The next morning.
The boy was heading to the reception to pick up the correspondence he was supposed to take and then he was approached by a man and a woman, both had brown hair, the man lighter and the woman darker.
Hey kid, we heard at reception that you're leaving for the South, is that true? (Man)
A man who appeared to be older than the boy approached him along with a woman who appeared to be the same age as him.
Yes. I'm. (Boy)
We're also going south, we could go halfway together until we split up, since it's your first delivery, it's better than going alone, right? (Man)
''Well, if it's really okay for you to have someone with no experience like me along, I'll be happy to have you with me during the trip'' (Boy)
''Of course that's fine, the more people traveling together the better, it's too risky to travel alone and we don't usually do that, but here there are no caravans going south in the next few months, the more we hear there will be a caravan departing from Ello City to the South and one of her stops is going to be where we have to make our delivery, so it will be perfect, and you will still be able to continue traveling with her as long as she is going in the same direction as you right? And just for the record we are not that experienced, we have been working for 2 years as Deliverers but we only take jobs when our reservations are running low, so we have made little more than 10 deliveries together to date.'' (Man)
''Serious? For me, this amount already seems to be impressive by itself.'' (Boy)
[Of course, if we are taking into account the death rate that couriers have, it really is.] (Boy)
''Same? Thank you, ah yes, my name is Evan." (Evan)
The woman takes a step forward towards the boy.
''I'm Leilani, it's a pleasure Nameless boy.'' (Leilani)
''Well, I guess someone with no memories living in the Post Office's doctor's office really draws attention, doesn't it?'' (Boy)
''A little bit, haha.'' (Evan)
''But that saves me explanations, you can just call me Garoto.'' (Garoto)
''All right.'' (Leilani)
''Right. Well what about our proposal? Will you want to join us to Ello Garoto City?'' (Evan)
''It's better than traveling to the South all alone isn't it? You're not missing anything!'' (Leilani)
''Well, it's like you said, and I'm already heading south anyway, a little detour to Ello City to ease my travels later on would be most welcome. So, yes, I agree to accompany you there." (Boy)
' ' Oh boy! It's good that you decided to come with us, the more people, the safer it is, it's always like that, since monsters avoid attacking large groups of people.'' (Evan)
''That's true, so I'm glad you're coming with us.'' (Leilani)
''I see, that's why you wanted me to go with you.'' (Boy)
''That's it!'' (Evan)
[Well, I found it strange that they called a newbie like me to accompany them without asking anything in return, even though the books are saying that it was always best to travel in caravans, I didn't think that small groups of people would also have a similar effect, I really still have a lot what to learn apart from what was in the books, the knowledge gained from experience is something that I will only get in person.] (Boy)
The boy smiles at them as he puts his hand on his hip.
''So let's go?'' (Boy)
With that, the boy, Evan and Leilani, leave the Postal Headquarters and go to buy groceries to go, while talking during these occasions.
As they leave the city, the boy says goodbye to the guards at the gate who helped him earlier, they seemed to be happy that he was better and although they appeared to be worried about what he decided to do after he recovered.
The three are traveling towards the City of Ello, as it was not a very distant city they would only take about 2 weeks walking.
That night while they ate and talked in front of the bonfire.
''So always having someone else with you increases your chances of not being attacked, no matter the size of the group, well, that's not something you'll find in the books, as they only suggest that you travel with caravans.'' (Leilani)
''Yes it's true.'' (Evan)
''And even though you were planning to go alone, you're totally crazy'' (Leilani)
''Maybe a little.. Haha'' (Boy)
They laugh along with the boy.
''But maybe you can give me some tips and teach me what you learned during your travels'' (Garoto)
Evan and Leilani look at each other and smile.
''Of course!'' (Evan and Leilani)
''Ask whatever you want, we'll teach you as much as we can during our journey together.'' (Evan)
''Right! Thank you very much!'' (Boy)
''Well then, about longer trips, what types of groceries do you recommend the most?'' (Boy)
And the conversation continued from there for a long time until they started taking shifts during the night to sleep.
As the days passed, they interacted and talked more and more and became closer and closer with each stop they made and each night they spent together talking around the campfire.
At the same time, the boy also took every opportunity to ask about his travels and learn more about the job and how to avoid the dangers of it.
