A village

"Why are they coming with us?"

I screamed to Ranger in a whisper as I pointed to the horse beside us with my eyes.

"Why not?"

"Why not??? Why should they follow us to the village?"

I couldn't see his face but I was sure that Ranger knitted his brows a little bit and lowered his head.

"They have the same destination so they are coming with us. What's wrong with you?"

I huffed and held my bandaged side with my hand.

"They could wait for us to leave then come after a few hours. They could go ahead of us. They could take another route! Why should they stick to us all the time?"

"Ian!"

The old man's voice was a little bit enraged.

"They are the ones who saved us and treated your wound! This is not how you should talk about them!"

"I don't care! I don't feel safe at all!"

"They are good people!"

"No!"

Anyone who keeps staring at me without even blinking for continuous hours is not a good person! I don't feel safe! Just look at him... Look at him staring at my head even while riding a horse! AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!

"Instead of thinking about stupid things just lean back and be careful not to put pressure on your wound."

"...Yes."

'It's not like I can do anything anyway.'

Obeying Ranger, I moved my body a little bit to sit in a comfortable position and leaned my back on Ranger, who was sitting behind me and was riding the horse. I didn't expect him to know how to ride a horse but turns out he had learned one when he was working as a coachman in his youth.

Behind Ranger, Ralph was sitting stiffly on the horseback while grabbing Ranger's clothes with all his might, nervously gasping each time the horse did any sudden movements.

He wasn't alone though. I couldn't stop but groan from pain every time the horse moved suddenly or stopped abruptly. My wound was healed considerably, actually too much to be called normal. I guess that woman poured some kind of potion on my wound last night or else I wouldn't be able to move right now.

'How generous of her, potions are really expensive.'

I wanted to thank her for saving me, but I couldn't really approach the woman because of her company. That man was still looking at my hair.

'What's wrong with you, bro? Get over it! I said I've dyed my hair why can't you believe me!?'

He is right. There is no way for a servant to afford to dye his hair... Sigh. The only thing I can do right now is to try to remember who this dude is, but I can't remember him no matter how much I think. It's really a strange feeling, one I start thinking about a black-haired boy, familiar scenes flash in my head, but they vanish so fast that I can't recall them anymore.

'I could've recalled who he is if I'd seen him in one of the first few regressor rounds... I guess my memory has gotten worse the more I've regressed...'

It's such a pity.

Rudely leaning on Ranger's body, I kept daydreaming about this and that and trying to recall my memories until we reached the village. The people of the village were rather nice people. They greeted us warmly and gave us a place to stay for a while and food to eat. Of course, they were paid for the things they were doing. We planned on purchasing or maybe renting carriages from the village as our own carriages were destroyed, but a small village in the middle of nowhere didn't have anything to offer to us.

At noon, the villagers prepared us food and brought us to the house we were residing in. The best of the food was given to Alaric, and the rest were for the knights and the servants. Seeing how Ranger and Ralph were eating simple soup, I felt a little bit guilty for devouring most of the good quality meat that was offered to Alaric.

"He is the same bastard!"

"Move aside!"

"Get him out of the way!"

"Beat the shit out of him!"

Just when we were about to finish our lunch, loud and furious voices rang from outside, making everyone stop their actions and look out the window at the same time. There, we could see a bunch of people wearing the same knight uniform standing in line while grabbing their weapons. In front of them, a man wearing all black cloth was drawing his sword with an annoyed expression. The knights were shouting at the man, but the black-haired bastard was not responding at all.

"..."

Alaric stood up from his seat and approached the window without saying any words. He had been strangely silent since last night and had not said a single word to me ever since. He lifted the curtains with his hand, making it possible for me to see the rest of the people outside.

Behind the group of soldiers, a man in splendid clothing was standing beside a butler, watching the scene. Seeing that the man in black had drawn his sword, the man with slightly long dark-brown hair stepped forward and said in a low but firm voice.

"Stop it. Don't create a scene inside the village."

"But sir-"

The man frowned at the knight, making the knight lower his head a little bit.

"B-but he attacked us just two days ago..."

The knights mumbled under their lips and unwillingly moved away from the black-haired bastard. The black dude, however, stayed in his place and watched how the group walked towards the villager chief's house.

"Wasn't that y-young lord Blicra?"

Ralph turned to Ranger, his eyes shining for some reason. The old man nodded his head and glanced at Alaric, who pulled down the curtains with an uninterested face and walked back to his seat.

'That bastard had a fight with Blicra's soldiers? Why?'

I had heard something like that back in the inn two days ago, but I didn't pay much attention to it. It seems like they had some conflicts back then as well... I wonder what the problem is.

"Uh... Young master Alaric?"

After a few seconds passed and the outside calmed down once again, Ranger called out to Alaric in a low and cautious voice.

"Why didn't you greet young lord Blicra? Shall I arrange a meeting for the two of you?"

"...."

Alaric didn't say anything. He just shook his head with a numb and tired expression. He wasn't even looking at Ranger, he was staring at his food that hadn't been touched much and had become cold with a blank face. He had been like that for hours.

"...Then... If you are done eating... I'll clear the table and leave. Please rest a little bit."

"..."

Ranger didn't press on things too much and hurried to pick up the plates and the leftover food with Ralph's help and leave the room. I waited for them to leave before I also stood up and walked out of the room. The house given to us was a small and old place, but I guess I'll find a place to sleep for a few hours.

"Um... Ian."

Before I could leave the room, Alaric suddenly called out my name. I stopped in my tracks and looked at the young man who was pacing around the small dining table with clasped hands.

"Uh... I... I..."

The young master stuttered as he talked in a slightly trembling voice.

"I-I'm sorry..."

Alaric's eyes were gradually turning red.