Chapter 13: She Sees Shiny People

I was just standing in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by trees.

A soft breeze drifted through the air, rustling the leaves above.

The scent of herbs clung to the pelt draped over my shoulder—musky, wild, and oddly soothing.

A narrow path stretched ahead, leading to an open space where the earth was torn and scattered, as if something had ripped the trees out by their roots.

No branches littered the ground. It was too clean—like the wind had devoured everything.

A hole split the clouds above, and the sun poured down through it, a focused beam of golden light piercing the gloom.

Thump.

I stepped forward, my feet crunching softly against the forest floor.

Slowly, the clouds began to drift apart, exposing more sky.

—— After some time ——

'How long have we been walking for, Sebas?' I asked.

[ It's been almost an hour since you started walking after acquiring that pelt. ]

'I haven't found anyone nearby. Where the hell did you set my starting point, Kai?' I thought, irritation curling in my chest.

I looked down at my daughter sleeping in the crook of my arm, nestled inside the pelt.

Her face was soft, serene—completely untouched by the chaos of this world.

And as I looked, a feeling rose in me. A real one.

The tension in my jaw loosened. My shoulders dropped. The anger that had weighed me down like iron slipped away. The sharpness in my eyes dulled, replaced with something quieter—concern, maybe even guilt. I blinked once, then exhaled slowly, like releasing a breath that had been trapped for hours.

When I finally spoke, my voice was different. Quieter. Steadier.

"I wanna protect that innocence forever."

But the feeling didn't last.

The guilt crept back in.

'Am I doing the right thing?' I questioned myself.

'I… I can't even talk to others' ,I thought as my brows twitched.

'I can't speak properly.'

'I can't express myself properly. I—' The smile on my face faded, slow and sharp, like a thread pulled too tight until it snapped.

My gaze narrowed—not cold. Just tired.

'Why wouldn't my voice come out when I needed it?' Frustration surged beneath the calm.

'I've never seen the outside world.'

I looked at Liora again.

The warmth I'd felt moments ago slipped away.

What remained was a quiet simmer under my skin—a restrained anger that didn't explode, just pressed inward. Cold. Tight. Unshakable.

'I can't even take care of myself. How can I take care of a child?'

'There might be people out there who knew her parents… people who could care for her better than me.'

The anger ebbed slowly, like a sun fading behind clouds. My eyes lowered, unfocused, like I was staring through her—at something far away, something unreachable.

'But when she called me papa, it felt like a chance. A chance to finally have someone.'

'I was too lonely… no one who understood me. No one who cared.'

'She reminded me of those anime… the ones where the main character raises a kid and finds love in return.'

But hiding my emotions wasn't the only struggle.

I had forgotten how to feel. Real feelings faded fast. I had to dig up old memories—of joy, of rage—just to feel something. But even then, the emotions grew dull with time. I got bored of faking them. Couldn't hold onto them for long.

'What if I forget this feeling too? What if I stop caring? What if I leave her behind…?'

Gone was the fragile peace. What lingered now was a quiet ache—sadness that didn't scream, just clung like a shadow.

I took a deep breath and straightened up, letting the sadness fade.

'But I've been feeling more lately. The thrill of fighting.'

'But then, there are intrusive thoughts too… like when I saw that scar on the Orc champion's chest—part of me wanted to tear it open with both hands and rip out its organs, one by one' I said to myself, heart racing with dark excitement.

Then my eyes fell to the tiny form in my arm.

I didn't speak, but the weight in my chest dropped into my shoulders.

A quiet sigh slipped past my lips—barely audible, yet heavy enough to speak volumes.

"But that's not the only feeling."

"The feeling of being cared for… I hope that feeling is real."

I gave an awkward smile.

'I'm just a broken piece of trash' ,I thought bitterly, cursing my unstable mind.

Then I felt it.

Winds, faster and colder than before, brushing across my skin.

'It seems we're almost out of the forest.'

[ It seems so, Master. ]

[ It also seems a battle is taking place ahead. ]

'I can sense it too. Let's see.'

I stepped forward and saw the forest's end.

Light poured in from the opening like a gateway to another world.

I stepped out.

Rolling grasslands stretched before me.

The breeze was different here—cleaner, sharper.

I could hear metal clashing in the distance—shouts, steel against steel.

Far off, I saw a carriage under siege.

Armed figures surrounded it. Inside, a driver and two wounded armored figures desperately tried to protect it.

'Let me guess—bandits attacking a caravan.'

'Could this plot be any more obvious?' I sighed.

'But… why am I on a cliff again?'

'Is this a coincidence?'

I was still lost in thought when I felt movement in my arms.

