Alessio Leone's Perspective
It didn't take long for the young shopkeeper to find someone to take over his spot behind the counter.
The greedy glint in his eyes was still there as he handed the keys to his assistant and gestured for me to follow.
Understandable.Fifty gold coins meant two or three months' worth of profit for someone like him.And if all he had to do was guide a stranger to his grandfather's house to earn that much, then the deal was more than worth it.
Alessio, however, didn't share his enthusiasm.If he had a choice, he'd rather head straight into Gloomshade Forest and begin his search for the magic item right away.
Unfortunately, there were no shortcuts this time.
The player who'd discovered that item in Alessio's previous life had never revealed the exact location — nor had he even quoted the old man's words in his post.He only mentioned that, thanks to the ramblings of a certain deranged survivor, he'd managed to find the path.
Why hadn't he revealed everything?Vanity, greed, or perhaps just a desire to keep the mystery alive — Alessio didn't know.In the end, it hardly mattered.
Now, he had only one option left: waste time talking to a senile old man, hoping to extract something useful from his scattered words.
The walk to the house was short — only a few minutes through the city's side streets.
Then Alessio found himself standing before the old man's home.
The residence itself was unremarkable.An old wooden house, brown but well preserved.The windows had light curtains, and although the roof was aged, it showed no signs of neglect.Everything suggested that, despite the owner's age, his family still cared for the place.
The young merchant pushed open the front door and led Alessio straight to the main room.
There, sitting in a chair by the window, was the old man.His eyes were fixed on the sky, as if searching for an invisible answer somewhere far away.
His skin bore the marks of time — deep creases that told more stories than his words ever could.Sparse white hair hung in uneven strands over his shoulders.Yet, despite his frail stillness, there was a strange dignity about him.
Two young girls were also in the room — likely caretakers.They played quietly, staying close, as if their mere presence was part of the treatment.
That was Alessio's immediate assumption: companions for a man whose mind was no longer entirely his own.
The merchant, thinking quickly, said a few words to the girls and took them to another room.
And then...
Silence filled the air.
Alessio was now alone before the last living witness of the Gloomshade Forest tragedy.
He approached carefully.Each step deliberate, careful not to disturb the heavy atmosphere hanging over the room.The creak of wood beneath his boots was the only sound until he sat on a sofa near the chair where the old man remained, eyes lost in the sky.
"Sir… I'd like to know where you gathered the Gloomkit herb," Alessio said calmly, keeping his tone controlled.
He wanted to be more direct —to ask about Thalgrande's army,about their fate inside Gloomshade Forest.But he didn't know how the old man would react to such words.And besides, he was certain the grandson was listening from behind the door.
And while NPCs followed predictable patterns within the Black Tower, Alessio knew better than to underestimate them.That would only get worse in the future.
So, he chose caution.He would simply follow the original course of events and see what unfolded.
Fortunately, he didn't have to insist.
The old man began muttering almost immediately, as if the words had been trapped in his throat for decades.
"Gloomkit… yes… it was there…" he rasped, voice hoarse, eyes still lost in the empty horizon."I shouldn't have taken it… it was too close to the great horn…"
His breathing grew uneven, cut by memories that still haunted him.
"But I was young… greedy… they warned me… but I insisted… I insisted…"
His body trembled slightly, as though the memory itself had weight.
"I didn't understand… what harm could it do…?" His voice faltered, and he raised a trembling hand, as if still holding something invisible. "I went on… why did I go on?"
A deep lament broke through the silence.
"My fault… so much blood…"
His clouded eyes saw a scene no one else could —a vision only he carried.
"The moon… it changed color…" he whispered, almost hysterical. "Everything turned green… green and wrong…"
Alessio remained still, absorbing every word.
"The screams… so many screams… they wanted us…"
The old man's hands gripped the chair's arms with surprising strength, his knuckles turning white.
"I ran… coward…" His voice cracked. "It was my fault… every… everyone… everyone…"
He began rocking back and forth, repeating over and over:
"My fault… my fault… my fault… my fault…"
The repetition became a mantra.An unending cycle.From that point on, nothing he said made sense.
But Alessio didn't press further.There was no need.
What he had come for was already in his hands.
To anyone else, those fragmented, delirious words would have sounded like the meaningless babble of a madman —a waste of fifty gold coins,a cruel joke of fate.
But to Alessio, with ten years of experience, each phrase was a precious key.A disguised map.A code that, at this moment, only he in the world could decipher.
He not only understood exactly where to begin his search…He also understood perfectly why that player, in his previous life, had omitted the details of this meeting.
Alessio no longer blamed him.Honestly, in his place, he would've done the same.
After all, if the truth had come out, that poor player's head would've become a prized bounty in the reward halls of countless guilds.