The only thing he could remember was his own name.
Other than that, he knew nothing else.
Nothing
Opening his eyes, looking at his surroundings, he discovered that he was in the wilderness.
âWuuuâŚâ
The sky was stained blood red.
Although that was only due to the sun setting, night was comingâŚ
But he didnât think so.
There was only a depleted and desolate land left surrounding him, and it was covered withâŚ
Corpses.
Corpses.
Corpses.
Death was abundant around him.
Flowing red blood, and the crimson sky that seemed to be reflecting the colour of this blood.
This was the first scene he saw.
This was the first scene he was aware of.
War.
In the distance, although night was falling, he could still hear sounds of the war still proceeding.
The ebbing and pulsing of the light from magic.
He looked at this dazedlyâŚ
âAh, wuâŚahâŚâ
He let out a small sound.
At this moment,
âHey, thereâs someone still living here⌠and itâs a brat!?â
A voice spoke from behind him.
He turned around, several men were busily working deftly.
They stole the swords and the armor from the corpses.
They cut off the fingers and took of the rings of the corpses.
These men,
âBrat! What are you doing on this battlefield? Are you robbers like us?â
Towards this, heâŚ
âWuuu⌠ahâ
He was unable to speak properly.
No, could he, was he able to talk?
He didnât even know this.
He just woke up.
He didnât have any memories.
No, he didnât even know what he was.
Then he turned his eyes towards those men whose attire was dirty and looked at themâŚ
Only then, he caught sight of himself and found out.
He was still a small child.
Four, five years old perhaps?
On his body were blood smears.
It wasnât his blood.
It was the blood flowing out from the bodies, it was crimson.
Looking at his hands, he found that they were stained red too.
At this moment,
âBut it seems that youâre different from us. We have been among these dead bodies for a long time, so we wonât be so dirty like you. That means⌠youâre something like a child of the Roland officers? The silly nobles brought their child to the battle grounds and then they died?â
Child⌠of the nobles?
âOr is it a pleasure child from the Estabul village? Really, the things that the nobles do are disgusting. Even if the other party is a child, they would do anything they like. But from that shabby outfit, you wouldnât be a child of the nobles⌠thatâs lucky. The nobles that caught you seem to be dead, eh?â
Saying this, the man spit on the bodies on the ground.
âThen whatâs your name?â
Asking him thatâŚ
This, he could probably reply.
NameâŚ
His name.
Only this, could he still remember.
ââŚâŚRynerâ
He said softly. The man said irritatedly,
âHuuh!? I canât hear. Speak louder.â
ââŚâŚâŚRyner Lute.â
The man heard, nodded, then raised his handâŚ
Suddenly, he swung his hand towards Rynerâs cheek.
At that moment, the world went black.
The manâs fist struck Rynerâs face and his slender and weak body was sent flying.
He hit the corpses littering the groundâŚ
The man said,
âThis is our relationship. Understand? Ryner Lute. I will bring you to my village⌠but you are our slave. In this warring period, no village is so prosperous that they can raise a brat like you for free. If you want to live, then work hard. If you donât want to work, then die. Alright, if you understand, then remove the armor and other trinkets from these corpses. Donât lounge around. Or Iâll kill you!!â
Then he hit him again, Rynerâs world started to move.
This was the âworldâ that he first saw.
The village he was brought to was a poor village.
It belonged to the Roland EmpireâŚ
But it was also a small village near to the fringes of the boundary Roland shared with the Estabul KingdomâŚ
It was a village that depended on farmingâŚ
But the war had destroyed the crops⌠they could only survive by selling the items that the men brought from the battle grounds.
Ryner and the other men searched for items of value, taking away the armor and ornaments on the bodies and exchanging these with money, only by doing this were they allowed into the village.
Even if they worked hard, in the end, there was only a simple dinner. In the homes, there was no one, it was only a filthy houseâŚ
It was like that every day.
