“Come on Mayor, give me another chance. Please.”

  “No, and stop annoying me. I can’t believe you thought bothering me while I am holding a weapon was a good idea.”

  It was the next day, and Leo found himself outside of the west gate of the village, in a large, rectangular section of clipped grass that contained a straw dummy, a sand pit, and a rack of wooden weapons at its entrance.

  The training zone. At least, that’s what the villagers called it, and if one went by the west gate during the day, they could often see someone practicing, whether it was a small kid teetering with the weight of the wooden sword or an elder, jabbing slowly but deliberately at the dummy. The village didn’t have much of a military force — the hunters and the short grass kept the weak plain monsters wary of the village — but it was a place to keep active and get exercise.

  Mayor Trugo trained here every morning. It was a well-known fact around the village, but very few were awake to see it. For the sun had still not risen over the horizon, and the only light illuminating the field was from the soft glow of the torch by the east gate. But Leo had a good reason, and he stifled a yawn as he pleaded with Mayor Trugo.

  “I’ll die out there Mayor, please. I have no life skills, no transportation, and no combat ability.”

  Mayor Trugo turned away from him, but Leo hopped in front of him, hands clasped together.

  “I know I’ve made some mistakes, but I’ll change. Just one more chance — no, one more day.”

  Leo continued to plead with Mayor Trugo, who staunchly ignored him. It was after the fifteenth turn and fortieth plea that he turned towards Leo and kicked him hard in the stomach. Leo fell to the ground, the wind taken out of him, and lay there like a fish out of water.

  “I said this yesterday, and I’ll say it again. Leo — I’ve given you enough chances. Enough forgiveness, enough opportunities to change. I’ve yelled at you countless times, trying to get you to do anything, see any progress. And there wasn’t any. And now you come over to me, while I am training in the morning, to plea for forgiveness. Did you really think that would work?”

  “Don’t you think it’s heartless… to leave someone to die? If you see me dead on the side of the road, it will be your fault.” Leo gasped. Mayor Trugo’s eyes flashed, and he thrust his wooden sword in the ground and knelt down.

  “I have seen countless people die, Leo. Far better people than you. People who, had I seen them in their moment of death, I would have thrown myself in front of the blade about to kill them. Those people are on my conscious.”

  He glanced at his sword, the tip impaled into the ground

  “Not you. Not someone who half-asses every chance they get. Not someone who has never fought in a war. Not someone I know would run away as soon as their life was threatened.”

  “Rude,” Leo replied, dusting the dirt off of his pants. “I don’t really think I’m that bad of a guy.”

  Mayor Trugo stared at him, then sighed.

  “Same as always.”

  He shook his head, rose from his feet, and kicked the wooden sword out of the ground towards Leo, who raised his hands up to shield his face.

  But the wooden sword lay at his side. Mayor Trugo nodded at it.

  “Pick it up.”

  Leo stared at the sword. It sat there like the last piece of broccoli on a dinner plate.

  “Do I have to?”

  “Only way I’ll listen to you,” Mayor Trugo replied. He had already picked up another sword.

  Leo sighed and picked up the sword from the ground. He held it up, the tip wobbling as he tried to adjust his balance. Mayor Trugo snorted.

  “Your hands are too far down.”

  “Does it matter?” Leo replied. “It’s not like the outcome will change anyways.”

  Mayor Trugo paused, then shook his head. He held his sword out in front of him — the blade was perfectly balanced, and Leo could see the countless hours of practice in his calloused fingers and relaxed posture. His feet were set firmly into the ground, and his breath was calm and slow.

  “I suppose so. But that’s not the problem, is it?”

  Before Leo could respond, he thrust his sword towards Leo’s stomach. Leo jerked back, managing to avoid the attack. He glared at the Mayor.

  “Are you trying to kill me?”

  “I’m going easy on you. Usually you would parry that.”

