I wonder how can someone enjoy winter season. It's freezing and you can find people died because of hypothermia on the news.
I go out after wearing a coat. Even though I don't enjoy winter at all, I still have to work. I can't say I work everyday. It depends on the client.
Or should I say... clients.
I may not look like it, but I'm an assassin. Never heard of an elf girl being an assassin, right?
As an elf, I have sharper eyes than human. Using my magical arrow, I can shoot anyone's head from far away. With the help of the spirits, my arrow will go faster.
I know I shouldn't use the spirits like this, but I have no choice. Humans didn't take care of their forests and burned it by accident. I lost my hometown, my family, and everyone that I care. Thanks to the spirits, I managed to survive that 'accident'. I have burn scars on my body that make me can't forget everything that happened to my hometown.
No, I don't hate humans. There are still people who care about their world. I've been living in Ruben, thanks to the chief who gave me home. People here are so kind. To show how thankful I am, I won't assassinate anyone from Ruben.
I used to hate humans, though. That's why I become an assassin.
Today I have a task to kill Richard, the shopkeeper. Rumors said that he always seduces every boy costumer. I don't really care. I'll just complete my task and get my reward.
Surprisingly, the store is crowded today. How unfortunate.
I sigh as I cast magical arrow on my bow. I narrow my eyes to make sure I hit his head. I shoot my arrow.
People are screaming and running away from the store, asking for help.
"Someone murdered the shopkeeper! Help!"
I turn around and go away. Easy.
"Here's your reward," my client gives a bag of gold.
I open the bag, just in case he's lying. It's not rare to find someone giving fake reward to assassin. And if they did that...
"Goodbye," my client turns around and go away.
I take out my bow and shoot his head.
"That's what you got for lying to me," I say to him, even though he can't hear me anymore. I've been an assassin for 6 years in human age. Do you think you can fool me with mere fake gold?
I think today isn't my day. I wasted my time on this.
I should go home for now and grab some meal before going to the second task. It's not like he's my only client for now.
A few meters from my home, I can see someone lying on the ground. Is he dead?
I walk closer. It's just a kid. I look around to find if anyone is running away or something, but I didn't find anything.
Wait... on closer look...
Blood.
This kid is going to die?
I lift the kid up and run to my house. I quickly take care of his injuries. This kid reminds me of my past. I remember my childhood friend, Lua, was lying on the ground helplessly. I can't do anything back then.
But now, I can. It's just like Ruben people accepted me here back then, saved me at the same time. My turn has come to save the others.
With the help of the spirits, I'm sure he'll be saved. He just needs some time to recover.
I go back to the spot he was lying. Maybe I could find some clue.
The white snow has become red. He got stabbed in his abdomen and several cuts on his limbs. It's a miracle that such a little kid survived from that.
I notice something shiny. I pick it up.
It's... pendulum? What is it doing in here? Why did he bring this in the first place?
I can ask him later. I'll just make sure he's safe for now and continue my job.
It's been a week since I found the kid. Nobody in Ruben knows him, so where did he come from? It's a mystery.
I find myself staring at him again. I don't know anything about this kid, but why do I want him to wake up and survive? Is this the feeling when you're trying to save someone?
I can see the kid slowly opening his eyes. He looks at his surroundings.
"You're in my house. Don't worry," I say.
The kid doesn't say anything. He's just staring at the ceiling.
"You were almost killed by someone—or something," I remind him.
He looks at me. "Who are you?"
"I'm Rena," I introduce myself.
He smiles. "I'm Ain."
Okay. His name is Ain. This should make things easier.
"Don't get up. You still need time to recover," I warn him. I pick the pendulum and show it to him. "Why were you bringing this?"
He looks at the pendulum. "It's mine?"
...What? He doesn't have amnesia. I mean, even if he did, he shouldn't have remembered his name.
"It's yours."
"I don't know."
What?!
I'll just keep it for now. Maybe he would remember soon.
"I'll be going. Stay here, okay?" I say before I go, "Oh, food and drink are on the table."
After I did my job and asked the villagers about Ain, I go home. They don't know about Ain either. Just who is this kid?
When I open the door, I can't believe what I see. He's walking around.
I instantly grab his arm and checks his injuries.
It... healed?
"Are you sure someone was going to kill me?" he tilts his head.
I nod. "Yeah, I mean, you were unconscious for a week."
He smiles at me. "Does that mean you saved me? Thank you!"
I pat his head. "Don't mention it." I go to the kitchen to prepare the dinner.
After that, I put the dinner on the table. "Rena, what's this?" Ain asks as he points the radio.
"It's radio," I say as I walk toward him. I press the button to turn on the radio.
"It can speak!" he shouts happily.
