In Oakstone village, right next to the main gate.
The young boy Karen Blackwood sat blankly on the grass. From the nearby thatched roofs, gray streaks of kitchen smoke floated lazily into the twilight sky. It was an unmistakable signal: it was time for the farmers to put aside their fieldwork and return home for dinner.
He directed his gaze toward the only dirt road leading through the village gate. Next, Thatch would pass by, and right after that would be old Thatch.
Almost as soon as that thought flashed through his mind, Thatch appeared from the opposite direction, laughing and talking animatedly while walking through the gate. Following Thatch's broad back, Karen began to count silently: one, two, three... up to five.
Sure enough, old Thatch appeared!
Without having to rack his brains, the boy could fluently recite the names of the people who would next pass through this road. First, Martha would turn in from the left branch, followed by old Elara strolling in the middle of the road carrying a woven basket, and then Miller carrying a bulky hoe on his shoulder...
What was going on? Did you think the boy possessed the clairvoyant abilities of a prophet? Of course not!
The reason Karen knew everything like the back of his hand was because every single day, at that exact moment, these people would pass by with the exact same posture, and even the words they uttered were not off by a single millimeter. Sometimes, he felt they were exactly like magic puppets with pre-programmed behaviors, which made one shudder.
A normal child probably would not care about this weirdness, but the problem was, Karen Blackwood was not a true five-year-old child!
Perhaps the Goddess of Fate had forgotten to let him drink water from the River of Forgetfulness Lethe, so right from the moment he was born, he carried all the memories of his past life. Initially, Karen simply thought he had accidentally reincarnated into an ordinary medieval countryside, but ever since he was allowed by his mother to go out and play, he realized this world operated in a highly abnormal way. Unfortunately, no matter how hard he racked his brains, he still could not decipher this mystery.
Karen walked back home carrying his contemplation. Before he could even push open the wooden door, a faint and incredibly familiar scent hit his nose.
"Mom, what delicious food do we have today?" He casually asked.
Of course, without needing his mother to answer, he knew exactly what the menu was: rye bread, a bowl of stewed cabbage, and some scrambled eggs. Before the age of one, he lived on breast milk. But ever since his first birthday, his rations were permanently framed within those three dishes. Three meals a day, year after year, an unchangeable menu.
To be fair, his mother's cooking skills were excellent, but even if it were a delicacy, having to eat it continuously for four years was more than anyone could endure!
It was not that Karen had never thought of looking for new ingredients, but the home garden only grew cabbage, there were no merchants selling meat in the village, and his mother absolutely forbade him from stepping out of the village boundaries. He had to helplessly resign himself to it.
Karen sighed inwardly, his footsteps unconsciously becoming heavier. However, no matter how intentionally slow he walked, the wooden house was only so large. Finally, he stood before the dining table.
As soon as he looked up, the boy turned to stone.
Beside his mother, there appeared a man! A man?!
He was so astonished that his jaw almost dropped to the floor. For the past five years, the Blackwood family had never even had a female neighbor visit, let alone the sudden appearance of a strange man!
Looking at that tall and unfamiliar back, Karen temporarily stood rooted to the spot. Was his mother planning to remarry? It made sense, he was already five years old, and apart from a faint silhouette from when he was just born, he had never known his father's face.
Thinking of this, Karen tilted his head to carefully observe the man. The man had thick eyebrows, sharp deep-set eyes, and half of his face was covered by a thick beard. The man's skin bore a sun-tanned wheat color, and the bulging muscles underneath the leather armor looked brimming with physical strength.
The boy silently nodded in evaluation. Not bad! To protect and take good care of his mother in this harsh world, first of all, the man himself must possess the robust physique of a warrior. The next step would be to check what the man's character was like!
Just as he was about to open his mouth to start a conversation to probe, the man spoke first in a deep, booming voice:
"Karen, son, you're back?"
Karen was stunned. A strange wave of emotion rushed in... slightly touched, yet also uncomfortable. Every time he talked with the villagers, no matter how he changed the topic, they would only repeat a few rigid lines. But this man proactively called his name, reacting incredibly naturally! It was truly unbelievable!
For a brief moment, he felt as if he were reliving his days in the modern world, freely chatting with real people. But wait a minute... the man was a bit too natural! Calling him "son" on their first meeting! How thick-skinned!
"Hello! May I ask who you are...?"
"I am your father! Karen, have you forgotten? When you were just born, I even held you in my arms!" The man showed a clear expression of astonishment.
This time, it was Karen's turn to be truly deeply shocked.
"Father?!"
For the past five years, this character holding the title of "Father" had practically evaporated from the world, and his mother absolutely never uttered a single word about it. He had secretly guessed that if his father had not lost his life during a monster hunt in the Black Forest, then the two of them must have divorced!
Because he did not want to reopen his mother's emotional wounds, he never dared to be curious about his father's existence. Who would have expected that today, this man with no news whatsoever would suddenly loom in the middle of the house!
"You have turned five years old. It is time to start learning and training. As a father, I naturally have to return to forge you with my own hands!"
The man's firm words made the wooden fork in Karen's hand freeze in mid-air.
That was right! He had vaguely heard that the children in the village, upon reaching their fifth year, all had to follow their fathers to learn a trade for survival. Peasant families learned how to sow seeds, Alchemist families learned how to gather herbs, blacksmith families learned how to swing a hammer and strike an anvil. He had just turned five, so naturally, he could not be an exception.
It was just that... his mother had never told him what his father did for a living.
"Father, then what do you plan to teach me?" The boy timidly asked. It would probably just be farming skills, right? After all, farmers were the most common class in this village!
"Our Blackwood family," the man puffed out his chest proudly, "for generations, have been outstanding Monster Hunters!"
Hunter?!
Karen was dumbfounded. He had never seen any hunter or mercenary in the village. Could it be that his father was the only Hunter in this entire Oakstone village?
But very quickly after that, the wonder about that unique identity was completely blown out of his mind. He suddenly remembered the tragic situation of the children in the village: after turning five, they were drained of their energy every day to learn a trade, with their playtime reduced absolutely to zero.
Could it be... he was also about to follow in their footsteps, disappearing from the village gate every afternoon?!
Him! Someone who longed for a normal and bland life! Someone who only wanted to be a lazy cat lying down basking in the sun inside a bustling tavern!