Vannie sighed, aware that this question would inevitably come. There was no reason to hide it further. Despite how they all regarded him, Edur was not a child; He had the right to know.

  “Edur,” she began, sitting up straight and fixing her posture, “firstly, you do understand that healing is a very, very, special and rare type of magic, right? It falls outside the scope of the usual elements found in the continent. And one as strong as yours… it might be unheard of.”

  The youth nodded, focusing on her words. He sensed that he will be receiving important information that will at least answer some of the gaps in the story.

  “From what I know, healers must expend all their energy to close wounds and mend a few broken bones, perhaps restore a limb- if the wielder is exceptionally talented.” She continued, her voice heavy and serious. “Yet… you do all that, and without breaking a sweat. You regrew John’s finger, remember? ”

  Edur nodded slowly again. He was aware of his gift and was grateful to his blessing- it allowed him to somehow repay the vilgers’ kindness, giving him the opportunity to care and look after them as they had cared for him.

  He also recalled the day when John had accidentally lost his finger to a saw. They’d rushed him to the tavern, expecting Edur to just stop the bleeding and close the wound. Instead, he not only controlled it but regrew the finger altogether—a slow, silver and golden light shaping until bone, muscle, and vein reformed.

  But what did it have to do with the killing intent he felt from the Commander? Why was he forbidden from revealing it? And the sudden departure after she saw him?

  “Well,” she began, hesitating as if weighing her words, “Both human kingdoms are at war, and they-”

  “Wait, what?” Edur interjected, clearly baffled.

  That was quite the news.

  This information was so unexpected that Edur thought he didn’t hear the secretary correctly.

  War? Who was fighting? The two kingdoms against each other? And for what reason? In the sheltered life he led in the vilge, he’d never sensed its impact. Weren’t the men meant to go fight, then?

  “Yes, war.” the secretary said, fully facing towards him and fixing him with a steady gaze. “For around a year now, humans have been at war.”

  “Every healer has been taken already- their abilities stretched to the limit, exploited. What do you think will happen if they were to find out about you?” she said, pressing her finger against his chest, which made her words more striking.

  “You’re young, your powers aren't yet at their full potential, yet you can literally heal anything. It won’t be long before they forcefully draft you, using you for their ploys, sending you where rivers of blood flows… Or, if the royals are corrupt enough, keep you locked up to stretch their own lives.”

  Edur was… shaken, to say the least.

  War was such a faraway and alien concept that he never thought of up until this point.

  Why would he? He was kept safe from doing so. It’s not like he would wake up every day and wonder if there would be a meteor falling on their heads, or that an army of undead would rise up and raid the vilge…

  The thought of a war going on while he led a retively peaceful life - if not taking its beginning into account- was hard to imagine, the pcitidy of his routine obstructing his mind, which made him believe it was the same everywhere else.

  He cursed himself for his ignorance, even if it wasn’t really his fault. The young man was purposefully kept hidden from the truth for a reason he hasn’t grasped yet. He had to know why.

  “Why not tell me?” Edur demanded, slight frustration coloring his tone. "I’m not a toddler all of you need to coddle.”

  A dry ugh escaped Vannie—a ugh that faded quickly as her eyes bore into his, dark and keen.

  “Exactly. You’re not a toddler. A kid- heck, even a baby- has at least some sembnce of survival instincts. But you? None. Especially when it comes to other people.” The statement was paramount, simir to the atmosphere.

  ”You throw yourself to aid whoever usher the smallest hint of a plea, not caring about yourself whatsoever.” She shifted closer, her eyes drilling deeper into Edur’s as she pced her hands on his shoulders.

  “Remember when a tree was falling on Shin? You pushed him out of the way and almost got yourself killed. Areni? You jumped in the river because you thought she was drowning when she was simply crossing it- You don’t even know how to swim!” she shook her head in disapproval at that one.

  “Have you thought about yourself? About Era, at least? The poor girl was livid every time you threw your safety away like it was a hindrance to be alive.”

  She grabbed his arms and shook him slightly, her grip was strong and unyielding, as if she wanted to send a message- one that Edur didn’t receive this time, no matter how many times they sermoned him about prioritizing himself.

  “Perhaps, when you first came, we could’ve told you, but some were still suspicious of you, not believing you were really amnesiac.” she said, shaking her head once again, as if amused by the thought.

  Edur didn’t know they were doubting him in the beginning, most seemingly very open and kind from day one. Yet another thing he just discovered. What would've happened if he acted more suspiciously? How had they come to trust him?

  “But by the time you became one of us, we already knew you enough to realize that you would without hesitation go there and try to save everybody…” she continued, the next five words echoing in the forest and reasoning within himself.

