The footsteps were getting louder and closer to the point where he was almost jumping slightly with every stomp.

"W-what is going on?"

He was frightened. Not sure what to do, the first thing he could think of was safety as he ran behind some rubble.

"Maybe it's just an earthquake?"

>

The stomps were from two trolls who seemed to have stopped here for a rest.

> the other spoke.

Nashiro couldn't understand them. Their voices, if you could even call them that, were rough and deep. From their tone, they weren't very happy with each other.

>

He took a peek at the monsters and he was shocked by the size of them. They were two gray monsters with a large bellies. They were tall and they were carrying two clubs the size of a tree trunk with spikes on the end of it. One of them had one big eye while the other one had two.

'What are those things?'

Nashiro pondered as he leaned back against the rubble, sweating lightly.

>

The one eyed troll spoke. He was dirty and had no armour on him like his companion. Their skin was gray and their bodies broad. Every step they took, the ground shook marginally. The other one was more clothed and looked stronger of the two. What made them stand out more apart from their body shape and strange speech was the one sharp horn on their head.

>

It spoke in a deep yet scary voice. Nashiro shivered hearing it. He wanted to flee away from here and get as far away as possible. His palms and forehead were sweaty from the possibility of dying. He slapped himself instinctively.

'I can't let fear cement me in my place,'

He rotated and knocked over a flower pot which fell on a rock and broke. The sound of something breaking alerted the trolls.

>

> The troll licked his lips and drew his club as he steps over to Nashiro's temporary hiding spot. He started quivering from the thought of being killed by the large weapons in their hand and ending up as their meal-

'If I get caught, I'm done for,' he muttered as he looked for a possible way out.

'Where do I go?'

There was a back door to a run down house.

'Please open!'

He pulled the round handle and it didn't budge. The sound of the troll mumbling and getting closer. He was only a few steps from being face to face with him.

'COME ONNNNN!' he pulled with all his might and the handle broke.

"Dammit!" He cursed. He threw away the handle and tried to push the door with his pure strength. It was blocked by all the rubble from the roof.

> it grinned as it raised its club.

"Crap!" Nashiro was in trouble and there was no way out. The troll was large and there were no spaces to squeeze by him except in between its legs. Nashiro dashed towards him just as he swung its club.

He was faster than the troll's large arm,sliding under his legs, as it destroyed everything in front of him.

The one-eyed troll pointed towards Nashiro as he ran towards an escape.

>

Both of them were chasing him as their eyes glowed a dark red, viewing him as food they were desperately searching for. Nashiro was agile thanks to his height compared to the trolls. They were five times his size but the trolls had weapons that would kill him in one swing.

'I'm running as fast as I can and they're keeping up with me,' he looked behind him just as the one eyed troll swung his club prematurely. Still, Nashiro had to jump and roll to avoid it. Losing some traction, it allowed the other troll to swing his weapon sideways. This time he had to duck all the way to the muddy ground as its weapon hit the broken house left from the carnage earlier.

The troll lifted his foot in hopes to crush him.

'Move!' he ordered himself as he just managed to roll away and under a large carriage with barrels on it. He got to the other side and continued running as the one eyed troll smashed the carriage.

They continued chasing him as they were determined not to let their only source of food escape.

'They really want to kill me?!' He was panicking.

Is this how he ends up dying? It would be a cruel way to go out in a troll's belly as he didn't even know who he was and he wasn't going to find out if he's eaten. He wasn't looking ahead as he expected another swing and in turn he tripped against a rock, falling onto the mud.

There was no time anymore as the trolls were now just a few metres away and they were drooling now that they have cornered him. The troll with the large spikey club spoke as it was about to end his life. He raised his hands and covered his as a last ditch effort and made a squeal.

'I'm dead, so dead…' he stayed there in silence but death didn't come to him or it was a painless one. He hesitated to open his eyes but in the end he did, and saw that the troll had three arrows in his side with one going through its head. It fell over and his club landed a few inches from Nashiro which made him jump a bit.

> The one eyed troll turned angrily and found two people dressed in mostly leather with a touch of green on the sleeves and leggings. They were carrying bows as their cape was on their back fluttering a bit in the calm wind.

A girl, with black hair and green eyes, stepped forward. She wasn't concerned about the situation or decided not to show it.

"What is a troll doing in human proclaimed territory?"

"No idea, but it looks pissed that we took its friend down."

A boy, dressed in the same uniform, replied. The only difference in their uniforms was that the girl was wearing shorts compared to the boy's brown pants.

The troll raged and charged at the two.

The girl smirked a little, pulling two arrows and firing in quick succession. It was aimed at the chest of the creature but it raises its weapon high enough to block both attempts.

"My turn!"

"Wait, Ari!"

