"If you are free, can you help? It won't take long."
"It would be my honor to work with you, Doctor Leonard," Rui replied excitedly.
I can get experience about magic and medicines as well as get paid; he is truly kind.
The doctor stood up, and his long coat was flowing like a flag; it was black-colored and reached slightly below his knees. As for clothes, it was a simple brown shirt and pants.
His height was around 170 cm; his weight was hard to tell. As for his face, he had a gentle smile and beautiful features. He had dark green eyes and was wearing a monocle made from silver. His hair was short and black in color; it was slightly messy but less messy than Rui's.
He might be rich after all; two silver for three days of work is a lot, and that monocle costs at least two gold stags. Rui said as he followed Leonard towards a room on the second floor.
Leonard knocked on the door before entering. "Theodore, this is my new mage; he will be available on weekends. His name is Rui, and he is an excellent mage." Leonard didn't hold back on the praise.
Theodore, who was sitting on the bed staring at the greenery from the window, looked over; in his eyes was a young and promising boy with a great future ahead of him.
Rui, who had entered with Leonard, saw a leg on the ground. He shifted his gaze towards Theodore; he saw a lot of scratches and scars all over his naked torso. Rui acting shocked to appear normal
Theodore sees Rui's look. "It's from wolves. I got attacked by a large group of them."
For wolves to cause this much damage, there had to be over ten of them, or Mr. Theodore might have been weak or inexperienced, but he looks experienced and old. There is no way he would take unnecessary risks.
Rui was more inclined to the first guess. Theodore was muscular with black eyes, rough bronze skin, and short, neatly combed hair.
I could get close to him and gain knowledge. Rin hasn't been here, so I got barely any info about cultures, locations, and monsters from her memories. Rui was deep in thought but hid his expressions.
Rui didn't want to get the attention of others, as his situation has the attention of a god and high-grade artifacts.
"Leonard, could you bring me a cup of water?" Theodore asked with a smile.
Leonard looked at Theodore. "Sure, I can do that," he replied to Theodore's question.
His attention shifted to Rui. "Come with me; I will show you where everything is, as it's the basics you should know."
Rui nodded and followed the doctor as they walked into a kitchen-like room that doubled as storage.
There wasn't a stove; it showed that food wasn't cooked in the clinic. There were a lot of glass tubes and boxes. The counters and tables were unbelievably messy.
There was a huge cauldron filled with water; it looked like it was boiled to make it free of all harm.
Grabbing a clay gourd and a cup, Leonard scooped water into the gourd and handed it to Rui after it was full.
Rui understood the meaning; it was slightly heavy but manageable. He carried it along with the wooden cup to the room Theodore was in.
When he arrived at the room, he put the gourd on the floor and knocked and opened the door before carrying it again and pushing the door with his shoulders as he entered.
"Mister Theodore, I have brought the water as you ordered." Rui got closer as he put down the cup on the table and poured water until it was full; he handed the cup to Theodore.
Theodore, who had a blank expression on his face, said, "Thank you. You don't need to be so formal; just address me by my name." Theodore gulped down the cup of water.
"I heard from Leo that you want to be an adventurer. Is that true?" His eyes had a sense of pettiness.
Is he pitying me... is there something he is scared of or hiding? How should I respond "Yes, I plan to become an adventurer and follow the trails of history. I have accepted a job today to get deer hides and completed it successfully. I am waiting for the person who wants the hides to arrive at the inn."
Rui had given an honest reply, only hiding the fact about wolves.
Theodore's gaze shifted towards the door, then on Rui; it was as if a prey was staring down the predator.
"What is that artifact that you have? It isn't normal." Theodore voiced his concerns.
This fellow is sharp. Should I tell the truth or lie? I can't just trust random people I meet being in deep thought he didn't respond.
Theodore looked at him and sighed. "You don't have to tell me, but whatever it is, be careful of it."
Why did you worry me for no reason? If you knew that it already caused me trouble, you wouldn't believe it. I don't want to stay in this town for too long; I don't want to cause them harm.
What should I do after I get some money and gear to travel around the world? ...I am sure he or the artifact has something planned. Do I mind dying? Probably not; my fate is already in place.
Rui felt he had to end the conversation before more questions were asked. "If you will excuse me, I have plans for today," he said, bowing to take his leave.
...
Lying in bed mumbling to himself, "What was that pressure?" he turned to his side. "Hey book, is there a way to hide your presence? You are too eye-catching. If it was a big city, we might already be in prison. Also, what should I do if I get money? I know that you and he are related but not the same person, so I would like to know about that too."