  Mayor Trugo sighed and changed his posture again. This time, he held the sword with two hands. He began to bring it over his head.

  “You might want to start talking.”

  —

  It was not a pleasant experience, getting thrown about by a sword master. Leo could tell that Mayor Trugo was pulling his punches — he waited for Leo to get up after knocking him to the ground, and he made sure to not make Leo bleed.

  Still, Leo’s body was covered with bruises, and his muscles screamed in a way that suggested that he would really feel it tomorrow. But Leo held on, parrying and dodging (mostly dodging) Mayor Trugo’s attacks as he tried to convince him to let him stay in the village.

  “I promise I’ll change Mayor, just give me another chance.”

  Mayor Trugo shook his head as he delivered a slash towards Leo’s head. The attack was slow and deliberate — more testing than murderous — and Leo managed to block the blow. However, the strength of the blow nearly caused his arms to give out, and Leo’s hands shook as he tried to hold up the blade once again.

  “I need proof,” Mayor Trugo replied. “Every time I yell at you or try to punish you, you find some way to weasel out of it.”

  “I’ll… I’ll give you proof! I’ll do anything. Anything works… Stop trying to hit me! I’m talking.”

  Leo avoided an overhead slash from Mayor Trugo, but that left him exposed to another kick in the stomach. He fell to the ground, gasping, as Mayor Trugo stared at him and raised an eyebrow.

  “Anything? You weren’t that desperate yesterday.”

  “Well… the severity of the situation hadn’t hit me yet.” Leo replied, wincing. The truth was that the quest hadn’t appeared until he had exited the room (which was immediately after Mayor Trugo stopped yelling at him), but the Mayor had locked his door and Leo couldn’t talk to him until today.

  Luckily, Mayor Trugo seemed to accept Leo’s explanation, as he thought for a moment instead of kicking Leo another time. Leo slowly got up, breathing heavily, as Mayor Trugo seemed to come to a decision.

  “Leo. I’m not going to completely forgive you again after all of the trouble that you’ve given me.”

  Leo opened his mouth to protest, but Mayor Trugo stopped him.

  “I want you to take responsibility for your actions and see them through. When you almost made Feris use the horn, you brought another person down from the hill, correct?”

  Leo nodded hesitantly.

  “Good,” Mayor Trugo said. “Then in order to say in the village, take care of him for a day. Show him around the village, try to fix one of the mistakes that you made, and show me that you can do more than the bare minimum.”

  Leo broke out into a grin, but Mayor Trugo glared at him and held up a finger.

  “That will earn you one extra day here. Do something responsible again the next day, and you will earn another day. This isn’t a one time thing. Do we have a deal?”

  Leo still couldn’t hide his grin as he held out his hand.

  “Yes, mayor. We have a deal. Thank you.”

  Mayor Trugo looked at the extended hand and sniffed.

  “Good. Now pick up your sword.”

  Leo’s smile faltered.

  “Excuse me?”

  Now it was Mayor Trugo’s turn to don a wicked grin.

  “Just because we came to an agreement doesn’t mean we’re done practicing. Pick it up.”

  Without waiting for Leo, Mayor Trugo began his assault once again.

  Leo rubbed at one of the various bruises on his body as he knocked on the door of the medical hut.

  Mayor Trugo had not gone easy on him. It took about thirty minutes until the old man finally let Leo go, and that was because Leo could not physically get back up. It took even more time for Leo to muster the energy to be able to move, and the sun had reached its zenith as he finally went to complete his task.

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

  Which was to take care of the guy he saved yesterday. A pretty easy task, all things considered — Leo had expected something more difficult for the final quest that he had to complete, but he wasn’t complaining. All he had to do was stay in the village for one more day. Leo could pretend to take care of someone for that long.

  Thus, he had made his way to the medical hut, which also served as a pseudo-guest house for people who had unexpectedly made their way into the village. Leo had only used it a couple of times — quests where he had to lead lost merchants and such back to the village — but it was one of the village’s mainstays, located in its center, equidistant to the four gates.

