"First fang!" Lesley thrust his wooden sword viciously at Billy's abdomen. The man side-stepped, narrowly avoiding the blow. Lesley followed this up by flipping his sword sideways, then slicing in a perfect arc, forcing Billy to jump back.

The boy was not going to allow his opponent to breathe, though. He pounced on Billy, throwing a kick, which Billy caught. He quickly followed up with a spin kick aimed at Billy's face, but this was intercepted by Billy. The man then raised the boy up like a toy.

Seeing my chance to enter the fray, I descended from the treetops, willing the winds to increase my momentum as I stabbed at his head. The swordsman tilted his head to the side, avoiding the blow. He then caught my sword in his mouth and, with absurd strength, pulled me from my trajectory.

I let go of the sword and fell to his back, but just then, a shimmering echoed in my ears. Billy was going to use his aura on his back to force me off. That was my queue to get off gently.

I leapt off his back, firing some stone pellets, which were easily blocked by his aura. As soon as I landed, I commanded the earth to shoot up towards Billy's hands, forcing him to let go of Lesley.

"H-Hey!"

"Hya!" Lesley swung his sword from down below as I shot a blast of wind at Billy.

The swordsman swung in a wide arc, cutting both my wind and Lesley's wooden sword effortlessly.

"Good. But you'll have to strengthen the blows behind the magic," Billy advised, crouching to meet Lesley at eye level.

Ever since the survival game, Billy has chosen to seriously train us. No more making us waste the days with pointless swinging. We were actively being taught techniques, although as of this moment, I hadn't been able to learn a single one. Lesley, on the other hand, had already learnt three of them.

Apparently, we were learning a sword style called the Sigourney Style.

Billy said it was a style famous in his hometown—Titan's Crown, I believe. According to what I could gather, Titan's Crown was a city somewhere to the north of the Xander Kingdom. It was named that since it was a massive structure that looked like a gigantic crown. Billy claimed the Titan's Crown was a crown that once belonged to a giant, but I was sceptical, especially if it was big enough to be a city.

Giants, in my experience, weren't that big. And if Rosine is half-giant, that means giants weren't so big that they couldn't reproduce with humans. He was definitely blowing things out of proportion because I was a child in his eyes.

"And Lesley, don't perform such an attack. Swinging from below with your height is inefficient. For now, focus on using gravity to your benefit." He lectured, flicking Lesley's forehead.

The boy clicked his tongue, then muttered, "It's just cause ya got a real sword and I don't."

"Haha, a sword doesn't matter if the person using it isn't good enough," Billy countered, walking over to take a seat. "Although, I guess that depends on the sword as well."

Confused, I walked forward to inquire further.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, like I said, a sword doesn't matter if the person using it isn't good enough, but that also depends on the sword."

I raised my eyebrow, walking over to sit next to him, like Lesley.

"Well, obviously no sword is made the same, but even then, if I encountered a master swordsman, he'd still probably be able to kill me with a wooden sword. But if I had a World Breaker, I'd definitely beat him without breaking a sweat."

"World… breaker?" Lesley parroted, tilting his head.

"Hm? Your parents never mentioned them in bedtime stories?"

"Ma never told me any bedtime stories."

"What I mostly got were scripture sessions on the Undying Mother."

"Right, I forgot you two were weird," he said, leaning back on the tree. "Ten swords said to be forged by the Headless Rider. With power over life and death given to him by both the Undying Mother and Cruel Father, he crafted swords of power that could both protect life and take it."

Oh?

I'd heard the headless rider was born out of the balance of the Undying Mother and Cruel Father's natures, but I was not aware he had ten actual swords somewhere in the world. Then again, it would make sense since he was first worshipped by 10 apostles, who later went on to become famous figures in history.

"Ya know where these swords are?" Lesley innocently asked. I couldn't help but shake my head.

Obviously, they were just a myth.

"Yep."

"Eh?" I raised my head, then turned to Billy. He was dead serious.

"Well, we know of one. The Blade of Light, wielded by the strongest swordsman in the Artoria Kingdom. It's just to the west of here, right next to the Silver Sea."

"Ya ever been there?"

"A few times," he answered, scratching his neck.

"Ya travel a lot?" Lesley asked, childish curiosity taking over.

Billy almost never talked about himself, so his sudden decision to answer questions about himself must have awakened something in Lesley, who almost never talked.

"Well, my particular job requires that I move around a lot, so yeah. I've been to almost every corner of the Allied Northern Nations."

"A border patrol guard moves around that much?" I asked.

"You have no idea, kid.", He chuckled coldly. "Sometimes I regret choosing this job, but when you're broke, you're broke."

