The last frost of winter had begun to melt. The small village of Arboros was starting to show its green and brown beauty, revealing its age in a less desolate manner. Something all villagers welcomed. Including Yusuke.
He was at home, far away from home.
Hauling feed and produce, plowing the fields for Grandma Wendy, foraging for herbs for Joanna, attending Wilhelm's sermons, and knowing the Goddess Theitomme from his teaching and perspective. It was a good few months for the once-stranded young man, filled with faith, community, and labor. Well compensated, too.
He was on the way back from the nearest town, Brada, borrowing Grandma Wendy's carriage. He took Donald's place to caravan the produce, which was mostly milk and some cheese, as the old farmer was missing his dear wife. He had gone for far too long, he felt.
The carriage was nearing the village when Yusuke saw something incredibly worrisome: billowing smoke. "Oh... oh no!" he exclaimed, whipping the reins to accelerate the carriage. The horse went into a gallop, the carriage roughly vibrating on the rough dirt road.
"Please make it, please!" Yusuke said to no one. He silently prayed to Theitomme, the God Wilhelm preached and revered, and the God he somewhat nominally revered from back home.
When he arrived, the sight was horrifying.
The old houses and shops were on fire. Bodies littered on the dirt roads and pathways, battered and bloodied. A scene of carnage.
Yusuke hated to admit it, but this feeling... seeing dead bodies... felt awfully familiar. It reminded him of his past, before he came to Arboros.
He galloped to the nearest place he could think of: the farm.
***
"Wendy! Donald!" Yusuke screamed as he arrived at the farm. As he feared, the farmhouse was wrecked and on fire. He got off the carriage and ran in; the front door smashed off its hinges.
There was no one here, so he went to the barn next to the house, which wasn't on fire. He had hope, small as it may be, that the two might be alive.
The barn doors lay on the ground, torn apart. What Yusuke saw inside froze him.
Several cows, dead with torn-off flesh, as if they were gnawed by something. Blood spilling from the carcasses, staining the dirt and hay. And worst of all, the farmer couple, Wendy and Donald, lay lifeless and drenched with blood. Theirs and their cows'.
Yusuke could feel his heart beating rapidly. Who did this? Who dared to ruin the slow life of Arboros? He felt rage building up, but he clenched his teeth and shook his head. This wasn't the time to stand still in anger.
He left the barn carnage, rode the carriage, and galloped to the chapel. He prayed that Wilhelm and Joanna would survive this.
***
"It's too late..." Wilhelm said. Joanna and he were sneaking around the village, as if hiding from something. He lamented the fate of the aging population, likely to be dead by now. Ill-prepared for a raid.
"Father, I'm scared," Joanna whimpered. "Those orcs... we're no match for them. They took out everyone..."
"Even that old grouch Garon," he continued. "Put up a brave fight, but for an old soldier... he was outpowered."
Joanna shuddered at the image. She was no fighter; she was raised to be a woman of Theitomme, not a valiant knight. Wilhelm, an adventurer in his past, had long hung up his arms and boots to fulfill his life as a priest.
On the next corner, they unfortunately saw what they had been trying to avoid: a band of raiding orcs. And one of them was facing their way. Their hearts dropped, and they sped away from the band as fast as they could. The orcs gave chase, their clubs and maces poised to kill.
After a brief period of running, Wilhelm's legs gave out, and he fell forward. "Curse these old bones!" he uttered under his breath.
"Father!" Joanna shouted, wanting to save Wilhelm from the small but powerful band of orcs. But Wilhelm shouted back, "Go on without me! You have a long life ahead! Don't waste it on this old priest!"
She halted her movement. He was right. It was either she survived or no one survived. She couldn't move fast with Wilhelm on her shoulders. It was a difficult choice, one that would end her life or break her heart.
The orcs were getting closer. She must make a choice.
But before she could, a blur went past her, heading to the band of orcs. The blur screamed before she knew it, and the orcs were pushed back. The front-most orc was reeling in pain, having been hit in the stomach.
Joanna and Wilhelm, coming down from their shock, saw the back of one familiar young man.
"Mister Yusuke!"
"Yusuke!"
There he stood, Yusuke Iriki, standing before the orcs. His back stood proud, poised to defend them.
What they didn't see was his eyes. They were glowing red, poised to fight. For the young man, this was all too familiar.
Because he had been fighting for the past year, before he came here.