I Don’t Want to Start a Story!

“How long have you been able to use magic?” Cy hissed as they walked away from the farmhouse. “You shouldn’t be able to! You don’t have enough in your body to do anything with it.”

Max gave a small wave at a cluster of berry girls, who were crowded around the fence and mooing goodbye to him. All of his hard work had been appreciated by the ones who needed it most. “I can’t.”

“Right. So, how did you change Straw’s fate?”

Max reached into his pocket and pulled out his remaining carved, magic bone. He expected it to spin and a prompt for the navy-blue fate to appear, but nothing happened. They must be somewhere else. “Take a look yourself,” he held out the bone, causing Cy to flinch.

“You can hold onto it.” Cy lit a small flame in the palm of his hand. It was the size of a flame from a match, and it barely illuminated anything.

“You can do fire magic?”

“Not very well,” Cy admitted. It was a little pathetic. “These markings… They’re like the symbol you saw at the mayor’s house.”

“I don’t know how you didn’t pick up that I can do these kinds of things. Who else can draw such an intricate design after seeing it for a short amount of time?” Max was blunt as he watched realisation dawn on Cy’s face. “I don’t have many memories, but I remember learning it from… where I lived before.” Max tacked on the comment about his memories as an explanation in case Cy began asking questions. He didn’t seem to care either way. “I guess this type of magic is not as widely known in these parts.”

“I’ve never seen it before.” He raised a shaky hand to try and pick up the bone before following Bessie’s motion and grabbing it with his cloak. His interest was much more apparent now that he knew Max had a history with them. “Now that you’re homeless, do you have a plan?”

“There’s something I want to do in the village before leaving. Not sure after that.”

“If you come back with me then you’ll have a place to stay, and probably a job while I get your fate looked at. Maybe there will be someone who recognises these symbols and can help you with your memory loss.”

It sounded decent, apart from one problem.

Story Name:

A Fresh Start

Genre:

Bildungsroman

Description:

Leaving a sheltered village, the MC finds themselves while living in the bustling capital.

Goal:

Make a place to call home.

Difficulty:

★★★☆☆

How to Start:

Go to the capital!

“I can’t go to the capital.”

Cy raised an eyebrow. “Good thing I’m not, strictly speaking, from the capital. It’s too dangerous to store a bunch of oppressed magicians in the capital, but it’s also inconvenient to have them too far away. A while back, the old king set up a community for us just outside the capital.” Max waited for prompts to appear. “And if you can’t stay there either because there are too many people or whatever, then it shouldn’t be too hard to find a place to stay just outside of there.”

A couple of prompts pinged up, but they were easy to either ignore or avoid. “Sounds okay. Let me do one last thing, and then we can get going.”

The decrepit mayor stretched his old bones as he began the long and difficult process of clambering out of bed. Even though there were rooms between them, he could hear his son’s snores as if he were bed with him. “Eejit,” the mayor muttered, as he finally managed to balance himself on his sore and tired legs. He had warned his son that he needed to change his diet and avoid dairy if he wanted to find a wife. How many poor women had he tried to set up with his son? How many rejected him due to his snores alone?

Letting out a heavy sigh, he stretched to crack his back in several places before beginning his nightly trip to the toilet. The sound of his slippers echoed as they shuffled along the ground on the way to the closest bathroom. The idea of going outside to pee was too much for him now and going to pee in a chamber pot just reeked. Eventually, he had a bathroom from his home world installed and changed his room to be next to it on the bottom floor. Stairs were out of the question without assistance. Opening the bathroom door revealed an open window. For a moment, he couldn’t decide whether they had a thief, or his son had forgotten to close the narrow, bathroom window… again.

A shiver went up his spine and he almost wet himself when he noticed there were two things on the windowsill. The first was clearly a slice of plain cake, and the other looked like dirt until he realised it was another slice which had been picked apart. Was Max here?