"Wish I could travel a lot like that too."

"Hm, then why don't you come with me?" Billy casually suggested. "I have to leave town tomorrow anyway."

Suddenly, the whole place turned dead silent. Both Lesley and I stared at his face for a moment.

"Why are you both so quiet?"

"Are you being serious?" I asked.

"Mhm. It's been 2 months now, meaning the new guards will be showing up tomorrow."

"Why didn't you tell us anything?" I asked, my voice shaky.

"I did, though. I told your mother that I'd be doing this for only two months."

I put my hand on my chin, thinking over it.

'Knowing mother, it's wholly possible she genuinely forgot to tell me. If I'd known earlier, I'd have tried harder to get a hit in on Billy.'

While I was having such thoughts, Lesley grabbed me by the arm.

"Let's go."

This wasn't the first time he'd dragged me off like this. In fact, he'd do it almost every morning when we were coming to the forest to train with Billy. This time was different, however. His eyes were focused, and his muscles tensed up. Everything about him, from his physical features to his demeanour, simply felt sharper than usual.

"What's wrong?"

"Hey, Bel."

"Hm?"

"I want ta beat da shit outta Geoffrey."

"Right now?"

He didn't respond, but instead kept marching forward. I raised my eyebrow, a little bit concerned. Considering the amount of training he'd received from Billy, a serious fight against Geoffrey wouldn't end with just a bloody nose.

'Oh well, I might as well follow just to make sure things don't get out of hand.'

**********

As the end of the month approached, so did the people start preparations for the Harvest Festival.

The villagers were busily moving about, hanging decorations up. Some of these included carved-out pumpkin heads on sticks, red autumn leaves, mud slime cores, and scarecrows made of straw. All of these were meant to banish evil fiends that would dare to attack the village.

Something silly about the colours—orange, brown, red, and yellow—terrifying them. That's why the sky during the month of Orask is perpetually orange or something. I still didn't get it, and I wasn't too interested either.

Near the entrance to the village, close to the riverside, was a pile of empty boxes from purchased goods. Normally, since the villagers didn't have space in their rooms for these things, they decided to simply place the empty boxes out here in case anyone just needed them at a moment's notice. Some people sometimes came to break some for firewood, but other than that, the boxes served no purpose.

For that reason, children, with their overly active imaginations, sought to turn these useless boxes into their playthings—building forts and playing siege.

And of course, the one who always played Lord was Geoffrey, the local honcho.

His goons gathered around us as he stared down from his throne of boxes.

"Oh, if it ain't da half-brat and half-wit," Geoffrey declared, with a snide grin on his face. "Or rather, da two bastard brats. Hehe!"

I yawned at his silly remark.

"Could've done better than that, idiot."

"What was dat?", He growled, his eyes narrowing down on me.

"I'm here ta beat yer ass." Lesley spoke up, going straight to the point.

"Huh?"

"Ya heard me right. I'll beat ya into da ground, so come here."

Geoffrey hopped off his throne of boxes and marched to a stop right in front of his younger brother. He towered over the lad like a giant before an ant.

"Say dat again, ya shit," he warned, veins popping.

"I'll beat ya into da gr-"

A speedy, strong punch connected directly with Lesley's temple, driving him into the ground.

"Just cause yer my lil brother don't mean I won't kill ya fer being stupid, y'know?"

"Dat's right!"

"Ya show em, Geoffrey."

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Beat his ass!"

'Local goons at their shit again.', I sighed, a bit annoyed by the background noise. It was a bit tempting to blow them all away with magic, but I wasn't going to reveal myself for such a petty reason.

Rather than them, I was more interested in what was happening.

Sure, that was actually a clean sucker punch, but considering just how fast and strong Lesley was, something like that should've never hit him. In fact, he should've been able to take it without falling. Something was off.

"Dat wasn't fair," Lesley moaned, rubbing his head as he slowly stood up.

"Huh?" was the collective sound that escaped everyone's mouth at his words, including mine.

"What shit are ya saying?" Geoffrey asked, grabbing Lesley by the hair.

The boy winced in pain but still showed no sign of fear towards his brother.

"I said, dat ain't fair."

Geoffrey's body shook, rage welling up.

"Ya think dis is a joke?", He punched Lesley's right eye, dropping him to the ground again. "Ya turned our whole family into slaves, and now ya got da balls to come mess around? Imma beat da shit outta ya, ya dumb shit!"

He delivered a powerful kick to Lesley's stomach, forcing him to hunch over. Following this was a flurry of attacks that landed without a single interference, be it from the audience or the participants themselves.

Honestly, before I could even believe the scene before me, I was frozen in pure confusion.

