"Mefertahane"—this was a beautiful and bountiful continent. Winding mountain ranges interspersed with gurgling rivers, forests covered the land like a green quilt, and golden wheat in the fields swayed gently in the breeze, creating waves of gold... everything was so full of life.
Of course, not everything was so perfect.
Suddenly, "huff! huff!~" sounds came from a forest next to a village. Then, from the bushes beside the low-lying farmhouses bordering the forest, a massive black shadow burst out. It was a beast completely different from the animals on Earth, shaped somewhat like a wild boar, covered in sharp bristles, with blood-red eyes.
The beast shook its head violently and roared, its blood-red eyes turning even redder. It lowered its head, two gray-black tusks protruding from its broad snout. Its right front hoof pawed at the ground, kicking up a thick cloud of dust. Then, it charged forward, its massive body like an armored vehicle, and crashed hard into a farmhouse...
The low-lying house, built merely of earth and stone, was instantly leveled... Faint cries for help, like a candle flame in the rain, came from under the rubble, along with dark black blood...
This beast was a Monster... This was a world filled with all kinds of strange Monsters! A world where humans and Monsters coexisted! Although Monsters sometimes clashed with humans....
But humans were not powerless... There was a type of human who possessed the ability to heal and guide Monsters. They could make Monsters docile and even control them. They used shining stones to form contracts with Monsters and summon them. They were called—
"Healers"!...
.........
At this moment, in the bustling market of a small town, a young boy wearing something like an Arabian turban, white shorts, and ornate clothing stood on the street with his hands in his pockets, a bored expression on his face. He was a true 'Healer'. But right now, the boy's brow was slightly furrowed on his still-childish, cute face...
What was vexing the boy was the incessant chirping next to him, like a little bird... from a talking bottle, or rather, a bottle of water.
To be precise, it was a palm-sized girl sitting in a glass bottle filled with clear water and a few rings.
"Look! The rings at that stall over there! The color is amazing!" The palm-sized girl pointed at a stall on the edge of the market, her eyes full of little stars, her hair, which seemed to be made of clear water, swaying gently.
"Those are obviously cheap fakes, they aren't worth that much. Let's get going, we need to reach the next town before dark," the boy said, covering his face with a headache. He couldn't remember how many fakes he had bought because of her obsession with rings, or how much money he had wasted... he tried to reason with her.
"Trust me! With my years of experience, this one is the real deal!" the girl in the bottle said with a serious and confident expression.
However, it was no use...
"You've lost all your memories... why are you so obsessed with rings..." the boy said helplessly. "It's just my nature~" the girl in the bottle replied matter-of-factly.
Your nature is to buy rings?!... Why do you seem so useless?!
"Fine, I'm leaving then. You can stay here and admire this ring," the boy said threateningly, pretending to walk away.
"Hmph! You always promise to buy me rings, but it never happens!" the girl in the bottle said with the expression of a wronged wife. "Argh! I'm so mad!" she huffed. Taking advantage of the boy's distraction, the transparent glass bottle suddenly flew up and disappeared into the bustling crowd.
"Hey! Melk, where are you going?!" the boy shouted after the disappearing figure—no, the bottle—while hurriedly chasing after her.
........
"That idiot..." the girl in the bottle muttered unhappily as she flew to a secluded corner. She casually glanced around and suddenly saw a flash of light in a corner of the wall... "Ooh! What's that sparkling over there?!" the girl, Melk, asked, moving closer out of curiosity.
"Wow! What a huge ring!" Melk exclaimed when she saw the object in the corner clearly. What great luck today~~ I found a ring, I'm so happy~ Melk thought, picking up the exquisite silver ring and swinging it around gleefully.
"Honestly... where did that Melk run off to now..." the boy nearby said helplessly. He continued to search everywhere for Melk, feeling a bit regretful. If he had just bought Melk a ring earlier, none of this would have happened... The boy hated trouble more than anything.
"Melk!" His efforts paid off. The boy finally found Melk in a secluded corner by the city wall and quickly ran over...
"Melk..." the boy called out. The girl in the bottle, Melk, turned around with a joyful smile and held up the ring in her hand...
"This ring is... whoa!" Before the boy could ask about the ring in Melk's hand, it suddenly erupted in a silver light, blinding him.
Soon... the silver light faded, but where they had been... there was no one left.