Chapter 2: Good things Never Last

I was so happy because i thought I i was back and thought it was all just a dream but good moments never last long. I look around but to my dismay, I discovered this wasn't the forest I know and used to hide. There were even plants and trees that I've never seen before.

So what did I do? I cried. I cried so hard. There's no doubt I was a crybaby at that time. I didn't know what to do. I was so scared. The pressure was getting to me.

"I.. I.. just... WANNA GO HOME!" I screamed for the first time since I came here. I don't usually scream but this was something my 10 year old self couldn't control. Being scared was normal for a 10 year old boy in this circumstances but reality was harsh because screaming in the world I was transferred to was the first mistake that I would never forget.

Soon, before I even knew it. I was surrounded by dozens of small green skinned creatures. They were horrible looking. Their teeth was random in numbers but every teeth was sharp. To an adult, the creature's height was only at their waist but compared to my 10 year old body, I was only a little bit taller than them.

I only realized when I heard them talking. It was a weird language that can almost be considered as gibberish but equally weird is that I actually understand them.

"Fresh Food, Eat! Eat! " One creature said.

"See Food First! Mine! Mine! " Another rebuked the first creature. While the others just kept on saying "eat".

I shivered in fear. This is crazy. I tried talking but I couldn't find the words to say. I didn't know what to say. Deep inside me I was still hoping this was just a bad dream and I would wake up sooner or later but... I was so wrong.

What made me realized this was all real when a sharp noise followed by an intense pain in my left ear was felt. It took me a second to process it. When I touched the part of my left ear that hurt, I felt something wet. When I look at the fingers that I used to touch it, I saw red.

Even if I was young that time, I knew what blood was and saw it when one of the children at the orphanage bled when she fell down while playing. That made me stop crying. The pain, ironically, stopped my crying. I forcefully tried not to scream because of the pain. I stared blankly to a creature that was taller but slimmer than most green skinned creatures. This one was carrying a bow. On it's back was a quiver that was used to hold arrows. Even If I don't know what bow is at that time, I know that staying there was not a good idea.

So in front of all this green skinned creatures... I ran.

I ran without looking back. I don't want to look back. Just their faces made me scared. In front of possible death, I ran and ran and kept on running. I kept on running till I started crying again. I kept on running even when I felt I could no longer breath. I kept on running because I could still hear their noises behind me. I kept on running until I fell and couldn't run anymore.

My appearance was pathetic. My face was dirty. My chest kept on going up and down because of exhaustion and the lack of air. My legs were so in pain that I didn't dare to move them. I had never been so tired in my life and my body had never been so in pain.

I don't know if I'm lucky or not but when I fell, I fell down inside a bush that was so thick that I probably would'nt be seen if there was a person standing right in front of the bush without looking inside.

I could hear noises. I knew it was them but I was too tired to think about anything. I heard the noises getting closer and closer. Then the noise stopped. It just stopped. Before I thought that they might be gone. I heard someone laughing with joy. That laugh was so... so... scary. Scary was the only term my 10 year old mind had thought off. It was a laugh that would have sent shivers to anyone that heard it.

The last thing I heard before fainting was "That goddess sure knows how to make someone happy. Even if I'm trapped here, I only need to kill that demon king. With these powers I could destroy anyone HAHAHAHA! "

An uncertain amount of time passed by and I finally woke up. It was dark. I was still inside the bush. I realized that it may already be night time. My feet still hurts a lot but I think I could walk at least. I tried to stand with the little strength I have and almost fell down. I don't know what to do but I knew I couldn't stay here.

"It's not safe here"

So I started walking to the direction opposite from where I came from.

'Maybe someone can help me'. I thought before carefully walking. This was the idea I hold onto at that moment. I was always used to depending on big brother Tom and big sister Rea that I subconsciously thought that If I found people here, they might help me.

I didn't need to walk far until I found people. That doesn't sound right because they actually found me. From their outfits they were hunters. I didn't know what hunters was at that time but I know they didn't look like people from my world based on their outfits.

"Hello sir, Please help me" My fear for those green skinned creatures overwhelmed the fear of the hunters. In my mind, they were humans and not those monsters so they might help me.

"What's a kid doing here?" One tall bearded man said while putting his hand on a knife hanging on his waist. The other man said this and immediately laughed.

"Lodrik, Why are you so cautious? It's only a kid! He's alone while we are many. He also looks weak. He might be a slave. Look at his clothes! It's so dirty!" and the man continued with his laugh.

"I know what you mean Nok but I've never seen a slave wore clothes like this" Lodrik, the bearded hunter pointed out.

The hunters turned to look at the boy with much curiosity. The man named Nok was shocked before his eyes turned greedy. "Is he some kid of a noble? If that's the case, we can make money out of him!"

The hunters expressed joy when they heard about money. Every hunter except Lodrik.

"Even if he isn't a noble, just with his clothes and after cleaning them, we can sold them to the Baron. We can still make money too. " Lodrik who was a former knight of the Baron immediately said this. He knows what kind of clothing a slave, a commoner and even a noble wear. The kid's clothe, even if dirty and weary, the material used was still above that of a commoner. He also knows the Baron has a son that he dotes on and who will probably be groomed to be his successor. He was still vigilant though since if this kid was really a noble who only got lost in the woods, if they harmed him and the noble family he belonged to finds out, they will all be either dead or hiding for the rest of their lives as wanted criminals.

Lodrik whispered to Nok, who seemed to be the leader of the group, his ideas about the boy. Nok turned to look at him with a serious expression and then nodded.

He turned to the boy and asked with a hint of gentleness compared to before "Do you want to come with us?"

It was a very short question but it made me see a glint of hope. I immediately nodded.

There was two things I discovered while they were talking. First was that I could understand them even if they sounded differently than me. It was obvious that the language I was using was not the language they were using. Second when I tried to speak to them before, some unknowned language was spoken by my mouth and that translated to the things I wanted to say to them. I kept thinking about this until they asked me a question that I immediately nodded to.

After that, we kept on walking until we reached a place where there were wooden walls and a big gate. The gate was guarded with two people looking like the hunters. They nodded to the guards before entering. This was the place where I would spend 20 years of my life as a slave before learning of the real circumstances behind the situation I'm in.