Chapter 4- A dream of the past

Pain resides throughout my body as I sit in the infirmary hall. Although my injuries are minimal compared to my other knights, my mind is the most severe.

I lost the first battle just like in the novel…but everything was different.

Eri is somewhere in the Robal Kingdom.

Nonsense. I shake my head back and forth. I’m sure it’s possible for someone else to be reincarnated from Earth into this novel.

I know I am fooling myself.

But if Eri is here, why is she supporting the Robal Kingdom? The Kingdom of Robal is home to the antagonists of the story. Not to mention the kingdom is home to those horrendous monsters who-

I pause in my thoughts for but a moment and think back to the knights on the other side.

Those knights weren’t monsters.

Then why are they called that by the people of Frostala? 

Trying to come up with a completely reasonable excuse, I find myself coming to a conclusion in a matter of seconds. Perhaps it’s because of how much stronger they are compared to us; but still, is that enough reason to call someone a monster?

I continue to pounder in this thought for a little while longer until Fern comes over to me with a first aid kit in hand.

Fern: “Do you mind if I bandage you up?”

Devilynn: “Ah-I don’t mind. Thank you, Fern.”

I take off the armor covering my left forearm and shoulder and roll up the sleeve of my undershirt. Fern is wearing a cutesy smile, as always, on her face with a calm demeaner surrounding her. The image of her on the battlefield creeps into my mind. Why did she make that face?

Fern: “You’re lucky to only have gotten a few scratches. You know most of the other knights’ injuries were much worse.”

Although her facial expression and tone have not changed, she seems angry. I’m sure she blames me for not leading us with confidence and for retreating.

Devilynn: “Fern I-“

Fern: “There all finished!”

Fern proceeds to tighten the bandage around my arm, a little too tightly, and then releases her hands from the forearm. She looks me directly in my eyes.

In my past life I was together with Eri for over 8 years…so I know when a woman is angry at me.

Panic runs throughout my body and Fern takes a heap step closer.

Fern: “Devilynn, later tonight, after all the other men are sleeping, can you meet me by that Willow tree down the road? I have something-“

Fern comes uncomfortably close to me and whispers into my ear so that only I can hear.

Fern: “something really really important to talk to you about.”

Fern steps a couple feet away from me. Her cherry tinted lips are placed together in a flirty grin. With a wink, she tells me one last thing before running off outside the camper.

Fern: “I’ll be waiting.”

I sit there with my hand over my chest. My body becomes flustered and my face feels flushed. Perhaps because I am in the body of the hero, I have to be drawn to the heroine character.

The image of Eri appears in the back of my mind again. Just from imagining her, and her soft golden hair and always welcoming warmth feels as though she is right in front of me.

Sorry Fern, but Eri is the only one for me.

And if Eri is truly somewhere in the Robal Kingdom, then I’ll just have to save her.

A warm smile runs down my face as courage runs throughout my heart.

***
A chilly breeze from a noisy AC machine fills the room. I open my eyes to the sunlight coming from smaller corner of the window that the curtain doesn’t reach.

I’m back in my living room in my tiny apartment in the middle of Tokyo. Boxes are stacked alongside the corners of the room. The only furniture left is the coffee table, the recliner, and the couch I’m lying on.

Was everything just a dream? My life as a Hero and my death in a car accident?

I glance over to the recliner to my right side. Eri is sitting there with her reading glasses on and with an untitled book in her hand. She is dozed off within the book and doesn’t notice I’m awake.

Tears begins to run down my face as I sit up on the couch. Even if it was a dream, it feels like I haven’t been able to see her in years.

Finally noticing me from my crying and hiccupping, Eri glances over at me. She takes off her reading glasses and places them on the coffee table.

Eri: “You sure had a long nap, Zaro.”

Zaro: “Eri…I had a horrible dream.”

Eri stands up and makes her way over to the other side of the couch. She places her hand on my thigh and smiles.

Eri: “I know…But you’re here with me now, so there’s no need to be scared.”

I can’t stop crying, no matter how much I wipe away my tears. Seeing her, smelling her, feeling her. It’s all so much that I’ve missed.

Eri moves her hand up to the side of my cheek. She gives me a more serious look than before.

Eri: “You’re going to have to make a choice soon.”

Zaro: “A choice?”

