scale evacuation.

“You cancelled it, huh?” Among his direct subordinates, there was one that led a company of elite mages. It was not impossible for them to resist his mass teleportation, much less cancel it.

He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. From what he could tell, he did manage to send away majority of the members. Those that were left behind were his generals and the ones directly under them.

“I was trying to save you fools.”

“Our lives belonged to you in the first place, Master.”

A woman stepped forward and knelt down, bowing her head. Her vulpine ears flopped down. She was the one that ordered her own subordinates to work together with her to prevent the spell from teleporting her and anyone that had wanted to stay. Doing so exhausted all their energy and they ended up being reduced to zero combat potential in such a crisis. They were dead weight. Not only the mage company, but those that wanted to stay had to exhaust their own mana reserves to synchronize with countering the spell.

“Our lives are nothing compared to yours! You should—”

He raised his hand to silence her as he kept his back to them. His limbs were filled with gashes and coated with blood. Every motion shot pain through his body. He didn’t move because he didn’t want to, he simply couldn’t spare to do so.

“You really are a bunch of fools. I’m going to have to punish you all after this,” he said as he shook his head. His tone had not a hint of anger though, rather, it was filled with resignation. He wasn’t even sure if they would be able to survive.

A large dragon’s head loomed into view, peering through the crumbled wall and directly at him. He was as large as this thing’s eye but he glared back at it all the same. It had silver white scales but a lot of them were missing or shattered. There were four horns on its head that curved back and upward. Two of them were broken and one was cracked.

After a brief moment of silence, the dragon reared its head and opened its maw. There was a flare building up from within. Several magic circles formed around its horns.

“Going full out, huh?”

In response, a large magic circle formed under him, the inner and outer circles rotating a bit before abruptly stopping. He slowly pointed his hand towards the beast.

“At the very least, I’m going to take you down with just me.”

The magic circle under him shattered and from behind him appeared countless magic circles.

There was a flash of blinding light as both unleashed their spells.

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

He stirred awake and opened his eyes. Slowly, the view of the ceiling came to view. He sat up as he rubbed his eyes. That ‘dream’ again.

He got out of bed and felt the cold floor sending shivers down his spine like static. He sighed. That ‘dream’ was the only thing he had going for him. He could not recall anything else.

Slowly, he walked over to the bathroom. After washing his face, he stared at his reflection. Unkempt black hair and blue eyes. He didn’t know his own age but he had the look of a young adult. Somehow that annoyed him. The word ‘generic’ came to mind. What exactly that meant was lost to him.

He took off his clothes and started to wipe himself. He couldn’t help but look at his own body. He had a lean muscular body. His chest and stomach wasn’t quite toned but his limbs seemed to be well defined. It was a decent body but even that idea annoyed him. This time, the word ‘typical’ was the word. Just like the previous word, he decided to ignore it. One thing that bothered him for some reason though, was the lack of scars.

As he started to dress up, he recalled that he had to thank that person today. After he was done, he went down to the dining area. The inn provided two meals a day. Breakfast was usually bread with stew. The bread was soft and fluffy, which surprised him at first. Nonetheless, it was delicious. The stew would be whichever meat was for the day and some potatoes. Dinner would be soup, a main dish made with the meat for the day, and boiled potatoes sprinkled with various spices. The potatoes were meant to be mashed and mixed with the spices. When he tried it for the first time, he bit into it directly. The inside of the potato was hot and he ended up dropping it in the soup. The hot soup splashed on him, causing him to stumble backwards and falling off of his chair. That certainly caused a commotion. Though, once more, he was reminded to thank that person for bringing him here and even lending him some clothes.

During that time, he, of course, caught the attention of the other patrons. They chuckled and shook their heads but their expressions were not much of ridicule. They seemed… empathetic. It was as if it could not be helped. He finished his meal and gave his thanks to the proprietress before he headed out towards the shop.

