Journal from Another World

真魔王の誕生・Elfried Redmoon

The first thing I noticed that something was wrong was a sudden change of scenery, from buildings-like structures of a familiar city to an endless green plain of the unknown, then an intense headache attacked me.

The things that are important were slightly leaving me, everything that seem precious begun evaporating like water in a desert. The more I want to remember, the more the pain plunged my head.

Please let it stop… make it stop... I want to make it stop, but the seemingly important things were going one by one, I don’t want to forget them… no…

*arghhhh

“Are you okay!?” a worried voice approached me. “Is it you head? You should lie down here and rest, it won’t do you any good if you think about it, for now think of nothing but alleviating yourself from the pain.” Right if I die, these important things will be meaningless. I let go of the memories, I could feel tears flowing from my eyes as the seemingly important memories fade away from me. But the soothing voice calmed me and eventually slept.

“How are you feeling?” the voice called out the second I opened my eyes. The excoriating pain that attacked me prior also started to subsid a little.

“Ye-yes I think I can manage, thanks to your care.” She was directly above me. If I had not known any better, I think I am using the girl’s lap as pillow. In reality, I really was using her LAP as my HEAD’s pillows. Becoming conscious of this I tried to remove my head, but the pain caught up with me, so I had no choice but to place my head on her soft laps. “I’m sorry.”

I could only apologize to her for this transgression, but…

“Don’t be, I was the one who offered it in the first place, so it is alright.” She was clearly embarrassed her face was beet red to her ears. Me becoming conscious of the act is probably making also aware. Well, since she knows that I have no intention to harass her and that it was required for my current state, she consented.

“It is a little bit awkward to remain with that topic, so let’s introduce ourselves instead.” I guess it really was embarrassing for her, and so to distract both of us she decided to change the topic and together with it the mood. “My name is Aisha… Aisha Farmont Lowell.”

Her voice was calm; her peridot eyes had a soothing appeal to them that made my nerves calm down. I really liked how her navy-blue hair swayed together with the wind and kept looking at them. Slightly embarrassed from my eyes that has been glued to her face, she called out again.

“Are you listening, about your name, may I hear about it?” Yes, I still have yet to introduce myself. Wait what was my name again… what? Where did I come from again…? I know it is… wait… why can’t I remember it? Why can’t I remember my own name, where am I from, or even what was I doing here… why am I here… these questions started to boil my head again.

Sensing that I was pain again she then shook her head to stop me from answering. “You don’t look too good, the sun is about to fall, If we don’t hurry the gates will close, are your legs ready for a slight walk?”

She was worried for me, but I need to at least make it easy for her. I nodded and slowly stood and walk by her side slowly. As soon as she had picked her basket filled with some type of plants and herbs, we then made our way to the direction of the gate she mentioned earlier.

The meadow where Aisha found me was a place, she frequents. She usually goes there to collect herbs as ingredient needed in apothecary. Since it looked heavy, I tried to grab the basket from her hands but shot me down saying “patients should just think about getting back their health and leave the healthy ones to take care of things.” And so left her to carry the basket.

While at the side of the gates, I had nothing else to do, Aisha was still negotiating with the guards, so I took that time to test the extent of my Memory loss. First although it is indeed Amnesia, I was still able to recognize words and their meaning such as ‘guards’, ‘gates’ and ‘walls’, I guess my language is not affected with my amnesia, well that should have already been a given since I was able to have a conversation with Aisha.

I think I learned it from school that language and memories are in different sides of the brain… huh if I remember the term school then I have gone to school… but when I try to remember where and when I went there, I was shot with the all too familiar pain, so I stop there. Aisha was running towards my direction, since I did not want her to worry about me, I calmed myself and once again suppressed the pain.

“They said you can enter, but they need to check your background.” She was asking for my permission to have myself checked. Well since there was nothing I can do about it, I agreed to her proposition and went inside the guard house beside the gate.

