'Julian of Swordshards. Have you done with your task already?'

  'I apologize for taking too long. The North is now for you to tread, O' Light.'

  'Good. You are truly my best soldiers.'

  'Julian of Swordshards'

  "Julian."

  Julian opened his eyes. He took a deep breath before casting his gaze slowly to his surroundings. From a short glance, he could tell he was in a clearing close to the tainted forest.

  "You did not sleep even for a second. Impressive is an understatement."

  "..."

  "Your mother is there, sleeping."

  "..."

  Julian laid his eyes on a man, a stranger sitting across his feet. Returning his gaze, the man was smiling gently. He held a dimly lit lantern in his hand, and a tree branch was bit loosely in his mouth.

  Under the purple light, the man's clean visage and dispirited eyes shone unobstructed.

  "Is something wrong?" The man asked calmly.

  "... Thank you for your help, mister."

  "You are welcome," the man said with a soft smile. Putting down his lantern, he continued, "You may have heard it in your pretend-sleep, but you can call me Merchant."

  "I am called Julian."

  "I know."

  A traveling merchant. That was what the man before him introduced himself as. At least, that was what he heard in his 'sleep.'

  Julian pushed himself up, cracking and popping bones all over his limbs. His body felt so tired and heavy that it was barely willing to move. Yet, the searing pain from all those wounds did not allow him to sleep that tiredness away.

  He then caressed the pungent patch on his forearm.

  "Mr. Merchant, how much for the treatment?"

  "Don't bother," Merchant chuckled. Cracking his fingers, he continued, "That medicine could only survive a week or two before going bad, so they are practically worthless."

  "Medicine... Is it a suppressant?"

  "Oh, you knew. You should have searched for the herbs if you knew about them... You are almost dead, you know?"

  He was aware that there were herbs to suppress corruption. Unlike what most would believe, the suppressant was fairly easy to find if one knew where to look.

  It was like a goose feather. If one knows where to look for them, they are everywhere. The best example was an arrow. If one plucked a feather from an arrow, it would almost certainly be of a goose.

  "I would have if I had known."

  Unfortunately, Julian did not know where to look for them.

  "Heh, but still, I couldn't believe that medicine would come to use. I thought no one would be stupid enough to get near Tainted anymore," laughed Merchant.

  ***

  "Hm, how should I say this..."

  "I assumed they had no value?"

  "Most of them, yes."

  Merchant and Julian sat facing each other. Between them spread an old rug that had long lost its original color. Merchant swept his gaze across the myriads of items laid on it, occasionally picking and inspecting some that he felt had value.

  "That's a shame," Julian said, seeing more and more of his stuff being put back down.

  "Well, this is all I could offer."

  In the end, Merchant said aside a couple of rings and knives. He then slid three copper coins towards Julian.

  "Sure."

  Julian had no intention of haggling. He traded those spoils of war of his with Merchant without any hesitation. After all, he knew those accessories from the dead villagers would not fetch much.

  Unfortunately, a new regret came.

  He felt as if the encounter with the bandits could have profited him much more. Other than not retrieving their weapons, he felt unfortunate for not having the opportunity to search their corpses.

  'A sword would feed us for weeks.'

  "That dagger. It would fetch for quite a bit."

  "This?"

  Not too deep into his thinking, Julian had no problem catching Merchant's subtle gaze on his black dagger. Taking off the dagger along with the scabbard, Julian handed it gently to Merchant.

  "How much?" Merchant said after a short inspection of the dagger.

  "15 coppers."

  "Deal."

  Seeing Mercant readily agree to his price, Julian wondered if the dagger was more valuable than he thought. While it was usable, Julian saw that the steelworks were not that impressive. It was decent at best.

  Nonetheless, he was quite satisfied after getting a total of 18 copper coins. In the market, that would at least get him 18 loaves of bread.

  "You should retire for now, kid. Your injuries are not light," Merchant said after a long silence.

  "Sitting down like this is more than enough," Julian said calmly. With a soft sigh, he sent his gaze to a caravan stationed to their side and asked, "Did you carry it by yourself?"

  "It's nothing. I was just blessed with a useful Gift."

  "Useful, huh?"

  Julian looked at the fully-stuffed caravan. Even without the help of the lantern light, he could tell what those glowing items were.

  "Are they all Cold Steel?"

  Steel. It was a steel ingot-filled caravan. The caravan was heavy enough that its wheels dented the dry earth. Yet, the man pulled it by himself. No horses, nor beasts.

  "...I did not expect a child to recognize steel. But yes, they are all Cold Steel," Merchant said after a prolonged silence.

  "It must have been a high-tiered Gift then."

  "Hahaha, of course not. If it was, I would not be doing this kind of thing, " Merchant laughed out loud. Shaking his head, he continued. "Peasant... this is the life of a Peasant, my child.

  "Are you embarrassed by your job?" Julian asked, eyes looking at the arching caravan.

  "No, of course not... I am just always left wondering where I would be if it weren't a Peasant."

  "Mr. Merchant, why did you become a merchant? Is it because you are a Peasant? Is it just because of your whimsical past decisions? Or is it because you are only good at it?"

  "Why the sudden serious talk, kid?" Merchant scoffed. Biting hard on the branch, he said, "But none of them. It's what I want to do."

  "Then nothing would change, would it?"

  "Right... You are most likely correct."

  "Most likely?"

  "Well, nothing is certain in this world. Not in this kind of world."

  "..."

  Julian was silent. It was not because of the lost and defeated gaze of the merchant. It was not because he was lost for words either. He was just too occupied guessing where the conversation was headed, while also preparing the best responses ahead of time.

  "What about you?"

  "Hm? What's it about me?"

  "That's my question. What about you, kid? I told you quite a bit about me. Yet I don't know anything about you."

