'What the...? Where am I?'
I opened my eyes only to see an oddly familiar room. The tables, the bed, the colour of the room, everything was so similar. Though there were some things I never had.
Knock! Knock!
"I am coming in, Owen. Are you still sleeping?"
"M-mom?"
Where was I? I think I could vaguely remember killing some criminals with a friend and saving someone I knew.
"What happened, honey? Are you not feeling well?"
"Ah... No, I think... I had a bad dream."
"Aww... You are this big but still act like a baby. Did my baby have a nightmare? It's alright now, go down and have breakfast. Your combat teacher is already here."
"My...teacher?"
'I think I remember something being taught by a wonderful teacher.'
"Now, come on. Quick"
I saw both Esmeralda and Marielle having their breakfast. Esmeralda wore an outfit similar to Sequence 1 guard uniform and Marielle was wearing a casual training dress.
"Huh? You were sleeping till now? Why are you acting so useless. Che! At least you have improved after training with your new teacher."
'She is cold as ever. But it looked like she was slightly proud when she said I was improving.'
Marielle didn't treat me with any harsh words like Esmeralda, instead she forwarded the plate of toast to my side.
"Thank you, Marielle."
She looked at me as if she was confused.
"Uh.. what?"
"I asked you to call me Marie, big brother."
'Huh! Is that so? Yeah... looks like I forgot.'
"Yeah, so sorry. Thank you, Marie"
She didn't answer and just nodded happily.
I went outside to meet the teacher that my mom said was waiting for me here. But as soon as I saw him, my head started buzzing all of a sudden.
Augh
"Are you alright, kid?"
"Ro... wan? "
Pak!
"Ouch! Why did you hit me?" The wooden sword Rowan was holding didn't do that much damage, but it still caught me off-guard.
"You got some balls to call me by my name. Call me teacher. And I already told you not to use that name in front of others."
'But there is no one here, can't you see!?'
Of course, I didn't want to get hit again so I simply swallowed my thoughts.
"Your thoughts are really loud, you know that. I can also see there is no one here. Do you want to get hit again?"
Gulp!
I started running around my neighborhood with Rowan. Some greeted me and some didn't care. I could see Esmeralda walking out of the house with her uniform as if she was going somewhere.
'Did she get a job? Wait! Don't tell me she is a knight.'
Mom and Marielle were also outside by the door. They waved at me after noticing that I was watching them.
'But what am I doing here?'
The more I thought about it, the more I felt something was missing. Why was I so scared when I saw these things? It felt like I was about to lose all of these in front of me.
'Is it a dream?'
"It's not" Rowan answered with a stern face.
"Teacher?"
"It's not a dream, Owen."
Suddenly some memories started flooding into my mind.
My training with Rowan in an unknown forest, getting almost killed by a Minotaur, learning a strange Archery technique.
"T-then what is this, teacher? I don't... I don't remember any of this!"
What the hell was he talking about? I didn't understand a thing. But I felt a great sense of urgency for a reason. I felt like I had to know what he meant.
"You will understand, Owen. One day, you will understand everything. And maybe one day, you will reach there too."
"What? What are...argh... W-what are you talking about, teacher? Where will I reach?" The pain in my head was growing stronger with every second.
He looked at me with sad eyes. As if he understood very well what my pain was and at the same time he couldn't imagine it. He looked ahead and replied with a melancholic voice.
"Please tell me teacher... Where will I reach?"
He looked at me, as if looking somewhere far, far away. Slowly, with a sad expression, the words came out of his words.
"...The end of your journey."
****
Huff! Huff! Huff!
'What was that?'
I checked around my surroundings. It was the same room in the inn that I checked in everyday during the competition.
'A dream? It felt so real.'
I could still vividly remember everything.
My mom, my sisters, my teacher. They were all there with me but still I felt like I was about to cry.
'Is it because I am missing them too much?'
I touched my eyes and realised it was already wet.
"These dreams... They are always making me cry. Che!"
Looking outside, I realised it wasn't even noon.
'I slept for about five hours, I think.'
