10: Painful Memories

"Are you telling the truth, Maelony?"

The old man's voice sounded like thunder in their ears. Kalliste observed the man. He looked like a lion with his rounded ears that featured some shaggy furs. She also saw the black markings on the back of his ears. However, she had no idea about its use. Behind him was a long tail with a black tassel at the end.

"Of course! Why would I lie? I am telling you, I saw hundreds of monsters corpse that was piled up like a small mountain. The whole area looked like an ocean of blood from those monsters. There was even an adult Gargoyle's body amongst them!"

This sentence silenced the noisy crowd. While some were terrified about the sudden revelation, the others had something else in mind.

"Was the Gargoyle's body still there?" A young man with wolf ears and mascular built asked. He was now grinning madly. Being a hunter for years, he knew just how powerful and intelligent the Gargoyle's race was. Those beings were even rarer than dragons, but twice more powerful. Hunting one of those species was comparable to an ant trying to trap an elephant, let alone, kill one. Simply impossible. One must at least be an 8-circled mage and above, or a lever six knight in order to subdue one. However, in these remote area, who would be strong enough to kill it.

"It was still there."

Mokraz grinned even more. Any parts of a Gargoyle's body was more expensive than gold. Obtaining a whole body meant a lifetime of luxury life. One could even be given a noble title due to the insane amount of wealth that he would amass with the Gargoyle's corpse. For years, hunters, mercenaries, as well as knights tried to hunt down that race, however, only one man survived to tell the tales. He now lived in the capital with the title of Baron. Though he stayed silent on how he got the Gargoyle's tail, many speculated that he just got lucky. Rumours about him circulated around the capital for quite some time. However, overtime, people soon forgot when a new rumour appeared.

"Who would be strong enough to kill it?" An old man with large elephant ears voiced out everyone's question.

"Was there an 8 circled mage hiding in the mountains without our knowledge?" Asked another one with black feathers sticking out of his shoulders.

"This won't do. Soon enough, the humans would find their corpses. They would surely send knights to investigate!"

"What should we do then? We can't have them discover our existence!"

"We must…"

Amidst the heavy discussions of the locals, Kalliste stayed silent. She had no idea that killing that huge thing would have a great impact. Thinking back, she only killed the monster since it was a threat to the boy.

'I should be more careful of my actions next time.' She whispered as beads of cold sweat rushed down her face.

Her silence did not go unnoticed to Rowan. Especially when he saw her face turned pale.

"My Kally, are you alright?"

With all the strength that she could muster, she smiled faintly. She needed to divert Rowan's attention.

"I-I don't feel too well. Let's get out of here, darling."

Seeing her pale face, Rowan immediately agreed and gently pulled her out of the crowd.

"You don't have to listen to anything they say. Let the adults solve this problem," Rowan said as he pulled her on his arms and gently patted her silky soft hair.

Her terrified reactions made him swore to himself that she would never hear such gruesome things again.

"Come. I would show you something that might cheer you up."

With that, Rowan gently guided her towards a wide field. It was full of fragrant wild flowers and verdant grasses. Colorful butterflies and insects that she had never seen before flew everywhere. However, what got her attention was the gigantic tree that stood proudly at the center. Its branches spread for as wide as her eyes could see. With emerald foliages that was even bigger than her head, and a huge trunk that could hide ten people at a time. She was left with wide eyes and in awe. Its fruits were also shining brightly. Upon closer inspection, Kalliste was once again speechless. Its fruits were sparkling diamonds and precious gems. This just showed the level of peace and harmony of this place. Something that she was unfamiliar with. If such a tree existed on her old world, then it would surely cause an all out war. The greed of humans would surely be its end.

"Come. Let us go over there."

Kalliste followed Rowan's pointed fingers. He was pointing on the shades of the gigantic tree.

"Alright." Holding his hand, they ambled forward.

As soon as they arrived, Rowan sat down upon the huge roots that poked out of the ground. He then tapped the space next to him.

Kalliste could only sigh as she followed suit.

There was a moment of silence as the two watched the baby beastmen happily playing on the wide field. There were also some beastmen who are busy caressing each other on the far corner, while the others just layed on the lush grass as they basked upon the sun's rays.

"Are you really alright?" Rowan was the first to break the silence. He stared intensely on the girl.

Kalliste, on the other hand, felt her blood ran up her face. The situation was awkward, and she had no idea what to do.

"Yes. Thank you for your concerns, darling." She forced a smile. However, it soon faded away when she was suddenly reminded of who the person was in front of her. 'This is all wrong! What am I even doing here?' she thought.

She was someone who should not even exist in this world in the first place. Hell, she was not even an extra, or a side character.

"Kally, I did not want to pry, but can I ask you something?" Rowan suddenly questioned.

"Sure. What do you want to know?" Kalliste half-heartedly replied. Her thoughts was occupied with her current situation.

