In a house standing near the boundary between the city walls of Rot Rivelo and the outside world, there was a wooden dwelling whose roof had begun to slowly disappear beneath layers of snow. Inside, a black-haired boy was watching something intently. From behind the house's only dusty window, young Hans gazed out into the front yard—where children his age were playing at war.
Hans did not understand why, at eight years old, he was forbidden from joining his so-called friends in their games, nor from attending school. Especially since Koto insisted that school was no place for Hans.
Koto was a broad-shouldered man with a foul and irritating temperament. If not for his position as village chief and his skill as a hunter, it was difficult to imagine what redeeming qualities he possessed. His hair was long, usually tied back. His eyes were wild and unpleasant to look at. A patchy, unkempt beard clung to his chin like that of a vagrant. This was how Koto appeared to Hans—old and ugly.
From a very young age, Hans had been raised by Koto, the village chief of Ragnold, whose authority was comparable to that of a mayor. Hans grew up without proper parental affection. Koto cared for him as though he were a two-eyed reptile infant—capable of walking and understanding human speech, yet slower to mature than most reptiles. And so, Koto and Hans lived alone together, in a perpetually disordered house filled with hunting tools and the remnants of a hunter's life.
"You should be grateful, boy," Koto said one day as they sat at the dining table.
"If I hadn't taken you from that jar, you would have died for sure—frozen, abandoned. Who knows what your parents were thinking when they brought you into the world."
Koto reached for the dish. The food was tough.
Thick slabs of giant snake meat, each piece as wide as an adult's palm. It was the same meal as always—and Hans hated it. The taste was unbearable.
"What happened to my parents?" Hans asked.
"I don't know. I only saw you curled up inside it. Hah, now that I think about it—you should be thankful I didn't eat you. Yes, there are many things you should be grateful for."
Hans was still too young to understand any of this. He began to believe that all parents simply abandoned their children, and that being found by a cannibal like Koto was, perhaps, a kind of fortune.
"What about your parents?" Hans asked.
"Me?" Koto laughed loudly. "What are you talking about? I'm grown. Of course I'm free from their interference. I can take care of myself."
"So… all parents really do abandon their children?"
"Of course not, idiot," Koto snapped. "Some raise them. Some discard them. That's fate—yours included. All you need to know is this: live as well as you can. Better than them, if possible. That is—if you manage to live at all."
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Hans sighed once more as he stared outside. The area in front of his house had become a playground for every child—except him. Not only because Koto forbade it, but also because his ears, unlike those of normal people, made him an outcast.
Hans narrowed his eyes. He noticed one child being bullied by the others.
Without hesitation, Hans burst out of the house. Wearing a simple winter coat, he rushed forward, determined to save the unfortunate child.
"Hey! Leave him alone!"
"Go away, Hans!" shouted a large-bodied boy.
"Yeah, go to hell," said another child who was beating the helpless one.
"Get lost!" another voice chimed in.
"Yeah, go away, Hans!" even the boy lying on the ground joined in, pushing him away.
The bullying resumed as if nothing had happened.
Hans returned to the house. Fortunately—or unfortunately—Koto had witnessed everything.
"Pitiful," Koto remarked.
Hans looked up at him.
"I told you not to play outside. Fine then—if you want to feel better, you can sweep the entire house. Here's the broom."
Hans accepted the broom handle reluctantly. The broom was taller than he was.
"I'll give you snake meat like last night if you finish before I get back," Koto added.
Hans didn't react. To him, being fed tough snake meat was closer to punishment than reward.
After Koto left, Hans continued staring out at the scene beyond the window.
Fine. I'll prove it to them.
"Hey! Let that kid go!"
"I told you not to interfere, Hans. Get lost with your weird ears," one of them sneered.
"If you don't let him go, I'll punish all of you!"
"He doesn't want your help anyway, right, buddy?" they said mockingly—suddenly acting like friends.
"Yeah, that's right! Get out of here, freak!"
Hans swung the broom handle he had been carrying. A moment later, he charged blindly at the bullies.
