This went on until late at night. Just as he had expected, in the chaos he managed to steal enough food not only to fill his own stomach, but also to bring some back to the orphanage. He even managed to swipe a few apples, which he planned to share with his brothers and sisters.
That evening the moon was incredibly beautiful; in such moments Kai could never restrain his curiosity and longing for freedom. He loved to walk around the outskirts of the settlement on nights like this. Lost in such thoughts, he slowly wandered down to the river. As he stared at the water, he began to speak out loud:
"I wonder why my parents abandoned me? Though… why am I even surprised, given the world we live in?" Kai gave a melancholy chuckle.
"Maybe my parents simply had no food, and feeding one more small mouth would have been too difficult… Or maybe they ran into trouble? Damn it, maybe I'm actually the offspring of some noble family that was wiped out by their enemies, just like in those epic bedtime stories? Hahaha, to hell with it… I'm already lucky just to be alive. Luck is basically my middle name! Heh-heh," Kai said with a laugh.
"Yeah… first I should at least grow up a bit and try my luck out in the outside world… The world is probably huuuge," he said with a smile. "It's decided: when I grow up, I'll go wander the world, earn some money, rebuild the orphanage… Quite a fun plan." Kai laughed.
Kai had always been drawn to strength. With his sharp mind, he had long ago noticed the patterns of this world. That was why he wasn't bothered by the injuries he got from stealing or even by the prospect of death. He had seen plenty of that around him…
Even though he was only seven, his mental stability was astonishing. Since early childhood he had been running around and training his body, though not fully consciously or systematically. He did it the way he thought was right. And the constant stealing and beatings had greatly developed his reflexes and endurance. Pain threshold? Pff—physical pain didn't frighten him at all.
The evening dragged on lazily, but suddenly Kai heard screams in the distance and saw lights flaring up, illuminating the night sky. He sprang to his feet and bolted toward the orphanage, his innate instincts screaming danger at him. Kai ran as fast as he could for about fifteen minutes, and when the orphanage began to peek out from behind the forest, he froze on the spot… The orphanage was on fire!
"Oh no! I have to call for help!" As soon as Kai tried to run toward the town, he saw a large man and several others in black armor hurl Headmistress Frida out of the orphanage.
"Tch! There's not a single pretty woman in this dump, no booze, not even decent grub! Damn it, where are your supplies?" the man roared.
"But, my lord, we're just a village orphanage, we don't even have enough food to feed ourselves properly. For the last two days we've barely eaten at all, we have nothing!" Frida screamed in desperate pleading.
"Hmm, fine, to hell with you…" Scratching the back of his head, the man took a halberd off his shoulder and calmly drove the blade into Frida's throat.
From the forest, Kai saw only the tip of the halberd slowly emerge from the back of Frida's head. He was so shocked he couldn't even cry.
"Alright, go kill the little rats, then we're moving on. The commander said not to linger," the man said as he turned and started walking toward the town. His three lackeys headed into the orphanage.
When Kai heard what the man said, he grabbed a sharp stone lying by his feet. Then he sprinted toward the orphanage with everything he had. At that moment, there was nothing in his head except the word KILL!
As he ran, he muttered to himself:
"KILL! KILL! KILL! I have to kill those bastards!"
Bursting through the orphanage doors, he saw nothing but bloody carnage and the scattered corpses of his friends. His brothers and sisters. And the laughing warriors.
At that moment, he leapt and tried to drive the stone into the neck of the man standing closest to him. Thanks to the element of surprise, they hadn't noticed him, and he slashed the man's neck with the stone. But alas, all he managed to do was barely cut under the skin of this beast.
For a warrior, such wounds were nothing more than tiny shaving nicks…
Kai saw only something flash across his chest, and then he was flung to the side. All the food he had gathered in town spilled across the floor. All he could see was blood everywhere, the corpses of his friends, and apples lying in the crimson liquid and dirt. His only thought was that this was damn unfair… He wanted to kill them, but couldn't… He wanted to save everyone, but couldn't… In the end, he hadn't even managed to feed his brothers…
"Hahaha, feisty brat, he even scratched you. The guys back at camp are gonna die laughing when they hear about this," guffawed the brute who had slashed Kai's chest.
"Alright, let's go. That trash is as good as dead anyway, we need to hurry back to the commander or they'll have our hides," he said, and they started to leave.
The man who'd been scratched considered finishing Kai off, but then just clicked his tongue and walked out with the others.
Lying on the ground, Kai felt nothing but overwhelming pain—both physical and emotional.
"Unfair!" He wanted to cry, but couldn't!
"Does strength really decide that much? They're just monsters who decided to stomp on ants. For fun… They knew perfectly well there was nothing to take from an orphanage… Why?" Kai thought as he lay on the floor.
In that moment, Kai decided he didn't want to die. He wanted to live, to gain strength, to take revenge—he wanted to kill those bastards. He forced himself to calm down. His tears and regrets would not help now. This was a cruel world, and he had always understood that, even if he had wanted to ignore it. In the end, the dead could not be brought back. All he could do now was try to survive. And maybe, one day, he would be able to kill everyone who had destroyed his village!
Something clicked in his mind, and he quickly calmed down. He began to think about where he could run.
"Of course, the river!" Kai cried out in his mind.
There was never anyone there. It had already saved his life once before; if he jumped into the river, maybe luck would smile on him again. The current might carry him far away from the enemy troops.
"But first I need to bandage my wound… I'm already starting to hallucinate from blood loss," he thought, summoning all his resolve and pulling a jacket off one of the corpses.
"Forgive me, you won't be needing this anymore…" the boy said sadly.
After bandaging himself, he took one last look at his brothers and sisters; tears rolled down his cheeks. Turning away, he wiped his face and decided this would be the last time he cried. If you feel injustice, if you feel resentment, if you feel pain, you simply need the strength to deal with its source. The strong are the law, the weak are just a step on the path of the strong.
"Death is the eternal companion of all living things in this world…" Kai murmured to himself and staggered toward the river.
Whether it was thanks to the toughness of his body or because he'd grown used to constantly being injured while stealing in town, he managed to stay conscious and keep his spirit from collapsing despite his wound.
"Good thing I've taken so many beatings in my short life. They've tempered my body," Kai said with a bitter laugh as he dragged himself toward the river…
When he reached the place where, just an hour ago, he'd been dreaming about the wide world and the well-being of his brothers and sisters… to the backdrop of horrifying screams in the distance, he walked up to the cliff.
He thought:
"I'll end my story at this orphanage, right where it began… Fate plays cruel jokes. Still, if the universe wills it, I'll live, and then I'll think about everything else. Right now I'm so very tired and…" Without finishing his sentence, losing consciousness, Kai fell into the river.