The Beginning of Spring The Beginning of Spring Noon, a clear day. A year had already passed since the appearance of the Cursed Child in this world. Near a seemingly small medieval town, by the road leading to the Enchanted Forest, stood three intriguing figures. The first among them—the reason for this so-called meeting—was Alanis. He lay on the dirty ground, with the blade of a dagger at his throat. Outwardly, he appeared to be a young man in his early 20s. His hair was black, long, reaching his shoulders, tied in a bun at the back, wavy, and greasy. His facial features were sharp, and his narrow brown eyes reflected fear and contempt toward the two standing in front of him.

The second, the one looking down at Alanis (largely thanks to his height), was Mazmun—a representative of the Ragnar race, something between ogres and humans. He was nearly three meters tall, with a muscular body hidden under a cloak. His face was formidable, with sea-colored eyes, gray hair, and stubble. But his most distinctive feature, like that of all Ragnar, was his horns. Mazmun's, however, were broken, with only stumps protruding from his head.

And finally, Mazmun's companion—Miphi, the third of the group, the one holding the dagger's blade. This being was a mystery. It stood no taller than 1.5 meters, with long arms that seemed disproportionate to its body. It was entirely wrapped in fabric the color of ripe plums—from head to toe. Even the slit for its eyes was covered with some kind of bandage.

Thus, our scene unfolded by the road leading to the Enchanted Forest, near the gates of the city of Marmont in Ragnarnia.

"Well, have you calmed down, you soulless puppet?" hissed a tall and spiteful voice coming from the walking fabric.

"Don't do anything reckless, puppet. We just want to talk to you. If you answer all our questions, we'll let you go. Understood?" warned Mazmun, addressing the unarmed man lying on the ground.

"Just talk? That dagger wouldn't be at my throat if this were merely a conversation," said the unarmed Alanis.

"It's your damn fault! Who was the one that started shooting arrows at our first meeting?!" the tall voice from under the fabric shouted angrily.

Alanis already knew these two. Over the past year, many creatures had hunted him, sharpening his instincts in response to certain situations. After their first encounter two weeks ago, when he mistakenly fired several arrows at them, he had to flee. Since then, Mazmun and Miphi had been hunting him, and now, after a long pursuit, they had finally caught him.

What will they do to me? Alanis wondered.

The truth was that there were no other humans in this world, and Alanis was the only one. This caused him many problems: many wealthy figures in this world wanted to own him as a slave or, worse, as a pet. The less wealthy, realizing that such a rarity could be their gold mine, hunted him. After several dangerous encounters, Alanis always wore a black cloak to cover his face and avoid drawing attention. But two weeks ago, he ran into these two and, reacting too abruptly, unintentionally became their prey. After a long chase, the two non-humans caught him off guard as he tried to enter the city of Marmont for supplies.

"Alright, I'll answer all your questions, just please don't hurt me," Alanis said, like a beaten rat.

At these words, Miphi slowly withdrew the dagger but kept it in hand.

"Oh, you speak differently when someone's got you by the balls, huh?" hissed the plum-colored fabric.

Alanis was irritated by the creature's harsh words, but he hid his annoyance, trying to remain compliant before the three-meter-tall, muscular Ragnar standing in front of him.

"Alright. First question. You are from the human tribe, aren't you?" Mazmun asked somewhat uncertainly.

"Yes, I'm human. But how do you know the name of my race?" Alanis almost shouted in enthusiasm. The conversation had suddenly taken a different turn. None of the creatures he had met before knew about humans. A lost dream flickered in his eyes—the hope of reuniting with his own kind.

"Shut your mouth. I'll ask the questions first," Mazmun cut him off sharply.

"Second question. You are from the outer world, from the kingdom of humans—Barson Kelmes, right? The kingdom beyond the horizon," he asked in a firm voice.

At his words, Alanis' heart clenched. Ever since he had arrived in this world a year ago, all he had wanted was to return to where he came from. This alternate world held nothing good for him—no busty sorceress, no adventures, no hero status. None of that existed. He had never met another human here. Most of what he had seen and experienced was pain, hunger, and fear.

Mazmun's questions were not entirely clear to Alanis, but the mere mention of humans from another world filled him with hope.

"Yes, I am from the world of humans. Yes, I am from another world," he barely managed to say, his voice trembling, almost in tears.

The enormous Ragnar, Mazmun, was surprised to see how a few words had nearly brought this man to tears. Just a moment ago, he had been ready to tear their throats out.

"Hey, turns out you're a real crybaby," the voice from the walking fabric sneered.

"Don't worry, we're not going to harm you. To tell you the truth, we are here at the request of our friend—he is human, just like you. If you answer all our questions, the three of us will decide what to do next. For now, just answer," Mazmun said unexpectedly gently.