As he walked his way to the shop, he kept looking around. The stones were paved with cobblestones and were wide enough for carriages to drive through. The houses and shops had concrete walls and tiled roofs. He noticed that there were people that would look at him for a bit before going their way. He noticed that there were some that wore some kind of armor, from leather to iron, and some wore robes. Yet, his presence seem to stick out the most.

“I should stop getting distracted,” he told himself and scratched the back of his head. He had been trying to see which things he would recognize or have knowledge of. He seemed to, at least, retain some basic knowledge but even then, he couldn’t recognize what city he was in.

He made his way towards the shop he was directed to. It was larger than most of the other shops and even had an extra floor. As he entered through the shop’s door, a bell rang. The owner was a veteran adventurer that retired into the merchant services. He had introduced himself as Karlann. He chuckled when he saw who the guest was.

“Recall anything yet, boy?”

“Sorry. Nothing comes up.”

Yesterday, he woke up after that ‘dream’ and found himself inside a carriage. Karlann said that he found him in the forest. When Karlann asked for his name and his place of origin, he blanked and couldn’t remember a thing. The strange thing was that Karlann did not suspect him at all and continued to bring him into the city. At the gates, there was some sort of orb that he was asked to touch. The guards explained that it as used to check for criminal records. Though baffled at first initially, he somehow recognized that the orb functioned on magic. It was also Karlann that had brought him to the inn and even paid for at least five days worth of his stay.

“Thank you but why go so far for a stranger?” He asked.

“You don’t trust people easily, huh? That’s good. You’ll survive longer that way.” Wise words from a previous adventurer, he supposed.

“Sorry. I do appreciate what you’ve done. It’s just… strange.”

“Well, you’re an otherworlder, aren’t you?”

“Otherworlder?”

“Ah, that’s right. You have no memories.”

Karlann briefly explained that people arriving from other worlds not uncommon. These people have been classified as otherworlders. There are those, like him, who have simply appeared somewhere around the world. Though, his case of having no memories was rare. There are also those that have reincarnated into residents of this world, retaining memories of their previous lives. Otherworlders are top candidates to be selected as heroes, simply called hero candidates.

“Heroes?”

“Yes, every now and then, seven heroes will be chosen.” Karlann remarked that not all are otherworlders, though. There are heroes that were originally residents of this world although majority of the seven heroes tend to be otherworlders. “These heroes are called upon to fight defeat the evil god and seal him until the next cycle.”

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“That sounds… troublesome.”

Karlann raised an eyebrow towards him. The otherworlder shrugged his shoulders. He simply felt like it was troublesome. Then, he pointed out that perhaps Karlann only helped him because he was an otherworlder.

“Ahaha, call it an investment, boy. I’m a decent person but I’m not a saint.” Karlann admitted. “Look, you might end up a hero or not but you’d still have to make a living, right? Why not try the adventurer’s guild? And don’t forget my shop, alright?”

The otherworlder looked around, getting a better look at the items being sold. It seemed like there were basic necessities for adventurers that start out. Things like rations, tents, stones that can produce fire, enchanted canteens for water, and the like.

“Basic armors and weapons on the next floor.” Karlann said, pointing up.

“An investment, huh?” The otherworlder couldn’t help but laugh. It made sense. After a while, he got up and bowed his head. He said his words of thanks and bit his farewell. He decided to head next towards the adventurer’s guild.

The directions were simple enough and it wasn’t long before he could see the large hall from afar. It was the largest building he had seen so far. As he continued his way towards the guild hall, he felt a slight chill on his left shoulder and his fingers twitched.

His body moved on its own. He took a step back and shifted to the side. He had barely noticed that a hooded person was passing by his side, only realizing it when he had instinctively grabbed hold of their wrist. They quickly jerked their arm away and broke free from his grip. He tried to grab hold of their hood but they suddenly turned and delivered a roundhouse kick at him. He managed to put up his arm to guard it but he still ended up getting knocked down. The hooded person took this moment to escape.

“Tch. That hurt.” The otherworlder got up and clutched his arm. It wasn’t broken but it was probably bruised or swollen. “Red hair and black… hm.”

