I was also baffled at first when I first came to know that the land of Aslesia had no king. How could I not? Who would ensure the law? How about the peace? Surely, without a leader, the land would always be in chaos.
It was.
The main and golden rule in the land of Aslesia was well the cliche, rule of the jungle. The weak are meat; the strong do eat.
Territorial wars and such were no surprise in this world. But somehow, it quieted down in recent years since the last territorial war between dwarves and giants. From what I heard, those two races were now coexisting as neighbors as if they didn't attempt to wipe each other out.
They lived somewhere far from Parkwind, though. The small town of Parkwind was a neutral town where it didn't matter what race you were. It was a town ruled by the fairies, so it was usually peaceful. At first, I thought it was because fairies were powerful; they were, but not invincible.
The reason everyone respected the fairies was that... they were freaking cute! Yes, that's their special powers. Being adorable that it was disheartening to make them cry. Although I thought they were overrated.
After an 'arduous' journey just to reach civilization, I finally arrived at the heart of the bustling Parkwind. I narrowed my eyes, seeing a crowd flocking in the middle.
"Is there a fight?" I wondered, marching towards them to see what was going on. Their indistinct and disappointed murmurings soon came to my ear, making me eavesdrop out of habit.
"Goodness... when will these attacks end?" a woman muttered in concern.
"They still hadn't caught him." A man replied.
"Three days ago, it was an orc and now a wolf." Another one chimed in, bearing the same disheartened tone. "It seems that wanted criminal is on a killing spree."
I rocked my head, grasping the situation, and stopped listening to the whispers. Instead, I squeezed myself through the crowd until I managed to reach the front. As soon as I saw what caught the interest of these people, I completely understood their horror.
Right in the middle was a dismembered wolf. It wasn't just any wolf, but a werewolf. No wonder I kept hearing their howling the past few days.
"It was... delicious." I read the red letters next to it, cringing in disgust. "Whoever did it is surely an animal."
"These types of things kept popping up every few days across Parkwind." I turned my head to the robust guy standing beside me. He had his arms crossed, staring at the wolf solemnly.
"He is an animal — no, even worse. He had offended a lot of people already, but the bastard always gets away."
"He gets away before no one catches him on the act," I replied, peeling my eyes away from the stranger. "But to offend the wolves, the orcs, and everyone, surely, he is one capable guy."
"Or just insane."
I glanced at the stranger and rocked my head. "Could be."
"Out of the way!"
Suddenly, voices from behind the crowd reached my ear. I looked back, only to see the people making way for a group of men. I instinctively stepped aside as well, sensing their domineering aura seeping out from their athletic bodies.
The man, who was leading the group of seven men, stopped near my vantage point. He gazed down at the dismembered wolf, grinding his fangs as he stretched his neck, producing loud cracking sounds.
"Retrieve him and bring him back home," he ordered under his breath while his hair slowly grew longer from the back of his hand up to his sharp jaw. "Whoever did this will pay and feel the wrath of the wolves."
His company seethed as they picked up the pieces left on the ground. Everyone just watched them in silence, afraid that they would catch the Alpha's attention and get killed in a moment of rage.
'Serial killers in this world are hundred times terrifying than on Earth.' I shook my head, taking out a handful of flyers as I got sidetracked enough. My agenda for today wasn't to eavesdrop but to give out flyers and lure people to my shop.
The stranger who was standing beside me arched his brows as he gazed down at the poster in front of me. "What is that, boy?"
'Boy?' I clicked my tongue secretly, hiding my dismay at what he called me.
"Right, I just opened my shop." I glanced at the poster in my hand and realized it was a recruitment poster for a mission. So I chuckled and flipped it smoothly to show my handwritten promo poster behind.
"A shop? What do you sell?" the stranger clipped the poster in between his index and middle finger, narrowing his eyes as he read it.
"Well, anything you can think of." I shrugged as a smug grin dominating my face.
He glanced at me suspiciously. "Anything?"
"Anything." I leaned forward, nodding encouragingly. "If you ever need something, no matter what it is, my shop has it."
I raised a thumb as the side of my lips stretched from ear to ear. Of course, I was bluffing as my shop lacked in everything, but as they said, fake it till you make it. I already had a plan, they just had to come to my shop.
"I see." The man seemed a little disinterested, but well, that was to be expected.
"Then, I'll be expecting you one of these days, bro." I patted his stout shoulder, which was as hard as steel. He just gave me a nod before we went into our separate ways.
******
It was a rough day of giving out flyers and picking up the ones some rude people tossed around. That was how my day concluded before I finally called it a day and went back to my shop.
As I walked home, I kicked a pebble lying on the path in irritation. Starting something was hard. I didn't have it easy, be it in my previous life and my current one, but if I let this negativity in my already negative life, I might become a stone in my next life.
"All will be well," I told myself, reaching the forest clearing where my shop was. It was already dark, but anyone could notice the piles of rubble with an attached door and windows and a crooked store sign. The sight of it after a long, exhausting day slightly demotivated me.
"I'm alright, Bedo," I planted my hand on my hip, stopping in front of it, smiling with closed-lip. "Just a little tired, brother, but this place will soon flock with customers from all across Aslesia."
I patted the shop's rough wall before entering. As soon as I stepped in, I stopped and looked around cautiously. It felt like someone had been here, but my shop looked the same as it was when I left it.
"It's probably nothing," I muttered, which was the stupidest thing I did because as soon as I closed the door, a figure was standing behind it. I couldn't react quickly when something solid smashed against my head, knocking me unconscious.