  The small hut was not a feat of technological marvel. Nothing in this world was — the cobblestone and wooden architecture accompanied by dirt roads spoke more to the medieval ages — but that could be because he was living in a small village on the outskirts. Besides, this world had magic, so Leo supposed that it balanced out in some way.

  Nonetheless, the hut was a simple place. It was about the size of a studio apartment back on Earth, and consisted of a rough sort of stone that colored between light blue and teal. Straw lined the roof, haphazardly covering the wooden beams that supported it, and its only entrance was a tall, imposing door that stood ten feet tall. The height and color made the structure stand out from the rest of the village, and allowed newcomers to easily make their way to its center.

  “Come in.” A deep voice answered Leo’s knock, and the young man from Earth grunted as he forced open the tall door. He entered the room, observing the simple array of beds much like the hospital rooms back on Earth, before centering his gaze on the person sitting on the bed farthest from him.

  He was the only person in the room, as expected — Leo had never seen the medical hut have more than two occupants — yet he had a quiet presence that demanded to be acknowledged. His blonde hair was intentionally messy, his clothes unnatural but flattering. It seemed that the village had replaced his charred clothes with something more palatable, and he was wearing something similar to a t-shirt and cotton pants from Earth.

  They didn’t fit perfectly, but they still highlighted his toned frame. He stood tall next to the window, and when he looked at Leo, Leo noticed that his eyes each had two colors: one a cold blue, and the other a warm gold. Those eyes were fixed on Leo, who cleared his throat.

  “… Hey. I’m Leo.”

  He glanced at the golden-haired boy, who stared at him for a couple of seconds before turning away from the window. He stopped a couple of steps in front of Leo.

  “Are you the guy who saved me?”

  “Yup,” Leo replied, eying the sword that the boy had, still lying against the window. “Mayor Trugo told me to show you around the village.”

  The boy didn’t seem to care about exploring the village. Instead, he took another step forward.

  “The one who apparently covered me in slime and rolled me down the hill?”

  Leo gulped. He had forgotten about that part. He raised his hands and started backing away.

  “Uhh… maybe? Let me ask Mayor Trugo about it.”

  He went for the door knob, but the other boy got even closer to Leo, until they were almost face-to-face. Leo, realizing the ten-foot door was too heavy to make a quick escape, slowly faced the boy. Both his eyes were fixed on Leo, an intense stare that felt as though he were a sample under the microscope. His lips were a thin line.

  Leo didn’t think he was fooled by his quick lie. But he had nothing else to say, so he awaited his fate. He didn’t quite look at the boy in his eyes, but he made his best effort.

  The golden-haired boy stared down at Leo. He tilted his head. Then he backed away and laughed.

  “I appreciate it. Though it took a while to get that slime off.”

  He held out a hand.

  “I’m Calux. Nice to meet you.”

  Calux turned out to be a pretty nice guy, despite his initial impression. The young man was friendly, and rather easygoing for a person who had been pushed down a hill covered in slime. At the very least, he didn’t seem to harbor any resentment towards Leo, and in fact seemed grateful for even being alive at all.

  “So you have no memory of how you ended up on that hill?”

  Leo looked incredulously at Calux, who shrugged.

  “Not really. Sometimes it’s just like that.”

  “… No. It’s not.”

  Leo shook his head.

  The two boys were meandering around the village. Leo had offered to give Calux a tour of the village, to which the young man had accepted. The village wasn’t that interesting, however, and Leo had skipped explaining the identical-looking wooden huts in favor of chatting with Calux. It seemed that he was amenable to that, as he only spared a couple of glances at the village as he talked with Leo.

  “So how much do you remember?” Leo asked. “You know your name, do you know where you’re from?”

  Calux looked at him as if he was stupid.

