3. Death(2)

"As I've mentioned before, there's nothing wrong with his body, just his mind was somewhat off. At first, I thought it might have been some kind of shock, but that seems to be in the past now."

Two men, one the village chief and the other a priest, discussed my condition.

"Hey, Ron, can you go out now, kid?"

"Alice, give Ron a break, let him rest a bit more."

"Ugh... Dad, I'm not a kid."

"Hahaha... Your response just proves how cute you are."

The chief, unlike Alice, had a much more rugged appearance and different hair color. The only similarity they shared was their ease in conversation, a trait Alice must have inherited from her father. Why did I suddenly feel relief?

"Hey, Ron!" the chief called.

"Yes?"

"Don't bear everything on your own, kid. If your dad saw his child crumbling under the weight of responsibilities, he'd curse me from the grave."

I couldn't fully grasp his words, but guilt overwhelmed me.

"So, I'll take my leave for today."

"Dad, I want to stay with Ron! Ron, you need help, right?"

Why was she winking at me? Was it a signal? I remained silent, which only seemed to frustrate her.

"Hey..."

"Let's go; you can visit later, okay?"

"Alright."

With a disappointed expression, Alice left my room with her dad.

"Seriously."

Despite possessing both Ron and Ajai's memories, I had no idea what to do next. Part of me just longed for a peaceful life.

"Mom... Dad, what should I do?"

  -------------------------------- (One year later) ------------------------------------

"Hey Ron, Dad's looking for you."

---------------(Stats)---------------

LVL -> 3

HP -> 130/135

Mana -> 25/25

Strength -> E Stamina -> F

Mana -> E Magic -> F

Defense -> F Attack -> F

Spirit Mag -> C Magic Def -> E

Skills -> Farming (lvl-2), Hunting (lvl-1)

Active skills -> ########

I couldn't get used to these low stats, and I still couldn't understand why my spirit magic was so high. It was practically useless for me, as spirit magic was exclusive to elves. The developers had added this stat after a side story featuring an elf princess, but even in-game, it was of little use to the main story's hero. Rising these stats through the quest provided after the Elf Princess arc was so difficult that no players benefited from this new stat. What puzzled me the most were the active skills; I couldn't access any information about them.

"But... uh..."

My thoughts were interrupted by a painful pinch on my cheeks.

"Don't you dare ignore me, Mr. Ron."

"I... I understand. So, can you let go?"

The one who pulled my cheek was none other than Alice. This rowdy girl, how the hell her small body instore strength of a gorilla.

"Did you think of something rude."

"No... never ma'am."

She got a pretty good sixth sense when it gets to these things.

"Well anyways you remember right, today we had a plan to talk to my dad about us!"

"Ya, you never let me forget!"

"Hmm...now you are just asking for beating."

"Hey now please don't turn into an abusive wife from the very start."

"Wi...wife..We are still not married so that's after we take my dad's permission."

Teasing her was fun, but I was determined to marry her after spending time together. Her personality reminded me of a junior from my past life, and being with her made me forget about my previous world's troubles. Now, all I wanted was a peaceful life with her.

"Let's go talk to your dad."

"Really! Let's go!"

Alice's house was at the far end of my own, so we had to pass through the village to reach her father's place. As Alice and I spent most of our time together, we were practically a couple in the eyes of the villagers, and we only needed her parents' permission to make it official.

"So, what's this couple up to now?"

On our way to her dad's house, a group of boys cornered us. The speaker seemed to be the leader, and he was the same boy Ron had fought before my arrival.

"We're heading to the Chief's house to discuss taking the next step in our relationship."

I declared this to the group who stopped us in our way, Alice face got a bit red after she heard my declaration. 

"Oh."

Jin, who had emerged from the group, stood in front of me, extending his hand.

"Let me be straight to the point, i still don't find you a fit for Alice, but still. I will ask of you to take care of our village's Angel."

I shook his hand, agreeing to protect Alice.

"I'll do my best to take care of our village's angel for you."

"You'd better."

THUD...

Both of us received sudden blows to our heads as we were making a heartfelt promise. Alice was considered beautiful even by the game world's standards, and many boys in the village had a crush on her. This led to the nickname "Angel," which the elders of the village also endorsed. However, Alice detested being called an angel.

"Wait, weren't we on our way to my dad's house?"

"Good luck, soldier!"

Jin gave me a thumbs up as I was dragged away by Alice.

After a while, we arrived at the chief's house, a grander structure than my simple cabin-like hut. But something caught my eye as I glanced around the yard – there were horses. Were knights here for an inspection or tax collection? This wasn't an uncommon occurrence, as they usually came to collect taxes in person rather than having us send the payments. It also allowed them to inspect the border defenses. 

But what concerned me the most was the banner they held. It bore the emblem of the knights of Count Voltas, known as the "Wall of the Empire." Count Voltas oversaw the southern border, which the empire shared with the demon empire. He was famous cause his family is the one defending the borders for generations. A sense of unease washed over me. Something didn't feel right about this situation.