Chapter 1 “Everyday Morning”

After letting out a yawn, I walked toward the window and then opened it immediately, revealing the shutter that has done its job keeping the cold outside the house last night. With a creaking sound, I pushed open the wooden shutter from the inside. Thankfully, it was not too heavy, making it an easy task in the morning for me each day. And with that shutter opened, the last barrier that kept the air outside from entering the house has been removed, allowing the fresh smell of the morning dew carried inside by the cool morning breeze.

“Nice morning today.” I said as I slowly breathed in the fresh air. And with that, I started my morning work.

After a few sit ups and pushups for a quick exercise, I marched toward the kitchen of the house and proceeded directly to check on the stock of food placed inside the cupboard. The job didn’t take long due to the relatively low amount of stuff inside it.

“Hmm, I still have a few more apples and a few slices of old bread.” I tapped my chin as I realized that I nearly don’t have enough for the next day if I splurged on it in one go. “Ugh, I guess I have to eat less again then.” And with that decision, I eat my breakfast which consisted of a single apple. I think I can leave the bread for later since it can withstand longer then the apple.

Although that was still far from one would deem a filling breakfast, my daily lifestyle has made me able to survive for a long time with a meager amount of food without affecting my overall health. Some might say that I have become a miser. I prefer the term survivalist. I don’t have enough money to always eat luxurious food, you know? Well, that’s not exactly correct. I have enough for that. But I don’t have enough for that to last long. With that in mind, I prefer my current lifestyle.

*knock, knock*

“Hmm?” Just barely finished the apple in my hand, sound of knocking came from the door downstairs. “Who could it be?” I said to myself as I descend the stair quickly to not upsetting the one waiting outside. When I arrived, I opened the door and I was greeted by a rather energetic voice.

“Good morning there, Nerva!!” The voice was so loud that I instinctively took a step back to lessen the impact of the voice against my ear. “I have a delivery for you!”

“A-Ah, yes, good morning, Bardo.” I said to reply my guest’s hearty greeting. “A delivery?”

“Yup, from my old man! Here you go!” And with that sentence, a loud sound of impact could be heard coming in front of me together with a very huge vibration on the floor of my porch. “This morning trip to the forest was a bountiful one. We got a lot of berries that were almost too ripe. They practically fell over the trail as we trek on.” The sound of rustling came to my ear as he opened the sack. The moment he did that, a familiar scent attacked my nose.

“Berries, eh? I guess that’s reasonable since it is almost the end of its season.” I guess they really did fell on the ground as the scent was somewhat overly sweet.

“ Yes, yes, you got it! Since there’s a lot even after we left some for the wild animal, the old man said to give them to you since you look like you could use some. Aren’t you happy, my friend?” asked my guest to me while giving me a strong pat on my shoulder rather excitedly. As always, he doesn’t know how to hold back on his own strength, which I was reminded quite painfully as I winched under the force of his strong hand. But I honestly couldn’t hate him since he was just expressing himself truthfully. I could never hate a person like that. An honest and a straightforward man that refuse to say anything but the truth. Although that sometimes made him to be seen by other as an uncouth and tactless man, they who have known him will know that he is anything but that. Fortunately, I’m one of the later and I can and would give that exact opinion about him.

“Well, I better get going again. The old man might break his back if he is left around to lift the heavy sacks in our storehouse alone.” As I know that his ‘old man’ is not so old, I really doubt that. But he is a very caring and loving son, although tad to be a bit overprotective sometimes. In fact, I seem to remember that his ‘old man’ is a man with a large muscle that possessed strength comparable to a bear. I might be exaggerating, but the point is that that man is far from weak. “I’ll see you again, Nerva!”

“Ah, yes, of course. Give your father my thanks for these lovely berries. I would share some jam that I will make later.”

“Hahaha!” A hearty laugh escaped his mouth. “The old man will be delighted to hear that, my good friend! Farewell!”

