An adventurer has been staying at our village for the past few weeks.

It was nothing new. Our settlement was a relatively safe area on the border with the Demon Lord's domain. A lot of travelers stopped by here on their way to try their luck against the demons. We provided shelter and food for them to prepare or recover, and in return, we earned money to keep ourselves alive. It was a good deal all around.

I usually didn't pay attention to the newcomers - they barely ever stayed long enough to bother knowing their name. This one differed from the rest. I see him every morning as I go to the fields, and every evening when I return home. For the better part of the past month, seeing the adventurer sitting on the log, gazing at the village, has become my standard routine.

Every day that passed, I considered stopping by next to him, just to figure him out. I have dismissed that idea. Until now.

"What you up to, boy?"

I had approached him from behind. He didn't even flinch.

"Good evening to you too, Ed." He said. His eyes never left the village before him.

"Ya know my name." I said. "Seems unfair, when I dunno yours."

"I know everyone's name. And their families. What they do, what they dream of..."

"Tha's blasphemy, boy. Ya sayin' you a god or summin'."

I saw a hint of a smile on his usually brooding face.

"You could say that about me, I suppose." He said. "At this point... I just as may well be."

"I'm warning ya. Tha's a one way ticket to the depths for ya."

"...Yeah, I know. Next you'll also tell me to get going or get back, or to stop filling my head with useless ideas and go earn my living."

I eyed him curiously. That's exactly what was on my mind.

I looked towards the sun, now just a sliver of it visible over the horizon. It's last rays of the day bathed the village in the warmest shade of gold I knew. The local church bells had just started ringing, signalling the end of the day. The daily prayer was about to begin. This moment of the day winding down, everyone slowly finishing up their work and preparing for a peaceful evening, was probably my favorite part of the routine. This moment right here, was proof that all was well. All was good.

"This is your favorite moment, isn't it?" The adventurer said. "It's grown on me, too."

I looked back to the adventurer. He was back to his brooding self. Despite what he said, there was a sorrowful look to him as he watched the people winding down.

I decided to sit down next to him.

"Ya sure know a lot." I said. "Ya possessed or summin'? Or a demon?"

"...Just someone observant with a lot of time on their hands." He replied.

We were quiet for a moment. I didn't really know what I was doing there. But I felt like I had to say something to him. And I was just about to when he stopped me.

"This is one of the smartest games I've ever played." He said. "I mean, sure, AI has come a long way, but still... You are the reason I discovered the NPCs here can actually go outside their usual responses."

Now he was starting to talk in complete gibberish. But before I could intervene and suggest going to the priest, he still continued on, not letting me say a word.

"The first two playthroughs I just barrelled through. There's just so much to do in your world. Then I started slowing down, and before I realized, I started taking longer and longer stops, right here in this village. Sort of silly, really. It's just the introductory chapter. But then, when that happens..."

"When wha' happens?" I finally interjected. The adventurer half-smiled again.

"Sorry, I won't say it. Just saying it outloud will trigger it - I did say this game was smart, didn't I?"

He sighed. I was even further inclined to get him exorcised.

"Too smart, for my liking." He muttered. "The first time that I sat down here and just enjoyed this, you broke out of your routine to come talk to me. To motivate me, push me to go forward. It worked - and then I regretted it. So I came back, but ignored you. Apparently ignoring you is a trigger to that as well - just to continue the suffering of players like me, who just want to enjoy this."

"So instead of ignoring you, next time I talked to you, but just didn't listen. That was also a trigger. So after that... I tried avoiding you. But you kept finding ways to come and talk to me despite it. That was the moment I realized just how smart this game was. I ended up both hating and loving the devs for it. A sort of bittersweet moment."

I stopped trying to understand. Instead, I was now praying in my mind to the gods. I needed their protection in case I also got possessed.

"So, tell me, Ed," The adventurer now turned to face me. "What would you do in my position? What words of wisdom do you have for me this time? How will you try to help me now?"

I stopped my prayers half-way when I saw his face fully turned towards me. There was a lot of pain in his eyes. Pain, fondness, sadness... It reminded me of the look people would give the dying elderly. A look filled with love to have known the person - and equal pain to see them go.

What I couldn't fathom was how someone very clearly possessed was making such a face at me. But I also knew there was a choice I needed to make. And I knew exactly what I needed to say.

"Look, boy." I said. "How 'bout you 'n' I go for a walk, eh?"

"...I'm sorry?" He sounded incredulous now.