After relieving himself, the mayor began a frantic waddle to his office. His stride only stopped when he realised the doors were wide open. There was an ominous glow coming from inside the room. It took a lot of effort to shuffle his legs forwards. The mayor found Max casually sitting on his desk next to a lit lantern. Behind him, the mural, which had been carved for the mayor’s protection, was severely cracked.

“Evening.”

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing? Coming here in the middle of the goddamn night. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

“I didn’t realise you’re turning hundred and thirteen soon. Happy birthday.”

The mayor shot Max an angry glare as he took a seat at the mahogany table. All this adrenaline was only making it harder for his ailing body. The woes of growing old. “What do you want? If it’s that mess with Adelaide, then just show up and do a couple of shifts at her shop. It shouldn’t be hard for a story professional like you to avoid her and her story prompt.” Max didn’t show any reaction to his rambling. “And if she’s really such a hassle… then just get rid of her? You had no problem with dealing with the amnesiac, take care of her as well.” The mayor had an ignorant smile on his face. “Just not in front of the whole village this time.”

Max scowled at his attitude. “She’s a key character in a story and is set on making things go her way. Just in the last few days, she showed up here with a mob, tried to get past Bessie into her farmhouse, and was about to become my new boss; thanks to you. Still think it’s easy to just avoid her?”

“Was?”

“I was fired and evicted.”

The mayor gave a confused look. He couldn’t understand the source of Max’s irritation; was it from Adelaide or from being let go? It never occurred to him that the emotions were only due to him making things less convenient and indirectly helping the system box him in. There was no much point in blaming the unaware when it came to the system, like Adelaide, but he knew. “So? Does that change anything? If you want to stay in the village, then move into the village shop and get to work. Or kill Adelaide and find someone else to take you in. If you can’t do any of those, then just leave? Nobody particularly wants you here.”

Max hit the mayor’s desk twice. Suddenly, a neon, green glow illuminated under the mahogany table where Max sat during his last visit. “What the fuck?” The mayor spluttered. He looked at a stone-faced Max for answers before deciding to peek under the table. A wide section of the table had been carved with intricate runes that were now releasing a steady glow. The mayor looked back up from the table and saw the mural was now glowing as well. Something had been carved on the back of it. “What the fuck did you do? Do you know how expensive that table was?”

Max didn’t say anything and sat still as he watched the mayor panic. The eyes slightly clouded by cataracts flickered between the mural and the glowing table. Curses kept flowing from his loose mouth. “What do these fucking runes do?” He said while pointing at the mahogany table.

The decrepit mayor really didn’t know anything about the shoddy work of art he had been displaying proudly in his office. He was an abomination to this realm of magic. “Oh, those ‘fucking runes’? It’s a magic power harnesser and storer. Not many people know it, but it can be powerful if given enough time. It’s been gradually building up power since my last visit.”

“And that one?” The mayor pointed in Max’s direction.

“This one?” He casually pointed behind him with his thumb. “It’s an indirect summoner.”

The mayor waited for Max to explain, but he seemed too content with leaving the conversation there. “Well? What does it do, boy? Spit it out!”

Max’s mouth twitched. “It doesn’t summon things quickly but makes them intensely drawn to go to a place.”

“Who is it targeting?”

There was an earie hum.

And then there was light.

The mayor was almost blinded by an extremely bright light coming from the windows of the corridor. He had no idea where it was coming from or what the humming noise was. It wasn’t from his world. “F-f-f-” The swear was caught in his throat.

“I’m surprised you never asked about what happened to the aliens.” Max had a relaxed smile as he looked at the familiar light. “I mean they abducted several cows from where I worked. And you were so involved with organising the knights to stop them.”

“You summoned aliens?”

“I summoned Juniper. I had a feeling she became the main character of that story.” Max saw the mayor’s confusion. “Well, they did stop after abducting her.”

“She’s a cow?” The mayor suddenly realised why he didn’t know the name.

“She’s a gentle one. No wonder the aliens liked her,” Max nodded.