“Please place you left palm on the BLANK SLATE.” The elderly guard ushered me pointing at the white flat stone. I did as he ordered and place my left hand. As soon as my hand made contact with the stone a light rose from it and passed through the back of my palm creating an image made of light in front of me. “Please keep your hand there for a while until a piece of paper is molded.”

As the elder guard had said the image did turn into paper. Augmented printer is it, it sure is fantasy like… wait augmented… printer… fantasy… these words just keep appearing and it would seem I know about their meanings too. While distracted, another guard went and retrieved the paper still floating in the air.

“You may remove your hand.” The other guard politely said and slightly tapped me in the back.

“hmmm…” The elder guard looked at the paper. I was a bit anxious what was written on it. Aisha on the other hand was just sitting there calmly. I wanted her calmness to rub on me too.

“Aisha, is this guy amnesiac?” Although stated as a question it was more like he was confirming that I was indeed amnesiac.

“I had a feeling he had, but I wanted to confirm it myself too.” Aisha nodded at the guards. Leaving me with questions like, right why do I know that word all so well.

“Well since there are no criminal records attached to his Status Condition, he should be fine. He may enter the gate.” He had a worried look painted in his face. “Since it would be bad to leave, him unregistered go to the Registry early in the morning to have him temporarily or a complete registration as a citizen of Crystal City.” He handed the piece of paper to Aisha.

“It’s going to be tough not remembering anything but keep moving forward boy.” The elderly guard firmly tapped my shoulders. “…and welcome to Crystal City Capital of Galvaland”

“Thank you, Sir Gerald. Sir Arnus.” Sensing that I was about to thank unknown individuals, Aisha bowed to the elder guard and later to the younger guard. I decided to follow suit.

“Sir Gerald, sir Arnus allow me to give my thanks as well.” One day I will pay these two for the warm welcome they had given me.

*****

After leaving the guard house Aisha then handed me the paper after reading its content. I too tried to read it. Although the letters were unfamiliar to me, I was able to read them perfectly…

.PROFILE {

Name : ???????? ???????

Source Level : 1

Origin : Human

Age : 16

Occupation : ???? ????? ????

Experience Points : 1,000

Experience Gained : 0

}

.STATUS CONDITION{

Amnesiac

}

The place Aisha had guided me was the slums, since I was thinking in line of my ambiguous yet profound memory, I had assumed that Aisha was a noble of some sorts to this Fantasy-like world. The thought was vague but since I won’t get anywhere thinking about that I decided to stop questioning my own knowledge and go with the flow.

Right, back to the topic as to why I thought that Aisha was some kind of noble, one was how she was able to negotiate with the guards. I thought for sure she used some kind of connection for that. But apparently, she had done no such thing. The second was her having a last name, as far as I have come to my memories, medieval like worlds like these, only noble families should have been granted surnames.

“Aisha, you do not have to answer if you don’t want to but is your family perhaps a fallen noble?” Although I did not want to pry, I was just overcome with great curiosity.

“Where did that come from?” Aisha tilted her head to the side, that gesture was cute and made me slightly blush.

“Like I said before, you do not have to answer if you don’t want to. I’m sorry if I am prying to your personal life.”

“It’s not like that, I just don’t get why you are apologizing for some reason. Why do you think I would be a noble in a first place?”

“Well, your surname…”

“Hahahaha” was her first response. “I wonder if you come from the mountains or something… but really my family name is from a commoner. If you are thinking that all commoners have no surnames that was only a thousand years ago. Hahahaha”

A thousand-year prior, surnames were indeed privileges given only to nobles. But, apparently due to population explosion they needed a new system to distinguish people from everywhere and decided that surnames were adopted to minimize confusion of people with the same name. Surnames of both parents are passed down to the child, whichever of the family surname have enough power would be made the last name and the other will be retained as the middle name.

I guess she did not have any complicated family background. But on another note, the slums here is as expected really the slums… I see a lot of unsavory people here and there, but the sight of the children rushing to where Aisha was quite sight to behold. Not only because the children were, quite fond of her, but because the unsavory people made a warm expression the moment, they saw Aisha gave the children a warm smile.

