Chapter 4

"What... What are you doing with this beast!?"

The voice came from the older man, it was low and rough, sounded like the man had an itchy throat. The traveler stopped writing, turned to look at the man, and smiled.

"I heard the residents wanted to get rid of it. I'm leaving tomorrow and I'm taking it with me."

The rest were too stunned to speak, so the traveler said, "Do you happen to know where the chief is, mister? I was looking for his house but got lost in the process."

"The chief's house is on the opposite way!" Said the older man but he quickly added, "And... I am the chief."

"Oh, you are?" The traveler was rather surprised because he had expected the chief to be younger, "Well, it is nice to meet you. The reward for killing the beast was fifty thousand alvas, I was hoping to obtain the money."

The traveler placed his journal back in his bag and spoke again, "I didn't kill the beast but I will take it with me. It is a bit selfish of me to do that despite knowing how much trouble it gave to you."

The village chief shook his head, "All I wish is to keep this beast away from my people!" The older man seemed sad, "The street isn't a good place for discussion so can I invite you to my house? It will be a long way but the reward is over there."

"Sure, I don't mind though that would be tiring. Still, thank you for your hospitality." The traveler happily accepted the invitation.

"I don't understand how you can be blunt yet polite at the same time." The chief commented as they started walking, "Don't take it seriously, I meant it as a compliment."

"Oh? Thank you." The traveler responded. He noticed that the knights with the chief were looking at him strangely.

"Um, sire, I didn't know you were strong enough to subdue a beast of this caliber. When we were at the inn earlier, forgive me if I appeared rude." Said the knight with a long sword on his back.

The traveler was confused. "At the inn? Have we met? When?"

The knight was even more confused. The knight thought that the traveler was doing this on purpose because of what he had done to him at the inn. It wasn't rude at all but if this traveler was a noble or was a wielder, perhaps he found it rude.

"Hold on a second," The traveler said as he grabbed his journal from his bag. The traveler began to read as he was walking. "Oh! I remember now! Sorry, I have serious memory problems."

"Pardon?"

The traveler smiled awkwardly, "You see, I keep forgetting plenty of things. That's why I need my journal in case I forget something."

The traveler continued to walk but suddenly remembered what the knight was saying earlier, "Oh right, you were apologizing, why is that?"

"I..." The knight didn't know how to explain. He saw the traveler opening his journal again and reading something.

"I just checked, I didn't write anything about you being rude so whatever it was, I believe it's best to forget about it."

Before the knight could respond, the chief said, "You have memory problems? It must be hard for you."

They seemed to have forgotten about the beast who was following behind.

"It is indeed, but I can't let it stop me from traveling."

"Traveling? You're a traveler?"

The light conversations continued until they reached the house. The chief invited the knights as well and offered them some tea. The traveler accepted, he was not the type to reject someone's hospitality and there was no reason to refuse the offer. Though he preferred coffee, tea is good as well.

"I'm gonna be honest, young man. About the reward, I'm afraid I can't give it to you fully." The chief said as soon as he sat down on the sofa in front of the traveler.

"I understand, chief. I didn't kill the beast and perhaps you are worried that it might come back."

"Exactly. I am glad to know that you aren't the kind to chase money. I was worried that you would get angry and hurt us but thankfully, that didn't happen."

"I am though."

"Sorry?!"

"I mean, I am the kind to chase money." The traveler smiled.

He explained further, "I said I understand your worries but I never said I was fine to receive an amount lower than expected."

"But!"

The traveler didn't let him continue, "I am not a scoundrel, I won't force you to give me the right amount so instead, I will prove to you that I can take this beast away with me."

"You have only met me today therefore you can't trust me. That is reasonable and logical but I would be doing you a favor if I succeed in taking the beast away without receiving the reward wholly." He clarified.

"I understand that it will be a great loss to you if I fail but there is a chance that I accomplish it. I don't want to leave without fifty thousand alvas that's why I would like to prove it to you."

The village chief stayed quiet for a while. Only after a few minutes did he speak, "Then, will you give me time to think about it? I will give you my decision tomorrow."

"That is alright. Then I would head back to the inn now, thank you for the tea."

The traveler said he would go back to the inn and that was his intention, however, he ended up getting lost on the way, and when he found the way back, it was already nighttime.