But this life wasnât as bad as he had imagined.
Everyone in this village was very poor.
Not long after, he started to form relations with the people of the villageâŚ
The people he knew and his friends increasedâŚ
Ryner learnt how to laugh.
Naturally, the abandoned house that Ryner lived in, became a secret place of gathering that the children used without being discovered by the adultsâŚ
Those days, could even be called the days of happiness.
So Ryner laughed.
Every day, he would rummage among the bodies, if he failedâno, even if he didnât failâthe adults would still hit him.
But even so, he still felt happy.
So Ryner laughed.
BecauseâŚ
He, as a person, had been accepted by the villageâŚ
But.
On this day, the setting sun seemed to be abnormally red.
Ryner returned from the battlefield, going home and saw the children gathering together like usual and playing together.
Ryner walked into the room,
âAh, welcome back, Ryner! Was today a hard day of work?â
Everyone asked him, but Ryner happily smiled,
âItâs alâŚâ
But his words were cut off,
âNe ne ne, why is Ryner living alone? Why do you have to work with the adults? Where are your dad, your mom? Unless they died in the war, like my dad?â
A girl called Quill who had been frequenting here, asked with an expression of confusion.
Hearing this, Ryner shook his head,
ââŚI donât know. I canât remember. When I was aware of myself, I already had no parents.â
There were many children who lost their mother or father, or even both their parents because of this warâŚ
But Ryner didnât even have any memories of his parents.
Because he had just awoken.
And it was in that battle groundâŚ
That bloody battle groundâŚ
Then,
âAi~â
The girl bowed her head, not understanding,
âAre you lonely, by yourself?â
Hearing this, Ryner smiled again and shook his head.
âNo, because thereâs everyone.â
The girl laughed.
âThen, then, let me be your Okaa-san! From today onwards, call me Okaa-san!â
As she said that, the boy by her side said,
âAh, then then, let me be Otou-san! Ryner, call me Otou-san! Then then, Iâll be Quillâs husband, we must marry!â
Hearing this, Quill puffed up her cheeks,
âAi~ I donât want to marry Deel~â
âAhwu⌠Iâve, Iâve been dumped~âŚâ
Saying this, Deel laughed as he pretended to cry.
Seeing this, Ryner laughed again.\nDeel was the first friend that he had made in this village.
He liked to make everyone happy, so he was well-liked by everyone.
Ryner also liked him very much.
Because he was in Rynerâs home, so the others would gather here.
So that was why Ryner had so many friendsâŚ
Ryner laughed again.
He felt that every day was a happy one.
Everyone was so lonely that they couldnât even feel full after eatingâŚ
But even so, he felt that being able to laugh with everyone, that was bliss.
He felt that it was really good that he was taken in by this village.
ButâŚ
There was an explosion in the distance.
Once, twice, thriceâŚ
They were already accustomed to these sounds, it was the explosions from the offensive magic.
Although the sounds were distant, they slowly drew near, towards this areaâŚ
Suddenly, the village became tenseâŚ
The door was slammed open, and,
âQuill!? Why are you still here! Come quickly! The army⌠army again⌠some people were⌠this village is going to be involved in this war again!â
Quillâs mother rushed in and dragged her out.
At the same moment, the children ran outâŚ
Ryner walked out of the house too.
By this time, the explosions from the magic had drawn nearer.
There was the flash of lightning, the dancing flames.
And fear, every time this happened, there were always people dying.
And there was a war happening in the villages nearbyâŚ
The destructive magic would quickly descend upon this village.
Before that happened, they had to escape from hereâŚ
Everyone ran towards the opposite direction from the battle.
Ryner followed tooâŚ
This time, maybe he would be able to escape without harm.
Even if the village was destroyed, as long as they livedâŚ
ButâŚ
Just as Ryner and the others felt that the space before them was contorting, there was an explosionâŚ
âWhaâŚâ
From the dancing dust particles, several armored men emerged.
