"Haaaaa..."
What happened…?
Why am I bleeding…?
Wait… where am I…?
I was half awake that day. I looked to my left and said—
"Is that… him? The old man…?"
Why is he lying on the ground…
"Old man… wake up… old man… hey!"
I slid across the ground, using my only working hand to push myself forward, gripping rocks as I went, dragging my body toward cover.
I called out to him, adjusting my tone again and again, but he didn't hear me.
After all the whining and suffering, I reached him and shook his head—
but he didn't wake up.
Until I checked his hand, and he was…
DEAD.
---
My heart pumps blood.
My chest breathes air—likely oxygen.
I eat food, and my intestine grinds it.
I have legs, arms, eyes that see, ears that hear, and dark hair with good-quality straight texture.
Finally, I have a name.
I go by the name Jace.
I am a human. Definitely…
Or so I thought.
An artifact, they called me…
---
Blood… blood… blood…
Kill us. Kill him. Kill her…
You killed them all…
You're not human…
Who is that kid anyway?
Probably a lab rat…
Die… die worthless…
Die… die worthless…
Why…?
Why should I die…? Why… should I die…?
What did I do to deserve all of this…?
Why should I die…?
Why…?
---
Shaking me from my bed as I was dreaming about my past—
The one waking me up was Ed, a good friend of mine.
Back at the war where I died…
But thanks to my artifact body, I'm alive.
Ed felt irritated waking me up, but he had to anyway.
I woke up nagging about how early it was.
"Hey… why did you wake me up? I have nothing to do. Besides, it's still too early to be getting off my bed…"
Ed:
"Wake up. Stop whining about it. And stop screaming 'why' whenever I wake you up—it irritates me so much."
"Wait… have I said 'why'?"
"A million times at that. Well, whatever—just come eat your food."
He walked out of the room, slowly closing the door.
He always took care of me like his son. Such a great guy—he's barely twenty-four years old and already has a wife… and she's pregnant. I guess he's thanking me for the day we met.
Or maybe… he's just too kind.
---
Ed and I met at a bar one day—because of some silly mistake their healer made, who later ended up becoming his wife.
I had visited a guild recently at that time…
The guild was in the northern district, with a lot of beneficial allowances for customers.
I knew I was going to make a fortune out of it.
But not that I could do it right away.
While standing and checking myself in the mirror, I continued this bashful memory of mine echoing like a story in my head.
---
I visited the same guild again after failing at a selling contract with them. At that time, I was only fourteen years old.
I casually opened the door and walked straight to the info board.
While tracking the board for a quest I could complete, I bumped into someone.
That someone was Ed.
He looked straight at me and approached.
I simply said, "Apologies, Sir."
"Watch where you're going, kid."
And he went back to talking to his party members.
The truth was—their healer couldn't make it.
Her name is Riya.
As to how I know her—she's his wife now.
---
I walked to my closet and opened it, looking for decent clothes. All of them were super tight.
I wore a vintage-style white shirt…
and continued narrating my past memories back and forth.
Their healer, Riya, had bailed last minute. They were desperate.
Not to kill the mood, I offered a suggestion—
"Need someone to replace your healer for today?"
This one fella, who thought he was worthy of Ed's party, acting all high and mighty, looked at me and said—
"Tch. Worthless kid like you? You're not even a healer."
Ed:
"Let him come. It's better than nothing."
The other one couldn't get his head around the idea of me joining them.
He didn't know my powers, my abilities…
He just saw me as a little kid.
They told me to stay on guard and help them with medicine, potions, and care objects. The other members came and saw me, but still—they doubted me.
We walked out there… and had a hell lot of fun.
---
After perfectly wearing my shirt and knickerbocker trousers, I sat on the bed.
The gray trousers weren't great with the white shirt.
So I went back to the closet and took a dark black pair instead.
I looked in the mirror—dressed well.
Ed is always giving me lectures about first impressions… and now I had to sit and do my hair—a classic mullet.
Sounds like a lot of work for someone who lived a shit life…
As I fell into the feeling of my tangling hair while styling it, I went back to narrating my closest past.
---
That night, after we spent the day hunting in the mountains without a healer, I stepped outside…
To have some alone time.
To see the gorgeous moon.
Ed followed me.
As I sat at the cliff of the mountain, he walked behind me and said—
"Which academy are you from?"
I knew he was tracking my movements, so I just continued gazing at the breathtaking moon.
"I'm not in any academy. I live alone."
He was shocked—not more like worried.
But he knew… he knew life was hard for commoners.
"I'll book you a place in the best one. How old are you?"
I didn't ask him why.
"Fourteen," I said, as if I wanted it…
Of course I wanted it.
Ed laughed and patted my head, smiling—
"You're huge for fourteen. I bet even the girls would like you."
---
But it was so uncool the second we both looked at the moon and leaned back—
A pack of wolves came, going berserk.
We ran to the others and woke them up. In seconds, the wolves reached us.
Not too close—except for this one little skinny wolf that caught up to Ed.
Ed looked back and saw all those wolves running wild to eat us.
The smell of human flesh was all that had their minds.
As for us—the saliva in the face and the gross smell, which was even worse than their claws—engulfed into thin air.
Ed:
"Thank God the healer didn't come. She wouldn't have survived this."
The skinny wolf reached Ed, who was behind protecting us with his holy sword.
The wolf leaped—just when Ed turned back to look in front.
But… I jumped in and slashed its throat.
In doing so, I got my hands exposed to its claw—almost cutting my hands off.
I threw the wolf away, injured but alive.
I screamed to everyone who looked down on me and didn't—
"Run while you can!"
---
Luckily, we got out of there and headed straight to the guild.
It was midnight—I was impressed that the guild itself was still open.
Not too long after, everyone watched as I pulled out a potion and drank it.
My wounds vanished.
The guild lady who once rejected me came running.
She wanted to strike a deal.
They tested it out—it worked.
And with the holy knight Ed backing me up as my sponsor, I signed a contract.
---
I returned home.
Old man Zane was overjoyed.
---
Well… I'm gonna go to the academy.
It'll be hard with all the noble mages, but I'll at least survive and become one of the top students.
And maybe a year has passed… but I ain't gonna forget it.
BISHOP LUCIS.
And especially you…
CHURCH FATHER ATHOS.