Not A Hero
/ Not a hero 2 We dream of a better future
Everything around them was covered in fire, and the soft wind blowing through town was enhancing flames even more. His left arm was also on fire, but he didn't seem to feel any pain. In his burning hand, he was holding a spear. Long wooden shaft ended with a head no longer than the average dagger. The blade had something engraved on it but flames made it impossible to read. The spear itself was also burning.
"You know, I ask myself this question pretty often" the man smiled and crouched so his face was on the same level as hers. His black hair was waving in front of flames dancing in the background. "And I never can answer."
"Mister, can I ask you for something?"
"What's that?" The man smiled kindly but then he saw a single tear on her small cheek.
"Could you kill me too, please?" The tear was not single anymore. The girl started to cry.
The spear quivered in his hand and his throat tightened. He couldn't imagine a request like that and yet that little girl standing in front of him just asked for her own death. His arm, to the dismay of him, started to move on its own and tears started to stream on his face. He tried to stop but there was nothing he could do but to watch this little one die. When the weapon was already higher than his head, with one fast move it pierced through the girl's heart. Before that, she only whispered "Nae thea to vero milosica".
***
Marcus woke up in a sweat.
"Have I just dreamt about me?" That man had black hair, for sure, but his voice hasn't seemed to belong to Marcus. There were also those words... 'Nae thea to vero milosica...' he thought. When he was transported here, he double checked if he understands the language, and for almost a week that he was in this world he didn't have any problems with communicating.
"Maybe it was in some foreign language or so..." he said to himself while getting up. Judging by the dark sky it was still middle of a night but Marcus knew he wouldn't fall asleep again. He looked at the simple chair on which he had thrown his new clothes. Those were simple but kind of comfortable and he at least didn't look like some misfit. He also was able to buy a simple knife.
He dressed up and went for a little walk. The night was a bit cold but in a pleasant way. Back in his previous world, he loved nights like that. He used to sneak out to chill out and look at stars. Those were even more beautiful here as the sky was not polluted so much.
He walked under the dark sky for almost two hours until first sunrays started to hit his face.
"I should get back..." he thought and moved into hall's direction.
Next day started like every day since he got there. He has stayed awake until dawn came and after a morning toilet, wearing his black trousers and same-colored tunic he got downstairs to eat something before Cindy announced quests and put them on the corkboard. After that, he would be trampled in the adventurers' rush for best tasks.
Compared to evenings, mornings were so calm that it was unbelievable what was happening after sunset. That gave waitresses time to rest and hang out.
The food there was served by a man in his sixties or even seventies that never spoke and Marcus started to wonder if maybe he's mute. Dishes were rather simple yet kinda good and cheap so eating here wasn't such a bad idea for someone living upstairs.
When he finished his breakfast more and more people were coming to the hall. It was almost the time to check on quests and most of them were pretty impatient. For Marcus, there was no rush because no one took herb gathering or rat-hunting.
Not even five minutes have passed since he finished eating when Cindy appeared behind the counter with a pile of paper sheets.
"Hello everyone thank you for coming today. Let's give it our best, shall we?" She smiled thankfully and the crowd or at least its male part shouted out a kind of weird agreement mixed with lust for battle.
Just as expected, the board has been besieged by pretty much everyone so the only ones that were standing outside this mass were himself and some others adventurers having their party members somewhere in this mess.
When battle calmed down to the point where it was safe to come closer, black-haired lad looked at the board. He felt like he's doing that irritating daily quests in some MMORPG that every player was doing only for reward. He reached for another one of those and, to his surprise, it was for a really nice money, not fortune but for this kind of job you expect about three-quarters of that.
In this week living here, he learned how to read the symbols used in writing that he needed, but still got stuck sometimes. The quest was about pretty basic herb gathering near the forest and with the reward, he could even manage to buy better equipment. With money fueling him, he gave Cindy the sheets and got out.
***
With every task completed and money paid Marcus was sitting at one of hall's tables. At this time of day, the hall was pretty lively and two waitresses that plied patrons with more and more beer worked hard, but they were always smiling. Cindy, however, was not included in waitresses' stuff so she could focus on preparing quests for the morning come.
"Hey! What's up Little Nighty?" Marcus looked in the direction this voice was coming from, but instead of any face, there was only woman chest. He turned red for a second but immediately got back to normal as he knew that she was doing everything on purpose.
"I told you not to call me like this" he answered. This woman in waitress' uniform was Kaldia. She was a beautiful woman, curvy in the right places and, what's even worse, she knew how to use this in her favor. Unlike other elves, she was kinda short and whenever anyone mentioned it, she always said about her being an only half-elf.
She had medium-length hair in a color of pearl that was tied in a ponytail uncovering her long elven ears. She got her face close to him so he could clearly see blue eyes of hers. He got kind of used to things like that but sometimes she still managed to make him look like an embarrassed kid.
"Why not? Everyone calls you this way."
"That doesn't mean I like it. They just made this nickname up and stick to it." his so-called nickname has been made up by a group of adventurers that he drank once with.
It was so-called cause real nicknames were given to those with sapphire tags. It was three levels above his current state so he had to deal with 'Little Nighty', at least for now and just because of his hair and the fact that he was currently the youngest in the whole guild. Everyone his age and younger came here looking for some exciting travels and the way to get the girls more easily. Those guys usually quitted after their first missions seeing that they would have to actually work before fame comes.
Girls also came here but just as guys, they surrendered after realizing that this job wouldn't be about travels, handsome adventurers, and fame.
Not that, he's seen it himself but he talked to the other people and guild staff quite frequently so he heard this and that. One of his sources of information was Kaldia that at this moment sit down at his table.
"Don't you have a work to do?" he asked taking another sip of beer from his mug.
"Oh, come on. I need some rest." She laid her head on the wooden circle and sighed loudly. "I love this job but sometimes it's exhausting. But hey, same with you, don't you have anything to do?" The girl puffed her cheeks in dissatisfaction with his attitude.
"What? I already did my job and reported everything. Get off me"
"Speaking of, how's your mission today?" The girl leaned over the table with a curious look in her eyes.
"Pretty much the same as the others I've done so far" Marcus was getting more and more bored of those trivial quests. He was doing this only for a week but every day he took about four, five, sometimes six quests and in the end, after twelve to thirteen hours of work, he felt like he's going nowhere.
Still, he understood his limits. Without proper armor, weapon, and equipment all he could do was saving money on the simplest tasks.
"Tell me, why are you spending so much time with me? We barely even know each other" he asked calmly, he wasn't upset about what she's been doing. Rather than that, he was just curious.
"Because you always sit alone without anyone to talk to about what you've done" The white-haired girl smiled gently. "And you are the first person my age in a long time to stay with us so long. I just wanted you to feel comfortable. Well... There may be another tiny, tiny reason I'm a bit curious about you" She winked at him and stood up. "Time to get back to work."
Marcus looked at the waitress serving other customers and thought about what she just said. Even if she was interested in him, he was not interested in close relationships, but this problem could wait.
"Good luck, me in future..."
He has emptied his plate as well as the mug and then, with a kind "thank you" to Kaldia and Diane, he went straight to his bedroom and then fell asleep the moment he put his head on a pillow.
***
"Who are you...?" Please go to to read the latest chapters for free
Chapter end
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