The attempt to calm him seemed to have the opposite effect. Alanis, who had been holding himself together all this time, suddenly burst into tears.

"Well, well. And here I thought they were all like Altera. A bit unexpected, right, Mazmun?" said Miphi, lowering the dagger to the ground.

"That's right. These two are nothing alike…"

"What's your name and how old are you?" Mazmun asked.

"My… (sniff) name is… (sniff) Alanis," he barely managed to say, sniffling and sobbing.

"My name is Mazmun, and the one wrapped in fabric head to toe is Miphi. Well, once you calm down, we'll continue our conversation," Mazmun said calmly.

Alanis struggled to pull himself together. But too much had happened in his life recently, and now everything he had been holding back came bursting out at this unexpected moment.

After a few minutes, having calmed down, wiped away his tears, and taken several deep breaths, with a face full of hope, he said, "Please, let's continue." Looking at this scene, where a grown young man was lying in the dirt and wiping his tears, Miphy barely held back her laughter, but unsuccessfully. However, the large Mazmun was clearly displeased with her behavior.

"Alanis, how did you end up in the lands of Ragnaria? Are there any other representatives of the human tribe?" Mazmun asked.

"That's difficult to answer. I don't know how I ended up in this world. About a year ago, when I opened my eyes here, I was already in captivity, bound. Most likely, they wanted to sell me into slavery. Those who captured me at first were Ragnars in armor with the emblem of some bird. And no, since my arrival in this world, I have been alone," Alanis quickly spoke, pouring out everything that had accumulated in his soul and thoughts.

"The chancellor of Ragnaria has a fondness for collecting creatures of different species. Well, that's not too important. Since you were alone, that changes a lot," Mazmun said.

"I'm confused by how he said: 'When I was captured for the first time…'" Miphy murmured under her breath, slowly beginning to understand Alanis's sharp outbursts.

Before Alanis could respond to Miphy's remark about captivity, Mazmun asked the next question:

"Although this isn't too important, do you know another human, a count of the kingdom of Barson Kelmes—Altera All Kairos?"

"No, I don't know him. I come from a world where humanity is the only intelligent species, or as you call it, 'tribe.' But one question has been bothering me all this time: what do you mean by 'the human kingdom of Barson Kelmes'?" he asked in confusion, causing a flicker of bewilderment in the eyes of the two "enthusiastic hunters."

"Wait. First, fully explain where you are from and from which kingdom," Mazmun said with a note of disbelief in his voice.

"I am a human, Alanis, from Earth. From another world. In that world, there is no kingdom of Barson Kelmes, and in general, it's the twenty-first century there—you could say I'm from the future. And the most important difference between our worlds is that in the world I came from, there is no magic," Alanis said with full confidence.

For Mazmun and Miphy, inhabitants of this world, his words sounded like the ramblings of a madman. But there were several factors that could make them believe him. After a minute of silence, which felt like an eternity, Mazmun spoke:

"It seems we have misunderstood each other. When I spoke about Barson Kelmes, I meant that it is a human kingdom. It represents a huge island or continent that cannot be reached physically. It appears to be protected by some kind of barrier. Our dear comrade is from there, and in that kingdom, there is magic, unlike what you just told us. To me, this all seems like mere nonsense, but…" Mazmun spoke in a calm, rational voice.

"But I am not saying that you are lying or mistaken, because your existence itself is direct proof of this," he said, looking at Alanis with his blue eyes, as if trying to discern something within him.

All this time, the silent Miphy continued: "Perhaps ordinary people wouldn't notice. No, even trained mages wouldn't be able to. There isn't a single drop of mana coming from you. You simply don't have a soul—the organ that circulates life energy through the body," Miphy said with a confident and calm voice, which seemed uncharacteristic for the goblin who had been laughing mischievously just a moment ago.

And the only one who had remained silent until now, whose hopes had risen and faded within this short conversation, finally spoke: "I need to process all this information," he said. Although Alanis had previously heard from a witch he lived with that he had no soul, hearing it said again always felt strange and somewhat hurtful. But the biggest disappointment lay in the misunderstanding between them. Yet, that wasn't the main issue. At this moment, he was alone in this world, and the chance of reuniting with other humans still excited him.

"It seems there was a strange misunderstanding, but everything I said is the absolute truth. I would like to meet the person you mentioned. He is from Barson Kelmes, right? If thats possible, of course," Alanis said, hiding a storm of emotions inside him.

"Actually, that was precisely our task. We were told that if a human was indeed found in the rumored location, we should first talk to him, interrogate him, and, with his permission, reach Altera," Mazmun said.

But upon hearing Mazmuns words, Miphi understood that "with his permission" was purely for show because even if he resisted, they would take him by force.

After all, that was precisely Altera's request.