ThenâŚ
âStay. If you donât remain still, weâll kill you.â
They said.
Of course, they couldnât not stand still.
The opponents could use magic, they were trained soldiers.
They wouldnât win.
âWuâŚâ
Ryner and the others couldnât help but moan, the situation was quite dangerous.
These men said they were going to kill Ryner and the others, who were citizens of Roland, which meant that they were the enemy Estabul soldiers.
Then, they would become sacrificesâŚ
Or in other words, they would be slaughtered because the other party wanted to killâŚ
No matter what was the ending, if they were really caught like this, it would not be goodâŚ
In this period of time that Ryner took to think, the dust cloud dissipated, they could clearly see the men in front of themâŚ
At that moment, Ryner couldnât help but doubt what he was seeing.
The insignia on the armor of the men in front of them⌠guns and that insignia that portrayed a snake coiling around a gun.
This wasâŚ
It was Roland EmpireâsâŚ
The men of the village relaxed momentarilyâŚ
âWhat, so you are the soldiers of Roland. Really, donât scare us. We thought it was Estabulâs⌠AhâŚâ
But the manâs words were cut offâŚ
One of the Roland soldiers suddenly stabbed the man in the chest with his swordâŚ
The man had an uncomprehending expression,
ââŚAiâŚwh,whyâŚâ
Saying this, blood gushed from his mouth and he collapsed.
They couldnât understand.
This army should be the Roland soldiers, but they were killing the men of the village, who were the people of Roland.
In that moment, there was no sound.
No, because it was too sudden, no one was able to make a sound.
ThenâŚ
The women who finally understood what was happening,
âAhâŚâ
They cried, but the sword sank into the chests of these womenâŚ
The cries suddenly stopped.
The remaining women covered their mouths, the parents clasped their hands over their childrenâs mouths⌠frantically trying to stop them from screaming.
If they made a noise, they would be killed.
That was what the Roland soldiers were demonstrating to them through their actions.
Confirming that they understood what they wanted, the Roland soldiers slowly, as if they wanted to look at all of the features of the villagers, slowly moved their eyesâŚ
Using a calm voice,
ââŚWhat we are about to do now, you will not see it. What we are about to do now, you will not talk of it to anyone. What we are about to do now, you will accept everything. Even if you cry, or resist, this will not be allowed. If you dare to resistâŚâ
At this moment, the sword flashed again, someone died.
Companions, friends, people they knew were killed⌠Everyone desperately held in the cries that they wanted to release.
An abnormal scene.
Bodies, were faintly tremblingâŚ
Then, the armored Roland soldiers turned around. At this moment, they noticed it.
There was a luxuriously decorated carriage that was bejeweled that they had never seen before. The soldiers walked towards the carriage,
âThe preparations are complete.â
âYes.â
The door of the carriage opened.
An abnormally slim, around fifty years old man appeared.
He wore a loose outfit that they had never seen before, it was made of the softest material.
They understood just by looking at this man.
This man was a noble.
NobleâŚ
The noble nodded his head with a âyesâ, seeming to be quite happy.
âInteresting. How interesting.â
He said.
He came down from the carriage and walked towards the villagers, as if inspecting them, looking at Ryner and the others.
No, what the man was seeing were the girls.
And he was choosing the children who were young⌠and around Rynerâs ageâŚ
A girl was chosen. Ryner had not talked to her⌠but he had seen her.
This girl was sent to the carriage by the soldiers. What would happen to the girl, everyone knew it wellâŚ
The adultsâ expression contorted as if they were about to cry, but even so, they said nothing.
If they said anything⌠they would be killed.
Their bodies were trembling.
Ryner could only feel his body trembling.
Because of anger?
Because of fear?
Because of reluctance?
His body was faintly trembling.
But the noble didnât seem to think of going back on his intentions.
He selected another girlâŚ
This moment, he nearly let out a sound.
