Chapter 7: Kind and Cruel

While I was searching for corpses of other monsters, my eyes saw a body that was unusually smaller than other soldiers.

No way, is that a child?

When I got close, the figure seemed to be that of a young boy, roughly around my age. He lay curled up on the ground unmoving. From the lack of a uniform, instead clothed from head to toe in plain black, it was evident that he wasn’t a soldier, but rather a commoner.

“I wish you peace…” I expressed my condolences, letting out a deep and melancholic sigh. Although I looked like a kid in this world, my mind was most definitely that of an adult. I had already lived one life and so I knew what I was doing but this boy was different. He was just a child. The fact that he had died at such a young age weighed on my heart.

“Ugh, uh…….”

Suddenly, the body shuddered with groans.

“AHH!” I was scared speechless aside from the terrifying scream that tore itself from my throat. My knees felt like jelly as I collapsed to the hard ground. My mind replayed what had happened over and over in my mind—the body had made a sound. I braced my palms on the earth below me, still slightly damp with blood. I didn’t know dead bodies could respond to someone in this world. Sure enough, this world was different and fantastical….

Realization suddenly dawned upon me.

“Wait! He’s not dead. This boy is still alive!”

As soon as I came back to my senses and comprehended that the boy still breathed, I shouted for help, asking for anyone that could aid me..

“Over here, there’s a survivor!”

After shouting urgently, while waiting for the soldiers to come, I examined his body. It seemed like he had an injury on one side of his abdomen. So, I managed to turn his body around, making sure to be slow and careful. Fortunately, the boy’s eyelids were fluttering and opening slowly. He was conscious!

I patted the boy on the cheek and spoke to him in a quick but calming tone.. “Can you hear me? It should be okay now. Don’t panic, I’m here to help you.”

“Who’re…you…”

His blue-gray eyes peered up at me unfocused. Optimism grew within me like a flower in fertile soil. If he displayed consciousness to this extent now, there was a good possibility of his survival. He might live—the thought echoed around in my head like the ringing of a bell.

Despite being stained with blood and dirt,  the boy appeared beautiful upon taking a closer look. He had hair as dark as a shadow and blue-grey eyes that although blurry due to his injuries, reminded me of the rain during a thunderstorm. He was undoubtedly attractive, he must have been even more so when he was healthy. Why was a pretty child like this here of all places?

I could have sworn I had seen him before. Although this seemed to be my very first time meeting him, he appeared somewhat familiar. I couldn’t exactly put my finger on it…

At that moment, the boy suddenly looked over my shoulder, his eyes widening like saucers.

“D-danger..” His rough and disused voice croaked out.

“Hmm?” I finally snapped out of my reverie, looking at him quizzically.

“Magician! Dodge!”

I turned around at the same time the soldiers yelled, my head snapping to attention as I heard my title being bellowed from across a lengthy distance spanning the battlefield. However, before the events could even properly register in my mind, the boy’s hand suddenly shot out and reeled my arm in towards him. Unprepared his action and the strength behind it, we rolled over to the side.

BOOM!

A heavy noise resonated through my ears, causing my head to ring slightly. The sound had shaken the air seconds after we had rolled over, barely escaping its radius. Guessing from the sound, a collision took place around the area that we were. I gazed at the spot I had been crouched moments ago, dazedly.

Still a little overwhelmed from the sudden attack, I clumsily pushed myself up from my place draped over the boy’s chest. I stared down at him, my wide eyes darting around his face in utter shock. I couldn’t fathom where his sudden strength came from. After all, just moments ago, he seemed as if he was on the verge of death, unblinking, unmoving and already as pale as a ghost. Despite all of that, this boy still managed to save the both of us.

“Over here, there’s a survivor! Soldiers, prepare to attack! Ready!”

A confused cry escaped from my throat. Then I lifted my head to look up at the monster that stood in front of me ominously. What the heck?! I thought that ugly beast was dead, had it really still been breathing all this time?

The soldier quickly gathered after they had finally closed the distance. However, with this measly amount of soldiers, there was no way we would be able to stop the monster’s second attack. Although I could run away from it, the boy’s injuries were just too extensive to get out of the monster’s periphery in time. It was already evident that he was breathing harder, his breaths more frequent and shallow because his injury had worsened as he held me and together, rolled us over to escape the demon’s attack. There was absolutely no way that I could run and just avoid the incoming attack, leaving him behind to the monster’s mercy.

Then, someone shouted viscerally.

“Magician!”

I stretched my hand forward and concentrated my mana.

BOOM!

A bolt of lighting emerged from the sky, traveling chaotically through the expanse of the airspace to strike the head of the monster. It all happened in the blink of an eye. The charred monster slowly fell to the ground like a telephone phone in a tempestuous storm.

BANG!

The earth shook with the thunderous sound that had erupted.

“Wow…” The sea of soldiers that surrounded me who witnessed the display of magic I had just executed were rendered speechless. They were left standing there frozen, like statues, their mouths hung open in awe.

For goodness’s sake these people…. don’t just stand there admiring me! Ask for help.

“Urgh.”

A sharp pain emerged in my head, spikes of extreme discomfort originating from my temples. I tried to massage them to no avail. It was expected since it was the first time Fiona’s body handled so much stress. Doing that much magic in such a hurry certainly took its toll. However, my injuries were incomparable to those the boy sported.

“Get a hold of yourself!”  I was overcome with worry, panickedly shaking his shoulders in an attempt to make him keep conscious until help arrived. All of a sudden, it dawned upon me. How could I have not seen it before ?

“Ahh!”

I looked over the boy once again, this time paying attention to various details with keen eyes- old clothes presumed to be a commoner’s, dark hair like the midnight sky and misty blue-gray eyes.

At first, I didn’t recognize him because of his dusty appearance and his age being younger than I had expected. However, it was clear as crystal now.

Isn’t this the main male character, Sigren!? Why is he here? Wasn’t he supposed to be introduced six years later, at the start of the original story? Why has he appeared before my eyes right now?! Does he meet Abel around this time? Why?!?!

The thoughts weaved in and out of my brain before becoming tangled in a flash. This entire predicament seemed like one giant gordian knot. My knowledge about the novel’s events was useless in this situation. Honestly, I didn’t know much about this period because I had never written it myself— the story which I wrote began six years later. I was absolutely clueless about what had happened in this world before that and hence, every action I’ve taken up til now was purely guesswork.

Stop! I need to stop thinking about this, stubborn brain! This is the worst time to be thinking about this.

Sigren was the male protagonist of my magnum opus and a hero who would save this world. Additionally, that very man was dying right in front of my eyes. His death would mean the end of all hope! It would be a crisis of apocalyptic proportions…

On that note, I noticed that all the blood that had traced his wounds had disappeared.

“Please call healers here soon!” I screamed in desperation.

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