Gods And Gunners

The morning breeze came inside his room. Emil awoke beneath his sheets, his eyes were heavy. He stood up and walked toward the door. The memory of yesterday's event and his nightmare flashed before him as he opened the door. 

The soft light of the sun touched his face. "I.. have to have power now. Protect myself" He whispered. Realizing that in this world, without strength, he was just a prey.

He got dressed, washed his face, and quietly sat down at the dining table. Lumier was already seated, chewing the meal Zasha had already prepared. "Where's father?" Emil asked, lifting up a spoonful of warm soup.

"Well, he went to the capital along with the other guards." Zasha said, "A lot of their spears broke yesterday when goblins tried to climb the fence." 

"Hm.." Emil quietly wondered. "Why are there suddenly so many goblins?" He asked. 

"I don't know, but the chieftain said that the capital's guild will send out knights and adventurers to investigate." Zasha said, finishing up the dishes. 

Adventurers..? Is that like the people in anime I'd watched back on Earth? 

As he was slurping the last drops of the soup, Lumier leaned over him. "You know what's funny?"

"Hm?" Emil asked.

"That you just killed a goblin yesterday!" Lumier chuckled.

"What?" Emil looked at her suddenly. Zasha was also shocked at what she just heard.

"No, I meant that wasn't funny," She paused. "What's funny was the time I remember when we were 8, you couldn't even kill a fly."

Emil blinked in confusion. "I— what?" 

"Oh come on, don't tell me you forgot?" Lumier chuckled. "The house got swarmed by flies and all those weird little stingers. Mom freaked out, while dad ran out for those smoke sacks. And you? You just ran around screaming."

It was a humid afternoon, sweats clung into everyone's body. The thick and hot summer air filled the fields. Heatwaves from the sun were visible. The heat made every swallow feel dry. 

Dozens of flies buzzed wildly around the windows, darting like arrows in their kitchen. Some clung to the fruits, others hovered above the unfinished dishes. There also Zornets— flies about half a pea in size, with stinger at the end of their butts. Lugira always hated them. They often stung him in his sleep. 

"Get the rag! Swat them away!" Zasha yelled at the sight of pests. She waved a piece of towel above the fruit. 

"I'm getting a sack and the smoke." Their father said aloud from outside the door. He ran to fetch the herb bundle that they had always kept for times like this. Burning Cornalroot to smoke keeps the flies and Zornets out.

Eight-year-old Lugira just stood on top of a stool, with his eyes widened at the sight of the pesky pests. His body was frozen, trying not to get the flies' attention. Then, a fly brushed onto his arm.

"It touched me, it touched me!" He shrieked.

"You baby!" Lumier yelled, laughing while holding a broom to keep out the flies. She charged after the flies near the dishes. "We're underattack yet you scream there like a mountain goat."

"I'm not a baby!!" Lugira yelled back, trying to swat away anything that came near him. 

Zasha looked over with concern. This wasn't the first time, Lugira had always been the sensitive one between the twins. He even once cried because fried farm beetle was their dinner. "Lugira!" She shouted. "Come back down from that stool! And grab the other broom to help your sister!"

"I hate this house!" He wailed.

"Then come out!"

But he didn't.

Outside, their father lit the Chornelroot, and tossed it inside a claypot. The smoke began to fill their house as soon as Demio stepped in. The swarm began to clear. It took nearly an hour, and when it was all done, the house smelled like sour bark and ash. The flies were gone. The bugs had fled. And Lugira? Still hiding behind the barrel, shaking.

His mother eventually pulled him out and hugged him. "It's okay," she whispered. "You don't always have to be brave."

Emil smiled faintly at what Lumier said. "So I was that useless?"

"Oh, yes. You were such a baby." Lumier laughed, her voice was soft teasing Lugira. "But yesterday… you weren't." 

That simple sentence carried weight. It lingered in the air like the morning mist filtering through the kitchen window.

The three of them fell into silence. Emil spoke first. "I'll go around the town today, may I?" 

Zasha looked up from the table, wiping her hands with a cloth. "Hm.." Zasha was clearly concerned for his son. "Fine, but keep safe. And be home before mid-day." She strictly ordered.

Emil suddenly thought of her mom when he was on Earth. She was also gentle to him. 

"Yes, mom." He said. That was the first time he called someone mom again.

"Then, I'll just continue reading Mynus' book today!" Lumier said. "I'll just stay here."

Emil smiled, then he stood up, and went back to his room. 

Looking at the herbs on his table, he strengthened his will.

Later tonight, I'll proceed with the method. 

Not because he was hungry for magic, but because now, he needed it. 

With one last glance at the room, Emil adjusted the pouch, stepped into his worn boots, and opened the door.

"I'm going to go out mom!" He shouted, closing the wooden door of his house. 

The air was soft, the flowers bloomed in the middle of the road dirt. Birds sung on the trees. He adjusted the pouch at his hip and started walking. His first path led toward the outskirts. Here, the world felt closer to the wild. Not quite the forest, but not far from it either.

Emil paused at a small ridge overlooking the sloping woods. Yesterday's memory flickered again, branches snapping, shadows moving between trees, the growls of goblins.

He placed a hand on the bark of a nearby tree, grounding himself.

I survived that.