I looked down toward the pelt and met her eyes—wide open, gleaming.

Then, Liora laughed—a soft, sweet giggle.

"Ehehehehe, papa," she said, hugging me tightly.

I smiled and asked,

"What happened? Why are you laughing?"

"Liora's just happy to see papa," she replied.

"Is that so."

'I guess… I don't have to worry about forgetting this feeling. I'll take care of her. And if the day comes when I forget… I'll just have to remember this. These memories. These emotions. Today.'

"Where are we, papa?" she asked.

"It's so high up," she said in surprise.

"We're out of the forest. See there? In the distance, you can spot a city," I said, pointing forward.

Liora looked in the direction I pointed, her eyes narrowing with concentration.

"It's just grass, Papa," she replied.

I got confused.

[ It's too far for Little Miss to see, Master ] Sebas replied, clearing my confusion.

"Papa, look there," Liora said, pointing toward the carriage.

"Can you see what's going on there, Liora?" I asked.

"Umm… Liora can't see properly, but Liora sees a carriage and shiny people… and a lot more people" she said, trying her best.

'She might not be able to see as far as me, but this distance is still impressive. She's definitely blessed with good eyesight' I thought, feeling proud.

"Listen to Papa carefully, Liora. There are bad people over there hurting others and trying to take their things—probably. And Papa is going to hurt the bad people and help the people in the carriage."

She kept listening, but slowly her face turned sad.

"What happened, Liora?" I asked curiously.

"...Papa, do you need to hurt them? Hurt is bad… it feels scary" she said softly, her face drawn into a pout.

'This… she's too innocent and soft. I need to make some things clear for her from the start' I thought.

"Liora, those bad people hurt others. If Papa doesn't stop them, they'll keep hurting more people. They could even hurt you too."

"But… hurt is…"

"If I let them go, they might hurt someone else's parents too."

"Nooo!! Liora doesn't want Papa to get hurt!" she cried out and hugged me tightly.

'I wasn't talking about myself, but I guess this works' ,I thought.

"Liora, this world is filled with many people—some good, some bad. If I hurt those people, a lot of others won't get hurt."

"If someone does something wrong… they get punished?"

I sighed.

"Papa will just take them to a good place where they'll become good people. Is that okay?"

She calmed down a bit and looked up at me with tears still clinging to her lashes.

'I can't just push my morals and ideals on such a young child. I should take it slow' ,I thought.

"Papa will send them to a good place?" she asked, wiping her tears.

"Yes," I replied.

'I'll send them to hell when you're not looking. That's the best place they deserve—assuming they're actually bad people. From the looks of it, that seems to be the case, but I'll still check their status.' I thought, scenarios playing out in my mind.

"Okay," she said with a small smile.

"Hold Papa tight, Liora," I replied.

'Let's complete this isekai tutorial quest and get to the city.' ,I thought, amused.

I walked to the edge of the cliff. The wind whipped at my pelt as I leaned forward, putting pressure into one foot before leaping.

This time, instead of descending, I soared upward, cutting through the air like a missile.

I glanced at Liora—she was peeking out from the fur-lined pelt around my shoulder, still a little scared, but the thick hide seemed to act like a barrier, and she looked a bit more excited.

'When she gets used to it, we'll both fly around everywhere,' I thought.

'For now, I'm just walking through this world slowly to get used to everything. I wouldn't be this relaxed if I hadn't found that healing herb—or if her condition was much worse before' ,I reminded myself.

"Papa! Shiny person is fighting!" she said in a rush.

'They were definitely just monologuing while we were talking. Otherwise, there's no way they'd still be alive in that condition' ,I thought.

'And Sebas would've saved them before dying anyway, since I've already instructed him to act in such cases.'

I descended straight into the fray, landing between the bandits and the soldiers—probably soldiers.

My feet touched the ground with a soft thud, followed by a heavy gust of wind blasting in every direction. Dust lifted. Cloaks fluttered. Silence fell.

All eyes turned to me—the bandits, the wounded soldiers, even the carriage driver stared at the figure who had just dropped from the sky.

There I stood: my physique lean and unassuming, bare-chested with a grey wolf pelt draped over one shoulder. My white hair swayed in the breeze, my crimson eyes scanning the battlefield.

To them, I must have looked like something out of a myth—a being not meant to walk among them.

On my right, the bandits. On my left, the carriage and the two gleaming figures barely standing.

'Now that I think about it… Liora calling them "shiny people" is just too cute' I thought, smiling slightly.

A panicked voice broke the silence from my right.

"W-Where did he come from? WHO ARE YOU?"

to be continued.....