It was still daylight when Ethan and Alice arrived at the Darkwall settlent in the eternal forest.
As he contemplated the place, Ethan felt a wave of disappointnt wash over him.
He knew it would be bad, but the reality exceeded his worst expectations.
On the outside, there was a precarious wooden wall just over two ters high, so fragile that any adult man, or even goblins, could cross it effortlessly.
The gate, if it deserved such a na, was guarded by a single sleepy old man.
The old man just gave the pair a strange look before closing his eyes again and returning to his nap.
The interior did not offer a better impression: a disorderly jumble of houses, dozens of them, most abandoned to the weather, surrounding muddy and poor streets.
At the end of these precarious roads stood a slightly larger, though equally unimpressive, building.
It was probably the center of governnt for the place.
The settlent seed almost deserted.
Only a few children played in the muddy streets, and rarely did an adult pass by with a load on their back.
"Are there so few people in this place?" Ethan asked, observing the desolation around him.
"No... well, yes. We must have about seventy inhabitants, but most are looking for herbs and food for the arrival of the Golden Lord."
"Golden Lord?" Ethan inquired.
Since he had co to this world, he had never heard of such a title.
"Yes." Alice turned her face to him, looking at him with genuine surprise. "You’ve never heard of it? It’s the reason your family stopped supporting us."
"No... and my father didn’t say anything about leaving the family settlent. In fact, he just sent here to... uh... train."
"Train? Like, go on an adventure as a coming-of-age ritual?" Alice’s eyes sparkled with excitent.
"Uh... sort of..." Ethan scratched his chin, hesitant. "But can you tell more about this ’golden son’? What is it?"
"Ah... I don’t really know much either, actually." Alice explained.
"A priest from the Holy Church of the Nine ca here a few months ago and announced it to us.
He said that the Golden Lords are rulers chosen by God to help us transcend. They will co from another world and lead us to glory!"
The words echoed in Ethan’s mind as he looked skeptically at Alice. "Transcend? From another world?"
"I know it sounds absurd. I didn’t believe it either, until..." Alice stopped abruptly, lowering her gaze as she debated internally whether she should continue.
After a mont of visible hesitation, she muttered, "Until I started seeing strange screens with weird texts..."
"Uh?"
"Nothing, it’s nothing." She turned her body robotically forward, clearly regretting having ntioned it, afraid of being considered crazy.
Ethan did not insist on the subject, choosing to seek answers directly from the system.
’System, do you know what she ant by strange screens? Is it sothing similar to you?’
[Given her talent, this woman is probably the one chosen to be the guide of the Golden Lord.
The Gaia system has already begun a partial integration and has probably already contacted the guides, beings responsible for guiding the Golden Lords at the beginning of their paths in this world.]
"What exactly are these Golden Lords?" Ethan asked ntally.
[Golden Lords are like you, a version of you that didn’t go wrong.]
’Uh? What do you an by a version that didn’t go wrong?’
[Yes, you are a failure.]
’I already know I’m a failure, but what does that an?’
Instead of answering, the system sent a series of notifications:
[Quest: {A New Beginning!} has been successfully completed!]
[Would you like to redeem the rewards?]
[Error! Unable to deliver rewards.]
[A new mission has been issued.]
[Quest: {The Golden Lords!}
Description: You were supposed to be one of the predestined rulers, but sothing brought you to this world much earlier than you should have. Win Alice over before the Golden Lord arrives and convince her to help you usurp his title.
Additional information: The title of a Golden Lord can be usurped by killing him before he claims control of a territory.
Reward: ?????
Punishnt for failure: Death]
’Before the Golden Lord arrives? When exactly is that?’
[The Golden Lord should arrive upon the complete integration of the Gaia system.]
’Shit... that’s tomorrow... does that an I have to win her over today?’
Ethan groaned in defeat, though he couldn’t deny that this was the first mission of the system that he would complete with at least so certainty that he wouldn’t regret it.
"Are you all right, young master?" Alice asked, concerned.
"My house is that one over there, let’s go. I’ll treat your wounds." She pointed to a building not unlike the others in the settlent.
It was wooden, old, and decaying, even more modest than the houses in his family’s county slums.
Alice gently dismounted from the horse before offering her help to Ethan, who accepted, holding her hand as he climbed down.
He could have used his Aura, which had already recovered sowhat during the trip, but he decided to conserve it to aid in his recovery and the special mission that lay ahead.
On the ground, he followed Alice to a pole near her house, where he tied the horse’s reins before heading for the luggage.
"No, let carry your luggage. Co inside first, you shouldn’t overexert yourself."
Alice stopped him, holding his arm before guiding him inside. There, she settled him on her bed before leaving to fetch the bags.
Alone, Ethan sighed heavily as he surveyed his surroundings.
The interior was even more austere than the exterior: a single large room with a hard, uncomfortable bed against the wall opposite the entrance door, covered with white sheets.
When he moved, he heard creaks.
There wasn’t even a proper mattress, just dry straw on a wooden fra, covered with simple cloths.
"Ah... this is going to be painful," Ethan thought, already missing the comforts of his life in the castle.
Monts later, Alice returned, carefully carrying the bags, clearly aware that the fabric covering them was probably worth more than all her belongings put together.
Gently placing them on the floor, she hurried over to him.
Her face was filled with concern when she saw the blood running down Ethan’s clothes and staining the white fabric of the bed.
"Are you okay? Does it hurt a lot?" she asked anxiously.
"I’m fine." Ethan smiled in response.
Although the injuries were potentially fatal to an ordinary human, he was an awakened who used aura.
He wouldn’t die so easily.
"Okay... Can you...?" Alice hesitated, timidly pointing to his shirt.
"Ah... yes!" Ethan murmured, removing his shirt, making Alice blush even more intensely.
"No... everything..." She looked away, stamring, "M-my magic isn’t very good, so I need to be in direct contact with the wound to heal it properly..."
"Oh..."
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