Rui felt extreme boredom watching the book opening, flipping pages, and then writing. He waited till everything was answered before reading.
"Travel north till you find a secret organization. Meet its leader; it will not be hard finding him since your fate was altered by 'Him'. I can only hide myself if given the order by my holder, which is 'Him'. You can try to forcefully extract me from him after you meet that organization's leader. I am classified as a true artifact made of a god's dead body. We true artifacts hold true power, but at a price. Your fate was changed by something like me. I can't pry into fate, so I can't give an exact answer."
Isn't this too much of an answer? It wants me to cut the connection between it and him; that might be the reason. Should I try to ask more before it returns to using numbers? Rui chuckled to himself before turning to ask
"Explain to me all the true artifacts in your knowledge, if possible."
The text started appearing, but it stopped within moments: "No."
"I guess it is still the same," He sighed. If only you would be as talkative as before, I would have no worries about the future.
I will wait for the person who posted the job to arrive, and then I will continue doing jobs daily all day.
In the evening after selling the hide, he went on a stroll to familiarize himself with the area.
I should also read more books, but buying them is expensive. Hm, after some thought, I could exploit the doctor; any doctor would have a lot of books, whether they are about medicine or not. A word lingered in his mind.
'Exploit!' Have I become such a person as to abuse others' kindness? I could have said many other words, but this is what first came to mind. His mood changed slightly, feeling disappointment.
It's for my survival, isn't it? I am just giving excuses to make myself feel better. I feel like my identity is diminishing as time passes. Is it because I received Rin's memories and personality? I should ask how to fix it if that is the case. I don't want to be heartless.
As he walked, he felt countless gazes striking his skin; they carried hate. They weren't from the town but came from afar. He felt as if his ears were about to pop, his eye about to fall out, and his brain about to melt. Countless scenes flashed in his mind. Countless cries for help, countless screams of agony—it looked like a small fortress, the place where he was in a couple of days ago, the fortress city of Ashgrade. The residents were crying for help as they dissolved into liquids or their limbs moved abnormally, their bones breaking without reason. Countless anomalies appeared one after another; they became stranger, and fear spread even more in the process. Everything died—nature, humans, animals; nothing was spared. He felt as if he was there, walking between the countless corpses. No, they weren't even corpses.
Rui fell to the ground clutching his head; he couldn't withstand what he saw or what he heard. His emotions were in a spiral; he felt guilt, sympathy, fear, and sadness.
Tears streamed down his face. "I am sorry. I am sorry. I am sorry." His mentality was collapsing his personality disorder to his own experience of what he had just witnessed.
His grip on the artifact loosened, and it fell next to him; it began typing frantically.
He was searching for it, fearing it would hurt someone else; after fiddling, he found it and gripped it to his chest tightly.
Minutes passed; he was still lying on the ground motionless. He felt his soul split and reform as if it was being molded like clay.
A few more minutes passed; he had rolled on his back, he was staring at the endless sky, and he was completely motionless. He had thoughts of taking his own life, as it only spread curses rather than blessings. "Why am I like this? Why is everyone dying around me? I did not ask for any of this. What joy has this brought me? I did nothing wrong to deserve this."
He wanted to shed tears but couldn't because of how dry his eyes were.
Lying silently, he wanted to leave town before anything could happen; he needed money and gear urgently. His blank expression and empty thoughts started to return to normal.
I will steal what I need and leave tonight. It's a bad act, but at least they will have a chance to live.
Standing up, he looked around and returned to the inn to grab his belongings. After he walked onto the street and found shops that have the items he needs, he unlocked doors using wind magic to fiddle with the lock.
The items he grabbed were two bags. One is a huge backpack, and the other is a handbag. He also took all the money he could find, totaling 7 gold stags, 8 silver stags, and a few copper stags. In addition, he took enough dried meat and bread to last two weeks. He also grabbed a sword, a lantern, and a few water canteens. His bags were completely full with a map of the entire continent. His destination was one of the biggest port cities, 'Marivelle,' the richest city in the southern continent.
He walked into the forest heading north, not planning to have a connection with this place. "Hey watcher, change my appearance with illusions." He no longer feared him; if he died, it was fine for him. "I will abandon who I am, who I might be." Who knows me? I will start a new story that has no limitations. His facial structure changed as he headed to his destination.
"A journey A new one that is unknown, one that will change history..." The Forbidden Tome wrote without needing to be opened; it was writing knowledge that has yet to appear in the world.