Eri: “Yeah. A choice in where you have to choose what is morally wrong for the people you cherish or choose what is morally good for people you don’t know.”

Zaro: “Eri, I don’t understand.”

Eri lets out a bright smile and chuckles a little.

Eri: “I know. But you’re the hero, right? You’ll figure it out.”

Hero?

No, I don’t want to be the Hero anymore.

I just want to be your Husband. That's all I've ever wanted.

Confused I grab ahold of Eri’s hand from my cheek.

Just as I grab ahold of her hand, she and the rest of the world slowly starts to disappear. I scramble for words and just begin to scream her name.

Eri: “It looks like this is goodbye for now.”

As Eri begins to discarnate from the world, she leans up to me.

Eri: “Make the choice I would make.”

Eri pulls me in for a short but lasting kiss. As soon as she pulls away, the world goes black.

***

Startled, I jump out of bed. Where am I? Where’s Eri?

I look around and begin to see the wooden walls of the infirmary hall. I place my hands on my face and let out a huge shrug.

It was all a dream. A small whine leaves my mouth; I want to go back to that life.

Taking my hands off of my face, I look around to see that aside from the doctors and nurses, no one else is in the infirmary hall. I take out my pocket watch and realize it is already the middle of the night.

Fern must be waiting.

I quickly place my pocket watch back inside my pocket and begin to walk over to the willow tree.

Once I arrive, I find Fern standing beneath the willow tree. She is staring off at the moon and the stars that are dancing in the night sky. Seeing her more calmed down and not as cheerful as usual, makes her more attractive.

Fern glances over at me and changes her calm expression to a more cheerful one.

Fern: “You’re finally here!”

Fern swiftly walks over to me. She has a cream-colored tunic on instead of her armor; it’s the first time I’ve seen her in something casual.

Devilynn: “Sorry, I dozed off. I hope you weren’t waiting long.”

Fern: “No, not at all.”

Silence falls between us, as I put on an awkward smile. Embarrassingly, I break the silence.

Devilynn: “So Fern, why did you want to see me?”

Fern: “Ah! I just wanted to talk about this last battle we had.”

Fern’s face turns cold and her eyes are filled with the same look of disgust she had on the last moments of the battle.

Fern: “Why did you freeze up? Don’t you know a good leader leads his people with confidence?”

Within that moment, embarrassment and confusion fills up my mind. Fern was never so serious and upset in the novel…I must have really pissed her off.

Devilynn: “I’m sorry…seeing King Killian got on my nerves. But next time I promise, I’ll-“

Fern: “King Killian?”

Fern stares at me with a bewildered look.

Fern: “You mean Prince Killian. Killian isn’t the ruler of Robal, that utterly despicable Queen Shinkyo is. Anyways Devilynn, in the next battle-“

Fern continues to lecture me about the battle as I doze off into my own thoughts. Killian isn’t king…and his little sister is the queen?

Shinkyo was considered one of the most intelligential characters in the story who almost defeats the Frostala's knights without even fighting. If someone like her took the throne, then this war is going to be a bloodbath. 

Fern: “Devilynn, are you even listening?!”

Fern stands there with her arms crossed. Her face is red from the lecturing.

Devilynn: “I was not.”

Fern: “Devilynn!”

Fern takes a deep breathe and looks up at me.

Fern: “These monsters want to ruin what Frostala has spent years to create. If you don’t take this seriously, all of that could end. Do you want our harmony to end?”

Despite being frustrated, Fern manages to put on a serious face. Her eyes are pleading for an answer. A sense of guilt appears inside me.

Devilynn: “No, Fern. I promise I’ll win this war.”

Fern grabs my hands. Her hands give off a keen sense of warmth, that I haven’t felt since coming to this world.

Fern: “I’ll keep you to your promise then.”

Fern lets go of my hands and then begins to make her way back to the camper grounds. I stay behind to give myself some space.

“Make the choice I would make.”

Those words from my dream run through my head.

I don’t know what to do anymore. I feel lost. So much is different from the original story.

“But you’re the hero, right? You’ll figure it out.”

I promised Eri I would be someone who would protect her and now I’ve promised Fern to win the war.

I’m not sure what’s right or what’s wrong yet, but I know that these promises won’t go empty.

Even if I’m not the Hero in the story, I’m still this world’s Hero.

So from now on, I'll be a better Hero.