Chapter 2

𝟎𝟓/𝟐𝟑/𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟖 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫

For those who said I was born privileged... it's true, there is no denial, or better there's no way to deny, I was born in a rich democratic country, just this fact made my life better than half of the world.

I was named Levi by my father who was a well-known lawyer, a partner in one of the biggest law firms in the country, we weren't much close, I think he blames me for killing my mother, at least on a subconscious level… I didn't kill her, not on purpose, she died while in labour, but he never overcame her death. He even had a "temple" in his room for her, which I broke in when I was a weak child trying to hide, but I was caught and the Nannie beat the shit out of me.

It's funny how memories work, I was always taken care of by nannies and I can't even remember the names of the goods nannies, but I remember everything about the worst… Angelica, I can clearly visualize her face and hear her voice, she would starve me, lock me in my room, beat me in places where the others couldn't see, she only left because one of the housemaids discovered how weak I was, but I took months until it was discovered. But I don't resent her, actually, I feel something similar to gratefulness for her, she made me into who I am today.

My father put me in a boarding school, I liked to stay there at first, I wouldn't have to go home so I focused solely on studying, maybe that way my father would forgive me, I was naive at that time. I would soon be called names like "nerd", "smart ass" "dork", but it wouldn't be called like that for long, I didn't react as they expected, actually, I didn't do anything, I didn't care how they called me. so they started to call me stranger, weirdo because of the way I act.

I've always liked sociology, history, economics, politics... I would read books at the library all day long after classes, there was so silent, well... most of time, I remember one day some boys came and start to annoy me. whenever someone tried I would just ignore them until they got tired and left, but not Thomas he stayed there for hours, his friend left but he kept there until I decided I would deal with him. I was seated reading a very thick book, so I got up and went to one of the corridors where no one could see us. as expected Thomas followed me.

Thomas was just one year older than me, I don't know what motivated him to keep bullying me, and I don't feel sorry for him, in the narrow corridor I punched his throat, he wasn't expecting that, he fell back and couldn't speak anything, I pushed one of the bookshelves to him, and they started to fall like dominoes, I asked for help, and a librarian came to help him, I said: "We were walking when the bookshelf fell on us".

Thomas couldn't walk or speak so we took him to the infirmary, he was frightened of me, and when the librarian left us I said "If any adult hears about this, I will kill you." after that, it was a bliss, almost no one would ever talk to me.

As you might imagine I didn't make many (or any) friends and those who considered me a friend would be disappointed to know that little they mean to me, I graduated with honours and went to study sociology at the best university in our country, which many years after I would get my PhD from.

My life at university was calm, there isn't much I could say, I've mainly studied, different from school and college there was no one to importune me. I've never gone to a party, or even went on a date, for me it was pointless.

On vacations, I would often travel around the world, father always paid for my travels, there was an unspoke agreement between us, he paid for my necessities and travel and I wouldn't go home, or embarrass him. Now, thinking about the past, I think that at some point he probably forgave me, but after years of ignoring me he couldn't find a way to approach me, and paying for everything was his way to say he liked me, but at the time it never crossed my mind.

One day I had to meet my father, it was because he requested me to see him, he wanted to know what I would do after my PhD, I didn't know either, I thought of being a sociologist, or an economist, but I wasn't the professor type, I wasn't good at teaching others, so I gave up of the idea, my father said to try politics, he had many contacts within the government and could try to candidate me as mayor of our home city, I accepted, it was a good idea after all.

After our talk I've begun to scheme my next moves, I should choose a party who would increase my chances of winning, I don't know if my father was right or left-wing, we never were close enough to know, but I don't think he cared about those things. So I didn't need to follow his inclination.

In the end, I choose to go by a centre-left party of my country, I wasn't particularly fond of the theory behind it, but the same it's true about the other parties, it just was the most popular party in my country, and my chances of winning were better.

so after that, I inclined my education at the university to a more Marxist direction, I started to go to church, I was an atheist, god wasn't something logical to me because if there was a god I shouldn't exist, but the masses weren't, so it was important to keep the appearances. I would often participate in assemblies, debates, organize rallies and meetings at university to create a name for myself.

some years after, with the help of my father, the party, and some financial supporters I've become mayor, it was a close election, but I've won. and it was then that I realised that I was born to rule, I was perfect for the job, only I could answer all the problems, and I liked it, I loved the feeling of power that it gave me, then it occurred to me the thought of climbing the stairs of power until I became the head of state.

I worked a lot to accomplish my thought, in the process I made many allies, and more rivals shook many hands and buried a lot of bodies. If my years in politics taught me anything is that nothing will ever please everyone, there will always be someone to criticize, be it for a real reason or not.

But I never get to accomplish my dreams since I've died today by some fanatic stranger, my life flashed upon my eyes as he gave me seven shots at my belly, I probably died at that moment since I don't remember anything later, maybe it was a political plot of my rivals to get rid of me, it's possible, but I will never know.

But suddenly I wake up.

𝟎𝟖/𝟏𝟎/𝟓𝟓𝟖 𝐤𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫.

I woke up in Salim's river edge, soaked in both water and blood, it was already morning

𝘢𝘩𝘩𝘨𝘨, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥? 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦.

