A sea of stars flashed past my vision, transforming into a hazy symphony of colours, only to be abruptly replaced by a blinding light that forced my eyes shut.
What… what was happening?
Finding solace in the comfortable darkness, a cascade of mories began to flow through my mind.
mories… that I didn’t exactly rember.
A woman’s cheerful voice.
‘Peek-a-boo! Ah! There’s that cute smile, ******!’
A young boy’s cry.
‘Pass the ball, ******!’
An old man’s echoing speech.
‘Please co to the stage to receive your diploma, ****** ****.’
A childish girl’s pleading.
‘Co play with , Big Brother!’
I was confused, but at the sa ti… tranquil.
As if I was too tired to think about what exactly was happening.
The myriad of mories and confusion died down as the monts passed, before I was then abruptly awakened from my state of peace by pain.
Blinding, itching pain.
Every portion of my skin stung as if it were on fire, causing to cry out in anguish.
But for so reason… it was muffled.
Distorted, as if my ears were clogged with water.
But slowly, the world around started to beco clearer.
The pain throughout my body subsided, and my hearing was free to listen in on the silent surroundings.
Well… I could faintly hear the crackling of a fireplace, so it wasn’t complete silence, but it was still quiet.
With the rustic background noise calming my senses, I eventually felt the need to open my eyes once again.
So, slowly, I lifted my eyelids.
There was no glaring brightness, but weirdly enough… it took much more effort than I thought it would.
And what greeted was the scene of… blurriness.
That was a bit disappointing.
But as ti passed, my vision slowly beca clearer, revealing the scene of a rustic wooden ceiling, with a singular beam running through the roof.
Weird… this was all very weird.
That ceiling… it felt so far away.
Raising my hand, I tried to reach toward the wooden beam, but… my hands… they were so very small and… pudgy.
Like a baby’s.
Huh?
“…Gah?”
…What?
Was that… my voice?
Huuuh!?
“Gbaa?”
W-What the!?
“Gubfaaa!”
I… I was a baby?
Why was I a baby?
No… why did that feel strange?
Why did that feel wrong?
Who… who was I?
Where am I?
I can’t… I can’t rember, but it feels like I’m missing sothing.
A piece of just… wasn’t there.
Shocked and confused by everything, a face then suddenly appeared in my vision.
It was a woman.
A pretty woman.
She had light blonde hair that was tied into a braid that rested over her shoulder, and her eyes were a deep beautiful brown that matched perfectly with her cute yet mature face.
If I were to guess, she looked to be in her mid-20s.
“Oh myraha? Dukara neexi malkalith?” the pretty woman said before lifting into her arms.
She smiled at , her pale face filled with love as her hand slowly caressed my cheek.
“Du rylaxa arata striti, Leon,” she said, her breath hitching at the end.
Was this… my mother?
That’s… only natural, I suppose.
My mother then lowered her shirt, revealing her bare breast, before gently placing my face next to it.
“Dirkadica. Groavin elixia, Leon.”
I… couldn’t understand what she was saying, but I think I got the point.
Besides, my stomach was beginning to churn in hunger.
But for so reason… even though it was normal for a baby, it felt pretty embarrassing to do this.
But I still needed to eat.
As soon as I latched on, I let the natural process take its course as my head beca groggier with each passing second, inching closer to the embrace of unconsciousness yet again.
And that was how I spent my first day in the world.
— Information on the Six-Faced World —
Geography of the Central Continent
Red Dragon Mountains: A large chain of mountains and hills that runs across and down the Central continent, separating the land into three parts: the North, the West, and the South.
North: A cold region that receives heavy snowfall and has mostly infertile soil, leading to the majority of the nations being weak and poor. Notable locations within this region include the three Magic Nations, the Sword Sanctum, and the Kingdom of Biheiril.
West: A prosperous region with a temperate climate, fertile plains, and rivers, making the Kingdom of Asura, the only nation in this region, the richest kingdom in the world.