  “Yes… I didn’t lose that much of my memory,” he replied. “It’s not like I have amnesia — I just don’t remember how I got onto that hill. You know when you drank too much and you don’t remember what you did the night before? It’s like that.”

  That made some sense, in an illogical sort of way. Leo jumped over a stone on the road as he processed Calux’s statement. Calux kicked the stone out of the way.

  “You weren’t drunk though, right?” Leo asked, looking at Calux. He didn’t seem like the type to get drunk; in fact, he seemed more likely to be a bodybuilder than an alcoholic.

  “Nah. At least, I don’t remember being. I’m guessing it might be from hitting my head hard on something.”

  “You don’t seem to be too worried about it.”

  “As I said, things like this happen. I’ve seen much weirder things happen to other people. Product of being in a world of monsters and magic, I suppose. I’m just glad to be alive.” Calux nodded at one the villagers passing by them before continuing. “I’ll be leaving tomorrow, so I’ll figure it out then.”

  Leo inclined his head in response. Normally he would have asked if he needed a carriage or escort — the plains were full of low tier monsters, but judging by the boy’s physique and the gleaming sword on his waist, the monsters were the ones that would be in trouble.

  After a couple of more minutes of walking, they entered a small, circular plaza. It was an open space; stalls were snugly fit on each side of the walls, though given the small amount of space less than ten actually stood. Carts meandered through them, merchants looking to sell their goods or purchase some for themselves. Leo gestured to the whole area.

  “Welcome to the Central Plaza. Heart of Korok Village.”

  Calux looked around — only for a moment — and then focused his gaze back on Leo.

  “Wow… uh, it’s impressive.”

  Leo laughed.

  “No need to lie. It’s a pretty humble place. Good for me though — it makes a short tour. Feel free to ask any questions if you have them.”

  Calux pointed towards a merchant loading a wooden box into his cart.

  “What do you guys sell here?”

  “Oh, that’s slime.” Leo glanced at the box. Some of the viscous liquid began to leak out, and the merchant instinctively covered it with his hand. Then he yanked his hand away and looked at it in disgust. “The plains around us are infested with them, so we have hunters farm them and bring back the carcasses. If I remember correctly, it’s used in potion making.”

  “And rolling unconscious people down a hill?”

  “… That too.”

  The plaza wasn’t too exciting, and Leo went through it quickly, though he stopped to point out the blacksmith, the artisan that made wooden dolls, and other intriguing stalls that they passed. He was about to move out of the central plaza altogether when Calux stopped.

  “Hi there. I’d like to make a purchase.”

  He was in front of a small stall, nestled at the edge of the plaza, and one that almost every person would walk past without a thought. And that was not because of the lack of sign or wares, but rather because there didn’t seem to anyone manning the stall itself. It was empty, and a more inquisitive mind would have to wonder how it got set up in the first place.

  Leo turned around, about to question if Calux had lost his mind, when he heard a slight rustle behind the stall, and a head full of bushy brown hair popped out. A child peeked out over the counter, presumably standing on some sort of box, and looked up at Calux.

  “Hi mister, are you looking to buy from me?”

  He had a hopeful look on his face, and he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he stared at the golden-haired boy. Calux smiled.

  “Sure am. But can you tell me what you’re selling? There’s nothing on the counter.”

  The young boy nodded vigorously.

  “Oh. Yeah! I had it up before… but no one wanted to buy it, so I put it next to the cooling rune.” The boy’s expression drooped, but he bent down and picked up a jar of liquid and heaved it onto the counter. Leo went to go look inside, and saw a red liquid in the jar. It seemed to be a drink, but it didn’t seem much like one; the liquid oozed around the jar rather than slosh, and when Leo took a smell, there wasn’t any discernible scent like most drinks had.

  “It’s red juice!” The boy explained, “I picked the fruits fresh from my family’s farm and made it into a drink.”

  He looked down at the floor.