...Okay?
"What about this?" he points the thing next to the radio.
"It's cassette," I pick the cassette and put it on the cassette player on the radio. It starts an orchestra music. He's just staring at it and smiling brightly.
"Come on. Let's eat," I pat his head.
The next morning, I woke up and see Ain staring at the radio again. Maybe I should bring him around the town today since I don't have work to do.
"Elf!" he points me with his finger.
"I'm Rena," I say. Did he forget my name? "You can call me sis if Rena is too hard to remember."
"Sis Rena!" he smiles. "I'm Ain!"
What?
"Sis, what's this?" he asks as he points the radio.
I lift my one eyebrow. "You already asked that yesterday."
"Yesterday?" he lowers his head, "Sorry. I don't remember."
What?!
"It's radio," I answer as I turn the radio on.
"It can speak!" he shouts happily. "What about this?" he points the cassettes beside the radio.
...
"It's cassette," I walk toward him and put the same cassette on the player.
Just as expected, he smiles brightly like yesterday.
"Let's go around the town. You'll see many new things," I smile at him. Everything is a new thing for him, right?
We go outside and meet the villagers. They love him, just like the first time I came here. They're nice people.
"This is Ann. Say hi," I introduce Ann, Ruben's merchant, to Ain.
"Hi Ms. Merchant!" Ain smiles happily.
I give a forced laugh. "He has a bad habit of calling people by their title."
Ann lowers her body and pets Ain's head. "He's so cute!"
Ain giggles. "You too!"
"By the way, Ann, do you have any idea who might know this kid?" I ask.
Ann shakes her head. "Sorry. No clue."
Sigh... This would be difficult. Just who is this kid?
We've been living together for 5 years now. Introduction, radio, and cassette are our daily conversation. He always forget everything after he slept, except language and his own name. I've been trying to find a clue about him all the way from Ruben to Lanox, but nobody knows him. Judging from his appearance, I think he's around 10 years old now.
I never tell him that I'm an assassin. It wouldn't change anything if I did anyway.
Today is a special day made by me. Just like I said earlier, this is the day I found Ain 5 years ago. I've finished my job for today and I bought something to celebrate the 5th year.
And because I went out in early morning, I have to repeat the daily conversation first.
"Welcome back, sis Elf!"
...Huh? He just called me sis!
I turn to silence for a moment, but then I smile, "Thanks."
"Sis, what's this?" Ain points the radio.
After our daily conversation minus introduction, I put the cake on the dining room.
"You may not remember it, but this is your 5th year in here," I say as I slice the cake.
"We're celebrating it? Yay!"
Yeah, he doesn't remember.
"How's your day with Ann today?" I ask. Luckily Ann wanted to take care of him while I'm gone.
After we ate the cake, I give him a bottle of tea with apple flavor. "You said you wanted this."
"I did?" he asks as he takes it, "Thank you!"
I also bought another one for myself. I open the bottle and I see something on the bottle cap.
"You get 100 millions ED!"
...Okay? I mean, holy El! That's a lot!
"Ain, did you get something on the bottle cap?"
Ain takes the bottle cap and gives it to me. "I don't know. I can't read."
Let's see...
"You get 1 bottle for free!"
...I don't know what to say about this. Since Ain came, I'm always lucky for some reason. I never get a fake reward for this past 5 years, I got a jackpot once in casino, got a lucky reward like this, and survived many accidents. It's like he's giving blessings or something.
"We can get one more bottle of this. Do you want it?"
"I do! I do!"
12th year and still no clue.
Ain is a grown-up now. He turns out to be every girl's charming prince dream—from the outside. He's still acting like a kid.
"Sis Elf! What's this?"
Even though we no longer need to introduce ourselves, the radio and cassettes are still our daily conversation.
"Do you want to go out today? I have free time," I say to him.
"I do!" he approaches me and holds my hand, "Let's go somewhere!"
"Chill," I smile as I open the door, "Let's visit Ann. She's a nice merchant."
Luckily, Ann understands Ain's condition and doesn't mind introducing herself every time they meet.
We go to the garden. Back when he's still a kid, he loved to run around here. Now he's just looking at flowers. "Sis! What's this called?"
"It's a rose," I say as I grab his right hand that about to reach the rose vine, "Don't touch. It's sharp."
And it's not rare for him to get injured by it. Even though it only takes a few seconds for him to get healed, I don't want him to get injured.
"Can we go somewhere else?" Ain asks.
I tell him all the town names from Ruben to Lanox. "Pick one," I say. His answer is random on this one.
"Hamel!"
We go to Hamel. The scenery here is really good. Even the town looks awesome. Ain is always amazed at the same thing over and over again. I don't mind, thought. All that matter is he's having fun.