"Hey, you're gonna kill him," I roared, stepping forward, but Geoffrey's goons stepped in to interrupt me. "Move over if you don't want a black eye."

"Shut up, dumbass."

"Rosine ain't here ta protect ya today."

I growled, raising my fists up. Unfortunately for me, I still wouldn't be as strong as them. In a fight against around six of them, I wasn't winning without a weapon or my magic. To stop this pointless battle, I needed to use my magic to blow these dumbasses away.

This was going to be annoying later, but that didn't matter. As long as no one died here today. Besides, there was a chance that if I used wind magic, these kids would be too ignorant to figure out what happened.

Just as I was preparing to blast them into oblivion, the sound of bells chiming rang in my ears. My eyes widened in disbelief as I saw the colour purple glow brightly. The orbs danced beautifully around Lesley's fist, in perfect sync with the chimes.

And as his fist connected with Geoffrey's chin, the orbs swirled, rising up like a roaring riptide. They sent the boy flying a foot or two above the ground, twirling about.

Geoffrey's body fell to the ground lifelessly, without so much as a winch or twitch.

'Oi, oi, oi! Did he kill him!?'

Clearing any stupid ideas I was getting was Geoffrey's moving chest. Fortunately, he was only knocked out.

Everyone turned back, surprised.

"B-Boss?"

"Oi, Geoffrey!"

Breaking from his statue-esque posture, Lesley walked next to me.

"Let's go, Bel." He said, walking past, towards the riverside.

I looked back, doing a double take to make sure the brat wasn't dead. Having confirmed that, I chased after him.

"Lesley. What the hell was that? You could have taken him easy."

"I like yer way better."

"What?"

"I like da way ya fight. It's more honest dan him."

"That has nothing to do with my question."

He just giggled, then grinned at me, confusing me even further.

"Hey, Belfry?"

"W-What?"

"I think I'll go with Billy ta Titan's Crown."

"What about your brother? Your family..." I asked, looking back at the bloodied Geoffrey.

"Geoffrey… He ain't my brother anymore."

That was a bit too far. He may not have been the perfect older brother, but completely rejecting him was a tad bit harsh, especially considering they were kids.

"You are."

"What?"

"Yer my brother, Belfry.", He tapped my chest with his fist. "Ya came with me to the Bewildering Forests; ya helped me free the slave, and we trained under the same master. Yer my family now, Bel."

He grinned at me.

For the very first time, there was nothing fake or mundane about it. Just the bright, untainted smile of an innocent child.

Somehow, I felt there was something wrong with this whole situation. I couldn't put my finger on it, but this definitely wasn't how it was supposed to happen. Yet, as much as this feeling existed, I couldn't deny the presence of another feeling.

"Shut the hell up. I'm not happy that you said that, ok?"

I slapped his hand and walked away.

He grinned, then walked past me quietly, somehow keeping a cool and mysterious air. Somehow, I'd lost to a seven-year-old in that department, but I refused to let him see that. "I'll be waiting for ya tomorrow. Let's go ta Titan Crown together!"

His voice resounded in the distance.

"Yeah… we'll see about that."

There was a major obstacle now.

My mother.

**********

"And that's what he said."

"T-Titan's Crown?" she asked, her voice breaking.

She'd placed her hand on her chest, and I could see beads of sweat start to form.

"What sword style is Billy teaching you?"

I tilted my head, a bit stunned that she never knew. After her numerous discussions with Billy, I'd assumed this was obvious information to her. Who the hell allowed someone to teach their kid something they had no knowledge whatsoever of?

Oh, she did the same for Lola.

Come to think of it, mother wasn't the brightest when it came to parenting. Or people. In fact, she was terrible at making life choices. Then again, she did have me when she was 15. I guess it's not too surprising that she wasn't properly matured in the head. No wonder it felt like I was the parent sometimes.

"I... I have to go somewhere. I'll be back. Rosine, serve dinner.", Saying this, she left the house in a hurry.

I'd never seen her so worried before. No. Rather than worried, she looked terrified.

Something about the whole thing shook her to her core. I was concerned. Hopefully, when she returned, I'd get answers.

*CLANK*

The sound of a metal pan clattering to the ground echoed loudly in the kitchen. I winced, a bit unprepared for the loud ringing. Then I turned to face the source, and my heart dropped.

Rosine's eyes were wide open and devoid of any life. Her face paled, and her jaw dropped, her body trembling.

"Hm?"

What was with that reaction? It was like I was dead or something.

"You're leaving with him?"

'Oh, I get it. The little rascal's actually sad that I may be going away for a little bit. I can use this.'

