After the man disappeared, no one knew what became of him. The incident faded into obscurity, unwritten in the annals of history. Who was he? Why was he running? And why was his existence erased from memory? These questions remained unanswered, lost to the shadows of time.
As the night slowly gave way to dawn, the storm subsided, leaving behind a calm, serene morning. Birds began to chirp, the sun rose gently, and the townsfolk awoke, resuming their daily routines.
Meanwhile, a group of laborers passing through the woods heard the faint sound of a child crying. They followed the sound, their curiosity piqued, until they reached a large rock. At first, they saw nothing unusual, but upon closer inspection, they noticed strange marks on the ground-signs that the rock had been moved and replaced.
They searched for an opening and, after some effort, managed to shift the rock aside. Beneath it, they found a child no older than two. The boy was lovely, with an almost ethereal appearance, yet something was unsettling about him-an eerie aura that made the laborers hesitate. Despite their unease, they chose to help him. The moment the child sensed their presence, he stopped crying and fell unconscious. Worried, the laborers rushed him to the nearest hospital in town.
As the laborers hurried toward the hospital, the child's faint breaths filled the air with an unsettling silence. One of the men glanced at the boy, his brow furrowed. "What kind of child has no core?" he muttered.
Another laborer shook his head. "I've never heard of such a thing. Not human, not demon... what is he?"
Their questions lingered, unanswered. But to understand the gravity of their discovery, we must first understand the world they live in-a world where magic and monsters reign, and where the color of one's core determines their fate...
Laborers reached the hospital.
And one of them screamed, "Anyone here, the child is unconscious, we need help, please...help him."
At the same moment, one of the great doctors in the world, "named Ishita Ishigi", who is a kind and beautiful-looking man with a gentle face and a kind shine in his eyes and a smile like a beautiful river, came to examine the hospital facilities and to annually check everything and re-register the hospital ranking. For that, they discussed it with the head doctor and heard the laborers scream.
So everyone rushed towards the child, and the doctor was shocked to see that the child had no mark emblazoned on him, which is a sign of no core.
And this made Ishita curious, and he stepped forward and claimed, "Interesting, let me examine the child. "
And the head doctor claimed,
"Is it all right for you to check a creature like him? What if something bad happens to you?One of the great doctors and healers in this kingdom?"
Then Ishita states, "It's alright; I'm interested in this child, so let me examine him."
Then the head of the doctor's team started to examine
....
After a few hours, the doctor examined the child and was visibly shaken.
"I've never seen anything like this before," he said, his voice trembling.
"How can he be so weak? He doesn't have a normal core..."
Turning to the laborers and Ishita, he continued in a pitying tone,
"I'm sorry to say this, but it will be difficult for this child to survive in this world."
"Could he be a hybrid between a human and a demon?" one of the laborers asked.
Then Ishita stated that
"If he doesn't have a human core, what if he is a demon?"
Then the doctor nodded and said,
"No, I can't detect any demon core either." This puzzle is for Ishita because nobody till now has been born without a core.
Because every living thing in this world is born with a core, and even the weakest of the weak insects has their corresponding core. This helps them heal their wounds faster than normal, increases these stats, and also helps them use their special attributes.
Then the laborers murmured among themselves that
"What if he is some kind of hybrid?" stated one laborer
"Those are just rumors created by the nobles to prevent us from reaching the dark woods," said another laborer.
In the meantime, the head of labor came to a conclusion and stated that
"We don't know if hybrids exist or not, and we don't know how this child came or where he is from or anything, so we'd better ask the great doctor about this. We peasants aren't allowed to talk about these, but...out of concern, let's ask the great doctor."
And the head of the laborers asked Ishita,
"What if he is a hybrid that everyone is rumored about?"
Then Ishita shook his head. And said this while looking at the child
"No, that's impossible. Humans and demons cannot produce offspring due to the collision of their attributes. Any such child would die in the womb. Even in experiments, the imbalance of power would lead to death. But this child... he has no attribute marks on his body, and his core color is unlike anything I've ever seen. It's neither human nor demon. Just who is this child?" And looked towards the doctor
and said,
"Check his physical and mental stats and inform me."
Then the doctor checked it and said in a pitying voice that
"I'm sorry to say this, but surprisingly, this child has less physical and mental strength compared to the average child of his age... I guess he can't survive in this world for a long time...."
The room fell into a stunned silence, worried about that. Who was this boy? Was he human, a demon, or something else entirely? What kind of life awaited him? And how had he come into this world? Were the only thoughts running through everyone's mind.
Then Ishita broke the silence and said,
"I guess I need to discuss this with the mayor,"
And gently took the child, cleaned his wounds, fed him nutrition, and healed him with the healing magic.
And carried him with his own hands. This left everyone stunned because he has the three attributes and has a greater social status, but still does these things to save a child's life.
He got everyone's respect, and for the one last time, he glanced at the laborers and said, "Thank you for bringing him to the hospital. Then the laborers claimed,
"No sir, we appreciate your kind words, thanks, but...please take care of yourself. Although we feel an eerie feeling from that child, we still worry about him, so... please take care of him and yourself, sir...."
Impressed by their words, Ishita nods and gives them a kind smile, then He carried that child to the carriage and rode off in the horse carriage to the mayor's office.
