As the scarlet feather flew overhead, it passed by a middle-aged woman draped in a dark brown shawl, which she had thrown over her head. Instantly, the feather's movements came to a standing halt, as if frozen in time. Then, a thunderous applause erupted throughout the entire plaza, resonating with fervor and passion.

Due to sheer excitement and joy, the woman fell to her knees crying, her body trembling. Her close family surrounded her, and all cried tears of joy with her just the same.

Melvin then began hearing faint rhythmic steps to his left, and turning around, he saw a legion of soldiers in impressive armor heading where that family was. When they reached her, one of the soldiers exerted his powers and gently pulled the feather downwards.

Glancing back at the woman, he began saying something as she continuously nodded with a wide smile. In the end, he finally turned around and left with the rest of the soldiers, and of course, the long scarlet feather as well.

Needless to say, Melvin had absolutely no idea what had just happened, so he immediately turned to look at the old man.

Meeting his curious gaze, the old man chuckled and said, "The guardian beast moves through every city in the dynasty and gives one lucky person one of his feathers. Because of his strength, their value is priceless, and so that woman won't have to worry about money a day in her life."

"That valuable?" Asked Melvin in shock, what kind of concept was it to never have to worry about money ever in your life, and just from a feather to boot?

His eyes that looked at the woman was filled with envy, as he thought, 'It brushed past me, fuck!'

Once that was done, the giant bird looked at the city one last time before it disappeared into the eastern horizon in a flash.

The festival unaffectedly continued as the drummers began to drum, and people of all ages began to dance. Guards strolled around the area, their expressions serious and alert in case a fight erupted.

"What will happen next uncle?" Melvin asked the old man once again, who by then had already begun to walk to the left and said, "I just came to see the guardian beast, the rest is just music for an hour or two, and then everyone will disperse. But the festival won't end just there, this is just the beginning ceremony."

Melvin quickly followed after the man as he had a shameless favor to ask, and though he very much enjoyed the festival and wanted to stay there, he knew that he had more urgent things to do. Things that would enable him to remain in this world that he enjoyed for much longer.

"Ehh, uncle, what is your name?" Melvin asked from the side after he caught up to him.

The man glanced at him from the side with a wary look, and said with a hesitant tone, "Darius."

"Uncle, ehm, you see, I'm in a bit of a pickle," Melvin said with an awkward look as he met the man's wary look.

The moment those words were uttered he could feel the man quickly pulling off from him both figuratively and literally as he increased his speed, and so Melvin matched his pace again, and asked, "Please loan me some money, and I'll definitely pay you back tenfold."

When he heard that, the man's steps stopped, and looked at him deep in the eyes with a disappointed look, "Really lad?", with a sigh he continued, "I answered everything you wanted, and in the end, instead of just thanking me you wanted even more. That is very thoughtless..." Finishing speaking, he swiftly turned around and left shaking his head.

Although Melvin felt very humiliated when he heard that, he agreed with him. He could see how from the man's position he seemed very thoughtless and just wanted to benefit himself in any way he could, but he really couldn't help it. No one hated his position more than him, and so he could only thicken his skin and humiliate himself.

He needed a bit of money in order to buy some candles, eggs, and alcohol to start making his ink, and then he would need a quill and a parchment, and so even more money. He knew that the only way out of this mess was to begin creating his runes and find a way to make some money with them, but he needed capital to start.

With a deep sigh, Melvin pivoted and made his way back toward the bustling southern main road, navigating through the ever-shifting throng of people, vigilant to avoid collisions along the way.

As his eyes were mindlessly darting around looking at buildings, animals, and people he caught the sight of a beautiful older woman looking directly at him with a complicated expression. This woman was exactly on the same path that he was walking in, but the moment she saw him she paused still.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Melvin instantly knew that this woman must've known Jacob, and so he quickly averted his eyes to make it seem like he didn't see her and began gradually veering off into the right amongst the crowd of people coming and going.

However, although the woman initially seemed apprehensive, when she saw him changing paths, she followed after him with another woman and a bald strong man following closely behind.

Melvin noticed this as well and he knew that there was no running away from it, so he just stopped and patiently waited for her to make way amongst the masses.

When she was but an arm's length away, she halted and hesitantly asked, "Jacob, how are you doing?", she then smiled and added, "You look good."