  “Because that is simply you.”

  Her words struck him deeply. Edur’s heart ached with the realization; he understood now how everyone regarded him—a selfless, na?ve soul, always rushing to save others.

  Was that really how they saw him? Edur fidgeted uncomfortably as he avoided her gaze. Perhaps she wasn’t wrong, Because now that he knew about the many battles happening far away, Edur felt the need to aid those soldiers, to ease them of their pain and get them back on their feet…

  But for what? So they can take a life or injure themselves once again? Perhaps succumbing to their demise?

  It was the first dilemma Edur was confronted with.

  Join the war as a healer and save dying soldiers, only for them to die on the battlefield or shed more blood… Or ignore all their cries of pain and remain in retive safety and comfort?

  Of course, he didn’t like not doing anything to help them one bit, but perhaps, it wasn’t just himself in the equation. He also had to take Holbeck into consideration. Could he stay for the sake of the vilgers… ?

  They needed him as much as he needed them. The white-haired boy was eternally grateful to each and every one of them, and leaving for war was abandoning their efforts at integrating him as one of their own… To Edur, betraying their feelings was out of the question.

  They kept it a secret for him, not for themselves… They were simply worried. The Least he could do was ease their worries. And as he said, perhaps going to war wasn’t gonna help out anyone, in the end.

  Seeing his internal conflict, Vannie reached out and softly ruffled his hair,

  “See it as a matter of principle, alright?” she urged gently. “We saw you as more valuable and cared for here rather than there. Sure, they might offer you riches and fame, but in the end, you’d be nothing but a tool to the nobility and the militia.”

  Her voice was calmer and warm. The voice of a mother soothing her child.

  “I hope you’ll understand our decision and choose to remain with us, even knowing of the current war.” she said gently, before wrapping him in a small hug.

  Edur hesitated before embracing her back tentatively. Her warmth comforted him, easing the tension in his soul.

  Edur now discovered that he liked hugs. Today was full of new insights, it seemed.

  As he was about to pull back, he felt her inhale deeply and giggle softly,

  “You smell like pinewood and rainforest… Perhaps we should take you into the forest more often, eh? Who knows- you might be a spirit of the forest, for all we know.”

  Her smile widened as she added,

  “Perhaps you even miss those spider friends of yours” she teased him.

  “Hey, I’m not a dryad!” He protested, “and stop sniffing my hair you creepy old woman!”

  he got out of her grasp with a little squirming, theatrically pointing at her.

  They both remained silent for a moment, then burst out ughing, their voices spreading around the small forest and chasing and ruthlessly away the heavy atmosphere alike the sun casting away the darkness. It can find another victim for tonight.

  After their mirth died down, Edur added another log to the hungry fire and finally asked,

  “But me aside, why hasn’t anyone else gone to war in Holbeck?”

  Vannie prodded at the fire the fire with a stick as she replied,

  “We have a duty, remember? Alert the region the moment something not as cute as you steps out of there, be it a horde of monsters, beasts, or elemental Blooms.”

  He didn’t know what the st one was, but his mind clung to more urging questions, weighing down on him.

  “You said ‘spirit of the forest’… But what if I’m actually not human?” He asked softly, a whisper, afraid that saying to the world might make it come true. The youth looked down at his hands, opening and closing them in wonder. How funny was it that someone didn’t even know what they were.

  “The Commander seemed ready to kill me if I wasn’t… why? And who are at war against? What for?”

  Vannie rummaged through her bag and drew out two warm sleeping bags, ying out a small spot for them.

  “Your first two questions have the same answer, which I will respond to tomorrow. As for the third.. It’s getting te and it’s kind of a long story. We have time for tomorrow, but tonight, Time is telling you to go to sleep.”

  Edur rolled his eyes theatrically as he helped her brush away the snow and arranged what seemed to be a rge pad under the sleeping bags.

  “Yes mom..” he teased her as he settled into his own bag and closed his eyes in a contented sigh of satisfaction.

  Her movements stopped for a moment showing her incredulity. Soon enough, he heard her retort sharply,

  “Who are you calling mom?! I’m too young to be one!”

  He snickered in response, deliberately not replying, choosing instead to gaze up at the stars and the glowing moon, peeking from behind the clouds.

  The moon was as mesmerizing as it was the first night he woke up in this world. Beautiful, close, comforting and surveying. He somehow felt as if it wasn’t as indifferent to him as it was the first day.

  “Isn’t the moon unusually bright tonight?” She remarked softly as she settled into her own bag, eyes closing to welcome sleep, leaving behind the fatigue accumuted throughout the day.

  “Not really- it’s as dazzling as always,” a sleepy Edur murmured quietly