  "What's it that you want to know?" Julian said, a slight smile decorating his face.

  "Are you also a Peasant, or perhaps a Knight?"

  "Knight? I would not be treading this dangerous road if I were one, wouldn't I?"

  "Well, who knows... It might just be that you are heading to the capital. Through the Sanctuary."

  "Capital?" Julian repeated, baffled. With a helpless smile, he continued, "It's not a place for the likes of us."

  "Oh, have you been there?"

  "No, no. Just heard stories. Too many stories to be hopeful."

  "..."

  It was Merchant's turn to stay silent. He looked at the boy, who was smiling slightly. It was not the kind of smile of happiness. It was the one tied more closely to a forfeited soul. Peeling his eyes away from the moonless sky, Julian shook his head and turned back at Merchant.

  "We have no direction in mind, just mindlessly wandering across these destroyed lands," Julian said, looking at a certain, sleeping person.

  "Do you despise this world, Julian?" Merchant spoke after a clear hesitation.

  "I already accepted it."

  "No, you should not just accept it!"

  "...Mr. Merchant?"

  "This is just how Garwasi is... Our lives are controlled not by our own wills. Our fate is set by the labels we are born with. Try to climb... Try to stand out... only to be beaten mercilessly by those favored by this very world."

  "..."

  "We were born into this world equal, and by right, we should live as equals. As one...Julian, you believe the same, right?"

  Merchant did not let Julian answer. He grabbed a handful of seeds from his pocket before shoving them right in front of Julian's face.

  "I believe we are like these seeds. Given the same amount of light. Given the same amount of water and fertilizers... Given the same room to grow. We shall grow tall and mighty together."

  "...That's an impossible wish. There need a force to keep everything in check. No one should have the means to do so."

  "You are truly mature for your age," Merchant chuckled. With a soft voice, he continued, "There is one. There is one having the means and will to carry out that duty."

  "..."

  "Curious? If you wish, I could introduce you to that person."

  Merchant's tired eyes seemed to spark when he mentioned 'that person.' While waiting for Julian's answer, an interesting thought surfaced in his mind. The initial spark burns into a blaze.

  "R-Right! Why not we head there this instance! You have nowhere to go, right?!" Merchant asked excitedly.

  Seeing the adult's glistening eyes, Julian furrowed his eyebrows. He seemed to be deliberating whether Merchant's words were genuine. However, he needed only a few seconds to decide.

  "Perhaps next time," Julian said warily. With a troubled smile, he said, "I am in no state to meet someone important."

  "No, please don't think like that. He is not perturbed by such meaningless worries."

  "Still, it's someone you respect a lot, is he not?"

  Hearing that thoughtful response, Merchant could not help but sit himself down. He then handed a seed to Julian. A troubled smile on his face.

  "I apologize. I seemed to be getting ahead of myself," Merchant chuckled. Forcing the seed into Julian's hand, he continued, "It's a present. With your unveiled eyes, your road ahead would surely be challenging. This will help you."

  "Mr. Mer-"

  "No, no, please don't refuse it. It's my thanks to you."

  Merchant stood up energetically. The melancholy look on his face from before left not a single trace. On the contrary, as lively as ever.

  "It's a shame, but we have to part ways now," Merchant spoke while stretching his arms high.

  "So suddenly...? Ah, I see."

  Julian realized a bit of time had passed as he looked up at the sky.

  While they were chattering away, time seemed to have flown by. Perhaps his vision was just starting to get better, but he was certain that the tint of light in the sky was not there a few minutes prior.

  One glance, he could tell that it was a couple of hours before dawn break.

  "I assume you are heading south? I heard they use Cold Steel for their weapons," Julian asked, seeing that Merchant had started to stash away his belongings.

  "You also know about that?" Merchant sounded truly surprised. "Wait, are you actually from a blacksmith family?"

  "I wish. I only yearned to be a blacksmith in the past."

  Merchant seemed confused when a child mentioned 'past,' but he was not too interested to delve into what Julian meant.

  "A blacksmith? That's a rare ambition... But you are wrong. I am sending this batch to my friends. The trade should have been done a few hours ago, though..."

  "Ah, I apologize. It seems I have brought you trouble."

  "Don't be," Merchant walked towards his caravan with a soft grunt. He looked at the boy with confident eyes and continued, "We will be meeting again."

  "Please take care on your journey."

  With only a caravan and a satchel on his back, Merchant needed only a minute to be ready to set off. Standing beside the clearing, they stared into each other's eyes, remaining quiet for an uncomfortable amount of time.

  "Then... Until next time, Julian."

  Waving his hand, the caravan started to move on its own. It climbed out from the grasp of the grass and roots on the ground, slowly making its way on the dirt path. Bidding farewell for another time, Merchant finally turned his back and walked away.

  "Until next time."

  Julian looked at the vanishing figure of the Merchant, who walked back toward the direction of the Tainted Land.

  [X]

  He waited and waited, patiently following the movements of the figure with his eyes until it completely vanished.

  His body snapped around, eyes straight to where Maria was peacefully sleeping.

  Tap. Tap. Tap.

  His steps, small at first, turned into a sprint almost instantly.

  "Maria, Maria, wake up. We have to go."

  Julian shook Maria awake. His heart, the one that he had forced to quell, pounded heavily without restraint. He wanted to get away from there as soon as possible. He wanted to get into the capital as soon as possible.

  If he could trade an arm in exchange for being in the capital city in that instance, he would not hesitate to pay that price.

  "Maria, come on. Now, we have to go now."

  Julian was certain. The way that man spoke. The way that man laughed, the way that man chuckled. The way that man gazed into the sky. There could only be one person. He would not have mistaken him for someone else.

  'O, you bastards...'

  The First Calamity.

  [201:45:03]