Chapter 1: A new life

In my old life, I was only 20 years old. There were so many things I wanted to do or experience, but my illness took all of that away from me. I don't know how or why, but it's as if I've been given a new life. For some reason, I could remember my previous life, but I didn't ask why. In any case, I found myself in a world very different from the one I had known before. It was very similar to the medieval Europe we know about. Although I hadn't lived in that era, I had certainly seen pictures of it and heard stories about it. However, the language and writing were different. I didn't really have much to do with European languages because I was Japanese, but at least I could speak English. I grew up in a small village called Kleft in the world I live in now. It was a happy and peaceful community. In this world, there seemed to be other beings besides humans — like in a story — only these beings were real. Here and there, I saw elves, dwarves and other creatures. I noticed that my body was much stronger than it had been in my previous life. I grew up in a loving family. While my mother took care of most of the household chores, my father worked as a carpenter. I had to admit that I found this world fascinating and motivated by the desire to make the most of my second life, I developed many interests. I learnt to read and write in our language, and I also learnt that there were other languages and countries. We lived in the Kingdom of Lampa, for example, which, unlike many other countries, was not at war. I was just shopping for my mother when...

"Aaaaarrrrrgghhh"
"Quick, someone get the healer!"

I was startled when two men suddenly ran through the village towards a remote house, carrying another man on a stretcher. The house had a small garden surrounded by a fence, and there was a tree in front of the garden. However, the only things growing there were grass and a few flowers that I had never seen before. Even the flowers seemed different from those in my old world.

“Put him on the table quickly!”
“Oh God, this pain!”

I moved closer to the house and looked through the half-open door. The two men were blocking my view, so I couldn't see exactly what was happening. What was going on? Suddenly, one of the men walked around the table, allowing me to see what was happening. On the table lay the man that the other two had brought in on a stretcher. Part of one of his legs was missing below the knee. I felt sick because I was obviously not used to such sights. I noticed only one person in the room who wasn't bothered by it. He seemed to be the healer they had called for on the street. He took a vial from a nearby shelf and poured its contents over the injured leg. I couldn't believe my eyes. After pouring the liquid over the leg, the bleeding stopped immediately. However, the injured man continued to scream until he was given another liquid to drink. This seemed to ease the pain, because he stopped screaming.

"He can quit his job, but what's gone is gone. There's nothing you can do."
"That can't be true! I have to feed my family!"
"Aren't you listening to me? I'm a healer, not God!"
"You can't reattach lost limbs."

That was probably the harsh reality of the world we live in. Anyone injured so badly that they could no longer work properly would probably end up homeless at some point. Suddenly, the door opened and I fell into the house.

"Do you enjoy seeing others suffer? Do better things!"

Suddenly, the healer appeared before me, looking angry. I trembled with fear and ran away. I was bothered by the whole thing for days, until I decided to do something for the man who had lost his leg. But what could I do? What did people do in the past when something like this happened? In the past? Suddenly, I remembered that, in my previous life, situations like this had been easier to resolve. I started thinking about it more carefully and asked around the market for available materials. Then I spent hours, even days, drawing sketches until I was happy with my idea, which I then presented to my father.

"Do you want to build this?" my father asked, sounding surprised.
"Yes, but I don't have the necessary skills or experience. I want to help someone!"
"Then it's time I introduced you to my trade. I suggest we build it together so you can learn something too."

And so my father introduced me to his craft. He started by sourcing materials and ordering parts that he couldn't make himself, as they were made of metal. While we were doing this, I got talking to other craftsmen who were apparently friends of my father's. This wouldn't have surprised me, given how small the village was. Until...

"Finally finished!' My son must be a genius to have come up with something like this! Ha ha ha!"
"Go and give it to the person you built it for with pride."

I took the piece I and my father had made and looked for the man who had lost part of his leg about a week ago.
"There he is!"
I saw him walking down the street with a stick.
"Excuse me...!" The man turned around.
"Oh, you’re the boy who was insulted by the healer!" He looked at me with a pained smile.
"I want to give you something."
He looked at me and at the object I was holding, clearly confused, which was probably to be expected since people here are seemed unfamiliar with such things.
“I’ll show you how it’s done.”
I pointed to a nearby bench where the man with the walking stick sat down.
"It's called a prosthesis, and it allows you to walk again"
The man couldn't believe his ears.
"Did you see how I fastened it? Remember that. Now stand up!” The man stood up, somewhat startled, still holding his walking stick.
“Hand over the walking stick; you won't need it anymore.”

After hesitating briefly, the man gave me his cane and tried to walk. He was a little unsteady at first, but slowly got used to the prosthesis. He came up to me, hugged me with tears in his eyes and said:

"Thank you, thank you so much!"

I almost cried because the feeling of having a second chance at life was so fulfilling. On the way home, I encountered a familiar figure: the healer. I was just about to step aside when he spoke.
'I saw how you gave the man who had lost his leg a better life.'
I turned to face him and he looked me in the eye.
'If you see a purpose in helping others, I would like to take you on as an apprentice.' I'm quite old, so I won't be able to practise my profession much longer. Therefore, it's time to take on an apprentice. But no one in the village seems interested. What do you think?"
I was surprised when he said that to me, but I thought about it.
'If possible, I would request different treatment to when we first met.'
'I'm sorry; I had a different impression of you. I won't judge you so quickly in future.'
I smiled and held out my hand.
'I'm glad to hear that, Master!'
It looks like I'll be starting my training as a healer from now on.