Lyria

After walking for half an hour I finally got out of the forest and came across a road just as big to tell me that I was going in the right direction. The girl I was carrying woke up for a second while we were cruising through the trees just to say something incomprehensible and go to sleep again.

I couldn’t begin to imagine what she might have gone through in her life but I hoped to have done something good by saving her. Her breath warmed my neck and helped me focus on just walking following the dirt road.

“This sure is peaceful” massive wheat fields grew all around us.

The golden stalks were dancing, helped by the wind. My ears were pleased hearing only the rustling coming from the fields, and the gravel under my feet. A mountain range blocked the horizon and before that, I could only see wide plains and hills in between countless forests. The road bent right, diving into the woods while coasting on a river. I was pretty sure this was the one I tried to follow that morning.

I began to see something that looked like stone walls in the distance, and a row of various chariots and people were parked on the road in front of it.

“I made it” I said followed by a sigh of relief.

The town must have been pretty big as the walls disappeared in the far distance. Almost measuring 10 meters in height. Men were standing on top of it, looking at the people below. Everyone had a blue tunic and an iron helmet on their head. A leather quiver filled with arrows resting on the right shoulder and a wooden bow gripped with both hands. They seemed to be wearing a uniform, every cloth had a golden dragon insignia embroidered. Banners with the same design hung from the walls and the gate below.

“This feels like a fantasy RPG” I spoke words I didn’t know the meaning of and the same pain in my head manifested.

By that time I had already figured out that every time I used words from my missing memories I’d get the same outcome.

The line started moving as soon as I got to its end. In front of me, a small wagon was pulled by creatures I had never seen before. Big lizards, standing on two feet. One was red while the other tended towards pink. Feathers of the same color covered their backs and two bull-like horns grew from the side of their heads. Both of them had reins in their mouths and the man riding the cart was holding the leashes. The man wore a typical farmer’s outfit with a straw hat on his head. Inside the cart, I could see dozens of sacks filled with wheat.

“Must come from somewhere nearby”

The girl on my back woke up again. She tried to break free from the piggy ride while moving and kicking and slapping me in the face. It was possible that she got scared when recognizing the clothes I was wearing.

“Hey, hey stop it!” hearing a different voice from usual she calmed down for a second “You’re safe now”

I looked back only to see a surprised face and a lot of tears pouring. I let her down and lifted the hood to cover her head. She looked at the clothes she was wearing with awe before drying her tears with the cape.

“Can you walk now?” she nodded.

I turned back and started closing the space I left in the line. The girl grabbed my shirt with both hands. I could feel her arms shaking.

“Don’t worry I’m not going anywhere” she started slowly following me towards the gate.

None of us talked while we waited for our turn. She was standing next to me captivated by the two creatures in front. The line moved again.

We only had two carts before us and I was now able to look closely at the gate. The wall appeared even higher from down there and every man up above was looking at us. I could not see their expressions and prayed they were friendly. Wooden portals protected the gate and were now open to let the last people in. Two guards stood at the side. The uniform was the same, I noticed they wore iron greaves at their feet. With a halberd in hand, they looked intimidating and their eyes were lost in the forest behind us. When we finally passed by, they took a peek at the girl and then ignored us.

As soon as we entered the gate, the two guards reached for the portals and started closing them. I was forced to keep going.

The farmer in front of us was talking with a guard sitting on a table, and other two halberd wielders accompanied him. On his table, a disorganized pile of paper was continuously browsed by the man. Every now and then he grabbed a feather dipped in ink and wrote something in what looked like a register. The man on the cart offered a letter to the guard. He looked at the sheet and after a nod, the farmer started moving again. It was our turn.

We moved slowly while everyone was watching us. We were now surrounded by a total of five guards. The girl started shaking again at the sight of the weapons and clung to my arm.

I found myself again in a stressful situation.

A sign was placed on the table but the characters engraved in the stone were new to me and I couldn’t read them, the same thing went for the register and the random papers.

“Welcome to the city of Lyria” the man sitting spoke “Please state your business”

So this place was called Lyria. Good to know. What was I supposed to say now? I was just trying to escort a girl to a safer place.

“Tourism?” I joked. No one laughed.

“Let’s just say ‘Other’” the man began writing in his register “Do you have a pass to show?”

“A pass?” there was nothing like that in the pockets when I checked before “I don’t think I have one”

“They cost 20 Karses each” he offered the palm of his left hand while he kept on writing.

