Old Man

I regain consciousness and jump up, panting heavily. I look down, "A bed?" I ask confused. I start looking around, "Is this... a home?"

What happened? Why did I regain control of my body? What was that voice? Why did Hafiz tell me to leave Grand Order? Too many questions, and too few answers.

The door to this small cottage opens. I jump off the bed and ready a fighting pose. An old man, carrying piles of wood enters and sees me up. He walks past me, as if he is completely ignoring my existence, and feeds the fireplace with the fresh wood. The room fills with a welcoming heat. The old man opens the pot - which was over the fire. A mouthwatering smell fills the air. He grabs a ladle and scoops some of the stew into a handcrafted wooden bowl. He places the bowl down and fills two more bowls. "Are you just going to stand there?" asks the old man.

I sit at the table and start eating. After one bite tears fill my eyes. "What is this?" I ask, chomping down on the chunks of meat and gulping down the broth. The tears won't stop flowing. This stew... The more I eat, the greater the nostalgia becomes. Memories of my time spent with Grandpa flow through my mind. Moments I shared with Louisa trickle through my body. Bonds I created with Niklaus, and the others appear in my sight like red strings.

"A young man such as yourself has no need to hold the weight of the world on his shoulders. Enjoy yourself. Eat, sleep, and joke around. There will be times when you need to be serious, but never give in to the voices. You are strong Haruki Ryu. Fight it. Fight the voice."

"How do you...?" The bowl falls out of my hand, and I faint. When I wake up, the cottage and the old man are gone. "Just who was that old man?" I ask, confused. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter," I say smiling. "He was right. I have so many questions and almost no answers, but I will not let that bring me down. What I need to do is secure the bonds I have at this moment." I look around, but nothing is in sight. I transform into my dragon form and start flying around. Now that the barrier is gone, I can freely use my magic. I don't sense any powerful wizards nearby.

I fly around for thirty minutes before I see a village. I land outside of the town. "Let's not alarm the villagers," I say, transforming back to my humanoid form. There are no guards at the gates. I walk into the village. The villagers look at me for a second before continuing with their daily lives. "Do they not feel unsafe with no security here?"

"We do not need security," says a large man - who looks like a Buddhist priest - walking to me. "This village is under the rule of King Heilder. Any person foolish enough to attack this village will be hunted down."

"I see. That would indeed place fear into people's hearts."

"Yes, we have the utmost trust in our King. Now, may I know who you are, Visitor?"

"I am Haruki."

"And what is your purpose here, Haruki?"

"I'm looking for my friends. Three women. Two of them swordswomen and the other a princess."

"Two swordswomen and a princess? We rarely get any visitors here, so I can say with certainty that your friends are not here."

'Lies,' says the voice in my head.

"Is that so? Then I'm sorry to have bothered you."

'Lies,' repeats the voice.

"I heard you the first time," I mutter to myself, annoyed.

"Is something wrong?" asks the man.

"No. I just have an annoying headache."

"Ah, those are indeed annoying."

"You don't know the half of it."

After the voice disappeared, I thought it was gone for good. But it just remained silent. When I ask her a question, she goes silent. She only speaks when I use my Fólkvangr Mode or during an interaction with someone. It isn't very pleasant. However, she does come in handy. Like in cases where my friends are held hostage by an enemy kingdom.

I exit the village peacefully and wait in the forest till night.

I could threaten the village with my dragon form, but that would probably not work. The villagers wholeheartedly trust their King. They would never betray him. "Should I find a poisonous apple among the batch?"

"Are you a visitor?" asks a child in rags.

I scan the boy's body, wary. His clothes are thinner than silk and his skin is pale. "What are you doing outside your village?" I ask him.

"Please, Mister, save my family," he pleads.

"Your family? Why not ask the village for help?"

He looks around, nervous. "The people in this village are bad people," he whispers.

I bend down and ask the boy, "Did the village kidnap your family?" He nods his head, teary-eyed. "When did this happen?"

"A few weeks ago. Mommy and Brother were making food, and Daddy was chopping wood when the bad people from the village came. They argued with Daddy for a while before hitting him. Mommy told me and Brother to run out the back door." He starts crying as he says, "I... ran... and got separated from Brother... I was scared and I ran... I left Mommy alone... I let Brother get captured... I..."

"It's not your fault. The fault lies with this village." I get up and start walking to the village. I turn around and say, "Do you want to save your family?"

He nods his head viciously.

I hold out my hand, "Come with me. I will take care of all the bad guys for you."

With no hesitation, he takes my hand. I look down at his piercingly cold hand before I transform into my dragon form. "Waahhh!!" he screams as I place him on my back. "So, you were a dragon, Mister?"

"Tell me, did you see three women come to your village?"

"Three women?"

"Yes. Two swordswomen and a princess."

He thinks for a bit, then says, "Ah, yes. I saw some men carrying seriously wounded woman into the same place they took my family."

"Did the villagers ever take other people, prisoner?"

"Yes. Whenever someone breaks a village taboo, they get thrown into the village dungeon."

So, this boy's family broke one of the village rules. But using force and throwing them into prison... These people are horrible.