"Nothing much. I just wanted to know more about you. We have been together for a few days now, but I only know your name."

Instead of answering, Kalliste just shrugged. She looked at the boy before answering. "What's there to know? There was nothing interesting about me."

"What about your family? Do you have siblings?"

At the mention of the word, family, waves of memories suddenly flooded her mind. She instantly spaced out.

"Family," Kalliste whispered in the air. It was an unfamiliar word for her, but somehow, her heart clenched tightly in her chest. As though an icy claws gripped her still-beating heart.

"I… I grew up in the orphanage," she began.

This got Rowan's attention as he stared at her with wide eyes.

"I apologise, my lady. I should not have asked." He quickly looked away in shame. Seeing the look in her eyes, he knew that his question somehow hit a sensitive spot.

"It's alright, darling. Do not worry about it. And yes. I do have a lot of siblings. Though we are not blood related, we all cared for each other like brothers and sisters." Kalliste forced a smile.

Though it was already a long time ago, memories of how they all died still gave her nightmares up till this day.

She could never forget their painful screams as the machines butchered them like animals. Their warm blood that bathed the earth red, especially when they took their last breaths right in front of her.

"What about you, darling? Could you tell me something about your family?" Kalliste tried her best to sound natural.

Though she wanted to cry, she held herself. She could only divert her mind from such an intense moment.

"My father was a powerful, and merciless man. However, that did not stopped my mother to fall in love with him. Through her efforts, she became his concubine. His most favourite out of all the others. This was the reason why the main consort, as well as the other concubines spite my mother to the core. Their jealousy and hatred grew even more when my mother got pregnant with me. But my mother was a kind woman. She never once thought of having revenge. She just accepted all of their hostility with a smile on her face," Rowan paused for a minute. His eyes moistened when he remembered what her mother would always say to him whenever he was angry.

"My kind mother. She always said that violence would only lead to a never-ending cycle of hatred." Rowan suddenly stopped when he felt a lump in his throat.

His fists clenched tightly, as his emotions toppled outside his mind, unleashing his hatred upon the ones that caused his mother's death. He could not hide it any longer. The sorrow that he felt drained him of energy. It travelled through every fiber of his being, and all he could think about was revenge.

However, he was brought back to reality when he felt the smooth, and tiny hands that suddenly caressed his face. Before he could say anything, he found himself into a tight hug. Her arms found their way on his back and gently patted him. At that, Rowan felt a dejavu moment. However, no tears came out of his face. Either he was too tired to cry, or ran out of tears. He had no idea.

"My Kally, I…" He immediately stopped when he felt her shoulders slightly trembled. When he heard faint sobs, his eyes widened as he gently pulled her off of him. She was now crying her eyes out.

"My Kally? What's wrong? Are you hurt somewhere? Why are you crying? Tell me!" Rowan was on the verge of panick as he tried to calm her down.

"I am sorry. It was all the Author's fault! Why must they do this to you? You are only a child, yet you have to endure such painful moments. Such brutality. I should have not judged you without knowing what you have gone through as a child," Kalliste said in between sobs.

In her old world, she was given the monicker, Kortik Moskva, meaning, the strongest and most powerful weapon that humanity had. She was someone with no tears, blood and emotions. However, she was now being emotional after hearing his life story. The novel never specified the background of the main lead so she really had no idea. Though it was once mentioned that he had a terrible and painful childhood, she did not know that it would be this serious. Even if she wanted to stop, she just could not control her emotions. Beads of tears continued to ran down her face like a waterfall. It felt like it was ripping her chest apart. This may have to do with her regression, but she was not sure.

"Why would the Author not specify this important details. Just why?"

'Author? Who is that?' Rowan thought when he heard the name twice. His face immediately darkened. Something inside of him wanted to snap, but he held himself.

Though he did not understand what she was talking about, his heart softened as he watched her cried her eyes out. It was the first time in his life that someone cried this much just for someone like him. He had seen a lot of people who used their fake tears just to accomplish or get what they wanted, but this would be the first time that he encountered someone like her. It was not too bad, though. However, he was rendered speechless. He had no idea how to calm her down. Without any words, he brought her on his embrace, tightly. At that moment, he made a lifetime promise to himself.

'I would make sure that the next time you cry, it would be tears of joy.' He closed his eyes and brought her even closer to him, taking in the fragrance of her hair.

----------------

"Kid. Kid! Wake up!"

Rowan's eyes snapped opened as soon as the loud sound of yelling ang screaming hit his ears. He quickly stood up and saw the destruction of the village. From where he stood, he saw the broken houses, as well as the bodies of beastmen that were scattered around like trashes. However, what got his attention the most were the huge monsters that were now rampaging around the village.

"Come on! Let's get out of here!"

Rowan heard the old man with elephant ears shouted at him.

"Kally, we need to get out…" He did not get to finish his sentence when saw no one to where the spot that she should be. His eyes immediately widened in horror.

"Where is she!"