The days go by, and then 4 days into the journey from Ello Town, the Kid learns something.
' ' Ehhhh? Are you going to get married?" (Boy)
''Yes, we've been wanting to get married for a while and we've decided to do it in our hometown, so we're heading south now.'' (Leilani)
''Leilani and I met a long time ago at the bar where we worked before and ironically we decided to get into this line of work because we wanted to help our families and we've been together in this ever since.'' (Evan)
'' I see, over time the friendship ended up becoming something more, until they fell in love with each other and got to where they are now.'' (Boy)
''It was fine for that haha.'' (Leilani)
''I should have seen when he went to confess to me, he was all nervous and awkward with words, he didn't even know what he was saying haha.'' (Leilani)
'''Hey, I didn't need to tell him that.'' (Evan)
''Why not? I thought it was cute haha." (Leilani)
''But I don't like to remember that, I feel very ashamed.'' (Evan)
'' But that's the fun haha. '' (Leilani)
The Kid smiles as he watches them play with each other and the night goes on with all of them laughing and having a good time.
The days passed without much problem, with them finding and seeing wolves and other monsters always at a distance and managing to avoid them without much problem, their experience was really helping the trip.
With that, they were only 2 days and one night away from Ello City, their fate was right before them.
''This will be our last night together outdoors, it went by much faster than I expected.'' (Leilani)
''It's true, honestly I was very worried at first, but now I'm very calm and I even got used to traveling like this, but I'm still very scared haha.'' (Boy)
''I understand you, but it's good to be afraid, it means that you didn't get full of yourself and forget about the dangers, honestly it wasn't just luck and experience that made us avoid monsters until here, plus the fact that this region is much less dangerous and there were rarely any attacks or deaths from it, so we decided to come this way.'' (Evan)
''I see, so it was an accumulation of all these factors that contributed to our safety so far, I'll keep that in mind in my travels from now on as well.'' (Boy)
''You'll do fine if you don't forget anything you learned during these days we spent together, I'm sure you'll manage to survive and recover your memories.'' (Leilani)
''She's right, we already know enough to be sure of that, you'll get it Boy.'' (Evan)
''Thank you, Evan, Leilani. If we weren't going to travel together in a caravan for a while longer would this be looking like a farewell in? haha'' (Boy)
''That's right haha'' (Leilani)
''True hahaha'' (Evan)
''I'm going for a walk around here and I'll be back in a little while.'' (Leilani)
''Do you need me to go with you? To keep you company?'' (Evan)
''No, your idiot! I don't want anyone near me while I'm doing these things." (Leilani)
''Ha, you wanted to use the bathroom.'' (Evan)
''Don't say that out loud! Serious!! Have you not an ounce of delicacy in you? I could learn a thing or two from the kid." (Leilani)
''Ah, sorry.'' (Evan)
Leilani gets up and walks off by herself.
''This time it was really your fault Evan haha.'' (Boy)
''I never know the difference between when she is talking about the so-called nature or just walking a little.'' (Evan)
''But it's obvious haha, if she didn't ask you to go along, she just needs to go do her needs. '' (Boy)
''Damn, I had never stopped to notice these details, but now that you said it, it's true! Is this serious? haha..'' (Evan)
''It's very serious! hahaha'' (Boy)
''You are amazing boy! Being able to notice these small details and also remember everything that we have been teaching you so quickly, maybe you have the talent to be a mage." (Evan)
''Seriously Evan, instead of acting like an idiot, you could just tell her directly that you're so worried about her all the time and that you can't leave her alone for this or anything else. Because this whole pretense is too ridiculous to watch." (Boy)
''Eh? Did you notice that I was faking it? (Evan)
The better question would be, who wouldn't notice, right?'' (Boy)
''So you think she noticed too?'' (Evan)
''With all the times you've done something like this during the trip? Absolutely.. And if you do this on all your trips... Even more so.. haha'' (Boy)
Evan sighs.
