Chereads / The Hopeless Hero (Draft) / Chapter 93 - A Familiar Man

Chapter 93 - A Familiar Man

The wind was strong. Too strong. So strong, that it carried me across the dirt road and threw me through a doorway and into a building. I landed with a thud, my tail getting crushed underneath my back.

"Ouch..." I groaned.

I rubbed my head and moved my tail around to make sure it wasn't sprained. After I confirmed that everything was ok, I took a second to look at my surroundings.

There were several men sitting at tables with cups of what I could only guess could be some sort of alcohol. There were also several ladies with frisky clothing and wings attached to their backs. They had tails like me, but they were black and had a strange tip at the end of them.

"We have a first timer everyone!" said one of the ladies without even batting an eye at me.

Huh. You'd think that someone would turn their head to see why someone came barreling into a building like I had just did.

"A girl?"

Another girl was crouched right next to me and staring at my face.

"Uhh...hi?" I said with an awkward smile.

She stood back up and reached her hand out to me.

"It's pretty rare to get girls in here nowadays." the girl said, pulling me up off the ground.

"Why is that," I asked. "What is this place?"

"First time in Hell?"

"Yeah, you could say that."

"Well, this is the Third Gate. You're in one of the thousands of brothels that we have here."

"...eh?"

A...brothel?

"Judging by the look on your face, I'm guessing that you didn't mean to come here?" the girl asked.

"Yeah," I said. "We're trying to get to a specific gate, but one of the trains broke down and we had no choice but to come here to get to the next station."

"Can you walk through the wind?"

"Definitely not."

"Alright, follow me. I'll give you something that'll help you."

This girl led me to a room in the back that had a fancy looking bed, many lit candles, a sweet auroma, and many rose pedals scattered on the bed and floor. The bed reminded me of the one that Gleam had in her room.

Wow, how long has it been since I last saw her? It feels like it's been years, when it's probably only been a couple of weeks. Everyday, I wonder why I was sent to that world in the first place. I remember my life being a simple one. A highschool girl struggling to study for exams, friends who always kept me company when times were tough or when we just wanted to have some fun, parents who always looked at the positive side of things, and a boy who I crushed on for a little bit, but only for a little bit. I heard he went off to college, so I never saw him again.

I wonder how much different my life wouldn've been if I had asked him to be my boyfriend, instead of walking to that glowing light.

"Take this." the girl suddenly said, handing me some weird trincket.

It looked like a medal with a strange carving right in the center. I couldn't define it, but it looked like a backwards s with eyes and two sharp teeth with a long tongue on the top.

"Just hold onto that," the girl said. "You'll walk through that wind with no problems."

"Thank you," I said. "Hey, would it be alright if I knew your name?"

"It's Ren."

With that, I left Ren and the brothel and walked into the windy storm. Thanks to Ren's charm, I was able to walk through the storm with no problems.

"Quite windy, wouldn't you say?"

A man's voice from behind sent a chill down my spine. I swiftly turned around and took a stance, flames already active on my hands.

"I'm not here to fight," the man said. "I just want to talk for a bit."

Green eyes that sparkles, black hair that went down to his shoulders, a lengthy figure, and a one piece white robe that looked comfy.

What had me on alert, hi server, was that his lower jaw was completely missing, yet he could still talk without his tongue. Even with that, however, he looked vaguely familiar.

"Please forgive me," the man said. "I wanted to show up sooner, but there was never a perfect time. I wanted you alone so that I could speak to you."

"What, can nobody but me see you or something?" I asked jokingly.

"Yes."

"Huh…"

"Alright, listen to me carefully," the man said. "You mustn't forget that I exist." He said.

"Why's that?" I asked.

"If you were to forget that I exist, then I would cease to exist. I can't let that happen. I need my former self to remember who I am before it's too late."

"Before what? What's about to happen?"

I suddenly heard what sounded like wings flapping from behind me. I turned to see Hiro flying towards me with a different colored pair of wings.

"You'll find out eventually…"

Those were the last words I heard from that strange man before he disappeared completely.

Hiro landed on the ground smoothly, not even bothered by the wind. I noticed one of his swords was missing. And the one that he had on him was Shana.

"Where's father?" I asked him.

Hiro gave me a long stare with eyes that I've never seen him wear before on his face. I knew instantly that something was wrong.

"He's taking the long way." He said.