"Heh.", A grin spread across my face. I rubbed my palms together and walked closer to her. "Maybe I am. Are you sad?"

"Shaddup!"

Oh! Delinquent Rosine was starting to show up. It had been a while, but I could still play on safely. Probably.

"You know, if you beg me to stay, I actually will."

Her lips shut close and straightened up.

I instinctively raised my arms to defend my head. I was steeling myself against the incoming hot knock.

The hot knock would be coming soon.

A hot knock.

Anytime now?

…

Hm?

She was muttering something under her breath. It was so quiet, I didn't catch any of that.

"What's that?"

"P-Plea… go.",

"Huh?"

'Plea go? Flea go? Flee go? Wait, please go?'

She wanted me to leave that badly?

"Gaahh!" she roared, her fist ablaze with her bright orange flames.

I tried to raise my arms, but it was too late. She'd caught me off-guard and punched me directly in the chest with a flaming, hot fist, knocking the wind out.

I fell to the ground, wheezing and clutching at my chest. My eyes turned watery as I lay on the floor, trying to take in deep breaths, but even then, that was the least of my concerns.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Rosine just standing there with her fist burning up. If nothing was done, she was genuinely going to burn herself. Badly.

I weakly stretched out my hand towards her, summoning water to quench it.

"H-Hey! Your flames," I warned, struggling to sit up. "Before you, burn yourself."

"What do you care?" she asked, looking away haughtily, but this wasn't the time for her nonsense.

"Flesh!" I paused to cough as the wind was finally returning to me. "I can smell your burning flesh."

I shot out the balls of water, but the hothead jumped out of their trajectory, a frown on her face.

"Doesn't matter!" she declared.

"Are you stupid?" I asked, standing on my feet.

She turned her head around, scoffing.

I clicked my tongue and shot two more balls of water at her. Before they made any contact with her, orbs of purple came to her protection, hitting away my ball of water.

"What the!?"

She then pushed me to the side, running out of the house.

"Ah… ugh. Stupid brat's gonna kill herself. Damn it."

**********

"Oh, Lisa." Billy's lips curled upward in a welcoming smile. "Belfry break the news to you?"

She walked over to him, her lips shut tight and her expression barely readable. Somehow, Billy sensed he was in trouble and secretly reached out to his sword.

"Are you feeling under the weat-"

A resounding 'TAP' echoed in his ears as Lisa's palm connected with his cheeks.

"It was you people, right?" Lisa's voice trembled nearly as much as her body did. "You shot him with those arrows and left him so wounded that night."

"Excuse me?"

"I should have known.", She put her hand to her face, an unhinged giggle leaving her lips. "It was all too convenient that you suddenly appeared a month after that incident and tried to teach Belfry how to use the sword."

Billy remained silent.

"Forcing him to slave at the Stellar Gates till he dropped wasn't enough. Now you actually want to take his son's life too?"

"First of all," Annoyed, Billy growled, and his body seemed to grow bigger. "That is the first and last time you ever do that."

His cold glare relayed the message better than his words ever could. A certain air of utter seriousness radiating from them.

"Secondly, I'm simply here to fulfil a request the husband you love so much pleaded for."

"Roland did?"

"You should be grateful.", He remarked, his shoulders slacking. "Your husband's made quite the impossible deal just to protect you and your bastard brat."

"He's not a bastard brat."

"Oh please. You talk all big about loving him and being angry that he's hurt, but we both know that isn't his child. No one with two working eyes would ever believe that."

"You…"

"In fact, it's quite suspicious that the brat looks just like a member of the royal family."

Her eyes widened.

"Say, is the first prince not older than Roland by about 3 years? I'm assuming you wanted a more mature man?" Billy shrugged, a shrewd grin spreading across his face. "I'm guessing five or so years ago, Roland was away at the Gates. It'd been quite some time since you'd gotten any action, and the man who forced you here all just happened to come by."

"Shut up."

"Now, you could have just gotten yourself killed then and there, but you had another idea. Maybe, you felt some level of resentment towards Roland for your situation, maybe you simply couldn't contain your urges or maybe your idiot brain was working in extra hard to be stupid that day, but I take it you got quite busy."

"That's not true."

"He knocked you up, and your idiot brain thought, well, I can easily pass this off as Roland's, right?"

Before she could even think, Lisa's hands moved on their own, their target being Billy's cheeks. He caught them and glared at her.

"I warned you.", His eyes narrowed down on her.

Lisa struggled to break free of his grip

"We didn't try to assassinate him," Billy said, throwing her back. "Bring me the child before dawn or don't. My mission ends tomorrow, regardless of whether I get the boy or not."

Leaving her with those words, Billy went back to tending to his campfire. The woman stood up and walked away, leaving him alone.