“See you later, Bardo.” I waved at him as he left my porch. As always, I questioned why he always has to speak in a very loud voice all the time. Come to think of it, his father also does the same. Maybe it’s a hereditary trait? I might ask his father later if my curiosity still persist. “Okay, let’s get this inside.” I grabbed the large sack and then hauled it over inside to store it in my kitchen right away. With the berries, my stock of food has become slightly better. Although I need to cook them soon or it might get spoiled, it still counts as a very welcome addition to my dwindling supply of food.

With most of my morning task, which one might guess is not much, is done, I only have one more thing to do. And that is to wait for my employer. Well, not exactly my employer since that would be strange. I guess you could say that he sent one of his subordinate to pick me up and also to watch me so that I don’t skip my job. I’m not lazy, I can at least tell you that. But the thing is–

“Good morning!” Oh, speak of the devil. The one I was waiting for has arrived. I guess I have to get ready sooner than I thought. “I’m coming up!” And with that, the sound of the door being opened rather hurriedly came from downstairs.

“Got it!” As usual, that fellow didn’t even try to knock on the door and just barged in like that. Not that I’m complaining, though. I just hoping that a little warning would be nice. But I guess that first greeting was meant to be the warning. So I have nothing to complain, eh? So while listening to the sound of footsteps on the stair, I reached my bag that was always put conveniently under the kitchen table. While I’m doing that, I had a certain idea as I sniffed the scent of the berries. I picked up one of my leather satchel and then filled it with a few dozen berries. A snack wouldn’t hurt, right?

“You ready?” Just as I was tying up the string of the satchel, the footsteps had stopped a few steps away from my current location and a voice called out to me.

“Ready.” I tie the satchel to the belt of my pants and then faced my guest. “I only need my walking stick and my–“

“This, right?” The fluttering sound of a small object being thrown on the air could be heard. I instinctively grabbed the object mid-air with my dominant hand. The rolled up object inside my fist felt very familiar to me that the moment my finger made contact with the object, I could immediately recognize the object’s identity without opening my hand.

“You pick this one for today?” I open the rolled up object and stretch it in front of me. The leather material felt soft and quite smooth on my finger. I could feel the craftsman’s skill on this small object.

“Does the company have something formal scheduled for today?”

“We are going to inspect the new recruit and also to give ranks and reward for their achievement.” The person walked toward the stair, but then turned around just after taken a single step on it. “Do you need help?”

“Hmm? With putting this on?” I gave a smile after hearing that.

“Err, I mean with walking down the stair.” I was taken aback slightly. I could felt my expression changed for a split second. But I managed to regain my composure immediately. “Ah, I don’t mean anything by that.” It seemed that I have failed to do it fast enough since my companion managed to notice that split second change. I guess I am not fast enough. “It’s just…err…” The sentence came out dripping with awkwardness. At that, I let out a small snicker. “Hey! Don’t laugh!” And I was awarded with a scolding right away.

“I know, I know. I’m sorry about that.” I’m sure I sounded far from sincere as I still let out a small laugh between my sentences. And judging from the ‘hmph’ sound I heard, I’m quite correct. “Let me just put this on and you can help me in walking downstairs.”

“Hey, I’m not forcing you to accept my kindness.” Oh, that sounded like a very bitter statement. Although the voice sounded calm, I could sense the bitterness in it. “You don’t have to accept my goodwill if you don’t want to.”

“I said I’m sorry, didn’t I? Don’t take it into heart.” I tried to calm down my companion rather bad mood. Well, the reason was partially mine, I admit that. “Or do you want to help me walk downstairs first and then I can put this on? It would be much better to do that when I’ve reached the first floor, you know.”

“I said that you don’t have to…Ah! Forget it!” And with that the sound of footsteps could be heard in front of me. “I’ll wait downstairs!”

I shook my head as the footsteps disappeared under the stairs. My companion really possessed a rather fiery temperament. And I really have a knack in getting someone else’s skin really quick. I need to change that aspect of mine soon. As I ponder that, I opened up the rolled object to its maximum length. With that, I placed the long object over my eyes and circled them over my head several time, covering my eyes completely. Yes, the object that was handed to me –or thrown to me, you be the judge for that– is a leather blindfold. So why was I wearing a blindfold? Well, that’s simple. That’s because I need to cover the pair of empty socket on my face. So yes, I’m blind. Did I forget to mention that?