"Son, be a respected magician!"

Who's talking?

The sound is familiar, but ...... Who is it?

Jiang Zhe slowly woke up from his sleep and found himself lying against the trunk of a tree, surrounded by a forest.

How did you end up here?

Oh, by the way, I've crossed over, and this is a world where magic exists......

Magic?

Yes, I'm going to the city of the Dark Mage, Sasson!

Wait, how do I know the cities of this world?

"Shhh...... My head hurts!"

Jiang Zhe stood up with his head covered, looked around, and suddenly saw that the sky was getting dark.

Oops, go back quickly, or she'll be angry......

Hmm, wait, where will she go back? who is she?

Hiss......

Damn, did you hit your head while crossing over? It hurts terribly!

And......

Slowly stretching out his right hand, Jiang Zhe wiped the wetness from the corners of his eyes suspiciously.

"Why is that? Why does it feel so uncomfortable? It's like you've lost some important ......."

I always feel as if I have forgotten something very important......

－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

A week later, an ordinary village in the west of the empire!

The village is small, with only a few families living there, much smaller than the small town of Sète.

On the farm in the southwest corner of the village lived an old couple who had a very strong son, and that was their pride.

However, this proud child has not come back since he joined the Emperor [***] team.

In a blink of an eye, it was more than ten years ago......

Since then, every night, the old lady would weep silently over the clothes her child was wearing, and how she wished that one day, her child would come back......

Her old man was much calmer than the old lady, and drank the wine he had brewed until his face was flushed, and then he went back to sleep drunkenly.

Perhaps, although he didn't say it, he was also looking forward to it......

"Rustling ......"

There was a slight sound of footsteps outside.

It is hard to imagine that an old lady who usually has a bad ear can hear such an extremely subtle sound.

"Old man, old man, you say ......"

"Alright!" said the drunken old man, who seemed to be commonplace, shook his head, "just the rumors......

"......No," the old lady shook her head and got up tremblingly.

Glancing at his wife who still did not despair after more than ten years, the old man waved his hand, got up and said, "You sit down, I'll go out and have a look......"

In fact, they all understood that their children had died in the war against the Empire against Salonia more than ten years ago, at the hands of those white magicians, and the old man was already disappointed compared to the old lady's unwillingness to face the reality.

What could be more important than having your own children?

When he heard the bad news about his son, the old man lost interest in tending to the farm, and left it to be so deserted, getting drunk every day.

Such people are not uncommon in the Empire.

"Rustle. Holding the bottle into his mouth, the old man staggered and walked outside the room.

Outside, it's just a deserted land, where are there any human figures?

"Well, you should die now, right?" the old man shook his head and muttered to himself, not knowing whether he was talking about himself or his wife.

Suddenly, he was about to turn around and pause, and he faintly saw a figure beside the gate of the farm.

Who's that?

The old man walked over tremblingly, and was stunned to see a child of about ten years old sitting on the ground by the haystack at the gate of the farm.

"Kid, what are you doing here?"

The child, with dark blonde hair, was messy but beautiful, with a fair complexion stained with mud, and eyes like stars in the sky.

"I'm sorry...... Can I take shelter here?"

The old man was stunned, looked around, to be honest, the wind tonight was indeed very strong, making the thinly dressed child shiver from the cold.

"I think you can come with me to the house and have a fire......

"Thank you!" said the child, but there was no action, and it seemed that his thanks were only for the kindness of the old man, but he did not want to accept it.

Very strong kid...... It's not very cute, though......

"Son, either follow me to the house or ......"

As if he understood the meaning of the old man's words, the child slowly stood up, looked down and thought about it, and walked towards the outside of the village.

The old man was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly said, "Child, there is no village nearby except here......"

The boy paused, hesitated, turned his head, and said, "That'...... Is there anything I can do?"

The old man was stunned, stepped forward and shook his head and smiled, "It's not a commendable thing to overly reject other people's kindness, what's your name, child?"

"Jiang ...... No, my name is Soth!"

"Soth, nice name, come in with me, little one, you can help me get rid of those damn mashed potatoes!"

The child was stunned, and suddenly said in a very serious tone, "Thank you!"

"Hey!" the old man grinned, and walked towards the house.

The old lady in the house was muttering something at this time, when she suddenly heard a "squeak", and when she looked up, the door of the house opened, and the old man came back in a hurry.

"Old man, is our child back?" As soon as she finished asking, she was stunned to see the old man followed by a child of about ten years old.

"It's a lost little guy. The old man took off his coat and said.

Seeing that the child was trembling, the old lady stepped forward, stroked his dark blonde hair, and said, "Poor boy, is it cold?"

"Also...... OK. "Kid, no, Jiang Zhe said very easily.