I was still tired but it didn't feel like I could sleep now. Not after that weird dream, at least. I went for a stroll outside some fresh air.
Needless to say, it wasn't fresh at all.
The bodies had been removed but the blood stains were still vivid on the floor. Rarely one or two shops were opened among the large number of shops in this street. Many guards were still roaming around the streets.
It took me around half an hour to find a shop selling newspapers. Usually, there would be around five to six such stalls every street.
"How much for this?"
"... Just take it"
It was a man in his fifties. He was sitting here selling newspapers but his eyes looked already dead. It was a face that had already given up on everything.
"I can't just take it. Tell me if I can help you with anything."
"... Then can you return my dead wife and daughter?"
"..."
I vaguely understood the situation around me.
This is the face of a person who lost everything. A person who's already dead inside.
"I just came here today to tell this tragedy through the newspaper to everyone. I have been doing this for twenty years for my... for my wife and daughter."
He couldn't hold his tears while telling me his journey. And naturally, he wasn't the only one with a journey like this. He was just brave enough to come here today even after losing everything.
"I am... I have already decided to give up on my life. So this is the last time I've wanted to do this."
I couldn't say anything. For a second, I thought maybe I could relate but no. It was completely different.
My family was alive and they kept me going even if they were that far away. I had a goal to see them again, a reason to carry on.
But he lost that only reason.
There were no words like 'Don't worry, everything will be alright' as I also knew it would never be alright again.
"I see. I hope you think carefully again."
Those were the only words I could say. I took the newspaper and left a gold coin in front of him. I didn't know if he would take it or not.
Apparently, the biggest headline was that the Blood Legacy Competition had been postponed for ten days.
The newspapers weren't printed by these common people. The newspaper stations do that and the nobles sponsor them for it. So no doubt, the first news would be something that the nobles preferred.
'Hundreds of people died and their first priority is the continuation of the tournament. I really don't know how to feel about this.'
On one hand, I was relieved that it wasn't cancelled by giving both the two winners some sort of consolation prizes, and on the other hand I really started to hate this tournament itself.
Fortunately, they mentioned some things about the incident on the second page. They didn't mention anything about targeting Isabelle or someone else. Apparently, 298 people died and 442 people were severely injured. They told how the Royal Guard arrived on time and saved many people.
They were even praising the Nobles in this paper and put the blame on the Security group of Stadium for their lack of caution. But they did mention that the demigods of the security group and the Guild Master actively participated in helping the people.
'So the Nobles took her credit even though she was the one that investigated the whole thing.'
I didn't really like her for playing me like a fool but I didn't think she was a bad person. At least, she tried to save the lives of the civilian.
"Marcel?"
A familiar voice called me from behind as I was about to finish reading the newspaper.
"Sylas. How are you feeling?"
"Better now. Did you read the news? "
"Yeah. Looks like our match is delayed."
"Yes. What are you going to do?" The red eyed boy asked.
'What am I going to do? I don't know that myself. I don't even have enough money to stay in the inn for ten days.'
I didn't have a source of income here and right now I have a little less than three golds. If I skip all my meals for ten days, I might be able to pay for the inn until the competition. It was because everything was really pricey here. With that many people demanding many things, they would surely increase their regular prices.
Of course, I didn't have any plans of skipping my meals too. I just had a heavy breakfast before coming here as my stomach was crying in hunger.
Or maybe it was lunch, I don't know.
"I think I will move back to Springbell for a while. What about you?"
"I am staying here, I think." He replied.
"I see"
"When are you leaving?"
'Well, I just made this decision right now but there was no point in staying here for me any longer.'
"Right now"
"I see. See you in ten days then. Be well, Marcel."
"Yes, you too. See you soon"
I bade my farewell to the red-eyed Vampire and started looking around the market one last time before leaving. The lights that I saw when I arrived were gone, the busy streets looked like an abandoned road, the sounds of laughter around me were replaced by some weeping voices.
"Is this what happened to Starmeadow?"
I didn't know because I never went back to my hometown. My family was likely in the Capital with my father so I was not that worried about their living.
But still, this is just... sad.
Sigh!
With a sigh, I walked my way towards the portal.