Landon blinks and rubs his eyes thinking he was having a huge hallucination from all the pain he experienced just a few moments ago, as well as a side effect of being struck by lightning. When he opened his eyes again, he was still on a stage and the crowd of people stood and stared at him, pointing their hands at him while whispering to the people around them. He wondered what was going on right now.

He tried to speak but found his throat to be parched and his mouth dry, so he sounded quiet, soft, and raspy when he spoke.

"Excuse me, but where am I? And what am I doing here? I am supposed to be at home with my mother. Please tell me this is a joke. I'm not an actor, so I shouldn't be in a movie scene. Please just let me go home! My mother is probably worried sick right now!" He begged out to the crowd of people who just stared at him blankly and some of them started laughing at him.

"Movie? What is a movie? What is this kid talking about?" Person A whispered loudly to the person next to him.

"I don't know. I think he's lost his mind after staying in the sun for 7 days straight with only one cup of water at sunset," Person B said.

"Yes, I think you're right. I would've probably died from the sun if I was him. He sure is a monster," Person A said to his new friend.

"Oi, young man! Don't tell me you have amnesia! Your poor mother is dead. She died a few years ago, and you're the one responsible for her death!" Person C from the crowd shouted at him.

Landon was shocked and wondered what was going on. His mother died a few years ago. How long was he tortured? Why did she die? All these questions roamed around in his head.

"What do you mean my mother died? How could she have died? And what do you mean when you said I was the reason why she died?" He asked Person C.

"Are you stupid or something? Did you really lose your mind? That's just disappointing. There's no point in staying here now. I'm going back to my family; I got my own work to do." Person C left without answering Landon's question.

"You stole from the Royal Emperor's treasury, and your mother tried to protect you from being caught. She refused to tell them where you were hiding so she got captured and sent to prison to be tortured to death. Even on the brink of death, she never said anything about your possible hiding spot. Because of this, a kind caring person died! On top of that, you didn't even know about her sacrifice and kept on running around, pickpocketing money from people and stealing food from market stalls!" Person D informed him angrily.

"At last, one of the promising guards of the palace caught you and now you will pay for your crimes!" Person E shouted out enthusiastically and the crowd of people started to cheer and get rowdy, forcing the patrol officers to keep the crowd in check.

Drums started beating and the crowd settled down and suddenly it was very silent. An official walked out onto the stage and waves his hand to the audience in greeting, and they wave back.

"The time that everyone here has been waiting for has come! This is the person who has haunted the streets for many years, stealing from street stalls and pickpocketing money from thousands of people with no remorse! On top of all that, he even dared to steal from the royal palace's treasury!" The official shouted out, riling up the crowd more as they roared in anger.

"He thought he could get away from the law, but in the end, justice always prevails!" the official continued and the crowd cheered along to his speech. "Now the time for his execution by hanging has arrived!"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The official waved to a group of people dressed in black attire and they went on stage and tied a rope around his neck and got ready to pull the lever that would remove the platform he was standing on when suddenly there was a huge explosion by the back of the crowd.

The unsuspecting crowd started to panic and were unsettled and decided to leave in a hurry. Smoke was rising from the back of the crowd due to the unexpected explosion, making it hard for the people to see where they were going. A few seconds later, another explosion occurred nearer to the stage. The crowd of people really started to get out of hand now, shoving each other to get away from the stage and from the explosions. Soon three more explosions happened, and the place was filled with smoke, blocking everyone's site.

Landon was still very confused in the midst of all this chaos, not because of the explosions, but rather because he just didn't understand what was going on. He was smart enough to realize that he had transmigrated to the ancient ages, but he just didn't understand how.

He also had a hard time accepting that he was now reborn from ancient times and was no longer in modern times. Not to mention that he was trusted in the middle of an execution. He was innocent and was going to be executed right after he just got there, and he had no idea why his predecessor stole something from the royal family.

As Landon was deep in thought, he felt someone grab him. He started to struggle, thinking that this unknown person was one of the angry people from the mob.

The unknown person hugged him tighter and in a hushed whisper, "STOP STRUGGLING!" the stranger said, annoyed. "I'm trying to get you out of here! I'm on your side."

Landon froze and asked, "How do I know you aren't going to kill me privately when you take me away?"

"I am just doing my job. Someone hired me to bring you to a certain location alive and uninjured. The pay was too good to refuse. It sounded like they were one of your acquaintances and judging by the fact that they specifically said alive and uninjured, they're your friend or ally."

Landon was still wary of the stranger but let himself be taken away. He could barely move anyways. His body was aching with pain causing a huge headache.

The stranger carried Landon on his back and took him to a path in the forest. It was nighttime when they got there.

The forest was dark and eerie looking. Gray mist covered the forest floor surrounding the bushes and shrubbery as the stranger navigated along the path. Some tree branches would creak from the rustling of the wind. Landon was very anxious and couldn't relax, being unsure of his safety at that moment.

He didn't dare to try and escape from this man. At least not yet. The forest creeped him out and he felt that it was better to be with someone, rather than be alone in a dark eerie forest with no food or water and unknown dangers.

"We're here now," said the stranger, coming to a stop after a while in a small forest clearing. "We'll wait here for a little while until this person comes."

The stranger puts Landon down leaning against one of the trees and studies him. Nothing remarkable stands out to him. Landon just looked like a feeble teenager who could barely get around carrying anything without losing his breath. He was frail looking and had a pale complexion. Not what he expected the most successful thief around the world to look like.

Well… who was he to question how that worked? He was just hired to do a job: Save this kid and meet him at this location and get paid and leave. He was a professional at his job and didn't ask his client for details.

After what seemed like hours for Landon but was just a few minutes in reality, a hooded figure appeared and met with the stranger.

Landon was very tired, but he was too scared to close his eyes. Who knew what would happen once he falls asleep? He could be put on another death trial. A shiver runs through his body just thinking about the possible dangers surrounding him.

The hooded figure gave the stranger a bag and some words before the stranger took off. The hooded figure then bent down and looked at Landon who was barely conscious.

“Man, what am I to do now buddy? You caused a lot of trouble this time. I told you not to do it… now we have to go to another country.” he mumbled.

The hooded figure then picked up Landon and put him on his back and ran through the forest, leaping from branch to branch until they reached the end of the forest. Somewhere along the way, Landon sank into an uneasy but deep sleep due to exhaustion.