“Since we are all living in the same condition, we often times help each other. Although they are indeed scary, as long as you do not harm anyone from here and see you as one of them you will always be welcomed here. Well, they do unsavory thing so the gesture you did earlier was not entirely wrong.” Right, when I saw the unsavory people, the first thing I did was try and place myself in between them and from Aisha. But from the looks of it, they were piercing dangerous gazes because I was unfamiliar to them and thought I was doing something to Aisha.

“Just so you know Sir Gerald and Sir Arnus are from this part of the Slums.” I see so that was why she was able to have a friendly chat with them and negotiated my entry. She must have told them that she was going to take care of me that is why they did the background check not for me but for Aisha’s sake.

Still, it did not change that those two welcomed me here, I will do my best not to harm Aisha in order to not betray their trust.

Aisha continued to guide me further in the slums and eventually we arrived at a small house. I dreaded when she would say this was her house.

“It is a little shabby, but welcome to my house.” She had a proud face when she pointed to her house. Then she looked at me and somehow got embarrassed. “Is it not to your liking?”

“Are you sure you want me to stay with you?” before she gets a wrong idea that I was disgusted or anything along those lines. “You are barely living for yourself and now you have to provide food for a complete stranger.”

After hearing my words the embarrassed face she had earlier turned into a smile. “My mother was an advocate of apothecary, and my father was a doctor so leaving a patient will be bad for my image as a healing advocate. Please let me save face by taking care of you until you are able to fend for yourself.”

She was good with her words. “Then allow me to do a little to alleviate some of your burdens by doing other chores, my brain might have amnesia, but my body does remember how to do chores. Allow me to pay a little of your troubles.” I shot the same logic to her, and she clearly pouted after a few moments consented that I do the minimal work for her.

Although her house was looked small outside it was able to fit three persons before so with her and just me it was a mansion. I was able to sleep in her room while she used her parent’s room for her own. I was glad I did not have to sleep outside. If she had not said those words, I was going to spend the night outside, but since I was able to sleep in a proper bed, I was able to sleep well, had it not for some strange dream.

*****

A red moon rose in the night, so red it almost looked like someone splashed blood on it. Below the red moon was me, surrounded mounds. I could not make out what the mounds were made up, but for some reason I did not want to find out what it was… I needed to wake up… please let me wake up…

“Hey, are you okay!?” a voice woke me, it was a familiar soothing voice, my benefactor, caretaker, and recently my landlady. Because of that nightmare, I was breathing even harder and more erratic than when I was afflicted with that painful headache yesterday while trying to recollect my memories. “I’m sorry for waking you it looked like you were in a lot of pain so…”

“No… Thank you for waking me up.” She was baffled as to why I needed to thank her. “I had a very terrifying dream.” so I mentioned about my dream.

“Well, it was just a dream, you don’t have to think too hard about it.” To try and protect my anxiety Aisha just brushed it off and told me that it was just a dream and to stop thinking about it.

“Right, we need to hurry and go to the Civil Registry Office.” She clearly wanted to change the subject. “Since it might take a while for your memories to return you staying here will be a problem if you get caught and send to slavery for not having citizenship here.”

As I give my nod to affirm we went to the Civil Registry Office she had mentioned. Apparently we needed to pay a hefty amount for a complete registry and had to wait for 1 year for me to receive my identification credentials, so with Aisha’s blessing I decided to take a Temporary Registry for a small amount and just make sure to renew it once a month.

I had another problem upon my registry since I was amnesiac I was in a bind on how to answer the registry on the name. That was when I received a name from Aisha.

.PROFILE {

Name : Elfried Redmoon

Source Level : 1

Origin : Human

Age : 16

Occupation : ??? ???

Experience Points : 1,000

Experience Gained : 0

}

.STATUS {

Amnesiac

}

Apparently, the name Elfried is something Aisha had adopted from a character in her favorite novel and Redmoon was something she used to interpret the one in my dream. And so Elfried Redmoon was born here in the Capital of Galvaland, Crystal City.