"Hey! Julia! Wait for your dad!"
My legs are killing me! Were kids supposed to be this fast? She's just 10 years old! Ugh I hate being old…
"Papa, mama said that the last person to get home was not going to eat dinner, so I'm gonna' go ahead, okay?" [Julia]
And with a smile on her face, she just dashed off, leaving me behind.
"Oh come on, no dinner?" [Raymond]
As I pouted, a familiar face came to me.
"Yo! Raymond, I see that your daughter has inherited your speed. I still remember the times we went out to hunt monsters. Those were fun times" [???]
"Yeah it was, but too bad, I have my own family now. I'm fine with being a carpenter because it's a much safer job. Haven't you retired from being an adventurer too, Ryan?" [Raymond]
"Yeah I have, being an adventurer is a dangerous job. I have my own family too now so I chose to just be the village guard, it doesn't pay as much as being an adventurer but at least there's practically no risk of being eaten alive by a beast." [Ryan]
"Yeah you're right, anyway I'm gonna' head home now. See ya' later, Ryan." [Raymond]
"Mm! Take care." [Ryan]
Since my home was close, I managed to reach it quickly.
"There's papa! He's last so he gets no dinner! I get mine, right?" [Julia]
The one who celebrated me for having no dinner is my first child, Julia. She is 10 years old and looks like her mom.
"Yes that's right honey, since your papa came home last. He gets no dinner." [???]
And the one who just practically told me that I won't be getting dinner is my wife, Cherry. The baby she is carrying is our second child, Baron.
"Aw come on, I was just a bit late. And I'm hungry too, can't I please have dinner?" [Raymond]
"Hmm.. what to do, Julia? It seems that your papa is hungry and wants to eat." [Cherry]
"Okay! If papa's hungry then he can eat!" [Julia]
"Wow! My little girl's the nicest person in the entire world!" [Raymond]
I hugged her tight and then we proceeded to have a meal.
We chatted a bit, but it was just mostly me talking about my job.
Night came and I sat on the front porch just looking at the stars.
"Stargazing at that age?" [Cherry]
My wife comes to me and hands me a mug of coffee, I grab it and took a sip then put it down on the table.
"Well I can't help it, the night's just too beautiful." [Raymond]
I then looked at her in hopes of scoring some points.
"That won't work on me." [Cherry]
With a smirk on her face, she continues to look at the night sky.
"Well I tried." [Raymond]
I rubbed the back of my head in embarrassment.
"Chery." [Raymond]
"What is it?" [Cherry]
"Let's move to the city tomorrow. I've managed to earn enough money to buy a house there and as for a job, I know a butcher that would take me in as a worker. Our lives there would be so much better, our children can have more opportunities for them. And thanks to the emperor, even if we aren't nobles we can enroll our kids at a school. Let's move to the city." [Raymond]
With a serious look on my face, I turn to my wife who is still staring at the stars.
"Then we should." [Cherry]
"You aren't going to ask me questions or complain?" [Raymond]
"Why should I? I left my life as a traveling merchant to be with you. You could say that marrying you might have been the biggest mistake in my life." [Cherry]
"Ugh…" [Raymond]
She turns to me with a big and dazzling smile on her face that makes the starry sky pale in comparison.
"But it also made me the happiest." [Cherry]
I was flustered and turned away in an instant.
"R-really? Then I'm glad… t-then I'll prepare some of our papers, you should go back and sleep for now." [Raymond]
"Alright." [Cherry]
She stands up and heads to the door.
"You should hurry up and sleep too, don't tire yourself too much." [Cherry]
"Yes, I won't." [Raymond]
She closes the doors and now I'm left here pondering to myself.
Tomorrow, tomorrow we'll move to the city. I've secured a future for my family and it'll be smooth sailing from then on-
*kaboom*
"What was that!?" [Raymond]
I stood up after hearing a loud explosion.
"It's a calamity! Run for your lives!" [Villager]
"Help! Help! Please help me!" [Villager]
"What's happening?" [Raymond]
I saw Ryan running towards me and waved at him.
"Raymond!" [Ryan]
"Ryan! What's happening? What was with that explosion I just heard?" [Raymond]
"Beasts. That explosion was from one of the magic traps the guards bought, but it should only trigger when there's at least 12 beasts near it. Which means this is no ordinary attack… it's a monster calamity." [Ryan]
"A monster calamity…" [Raymond]
"Then that means we should head out now!" [Raymond]
"Yes! Get your family out of here, me and the other guards will do our best to secure the other villagers. Don't worry about me, I'm just doing my job." [Ryan]
"Ryan. Take care." [Raymond]
"You too brother, see you next time." [Ryan]
Ryan turns around and runs towards villagers nearing help. I turn around too and see my daughter Julia outside of the house.
"Papa, what's with all the noise? It's annoying me." [Julia]
"Julia, sweety, tell mom to grab my sword. Hurry up!" [Raymond]
"But mom is packing our bags.." [Julia]
With a yawn, Julia tells me what Cherry was doing.
I shout from the outside.
"Cherry! Forget the bags, grab my sword and let's get a move on!" [Raymond]
A few moments later, my wife steps out of the house. Baron on her right hand and my sword on her left. She throws me my sword and asks-
"What's happening, Raymond? I heard an explosion earlier and now you're asking me to bring your sword?" [Cherry]
Before I could answer her, a thunderous clap resounded and suddenly her top half of her body alongside Baron's head came flying.
"Wha-" [Raymond]
"C-cherry..!" [Raymond]
"CHERRY!!!!!!!!!" [Raymond]
What seems to be a wolf-like beast slows down and licks its bloodied claws just a few steps away from my wife's body.
Anger and despair coursed through my body, I picked up my sword with nothing but an intent to slash it at the beast.