''She must think I'm a big idiot in?'' (Evan)
'' I don't think so after all.. She gave a little smile as she turned around before walking away.'' (Boy)
''Damn it!! She is too good a woman for me!! (Evan)
''Surely! haha…'' (Boy)
But look what I said there! Small details!! Small details, boy!! Maybe you have the talent to be a mage!" (Evan)
''A mage? Evan does not exaggerate!! haha, but thanks, it's funny we talk about it, but not that I'm conceited or anything, but I'm really good at remembering details, even the ones I saw in the books I read at Post Office I can still remember them well, and yet I can't remember anything from my past yet… Ironic isn't it? haha.'' (Boy)
''Maybe a little haha.'' (Evan)
The Kid and Evan stop laughing, take a deep breath and both think.
[I touched on a subject that I shouldn't have, right? And now I've spoiled the mood] (Boy and Evan)
''You know Boy? You..'' (Evan)
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Before Evan could finish talking they heard a scream.
''Leilani?'' (Boy)
''That was her!'' (Evan)
They go pale for a moment.
''Shit, this is not good, let's go Boy'' (Evan)
''Let's go.'' (Boy)
They run towards the scream
When they arrive at the place they see Leilani standing in a clearing, but apparently well, so they calm down.
''Evan! Boy!'' (Leilani)
They start to get closer and she screams.
''Stop, don't approach!'' (Leilani)
''Don't approach? Leilani are you alright? We heard you scream." (Evan)
''Yeah, we came running because we were worried.'' (Boy)
''I... I'm fine, but don't come closer, I'm stuck in something and I can't get out of here.'' (Leilani)
''Prey?'' (Boy)
' ' What do you mean trapped? On what? I don't see anything holding you back." (Evan)
The boy starts to observe the area around her without approaching while they talk.
''I don't know, I can't see anything from here either, but my arm definitely got caught in something and the more I try to distance myself the more I'm pulled back and I feel like I'm even more trapped.'' (Leilani)
''Pulled back?'' (Boy)
The Kid puts his hand on his chin and starts to look thoughtful.
''Even if you say that, I'm really not seeing anything no matter how I look..'' (Evan)
''At first it was just my hand, but now it's my whole arm.'' (Leilani)
Hearing this, the Boy finally seems to have thought of something, but before he could say anything, he saw that Evan was pulling Leilani. Evan was pulling with all his strength.
''Stop! Don't do that Evan!!'' (Boy)
''There is? Why?" (Evan)
But then it slips out of their hands and goes back to where it was initially.
''No, no, no.. Leilani are you okay? How are you now? Do you feel that you are looser than before?'' (Boy)
''No, actually I feel like I'm stuck up to my neck now and my face too.'' (Leilani)
Eh? Your face too? no I didn't mean to do that I'm sorry! I'm sorry Leilani!'' (Evan)
''It's okay, I know Evan.'' (Leilani)
''This is not good at all, before it would be easier.. But now..'' (Boy)
''What are you talking about Boy? Calm down Leilani, I'll wipe that off your face.'' (Evan)
''Don't touch her! You will get stuck too!" (Boy)
They are startled by the boy screaming, the boy approaches with a torch and moves it close to Leilani, until they can see something.
'' See, they are wires. '' (Boy)
''Threads?'' (Evan and Leilani)
''To be more exact, they're strands of web from a spider, but not just any spider, they're probably from man-eating spiders, they're practically invisible at night with the naked eye, and they're only visible with a certain level of light to cause a reflection effect on them, and once trapped the more you try to get out the more trapped you are.'' (Boy)
''Man-eating spiders, you're kidding, right?'' (Leilani)
''How do you know all this?'' (Evan)
''I remembered reading about them in one of the books in the library at the Postal Headquarters.'' (Garoto)
''So you know how to remove them?'' (Evan)
' ' How do I get them out of me?? Is there any way to get rid of them?" (Leilani)
''Yes, there are some shapes.'' (Boy)
Oh, great, don't scare us like that, tell us to get out of here soon then.'' (Evan)
''But in our current situation only one will work.'' (Boy)
''Only one?'' (Evan)
''Well, it's better than nothing, right? What is it?'' (Leilani)
''Set fire to the wires, they are highly flammable and will burn quickly.'' (Boy)
''But she has wires all over her arm up to her neck and face... Like this... She will be burned together.'' (Evan)
''Not! Not! Not! No, I do not want! I don't want to be burned! I don't want to get my face burned! If it burns for a long time on my face and the burns get really bad, I might end up dying... And even if I survive... My face... A lot of it will remain... a lot of it..'' (Leilani)
''A good part of it will be disfigured by the burns.'' (Boy)
AHHHHHHHHHH!!! ''Not! Not! Not! No, I do not want! I do not want it! I don't want to be burned!'' (Leilani)
Leilani despairs and begins to struggle.