The boy eagerly jumped to meet the troll head on. He pulled out his blade and rushed towards the troll.

"Die!"

That was the only word they understood from this monster when it swung its club and Ari dodged it easily. He got up around him and slashed the back of it, making it grunt in pain.

He flipped his blade and attacked again,

"Slayer magic: Hero's blade!"

His short blade glowed in a green aura when he approached the troll.

The girl shot a few arrows which missed, but it distracted the troll as he had to raise his club towards the arrows.

Her partner took the opening and lunged at the beast and slashed it twice across the chest. The troll exploded in blood as it fell down.

"Victory!" Ari shouted excitedly.

"You only won because I distracted it. Without me, you've had a hard time against its weapon."

She walked over annoyed at him for celebrating a small win.

"You can't even let me have this moment. You're a pain Katsumi, but I guess you do deserve some praise."

He laughed and her annoyance only grew when she flicked his head.

"Next time, when you're in a pickle, I'm not bailing you out" she turned her head away for a few moments before, turning their attention to Nashiro.

"Who are you stranger?" the girl asked.

"U-uh…" Nashiro tumbled over his words.

"Were you a resident of this village?" The boy offered his hand.

"That's impossible!" Katsumi answered his question, "There were no survivors from the attack. Have you called the capital's knights?"

Nashiro took his hand and got up.

"I did but they haven't responded. I don't know what's taking them so long."

'Who are these two?' Nashiro listened to their conversation, only getting more questions in his head.

"Anyway, where did you come from and who are you?" The girl asked again.

"I'm Nashiro." he said nervously.

"Nashiro, hm?"

"How did you get here?" the boy inquired.

"I woke up in the forest and found my way to this village by following the small river."

"Okay, where were you before the forest?"

"I d-don't know."

"You don't?! H-"

"Ahem! Ari, follow me please," she moved a good distance away from the strange boy with her companion. Ari was slightly frustrated she pulled him away.

"What is it?"

"Don't you see he's confused. Asking more questions will only make him give false responses. Give him a break, he's gone through enough."

She whispered.

"You got a point. But I'm curious why he was here. He said he was in the forest before coming here but how did he end up there?"

"We can't know and he doesn't seem to know either. Maybe he hit his head against a rock and forgot."

"Are you suggesting he has amnesia or is he under some spell?"

"We'll have to take him to the doctor to find out. The only trouble is, it'll take us at most 5 hours on horseback before we get to the town."

"Yeah, we won't make it there until the gate closes and we'll need special permission to enter." he sighs softly as it posed a problem.

"Let's bring him back to base," she suggested.

"Are you crazy? Normal citizens aren't allowed inside unless it's an emergency."

"Well this isn't a normal situation. What if he has important information?"

He tried to counter her but as soon as he opened his mouth, he didn't have anything. The attack that happened was a mystery to them and they had nothing to go off. Nashiro was just standing there while they were whispering.

'Are they talking about me?' he brushed the dirt off his shoulders, 'I am weird to them though. I bet they haven't met someone with no memory before or heard of it. I don't know if I should laugh or cry right now,' he frowned and looked between his legs.

Ari sighed in defeat, "Okay, we're just lucky that the commander isn't home."

"He wouldn't mind it just this once," she giggled and turned to Nashiro.

"Here is what we'll do. We plan to take you to the doctor to get you checked up but the travel is too long for us to make it today. If you agree, we'll take you to our base for tonight and tomorrow morning we'll set off for the town."

Nashiro blinked a few times. 'Their base? Where would that be? Should I trust them?' he questioned, 'They did save me though. I shouldn't doubt them before getting to know them better, right?' It was the only solution here. This village isn't it for him. If he wanted to find out more about himself and his origins, following them was the best choice.

"I don't have anywhere to go so I'll accept your offer." There was no shelter here or in the forest that would keep him safe and warm to get through the night. All that was left were dead bodies and burnt or broken down buildings with little to no food.

She nodded satisfied with his answer although she knew he would accept.

"Good. You can hitch a ride with Ari."

She pointed her thumb behind her.

"Why do I have to carry the baggage?"

'That's insulting!' Nashiro protested without saying it.

"Because I'm your superior and be respectful to our guest, otherwise I'll make you clean the entire base from top to bottom." she ordered and went to her horse.

Ari went to his and jumped on as Nashiro glanced behind him one more time. It was a mystery to what happened in this village. It was disgusting that the bodies were just left there and the higher ups haven't come to investigate and clean up the mess.

"Hurry up and get on," Ari spoke up and Nashiro snapped back to reality.

"R-right…" he went over and climbed on the horse.

"See you at the base," the girl smirked and got going.

"Ready?"

"Yeah."

"Hold on," he nudged the horse and they were on their way.