He kept a mental note as he looked at his arm.

“What was that?”

That kind of movement baffled him. Was it perhaps muscle memory? There was that possibility. He felt some sort of relief from it.

“I guess I’m not as incompetent as I initially thought.”

He continued towards the guild hall, making sure to report this incident.

The lobby entrance were two large double doors. They were kept open so he simply headed inside. The lobby was fairly large. Tables and chairs accommodated the people inside. There were several counters each manned by guild personnel. Heads turned towards him. He already expected it so he just chuckled and nodded as he made his way towards the counter.

“Excuse me, is this the adventurer’s...” The otherworlder asked as he turned his attention to the receptionist. His sentence trailed off a bit. “...guild?”

He stared a bit at the guild girl on the counter in front of him. Blonde hair up to her shoulders. Pointed ears. Emerald green eyes. She too was staring at him and their eyes met for a while.

“S-sorry,” he looked away and down for a bit. An elf, he thought. Why do I know what an elf is? He also thought.

“Ah,” the guild girl blushed slightly but maintained her composure, at least better than he did. “Are you the otherworlder that Karlann brought in?”

“Oh, you know him? Yes, I think so.”

“You think so?”

“You see… I might have a bit of a memory problem.” He told her what Karlann had told him and how he was found. All the while, the guild girl was staring intently at him. Rather, she seemed to be focused on him. He figured that being an otherworlder would have this sort of effect. Karlann did mention his reasons for his actions. It gave the otherworlder an expectation that there would be people that would probably try and curry favor with him. He felt a bit disappointed, thinking that the guild girl only reacted in such a way because he was this so-called otherworlder.

“He has already informed us yesterday so we will assist you to the best of our ability,” she said with a bow. Karlann being a former adventure would have that sort of connection with the guild. “My name is Vena and I’ll gladly help you get started.”

“I see. Then I’ll be in your care,” he was about to offer a handshake but the pain in his arm reminded him of something. “Before I forget, on my way here, I confronted a thief. They got away though, unfortunately.”

He showed his arm. It had a large bruise from where he had caught the kick. Better his arm than his face, he figured.

“A thief? Were you able to get a look at their face?”

“No, but I saw they had red hair, even only briefly.”

Vena stiffened up a bit but kept her smile and composure. She seemed to be more than capable of being professional although he couldn’t help but notice some of these things.

“I’ll call upon the vice guild master immediately. Please wait in the guild master’s office in the meantime.” Vena bowed her head and led him to a private room. He sat down and made himself comfortable as she prepared to head out. “We will make sure to provide treatment for your injuries as well. Please wait a moment.”

He sank onto the soft chair, heaving a sigh as he looked up the ceiling.

“What a troublesome series of events. Do all otherworlders go through this? It’s not bad in its own right, I guess,” he imagined himself as some sort of hero, gathering fame and glory, and he realized that it might not be so bad. He seemed to be capable. The lack of memories do bother him though.

“Vena, huh? She’s… cute. Is she really an elf?” He continued to talk to himself, voicing his thoughts out loud since he was the only one in the room anyway.

After a while, the door opened.

“I wonder if I was seen,” a woman’s voice he did not recognize made him turn his head. He saw a hooded person coming into the office. As she took off her hood, he saw that familiar red hair and got up. His movements made her realize that there was also another person in the room and she recognized said person.

There was a moment of awkward silence in the room. The first one to break it was the otherworlder.

“Ah! The woman with the black underwear!”

“Y-you…!”

She took a step forward and jumped at him. He immediately took a step back and raised his already injured arm in front of his face. Her knee collided with his arm the moment he did so. If it wasn’t broken before, it was certainly broken now.

He fell with his back on the floor and tried to get up but she had mounted him and tried to pry his arm away to try and get a clean punch to his face. She managed to hit him once but a hand grabbed hold of her wrist and her collar and pulled her off of him. He saw this burly man literally lift her off her feet before hand chopping her on the head. That caused her to stop. He noticed that she was beet red and confirmed that she indeed wore black underwear.