"You..! You foul beast!!! I'LL KILL YOU!!!" [Raymond]
But before I could rush towards it, Julia pulled me from behind.
"P-papa.. I'm scared. What is that, thing..?" [Julia]
No.. I can't lose myself right now. I can't take this beast on myself, I need to run, we need to run.
I sling my sword towards my back, turned around and picked up Julia.
I looked back one last time at my wife and closed my eyes for a brief moment and continued running.
"Goodbye, Cherry." I mumbled under my breath.
I eventually ran into Ryan, who looked tired and very wounded.
"Raymond? You made it. Where's Cherry and Baron?" [Ryan]
I just looked at him with a teary and bloodshot eyes.
"I- I'm sorry… but you guys still have to escape, the guards have received a lot of casualties. Over at the western side of the wall, there is a gate currently being constructed there. It should be easy to get through it, once you're-" [Ryan]
Before Ryan could finish his instructions, a blinding light appeared out of nowhere followed by a powerful explosion that threw me several meters away from where I was just standing.
"Ugh.. I can't feel my right arm.." [Raymond]
Julia.. where is Julia?
I wanted to shout but I had no strength to do so.
I looked around me and to my horror, I could see only Ryan's disembodied head hanging on one of the neighbor's fences.
"Ryan…" [Raymond]
I still couldn't see Julia. I gathered all my strength to shout.
"JULIA! Where are you!?" [Raymond]
And all of a sudden, the ground shook with a tremendous thud. Shivers ran down my spine and I felt cold sweat trickling on me.
I slowly looked behind me and it was as if my world stopped.
A monster bigger than my house looked at me with its glowing blue eyes with electricity crackling within it.
But what made my heart drop wasn't the enormous magic beast in front of me, inside its mouth was-
"P-papa…" [Julia]
"J-julia..!" [Raymond]
"No, no, no, no, no! NO!!!!!!!!" [Raymond]
The monster, as if making fun of me. Looked at me straight to my eyes and swallowed my daughter, Julia, whole.
"JULIA!!!!!!!!!" [Raymond]
I slowly and painfully stood up and pulled my sword using my left hand. I was losing a lot of blood, my right arm was completely broken, my left leg was facing the wrong way.
I'm going to die here, aren't I?
Where did I go wrong? What did I do wrong? We were supposed to move to the city tomorrow, we'll have a nice life there, my children will go to school and they'll earn prestigious positions and be a well known member of the society.
God why..!? WHAT DID I WRONG TO DESERVE ALL OF THIS!?
No. The fault doesn't lie within the gods… the fault lies in that disgusting beast in front of me. Those disgusting monsters that killed my family.
I WILL KILL YOU ALL TOO.
"AAAAAGGGHHHHH….!!!!" [Raymond]
I unsheathe my sword and ran towards the monster-
*slap*
With just a wave of its hand, the monster slapped me farther away and I hit a pole that led me to fall down a well.
I lost my consciousness for a bit but I think it's thanks to the water that I woke up immediately.
However…
"I can't feel my body anymore… I have no strength." [Raymond]
I can't feel any of my limbs anymore, it's getting harder to breathe too. Am I going to die here? Without even avenging my family? That can't be… I still need to live, I need to-
Do you want power?
What's that? Who's there? Am I hearing a voice inside my head?
I can give you enough power to grind this village to dust and kill every beast inside it. Just tell me, and I will grant your wish.
Power..? No! I don't want to destroy this village, the memories of my family are still here. Who are you!?
Oh brave soul. The gods are astounded by your sheer will. We hereby grant you the blessings of a hero for your willpower.
Gods? Hero? W-what are you talking about?
Oh brave soul. We are granting you these blessings but it does not come free. You will be given a task like all the other heroes before you.
And suddenly, a golden light shone in front of me and formed the appearance of a young lady with very long hair covering her entire body.
She pointed at me and said-
Demon.
Before I get the chance to be confused- a blinding white light seemingly exploded from my body and enveloped my surroundings, I felt energy coming back to me and I can move my limbs once again, after feeling like I got healed, I once again lost consciousness.
…
…
…
When I woke up, I was in front of what used to be my home. I quickly stood up and checked my surroundings and saw nothing but dead, disembodied, and dismembered corpses of various beasts. Is this my doing..?
I suddenly remembered my entire family. My wife Cherry, my daughter Julia, and my son Baron.
Words wouldn't come out of my mouth, but rather tears came out of my eyes.
I fell down to my knees and cried to myself for the rest of the day.
A few years later…
I pick up my sword that I just rammed through a beast three times my size.
"Was that the last of them?" [Raymond]
As I wiped the sweat off of my forehead, I heard someone crying not too far away.
"Crying? Someone's still alive!" [Raymond]
I used Light Step and rushed towards where the sound was coming from.
After pinpointing that the source of the sound was coming from beneath me, I gently lifted the boulder and saw the most beautiful thing I've ever seen so far in my life.
A long and wavy silver-white hair, paired with bright red eyes and skin so pale she might as well be a ghost.
And it suddenly hit me- she perfectly matches the description of a demon. But- she's just a child.
I slowly levitated down to reach her, making sure I won't cause her to be on guard as she stared at me with her bright red teary eyes.
"W-who are you? Please don't hurt me." [???]
"Shh. Don't worry, you're safe now." [Raymond]
She looks at me a bit longer before breaking down, crying again.
I pulled her to me and hug her to carry her then slowly levitated up.
"What's your name, young child?" [Raymond]
"M-my name is Elena." [Elena]
"I see, what a beautiful name. Let's get you to safety, okay?" [Raymond]
She just nodded at me and I proceeded to walk away from the ruins.
I can only hope that this girl isn't the one I was supposed to slay.