am-books Chapter Vol. 1 Ch. 9
Chapter Vol. 1 Ch. 9
( ? ? ? )
...Sigh...
Is this what dying feels like?
Am I going to die?
Being left on the cold hard ground, all by my lonesome?
How cruel.
This world is cruel.
I am a Lizardkin born in Falmarno.
There is a legend in my home land that says “Your life will flash by you as you die.”
I watched my life play out before my weary eyes.
Being born into a family, as the seventh child.
With three brothers and three sisters that are older than me.
Our family lived happily inside our village in the forests.
But then I was born.
The chances of a successful birth were low, and my parents did not anticipate my survival.
Our kind will lay white eggs in clutches, and my mother had seven eggs, but only six of them were white.
Mine was purple.
And even as I grew, the color of my scales were different from that of my family. I was also born with the necessary talent to become a [Fighter].
With talent, comes potential power. All Lizardkins respect and strive for power. I could have been stronger than all of my siblings, and perhaps be the strongest in the village.
“Could have been” being the keyword.
I was shunned and mistreated due to the color of my scales.@@@@
They call me cursed, and they bully me, belittle me, even actively try to expel me from the village.
Even my Father.
Sometimes I get punished for reasons such as “They got hurt when trying to hit you, so it’s your fault”.
But thankfully I had my kind-hearted mother, and there were other villagers that helped me as well, they often smuggle food to me when I am purposely starved.
That was how I lived.
But Lizardkin is a patriarchal society. When the patriarch of the family makes a decision, people outside of the family would not interfere with it.
And thus I was abused by my own father.
I don’t know how to live my future in a home like this. How can I achieve my future potential as a [Fighter]?
I dragged my battered body through the cave, with the last of my survival instinct driving me to try and escape to a smaller cave on the sides.
The other wolves were occupied, and probably wouldn’t have taken notice of me. But the gigantic golden wolf slowly approached.
I was going to die.
I was going to be eaten by the leader, the Alpha of the wolves.
But then, a voice rang out through the night.
“Oh my, you’ve made quite a mess.”
The expression of the Alpha, previously being tranquil and indifferent, quickly turned into a furious snarl. It turned around and opened its maw.
I completely froze in shock when fire came out of it. What is that? Fire magic?
The Alpha shot its fire into the direction where the voice came from.
At that point, I’ve never witnessed monsters and animals using magic before, only ever heard of it.
What shocked me even more was the voice. It was the voice of a child.
As the fire from the Alpha dissipated, a wall of stone came into my vision.
A boy that looked perhaps one year younger than me stepped out from behind the wall.
The Alpha kept the furious snarling expression, but did not continue to attack the boy.
“Alright, Alright! Please calm down and stop destroying my things! Or do I need to beg and prostrate myself before the Mighty Arkon? King of All the Mountains in the World?”
The Alpha answered that with a huff.
The boy looked at me, his eyes completely widening in surprise.
“How about I make you a deal? You can have all of these cured meat, and I get the girl behind you.” the boy somehow took out several urns from somewhere, almost like from thin air.
The Mighty Arkon simply continued to growl.
“If that’s the case, then you can have the Cured Miltow Beef too.” and once again, the boy almost seemed to conjure the urn. This time, the urn is much bigger.
Then, as my consciousness started to fade, I saw the King of the mountains leave, as the smaller wolves took the urns with them.
I heard the words “Your injuries are severe. Hang in there!” right before everything faded into darkness.
As years and years fly by, I couldn’t help but think of this day, this moment where I am in your arms.
I am grateful.
If I wasn’t picked up like a stray on that day, I would have never known what it was like to have a great meal.
I would have never known what it was like to laugh with joy, or how it is like to love someone.
To love someone enough to disregard my own safety.
I would have never known what my greatest joy, my source of happiness and contentment was.
O, my dear, beloved master.