South: A fairly fertile region, with nurous rivers and lakes along with vast plains and forests, which are divided by the Dragon King mountain range which runs vertically down the region. Notable locations within this region include the Strife Zone, the Dragon King Kingdom, and the Shirone Kingdom.
— Leon —
It had been a month since I had been born.
Or at least… I think so.
Ti was weird as an infant.
Not only was my perception of ti off, but I was also plagued with the constant need to nap, which further ssed with things.
And that wasn’t even ntioning how I could only guess the ti of day from the light streaming through the doorway, as we didn’t have any windows in our humble abode.
Regardless, my perception of ti didn’t really matter, as instead, this was a period of self-reflection, and a period to figure out what was going on with this life of mine.
First… my na.
It was Leon.
Leon… just Leon.
I guess there was no concept of ‘last nas’ here, or at least for soone of my class.
As for how I could infer all that… well, that had more to do with the self-reflection part.
I was knowledgeable.
I… knew things.
Things that I shouldn’t, and things without any mories to back up the knowledge.
For instance, I knew that 5 tis 5 equals 25, without rembering where I knew that from.
It was just… there.
As were all the other pieces of my knowledge.
How I knew I was a baby, how I knew that most babies weren’t like , how I knew what ‘windows’ and ‘ti’ were… yeah.
It was odd, to say the least.
Then, there was my living situation.
I, or rather, my mother, was… poor.
This was likely because my father was absent, which was either due to him leaving my mother on his own accord, or, considering the dieval technology, him simply dying.
Perhaps he was sent off to war?
Or maybe it could even be sothing a little more… exciting.
Like a prince falling in love with a humble village girl and distancing himself from the bastard child.
I knew my mother had the looks for it, at least.
But anyway, like I had noted, this place was a dieval society, and my mother and I lived in a small house that didn’t even have separate rooms.
Luckily for her, I didn’t cry unless I was extrely hungry or needed to be changed, so I wasn’t disturbing her sleep despite the cramped living situation.
And that brought to the last thing… my mother.
She was pretty, but other than that, she wasn’t particularly special.
Other than the loving care she gave , of course.
That was very special, at least to .
While I had yet to learn her na, my mother worked as a humble basket weaver, which seed to make enough for the bare essentials.
She was a kind mother, if a little clumsy, and talked to as much as she could, which was a great way for to get used to the language.
I also talked back to her when I could, although I was confined to babbles and gurgles.
But it seed to make my mom a little happier whenever I tried, and my articulation was slowly improving with the practice, so it was worth it.
Despite her constant conversations, without any reference for most words and phrases, I still needed so ti before I could be fluent in the language, but at least I now knew so things that were commonly spoken to , such as ‘milk’ and ‘feed’.
Anyway, while I was curious about the outside world, for the mont, I was still confined to my crib, and thus, I passed the ti by slowly growing my motor skills and vocabulary.
It was quite boring, to say the least.
Like this, another two months passed.
Though again, that was just by my estimation.
And in these two months, things had… mostly stayed the sa, at least for our general situation.
But I could move now!
I was sure that this was odd for such a young baby, and from the surprised face my mother showed when I first started crawling around, my suspicions were confird.
I guess I was a bit more advanced, then.
Hmm… I wonder if being completely conscious changed things, or perhaps I was just… built differently.
But either way, life seed much less boring now that I could explore the house, as small as it was.
Unfortunately, I was still too short to reach the door handle, so I wasn’t able to go any further.
And that wasn’t all!
“Honestly, Leon. I don’t know why you want to go outside so bad.”
I could understand my mother!
Of course, I still had trouble with vocabulary, and my vocal cords weren’t developed enough to respond, but it was progress!
Picking up, my still-unnad mother then rested on her lap as I let her hands brush through my silky smooth hair.
“It’s a bad on for kids to go outside before their first year, you know!” she scolded with a pout, gently poking my nose with her finger.
