'I was dead?'
Was I even taken aback? Sure. Or at least I should have been. But my mind was running a blank. I couldn't quite grasp the situation.
I checked my pulse and I was alive. But I did also remember dying. No, I was alive. But they assumed I was dead?
Or at least that's the news that got circulated around.
But how far?! Gern knew it as a matter of fact, so at the very least it reached my town. The rest was all up to my speculation.
I was the one who launched a surprise attack on the Hero. And his guards were the ones who took me down. In the process of defending, I jumped off a cliff and was presumed dead. The hero mourned my death and the saintess bade me farewell.
Bull-fucking-shit.
How deplorable could these disgusting piled pieces of dogshit be?
That was the story they crafted?! That was the story I picked up through the brisk stroll throughout the town.
Ultimately, it was me who got painted the villain, for trying to lay hands on the Hero. It was I who defiled the name of the church by bringing violence into its ground. And for that, I was given the divine punishment by the guards.
I was painted the villain so earnestly, such that even if I did survive, the church had reason to put me down.
I knew the truth, but I didn't have an outlet to break it to-and even if I did, no one would take my word over the church's. After all, I was but a lowly farmer. And they were the envoys of that Gods.
So fast, so efficient, so despicable. How were these the people who would fight the darkness when they were much worse than any threat out there? How were these the people who would save the humans?
To me- they were leagues worse than whatever they hoped to combat. To me- whose entire life just got ruined in a matter of seconds.
'What do I do now?' Throughout my mind breaking, I was surprisingly calm. Was it because I went through much worse over the past week, or because it wasn't even surprising in the first place?
What business did a man without a goal in life have with getting upset in the first place?
All I wanted to do was meet my family. Not to live getting paraded as a hero. As long as I met them and they believed me, I would be fulfilled.
It was clear what my next attempt would be. To get to my home without being recognised. That meant not coming across anyone that knew me. I couldn't trust them. Just one slip of their tongue and I would get sold out. I didn't have the strength to oppose the church.
This was just pointless persistence. But it was all I had left.
From what I could tell no inhabitant of Rottheim knew my face and identity except the hero, Luno and Vivi. Because the church was so sure I was dead, they didn't invest a lot in an alternate.
But there were plenty of merchants in Rottheim that came over from my town. They knew me and under no circumstances could I allow them to find out that I lived. Those people sold their souls for money. I didn't expect a shred of integrity from them.
My goal also entailed travelling out into the world without a carriage. Gern was a nice man, I think. But I neither wanted to burden nor trust him. That meant leaving the city with the only mode of transport I had- my feet.
On the other side of the discussion, travelling out in the open was dangerous. I needed safety, and luckily I had just that. I rushed up the hill towards the church but as I barely covered any distance, my eyes caught a red-haired giant woman.
Kinda ironic that I'm the one calling her a giant, with me being the only one in the vicinity larger than her. Unsurprisingly, as she walked down the path, she had more eyes on her than I had on me.
"What are you doing so far down?" She finally reached me.
"I was waiting for you."
"While looking so tired?"
"Uhh, I was also looking for an inn to stay in. And it's embarrassing being half-naked." She wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, so I expected her to bite that obvious lie.
"Cool. Did you find one?"
"Yeah, there." I used my heightened senses to pick any inn at random without looking. At this instance, it just happened to be one behind me.
"Let's go then." Vivi put her hand around my shoulder as she started walking and I promptly pushed it off. "What a bummer."
'Herilson Inn.' The nameplate read. It looked quite cheap… A conjecture that held true as I opened the door. The scent of cigars, coal, and alcohol. This was a cheap place.
"GET ME ANOTHER PINT, WILL YA?!" A man shouted.
"MISSY WE RAN OUTTA MEAT!"
The entire inn was filled with a bunch of ruffians. Vivi would fit this place perfectly.
I ducked down and got through the door and my companion barely made it through without bending.
Pushing through the crowd, we caught sight of the attendant.
"Two rooms, please." I leaned on the rotting wooden counter.
"For how long?" I had my bodyguard(Vivi) and my mode of transport(feet). I just needed a little more time to let the situation calm down.
"Do three days for one and for the other- How long do you wanna stay?" I looked at Vivi. Ideally, I would have her leave with me as a bodyguard. But I didn't want to ask her. I didn't want to be indebted. If she could just volunteer on her own...
But that might be an issue if she had some plans beforehand. So I crossed my fingers and was already touching the wood on the counter. Hoping that she didn't have any prior engagements.
"I'll do the same as you then."
"Are you planning to travel with me?"
"If you are fine with that." Good. I sighed a breath of relief.
"In that case, make it two rooms for one for 3 days and nights." My right hand went in my pocket.
"That would be 4500 Uln." The attendant counted on the indents of her finger. "Should I split the payment?"
"Yes." I replied and then immediately a hand tapped my shoulder.
"Wait, I don't have money." Vivi looked at me with childish eyes.
"You don't what?"
"Have money. I was under the impression that you were going to pay for it."
"Why would you be so wrong?"
"Why? Well, I just, I saved your life thrice, you know?!" Bold of her to assume that I wanted to live.
"Tch."
"Soooo..." She looked up at me.
God damn it! I technically did still owe her a little. And I did need her a bodyguard so I couldn't abandon her. No, I should think positively.
Covering her living expenses would cover the money I would have spent otherwise hiring a bodyguard. And it would also make me feel less bad about using her.
But-
But I didn't have enough money for two rooms and other necessary equipment for the journey.
'I really do need her a bodyguard too.' It was indeed a vexing situation.
"Make it a single room for two. 3 days and night."
"Okay, sir. That would be 3000 Uln. What is your name?" The attendant asked while filling in her register.
Shit! Almost forgot that I needed a pseudonym. Sure my face didn't go around, but my name did. Elyan wasn't a common name and I was already pretty suspicious with this bloody body and all.
Shit!
My mind started circling around all the names I had known and just as promptly, a name popped into my head. From an old memory. Back when I was a kid. When our town's church still stood.
There was a deity inside. A deity who always accompanied the one I met after almost dying. Sure, he didn't look good and was rarely ever talked about. But that didn't compare to the disappointment from when I learnt that the deity never had a name.
I found it sad. So I took it upon myself to name him. I called him-
"Iota."