Where do I belong?

-Somewhere at the same time-

Guide raises his hand. It's already been a few days since they entered the forest. They haven't stop moving since.

"We'll stay the night here." The Guide orders.

Despite his reputation, people couldn't help but feel suspicious. Staying the night in dangerous area didn't seem appealing to any of them, but they quietly followed his order. They survived until now thanks to him. He seemed to know what he's doing.

"Was this the correct decision? There will still be casualties. No, this is the best thing we can do."

He sat at the near tree stump and observed the mercenary group he's been assigned to for the past few weeks. They were far from heroes, but each of them had their own hope and dream. He closed his eyes and sighed. He never liked people depending on him, especially if their lives are at stake. He couldn't afford any mistakes. But sometimes, making the right decision doesn't mean everyone can make it alive. He had seen it with his own eyes. This night won't be any different.

With the latest news of The Demon Lord being sealed away, a lot of people turned to his side. There had already been cases of sacrificial rituals in exchange for demonic power, all over the country. Humanity lost hope. It's understandable, best warriors, mages, soldiers died in that fight. While there were cases of people awakening in short amount of time, they'll need a lot more to kill the Demon Lord. One year isn't enough. Now that he thinks about it, what happened to that mage everyone talked about? He survived but wandered off on his own. For what reason? Did he run away? There must be a bigger picture in this. His intuition never proved him wrong. He knew that something important will happen soon. He's one of the best Guides after all.

He looked up to the stars. According to them, they couldn't have less than a few hours to their destination but the reason they stopped is simple. The Demon Lord being sealed away didn't stop demons growing underground, they still wander around villages, cities, mountains, causing chaos. However, wild beasts are not fond of the demons. In this area lives Ptuko, a gigantic batlike creature that hunts at night. They can only see things that are moving, so they can't tell apart demons from other beasts. If they're close to the village where people worship demons, it's logical that there will be demons around. To avoid unnecessary casualties, best decision was to stay here and force them to fight, weaking their forces before fighting them head on.

And as always, things don't go as planned.

"Ambush, we're being ambushed." Someone yelled

Demons. The Guide jumped and grabbed his sword.

"Everyone, rally to me." He ordered

"I-It's no use. We must escape." Someone tried but they had already been sliced to half.

"Fight if you want to live."

-At dawn-

Eight dead, six injured. Considering the whole party had thirty skilled members in total, this was a big loss. He doesn't know what awaits them at the village they need to visit, but they can't get back now. He still managed to save majority of people but if only he could save more of them. Looking up at the sky, he ordered the group to move on. It didn't take them long to reach the village, or what's left of it. Before them were houses burnt to the ground, the whole place was destroyed.

"Who did such thing? Demons?" Stella asked

"According to the information, it couldn't be possible. This is where people worshipped them, they would eventually grow their base here, not burn it." The Guide replied, as they all walked through the village. Just who did this? Was it adventures? People wouldn't rise suspicion around them if they happened to visit them.

"Check around for clues."

At his words, Stella started walking around. She couldn't help but feel sick at sight, she didn't really adapt to cruelty of this world, even though she became an adventurer few months ago. She stumbled upon a ritual site and there was a person? The man appeared to be lying on his back, eyes closed and slowly breathing. Based on his clothes, he seemed like an adventurer.

"Survivor!! Bring a healer." She yelled as she rushed to him.

"Are you okay? Can you hear me?" She asked, she wanted to pick him up but once she saw the state he was in, she stopped. Half of his flesh was burnt. How is this guy still alive?

"D-did I... kill.. them?" The man asked slowly with a rasp voice.

"You did all of this?"

He smiled. He didn't answer her.

"Da...mn... ba..st..ards.." The man didn't speak anymore, he probably went unconscious, or died.

-Few days later-

I didn't think I would open my eyes again. I thought I died. My whole body hurt, like a thousand needles piercing through my skin. I could hear people yelling. This feels familiar. My vision was blurry, but I could see a warm figure above me. Standing there, like an angel. Freya?

Did I get back in time? To the moment where I lost my memories? It could be possible.

"Finally awake, are you feeling okay?" A woman asked me. Now that my vision started getting back, she looked similar to Freya, like they were related. Still, I couldn't hide my disappointment that it's not her.

"He's feeling great. He snored so loud that I couldn't sleep." A young man resting by the tree sneered.

"Don't be rude." She shot him a cold stare

"Im fine... Thank you, for saving me."

"Oh it's a normal thing to do." She grinned. "You're lucky to be alive though, you were in awful state when we found you. What happened exactly?"

"I visited the village... Those people... They wanted to kill me, I tried to escape but I couldn't do it..."

"So you set everything on fire."

"...."

"Are you an adventurer?"

Should I even reveal who I am? No, who I once was? It doesn't matter now. Im not that person anymore.

"Yes. I started few days ago." I lied to her. Well, it wasn't really a lie.

"So the rumours are true, you really lost your memories."

I blinked in confusion. How does she know that?

"Your tattoo idiot. Only five people had it, and they were the heroes that fought The Demon Lord. Did you really think people wouldn't know who you are?" The man said, casually playing with his sword.

I instinctively tried to touch my neck but I couldn't move. So the villagers knew. I was too naive, thinking I could start all over again.

"Is it true that you also lost your magic?"

I nodded my head.

"Still, it's impressive. You managed to kill the demon worshippers without it, as expected of the former greatest mage." She smiled at me.

"So who are you guys?"

"We're just an ordinary mercenary group. The name is Stella, that man is Ekko. Nice to meet you" She grinned

"A innkeeper there told me that you would come. Reason why I stayed the night."

She frowned. Did I say something wrong?

"Their plan was probably to use you as a vessel, or sacrifice you, so they could grow in power. If they did that, we wouldn't be able to stop them." Another man walked up. He wore a mask that covered half his face.

"Name's Guide."

"Nice to meet you everyone." I said as I lowered my gaze. I also wanted to say my name but I couldn't remember. No one even told me what my name was.

"How about you stick with us for a while?" Guide offered.

"Are you serious?" Ekko groaned. "No disrespect, but the guy isn't strong anymore. And we all have one year until that bastard comes at us again. He'll just be a dead weight."

"The fact he survived the night without any magic speaks enough. He has potential." The Guide smiled at me. "We'll give you time to think, until you get better."

"Also don't mind Ekko, he's a sweetheart once you get to know him." Stella whispered in my ear. Ekko didn't seem to react to her.

"Oh and also, we found a weird book with you. Why is it empty?" She asked me.

Empty? It wasn't empty.

"Could you open it for me?"

"Sure."

She brought the book and opened the first page.

"See?"

My heart froze. Can she not see it? Once again there were simple words written on it.

"You need to die."