"You are chosen to fight in the war by our side. The kingdom's decree!"
"I am sorry, but we will not fight in the war."
"Then die."
"T-They are proceeding towards us! N-N-No one will remain alive! No one! They'll kill us all!"
"No! No, please! Please, I beg of you... don't… Please...I'll… I'll do anything… Just please… please don't kill them..."
"M-M-Mother? Father? Mom? Dad? I… can you open your eyes? P-P-Please… you can do that, right? You're alright, right? Please wake up! Please don't leave me..."
"... No… NO! I… I can't accept this… I… I need to do something. Just something… But. But what can you do? Hm? You're just a useless cripple on the verge of death. Useless… Completely useless..."
"Come with me, child! I shall take you in as my disciple. Hand over your life, and I shall give you the power you need..."
As memories came flooding in her mind, a petite girl with a pale face flinched in pain. Grasping her bone-deep wound with her blood-stained hands, she coughed a mouthful of blood.
With her crippled body, she crawled and took the support of the wall behind her, her dim eyes flitted across the barren land around her. It had become an ocean of blood, with mountains of mutilated corpses discarded like piles of rotting garbage.
Hissing in pain, Iris knew that she would not be able to hold on much longer. The hand that was holding her wound dropped on the bloody ground, depicting its owner's death.
...…..
"Ugh~," Iris groaned in pain as she weakly opened her heavy eyelids,. the first thing that came into her vision was the sunlit sky and cotton clouds that dotted the blue background.
And then… Trees. She was surrounded by clusters of trees that reached up high into the skies.
Suddenly, memories came flooding into her mind.
She was called Irisine Knight. Seventeen years old, the daughter of Aclaria's minister. She was a tier 3 peak mage who specialized in poison and was killed in the first war.
"You will reincarnate five years before the second war to live your life again." These were her master's words.
This new body… did it have healthy legs? Iris could feel them throbbing, but she still couldn't believe it, and so she pinched them.
It stung.
But instead of tears, the girl's eyes sparkled. Excited by the thought that she can walk, Iris attempted to get up.
THUD.
She failed the first try, but hissing in pain, she crawled towards the nearest tree and then taking its support, she tried once more.
This time, she succeeded.
This feeling was foreign to Iris, who was crippled since the day she was out of her mother's womb. It became a curse to her--the reason why she was deemed useless and a trash. But now, the feeling of standing without any support gave Iris a sense of independence.
Walking, she felt so unfamiliar with her steps, staggering and wobbling like a baby learning how to use their feet for the first time.
After some time, she noticed the growing number of houses and people. With a heart of hope, she walked towards them in flurried steps.
The town looked big and peaceful, with the people bustling in their work.
"Excuse me, what place is this?" Iris asked a random man passing by.
The man observed her for some time, and then confused, he answered, "It's Flecent. " and went away.
"Flecent," Iris mumbled, and the last thing she knew was everything turning black in front of her and people shouting.
…...
"Tch," Iris opened her eyes yet again, in an unfamiliar place.
"You are awake!" a voice came. Iris faced towards the voice and noticed a woman.
"W-water," Iris mumbled with her pale and dry lips.
"Yes," the woman, on hearing her words, passed a glass of water to Iris.
Gulping the water in a go, Iris looked at the woman with a questioning look. Seeing her, the woman smiled and answered, " I saw you passed out at the town entrance, so I brought you to the physician's house."
Listening to this information, Iris nodded.
"I will be taking my leave, please rest here. If there is something you need, do tell me," the woman said this, and she left the room.
On seeing her leave, Iris laid back on the bed, deep in thought.
As a disabled person since birth, she was neglected by all of the people around her. At that time, the only support she had was books. After reading some of the books on medicine, she decided to work on poison. Belonging to a peasant family, She did not have much money to buy books, so her knowledge was limited.
After her family's death, she thought she would die, until she met her master, who gave her all the knowledge she needed.
In this life, she would surely avenge her family, who were innocent yet killed. This time she would strengthen herself so much that she could become someone capable of destroying those who killed her loved ones.
With a strong determination in her eyes, Iris had set her sights on her new goal. Also, if he had travelled back in time, she would meet her master again. This thought made Iris more excited.
Thinking this, she laid on the bed and dozed off to sleep.