Agh! That ticked! Stop it, mother!
But yes… that was the main reason I wasn’t allowed past that dreaded door, even though I often sat myself in front of it, begging my mother with my eyes to let out.
A ‘bad on’.
I could only assu it was due to environntal concerns, as newborns were terrible at regulating body temperature, or maybe they were worried about infection and disease.
I wonder if this was a custom of this particular place, or if it was sothing common amongst this entire world.
Ah, and that’s another thing that I learned.
The ‘place’ that I lived in… it was a village.
I didn’t know the na, of course, but I knew that it was quite small, and my mother was only able to make a living by selling her wares to passing rchants who also just so happened to be the only people other than my mother that I had ever seen.
And today, or rather, tonight, judging by the lack of light peering through the door, was just like any other.
Mom made her baskets while talking to , I listened absentmindedly, and then I crawled around until I either tired myself out, or was picked up and placed in my mother's lap like now.
Such was life.
“Hmm… are you hungry, Leon? It is about ti for bed, isn’t it?”
“Uhn!”
I was getting a little hungry, even though I didn’t show it.
I guess this was a mother’s intuition, or sothing similar.
With her readjusting her dress, I prepared myself for the al.
“Hmm… I wonder why you always close your eyes before feeding,” she said curiously.
Because it’s embarrassing enough!
But… just as I was about to latch onto her breast, I heard a commotion from outside.
The sounds from outside were usually quiet.
The odd carriage rumbling by, the sounds of people talking as they walked, the sound of children running past… those sorts of things.
But this… this was different.
It was yelling.
Screams of pain. The sounds of clashing blades. The crackling of fire.
The sound of chaos.
W-What? What was happening?
“Bandits?” my mother said breathlessly, her voice trembling slightly.
Feeling my mother’s hand squeeze harder around , I looked up and saw that she was wearing an irregularly serious expression, her face quickly turning pale.
“Leon. Y-You have to be quiet, alright? Be quiet for Mom, please,” she pleaded, looking down at .
Before I could respond, she picked up and carried over to the bin of discarded basket materials before placing inside, hastily covering the top of my head with straw.
“J-Just stay there, okay? And don’t co out, no matter what,” she said with a fake smile.
Her voice… it was panicked.
Laced in fear and anxiousness.
“O-Okay, let’s do this, Alice. Just like Mama taught you,” she murmured to herself as she walked to the front of the doorway.
So my mother’s na was Alice… No!
Now was not the ti to be thinking of such things!
My mother then slowly undid her shirt, revealing so of her cleavage, before she then collected her hair into a ponytail that rested over her shoulder.
“A-Appear good enough to be used, but not taken. C-Co on, Alice. L-Leon still needs his mother,” she told herself.
‘Good enough to be used’…?
No… why would-
Crash!
The door burst into splinters as a woman, with a large scar across her face that matched her rugged appearance, entered the room.
My mother’s face paled.
“Oya? What’s this? So harlot’s living in a little village like this?”
Resting a sword on her shoulder, I noticed that the tip of it was stained red, and from the sll, I knew that it was blood.
That… wasn’t good.
It wasn’t good at all.
This… this woman was a bandit, wasn’t she?
“Hmm…” the bandit says, her eyes narrowed. “You’re good enough to sell high, too. As long as we find a good buyer, that is…”
“N-No…” my mother shouted, stepping backward. “Get away!”
“Oh yes!” the woman sneers. “Now co here! Don’t struggle!”
The bandit then tapped the tip of her sword against the ground in front of her.
W-What do I do?
No… I can’t do anything, I know this.
But… it felt wrong, to just sit here like this.
My mother then cast her gaze my way, her eyes eting mine before they narrowed in resolve.
What… what was with that look?
“A-All right. I’ll… I’ll go with you…” she says through gritted teeth.
