Chapter 02 – UNFORGIVEN

[author] I will use (" ") for inner thoughts and ( - ) for dialogue between characters.
Re-edited on 16-05-2022[/author]

“I am Pericles, older brother of Lucia, the protagonist of the Otome Game I worked on in my past life.”

After the shock of memories, Pericles understood the situation in which he found himself, for he was no longer the man who worked until he fainted in the modern world, much less the naive boy who lived in this world.

Now he has become someone who possesses the will, memory, and feelings of these two people from different worlds.

Still, there's something he's not sure if this world is a world with people and rules similar to the game or if it's like a game and the rules and characters will strictly follow the already determined course of the game.

With no way to confirm the reality he finds himself in, he decides to be careful with his next step.

The first thing to think about is that it would be kind of unfair to convict Giovani of a likely future crime just because a similar character in the game had committed it.

But even deciding to trust the man next to him, there is an uncomfortable feeling screaming at him saying that this man will try to kill him as if it was already a premeditated act.

Pericles returns to question.

- Mr. Giovani, is it safe for us to travel without an escort? We don't even have weapons to defend ourselves.

For a tiny while, Giovani's face seemed to twitch, but then it changed to a 'sincere' smile.

- But of course. I already have everything prepared, you don't have to worry about the wolf. First, you should be making sure you learn from this job that I had the trouble of providing you.

he said in a superior tone.

The interesting thing about this comment was that Giovani was desperately looking for an employee.

Then Pericles began to reason.

"It honestly didn't cross my mind when I offered, but if I think logically along with that answer, it's not strange to think that he already has a plan to use me as a sacrifice if necessary."

Giovani is currently just a novice traveling merchant, and he doesn't have a company to finance him.

But he was still willing to hire an employee, and for reasonably high pay.

Some merchants like him used to pass through the village, but none of them had any servants.

Those who escaped this rule were accompanied only by mercenaries as an escort.

And that used to happen only when there was some very clear danger on the local routes.

Because the village is in a remote corner and has few flashy resources, the number of merchants traveling there has greatly diminished over the last few years.

Giovani fled the paradigm, daring to travel without an escort and to hire just a weak boy from a small remote village on a trip with a high possibility of danger.

Like the others, he could make it all by himself.

And instead of hiring Pericles, he could have placed an escort request to some branch of the guild, in one of the larger villages he had passed.

Or he could have requested more men, or at least a stronger one capable of helping in a fight, such as the village hunters.

But any of these options would cost more to your pocket.

And there's still the chance that the trip will be smooth and the mercenaries end up not having to do the work of fighting and protecting, making them a "questionable cost".

So if Pericles makes an assumption, for Giovani an escort would just be a high expense, and he could end up not needing to do his job, making the expense unnecessary for him. But instead, he decided to spend it on a servant, which must also be seen as a questionable cost for a budding merchant. But it would still be cheaper than the escort and if he was unlucky enough to come across the wolves, he could use this servant as bait, thus avoiding danger and even spending some coin.

"Of course, this is just a guess, but it's enough for me to believe that this journey will follow the same scenario as the game."

thought Pericles.

He should have realized the danger of this kind of high-paying job offer, Giovani didn't even care about the employee's ability when he went to hire.

He didn't prioritize someone strong or capable like the hunters, or someone older with experience.

Pericles volunteered too quickly without first knowing how the work would be carried out, as the village chief glorified this unknown merchant very well, and a steady job would provide a better life for Lucia.

“I could try to change course, or delay our trip, so maybe we can avoid the wolf event. But I have no guarantee that the encounter with the wolves can be avoided, or that he won't try to get rid of me anyway."

thought Pericles as he looked around, looking for a different path to take.

“My best option is to get out of this wagon and return to the village. But that can get in the way of getting another job there or even being prevented from selling Herb to the local vendor, which was my source of income.”

The feeling of omnipotence reached his mind, as if he “run away” from work for no reason, the other residents could start excluding him, ignoring what could happen to him, his biggest concern was what Lucia could come to suffer.

“If you think about it, I don't need to be afraid of not getting a job, as I have modern knowledge and, on top of that, I was a programmer for a game similar to this world. I will not be unrealistic in believing that I can become overpowered or extremely rich, but if certain information is like in the game, I can achieve a peaceful life.”

Bearing in mind that it is still possible for certain rules and features of this world to be the same as for the game he worked on.

Pericles decides on which way to go.

“Anyway, I feel sorry for anyone who can suffer at the hands of this guy, but that's not my problem. I'm already busy trying not to die. Besides, I don't know what influence it will have on the history of this world if I stay alive.”

Pericles thinks as he prepares to get out of the wagon.

"I hope the powers of the universe don't try to get rid of me by throwing a chemical toilet on me."

In a second he lifts his head and looks up.

- What? What are you looking at boy? Pay attention to your front. – Giovani argued, who for a second also raised his head.

As he held back his laughter, the attention on the merchant's face beside him reminded him of the scene where the character Pericles is thrown from the wagon, his stomach bleeding, and the wolves approaching.

“This is one of the few scenes where I 'appear' in the game, and not even my face is shown on this screen. Speaking of which, what did my face look like?”

Curiously, he has a memory of two lifetimes, yet not being able to remember any of his faces.

"If I'm not wrong, when I got on the wagon I saw something like a mirror."

- Here sir, hold a second. – Pericles delivers the rope while he flees into the wagon.

- Kid what you're doing. - Shouted the man, with criticism and threats.