We sit on the perfect place to see the sunset. "Sunset is beautiful!" he smiles cheerfully.
He already see this a thousand times. I just giggle at his words.
"I wonder if I already seen sunset," he says all of a sudden.
"You saw it already," I tell him.
Ain chuckles. "I wish I could remember everything! It's just so awesome!"
"You're having fun, right?"
"Yeah."
"Good to hear," I pat his head, "Let's go home. We can stargaze before sleep."
"Stargaze?"
Just like I said, we're stargazing before we sleep. Luckily the stars in Ruben are so beautiful.
"They're shining!" Ain smiles, "Just like you!"
I can feel my face is a bit hot. "Thanks."
"What's in there that make them shiny? I'm curious."
"I don't know," I shrug.
"Sis, how long I've been here?"
"12 years."
"That's a long time," he comments, "It's sad that I only remember what to call you for the past 12 years."
I giggle. "It's fine."
Ain yawns as tears coming out of his eyes. "It's time to sleep," I say as I grab his hand.
"Okay."
The next morning...
"Sis, what's this?"
Sigh... I wonder what to do today. Thanks to my sudden luck, I have so much money now. And I don't have client at the moment.
"Do you want to go out, Ain?"
"Sure!"
I open the door. I see a woman with blue eyes and white hair standing in front of my house. "What can I help you?" I ask.
Ain smiles at her. "Ms. White!"
She narrows her eyes at him. "Ainchase Ishmael."
Ain... chase...?
Ain tilts his head. "Is that my full name?"
The woman smiles. "I am Goddess Ishmael, your creator."
Goddess?!
I quickly bow down to her. "Forgive me!"
"It's fine, Rena. Raise your head and stand up," she responds, "You've taken care of my child."
Well, if she says so.
I stand up and look at her. "Can I ask something?"
She nods. "What happened to him 12 years ago?" I ask.
"There was war in our world," Goddess Ishmael smiles sadly, "Ain wasn't by my side at that time. I'm sure he managed to escape by using the pendulum."
Oh, right.
I quickly take the pendulum inside my house and give it to Ain. "It's yours."
"It's mine?" he stares at it.
"What's wrong with his memory?" I ask again.
"It's not good to feel emotions with someone else. He's just my emissary. I need him to live just to fulfill his mission," she answers.
That's cruel, but okay.
"Let's go home, Ainchase," she holds Ain's hand.
He turns to silence.
"Isn't it good for you, Ain? You can finally go home," I smile at him.
...It's not good. I don't want him to go, but what can I do?
"Rena the assassin. As a reward for taking care of my emissary, you'll get lucky, just like when you take care of him," she smiles at me.
I smile back. "Thank you very much!"
"But I want to stay here," Ain resists.
Ain, please don't say that. I'm trying not to cry here. I also want you to stay here.
"Come on. You can finally go home," I say to him.
Goddess Ishmael thanks me for the second time and turns around.
Ain lets go of her hand and hugs me. "I don't want to leave!"
"Hey, hey, what are you saying?" I ask as I give a forced smile, "We just met."
"My heart is telling me that we've been together for a long time," he hugs me tightly, "Isn't that right, sis Rena?"
I hug him back. I can't hold my tears any longer. I haven't told my name yet. He... remember it.
He breaks the hug. I can't believe he's also crying. "Here's your drink," I give a bottle of tea with apple flavor that I took from the fridge.
"What's this?" he asks.
I smile at him. "You'll love it."
"Thanks!" he smiles back.
Finally, he walks toward Goddess Ishmael.
"Goodbye, sis Rena!"
"Goodbye!"
I sit in front of the door and cry. I don't need luck. I just want him back.
The next day...
I wake up and eat my usual breakfast. I look at the radio.
"Sis, what's this?"
Sigh...
I put the cassette on the player, like usual.
I can't help but smile. Even though he's not here anymore, he should be happier in his world now, right?
The time has come for my old daily life: eat, kill, sleep.
Meanwhile, at the other world.
Goddess Ishmael looks at Ain. "Ainchase, I'll give you a mission—"
"If I remember it, okay?" he smiles cheerfully, "I can't find sis Rena anywhere, so I assume something happened yesterday?"
She facepalms.
Ain looks at Goddess Ishmael. "Hey, Ms. White?"
She sighs. "It's Ishmael."
"Do you have a radio and a cassette?"
Well... so when people were hype before Ain is released, I was "what I don't care" but now when the hype is gone, I'm here like "yay ain" or whatever. I love myself for being late at something like this XD
And here's what came to my mind after reading Ain's background story and prologue (the tutorial, I mean)
Yeah, it's such a random idea X3
Thanks for reading!