.....
After reaching the mayor's office, he took the child to the office medical room and arranged a bed for the child and
*The mayor's name is Itsuki Kubota.*
When the mayor heard the news that Ishita had arrived at his building, he rushed towards Ishita to the medical room and was stunned watching Ishita himself taking care of that child.
Then Ishita calmly looked towards the kind-looking old man.
"Oh, Kubota-san, how have you been? Are you doing great?" said Ishita
The mayor couldn't see Ishita doing chores for the child.
And the mayor replied, "What-why are you doing these things? " said in a pitying voice.
And Ishita said "I used to have a little brother when I was a kid; he similarly used to look like this child. Unfortunately, I lost him in my childhood because he's suffering from health issues and his core isn't resistant to the mana."
And the mayor with the pity face said
"Yeah, ancient texts say that this was once an earth that didn't have any magic or mana or demons or mythical creatures before. But one fateful day, everything changed; unknown lands started to appear on Earth. This looked exactly as if the earth and hell were merging together; this triggered a rise in demons, legendary creatures, dragons, monsters, and everything. And humans were at a loss, then the gods bestowed their powers and gave us magic and mana to protect ourselves from them".
And Ishita replied, "And it became a curse for someone.... And one of the victims was my brother; he always used to have a weak body, and my parents never allowed me to meet him, but I used to meet him in secret, and he used to be very kind towards me. I didn't know that our mansion was sealed by magic and a mana-free place."
Then Ishita turned towards the window, which is next to the bed of that child, and a gentle breeze, and Ishita continued his story. "One day I asked my brother to-let's go out and play; he said no, but I said I won't talk to him again if he doesn't play with me today. Then he broke the promise to my parents. Previously, my parents made a promise with my brother that he would never meet anyone and Ishita, or get out of the mansion...but he broke that promise for me and stepped outside. After a few moments, he collapsed, and he was in bed suffering for a few days and eventually passed out....."
"He was dead because of me, and now once again, I met him like this. I don't know if it's fate or not, but I will try to protect this child at any cost."
The old man with the pitiful face saw Ishita being emotional like this, and the mayor's heart melted and was near breaking down, but he held his tears and said, "Don't worry, let's protect this child together."
Then Ishita nods and gives a gentle smile and says
"Yeah, let's do it, Kubato-san," in a calm voice.
Then the mayor and Ishita continued to have a chat about the child.
The mayor heard the whole story. Ishita And asked Ishita that
"You know how core color defines the social status, right?"
"Yeah," replied Ishita.
And continued stating that
"Humans usually have a white core, and the final stage of the human core is the bright gold color. We don't know if it can reach further or not."
The mayor replied,
"Yeah, you were right."
"Who made these things?" Ishita asked the mayor.
Then the mayor replied that
"So I've heard that all the humans came to a decision when the world was in chaos that core color should decide their social status; usually, an average human has a yellowish-white core, which gives him just above average powers than the normal human, but for a few people able to change their color by their sheer will and determination, the more vivid the color gets, the stronger he is, and the color of his core is determined by his attributes, and the final stage would only be gold, so the strong people successfully defeated the monsters and were able to create a peaceful country. The monsters and demons are gone, but these rules still exist..."
He said in a disappointed tone.
Then Ishita said, "Demons and monsters have the same system, right?"
And the mayor said, "Yeah, just like us, they have too. Their base was a black core, and their peak was bright purple. Monsters usually have a light purple shade core because they don't have a consciousness, but demons, on the other hand, think like humans, and the higher the demon, the higher the core brightness and purple. They can improve themselves just like us."
Then Ishita replied. "Damn, if they're just like us, what's the point of fighting each other?" said in disappointment.
And the mayor felt sad too and kept silent for the moment.
....
Then the child showed a movement; they both immediately rushed towards the bed, but the child didn't wake up.
They looked at each other and sighed.
Then the mayor asked, "What should we do to this child?"
Then Ishita replied.
"We can't let him stay here, because if he stays here, he will constantly get bullied due to no core or the attribute."
The mayor said,
"Yeah, that's a pity for him, so what should we do?"
Then Ishita said
"I've known a friend who is the head of the village, which is located near the demon world border. I will ask for his help."
The mayor with the impressive look said, "That's a super thought; if we can keep him safe until he reaches 16 years, then we can enroll him into the academy and make him a knight, right?"
And Ishita agreeingly said that
"Yeah, that was a good idea; the only place where novels and peasants are treated the same was the academy, right? If he gets selected for it, then he can be safe and become stronger too, right?"
Both got relieved and finally had a laugh.
And the innocent child also subconsciously smiled.
And those three were happy.
And the mayor said, "What was the name of the village you were talking about?"
And Ishita said,
"It's a Ranji village, located far west."
"Oohhh, I've heard about it and the village head. I've heard that he is the kind of guy, and I even know the Ranji dish," said the mayor in excitement.
"Yeah, you were right; I like that Ranji dish too, so I will ask about it from him," said Ishita.
Then the mayor said, "I've known the mayor of that area, which the village is located in, and I will write a letter to him and ask that the Ranji village head meet me.
" And Ishita replied, That's great; thanks for your help...".