Karses? That must have been the money used in this dimension. I knew the concept of money but didn’t remember what I used in my previous life. Just as for the pass, I also had no money. I could have tried to bribe him with a rope but decided to abstain.

“We...we have no money on us”

“Let me guess, you were attacked on the road and lost everything” he was half right. The feather moved again and another box was filled with scribbles.

One of the guards lowered his halberd and poked at the sheath on my hip. The guard sitting noticed my sword and froze for a second.

“I see you have a sword there. Holding any type of weapon without a permit is a crime, I imagine you don’t have a permit”

“I don’t”

“Are you a mercenary then?”

Weren’t mercenaries those warriors that got paid to do the dirty work? Apparently, they existed here as well. Looking at my clothes I could have given the impression to be one, I decided to push my luck.

“I am”

“Good. Can you show me your Guild Brooch?” he offered his palm again.

...my what? This was not going well at all. Why didn’t reincarnations get a brochure or a manual that explained the customs of the dimension they were sent to? I cursed Aurora and her quickness of doing things.

A panting knight ran to the table and whispered something to the guard sitting. He opened his eyes in surprise hearing the words of his companion. From a shoulder strap, the sixth man delivered a closed parchment to the guard and ran again back where he came from.

The guard slowly unrolled the yellow paper and read its content. He stood up and faced the pearchment towards me. He took the sword resting on one of the table legs and pointed the blade to my face.

An image was drawn on the paper. A man wearing a cape over a blue shirt and a black gilet. The face was hidden but I could see part of a scar coming from his left cheek

“You son of a…” I stopped myself right in time

“By the power given me from the town of Lyria...” the guard shouted “I hereby declare you under arrest for multiple counts of murder, kidnapping, blackmailing, and illegal possession of weaponry without a permit. Any attempt to resist will make your sentence worse”

All the other guards around me lowered their halberds. I raised my hands.

“What is my sentence?”

“10 years of prison until proven innocent”

“What about the girl?” I was only worried about her, I asked myself why. Another case where I put others in front of my safety. This time again, it felt like it was the right thing to do.

“Being an accomplice of an offender with this many charges, her sentence is life in prison”

“How is that fair?” I shouted and the guards flinched. It must have been scary to be in front of such a criminal.

“I don’t make the laws” the guard’s sword was shaking subtly “Now follow us and no one gets hurt”

I couldn’t prove my innocence and neither did the girl since she was considered an accomplice of mine. I was able to hit the bullseye of worst-case scenarios. My second life was one day old and I could already see myself rotting in a dark cell somewhere underground. Seeing the girl's conditions she wouldn’t have been able to survive if imprisoned. I had damned to lives by stealing some clothes. What a stupid choice…

“L-Let's...let’s run” the girl quietly spoke for the first time. Her voice was almost silent. She was trembling in fear once again.

“Are you sure?” she nodded.

This had to work out.

I let one of the guards approach me with a pair of shackles and punched him in the face, making him also drop his weapon. I rammed into the poor man with my shoulder and used the opening to run into the city holding the girl’s hand. The citizens nearby were suddenly caught off guard and didn’t know how to react when we passed by them.

I could hear the clanging of iron on the paved street and imagined being chased by the white rabbit to give my all into running away.

“Somebody shoot him!” shouted the guard holding his bleeding nose.

An arrow grazed my shoulder and bounced on the ground. I started sticking closer to civilians to prevent the archers from firing arrows my way. I had no time to inspect my surroundings and jumped into the first alley I could see. We were both out of breath already.

“You good?” I asked, seeing the girl with her free hand on her chest.

The blood pulsed in my veins and I could feel my heart in my throat. Sweat came from my head drenching my shirt. I had moved too much that day.

“Y-yes...s-somehow” the girl smiled for the first time.

“There they are” three guards appeared at the side of the alley we came in, putting our little break to an end.

My legs were moving on their own, jumping in and out of alleys while distancing ourselves from the walls. It felt like the town mobilized an army since we came across guards at every turn.

As we ran the roads and the houses started to look more detailed and well-built. We were crossing the center of the city. The alleys were now wider and a lot more people were walking, some with family, others with bags. There was a group of men armed to the teeth and they were wearing a different set of armor from the guards. They were talking to each other and didn’t notice me passing by.

Are these the mercenaries the guard mentioned before? From their equipment alone I could guess they had quite a bit of money. If I ever came out alive from this pursuit I might have tried to get a job as one.

