“Oh God.”

The Inquisition might call me a heretic and watch me burn if they heard me utter the gods name in vain, but when I thought about my situation and the most certain perilous and unknown journey ahead of me, I didn’t care at that point.

I stood there dazed and confused. Dwarvs, mercenaries, and several other drunk men and women were cheering at the center of the bar, where two people were fist-fighting each other as if their lives depended on it. And in a sense, it was true.

At the corner of the bar, I saw some people gambling on the fight, and in truth, I was tempted to join because of the late realization that I was broke. It was then that I started wondering, what went wrong in my life that it eventually led me to that place. Maybe it was because I didn't think far enough with my great escape. Said great escape was simple. Run away and never look back. What I didn't take into account was what happened afterward.

A question then popped into my mind. Where is the owner? People were fighting inside the bar, and they were even betting on it. So where was he? It didn't take me long to find out the answer. Because it was right in front of my face.

Looking closer, I saw that the owner of the bar was the one fighting his customer for sport. How do I know he was the owner? Well if it didn't make it more apparent, a badge was pinned against his shirt which said ‘Owner.’ I then wondered why he wore a badge that said that he was the owner of the place. Weird.

I glanced away from the barbaric battle and looked around the place. Not all of them were interested in the fight. Some just drank in silence, while some drank with their buddies as they laughed and just had an overall good time. I then rubbed my eyes as if I was seeing things, as I saw something move in the dark recesses of the bar, something writhing inside of it as if it was alive.

I didn't pay any more attention to it as I was afraid that I might see things I should not.

Somehow, amidst the shouting and drunken reverie, I made my way towards the counter. I stared at the Menu and marveled at the novelty it had to offer. Not because I thought it was so exotic and delicious, but because I didn't understand a lick of it. Being a foreigner was hard.

The constant shouting and hurling of insults started dying down. I looked back and noticed that a winner emerged. The supposed owner of the place, started, you know, acting the part as he broke away from the fight. If breaking away from the fight means throwing his opponent to the side of the bar like a ragdoll and collecting his winnings, then yes, you could say he broke apart the fight.

He went behind the counter, poured himself a drink, and gulped it down as fast as I was being teleported to this place. He then noticed my presence, and said a few brief words.

“I'm Frank. The Owner. What do you want.”

"What?"

The owner was confused for a moment, but then he snapped his fingers and repeated what he said. I then started to understand what was being said around me.

Slamming down his pint, he waited for my response. I heard what he said, but I was more interested in how his glass didn't shatter into pieces.

“Oy.”

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked back at the owner. He had a round, pudgy figure, short in stature, which didn't make sense since he just threw a man thrice his size like it was nothing. Messy dark hair, and a rough unkempt beard that would make anyone think he didn't shower for a few days. The funny thing is he didn't even smell bad.

He also wore a white linen shirt with brown pantaloons.

But that's not what stood out from me. It wasn't his physical appearance that just blended in with the environment nor his rough and tough attitude which would make people think they owed him money or something. No, it was his dark brown eyes that seemed to be sucking me in, pushing me to lean in and take a closer look. Tempting me to drown in its sorrowful depths.

It was then that I felt a scorching pain at the back of my head. The sensation was like someone smacking me with the blunt edge of a sword. Clutching my head, I turned to the owner and said.

“What did you do that for!?”

“Come closer again and a jab to your head will be the least of your worries.”

Stunned, I calmed myself and sat back down. I realized that I did lean in closer to take a better look. It made me remember that I wasn't back at home as I had to watch myself from being rude. I'm just glad he didn't outright stab me. Now that I thought about it, he was kind. What a nice person.

“Sorry about that Mr. Frank.”

“It's fine. Just don't do it again. As I was saying, who are ya.”

Bewildered by his question, I looked around the bar and saw that I wasn't the only one new to this place and I certainly wasn't the most suspicious person there. Heck if I peered closer I could even see dark-clothed people whose faces were hidden by a mask, with a dagger strapped to their sides and their swords leaning against their table. It seemed that they noticed my gaze and turned to me. I turn back to the owner for fear of attracting their attention even further.

“Well Mr. Frank, I'm confused, why am I the only one getting interrogated when there are other people who are most certainly more suspicious than me? That's unfair.”

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Kid, I gotta ask, are you blind?”

“Huh? What do you mean. What does that have to do with me being suspicious?”

“Look Around.”

Still confused, I looked around and noticed something I didn't realize before. And it was that every pair of eyes were watching me in secret the moment I came in.

Hit with this sudden epiphany, I began to panic internally but I didn't let it show on my face. My Teachers always taught me that I had to be calm in various situations. That was the only part I remembered since I didn't listen very much. Now, I was kind of regretting it.

“I'm confused, there's no reason for people to be this suspicious of me just because I'm new."

Mr Frank, probably noticing that I am a bit panicky, said.

“You don't see it do you?”

I panicked even more as I started to wonder what the reason could be. Mr Frank noticed that I was deep in thought and said.

“I'll give you a hint. What are you wearing.”

Hearing what he said, it dawned on me. Two things came into view. One was that they were suspicious of me because of the clothes I was wearing. And two, which meant that if they were suspicious of the clothes I was wearing, then it only meant one thing. I was on a different continent.

“I see. So what now?”

Mr. Frank and the people in the bar overheard our conversation and were bewildered by my response, and just as Mr. Frank was about to respond. I heard a slightly deep and spine-chilling voice in the corner of the bar.