Hearing the tone of voice and choice of words, Melvin was certain that their relationship must've been a complicated one, and after noting both the sincerity and care in her voice, he asked looking at the two behind her, "Can we talk alone?"

An expression of shock soon appeared on the woman's face before she rejoiced saying, "Yes, yes, of course."

She then turned towards the two and said something, before she slowly walked with Melvin toward one of the southern buildings facing the plaza.

The moment he reached the wall of the building, Melvin turned to the following woman and asked, "Do you know me?"

The woman's previous smile immediately crumbled under his words, thinking that he was toying with her. Noticing that, Melvin hurriedly explained, "Something happened and I lost all of my memories, I do not know who you are honestly."

Registering the shocking news, the woman's eyes widened in shock, but she quickly recovered and said, "Jacob, you don't have to always be so...hurtful."

Shaking his head, Melvin looked at her with a solemn expression and said, "I am not kidding. Yesterday someone tried to kill me with a poisoned knife, and someone saved me in the end. But I still lost all of my memories."

A pin-drop silence ensued between the two as they looked at each other. At the same time, Melvin couldn't help but feel slightly guilty for manipulating a dead guy's relatives for his personal gain, but he quickly dismissed such pointless thoughts for now. Survival was his priority.

He then deeply sighed and said, "I told you this just to say that I will be leaving the city. One of my friends, called George found me and told me that I am wanted by the guards and that I owe someone very dangerous called the Ghoul money. Then, there is the original person who tried to kill me so I need to leave before anything bad happens."

The woman before him seemed to be going through a myriad of emotions before she slowly began to tear up and said, "Are you certain about this?"

Melvin shrugged his shoulders passively and explained with a helpless tone, "This is the only way, otherwise, I will only die."

His gaze moved past her as he started analyzing the two people who were waiting for her with a strange look, and regardless of how much his head spun, he couldn't make any connection to how these people might have known Jacob.

However, his distracted mind was quickly captured by the thing he had been waiting for the most, a melodious teary voice soon rang out, "Do you need some money?"

Awkwardly scratching his head, Melvin smiled and apologized, "Yes, that would help a lot because I don't have anything."

The woman then quickly walked towards the two and began talking with the man, Melvin couldn't hear anything from that distance due to the loud drumming and music. But soon he saw the man finally shaking his head, gesturing with his hands, and giving the woman a small brown pouch filled with coins.

When she came back, the woman immediately jumped in for a big hug which left him even more intrigued by the relationship between the two, 'I think she was his sister, should I ask her?'

Frankly, he didn't want to know too much about Jacob. He knew that would make his decision to leave even more difficult, so he just said with a serious expression, "We'll meet again, don't worry!"

Even more tears trickled down the woman's cheeks, and her crying grew even further. By then Melvin had already said another goodbye and uncaringly left.

On his way back, his eyes met with the other woman when she walked toward the crying woman, and they exchanged a simple nod before he turned onto the main road and left.

'That was freaking intense' Melvin thought as he continued walking back south, 'Good lord.'

He was affected by the palpable sense of kinship that the woman felt toward him, and at the same time, the way he navigated that complicated dynamic that he had no business in being a part of.

At least that was all he could say to himself to avoid the lingering feeling of guilt that soured his mood, and so in an attempt to get rid of such negative feelings, he quietly pulled the string of the pouch loosening its tie, and took a look inside.

'That much?!' He thought with his legs no longer moving, but he quickly closed it shut once again and hid it in his pocket. He also didn't forget to start looking around in case someone else saw that too, but fortunately, no one did.

His attempt at diverting his attention was a perfect success. His previous complicated and guilty state of mind was instantly replaced by a wide smile. He then thought gleefully, 'There was definitely a gold coin in there, then some silver, and a lot of copper. That is more than enough, thank god I ran into them.'

With a big smile on his face, Melvin continued walking, and along the way, he noticed that a lot of people were also getting tired from all the dancing and the music which made the road get a bit crowded once again.

The buildings to the side were very different from their smaller counterparts close to the southern gates, and the most notable difference was none other than the fact these seemed to not have any stores.

'Or maybe they do have stores just of different kinds...' Melvin considered as he looked at their tall and wide exquisite wooden doors.

Suddenly, his stomach growled in hunger because a lot of time had passed since he last ate, and he had spent a lot of energy. Unfortunately, as he looked around, there were no stalls or stores that offered food in sight.