Gerd...?

I had a bad feeling as I frowned. She continued to smile as she pointed to the floor beside the table.

“All your stuff is over there. Nothing has been disturbed, don't worry. Use the water to wash yourself and come get something to eat. You need to regain your strength if you want to go out there adventuring.”

I was a little surprised.

“Ahn… How do you know I’m an adventurer?”

She was serious for a moment and then she was smiling again as she withdrew.

“Why, what a question! There are always adventurers lost in the region. Hehehe. Hurry up and come eat with us.”

As she left, I got up, facing the mirror, looked at the bowl of water, and while she washed her face, my thoughts were confused. Gerd? This village disappeared over 30-years-ago, didn't it? I must have heard wrong.

My head still ached, I wiped my face, but when I looked in the mirror I thought there was someone in the room. I promptly looked back, there was no one there... I felt a shiver down my spine.

I dressed quickly, I was still a little dizzy, my stomach felt like it was going to devour me from the inside. Of course, I was hungry! I would need to eat well to recover the energy spent the day before. By the way, that was dangerous… Using magic without being rested can overload the body and can even lead to death in extreme cases. I can't do this again.

Anyway, I went to another room, which appeared to be the kitchen, it was a big kitchen, with a full pantry on one side, some cabinets where there were pots on top, a wood stove with a bubbling pot on top. In fact, the smell was wonderful.

There were 3 people eating and talking happily, Nita was the lady who had called me and was stirring the pot on the stove smiling. At the table was a man with gray hair, maybe in his fifties or sixties, burly but looking a little tired, extremely smiling and eating a piece of freshly baked bread, smoke coming out of the slice, while waiting for his wife to bring what was in the pan. There was also a young man who looked to be in his twenties. Brown hair and eyes, tanned skin, as big as the man at the table beside him. When he saw me leaving the room, he seemed to get a little shy.

A silence filled the kitchen. Nita looked back and smiled.

“Ah, Mr. Louie! Sit down and eat with us. The soup is ready!

Soup... It was everything I didn't want to remember. I sat at the table, taking care to say thanks first while watching the other two. I turned to the young man, forcing a smile, as she had said that her son had helped me.

"Thanks…ah, for helping me out last night."

He got serious and looked at the man beside him. The two started to laugh. I didn't quite understand, but I was very hungry and the smell of the food was making my stomach churn desperately.

The food looked great. Nita placed a bowl of soup in front of me and in front of her husband. The soup smelled wonderful, not like the other soup I had tasted two nights ago in that tavern. My mouth was salivating so I didn't think twice and started hey to eat. I took a slice of bread and meat and stuffed it in my mouth, chewing as fast as possible while desperately drinking the juice the boy had served me.

The boy, still laughing as he drank his soup, looked at me with some curiosity.

“You are really hungry huh, hehe. My name is Randell, but you can call me Rand and this one with his mouth full next door is my father, Zefir. In fact, it was my younger brother who helped you. He's the one who takes care of the lanterns at night and saw you running in last night. By the way, what made you run like that to the point of fainting?”

I stopped for a moment, almost choking. I felt a tightness in my chest.

“Forgive me my table manners, I'm feeling weak, I haven't eaten right these last few days. I… I'm still a little confused about last night. What did you say your brother was called?”

“Uhm… His name is Riff. He left to sort things out, he should be arriving soon.”

I drank some more juice, trying to get my thoughts in order. This juice had a familiar taste, it was sweet with a slight bitterness at the end. Where have I had this juice before? I suddenly remembered my mother when I was younger. She always made a drink that she said was special, because that's where she was born. I ended up mumbling a few words without realizing it.

“This juice… Is it from lonberries…? ”

“Oh, do you know? It's one of the specialties here in the Arkell County region: Lonberry juice. Certainly, the best, isn't it?"

I was so lost in my thoughts that I couldn't see the young man entering the kitchen. I turned to the side, trying to find out where the warm voice that spoke to me was coming from. Next to the stove, taking a plate of soup, was a skinny young man, who must have been between 16 or 17-years-old, with red hair, maybe close to 5ft 9in...

The juice came out more bitter than usual. The boy smiled innocently as he walked over to sit beside me at the table. There was no doubt about it, it was him: Riff.

“Are you feeling better, Mr. Louie?”

"Oh, sure... After eating a little bit, I feel better already... Ah... I... Have we met?"

"Technically yes, since you introduced yourself and passed out shortly thereafter last night but you can call me Riff."

He smiled as he took a piece of bread to start eating.

I really didn't want to hear that. Everything seemed to be connecting in my mind like it was a puzzle. I don't remember introducing myself, but what does it matter? I just wanted to understand what was going on.

“So Riff, did you see anything else yesterday? When I arrived? I don't remember the situation very well…”

An awkward silence engulfed the table as if I'd asked something that didn't make sense.

“Well… You came running and didn't say much. It seemed to be… running away from something. I even thought I had been attacked in the forest, but there didn't seem to be any visible wounds. So I brought him to my house, to…"

He paused for a moment, looking like he was going to say something important, and suddenly he was smiling again.

“What do you do around these parts? The way he fancy-dressed like that makes me think he's not one of those bands, right?”

“Fancy-dre… hehehe. I'm traveling."

I smiled. I didn't think I should comment on the real reason I'm here, Riff had a worried look in his eyes, he seemed to change the subject suddenly, or was it just me? However, what bothered me most was this way of speaking, it was familiar to me. Where have I heard this before?

“Louie? Everything is fine?"

Everyone was looking at me at the table. I had stopped eating and had a faraway look in my eyes for a moment. Something wasn't right. All the stories say that the village disappeared without a trace. But she's here and… Wait, am I still alive?

" You are... "

“Huh? ”

"Are you fine? You seem a bit dispersed… ”

"It's… okay yes."

I smiled as he turned his eyes to the soup. That soup was very delicious…

We finished lunch, I thanked the hospitality and packed my things to leave again. But first, I opted to take a walk around the village and see how things were going.

The village was very lively, it looked like there was going to be a festival. Since everyone was running around, setting up tents and decorations. On one of the banners in the center was the words

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SARAH!

I felt a chill down my spine when I saw that banner. Somehow I ended up the day before her birthday, but I knew how this story was going to end...

The only thing I couldn't say was, why was I there?