A big river meandered through Lyria and we started crossing a couple of bridges. Creatures like the one I saw at the gate were pulling fancy chariots on the streets. Most of the people there wore classy clothes, we were like a beacon in the night. I looked back only to see a dozen different guards chasing us. I felt a sharp pain in my leg, the wound had opened again. Damn you rabbit!

Suddenly the houses vanished from sight and left the place to an open plaza with a fountain in the middle. A golden statue of a man fighting a dragon with a two-handed sword garnished the structure and water fell from the mouth and wounds of the dragon.

The girl stumbled on herself and I was able to catch her in time before she fell to the ground. She let out a squeak and touched her sprained ankle. Our run came to an end. I could see a bloodstain in my trousers and bit my lip hard enough to divert the pain.

In a matter of seconds, we were surrounded by guards and a crowd of people decided to watch the scene from behind the circumference of halberds that had been created around us.

Two of the guards advanced trying to pin me down. I unsheathed “my” sword and began slashing the air. It must have been the first time holding a proper sword because I didn’t have a single clue on what to do after that.

“Stay away” I shouted

The man at the gate table entered the circle, making its way through the mass of bystanders.

“You must have massive guts to do something like this” he was holding shackles. The sound of metal was suppressed by the chit-chatting “Now be a good citizen for ones and let me arrest you”

With a swing of my sword, the shackles flew out of the hands of the guard. He placed his hand on the hilt of his sword ready to battle if needed.

“Let me handle this” a voice came from the crowd as claps and incitements rose from the mass.

The temperature dropped precipitously and a man joined the guard. Saying that he was stunning was saying nothing. The man had blonde wavy hair laying on his shoulders, over a white chest plate. He wore a set of full armor of the same candid color. You could spot multiple golden dragons on the various pieces that made his attire. A red cape started around his neck and was gently flowing in the wind. The heels on his greaves made him a bit taller than I was. His charming light blue eyes were checking me and my sword out.

“Let the girl go, delinquent”

The perfect definition of a white knight. He just needed a horse to complete the picture.

“I’m sorry but I can’t” I took an offensive stance “Listen...there was a big misunderstanding, I just want the girl to be treated and put somewhere safe”

“Your actions speak more than your words” he pointed his sword at me. The blade was almost transparent “Surrender or I’ll execute you right here and now”

“Please don’t do it here Claude, I don’t want to clean the blood off the plaza” the guard beside him tried to talk some reason into him “If you kill him in front of this many people you’ll only stain the name of the Alba”

“It’s too late now” around his wrist a circle of light formed, it reminded me of the one Aurora used during my teleport.

The same light appeared at my feet, I tried to move away from it but my legs were stuck in ice that kept growing from the ground wrapping my boots. Ice magic I figured. That was also why that plaza was so cold right in the middle of summer.

Claude raised his sword ready to strike, then stopped.

“What are you doing here?” the knight was talking to a girl behind his back.

She entered the scene when Claude was talking about justice and pointed something at the back of his head. I couldn’t see the girl nor the weapon she was wielding.

“You should listen to what Karl just told you, Albas are already despised all around the kingdom, you don’t want them to hate you here in Lyria too, don’t you? Besides,I have unfinished business with him”

With me? I never heard that voice before and the only girl I met was right beside me. This was a chance to leave the plaza unscathed, I had to ride that wave of opportunity.

“What do you mean?” Claude asked. He was still ready to cut me apart at any moment.

“He’s one of mine” I heard a clicking sound.

“Don’t try to take his side, Roxy. I never saw him around here, and a mercenary like him would not survive long. He doesn’t even have a Brooch”

“He’s a rookie, immediately after joining he left for a job leaving his Brooch on the table” The girl raised an arm showing Claude the object she was holding.

It was a tiny metal (need a shape) with a grey pearl stuck in the middle. Claude looked at the Brooch, then back at me, then the brooch again.

“He still fled from guards when they ordered him to desist, I cannot turn a blind eye”

“You are in no position to make requests right now” another clicking sound.

“The next time I come to your place it better be on the house” Claude put his sword back.

“Sure thing Alba” Roxy emerged from behind the knight.