Not wanting to betray my mother’s trust, I held my breath despite the sickening feeling as she stepped closer and closer to the bandit, the sounds of a violent rampage increasing in the background.
“That’s it~ Be a good girl and who knows? The client might just use you as a pretty face,” the bandit woman said with a sneer.
I watched as my mother slowly crouched in front of the bandit while her hand slowly reached toward the back of her leg, where her carving knife was strapped, hidden from the bandit’s view.
Don’t tell …
N-No!
My mother wasn’t a fighter!
D-Distraction!
“G-Gah!” I shouted.
The bandit’s eyes instantly darted toward , her pupils narrowing as soon as she set her sights on , as I began to feel an inexplicable pressure descend on my very being.
I-Is this how a rabbit feels in front of a lion?
The feeling of being prey.
My breath hitched and my pulse quickened.
My heartbeat… it was too loud.
The very fabric of the air seed stifling.
“What’s this? A little brat- Ack!?”
She’s cut off as my mother’s knife descended toward the bandit's neck, but befitting the instincts of a fighter, she dodged out of the way just in ti, the blade lodging into the bandit’s shoulder instead.
No…
Ti seed to co to a stop once again as the bandit slowly pulled out the blade, the blood dripping onto the wooden floor being the only sound in the otherwise silent room.
“…You… just did that… didn’t you?” the bandit said.
I felt the crushing pressure of her presence dissipate, but for so reason… that didn’t make feel any more relieved.
No… in fact… it only made more nervous.
I feel my hands shake.
No… my entire body was shaking.
Trembling in fear as my mother took a hesitant step back, turning toward with a desperate expression.
“L-Leon! R-Run- Gah-!”
Blood splattered across the floor as the bandit’s sword ran through my mother’s chest.
…
“Who’s running where, huh!? Dammit. Now Hector will be on my ass for needing his damn healing magic,” the bandit says, spitting on the ground as she placed a hand over her wounded shoulder.
I couldn’t think.
My mind was blank.
The distant sounds fading into the background as I looked at my mother in horror.
She had fallen to her knees, blood seeping from the corner of her mouth as she then dropped to the floor.
“Anyway… so you had a brat, did ya? Too bad Daddy isn’t around, or you might’ve gotten away. Anyway, let’s have a little look-see.”
My connection to the world was completely detached, so much so that I didn’t even register the feeling of being picked up and held by the scruff of my neck.
“A quiet brat, aren’t you? Must be scared shitless, eh?”
My mother… who I had only just learned the na of… she was bleeding.
Bleeding a dangerous amount of blood, so much that there was already a puddle that was growing larger with each passing second.
The scent of copper was overwhelming, to the point that I doubt I would ever forget it.
No… Mom… please!
“Haa… boring~ Well, it’s not like anyone could take care of you now anyway, so consider this a small rcy on my part. Better than starving to death, right?”
My eyes slowly drifted over to the voice as the bandit slowly pulled out a dagger.
I felt the tip press against my throat, but despite my life being in imminent danger… I couldn’t find myself any room to care.
Mom… Mom!
“Sorry kid-”
Her words were cut off as a flash of white crosses my vision, accompanied by the sound of howling wind and a distant boom.
Blood splattered onto my face, and I watched as the arm which was holding flew through the air, followed by the head of the bandit.
Huh?
After a mont of slight vertigo while falling, I felt my body get caught by another set of arms.
This ti, however, it was much warr… and much gentler.
“Tch. Zenith! Get over here!”
Flinching at the volu, I turned my head up to see the source of the noise.
There was a woman.
A very muscular woman, with nothing covering her chest but a singular strap of fabric.
Her body was littered with scars, and her face, paired with an eye patch, gave off the feeling of a delinquent, but she didn’t feel very scary to .
But what was most shocking was the pair of grey ears poking out of her matching mane of grey hair.
Animal ears.
…No, the ti for such questions ca later.
