Learning My Position

I had finally met all the criteria required to progress. I had survived the meaningless build up and now there was nothing inhibiting me from learning the truth. I swallowed, eagerly anticipating the answers I seeked from the very beginning.

“I’m assuming you don’t know anything about the land either.”

I grunted, slightly irritated by her condescending tone and nodded affirmatively.

“Yeah, you should probably start from the beginning.”

Aile placed her slightly misshapen cutlery onto her plate with a ‘clink’, before holding her hand to her chin in a pensive manner.

“There are 5 different towns in this Country. Hikari, Yami, Mizu and Hono town, representing light, dark, water and fire. These are the main 4 elements, from which branch every other type of power.”

Aile held 4 fingers in front of her, obviously referencing the 4 towns she spoke of. She then lowered her right hand and raised one finger on her left hand.

“Then there is one more town, residing at the centre of the other 4. This is known as the equivalence.”

“Seriously!” I screamed while leaping out of my chair. I knocked my cutlery onto the floor with a piercing sound, but I ignored that, continuing to stare at Aile enthusiastically.

Aile adopted a strangely passive demeanour, clearly shocked from my unsuspecting excitement.

“Ugh yeah. Does that mean something to you?”

“Oh, of course not,” I muttered, remembering that amnesia was the excuse I concocted. It was a little late to feign ignorance about my sudden outburst, but she didn’t seem too interested in following up on that mistake.

“Anyway, the king from the equivalence likes to monitor the towns to an extent. He usually sends guards every few weeks to survey the towns, to ensure that nobody is disobeying the will of the king. However, my father, the mayor of town, acted in rebellion against the king, inciting the king to retaliate by sending his own battalion here. I haven’t seen my father since…”

I felt as if I had been thrown into an awkward position as she paused. Should I comfort her? It didn’t seem like we had that sort of relationship, but maybe it was the right thing to do?

However, before she even gave me time to act, she continued with a surprisingly unwavering voice.

“This is where you come in. In this battalion, there is 1 leader, one vice-leader and then 10 soldiers. This may seem like a small force, but it is simply the first wave. I’m sure if there are any issues, this number will increase.”

“And I’m one of the ten soldiers, right?”

Aile nodded, whilst glaring at me with a combination of fear and defiance.

“You were personally assigned to oversee me and Hideo. Then there is 1 more soldier assigned to my, whilst the remaining soldiers survey the town, like the man we met earlier.”

“So the meeting I’m going to tomorrow is going to involve all of these people. We’ll probably discuss the servitude of the people we’re assigned to and be instructed on how to proceed.”

It would surely be difficult to give a report consistent with the previous reports of the previous wonder of this body. However, this was an opportunity I was waiting for. I would surely learn about the equivalence from the leader or any of the other soldiers. Furthermore, if it is required, we might be sent back to the equivalence to defend the king, or if our mission was completed. Then, I would surely learn about why I was summoned here and how I could return.

I stood up and began towards the bedroom, hoping to sort through my thoughts and decipher my method for handling this new information. As I rose out of my seat, my eyes fell onto Aile’s ever changing expression, which had now morphed into a more sombre look. In fact, she appeared to be on the edge of tears.

It was enough to arouse some sort of guilt from me. I had just felt excitement for the meeting tomorrow, whilst she was terrified at the mere thought of it. As usual, I wouldn’t respond to this guilt or let it affect my actions.

Without a word, I continued towards the bedroom, hoping that Aile had nothing more to say, until…

“You didn’t remind me about training tomorrow.”

Once again, her stern and steady voice contradicted my expectations.

“Oh sorry, I guess that's something I would always do.”

Aile was adept at evoking my sympathy, I almost felt bad that I couldn’t replicate the behaviour she was expecting. Even though the person she was expecting was probably a rotten individual who treated her like dirt. However, she switched her attitude seamlessly.

“I guess you also forgot that you sleep out here.”

“What? But there are 3 beds in there!” I protested, gesturing towards the bedroom.

“Yeah, mine, Hideo’s and an extra in case of guests. If there is an injury or traveller, it is important we keep a bed unused.”

“Are you serious? If someone else needs the bed, then I’ll just switch out of it!”

“You might be willing to risk that time loss, but when it comes to other people’s injuries, I will not accept that lax attitude.”

“If that's the reason, then I can just take Hideo’s bed. Goodnight!”

I closed the door behind me and sank into my bed. I couldn’t see Aile’s reaction to my dismissal of her ridiculous proposal. But, from what little I knew about her, she would probably be pissed off. But, I would save that conversation for later tonight, when she would surely enter the bedroom to scold me. For now, I had to create a plan of action.

“How should I present myself tomorrow? What should I give in my report?”

Without any more information, I knew it was best for me to keep quiet and give a neutral report. More importantly than maintaining my cover, I needed to figure out how I would articulate myself to gain information. Nothing else would matter if I simply gained enough knowledge to travel on my own.

At that moment, I decided that after learning everything I could from this meeting, I would set out on my journey and forget about everything to do with this meaningless town.