He had his dinner and went back to his room to sleep. He removed his cloak and shoes. This time, he didn't forget to write down the details of everything that happened this day. He wrote his conversation with the chief as well as the direction he took to go back to the inn.

The beast was still outside, sleeping like a kitten. The traveler went to bed and his consciousness drifted again.

He was back in that blurry world. Soon, a memory began to emerge. It was the conversation he had with the chief. The chief didn't want to give him the whole amount because of his worries but the traveler wanted to receive the fifty thousand alvas.

When the memory was replayed, it showed that the chief agreed and told him that he would hand in the right amount by tomorrow morning. The knight with the long sword then asked if he needed anything. The traveler would take the beast away which was the center of the knight's problem and to thank him, the knight felt like he needed to do something for him.

For the second memory, the traveler was back in his teens. He was sitting on his bed, alone, looking at the mirror and talking to himself. He ended up breaking the mirror for some reason and got scolded because of it.

The memory was replayed, it showed that instead of breaking the mirror, he placed it under the bed instead.

And for the third memory, the traveler was once again back in his teens. He was in the kitchen, cooking his food. He didn't succeed to cook nice food and ended up eating something so disgusting.

When the memory was replayed, it showed how excellent he was at cooking. He ate food that satisfied him.

The traveler thought that it was over since last time, there were only three memories but he was wrong. There was a fourth one.

In the fourth memory, he was in his teens, standing on a pool of blood. A person his age was lying there, injured and hurt. In that memory, the traveler shouted for help therefore that person was saved. Instead of being praised for saving her, he was scolded and they even locked him in his room.

They should have been thankful since he saved the girl but instead, the people were angry at him.

In the altered memory, the traveler didn't make a sound. He didn't call for help and he even cleaned up the scene. And by that, he hid the body somewhere in the forest, he cleaned the blood and it soon looked as if it was never there.

When he went back to the forest to look for the body of the girl, he found out that she was eaten by a beast. The traveler in the altered memory grinned. He was never caught and scolded. Everyone assumed that it was the beast who killed the little girl.

The traveler felt odd about that memory. When he thought it was over, another memory popped up.

In the fifth memory, the traveler was sitting on a branch of a tree, looking at the other tree in front. A boy's body was hung from there. When he saw it, he jumped down and shouted for help. When help arrived and saw the boy, a couple who seemed to be the teen's parents cried in despair. They screamed at the traveler and hurried to their child.

The traveler was blamed for the boy's death though he didn't do anything wrong. The traveler wasn't punished but he was hated by the teen's parents.

In the altered version, instead of shouting for help, the traveler sat still on the tree. A huge wolf beast jumped from out of nowhere, knocked down the tree where a boy was hung, and bit the boy's torso. The boy's torso was ripped, the only thing left behind was his head and feet.

The traveler went down the tree, moved to the boy's head, pulled the rope around it, and let the beast eat the head as if to remove the evidence of him committing suicide. In the end, all that was left was the feet. The traveler eventually burned the rope and left the forest.

The boy was never found.

After the last memory, the traveler didn't even have time to think, and his consciousness was moved from that world back to its original place.

He thought if those memories were from him or not. Whether it happened or not. He couldn't remember any of those at all besides the first one.

The memories bothered him but not too much since he had something to deal with at the moment and his thoughts were focused mainly on the money he would receive. If his beliefs were true, then the reality would be changed to how he wanted it to and to how it was in his dream.

As soon as the traveler opened his eyes, he began to write his experience in the dream. After that, he took a bath, wore some clothes, left the room, and had breakfast. He did all of it quickly as he was excited to find out if he was right though he was still doubtful and had low expectations.

The traveler took his pocket watch and looked at the time. It was still eight in the morning, perhaps the old man was not awake yet?

As if the village chief heard his thoughts, he came inside the inn with a leather pouch in his right hand. The pouch seemed full and he was smiling brightly, the chief approached the traveler's table and said, "This old man came to give you the rewards you rightfully deserve! Just like what we discussed yesterday, fifty thousand alvas."

"I couldn't fit fifty thousand of them in one pouch so I turned it into silver alvas, I hope you don't mind." The old man placed it on the table, "Five hundred silver alvas, you can count it if you want."

The traveler smiled, "Then I would gladly do so! Thank you."

"You really are going to count? You... I can't find the right words to describe you!"