For now-
“Gah! Ungaa!” I shouted, reaching my arms out toward my dying mother.
The woman, my saviour, seed to get the point as she slowly lowered to the ground.
“Ghislaine! It’s terrible! What’s-? Oh, my!”
The entrance of yet another woman entered through one ear and out the other as I reached out to my mother’s hands, barely having the motor skills and strength to grasp onto the cuff of her shirt.
The new woman, or rather, the girl, then knelt across from , putting her hands over the wound of my mother’s that was gushing blood.
“Oh rciful mother of gods, please heal this one’s wounds, and let him recover with a healthy body - X-Healing!” she chanted resolutely.
Her hands were then set alight in a green glow, but despite yet another mystical phenonon, I was too focused on my mother, whose face was paling further with each passing mont.
“I-It’s not working! It’s too deep! I-It needs advanced rank at least!” the girl said tearfully.
“Kach! L-Leon!” my mother sputtered, turning her head toward .
“G-Gah,” I said back.
“Leon…”
Her hand then reached up and gently caressed my cheek, and as if casting a spell, the fog that had been clouding my mind cleared, giving way to a flood of mories.
‘Leon! You’re crawling! Uuu~ Mom’s so proud!’
‘What are you doing, closing your eyes like that? Silly boy. Here, drink!’
‘Hm? Outside? Leon, you know you can’t go out there! Here, co sit with instead. I’ll tell you a nice story.’
Ahh!
Mom!
I grasped the frail hand that rested against my cheek in a feeble attempt to keep the only ally in this life, my only family, anchored to the world of the living.
D-Don’t, Mom!
Please don’t leave !
But despite my internal pleas, her vibrant eyes were turning more distant as they began watering with tears, just as mine were.
“Leon…” she rasped.
I… didn’t want it to end like this.
So, feeling my throat tighten, I clenched my hand that was holding hers and tried to give her one last way to show my feelings.
My feelings that she was a good mother.
I wanted to show her that despite the short ti we spent together… I loved her.
She gave so much love, and was the only source of warmth in my world.
She hugged when I was cold, fed when I was hungry, rocked when I was tired…
So please!
These important feelings of mine… get through to her!
“G-Gam. B-Baba. M… M-Mama.”
I did it.
Finally, I was able to utter my first word.
I was able to show how much I loved her.
Still, despite the celebratory achievent, there were no cheers to be had.
Instead, only a solemn atmosphere of loss was present.
My mother’s eyes turned teary as she gave a sweet, proud smile before turning to the girl whose hands had glowed a mont before.
“G-Girl,” she choked, a bit of blood dribbling out of her mouth.
“Y-Yes?” the girl responded.
Taking a shaky breath, my mother continued, “P-Please… take care of my son. P… Please…”
Her words trailed off as she watched the girl nod her head.
“I-I will! Absolutely! I-”
The girl stopped herself as she noticed the state of my mother, her hand quickly reaching to cover her mouth as tears threatened to escape the corner of her eyes.
I felt the hand I was holding tighten as my mother’s head fell to the side, eyes devoid of life, but a calm smile present on her face.
Then, as if a string had snapped, the emotions I had been holding back ca flooding into like a churning cascade, leaving with no other way to release this pressure than to wail in grief.
“Uuu… Uwaa!” I cried.
Everything seed like a blur after that, but I do rember getting picked up by that glowing girl, and my cries being muffled into her chest as she held close, gently rocking my body in an attempt to calm .
But this pain couldn’t be cald that simply.
I was then taken out of the house, briefly witnessing the devastating scenery that was my village through my eyes that were blurred with tears.
But not long after, I tired myself out from crying and found myself welcoming the embrace of sleep to end the day that felt like a nightmare.
A terrible, horrible nightmare.
But despite my wishes, it was reality.
And so, after three short months in this world, I had lost the only family and ho I had.
But at the sa ti, while I didn’t know it yet, I had gained a new one as well.
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