Land of Mirriam

“SLAM!!!”

She woke up, Simon was on the ground, and the old man was still asleep. The old man’s snore echoed in the room. For some reason it made the red haired girl calm.

“My body hurts!!” Simon complained, it seemed that he had fallen off the bed because of Jedi.

Simon immediately noticed that the red-headed girl was awake and looking at him. She finally noticed his eyes… unlike other normal adventurers who hated demi humans she thought that his eyes were pretty.

“Hello? What do they call you?” Simon tried to stand up but he staggered a little bit because his body was a bit worn.

The red-headed girl helped him to stand up, “Jedi… Mar… just Jedi” she said sadly. Simon nodded and smirked. The girl was afraid to speak of here family name.

“It's Jedi then… I’m hungry let us wake up the old man!” Simon declared with a happy tone. But the boy didn’t even had a last name.

<--->

There was silence on the cafeteria, as other adventurers ate the table where the old man, and Jedi sat was really silent, though Simon brimmed with excitement even though he had that same stone faced. The ice broke when the food landed in front them. They began eating. The old man checked on the girl.

“It seems that you recovered pretty well, mind telling us what happened to you?” the old man asked.

The girl finally nodded she was ready.

She began the story, her voice trembling as she recounted the day they went outside for a little bit of fresh air. They had planned a picnic, a suggestion from her uncle. It seemed like a perfect idea. Her uncle had even volunteered to take on her father's responsibilities for a while so the family could spend some quality time together.

They chatted happily in the carriage as they rode out to the meadow just south of their territory, everybody from the family knew the place. Jedi could smell the delicious food her mother had prepared inside the basket—savory meats, fresh bread, sweet pastries. It was going to be a beautiful day.

After parking the carriage, they walked a short distance into the meadow, finding the perfect spot. They laid out their cloth and sat down, laughter and joy filling the air.

But their happiness was short-lived. In an instant, their world was shattered. From the sky, it appeared—a monstrous creature, descending with a deafening roar. Chaos erupted as it attacked without warning. The picnic basket toppled over, the carefully prepared food spilling onto the ground, mixing with the dirt and blood.

Her father stood up to defend them, but the creature was too fast. With a single swipe, it struck him down. Her mother screamed, trying to protect Jedi, but the beast was relentless. Jedi's uncle tried to intervene, but he too was overwhelmed.

Jedi's heart pounded in her chest, her body frozen in terror. The meadow, once a place of peace and joy, was now a scene of unimaginable horror. The monster's growls and her family's screams filled her ears. She could see her father's lifeless body on the ground, her mother's desperate attempts to fend off the beast, and her uncle's futile struggle.

The sun that had shone so brightly now seemed cruel and mocking. The scent of food was replaced by the stench of fear and death. Jedi felt a deep, wrenching sorrow as she watched her family being torn apart. In the midst of the chaos, she could do nothing but run, her legs carrying her away from the nightmare that had descended upon them.

She told the story as vividly as she could, the trauma from the dreams she had last night amplified the emotion in her voice, it made Simon gasp as she told the story.

…

“I see… take it easy for a while, do you want us to bring you back?” the old man asked.

Jedi shook her head, “I want revenge,” she spoke in a low voice. It was understandable.

“Hmm…” Simon muttered, the only reaction from the boy. They were almost finished eating their breakfast.

The old man looked out the window, revenge was probably the best motivation for any kind of goal. Didn’t he just finish training some boys before? Why was he getting himself into this kind of situation?

“We will be training underground, want to join us?” the old man said without removing his sight from the window.

“Yes please!!” Jedi nodded.

“Have you ever used a weapon before?” the old man asked. “

No…” Jedi answered apologetically.

“No problem… so you will have to start from scratch…” the old man smiled.

<--->

“Spread your legs!!! Make it stable!!! the power of the spear is on its reach and trust, piercing attacks are deadly and can finish a fight immediately 1000 pierce per day!!” the old man turned into a demon upon coaching Jedi, but the girl was taking it.

“Hya!!!” she followed the instructions of the old man.

The old man smiled, unlike the boy he had been training since little Jedi was well motivated.

“Girl we will be leaving after 3 days, you will come with us is that okay with you?” the old man asked Jedi as she kept on practicing her pierce.

“You will train me?” she asked.

“Yes, but how much you can do will be up to you,” the old man said smiling fiercely.

“I will come with you!! Hya!!” she said with a determination on her face.

“How old are you right now?”

“13!! Hya!!!” she was starting to sweat.

“I see, you are not yet in that annoying phase… I understand, Simon!!! Don’t slack!! I saw you almost getting hit!! It's just 4 adventurers!!!” the old man was still managing Simon, and he recruited some adventurers; for 10 silver they would hit the boy for an hour, and for every hit on the boy 5 silver was rewarded to them.

Using his footwork was the goal of the training.

Simon hadn’t been hit yet but the adventurers was a party of class C and they were good at fighting as a team.

Jedilyn can tell that the old man was much more harsher to Simon but the boy younger than her seems to enjoy the fight.

“Girl!! Don’t stop… from now on every morning we will run around the town… full speed,” the old man was still on top of her training and was watching her every movement.

“Yes!! Yes sir!!!” Jedi answered with conviction.

“The path of your revenge begins here… welcome to hell,” The old man smiled at Jedi and she shivered.

The old man wanted her to give it up and live her life in a better light, revenge was so good a motivation but in the long run, it would ruin anyone.

<--->

In the evening the old man and Simon went to the well and started cleaning up, they were half naked, and although the 2 were very rough it seemed that the 2 maintained some kind of hygiene. The boy fetched them water, he was still energetic after the training.

It had been a long time since Jedi had a bath. Doing it in a public space is a first time too.

She was still wearing her tattered clothes. She started pouring water on her body and she felt pain in her feet, it seemed that she had some small skin burns on her feet. “Urgh!!” she sounded in pain.

Luckily it was a bit cold at night and it numbed some of his pain but she had to do it slowly. She washed her hair and her body. It took some time but she was getting there.

“Hmm… we will need to buy you some boots… I forgot you are on your bare feet sorry,” the old man said it seemed that he was a bit sorry for the girl by his tone. “I’ll get you some clothes too,” the old man said, he had finished cleaning himself and went on inside the guild.

“Jedi!~ Jedi!!” then Simon suddenly approached her with a new bucket of water, the old man told him that the girl needed more. Now that she had a look the boy was always keeping his eyes closed but the precision of his movement was amazing. It was like he was still seeing properly even though his eyes were closed.

“What’s your favorite food?” Simon asked. It was a strange question coming from the boy.

“Spaghetti” she answered.

“What is that?” Simon urged her to describe it.

“It's some kind of pasta with sauce and meat on it, with some grated cheese and… huh?”

“Growl”

“I see… it must taste good!!” Simon smiled though his stomach was growling, she was sure they already had dinner. The boy left.

Jedi knew it as it was a common. Humans would discriminate demi-humans, especially nobles but maybe it could a part of the old man’s training. She was left there thinking by herself.