She also had blonde hair, wavy and a pair of determined green eyes. She was wearing something that looked a lot like a maid’s outfit. Frills on her shoulders, a dark grey corset around her waist, a red skirt just over the thigh, thigh highs, and leather boots with heels. Red cuffs on her wrists and a bolo tie with a metal piece similar to the brooch she showed. The belt around her skirt had an empty holster attached to it. Her left hand held a short golden weapon with a light blue cylinder in the middle. The grip was white like the trigger her index was resting on. She had a gun.

A gun? A GUN? People here fought with swords and halberds while this one was holding a firearm? Wait...what was a gun again? The pain in my head was stronger than ever.

Looking back at it, her weapon looked more like a modified light crossbow minus the stirrup and bow. A series of other cylinders hung around her belt.

Roxy came to me and stood right in front of my face. She holstered her weapon and pinned the Brooch on the belt over my shoulder. She was blocking Claude’s and the other guards' vision. She glanced at the girl beside me and whispered.

“If you want to get out of here alive just shut up, follow me, and nod” I nodded.

I helped the girl get up and let her use me as support while we began following Roxy. Both the guards and the crowd opened up before her creating a clear path for us. She greeted Claude, who was arguing with Karl, and we left the plaza. I kept on following Roxy without talking until she spoke.

“You made a big mess, you know?” Roxy sighed “Thank Gods I was there”

“Do I know you?” I asked “Why did you save me”

“I did the same thing you did for the girl. Just by looking at her, I knew you weren’t a criminal. It was also pretty funny seeing you try to go up against an Alba”

“I noticed you called him that...what does it mean?” I wanted to understand more what happened back there.

“It’s a nickname we gave to the Royal Guards since they’re always in white armor. Not only you pointed your sword at an Alba, it was even Claude, the Ice Kaiser” she laughed.

“Ice...Kaiser” repeated the girl.

Roxy stopped and faced us “You don’t know? Are you outsiders?”

“Kind of”

“In this Kingdom, the title of ‘Kaiser’ is given to the strongest wielder of a magic element, in his case Ice”

I pushed my luck against one of the strongest people in this place and I was still alive...I was terrified. He did block me instantly with his spell and when he raised his sword I felt my body splitting in two already. I had to stay away from them as much as possible.

“We’re here! Home sweet home” Roxy opened the door “Chevy, I’m back”

The place was not far from the center of the city. It was massive and had two floors. It was built in a white stone with giant logs acting as support. Over the wooden door, Roxy had opened, a sign hung from a steel rod. I couldn’t read the sign but the image painted on the wood pictured a carrot stuck in a white circle. I entered.

The room was filled with wooden tables and stools. Most of them were occupied by massive men with more muscles than skin. Everyone had different kinds of armor and equipment, I could see axes, swords, staffs, and even a golden pickaxe. On each man a Brooch was pinned somewhere on their clothes, the designs differed from one another and most of the pearls embedded had the same colors.

Roxy was standing near another girl who wore the same outfit as her and held a metal tray. Upon noticing me, the girl bowed shily. I could spot two ram horns in her beige hair. She then got back to work. A goat tail grew on her back. It was strange, but after seeing a bunny eating a corpse I was pretty sure nothing could surprise me easily. Roxy got back to us.

“That was, Chevy. She’s my best waitress and also the Idol of my place”

“Your place?”

“Welcome to the Full Moon!” everyone in the room lifted his mug and toasted “This is Lyria’s Guild branch and also my inn”

“Is Lua back from her job?” she then shouted to the mercenaries while searching for someone “Ah there you are! Can you come for a second?”

The girl she called for stood from her table where she sat with two other men. She was wearing a green cloak covering her whole body. Her hair and eyes were blue, another unusual characteristic.

“Can you please check this girl Lua? I can pay you if you want” Roxy offered a pouch of coins to Lua.

“There’s no need. This is one of the reasons why I’m here” she smiled at me.

Lua took the girl upstairs and I was left alone with Roxy. The owner of the inn guided me through the room and we entered another room behind the counter. Two couches were placed over a carpet and a glass table was positioned in the middle. Shelves filled with random items, weapons, and armor decorated the rest of the room. A strong light came from a lantern on the ceiling. Roxy sat down on one of the couches and invited me to do the same. I placed my sword on the table and rested quietly for the first time of the day.

“Now we can talk about business”

Hey! Ecspo here. Hope you liked this chapter!

Since this is my first serious work and also my first work in English I would very much appreciate any tips, critiques, comments of any kind. Tell me if the chapters are too long, short, or whatever, it would mean a lot to me.