Theo dragged the villager on his back while walking along the village's dirt road. Although it was a remarkable effort, he tried to find the address one of the villagers had given him earlier. 'At the end of Rudsir Street, the last house after the slope,' he recalled. He had already been carrying the villager for more than an hour, yet he maintained his patience.
Finally, in the distance, he spotted a house in need of repairs. It was a white concrete construction, the empire's standard. It had two floors, but the wall plaster was worn out and full of holes. A child sat at the door, holding a lantern. Upon seeing someone approaching, she shouted:
"Mommy! Daddy is back!" exclaimed a little girl.
When he reached the house's door, Theo sat the villager against the corner of the wall while waiting for his wife to appear. The villager opened his eyes, still seeming disappointed in himself, and thanked him:
"Thank you, agent."
"Good heavens!" the villager's wife exclaimed, stepping out of the house wearing a torn white robe. "What did you do this time?"
He sighed in discouragement.
"A Vagus knight appeared and offered five hundred coins to anyone who challenged him."
"You don't even know how to wield a sword, how could you challenge him?!"
While the two argued, the little girl observed Theo's golden, wavy hair. Meanwhile, Theo removed the villager's sword from its sheath.
"Here, sir, your sword. And take this as well," Theo said, tossing a bag of money. "The initial effort was yours, so I don't feel right keeping everything. I added two thousand more coins, so..."
"Two thousand?! Boy, that's too much," she stammered in surprise.
"It's not a problem, my family has more than enough. I believe this can help for a long time."
"Pretty mister," the little girl called, with the adorable voice of someone still learning how to speak. "Thank you for saving my daddy."
"It was nothing," he replied, returning the gratitude with a pat on her head.
"You brought me home, but now it's so late that I can't let you go back alone."
"And what do you suggest? Are you going to accompany me to the city and then come back alone? No, thank you."
"Stay here tonight," the wife thanked him. "I made some stew. It might not be as good as the food you've eaten before, but at least you won't starve."
"Alright. I'll leave at midnight."
☽✪☾
Besides the stew, the villagers offered him their bed and water for a bath, but Theo refused. He preferred to rest on the cold floor of that spring night. Their daughter constantly kept glancing at Theo while also staring at a book in her hands. Noticing this, Theo approached her to see what she was staring at so much.
It was a book about a fairy tale. Illustrated in a minimalist way, yet enough to understand everything.
"What tale is this?" Theo asked, approaching the girl.
"It's the tale of the hero of light," the father replied. "You said earlier that your nickname is Lumen, right?"
"Yes. My godmother gave me this name because my family's traits resemble the hero's quite a lot; golden hair and amber eyes."
"Where did you come from?"
"From Louretto, in Nethuns."
"Ah... That's very far from here, agent."
Theo smiled politely and turned his eyes to the book. He began observing the illustrations, and that was when the little girl noticed and started telling the story:
"Hero Lumen fell from the sky like lightning, and then purified villains and heroes so the war would end."
"I don't think it was exactly like that..." he commented, searching for the mother with his eyes. When she answered with a grimace, he understood they had told her a simplified version to hide the cruelty of the story.
"Then how was it?" the child asked curiously.
"Lumen fell from the sky like a shooting star," Theo began narrating, dragging his finger across the illustrations. "He fought against the army of the ancient god of war, Ares. After defeating the army, Lumen faced the god of war himself, who disliked the affront of a human considered a demi-god. The war finally ended, and the god of war was defeated. However, before being defeated, he caused the hero of light to fall into a deep sleep forever."
Theo noticed there was one extra page, so he flipped through the book. To his surprise, there was a continuation of the story, where Lumen encountered a shadow before dying. The mother noticed his curiosity and quickly explained:
"You never got to this part?"
"No..."
"This is Dullahan. A legendary knight, dressed in black armor and holding his own head in his arms. He is known as the messenger of death, because when he pronounces someone's name, that person dies within minutes. It's a legend widely told in this region."
'A black knight carrying his head in his arms?' he thought, remembering the past.
"Mommy, so Lumen died?"
"Yes, dear. But death is nothing more than an eternal sleep."
"Then can you dream?"
Everyone laughed.
"Yes, you can."
Their attention was drawn when the village bell rang, marking midnight. Theo wasted no time and quickly prepared to leave, grabbing his backpack and walking toward the door. Midnight was the time when Vagus guards began patrolling the areas outside cities and villages, which made it the perfect moment for Theo to return home safely.
"Thank you very much for everything," Theo expressed his gratitude.
The couple bowed their heads in gratitude, both for helping the villager and for the money. Theo was already taking his first step when the villager gave him a piece of advice:
"Agent, don't trust just anyone. Even if you help them, you never know what they might do while you sleep."
With an ironic smile on his face, Theo replied:
"I have the strength for that, if they try. See you later." he bid farewell, creating a whirlwind of wind that enveloped him and made him disappear with the breeze.
"Wind attribute... he used that against the knight. Interesting..." the villager murmured, watching Theo disappear.