''Leilani, if you keep struggling, it will only make your situation worse!'' (Boy)
Leilani then, hearing this and looking around her and realizing her situation in the face of despair, stops sketching any resistance or even saying anything.
''Damn, that's not even a choice! You said there were others, what are they?'' (Evan)
''Using magic to cut the threads... Or a sword with a very high quality blade, two things we don't have right now. If you tried with a low-quality sword, it would only make the situation worse." (Boy)
''Evan... I don't want to die...'' (Leilani)
''You won't die dear!'' (Evan)
Evan tries to comfort Leilani in every way possible, but they're clearly out of options.
''My sword really can't cut these wires Boy?'' (Evan)
''Unfortunately yes, her threads are strong and resistant as iron, in addition to being very elastic, so the only thing that will work is fire.'' (Boy)
''I'm sorry..'' (Leilani)
''Leilani... I know... I still have to try.'' (Evan)
''No Evan!'' (Boy)
Evan draws his sword, despite the boy's warnings, so Leilani breaks down in tears as she wails to Evan. Meanwhile he tries to cut the wires that are connected to Leilani's arm with his sword in vain, with each blow the sword returns with the same force to him, as the boy said, the blade of his sword did not cut the wires, but he keeps insisting even though it's in vain.
[It's no use, it's like trying to cut elastic with a stick of wood, that sucks, if I had realized what this was about earlier, she would only burn her arm. But it already struggled enough even before we got here, and now with that, the spider that set these threads here as a trap must already be on its way here.] (Boy)
The boy grits his teeth and stares at them.
''You have to decide now! If the wires are going to burn!! Or worst! Die here together! The spider that left these threads here must have already noticed all this commotion in its trap and must be on its way here!'' (Boy)
''Evan...'' (Leilani)
Leilani looks at Evan crying not knowing what to do.
''Help us here kid maybe the two of us together can put enough force to cut the wires!'' (Evan)
''It won't work no matter how much force we put together on this sword!!!'' (Boy)
''So... Let's fight! Let's face the Man-Eating Spider together boy! We can beat her if we attack from both sides in an ambush when she comes after Leilani!!'' (Evan)
''Impossible.'' (Boy)
''What?'' (Evan)
''The Man-Eating Spiders have that name for an obvious reason, they are as big as an adult man, they are strong and agile, in the book there are reports that even a group of 6 experienced soldiers have difficulties to face it, below that number the chance of almost everyone dying or only 1 surviving in the end is already huge. So only us, 2 inexperienced in combat, face it... The result is obvious, it's suicide. I'm so sorry, I really enjoyed the time I spent with you guys, but I can't die here like this, I have to survive until I get my memories back no matter what, I've decided that.'' (Boy)
''Boy...'' (Evan)
Leilani is already so terrified that she has even stopped talking as she cries, now with only a look of dread taking over her face as the tears continue to flow.
''Evan, there's still another choice.'' (Boy)
Leilani lifts her face a little brighter at this.
''Why did not you say it before? What is it?" (Evan)
''You can abandon Leilani and run away.'' (Boy)
Leilani is more horrified than she was at hearing this and Evan lunges for the Boy.
''You bastard... How dare you say that??'' (Evan)
Leilani pulls herself together when she hears the boy say this and screams.
''Stop Evan! The boy is right! You can still survive! Run away with him!" (Leilani)
''Leilani what are you talking about!'' (Evan)
''I couldn't bear to see you dying because of me!'' (Leilani)
''Leilani... I love you, I couldn't leave you!'' (Evan)
''Evan, I love you too, and it's precisely because I love you that I want you to survive!'' (Leilani)
The boy watches their scene in silence until he notices that the wires have started to sway.
''There is no more time! The Spider is approaching here! Let's just burn the wires, run away or you'll have to fight to the death against this monster alone! Make up your mind!'' (Boy)
''Evan...'' (Leilani)
''No… Leilani..'' (Evan)
Both start to get desperate, so Evan during this moment of despair with the boy's words echoing in his head, he goes back to violently hitting the wires.