"Jus' down this hill, to the Church... Father Paul's probably done with the daily prayer, by now..."

"Wait, no, I think you-"

"It alrigh', son." I said firmly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We all get lost now 'n' again... No shame there. I promise ya - I'll help set ya straigh', you hear? There'll be hope for you yet when Father Paul's done wit ya."

"No, I - What?!"

-----

HIDDEN ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED "I hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing..."
Convince Farmer Ed you are unfit to continue your journey.

HIDDEN QUEST UNLOCKED "Benevolence of the Heavens"
Seek council with Father Paul.

HIDDEN CLASS ADDED TO CLASS LIST "Saint"
Class will be unlocked after the completion of the Hidden Quest "Benevolence of the Heavens" and will be available at the Character Creation Menu.

I found Sprout crying in the back of the stable.

The girl had joined up with the guild a while back, but it didn't take long before she felt like a part of the place. There's always something that needs doing around the Reach, and she seemed to enjoy playing delivery girl. She'd pick a job from the board and finish in hours what would take most folk days.

When she was finished, Sprout would come back to my post here at the guild, hand in the completion chit, and smile that sad smile of hers. But in the evenings, she'd climb to her little perch on the big arch, and she'd just stare at the reflecting pool.

You don't pry, especially of adventurers. In a place like this, everyone's got a past, and not all of them are pleasant to think about. Big or small, we've all done things we wish we could take back. Out here, on the edge of civilization, we like to say that the future is more important.

But there was something hiding in that sad smile that made me ask.

"Sprout? That you, lass?"

There was a rustling of fabric and straw as the figure in the corner rose. "Ranulf? What are you doing here?"

"Passing through, heard a noise. I am still a guard after all. If everything's all right, I'll be going, then."

"And what would you have done if it wasn't me?" she asked. "A voidwalker, or a mocking-beast?" Her tone was sharp with more than simple curiosity, and the venom in her tone forced me back a step. The moment I flinched, she was contrite.

"I... I'm sorry, Ranulf." She sighed heavily. "I'd had something on my mind lately, I shouldn't be taking it out on you."

As I started to wave off her apology, Sprout brushed herself off and stepped into the light. "Walk a lady back to her inn?"

Midnight had long since passed; and as capable a warrior as she was, a tipsy maiden walking alone would be an attractive target for whoever was behind the kidnappings in the region.

And with that excuse firmly in mind, I agreed to accompany her.

"Ranulf, if I asked you to leave this place, could you?"

I thought hard for a moment, and shook my head. "The Reach is my home, Sprout. Come what may, I can't abandon it."

She smiled that sad smile again.

"Yeah, I didn't think so," she whispered, going silent once more. A few minutes later, she spoke again, her voice low.

"I've been having... dreams lately. Nightmares, really. There are things that I need to do; that I was put in this world to do. But I've been putting them off."

I held my tongue. When someone was telling you about themselves, you didn't interrupt.

"I know these days can't go on forever. There are only so many notices on the board, only so many times Roxanne will need help getting Mr. Whiskers out of the tree, only so many crates that need moved from here to Oriens."

I nodded, it was something we dealt with at the guild every day.

"I love this place. But once I start down that road, once I take up my bow start my hunt again... my dreams tell me the thing I'm chasing will double back."

"It's just a dream, lass. This isn't a story where the villain knows exactly what the hero is doing."

"Everything ends in flames," she muttered under her breath. "I join the General, we push on the bridge. And the beast strikes back. No matter what I do, it will end in flames."

"Promise me, Ranulf." Sprout turned and in a single motion lifted me by my collar. There were tears in her eyes and her voice was shaking. "The Coalition wants me over at Oriens tomorrow. When... if the Empire attacks while I'm gone, stay alive. They'll likely hit with a good-sized strike team, so it will be quick; I need you to have signal flares ready to go beside the campfires."

I swallow, hard. In the weeks she has been here, I've haven't seen Sprout this animated, or this upset. It was a small enough ask.

"Alright, I promise."

“Shhh!”

“You go!” She giggled.

“No, you!” And she shoved the flowers into her friend’s hands.

“Um, good day, sir,” She said shyly, approaching the hero. “This is for you.”

She presented a shabby bouquet of wild flowers, wrapped with a length of cord. She blushed bright crimson as the young man regarded her.

“Thank you, my lady,” The lad said, delicately sniffing the flowers. “These are lovely.”

The boy took out a choice flower and placed it behind his ear.

“Would you and your friends care to join me, for a little?” He asked.

They joined.