As soon as she was gone, his face twisted up, and the realisation of what he'd just said suddenly hit him.

"Crap, crap, crap! I let my distaste get the better of me. Leon is bound to be mad."

Even though he regretted saying those things, Billy was confident in his assumptions. After just a few months of spending time here, he'd managed to use certain information to come to his conclusion. It lined up perfectly with records they'd kept on the first prince, too.

"I'm guessing you also want answers too, kid?"

A pair of emerald-green eyes walked out of the bushes. At the sight of a bruised-up Lesley, Billy sighed and scratched his head, exasperated.

**********

“So, I was hoping she’d have come back here.”

In the end, I wasn’t able to find her. You’d think that a girl with bright red hair and a hand on fire would be easy to find, but she was surprisingly quick. The only viable option I had for where she could have possibly gone was home.

“I see." Lisa nodded knowingly, her hand on her chin. “That Sigourney fella was here to take you away. Should’ve realised he was fishy from the get-go.”

“Hello! Rosine’s missing.”

“So?”

“So? So!?”, I echoed in disbelief. “Her fist is on fire! Who knows how long before she’s completely roasted?”

“Eh. She knew what would happen. She should deal with the consequences upfront for once, she said, furrowing her brows. “Stupid kids making stupid decisions all around.”

I held back the urge to just shout at Lola and discipline her. I was starting to believe that every single person in this village just had some sort of screw loose.

I had to think of other places she could have gone. But other than my house and her house, I couldn’t think of any possibilities. Maybe she just ran into another house for shelter. The village was pretty small and closed, so it wouldn’t be strange for one of the adults to simply humour her for one night before taking her back home. Then again, I doubted they’d be so quiet with her fist on fire.

‘Where else could she have gone?’

“Hey kid.”

I turned around.

“Take Polka. She’ll find her in no time.” The twin-tailed cat rubbed itself against my foot, purring. “And when you find her, tell her…”

“Hm?”

“You know…”

“Know what?”

“Just that… she… can come back. Anytime. What’s with that expression?”

I’d seen this archetype before. Yeah, back on those animes from the world called Earth. I believe women like these were called tsun-something.

“You’re just a family of tsunderes, huh?”

“What’s that?”

“Let’s go, Polka." I ran out the door, the cat trailing behind me.

For whatever reason, Lola didn’t bother to chase after me.

Strangely enough, Polka led me back to my house.

“What?”

Quietly, I followed closely behind the cat, which looked absolutely confident in its navigation. The search led me up the stairs and right in front of a closed door. Polka scratched at it, meowing.

She was behind that door, but when did she get there?

And why would she come here?

Warily, I opened the door to the attic and entered, only to find a girl crying in the corner of the room.

“Huh?”

Her fist was no longer on fire, but it was singed red. She most likely had a first-degree burn from how long she’d left it on fire.

“When did you get here?”

She gave no response.

“How did you get rid of the fire?”, I asked, kneeling right before her.

Again, she didn’t speak.

“What’s your problem?”

She was giving me the silent treatment. How childish.

“If you don’t talk, I won’t know what to do, you know?”,

We sat there in silence for quite a while. Minutes passed with no response, and I got tired of it really quick.

“Gods, you’re annoying. You want me to go that badly? You really hate me that much?”

“What? No!”, She jumped up, barking at me.

“Huh? Well you sure as hell keep acting like it.”

“Don’t… go.”

“Hm?”

“Please, don’t go. Don’t leave me too.”

As tears dropped from her eyes, my body moved on its own. I embraced her wholly, combing her hair to comfort her. I didn’t know why, but it felt like this was the right thing to do in this situation.

“I’m not going anyway.”

“But… but… what about sword training?”

“Meh. I never really liked the sword training. Not that I was any good at it.”

I’d seen no improvement since I started training with Billy. All changes I had were merely my physical abilities. My skill level on the other hand was stuck at the absolute basic level, which made no sense to me, as I’d lived all of my previous lives as a swordsman.

That wasn’t the important part here though.

“Why would I leave my home just to go do that?”

“So…”, She paused to sniff, holding back the snot from completely falling. “You are staying?”

“Yeah.”, I croaked, my throat feeling dry. “I wouldn’t dare to leave this peaceful life in this village.”

The door to the room creaked open. Mother walked in, a despondent look on her face.

“Listen, Belfry. I,”

“I’m not going, mot-”, She grabbed me in a hug before I could finish.

So, she left in a hurry because she was scared I’d be going too? Both her and Rosine were such kids. Who needed to learn the sword? Definitely not me. I’d done that enough times already.

It was time to live this life differently.