“But why?”

Max’s smile suddenly dropped. “Why kill Adelaide when I can wipe out the whole village?” He banged his first once on the table to cause some glowing, red runes hidden behind the open door to the corridor. “A target.” He explained without being asked this time. “The intended subject will interpret those runes as something to be enraged by. It’ll be interesting to see who has what it takes to survive an alien attack. You know, when the prompt was active it was a three-stars story? They should have a decent kick to them.”

“You’re trying to kill everyone?”

“Yes. Why wouldn’t I? According to you, nobody particularly wants me here.”

The mayor made some frantic noises and motions before erupting in a long sigh. It seemed like the delusional, decrepit man decided to switch tunes. “Max… Why do this? Even if you do this, I’m still going to survive so I’ll just report you afterwards.” Max didn’t let his face show the prompts clouding his vision. “You’ll just make this life harder for yourself. You can’t escape fate.”

“You don’t know?”

“Don’t know what?”

“That I can change fates?” Max watched the mayor’s face twitch. “I’m fate-less, so it seems like I can drastically change other fates, especially when I use magic that doesn’t belong to this world.” He gestured to the glows around them. “At least, that’s Cy’s newest hypothesis. You said it yourself. He’s talented at seeing fates. Why else would he be hanging around and inviting me to live in the watchamacallit magician-community if it weren’t to study this phenomenon?”

The mayor was baffled at the revelation. There was a distinct tone of envy in his voice. “You were invited to go to Tsujuma?” Tsujuma? Max’s face darkened slightly when he heard the name. “They don’t let outsiders in! Especially people like us-” The mayor must’ve seen his way out of this situation, calmed down, and changed tune again. “Let me help you. I can train you on how to avoid being caught by the people living there. You know how nasty the system can get if we tell outsiders-”

“Help me? I thought you were already trying to ‘help’ me with avoiding story prompts. The only person who has any clue about who I am is you.” Max gave a small shrug. “It doesn’t really matter. After tonight, you won’t be in a position to betray my trust again and report me before I arrive.”

It finally clicked that Max was serious. The mayor switched to his final approach at worming his way out of this situation. "I won’t!” The mayor yelped as he fell to his aching knees and began grovelling. “Please have mercy! Give me a chance to make up for this. I don’t have enough money for my funeral plans yet!”

Max began to tune out the pathetic whimpers. This hadn’t been as satisfying as he had hoped. The decrepit man in front of him was too pathetic and delusional about his place in this world. He had shown no care or sympathy for his people when the runes activated, and was now bending over backwards to be given a chance to redeem himself. Not because of the principal or to save the people in his care, but so he can have a nice funeral? Max’s mind began to think of the future. He and Cy were going to need more money than the generous pouch of coins Bessie provided him with. “I want money.”

“Money? I have a few gold pieces kept aside for an emergency-”

“All the money from the bets placed on your life.”

The colour drained from his face. “W-what?” He spluttered. “But that’s for my funeral! It’s my legacy! You can’t do this.” His grovelling turned into angry points of a bony finger. “You may have completed a five-star story, but at least I will be remembered forever for what I have done for this village and this kingdom.”

Legacy? How delusional. Legacy didn’t matter to people like them. What was the point of being remembered for your work in previous lifetimes? It would just cloud the now. “You can either take advantage of the next seventeen years you have left to scam more money out of these people, or everyone dies and I take your money anyway.”

“You wouldn’t even know where to find it.”

Max couldn’t help frowning. “You think I can’t find it?”

The mayor sweated as he decided. It shouldn’t be a difficult decision to make, but it was clear the mayor had been affected by a common mentality people like them grow over lifetimes. He didn’t care about the other people in this world. Their lives didn’t matter even though they were the ones not guaranteed another chance of life. It was clear the only person he saw as valuable was himself. It ruffled Max’s feathers. Until his single-minded approach to completing a five-stars story, he was the same. His point of view had shifted and hardened over lifetimes of failure. Almost everyone’s lives were inconsequential, but there were a few exceptional souls out there. People like them were never one of them. “I… will give you the money.”