This girl was QuillâŚ
It was the girl who was talking to Ryner earlier.
It was the girl who smiled innocently and told him that if he was lonely, she would be his mother.
The noble hit Quillâs head with a âpaâ, and the Roland soldiers prepared to take her awayâŚ
At this moment, her mother,
âPl-Please, let go of my daughtâŚâ
But she only spoke that far.
The motherâs chest was stabbed with a swordâŚ
âNOOoooooooooooo!?â
Quill cried.
Ryner could only tremble at this moment.
Why did thisâŚ
Mad.
He thought.
Everyone, everything was mad.
He thought.
He was unable to stop trembling.
And the trembling could not be stopped.
Quill was taken awayâŚ
Couldnât do anything.
He himself couldnât doâŚ
Suddenly, there was a shout from the crowd.
âI, I wonât let you take Quill away!â
This voice was Deelâs.
Deel shoutedâŚ
When Rynerâs eyes turned in that direction, he had already run out.
Towards QuillâŚ
He was very fast, he dodged the sword of a soldier and headed towards the soldier who was carrying QuillâŚ
âReturn QuillâŚâ
But his voice stopped.
The soldier carrying Quill had drawn a magical structure and there were flamesâŚ
The flames sprung towards Deel.
In that moment.
Ryner was unable to believe what was happening in front of him.
Disappeared.
Literally disappeared.
Deel heâŚ
Was drawn into the overwhelmingly strong flames and became ashes in a momentâŚ
What was left, was the front portion of the hand that Deel had been reaching outâŚ
In the moment he saw this,
âAhâŚâ
Ryner couldnât help but let out a sound.
A tremor that slowly, slowly build upâŚ
He didnât know why but his eyes, his eyes ached
His eyes ached tremendously.
The surrounding scene was stained with red.
The evening skyâŚ
Was more crimson that usualâŚ
That red, made him think of a scene.
It was that scene that he had seen when he first awoke.
That scene were the land was covered with corpses and everything was covered with blood.
An empty feeling in his body.
Although he wanted to protect everything, everything seemed to be helplessâŚ
People died.
People died.
At that moment, he unconsciously raised his hand.
This hand started to draw a magical formation.
It was a glowing formation.
This was the magical formation that the Roland soldier had drawn earlier.
This magical formation was drawn by Ryner.
He had no memory of drawing this magical formation.
But he could draw it.
He only looked at it.
He only looked at what the soldier had drawnâŚ
But even so, he could still draw it.
All of the magical structure.
Structure.
Activation sequence.
Design.
He just needed to see.
It was only like that, but all of this seemed to be mastered by him already.
No, it was as if he could understand all of the world, a feeling that he was able to do anything.
He softly and determinedly chanted.
âWHAT I SEEK IS BURNING FIELDS>>>KURENAIâ
In that moment.
Flames emerged from the magical formation and burned the soldier who had grabbed Quill.
âWhat!? There, there is someone who can use magic! Kill him! Kill him quickly!?â
Because of this sudden attack, the soldiers panicked, they shoutedâŚ
Then, a soldier pulled out his sword and two soldiers started to chant a magical incantation at the same time.
But Ryner looked at this.
His left and right hand started to draw different magical formationsâŚ
And it neutralized the magic of the Roland soldiers forcefullyâŚ
Towards thisâŚ
âIm,impossible!? That brat, what is he⌠he caused our magic toâŚâ
He had not finished speaking when his surprised expression turned into one of fear.
Looking at Ryner.
ââŚThat, what is that⌠eyes⌠itâs the eyes⌠ev-everyone, look, look at his eyes⌠that red five-pointed star⌠that boy is a wielder of Alpha Stigma !â
A wielder of Alpha Stigma âŚ
This phrase had never been heard before.
But from that manâs expression, it was obvious.
This thing, was unfortunately, something that was to be feared.
Even soâŚ
Ryner took a step forward.
The soldiers backed away in fear immediately.