  “But everyone who passed by said it looks too much like blood, and that it doesn’t look too good…”

  The boy looked sad, and Leo felt a tinge of pity for him. But to be fair to the people of the village, the dark red drink did look a lot like blood, and Leo didn’t feel much of a desire to buy one himself. The golden-haired boy next to him did, however, and gave the boy another gentle smile.

  “I’ll buy one. How much are they?”

  The boy’s eyes widened, and then he broke out into a wide smile.

  “One copper mister! I’ll get you an extra full cup.”

  Calux nodded, and fished out two copper pieces from his clothes and placed them onto the counter. He winked at the kid.

  “One extra for good service. Don’t tell your parents.”

  The kid gaped at the extra coin, before collecting himself and beaming at Calux.

  “I won’t mister! Thank you so much!”

  Calux grinned, and then looked at Leo.

  “You want one?”

  “Uh… yeah, sure.”

  Leo wasn’t a great person, but he wasn’t that mean. He could fork out a coin to a kid.

  And besides, he wasn’t going to need his coins for much longer.

  “Wow. This is actually really good.”

  Leo took his first sip of the drink, and his eyes widened.

  “I told you,” Calux replied. He had already finished his drink, and was tossing the empty clay cup between his hands as he spoke with Leo. “You just didn’t believe me.”

  “Well, I didn’t want to make the kid feel bad. If I threw up his drink right in front of him, he might have cried.”

  “I drank it right in front of you…”

  “I thought you were faking it.”

  Leo and Calux had made their way to the east gate, and were sitting on two stumps of wood as they chatted. The tour was over — Leo had mechanically went over the farms and produce to Calux, and the young man had dutifully listened. But they mostly talked. It was nice talking to someone your age.

  The sun had begun dipping over the horizon, and Leo yawned. He had been up early, after all, and was ready to get a good night’s sleep.

  “Should we get going?”

  Calux noticed Leo’s tired expression, and rose from his stump. Leo did the same.

  “Yeah. Mind coming with me to Mayor Trugo’s place?”

  “Sure.”

  Calux nodded, but said nothing more. Leo had explained his situation to him, and Calux agreed to help. He told Leo that he would vouch for him in their report to Mayor Trugo.

  As they were about to head to the office, they saw a man lugging a small cart towards the gate. Its contents rattled, and as he got closer, one could see bones lying within.

  Leo thought nothing of it. But Calux burst out of his chair and brandished his gleaming silver sword. He was breathing heavily, and his golden eye flashed. His blue eye stared coolly at the man.

  “Where did you get those?”

  With a shout, man dropped the handle on his cart. Calux advanced on him.

  “Tell me. Where did you get those?”

  “I-I’m the butcher. These are pig bones. I-I usually throw them outside the east gate.”

  The man stuttered, and Leo didn’t blame him. Calux towered over him, and the sword certainly didn’t help. But Leo broke out of his slack-jawed state and spoke quietly.

  “He’s speaking the truth Calux. Calm down.”

  The golden-haired boy stood for a moment, sword pointed, before the light in his eyes abated. He lowered his sword, but continued staring at the pile of bones. But he said nothing.

  “Sorry about that,” Leo said to the butcher. “He… he has a traumatic experience with bones. Please go on your way.”

  The butcher didn’t take any chances. He grabbed his cart and hurried away. Leo turned to Calux.

  “What was that?”

  The young man was taking deep breaths, and when he finally spoke, he looked… confused.

  “I… I don’t know. I just reacted on instinct.”

  He clutched at his head as Leo furrowed his brow.

  “Do you actually have a traumatic experience with bones?”

  “I don’t… as far as I remember,” Calux replied.

  Leo suspected that something had happened to Calux during the time that he lost his memory, and judging by the look on Calux’s face, he did too. But he didn’t think they were close enough to share trauma together.

  So Leo pointed towards the Mayor’s office in the distance.

  “Shall we?”

  Calux nodded, and they set off.

  But something seemed a little off this time.