Unfortunately, within seconds, he was knocked down by the very child who had been beaten earlier. Together, they pummeled him until his nose bled.
"Let's get out of here!"
"What a freak," one of them spat, literally.
Hans lay on the ground, his face bruised and bloodied.
As evening approached, Hans had finished sweeping the entire house. He had even tidied some of the tools—things that seemed as though they would never truly be orderly. He knew exactly that Koto would ask him to do it anyway, so he did it first.
When Hans entered his room, everything was already in place and required little cleaning. The room itself was very simple: a small folding mattress, a table, a window facing the back, and a wardrobe. The only thing that stood out was a phrase stuck to the wall.
BETTER TO DIE ALL AT ONCETHAN TO LIVE AS IF ALREADY DEAD!!!
Written with three exclamation marks and a skull symbol at the end. For some reason, Koto had put it there.
"I'm home. Hey, idiot—did you finish sweeping everything?" Koto called out.
Hans nodded.
"What's wrong with your face?"
Hans shook his head.
"Did they bother you?"
He shook his head again.
"Did you bother them?"
Another shake—this one hesitant.
Koto paused, thinking."Did you bother them while they were bothering another kid?"
Hans nodded.
Koto sighed.
"Alright. Let's eat."
Hans ate the meat without appetite.
"Tonight there's a hot air balloon festival. Want to ride one?" Koto said suddenly. "You're eight now, so they'll definitely let you."
Hans's eyes lit up. This kind of attention from Koto was rare—and it mattered. It wasn't like snake meat, or sweeping the house, or cleaning the village's public latrines. He nodded firmly, though cautiously. He was afraid it wouldn't be as wonderful as he imagined.
"After you finish eating, put on your coat. It'll be very cold outside. I don't want to waste money buying medicine for you."
Hans suddenly ate everything much faster. He could hardly wait to go.
In the city square, Hans watched the adults carrying torches and lanterns in their hands. One by one, people stepped into wooden baskets bound together with ropes. Above them, colorful hot-air balloons swelled and slowly rose into the sky.
"Alright, it's our turn. Watch your step, idiot," Koto said.
Hans carefully placed his foot onto the platform.
Slowly, the balloon lifted them higher and higher, until they reached the peak of their ascent. From there, the cold wind struck Hans's bruised face, making it tremble—numb from the low temperature. Yet he was utterly captivated by what he saw.
Moonlight poured over the forests of Mount Magama, from its foothills all the way to its summit. Hans could see everything. He saw the flickering lights of houses scattered across the mountain's base and throughout the city. The winter aurora danced above, the sea of stars stretched endlessly, and the fullness of the moon's glow surpassed even the most beautiful symphony. Everything seemed to hypnotize the eye.
"Wow…"Hans had never felt this happy in his life.
"I want to go there!" Hans pointed toward the line of clouds drifting behind the mountain.
"What? No," Koto replied. "There are flocks of birds there. They could damage the balloon and send us falling to our deaths."
"But I really want to go there, Koto!" Hans pleaded.
Koto flicked him on the head—just hard enough to make him flinch.
"Don't be spoiled. I can't grant all your wishes."
Hans squinted, grimacing in pain. The lingering injuries from the afternoon's beating stung even more.
"If you really want to fly there," Koto continued, "then you have to become an explorer."
"An explorer? What's that?"
"Explorer, adventurer—it's the same thing. Become someone who can go anywhere, bound by nothing. Live free, fighting the wind itself."
Hans's heart pounded.Go anywhere? Free?
He fell silent, watching the clouds curl around the mountain.
"I want that."
"Huh? Want what?"
"I want to become an explorer," Hans said firmly.
Koto laughed. "You just learned that word today. Are you really willing to go that far just to reach the clouds?"
"No! I want to be an explorer! Free! Able to go anywhere! Not just there—but everywhere!"
Koto looked at the boy and chuckled softly.
"Very well. But before that, you'll need to survive the outside world."
Hans tilted his head, confused.
"I'll train you first," Koto said."To become a hunter."
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