25 Old man

Every person will stand at crossroads at least once in his life. Will his choice lead him to a better future or to an one filled with grief and regrets?Many years have passed and despite seeing what the future had in store for me, I still don't know if I made the right choice back then....

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John passed by the derelict buildings when he finally arrived in front of a remote demolished house. For a moment he didn't know what to do, he looked curiously at his surroundings when a sudden voice shocked him to the core

"Welcome, traveler. You seem tired.. Have you come from faraway? Why don't you follow me? I'll provide you with food and water as well as a place for you to rest."

John turned his head around cautiously to look at the opposite party. At the same time with his right hand, he carefully touched the hilt of his dagger. His actions wereclearly filled with vigilance. An old man was in front of him wearing a sheepskin cloak as well as a woolen hat, cloths that were worn usually by peasants. The youth though didn't let his guard down. In a place like this, that old man couldn't be just a normal person.

"I know that you are suspicious, since you met suddenly with an unknown person, but if I wanted to harm you I could just let you starve to death, so stop being stubborn young man and just come with me" the old man said with annoyance. He didn't wait for an answer as he immediately walked away. John was a little surprised, but he didn't dare to let the chance slip away as he quickly followed behind

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Meantime, in the Order of the Red Rose

The High Priest of the Church of Life, Father Jonas was scrutinizing an old yellowish map which he was holding. His face was filled with impatience and anxiety. Princess Adriana who was watching him by his side couldn't help but open her mouth

"You seem desperate"

"If we don't find the item, we won't find the missing people either... This is something you sould urgently want too"

"Yes, but they are my knights... You are not a man who would care for people unrelated to him or is it because of the boy? Even if Antony is a S ranked adventurer he couldn't in any possible way harm you."

Father Jonas looked at his student with disapprovement upon hearing this. A strict voice escaped from his mouth

"The safety of the boys is my responsibility. I made a promise I have to fulfill with not anyone unrelated to me, but with a dear friend who had helped me a lot of times. Also...." Father Jonas gave a deep look at the princess and he continued

"There is not something convenient like certainty in this worldwhen it comes to enemies. Your Captain is an example of this. He started as a mere commoner, but he managed to destroy a whole country. Make no mistakes though that Antony isn't just a commoner but a powerful person with many connections that even I don't know..."

Adriana couldn't help than nod. She agreed with her teacher despite knowing that the power of the Church of Life is by no means weak.

"We can't stay in the Forest of Lost Memories forever though. It is already noon and we only have a few hours before the night comes. Are you sure that this map is genuine?" she asked with doubt

"It should be, or else, how is it possible for the fog to exist for thousands of years?"

"Maybe it is really a natural phenomenon"

"The fact that the closer we get to the center of the forest the more people start to disappear should prove my conjecture.... Let's see, I think I have found something... Send some knights there next

time....."

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John was currently wolfing down the hot soup that the old man had given to him. He was currently in a small wooden house that was in a good condition, especially if one were to compare it with the other buildings in the village. The old man was looking at him with a smile before starting speaking

"It seems that you had it hard. Good job coming here, you are the first one who didn't get lost in the fog."

The youth didn't answer immediately. He first made sure to finish the food and only after that he raised his head to look at his savior

"I can't thank you enough" John gratefully said. He hesitated for a moment and continued

"My name is John Smith, may I know your name?"

"Hahahahaha!! You don't have to talk so politely young man... Unfortunately, I can't answer your question since I have long forgotten what my name was..... Yours though is quite peculiar"

"Many people have told me the same thing" he replied with an embarrased smile. He paused for a moment and after organising his thoughts, he opened his mouth again

"Is this village your home?" he asked

The old man was taken aback, but he still managed to asnwer patiently

"I could call it that way long time ago, but now I am not worthy to do so anymore"

"I am sorry if I awakened memoriesyou would prefer to forget" John sincerly apologised

"Don't worry... After all, this place is a memory itself, as well as this old man who is in front of you..."

The youth didn't understand completely what he meant, but he had an idea; however,he had to clarify some other things first.

"You said previously that I am the first one who managed to arrive here, but this shoudn't be possible since there were cases that people managed to exit the forest before"

"To answer this, I have to explain in a way that you'll understand in what kind of place you currently are.... Let's see... It took you around a week to come here, but in the real world only a few hours must have passed. That was because you were moving toward the centre of the forest. Time would flow conversly though, if you decided to move towards any other direction. This is something like another dimension, but even if it's an artificial world, it has it's own rules. Considering your actions you must have grasped the first one....."

"Is it to stray from the forest path?" John hurriedly interjected. He was really worried since the situtation seemed to be more complicate than he thought

"That is correct. This is the first condition. The closer you get to the centre of the forest the more possible it is to enter in this world"

'As expected. I hadn't realised in the beginning because of the fog, but it seems that the princess was purposefully leading us away from the path. It seems that they are searching for something'

"As long as you find the path again, you can ecape from here, but many years might have passed until then in the outside world, while the individual might have only walked for some days, as for the second condition for someone to enter that can be connected to the creator of this world. That means..."

"Wait! Wait! I don't understand what you really say.. In the first place, is this even considered magic?"

"Yes, this is definetely the product ofmagic" the Old man replied seriously

"This should be impossible in many kind of ways.... How can someone control time or create another dimension, it doesn't make sense. Even if he could, this world should exist for who knows how many years. How much mana someone needs to have to preserve this. Old man, were you perhaps a god?"