The sight of the city walls and the farmlands receded, gradually being replaced by tall grasslands. Eventually, the city disappeared and I was left alone amidst a sea of yellow and green covered in last night's dew. With clear skies overhead and a cool breeze blowing into my face, I sighed contently and walked down the dirt road.

There were so many people who rushed through life hectically, never stopping to enjoy it. Although there wasn’t actually anything wrong with that, it was my firm belief that people who do so are more often unhappy than not.

For example, take my father.

A noble, a businessman, a scholar. It was under his conduct and administration that our fief grew successful and prospered. No matter how you looked at it, he was an inspiring and respected figure.

But, if I was asked, I could honestly say,

He was not a man happy with his life.

He neither enjoyed his days or seemed to even want to.

He was a man who saw everything as a job, as work. His responsibilities, his family, his hobbies. To him, it was simply something to be taken care of, not something to take joy in.

Of course, I’m not saying that’s wrong. He was successful in his life, impressively so. His goal, which could be said was to become a person whom others admired, was achieved at least twice over. As a human being, he was able to have a family and children and pass down wealth to the next generation. So as a human, he was also successful.

But, as a person.

I consider him to have fallen short.

It is a standard knowledge that the common goal of all people is to be happy. So, in that regard, I consider him to have failed.

That’s not too big of an issue though. Many people fail in their quest to finding happiness. So I suppose despite whatever I say, in the end, he really was successful.

Now that I think about it, wasn’t it a tragedy? We all wish to believe that hard work will be rewarded with happiness. We all wish to believe that hard work can accomplish our goals.

My father had certainly worked hard, yet he was unable to find joy in his life. At the very least, someone as hardworking as him deserved to enjoy his later days.

Of course, not everyone is like my father.

There are many people out there, some kind, but most not. Growing up in the conditions I did, I had quite a few encounters with some of the more unpleasant ones. Unreasonable nobles and arrogant brats.

People who made up pretexts without a second thought, laughing off the efforts of others.

Ha! If I wanted to, I could do better than that.

Something that easy, why should I bother?

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Of course, wasn’t it obvious? I wasn’t trying.

Those humans who desperately keep up their images of superiority and talent.

In the end, all their mockeries are excuses.

Excuses to hide their inabilities. Excuses to hide their insecurities. Excuses to avoid confronting their own inadequacy.

In fact, are they themselves naught but a poor excuse for a human?

I blink.

Alas, it seems my mind has drifted off once again. In these times, out on the open fields, when there’s nothing to keep my thoughts hinged to this world, there's nothing to keep me occupied. Even I get caught up in my own wishful thoughts now and then.

How lonely. How boring.

A sudden cold wind made me shiver. I shake my head, letting the crisp air clear away the last remnants of lethargy.

…

Some hours later, the sun was setting and the sky was darkening above me. It’s strange how fast the hours go by sometimes. I decided to camp underneath a tree a little off the side of the road for the night. I spent a few minutes flattening out the area before there was enough room for me to sit down.

While eating, I tried to figure out how much farther the village was. When I accepted the request, I was informed that the journey would take a little over a day by horseback. Assuming that, the travel by foot should take a little over two and a half days.

I had already bought the supplies I needed to hunt down a wolf or two yesterday. With a metal snare and some sedatives, I was sure I could lure it into a trap. Of course, I would need some animal meat to attract it into the snare, but I had enough confidence in my ability to hunt a squirrel or two.

I looked up. Looking down at me was a silver orb in the sky, a perfect sphere. It seems like it’ll be a full moon tonight. I remember that the last time it was a full moon I was also traveling around like this, camping out in the open.

With any luck, I would be able to finish this task quickly and collect my payment. Winter was coming in a few months, and during the snowing season, there were very few people still sending out requests. During that period, although some adventurers would turn to manual labor for work, there was never a lack of people that turned to thievery and pillaging.

That’s just the kind of people the Adventurer’s guild was made up of. Not exactly the most desirable of people. Everyone else who was able to fight joined the army and militia to become soldiers. Although it wasn’t necessarily a better job, being in the army meant having a far more stable income than being an adventurer. Adventurer. Even the name was a euphemism. Calling them mercenaries would be far more fitting than calling them adventurers.

Of course, there were some people like me as well, simply doing tasks as a side job for extra income. Taking on tasks for the chance to travel around while earning a few coins. Not many, but they did exist. I’ve met a few here and there during group missions. Just a few though.

I closed my eyes and sat down against the tree. All around me yellow stalks the height of men rose up from the ground. Although it obscured my vision of the road, it obscured others from being able to see me as well. The only creatures that I might encounter this close to the city were grass snakes which were basically harmless.

So, wrapped up in my cloak underneath the branches of a tree, I let myself dream.

…

It was still night when I was roused from my sleep. Being aware of threats around you is a vital skill when traveling around by yourself. After several years of traveling like I was now, it simply became second nature for me to notice the things around myself. And right now, it was telling me something was nearby.

I sat perfectly still with my eyes closed while listening carefully to my surroundings. I’m not sure when, but the wind had stopped blowing. The grass had also stopped waving, and everything was silent. I strained my ears, searching for the even the slightest noise.

Seconds passed in tense silence. Seconds turned to minutes and yet the silence remained unbroken.

I was beginning to doubt myself so I opened my eyes. It was only then I noticed there was something resting on the ground in front of me. A metal four-pointed star was quietly laying in the dirt. The silver moonlight reflected off the gleaming black object.

I stared at it, breath catching in my throat.

I could not take my eyes off it. My heart was racing, faster than it had ever been before. But even so, every muscle in my body was frozen in place. No matter how hard I urged them to move, my arms and legs did not respond.

Even when the grass in front of me rustled and parted to reveal a person, I still could not break my gaze on that shining star. The figure, who was draped completely in gray, stood next to me and silently pressed a knife against my neck.

A dull pain slowly spread out from my throat as warm blood seeped downwards into my clothes. Sweat gathered on my brow and stung my eyes. My hands, which I could not control, had begun to tremble unconsciously.

At that time, I had thought to myself, I’m going to die. Right here, I’m going to be killed right here. In some unknown place, by some unknown person, for some unknown reason.

I remember making a desperate, futile, hopeless wish.

Please, not here! Please, just don’t let me die here…

At that time, a voice rang out. It was a voice I would never forget. It was sarcastic and brusque. It was cold and harsh, bitter and scathing. A voice that chilled your veins and made you uneasy. A voice that came from outside my vision. A voice that came from above.

That flat, lifeless voice said,

“Aha. I found you, imperial dog. Now, please die.”