"Let's go to the fireplace and I'll get you something to eat." ”

"I ...... Thank you!"

Maybe today is the liveliest and warmest day in this old house in more than ten years, and the old lady did not touch her child's relics and cry silently as usual, but happily prepared dinner for the little one.

Dinner was simple, just like the old man said, a plate of mashed potatoes, but Jiang Zhe felt that it tasted good.

"How do you feel, kid?"

"It tastes good!" Jiang Zhe, who was holding the spoon, nodded and said.

The old lady was obviously very happy, and sat at the table, looking at the little fellow gobbling up, as if she had seen her own child.

Even the old man stopped drinking, and sat down at the table with a smoking peng, looking at the little fellow who surprised him. He had never seen such a special child.

"You dead old man," the old lady waved away the smoke from the old man's blow with her hand, cursed, and then smiled at Jiang Zhe and said, "What's your name, child?"

"Soth!"

"Great name, are you lost?"

"No," Jiang Zhe had already disposed of the pot of mashed potatoes, wiped it with his hand, and said, "I'm not lost." ”

"Oh?" said the old man, feeling a little strange, and tapped his cigarette gun, "where do you want to go?"

"Sassen! I want Sassen to learn magic!"

"Sasson?" the old lady covered her mouth in surprise, "are you the only one?"

"Yes. Jiang Zhe shrugged and said.

Glancing at his wife, the old man asked in a low voice, "Do you know how to get there?"

"I'm sure I can get there!"

"Child, what about your parents?" asked the old lady, stroking the little one's dark blonde hair.

Jiang Zhe was stunned, hesitated, and said, "I'm only one person!"

Is it an orphan? The old lady was silent, probably thinking of her son, and with a few tears, she said, "Son, I believe that your parents will be proud of you!"

"Then," glancing at Jiang Zhe, the old man said in a low tone, "Are you going to go to Sassen on foot? I doubt that you are good enough to reach Sassen......

"Dead old man, what nonsense are you talking about!" the old lady was a little angry.

Ignoring the old lady, the old man smoked a cigarette pouch and said to Jiang Zhe, "Child, in the south of the village, there is a small city named Ron, every year the city lord will organize a caravan to Sassen, and there is an old drunkard named Nieman in the caravan, who has a good relationship with me, so son, what are you going to do?"

Listening to the old man's words, the old lady seemed to understand a little, she felt from just now that this child was too polite, politely as if he was deliberately keeping a distance from others......

After dinner, the old lady cleaned her son's room, which had been empty for more than ten years, and let Jiang Zhe stay.

Looking at the old lady who was busy, Jiang Zhe was very moved, and was about to help her, but was stopped by the old man.

"Don't go, child, you're still young, you won't understand the feelings of a mother who has lost her son, just keep her busy......," said the old man, patting the son's bed, and said, "Sit down!"

Jiang Zhe subconsciously wanted to say thank you, but after hesitating, he still didn't say it.

For this reason, the old man smiled, took a sip of wine in his hand, and said wistfully, "We used to have a son, named Svi, who was very strong and a great fellow, and everyone in the neighborhood said so, and later, Svi joined the Emperor's [***] team, and that year, the Empire and Salonia went to war, and many people did not come back because of this, including my proud children...... This blow made the old lady's physical condition very poor, and it was the first time in more than ten years that I saw her so happy...... So, child, you don't owe us anything. ”

As soon as the old man finished speaking, as he said, the old lady walked in with a smile on her face, and said, "Child, try to see if it fits." ”

Glancing at the shrugging old man, Jiang Zhe took his coat and put it on.

"Yes, very suitable," said the old lady, who was very happy, suddenly remembered something, and said, "I remember that there are still a few sets, and I will look for them again!" said the old lady, and staggered downstairs.

"Be careful," the old man shouted, then turned to Jiang Zhe and said, "Some people help others to get paid, but some people don't, you are a very smart child, I can see it, I believe you will understand......

Jiang Zhe was stunned for a moment, and said sincerely, "Thank you!" This time, there was no sense of alienation in his words that deliberately kept a distance.

"Very well!" said the old man who was snuggling up to the door, smiling, nodding, "Go to bed early, child, and I'll take you to Ron to-morrow," he said, blinking his eyes, "while the old horse on the farm can run!"

Seeing the old man trembling down the attic, Jiang Zhe closed the door.

This feeling is so familiar, as if someone has treated me so kindly since I came to this world......

But why don't you have a little impression?

Also, I don't know when I stopped having that nightmare, at most I only vaguely heard the snoring sound of 'whirring', like the snoring of a sleeping beast.

And......

What's the deal with that pattern on the back of my left hand?

It looks like a magic array of six-pointed stars......

It's weird......

;