''Come on Evan!! You can still..'' (Boy)
Before the Boy could finish speaking, Evan holds Leilani's arm to try to steady the sword blade by passing it close to her arm trying to cut the wires.
''Leave her...'' (Boy)
Seeing that Evan has taken hold of her arm, the Boy takes a step back.
''What did you do Evan?'' (Boy)
Only then did Evan realize that he was now trapped too, next to Leilani's arm.
''No, that's not what I wanted to do, help me here boy, take my hand and pull me.'' (Evan)
Evan drops the sword to the ground and holds out a hand to the boy. But the Boy starts to walk away from them slowly, still looking at them, at that desperate scene.
''No, now it's too late for you. There's nothing else I can do." (Boy)
The boy throws a fire torch at their feet and both remain unresponsive.
''Choose how you're going to die.'' (Boy)
Upon hearing this they are horrified, the Boy finally turns his back on them and starts to run.
While running, the boy repeated non-stop.
''I'm sorry, I can't help you! I'm sorry I can't help you! I'm sorry I can't help you! I'm sorry I can't help you! I'm sorry I can't help you! I'm sorry, I can't help you!'' (Boy)
Evan and Leilani look terrified at each other.
''What are we going to do Evan?'' (Leilani)
Evan looks at the torch at his feet, and when he turns his gaze to Leilani, he realizes that it was too late to decide what they were going to do, the Man-Eating Spider was already under Leilani.
From afar, the Boy who had returned to the camp to get as many supplies as he could before running away, begins to hear his screams.
He is terrified and runs again, but not before having grabbed the bag of belongings and money from the two that had been left in the camp.
As the Boy ran, he heard his cries of agony, while he imagined the scene of both being devoured by the spider, while he repeated the same sentence aloud over and over again.
''I'm sorry, I can't help you! I'm sorry I can't help you! I'm sorry I can't help you! I'm sorry I can't help you! I'm sorry I can't help you! I'm sorry, I can't help you!'' (Boy)
So the boy ran, ran, and ran on and on, 2 days and a night passed and he reached Ello Town.
When he finally arrived at the City gate, he was already exhausted of any strength and when he saw the guards in front of him, he finally felt relieved and relented as he fell to his knees in front of them.
The guards quickly approach the boy only to hear him repeat the same words over and over again.
''I'm sorry, I can't help you! I'm sorry, I can't help you!'' (Boy)
After the guards take him away and he finally calms down, he explains what happened and why he's been repeating those words over and over again.
After having been running non-stop for almost 3 days, he finally has some rest in Ello Town, he ends up sleeping for a whole day.
The next day, he goes to the Ello Post Office and leaves the bag he took at the camp with Evan and Leilani's belongings and money, asking them to deliver everything to their family, with a letter from him explaining what happened to them, making a formal Delivery request with him covering the costs.
''This is the best I can do because they've been so nice to me and taught me so many things.'' (Boy)
When saying these words, the Boy turns his back to the Postal Headquarters.
Not long after, he leaves with the Caravan that would go to the South, which was his initial objective.
The Kid ends up having no more problems during his first delivery.
At the same time, he ends up not seeing anything familiar during his entire journey to the delivery location as well, it was a long and fruitless journey for him.
With that, time goes by and Garoto continues picking up new jobs from distant deliveries and fulfilling them, sometimes with difficulties, sometimes not.
The years go by and the Kid continues to repeat the same process every time he completes a delivery he already takes another one, and even then he still hasn't remembered anything.
The years went by faster and faster in the eyes of the Boy, even without results he continued, with difficulty, often experiencing monster attacks, being alone, with travel companions or even in Caravans, he went through several attacks of different types from different monsters, and many times, when that happened, he ended up suffering several minor or serious injuries, and on some of these occasions he almost died, again and again several times, he was living his life like this. As the years continued to pass, he continued to work just the same whether he was reckless or not, over and over again.
Years passed and the Boy was no longer a Boy, not with that scarred body that represented how many times he had nearly died during all that time while working as a Courier for the Postal Headquarters.
And in this way, 8 years have passed.
On the border of that continent with the sea. The Boy was standing there, facing the sea, staring blankly at him.
