I almost closed my eyes, but at the last moment, I noticed the soldier buried in a pile of weapons beginning to move… slowly getting up.
'I'm... sorry...' — and at that moment, darkness swallowed my consciousness.
I felt odd just lying there on the floor. The scent of mint still hung in the air, and sunlight poured down onto my face, forcing my eyes open like a student late for class.
'Where am I?'
The faint light filtering through the leaves nearly blinded me; I squinted and shielded my eyes.
'I'm alive! But… how?!'
I touched my chest. Everything was fine. My broken arms, the gashes, the bleeding lips — all gone, as if they'd never existed.
Slowly raising my head, I tried to survey the scene. I was still in the forest. Still utterly confused.
'How did I survive? Who saved me? How did I end up here?' Thoughts spun out of control in my mind. Soon, the realization that I was alive and unharmed calmed me. I lay there in silence.
Until, unexpectedly, my stomach growled.
'I suppose… I should eat something.'
Breathing a small sigh of relief, I snapped off a gilunus blossom from the nearby flora and ingested it.
I then looked over my surroundings to get a bearing where I was. I was sleeping by a campfire — the kind that had burned out hours ago. With a shaky hand, I touched the ashes that were still warm.
'Who brought me here?'
Once again, questions reverberated within me.
Before that, however, I had to quench the dryness burning in my throat. I searched for my water skin, and it was missing.
'Did I lose it back in the cave?'
I had nowhere else to go but the River. The entire way as I walked, my mind was on one thing — water. I ran until I reached the river. Without wasting a single moment, I dropped to my knees beside the water. The icy current bit into my skin the instant I dipped my hands in, sending shivers racing up my arms.
I took a few big swallows and when I picked my head up and looked upstream, I saw something I had never seen before — and it left me frozen.
A girl was bathing there.
She was fair-skinned and her body was small, but she was clearly strong. Long golden locks glistened in the light, and emerald green eyes. Her figure left me speechless, but I'd guess she was around my age — maybe sixteen or seventeen.
She was doing this all with ice cold water, whilst standing there calmly and then she turned… looked right at me. Our eyes met.
Her cheeks instantly flushed crimson.
Caught off guard in an embarrassing position, she looked around nervously, unsure of what to do.
And when it happened, only one thing crossed my mind.
'Should I keep this water in my mouth? Swallow it? Spit it out?'
The campfire had long gone out, and when we returned, it was as if nothing had disturbed the silence between us. I arrived first, silently. She followed shortly after.
I spotted her behind the wheel of an old, military truck and she was wearing a rolled-up button down shirt (old-fashioned looking) with pants and boots.
She had just finished washing in the river, her face still beet red. She sat by the fire across from me and knelt with her hands on her knees, looking down ashamed.
Seeing her like that made me feel dirty, as though I had done something very wrong. Guilt gnawed at me.
Yet, one idea kept running through my head:
'What am I to do with this water still in my mouth?'
The tension between us lingered. I shook my head, a mouthful of water preventing my speech. An immediate realization that I was not going to be the first one saying anything, she began.
Spinning in her seat just a half a step and bringing her knees to the side in front of her she coyly said,
"Did you… see?"
She whispered so faintly I couldn't make out the words. I was just looking at her, surprised. She enquired again; a little more forcefully this time, perceiving my unease.
"Did you see?!"
Her words caused the water in my mouth to spew forth as a mist. She gave me an odd look.
'What do I say?! I have to be really careful. If I say the wrong thing, I'll upset her. Anything to ease the tension. I should lie.'
I cleared my throat and smiled, forcing my response.
"Ha-ha … What Are You Talking about? I didn't see anything."
Her shoulders relaxed a bit. After that sight, I was a little relieved to ask
"So… who are you? What are you doing out here?"
At first she did not hear me, but then suddenly appeared to. Lifting her hands from their positions between her knees, she put one over her chest and answered in a dignified voice.
"Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Elira Goldwyn. I'm a knight of the Merlonia Empire."
Her words surprised me. It was the first time in my entire life of being here that I could see anything honestly about how it all worked.
Merlonia Empire, and she assumes the name knight. Er… So I fall into a pseudo-medieval world. The classic isekai setup.'
I could feel her watching me as I caught up in my head. I introduced myself.
"I'm Rayan Velion. I'm… not from around here."
Tilting her head, she asked inquisitively.
"Not from around here? It controls the entire continent!"
Another fun tidbit: a single ruling power.
I hesitated. She would think I am nuts if I told her I was from a world of machines, airplanes, and smartphones. I mean, I should be beyond grateful she didn't punish me for seeing the Way She Really Was.
"What can I even say? Not… from here?" I evaded the question.
Elira didn't seem to mind and, after a moment, stopped asking. Yet I still had questions, a thousand of them — the structure of this world. Nevertheless, I knew better than to ask every thing at the same time. Well, the first step for me was to get to know her a little more.
"Elira."
She cut me off with a smile.
"You can call me Eli."
Her friendly demeanor came out of nowhere, but I powered through.
"Thanks… Eli. I had a question. That soldier in the Thorna cave… was that actually you?"
Without hesitation, she nodded confidently.
"Yes. That was me."
And then I understood why the man in the cave had held that soldier so close to his heart.
I guess…I just assumed something about you…. Sorry. Look at something like you; maybe I wouldn't have held back either, had I known. But that — that's not the reason I let you off the hook.
She continued.
I am an Elira Goldwyn — a knight of the Merlonia Empire and a sword master.
'So that's how she got me out of that cave alive,' I thought.
Then she threw in the kicker and I froze.
"…And I am a Saint Blade wielder."
I gulped and looked down at my trembling hand.
He spoke of the Saint's Blade… If what he said was true, then this girl — she was the one who killed him. I stared at her, horrified.