As I regain memories of last night, I look around.

𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺? 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺? 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵, 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦! 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘴… 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘯𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵... 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘴. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦… 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺!

The more I thought about the more my head hurt, I took my hands to my head in an attempt to ease the pain, unsuccessfully, when my hand goes down to the ground to support me, I made a small cut on my hand with a dagger, it was a beautifully adorned dagger, probably expensive, with inscriptions on both sides of the blade and the hilt was golden and shaped similar to a bear, it was the same one that was in my hands when that man thrust his body against me.

𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵, 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵… 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘯… 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴… 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘮? 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵... 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘳𝘨, 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰! 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴.

I buried the dagger, got up and went running to the train station, I was relieved when I saw a train arriving almost the same time, inside the train I could think about what happened to me.

𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥. 𝘰𝘳 𝘓𝘦𝘷𝘪 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥... 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯… 𝘢𝘩𝘩𝘩𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦!

𝘈𝘮 𝘐 𝘔𝘪𝘬𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘓𝘦𝘷𝘪? 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘺𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯... 𝘕𝘰, 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘔𝘪𝘬𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘓𝘦𝘷𝘪, 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦.

...𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩... 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦'𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩, 𝘞𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩? 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.

𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥? 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦? 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦? 𝘚𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴... 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵!

I look at my hand which I've made a small cut earlier unintentionally, but it was already healed. so I didn't care much, the cut wasn't that serious.

I left the train as soon as I got to the train station near my workplace, in front of the factory there were many people hoping to get a new job. There the first thing I did was going directly to Raz, we were still working together after all those years, we even looked for new jobs together, nowadays we work at a weapon's factory.

I walked at a high pace covering my body to avoid people looking at my clothes with blood. I went to the ammo section where we usually work

"Mika, what the fuck happened to you?" he asked looking worried about me who was very late.

Raz when we were children only had brown hair, but as we grow older he got a beard on his chin that made him look way older than me.

"Raz, your coat, quickly I can explain later."

He got it and delivered me his brown coat, I was already wearing one blue but since it was dirty and some parts were stained with blood, I needed another one to cover it. I went directly to my post in the line but another man was working there already.

"Mikhail, so you came today?" I heard a voice coming from behind me, it was Anton the manager of this section. he was a nice one. comparing to other managers I've worked along with. but his words were confusing.

"what do you mean by that? I came yesterday too."

He looked at me with a more confused face than me.

"No, you didn't, I am plenty sure of it, I had to mobilize some workers yesterday to cover you. Are you alright?" he asked really concerned.

"no, yes... which day is today?" I asked in a hurry.

Anton looked at me like he was looking at a crazy man.

"Today is Kiv."

kiv is the first day of the week… in other words Sunday, I went to work in Fain/Saturday so passed out for a bit more of an entire day, or…

"I know this gonna sound crazy, but I assure you I'm not crazy, which month and year we are."

Anton hesitated to answer, I knew it was too crazy to ask something like that, but I need to confirm if I slept for just one day or more.

"it's Petrovin tenth, of our lord's year 558"

𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺… 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺... 𝘈𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵, 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦.

"I know I shouldn't ask for it, but I need this job, I can't tell you why I didn't come work yesterday, but you know it was important I've never missed one day of work without an early warning"

𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐'𝘮 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘺.

"Tsc. I can't give your job back just because of this Mikhail."

𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 (𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘰) 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘷𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺, 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦… 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘐𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺, 𝘨𝘰 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭, 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴.

"Anton, please I need help, You know how things are out there, everyone is looking for jobs"

" I can put your name up when we need to hire someone new, you already have years of experience in this factory, come here every morning, and in some days or weeks you can already work… probably."

"Thanks" I answered before leaving a bit disappointed.

𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭... 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵.

I went on foot to the train station near home to save money, I had a lot of spare time now, and I walked alongside the river searching for the spot where I buried it, when I've found it I realised I couldn't read, I knew how to read at Earth, but it was written in the alphabet of this world.

𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘔𝘳 𝘌𝘴𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘨? 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦. 𝘯𝘰, 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵, 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵, 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺.

I went home and changed my clothes, I would have to stop by Raz's house later to give his coat back, it would be difficult for him to work without it. I opened my lunchbox which had the food of last day.

𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘵 𝘚𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘮 𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘸, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘐 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦.

I made a simple omelette with cheese using a bit of salt I usually use to preserve food. since Kraven was far away from the sea or a salt desert, salt was more expensive, but it was worth spending just a little bit to improve a meal like that.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶… 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳.

As nostalgia appears in my heart, memories of her death cross my mind, then Ygor, Svetlana, natty… everyone, I wasn't sad anymore I was angry. I lost everything in this world and never realised it until that moment, and the culprit was in front of me or at least a small statue of it, the Godking, my mother used to pray for it every night. I took it and throw it with all my might against the wall breaking it into pieces, this was considered a sin and a crime.

𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘥𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘠𝘨𝘰𝘳, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘰𝘥, 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘥𝘴, 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘰𝘩𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘌𝘨𝘺𝘱𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘴.

𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘯𝘰, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺, 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘯! 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥!

"I swear," I said in a low voice with tears on my face and determination in my eyes.