With the sunlight on my face, I wake up in an unfamiliar place. The wooden ceiling and beige walls give the room a rustic feel, along with the dark wood furniture.
— Where… am I? — I wonder briefly, until I remember what happened. — … I’m safe!! Cough! Cough!
When I exclaim with joy, my dry throat makes me cough several times. Seeing a glass next to me, I think of nothing else but drinking what’s inside it.
— Gulp… Haa… Finally, water.
On the island, I’d been without water and food for quite some time, making me believe that I'd die of thirst if this continued, but then a boat appeared and, likely seeing my cabin out of curiosity, came toward me.
After that, I have no idea what happened, since I passed out from excitement. My body was already at its limit, and now I’d finally managed to drink a little water.
— At last… It’s over…
Looking at the cup in my hand, and then at my surroundings, makes me want to cry, but I have no tears right now.
I look to my side and see my broken arm all bandaged up and set in the correct position. They must have immobilized it while I was unconscious.
My clothes are still the same, destroyed and worn out. I even see some old clothes in the corner of the bed, probably for me to put on.
— …Ugh, it still hurts… Moving.
I try to get up briefly, but the pain makes me lie back down. I take a deep breath for a few seconds to prepare myself mentally before getting up.
— Ah!… Ha… Now… Where am I?
I have no idea what this place is, so I head toward the window to see what’s outside.
— … A city.
Looking out the window, I see a port city a little further away. It’s nestled among green hills that slope down to meet the blue sea.
Its houses and buildings are relatively colorful, with walls painted in various colors, and their shapes are more rectangular due to the flat roofs.
Another detail is the large number of windows and balconies they have, giving the city a different look than what I’m used to.
Finally, in the harbor area, there seems to be a large market set up on rafts and wooden platforms, gently swaying on the water.
— Hm? Those… They aren’t human.
As I watch the market, I see some humanoid beings with fish-like features. Some look like mermaids, while others have more fish-like characteristics.
I watch for a while, seeing the strange differences between this world and mine, but soon my stomach starts demanding food.
— …Let’s leave.
I think about changing into the clothes left for me, but the shirt is impossible to wear right now, so I just put on the shorts and head toward the door.
My body feels very heavy and weak, but hunger keeps me walking as I lean against the walls.
After walking a bit down the hallway, I reach the living room, which also opens onto the kitchen. Sitting in a rocking chair is an old man with sun-tanned skin, rocking gently as he drinks his coffee.
As soon as I arrive, he looks at me and says.
— Sit down, there’s some fruit for you to eat.
Without saying a word, I go to the table to sit down and eat.
I may have seemed rude, but my mind is only on food right now.
Only after a while, eating something that tastes like an apple or a pear and another that tastes like a strawberry, did I actually calm down and look at the old man.
— Thank you… for saving me. — I say, thanking him.
— Boy, what were you doing on that island all alone? — he asked, not caring about my thanks.
— … I don’t know.
Honestly, I have no idea why I was thrown onto that island, so I’m not really lying.
Besides, I just want to live a normal life now, so there’s no reason to mention the crazy things I know.
With that, the old man decided to ask a few more questions while gently rocking in his chair.
— …Do you have family?
— No…
— Any place to stay?
— No…
— …Go to the church and stay at the orphanage.
As the conversation flowed, I started to think he’d invite me to stay, but it seems I was wrong.
— Alright…
And so, the conversation ended, but soon something came to mind.
— Am I… too old for the orphanage?
— Are you old? Even my granddaughter seems older than you! — the old man retorts, with a light chuckle. — Heh… How old are you, brat?
— 23.
— Hã? Kid, you clearly look about 15.
— What do you mean, old man? I might look a little young, but it’s not that bad.
— A little? Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror?
— …
Then I remembered that I’d never looked at my face in the mirror.
Ever since I came into this world, I’ve felt like there was something a little different about me, but I didn’t think much of it at the time.
— Have I gotten younger? — I wonder as I look around for a mirror, but I don’t see one.
Seeing that I didn’t answer, the old man speaks again.
— Just go to the orphanage tomorrow, you can also ask for some help at the church, though healing your arm with magic would cost a bit, and you… don’t seem to have any money right now.
Hearing the old man’s words, I can only accept his offer and leave it at that.
Anyway, I just want to lead an ordinary life, so becoming an orphan and then looking for a job might be a possibility.
With that, the old man explains a little more about this city to me.
Currently, I’m in a coastal city called Maralto, located in the south of the continent among several green hills. From what I understand, the island where I was found is in a largely unexplored area, and almost nothing is known about it.
This city seems to have big trade connections with the Kingdom of Corália, where those fish-people come from.
The church is atop one of the hills, which makes it a bit hard to reach, but it has a great view.
After that, he tells me more about where each part of his house is, let me take a shower and put on something better, even though it was a pain with my arm, and then I stay in the room where I woke up to rest.
After everything I went through on that island that now that I’m safe, it makes me think it’s a dream.
— …Open panel.
═══════════════════════════════════
| [Name]: Rafael | | [Race]: Human |
| [Level]: 02 | | [Magic Power]: 51 |
───────────────────────────────────
[Skills]
| [Armorer]: 09 | | [Weaponsmith]: 09 |
| [Hunter]: 10 | | [Gatherer]: 15 |
| [Builder]: 08 | | [Cook]: 13 |
| [Determination]: 45 | | [Stabber]: 15 |
| [Scythesman]: 08 | | [Toolmaker]: 05 |
| [Immunity]: 52 | | [Spearman]: 07 |
| [Survivor]: 50 | | [Tolerance]: 51 |
───────────────────────────────────
[Magics]
| [Connection]: 10 | | [Protective Membrane]: 25 |
| [Remembrance]: 16 | | [Trail]: 10 |
═══════════════════════════════════
— I still have a long way to go…
Looking at my skills and magic, I can tell that once you hit level 50, they get harder to level up.
I think about five days must have passed before I was rescued, and I spent most of that time sleeping or practicing magic.
There wasn’t much else I could do, since I needed to conserve my energy while I had no food.
— By the way… I still haven’t figured out what these magics are for.
The [Connection] and [Trail] magics have shown no effect so far. I’ve come up with a few theories, but I ended up not testing any of them on the island.
I should test them as soon as I get some rest and head to the orphanage.
— The only problem is… what should I do about my arm?
The old man mentioned going to the church to get treatment, but anyone who sees my arm will know it’s not normal.
The flower that took root in it must still be inside, which makes me a bit hesitant to tell them about it.
— They wouldn’t try to rip my arm off… would they?
Such thoughts crossed my mind, but remembering the cost of healing my arm, I just decided to leave it bandaged and say it’s badly injured.
— I hope it gets back to normal…
So, I lie down on the bed and slowly close my eyes, because the next day is when my life in this world will truly begin.
[To be continued…]
[+++]:
— …Hey, what have you done?
[???]:
— What are you talking about?
[+++]:
— Don’t pretend you don’t know! I noticed something in my world!
[???]:
— You noticed something? Even if a meteor fell here, you wouldn’t even notice!
[+++]:
— Exactly! So you did something big!
[???]:
— …