After some time, Dion finally reached the path leading to the town.
The people who saw the skinny caramel-skinned, above average height dreadhead stained with blood and carrying a dead wolf's head in his broken arms instinctively avoided him, instantly moving him to the front of the long line.
He walked calmly towards the guards
Two young men stood at the gates to the town, both appearing to be in their late twenties. They were dressed simply, each holding a spear, their posture relaxed but alert. Dion watched them quietly.
Then, something strange caught his attention.
A faint mist shimmered around their bodies, the same kind of mist he had seen before, near the magical pond in the forest. But this time, it was different. The mist didn't drift freely in the air; it clung to them, outlining the shape of their bodies, almost as if it was being contained within.
The first guard's mist glowed a soft blue, while the others was a dull brownish hue. Dion squinted, studying them more closely. Certain parts of their bodies seemed darker, as though the mist there had thickened.
The guards pointed their spears at him, forcing him to stop right in front of them.
'Who are you, and why did you bring that here, do you think you can act rashly here?' One of the guards said in a low, domineering tone.
Dion looked at the two men before sighing 'I apologize for the misunderstanding. I came here with some of my fellow villagers, but we were actually ambushed by bandits!
I managed to escape into the forest, along with my friend. Unfortunately, we were both attacked by this wolf. My friend died from its attacks, but I was able to kill it by dealing a finishing blow. I only brought it here as evidence.'
The two men glanced at each other. One of them brought out a metallic circular object from his pocket and spoke into it.
"We need replacement guards at the entrance, there's a case we would like to bring to the station.'
They gestured for Dion to stay to their right. Not close enough to cause discomfort, and not far enough for him to be unmonitored.
The guards went back to their duties, calming the people down and waiting for their replacements to arrive.
After a while, two men came out from the town, they interacted with the acting two guards before taking their place.
The previous guards told Dion to follow closely behind them as they walked to the station.
As they entered the small town, the people gave Dion strange stares as he walked. Not only was he unnaturally skinny, but his arms were broken, he was covered in blood, and he carried the head of a wolf.
The gazes felt as though they were piercing him.
Dion was unfazed by their reactions. He had to survive now, and then find a way to fully regain his memories.
The guards realized Dion couldn't keep up with them, so their only choice was to slow down too.
They had to stop by a huge white building that was called an infirmary.
The guards had exclusive access, so they were able to take him to a doctor.
As Dion stared at her, he saw green particles like dust floating around her and also a green aura in her body. He was intrigued as he had never seen a green aura in anyone.
The woman told him to sit on a bed, she asked him some questions like his name, age, if he previously had any illnesses, she inspected his injuries, and finally she spread out her two hands over his own broken arms.
For about 7 to 10 minutes, a green light emanated from her palms, spreading warmth into Dion's arms. The sensation was very weird. He could feel his bones connecting again, his open wounds gradually closing; he even felt lighter than before.
As soon as she finished, she handed him a white long-sleeve top with some black, loosely-fitting pants. and led him to a bathroom to shower and change.
He made sure he took his time cleaning up the dried dirt and blood, especially from his hair. Once he finished, he could see the discontent and contempt on the faces of the guards as they spoke
"What took you so long, wasting our time?"
"The only reason we even helped was our town's rules, so don't feel special, you'll be locked up in prison soon enough."
They finally left the infirmary after a whopping hour.
Walking longer than they usually would, the guards were finally able to bring Dion to the station.
After checking in with the other guards at the station, the wolf head he held was taken, he was then ushered into a desolate room that only had a table with a sheet of paper and a pen, two chairs facing each other on opposite sides of the table, and a small lamp.
As he stepped into a room, a voice spoke from the gloomy darkness
'Take a seat, write down everything that happened, I'll be speaking to you after.'
Although he was supposed to sound mysterious, Dion could clearly see him, the man's pot belly pushed forward proudly, as if it had grown more important than the rest of him. His white, but slightly tanned skin really went well with his bald head.
Dion sat on the chair and began to write. He detailed his elaborate lie to an extent that anyone who read it would feel so much sympathy that they could cry. Once he finished, he dropped the pen on the table and looked at the fat man that had already dozed off.
'I'm done.' Dion had to raise his voice, with a look of disappointment on his face.
The man flinched and almost fell out of his chair. He quickly got up, walked up to the table, pulled out the chair opposite Dion and sat.
With the lamp finally lighting up his face, instead of the dull night vision that one could barely differentiate colours in, the man was now saturated with colour.
He stared down at Dion, trying to look as intimidating as possible, but all Dion could see were the crumbs on his clothes and how his double chin became more defined. If not for his naturally cool attitude, he might have burst out into laughter already.
The fat man felt like he had successfully oppressed Dion, he smirked, and then spoke, 'How were you even able to deal a finishing blow to that thing? I assume you know how strong it is? You're so skinny, how could you even survive?'
Dion shook his head with a sad expression, 'My friend and I were the only grade 9s in the village, they nurtured us to their best capability. I couldn't let their sacrifices be in vain. I had to sacrifice my limbs to kill it from the inside'. His story seemed to be believable as the fat man already shed a tear.
'You're such a pitiful child, stay here, I'll get food and water for you, I won't forgive myself if I don't.'
The man left, giving Dion some time to actually think about his current situation; he had barely any actually useful memories, his body could be taken over at any time by that 'thing', he had no money, home or life at all. He felt like he had just spawned into the world.
The fat man walked back into the room with a tray of mashed potatoes seasoned with some soup and some water.
The man carefully dropped the tray on the table and spoke, 'Here, eat.'
'Thanks.'
Dion picked up the spoon and started to eat. He had no reason to be picky about food, though from the way he ate, the food definitely did not taste bad.
…
The fat man kept staring at Dion, 'You gonna finish that?'
The spoon Dion held fell into the tray, causing a short but sharp noise to resound in the quiet room. He stood up, 'Thank you for the meal, I will be taking my leave now.'
The room suddenly felt colder than it already was. The fat man now had an actually serious expression on his face.
'Someone is here for you.'