“So, what are you doing later today?” One girl asked.

“Oh,” he said. “Today I am resting. Tonight, I set off.”

“No!“

“Awh.”

“Pooh!”

“Now, now, girls.” He held up his hands. “I’m sorry, we knew this day would come.”

“But, sir,” Another girl spoke. “You can’t leave us.”

“Yes,” The flower giver said. “You can’t leave! We need you! What will come of this little grotto?”

“I am sorry, my darlings,” He said, and he truly was. He had deflowered half of the present young women. “But, there is another grotto. There are more that need saving.”

The lad grew uncomfortable at their protestations and feigned tiredness. He moved on to nap.

“We can’t allow this, girls.” The flower giver whispered.

“No,” They agreed.

They hatched their plan with rapidity.

The young adventuring lad awoke to find his wrist shackled to his bed, his weapons all stolen, and a food bowl and water bowl provided within arms reach.

And life went on, much the same.

"Good day brave hero! As always, so wonderful to see you in my humble pub."

The innkeep was a plump man, rather plain in all aspects. So plain, the only thing you could guess with certainty about his character was that he surely was not particularly good nor bad at anything.

"Thanks... I just.. can't help but think..." the Adventurer muttered, "Are we born as only to be transient machinations in an enormous whole, a predetermined world in which the only reasonable outcome is one that follows a plan that has already been strictly delineated?"

"Yes! Very well put my friend. And, pray tell, what does 'delineated' mean?" The innkeep was also not a particularly sharp fellow.

"What I mean to say is, what happens when it's all over? Sure, we all know one day we will live our final day, but are we really ready for that? Can we be?"

The innkeep's brow furrowed. He liked the Adventurer for slaying the dragon that had been stealing kegs of the inn's finest liquors, but the hero had a way with words that didn't really lead one to feelings of relaxation or pleasure.

"Such matters I can't be trusted to discuss my friend! Growing up here in Augertowne, I didn't exactly receive a good education," guffawed the innkeep.

"Perhaps that's it... perhaps in each of us exists an intrinsic value, one that we are in fact acutely aware of, however seeming unconscious it may be. This inscrutable feeling, decided by genetics and pure chance, dictates whether or not one's life could be considered worthy," mused the Adventurer.

Always with the poetry! He thought he was so blasted clever. And ever since he had that quest with the roving salesperson that happened to be the leader of the growing eugenics group, the Adventurer was saying more and more extreme ideas. The innkeeper said, trying to hide his growing frustration, "Sir, I'm frankly not very sure what you're talking about."

"Ah, that angers you. Typical."

"Anger? Never my friend! You have done me many a service."

"Enough. I am a powerful man, more so than the townspeople can even fathom. And I have just realized that this village may no longer be in need of my services."

The innkeeper's eyes narrowed. He and several other men from the village had stumbled upon a terrible truth last night. The Adventurer, who had helped them so much, was found frozen in time, face expressionless. The group hid out of sight and watched. An ethereal aura floated in front of the hero, words pointed at with a ghostly arrow.

INVENTORY <-

SAVE GAME

ABOUT

The arrow moved down, selecting "ABOUT." The villagers watched in silent disbelief as words formed in front of the stock-still Adventurer.

GAIA IS AN RPG EXPERIENCE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE LATEST IN RealLife BRAIN STEM VR TECHNOLOGY. OUR SYSTEM DOES AWAY WITH MEMORY LIMITATIONS BY CREATING NEW AND DELETING OLD LANDSCAPES FOR THE PLAYER TO EXPLORE AS THE STORY PROGRESSES. RealLife: A NEW VISION. FEEL. LIVE.

The men backed away, by some miracle not being noticed by the standing specter of the hero's body. Technology, story, deletion - if the Adventurer left, would their village really be destroyed as the aura had said? They decided they couldn't find out.

Odd jobs, anything would do. The chickens are out. Barbara needs a new wedding dress for her big day tomorrow! Wait, I can't find my glasses!

But it wasn't enough. The townsfolk knew the hero would grow tired of these menial tasks. There would have to be a more permanent solution.

Palms slick with nervous sweat, the innkeep's portly hand wrapped around a well-loved butcher's knife.

Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.

Reminders:

>* No AI-generated reponses &#129302; >* Stories 100 words+. Poems 30+ but include "[Poem]" >* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail >* [RF] and [SP] for stricter titles >* Be civil in any feedback and follow the rules

&#127381; New Here? &#9999; Writing Help? &#128226; News &#128172; Discord

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.