''I wonder if I should continue with this, after all these years, after everything I've been through, I haven't found anything so far.'' (Boy)
He was clearly without much hope, frustrated and disappointed for not being able to find anything until that moment, even after so much time had passed.
' ' But if I stopped now, what would I do with my life? Without my memories, without a name, I'm a nobody, I don't have and never had other ambitions, I wouldn't know what to do at this point, and if I stopped looking I feel like I would be betraying the expectations of those I promised not to stop until find something, and there is still my promise with Dr. Jace..'' (Boy)
'' Trying to expose myself to things from the past that would revive my memories. And trying to interact with something that would resonate like a muscle memory in my body to stimulate my memory feedback. But so far nothing has even come close to that." (Boy)
' ' And at least that's how it should be, something no matter how small should have had some effect, right? after I've been to so many places and seen so many things, isn't it? But if none of these hypotheses worked yet, even after all the places I've been and things I've seen and experienced, it can only mean one thing...'' (Garoto)
''Maybe, I'm not supposed to be from this continent... And if I'm not really from this continent, it's going to be much more complicated... And then, if that's really the case, I'm going to have to prepare myself financially, since Couriers is a work that only exists in poor and underdeveloped countries like this one, where we don't have large amounts of mages available to transmit messages instantly, so when I cross the border to countries outside this continent, I won't have this job anymore, and I'll have to survive with what I have at hand, so I better prepare myself and save enough money for trips, trips for even years, save so much money, this is not going to be easy.'' (Boy)
He takes a deep breath and smiles with a sad look.
''I really have nothing to do but move on from this, don't I? I don't know how to live any other way, and I couldn't face those I met before and who died before me trying to accomplish their goals and not accomplishing anything in the end, I have to be different from them, or at least I have to achieve something. of my goal isn't it?'' (Boy)
''And from now on I'm going to start thinking about what I'm going to do and how I'm going to live my life in case I can remember something and in case I can't, as well as the possibility that I give up on this life without being able to remember nothing, and what would I do after that? A house in a quiet town? A wife? Sons? Open my own business? I'm going to start thinking about all these possibilities from now on, at least this way, I feel like I'll really be accomplishing something, even without making progress with my memories.'' (Boy)
The boy smiles a little more excitedly now, and goes back to walking along the edge of the cliff while facing the sea.
''Well, there are still some countries for me to see before I leave this continent.. So let's go ahead, shall we?'' (Boy)
The boy smiles with a more determined expression, now with some new thoughts in mind, the boy closes his eyes, but when he opens them again he sees a ceiling.
''Ah, a dream of that time, it must be because I talked about the past with them, it must have made me think and I ended up dreaming of the time that I was still worried about my travels, well, it doesn't matter, there's just more one delivery in this region, and with a few more I'll be done with this country, and I'll go to the next one, just two more countries and I'll have traveled to every country on that continent and I'll have enough money to support me for many years while I'm away from here too, even not working.'' (Deliverer)
Someone knocks on the door, the boy hears it, and gets up to answer it.
Upon opening the door he sees that it is the boy son of the lord.
''You have visitors'' (Son of Lord)
'' Visits? Who?'' (Deliverer)
''They said they were your friends'' (Lord's Son)
''Friends? Where are they?'' (Deliverer)
' ' What do you mean where are they? They have already entered." (Son of the Lord)
''Have you entered yet? Where did you enter?'' (Deliverer)
The Deliverator turns around looking into his room, and sees his first two traveling companions covered in blood, and they lunge at him.
'''You abandoned us!'' (Evan and Leilani)
''No!!!'' (Deliverer)
Then he opens his eyes and gets up desperately, and realizes he was still sleeping.
''Ouch, oh... A nightmare in?'' (Deliverer)
The Deliverator, looks around the room, and sees several bodies scattered around the room he is in, all dead in different ways, some had their heads or limbs separated from their bodies or missing the same, some half or completely devoured... And some too horrible even to be described, all possibly the bodies of everyone he met during his travels and died before him.
''Really... Talking about the past brought up unpleasant memories. And unfortunately, they're not the ones I want to remember.'' (Deliverer)
He looks to the corner and sees Evan and Leilani together holding hands burned and with part of their bodies devoured.
''I feel like I'm still sleeping... When will I wake up from this nightmare?'' (Deliverer)