"What now? Good question kid!"

One of the dark clothed people stood up and started making his way towards me. A drunk accidentally bumped against his shoulder and adding insult to injury, the drunk man even insulted him. The man smiled and tapped his shoulder. He turned his back to him, and the moment he did, the drunk man started falling face-first against the ground. His eyes show complete whites. Whether he was still breathing, I had no idea.

He strode across the room, his footsteps were soundless and soft, as if the very ground he walked was a cloud. He had a relaxed gait as if the surrounding violent drunks did not bother him at all. It was like seeing a predator being adept at the environment he was in.

With every step he took toward me, the cold feeling of death crept and stalked my soul. It was as if the hands of death were holding my head, its cold touch glazing my face, as a simple twist was enough to end me.

He sat beside me and ordered two beers from the owner, and I felt the analyzing gaze from his eyes. Not wanting to look weak, I also looked back at him.

Clean, smooth, and a bit ruffled pitch black hair that seems to blend in with the shadows, but with pale blue eyes that you would expect to stop him from blending in the dark properly, but taking into account the fact that he incapacitated a man by patting their shoulder, it's the opposite. Unshaven facial hair. And of course a dagger by his waist and a sword leaning against the counter, oh and dark fitting clothes of course.

He placed a drink before me, and though I was curious what beer tasted like, there were more pressing matters at hand. Like why he sat beside me for example.

“Kid, you must be curious why I interrupted your little conversation.”

“Ah yes, I am.”

“Well, what happens next is simple. I ask you questions and you answer with the truth. If you do not, well, let's put it this way. Everyone has been itching to hit something since Frank here emptied their wallets clean.”

I looked around and saw what he meant by it. Everyone at the bar was looking at me like I was a slab of meat ready to be eaten. Their eyes were likened to wolves that were starving for weeks. I gazed at Mr. Frank with a tinge of hatred, though I retracted it in the next moment as I still felt the searing pain at the back of my head.

“Yes sir. I will be honest Mr. Um, I'm sorry, I didn't get your name.”

“Pleased to meet you, kid. My name is Samuel, Samuel Westood. And I will be your interrogator this fine evening.”

Feeling a little bit nervous and even more so terrified, I think again to the question of how the hell did I end up here? I should've listened to my sister when she advised against my decision. I sighed and thought about all the decisions that led me to this, but my thoughts were interrupted before I could continue.

“First Question, what's your name?”

“Okay now Cosmo, judging by your obvious long silky robes that I'm pretty sure aren't locally sold and your childlike temper, I'm guessing you're not from here.”

“Yup, I'm actually from the eastern continent. I ran away from home and I originally planned to go to the neighboring dynasty and start figuring things out there but due to reasons even I can't even understand, I'm here”

“What do you mean you can't understand, did you get teleported or something?”

“Oh! Mr Samuel, you must be a seer, yes I was teleported while I was running away. How I got teleported I have no idea but what's important now is that I'm free!”

Mr Samuel and the others made a strange expression after they heard what I said. Mr Frank looked at me like I was a lost puppy, I knew that look because that's usually how my sister looked at me when I did something wrong. While Mr Samuel was deep in thought about some things, though I would find out soon.

Huh strange, I seemed to have heard some betting going on in the corner, and if I heard correctly they were betting on whether I would last a week, I even saw Mr. Frank joining and gambling that I wouldn't last a day. I tried to hide my sadness but it was too late since Mr. Samuel noticed because he said.

“Don't listen to them kid, you'll be fine, I think… Just look on the bright side, at least you didn't get teleported into the demon realm.”

“Yes! You have a strangely good point, Mr Samuel.”

I listened to his advice and thought, yeah I'm lucky I didn't get teleported in the demon realm. I heard from my father that it was extremely dangerous there and that demons were all cunningly vicious and weren't meant to be trusted.

Maybe it's for the best I was teleported here instead of just running away to some city on my continent. Since there was a good chance I would be caught by my parents, and my god if I go back home after running away, they would ban me from eating desserts for a month and they wouldn't let me out of their sight. I do love my parents and would do anything for them, but I also need to live my life, I want a life that I can call my own, which is not decided by my parents and is solely decided by me.

Sure I can always inherit the father's position and become the family head, but there's no substance to it, there's no meaning to it if it isn't taken by my own hands, by my hard work.

I was given everything I wanted in life, always taken care of, and loved so much that it's almost suffocating, but in a good way. I am indeed thankful for all of it and I would never forget to display gratitude to my parents, but to live a life where everything is given to you and you do nothing to earn it. I've lived my whole life like that and I just felt empty.

It may be given to me but ultimately it is not mine, it's from my parents, the ones who worked hard to achieve the level of success that they have, to have sacrificed so much so that I may live a comfortable life, It's time to repay them back but in my way.

I want to live a life where everything I earn is because of my hard work, because I sacrificed a lot and went through pain and suffering for it, and any other way feels meaningless to me.

I awoke from my thoughts and remembered that I was still in the bar. I thought of something and suddenly it hit me. No, it wasn't a plate that flew to my head, it was an idea.

“It's decided then.”

“Decide what kid? By the way, you good kid? Your bleeding from your temple right now.”

I stood up and looked towards Mr Samuel and Mr Frank. They showed a confused expression towards my behavior but I ignored it. I looked at both of them and said.

“Please let me work for you.”