Change

I went back home to find my father doing his daily workout and training. It is almost afternoon and my mother is preparing lunch. My sister is probably deep asleep and my brothers are at school.

My father notices me at the door and stops his workout. "So, did you get in?"

I nod. "But... Are you aware of something?"

"Hm?"

I present to him the dark elf in my storage ring.

!!!!!!

The dark elf jolts up in alert when I suddenly pull her out.

Her hand is holding the knife I placed in the storage ring, pointing at my father.

"Don't worry."

I gently place my left hand on the upper side of the blade that is not sharp and push the knife down.

Her legs are trembling from her injuries as she attempts to stand.

"L-Loi... What is..."

"This is my second trial. Are you aware?" I ask my father.

"What?!"

His eyes widen in surprise as he drops the wooden sword in his hand.

"This... I recognise her." My father says. "She is the dark elf spy my squad captured. I left her in Orland's hands for him to interrogate..."

"It looks more like torture to me." I blurt out.

"I know...I..."

My father's eyes are still wide open. His brows are slightly contorted as his legs tremble.

"Why is she in such a state? I-I ordered Orland to let her go if she refuses to tell anything. But instead of doing so... What..."

...

"Are you aware of what is happening within the army?" I say.

My father looks at me, pleading for it to not get any worse. "The entrance fee was 2 silver coins. However, people who were deemed 'useless' like old age, disabilities and illnesses faced extreme prejudice such as an increase in the entrance fee. For your information, this dark elf was my opponent."

"WHAT?!"

My father grabbed my shoulder. "A-Are you hurt anywhere?"

I shake my head.

The dark elf is still on high alert.

My father let go of my shoulder and grasp his forehead. "I...need some time for myself. Tell your mother to treat her wounds...I..."

My father walks into the cabin. I follow him while helping the dark elf trudge her way in.

My mother stares at me in surprise. She just finished cooking lunch. "Is that a dark elf? Why is she-"

"I'm sorry, I need some time alone. Loi, help your mother patch the elf up." My father says before locking himself inside his and my mother's room.

My mother sighed. She goes to the storage room to take some medical supplies. Our storage room is a basement that can be entered from a hatch. The hatch is at the corner of the room under a cabinet.

I help her pull the cabinet aside after laying the elf on my bed.

She climbs down into the darkness. The only thing visible is the void and some light shone through from the top.

My mother raises her index finger on her right hand. She closes her eyes and chants something before small little dots of lights like fireflies floats around her finger. The room is soon surrounded by small little dots of light, allowing my mother and I to see a dusty basement. The basement is only slightly bigger than my room, only allowing about 10+ people to fit in. In the basement, there are racks of supplies carefully organised. An ice scroll is used to keep the place cool for preservation. My mother coughs as she brushes the cobwebs aside.

She disables the ice scroll before looking around. She always hated the cold.

"This place is dusty, we need to clean it soon." My mother says.

She goes to the rack at the edge of the room and takes a box off the rack. She walks back to the ladder and raises the box above her head, allowing me to grab it and transport it to my room.

"Now..." My mother takes out a stitch, several bandages, some bottles of medicine, and gloves. She passes one pair of gloves to me and we help treat her.

The treatment took about 20 minutes before we can finally patch up all of her wounds. However, this is still not enough. Her internal wounds are still there.

I lay down on the floor, sweating.

My mother sits on my chair as she wipes her sweat off her forehead. "Mind explaining what is this?" She asks.

"I want to know too. How about we ask him?" I say, looking at the door.

My mother looks at what I'm looking to see my father, just standing at the door.

"Well... I'm not very sure either. Loi, we need to talk."

...

I nod and follow my father out of the cabin.

...

We walk to the back of the house where our laundry is hung.

My father sits on the stump where Christina drew her stuff on.

"I..."

My father ponders about what he should say.

"I do not supervise what is going on in the army. I only oversee the entire army administration and gives out instructions to Orland. He is the one that carries them out. But that doesn't mean I'm not to blame..."

He is staring at the ground as he talks. He is too ashamed and guilty to look at me.

"If I am honest, I...well..."

My father's brow narrows. I place my right hand on his left shoulder.

!

...

He takes a deep breath. "I've known Orland since young. He was my neighbour to my parents so I meet him almost daily... It's just... I don't know what happened to him. He used to be a kind and naive boy, so I didn't want to believe my speculations. I even am afraid to confirm my speculations, afraid that all of them might be true. Orland to me is a brother..."

My father sounded disappointed with that final sentence.

I sigh. "Well, I understand what you mean," I say.

*BANG*

???

My father slaps himself.

His cheeks are red like an apple but he does not care, he seemed better after.

He stood up with a clenched fist and turn to me. "Do you still want to continue being in the army? If you do... I will help you. I've turned a blind eye to everything for too long because I was afraid, afraid of what might happen to my family if I go overboard. But seeing how determined you are... Let's do this." He says.

!!

I am surprised.

...

I realised how much of an idiot I am. My fear of not letting the future stray too far from my previous life? Bullshit. I am here to change the future.

My cowardly trait from being a talentless guy is subconsciously still here, but I am not a talentless person anymore.

"Don't try to burden yourself too much. I am your father, you can rely on me." He says as he extends his right arm out.

I smile.

The future has already strayed. My father is accepting what has happened in the army, the chance of him being betrayed by assassination is pretty much low.

From now on, it is an unknown future, I cannot completely rely on my memories from my previous life.

I take my father's hand. "Sure."

"Good. Let's keep the dark elf a secret as it will be deemed as cheating since you didn't kill the target in the second trial. I know it is unfair but I can't do anything about it when Orland's influence is so wide." My father says

"I don't mind. Instead, why don't you attempt to increase your influence within the army? You have the authority and skills to do so." I say.

"But the paper works..."

"You can hand them to Orland. The more important documents, you can keep for yourself. However, paperwork such as a contract for supplies, maintenance report, and budget tallying can be left for Orland. That way, you are killing two birds with one stone. You prevent Orland's influence from growing while improving yours through respect and fear."

My father smiles. "I will do that. Don't worry about me, I won't act out of place. I assume you have further plans in the army?"

I nod.

"Alright. Just don't get yourself into a dangerous situation. Take this."

My father hands me a black circular orb, an artifact. It's a stealth artifact that changes a person's appearance. An impressive one that is almost impossible to detect.

"Give this to that dark elf, I will explain the rest to your mother. Let's go back in." My father says.

The both of us step back inside and see my mother glaring at us at the dining table. "The food has already gotten cold, you better explain to me what is going on."

I sneak to my room as my father tries to calm my mother down.

I step in and close the door behind me.

!

The dark elf has gotten up and is looking out of my window.

"Uh... Hi." I say.

The dark elf turns around to look at me. She's not saying a word. Her entire face and body are covered with bandages, it's hard not to think of her as a mummy.

I hand out the artifact to her. "Was this yours?"

She takes it but doesn't respond to my question. She rubs the orb a little and the orb expands, consuming her. A few seconds later, the orb disappears, revealing a beautiful woman. Her braided brown hair is over her shoulder enhanced with emerald eyes.

Her darkish skin has disappeared, she disguised herself as a human.

...

I sigh. I guess this is better. Otherwise, Mane and Lee will gossip about this.