Rivea Village

*knock knock*

"Father, I've brought you someone." says the burly guy.

"Come in." the voice sounded deep; however, it was quite weak.

Upon entering, I saw a spitting image of the burly guy who escorted me, although with a greyish red hair and wrinkles on his face, lying in bed.

Beside him was a girl sitting on a stool, whose stature has as an age of around 12. She also possesses the unique red hair shared by the two burly men in this room, so it's safe to assume that she is related to them. While her hair color is the same as them, her eyes says otherwise.

In the dimly lit room, her seemingly blind eyes were like two deep pools of mystery. They held an enigmatic charm, captivating anyone who dared to meet her gaze. Though void of sight, her eyes seemed to carry an ancient wisdom, as if they had witnessed the secrets of the universe.

"This is?" says the old man who broke the silence as I was too busy being mesmerized by the girl's eyes.

"A-Ahem.. My name is.. Huh?" I stuttered as I begin to realize that I don't remember who I am.

I look at them as I can somehow see that they are talking about something. However, as someone who is lost in confusion, I can't figure out a single thing of what they are trying to say.

Soon after, my visions starts to spin and everything becomes all fuzzy. Eventually, everything blacks out and I fainted.

.

..

...

"Ugh.. My head hurts.." I groaned as I try to sit up.

I look around my surroundings.

I'm sitting on a bed, made with a wooden frame, and hay serving as a bedding.

"I'm probably inside one of the houses.. *sigh* It seems like all I did ever since coming here was just looking around to confirm my surroundings." I muttered.

*knock knock*

After a short series of knocks, the door opens.

The girl whom I saw earlier, makes an entrance with a wooden basin.

"Oh, you're awake. You can use this to wash up. While you're doing so, I'll call for my brother to come here." says the girl as she hands me the wooden basin filled with water and a fabric, with a smile, and then gleefully leaves the room.

It turns out that she wasn't actually blind, but her eyes are somewhat different compared to when I first saw them. It was as if she was capable of seeing through me despite wearing such a listless look, but now, although her eyes appears to be the same, I don't feel like that at all.

Anyways, I soaked the fabric in the water and started to clean myself with it.

After finishing, I feel like I haven't thoroughly washed myself yet. It's most likely because I am more used to taking a shower, but I'm more than grateful enough that they are showing such hospitality to me.

.

..

...

*knock knock*

"Hao, are you done washing up?" came the familiar voice of the burly guy.

"Yes, please come in." I replied.

The siblings enter the room, and the girl sat beside me while her brother is standing in front of me.

"Are you feeling well now?" he asks.

"Yes, thanks to your care." I bow to express my gratefulness.

"No need." he says while shaking his head sideways.

"We actually owe you an apology since it was our fault that caused you to be in that state anyways." he adds.

"..?" I tilted my head while having a puzzled look on my face.

"You see, we actually needed to confirm if you had any evil intentions towards the village, and in order to do so, I had to kind of trick you." he explains and then bows along with her sister.

"No no no, please raise your heads. I totally understand where you're coming from. Even I would be wary of a total stranger asking for a shelter. You had to do what needs to be done." I rush to convince them while expressing my gratitude.

"Thank you for understanding." He smiles as he lifts his head.

"By the way, how were you able to determine if I had no evil intentions?" I asked.

"Right, to begin with, let me introduce myself. My name is Dain, and this is my sister Tara."

"Oh, it's nice to meet you.. Actually, I don't remember my name. To be honest, I don't even know how I got here in the first place." I said as I explain my situation.

They both looked at each other and then to me.

"Isn't your name Hao?" Tara asked.

"Oh, I think it was probably when I got confused while I was introducing myself to the chief."

"Well, since you still don't remember your name, let us call you Hao in the meantime. Although you can let us know as soon as you remember it."

"Of course, thank you very much." I replied.

"Anyway, as you might have noticed, my sister's eyes are quite unique. This has given her the ability to see through a person's true character." he explains.

"Oh I see, but what does that have to do with my fainting?" I asked.

"Once Tara uses it, the person in question will feel fatigued so it's quite normal to faint in that situation"

"Ohh that's amazing! You can immediately get rid of the person if it turns out that they have bad intentions hahaha just kidding." I laugh as I try to brush off the joke.

"Yes, actually that was the plan." Both of them were smiling as she said so.

Inevitably, I got goosebumps from hearing it.

"H-Haha.. Anyway, how long was I out cold for?" I ask in hopes to change the topic.

"About a few hours or so, it was starting to get dark when you fainted last night." Dain replied.

"I-I see." I smile nervously.

"By the way, what are you planning to do now?" asks Tara.

"If you wish, you can stay here in Rivea Village for as long as you want. We could always use a pair of hands to help around here." she suggests eagerly.

"Rivea Village?"

"Yep! That's the name of our village." Tara explains.

"Then, I'll take you up on your offer. I look forward to working with you." I bow.

"!! Yay!" Tara happily cheers as she hugs me.

I patted her head while she was hugging me. I feel like I suddenly got a younger sister.

"Then, welcome to Rivea Village." Dain extends his hand to welcome me.

"Thanks." I smile as I shake his hand.