âOh, oh no⌠Lord Alrome. We, we should retreat first⌠Alpha Stigma was truly too dangerousâŚâ
Towards this, the nobleman with his ugly and contorted face nodded and escaped, thinking to escape to the carriage⌠At this moment, Ryner shouted.
âRelease those girls in there! If you donât do it, Iâll kill you!â
The nobleman immediately let go of the girls in the carriage frantically, then he escaped in his carriage.
The soldiers left with the carriage too.
Although this was unbelievable, Ryner had chased away the Roland soldiers.
Although he himself was not clear, why he had this sort of powerâŚ
But he had stopped it⌠stopped Quill from being taken away by them.
Even though Deel diedâŚ
But, perhaps from this day onwards, he would be able to protect the villagers.
He had thought so.
Perhaps he would be able to help the village that had picked him upâŚ
Ryner checked that that carriage had disappeared from his side, he breathed a sigh of relief, as if his nerves had been about to snap because of the tensionâŚ
He recovered his smile and looked around him.
The people of the village.
He looked at the faces of the villagers he had just protected.
But.
He didnât know why but the villagersâ expressionsâŚ
Were like the expression of the noblemanâŚ
It was an expression of abnormal fear, a contorted expression and they were looking at RynerâŚ
It was an expression of revulsion as if they were looking something dirty.
Ryner lookedâŚ
ââŚWhat, what is it, everyone⌠why do you have that kind of expressionâŚâ
But he had not finished speaking when a man of the village spoke with a trembling voice,
âThose eyes⌠Talrome that guy, why did he pick up something like that!â
He shouted, Ryner couldnât understand,
âAi, thatâŚâ
But he was interrupted.
âRyner, you have always been keeping this from us, right? Always lying to us?â
âThat, everyone, what are you sayingâŚâ
He completely didnât understand.
What everyone was talking about.
The event had happened suddenly.
It was a sudden change.
But, but, everyone, everyone, was using an expression of hatred to stare at Ryner,
âItâs, itâs all your fault! Because there is an unlucky cursed brat like you, everyone is unhappy!â
âAh⌠wait, everyone⌠IâŚâ
But he didnât finish speaking.
Everyone turned to Ryner and said together,
âMonster!â
They shouted.
âDie, you monster!â
âYou even dare to stay in our village, unshamed, monster!â
âA cursed monster who only knows how to massacre!!â
MonsterâŚ
Yes, everyone called him that.
A monster who killed peopleâŚ
MonâŚsterâŚ
He didnât understand.
He had thought that he had saved everyoneâŚ
He had thought that they would be able to return to those happy days of the past.
Although they were poor, although they faced hardships, but everyone was able to laugh and survive every dayâŚ
ButâŚ
At this moment, his eyes met with a girl.
It was Quill.
But even Quill stared at RynerâŚ
As if using looking at a disgusting bug, that expression of revulsion.
âWhy do youâŚlook at me in that wayâŚâ
Still, still, the sky was stained with red.
A crimson red.
A cursed red that made one feel dizzyâŚ
At that moment, Rynerâs black eyesâŚ
Showed a crimson five-pointed starâŚ
These eyes were called Alpha Stigma , they seemed to be hated and cursed by the peopleâŚ
This thing seemed to cause everyoneâs expression to contort in this way, caused them to curse and hate him.
He was called a monster.
But he himself was unable to deny it.
Because he had no memories.
He had no memories of the time before he had awoken in that battle field.
No parents.
No memories.
He didnât even remember who he was.
ThenâŚ
Even if he were called a monster, he would be unable to deny it.
His eyes wavered.
Everything was stained with red.
Everything in the world had distanced themselves from him.
There was only a sense of detachment.
If anyone wanted to be close to him, only by being close to him they would understand, he was not wished for by anyone.
He used the eyes where the red curse appeared in, to look at the expression of fear and revulsion that appeared on their faces.