But Pericles couldn't care less about this guy, instead, he headed for the mirror tied there, there were several clothes and other things placed over its edges, seeming to be hiding him.

As he pressed himself in front of the mirror, a reflection of an image he was finally able to recognize appeared.

“Damn, I'm handsome. Well, at least I think I am.”

“But my build is kind of thin, but it can be explained since I prioritize eating only what I need.”

His hair is brown like Lucia's, but it's a little darker, short, and messy.

Pericles had no reason or conditions to take care of his appearance.

His countenance is thin and my skin is fair, but just like his clothes were full of dirt.

The surface of his face is clean and smooth, but the surface of his hand was thick and callused, giving a funny feeling when rubbing his face.

He has almond-shaped eyes with amber pupils, small ears, a thin nose, and normal lips for a man.

As he made a check on his appearance, the merchant continued to speak and insult, but at no point did he stop the wagon or dare to look back, as it might slow him down.

Then looking at the products around him, Pericles thought.

"I should 'take' something as payment to load the wagon and then run away saying goodbye to my sister's trauma..."

A thought he'd ignored soon nagged at him.

“On second thought, it wasn't 'my death' that caused Lucia's trauma, but the fact that Giovani had tried to abuse her.”

In the game after Pericles' death, Lucia had to become independent from an early age and started doing all sorts of work like her brother.

The longing and sadness she felt made her try harder to honor her brother's memory.

Then, one day, a year after the accident, Giovani appeared before her, offering to care for and help the sister of his late 'friend' employee, even going so far as to claim that this was Pericles' last wish.

He'd given Lucia a job and various benefits, but at some point that good man had turned into a wild animal who would do anything to taint her, demanding compensation for everything he'd already done for her.

In this world, when you reach the age of 14, you are considered an adult and can marry.

“But still, even though the event happened around Lucia's 14th birthday, did this guy have the audacity to demand that my little sister repay all his 'goodwill' with 'favors'?”

Pericles ignores the fact that this act was committed only by the game's character, not the man in front of him.

"UNFORGIVEN."

"I know in the game's story Giovani couldn't touch Lucia, but what he did hurt and traumatized her, according to the plot I remember, she even had suicidal thoughts."

Pericles' face darkened and hatred took over his thoughts.

"UNFORGIVEN."

"Trying to kill me is one thing, but what gave you the freedom to even think about laying a finger on my sister?"

"KILL."

Pericles no longer had control over his body, for at some point he was already up, aiming with murderous intent at the man driving the wagon.

...

But then after breathing for a few seconds he came to his senses.

Had it not been for the fact that he now possessed a certain “maturity” of his other world self, young Pericles would have kicked the merchant sitting there out of the wagon.

That was a dangerous feeling, but at least it helped him rethink some other information.

Remembering a moment that took place a few days ago, where the village chief introduced Giovani to everyone, along with the fact that he was looking for an employee.

Others volunteered, one of whom even Giovani paid more attention to, Juan, a boy with a shorter and weaker build than Pericles.

Inspecting his volunteers, Giovani walked right past Pericles, ignoring him.

When she was sad about not getting the job, Lucia went to meet her brother to cheer him up.

Certainly, this was enough for Pericles to regain his spirit, but before he left the place with his sister.

Giovani stopped them and decided to give him the job.

The happiness was so great that he ended up not paying enough attention, that Giovani's attitude only changed after Lucia appeared to encourage him.

It wasn't just that memory that was bothering him, as he remembered seeing something similar elsewhere.

"Oh."

That's when Pericles was able to recall, this scene is retold in the game as something written in a diary.

The diary was Giovani's, in a quest item, which would later be found by Lucia near the end of her questline.

It would be contained his transgressions and darkest desires, it would also be described that moment when he arrived in the village.

Giovani needed to finish a delivery as quickly as possible or his life would be at risk, but the journey was fraught with danger.

So he needed some “insurance” to use in case he ran into monsters, someone weak and unimportant who could disappear without drawing too much attention.

And when he was about to choose his victim.

Behold, he would hear a voice that would steal his attention, when he turned around, he would come across an angel on earth.

His depraved desires spurred him to tarnish that spotless light.

An evil plan welled up deep in his heart.

So he changed his target to the one she depended on.

In his journal, he even noted that even if he didn't need to use the boy as bait, he would somehow find a way to get rid of this obstacle on the way to winning over the person of his obsession.

“Now I understand where the feeling of worry came from.”

“The annoyance that plagued me from an early age told me there was something I was forgetting.”

That's why Pericles had an unconscious dislike against Giovani, it wasn't because of the game character he created in the other world, but because of the disturbing feeling that Giovani gave when looking at Lucia.

So it won't just end with him running away, if he leaves now, it could be even worse.

For Giovani could use that to look for trouble against Pericles in the future, demanding something absurd as compensation for running away from work.

“Giovani will pursue Lucia, even if I don't die. I need to find a way to stop him from bothering us, I have to get rid of him.”

That frightening thought returned to his mind, his two lives were honest and calm as they never led him to think that one day he would have to cross such a line.

“If I think about it, on this trip there's the possibility that Giovani will end up dying because if I'm not with him when the wolves attack, he won't have anyone to use as bait, but that's not guaranteed.”

Recalling that around tomorrow, the path of this road will take them to another village, Giovani could hire another 'employee' for security purposes.

Pericles then has his answer, and with a resolute look, decides his path.

"This is going to be dangerous, but I can't leave this situation to chance, I'm not going to let this guy have the chance to stalk my sister."

Pericles turns his eyes to Giovani's back.

"I'll make sure you don't live longer than this week."