Chapter 4 Burden

The next peaceful morning, after I washed my face in the clear flowing water, I glanced at Caroline standing while shielding herself from the dazzling sunlight.

Maybe it's summer now, and it's boiling.

I took my sword, which I put on the grass before walking with Caroline out of the forest; on the way, we accidentally bumped into a merchant who wanted to give us a ride to a nearby town.

"Thank you, Uncle."

"No problem, take care of yourselves."

I bowed low to the uncle until he continued his journey.

The town we visited was only a small town, with every building still made of wood that we could find in the forest. However, the medieval atmosphere still feels thick here. As the two of us walked the city streets, countless people just sat with gloomy expressions as if they had taken their lives completely.

One of the minor children stopped me by asking for money. Unfortunately, I would not be able to give him anything, especially since the people around him were also watching.

If I give them, I will attack that lad to take the money someone gave him. Well, it's something that shouldn't happen.

"I can't give you anything, but I will try to change the state of this city."

The little lad nodded in agreement and continued walking towards his mother and sister sitting across the street.

"That's terrible; what's going on in this city?" That question came from Caroline, which Olivia answered in her sword form, "I believe this is the result of the demon lord army; after all, in this world, there are four demon lords known as the demon lords of the North, West, East and South; they must have come to this territory."

"Are they also the ones who make gold coins don't exist?" I asked so.

"No, the residents have decided not to use those gold coins anymore because of a dragon."

Before I could ask further, a middle-aged man approached me first. "Are you adventurous?"

"Only rank E."

"No problem. Do you want to help us move these residents to ***** City... I heard there still has food."

"I don't think it's a good choice, and I saw a demon there."

At my statement, the man sat limply; we don't know yet which demon king's army has tried to destroy this territory so that he will attack the city.

"Impossible. Are we going to die here?"

"Don't be so pessimistic; you can still survive and protect this city together."

"You don't understand; the Northern Demon King's army is powerful... I heard they have taken over the Water capital; it's all the Evil Goddess Olivia's fault... if she hadn't disappeared after finishing everything, this would never have happened."

For information, this continent is divided into six kingdoms, the first is the land of water, the second is the land of land, the third is the land of wind, the fourth is the land of fire, the fifth is the land of wood, and the last is the holy land. Each ground sealed Olivia's power within it.

"It's not that the Goddess is evil," I said lightly.

"She's evil but not as cruel as the demon lord... the demon lord tends to enslave humans and turn them into soldiers to fight other demon lords."

So, I see the four demon lords don't have a good relationship; for now, I can understand the problem.

Caroline pulled my sleeve to lead me to walk away. "It's best if we don't interfere in matters like this."

With my strength now, I am clearly against someone at the commander level of the Demon King's army like a dream, earlier that time in ***** City was all just a coincidence.

I must immediately take Olivia's power after I can at least be on par against them.

With the money I still had, we could only rent one room in a simple inn; I let Caroline lie down with Olivia in her elf form on the bed while I leaned against the wall while watching the window showing the blue sky.

"Even though this inn is ugly, they have soft beds."

"I'm sorry, I can't rent a luxurious room for the two of you."

"So disappointing."

"I don't want to hear it from you."

Olivia turned her face to the side until Caroline smiled wryly. "Calm the fuck down, you two; the important thing is that we don't sleep outside... are you sure you want to sleep there, Zack?"

"I don't mind sleeping anywhere," I replied as I removed the mask from my face.

I'll take this mask off when it's just the three of us. I'm not interested in having a Harem or perverted life; I want a non-boring life utterly different from my previous world.

***

"Having everything doesn't mean you'll get happiness."

I got those words when I was five years old, I grew up in a wealthy family, and Zack Draven only lived for himself.

People started to fear me as if they saw a monster; their parents were subordinates to my parents. If I began to dislike them, their parents would lose their jobs and fall into poverty. That's what all my classmates say that makes me lonely.

The second influence is that my parents have reached all levels of class and social status; even though everyone has treated me very well since then, my life has been boring. Everything is just a fake; living lonely and having no one to scold you if you are wrong or try it makes you choose the right decision.

It's all boring. Dull.

I started trying to spend time playing games; even when my parents confiscated all my money, I used my savings to buy games until this incident happened.

***

When I opened my eyes, the figures of Olivia and Caroline seemed to be standing while watching me.

"What are you doing, damn Goddess?" I shouted.

"Who are you calling Goddess? Dammit, you cunt."

"I'll get back to you."

I tugged on the evil Goddess's cheek until she replied to me the same way. How dare this person scribble on my face in ink while I was asleep. Now I can see myself looking like a mess.

"Well, you looked in pain just now... I thought a little comedy on your face would help."

"It would be helpful if I could scribble on your face too."

"You want to stain my holy face; you can't."

"Come here."

The two of us ran in circles in this narrow room until she hid behind Caroline.

"Shield of Vampires."

This Goddess is impudent.

"You two, please don't fight, I told you not to disturb Zack, but you don't want to hear."

"When will you be able to prank this guy again?"

Next time I'll be the one to tease her. She painted my face with whiskers and black kitten-like eyes, thank goodness I could still remove them with water.

"Our money has run out. Now, like it or not, we can only eat what is around this city."

"That's fine, and I hope there's good food."

"You didn't say anything, Olivia?"

"Use me as best you can."

"You never apologise at all?"

***

I took a pebble to throw at a giant frog, and my throw hit his back until he turned around to chase me.

"Woah." I led her towards the trap we previously made; when I jumped, the frog's body fell into the hole until the frog tried to get out of there, but my sword first cut his neck to death.

In this world, frog meat is quite popular; because I'm not used to eating it, I replace it with fruits that I pick, while the heart I give to the townspeople after processing it into soup. People seem to like it, including the owner of this area; he's the guy who talked to me, but suddenly their bodies glow, and everyone drops their bowls on the granite floor spilling all over the place.

"What the hell? They all disappeared?"

"Sorry for not telling you earlier, Zack, but the residents of this town died a long time ago."

"What did you say? Didn't that guy ask me to take the entire population to a safe city and the little lad who asked me for money?"

"They're just figures called ghosts."

I definitely can't accept this kind of thing.

"Listen, Zack, when they were alive, they hoped someone would save them by feeding them. Unfortunately, that didn't happen until they died, while that guy... do you remember the grave we met when we came here?"

I nodded in agreement.

"It was his tomb; he seemed to be trying to seek the help of adventurers. Unfortunately, on the way, he was attacked by a wild animal and died."

"Unlucky."

I punched the table I used for cooking.

"Zack?" call Caroline.

"How cruel is this world?"

"What is crueller than the world called earth...the only thing that this world lacks is the emergence of a hero who can save all."