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

They were seated across each other. The red-haired woman and the muscular man were on one side. On the other was the otherworlder and the guild girl to his right. His arm was on a splint and she had just finished treating his face.

“All done.”

“Thank you very much, Vena.”

“Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Raful. I’m the vice guild master. I’m really sorry for this incident.” The burly man bowed his head. Looking at the red-haired woman, he placed a hand on the back of her head and forced her to bow as well.

“Sorry…” The red-haired woman pouted but bowed her head still.

“She may not look like it but this here is the guild master.”

“Hey!” She protested.

“Hush it, ‘red-haired thief’.” He retorted.

“...”

“Forgive her. She has a bad habit of teasing new people by stealing their things and returning them after they apply to the guild. But you went too far this time, don’t you think, Hilde?” He crossed his arms and berated her.

“I said I’m sorry.” She hung her head in response.

“What happened?”

“I… well…”

Seeing as the guild master, Hilde, didn’t continue. Raful turned to the otherworlder instead. The otherworlder narrated how the thieving incident while he was on his way towards the guild hall.

“Oh?” Raful and Vena seemed impressed.

“Hm?” That wasn’t exactly how he expected them to react. Is the guild master, Hilde, actually an amazing person?

“Sorry, I’m just amazed. You caught her by the wrist? Otherworlders are certainly something else.” Raful continued.

“Hmph. So what, he’s still a greenhorn.” Hilde crossed her arms and looked away. She ended up with another hand chop to the head, although it was probably a weaker one this time.

“That doesn’t explain why you attacked him in the office though.”

That remark made Hilde take a glance at the otherworlder who had a puzzled look on his face for a bit before realizing the words he had said then. Her face started to turn red and she pointed a finger at him. “Not one word, pervert.”

Raful sighed and shook his head. “Regardless, it’s still your fault, you know.”

“But… you’re right…”

“We know of an expert healer and we’ll handle your treatment. Please don’t let this incident mar your impression of the guild.” Raful once more bowed his head once more. “Furthermore, we’d like to compensate you on the matter as well.”

All the bowing seemed to have gotten the otherworlder uncomfortable.

“It’s… fine. Please raise your head. Let’s just put this incident behind us.” He thought about the compensation and an idea came to mind. “You see, I seem to have lost my memories. I didn’t even know until today that I was an otherworlder. I would appreciate it if you were to assist me for a while.”

Raful was initially surprised. He turned to Vena who gave a nod. He nodded as well and got up. After saying that they’ll go and contact the healer, he also called Hilde to go with him, leaving the two alone in the office.

“Wait, I’m not leaving a pervert alone with Vena! What if he’s lying?” She protested.

“Vena already gave her approval so leave him alone,” Raful had to drag Hilde by her collar.

After all that commotion, Vena apologized. “I’m sorry. Hilde is… not good with men at all. Raful is more of a father figure to her so he’s kind of an exception. She’s an amazing person really.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” He said with a sigh. The incident aside, the way she moved was quick and deadly. Her agility was beyond excellent. He just happened to have been on the receiving end of it though. “What did Raful say about approval though?”

“Oh… They say I’m a good judge of character so I can usually tell if unfamiliar faces would cause trouble.”

“Is that so?” He said and looked down. “I was thinking about what Karlann said. I thought that if I weren’t an otherworlder, would things have gone differently?”

“I don’t think so. Whether or not you’re an otherworlder makes no difference to me.” She smiled at him and placed a gentle hand on his injured arm. Her cheeks were a bit flushed. She looked at him the same way she did when he first came up to the counter.

He had no response to that. He could feel his own face getting hot. He thought about the situation. Alone in a room with a cute elf girl. She treated his injuries. They were fairly close. She said such things and blushed. Certainly a part of him was rejoicing, finding the situation much to his liking.

A part of him wondered, ‘isn’t this development a bit too fast?’.

A part of him also wondered if it was indeed the truth and not just honeyed words, an investment, to an otherworlder.