“Good. Go get it then.”

The mayor took a deep breath before he started shouting. “RICHARD! WAKE UP AND HELP ME GATHER THE JACKPOT MONEY!” His lecture to his unconscious son didn’t stop as he limped his way out of his office. “QUIT THAT BLASTARD SNORING! YA HEAR ME?”

Max watched him leave. Seeing he was alone again, he decided to rummage through the mayor’s desk. There were stacks and stacks of paperwork. Some of them were the familiar papers Bessie had completed for each of the berry girls they lost. Finally, he found his wooden seal, which was also made from mahogany.

The table had been a disappointment. With the rune he had carved during his first visit, there should have had significantly more power harnessed and stored. Even when considering the small mistakes he presumably made since he never saw it, the power accrued was pathetic. While this world permitted runes to work, they didn’t seem to be as effective. Luckily, it didn’t matter this time. The mayor was gullible to believe that a few glowing runes and a noise rune was an extraterrestrial attack. Originally, Max was going to leave it as a frightful warning and robbery. But the mayor’s words had rubbed him the wrong way.

He didn’t stop whittling at the seal while a groggy mayor’s son stumbled into the office with a couple of pouches of coins. “Hiya Max.” He seemed completely oblivious to the dangers of the situation with an intruder in his home and signs of aliens.

“…Hey?”

The mayor’s son stretched his back before turning to deliver more money. “Can I ask a favour?” He asked just before leaving the room. Max nodded in curiosity. “Next time you rob us, could you wait until a more reasonable time?”

Max grinned at the ridiculousness of the request. “Sure.”

The mayor’s son replied with his own sleepy smile.

Max watched calmly as pouch after pouch was delivered before him. It had been far more than expected, and he had to ask the mayor’s son to bring a big sac to carry all of them. “That’s almost all of it,” the mayor grumbled. They watched his son retreat for the last pouches with Max’s permission.

“Is it?” Max showed him the carved seal covered with unfamiliar runes.

“It is.” The mayor took a seat at the glowing mahogany table. His body was knackered.

Max picked up the filled sac. It was almost too heavy for him to carry. He was thankful that this lifetime had set him up with a healthy and strong body, which had only gotten stronger from working on Bessie’s farm. While leaving, he slipped the carved seal into the pocket of the mayor’s nightgown.

The decrepit mayor tried reprimanding Max one last time, but only a weak groan escaped his half-paralysed lips. In a panic, he tried to raise his arm out to Max, but he found it wouldn’t move. More weak groans escaped his lips causing Max to pause. “Don’t worry, you’re probably not going to die. Most of your current symptoms will subside once your son figures out that he needs to remove your nightgown.” The mayor looked at him with a half-panicked face as his vision started to blur. Half-destroyed, half-intact; just like the slices of cake. “However, the aftereffects are probably permanent since this world doesn’t seem to have much aftercare for stroke victims. Enjoy your last seventeen years. Maybe your next retirement will be better.”

Max left confidently through the open, wall-length window in a tasteful sitting room. He had passed the mayor’s son on the way and told him his dad seemed to be having a medical emergency. The panicked expression was mysterious. Was he worried about his dad or worried about how to pay out the bet winners since most of the jackpot was now missing?

He never understood why the mayor’s son had insisted on him leaving through the impossibly small window until he hopped out of the house to see Aldwin looking at the neon light covering the whole property and reaching up into the clouds. They made eye contact. For a moment, Max panicked. Regardless of if Aldwin just wanted to chat or run to get the knights still residing in the village, Max didn’t have time to deal with him. The teleportation spell Cy had made would only work for a limited amount of time, and Max had wasted most of it playing around. If he missed it, then he would have to take a long walk through an alarmed village thinking the aliens were back. In a panic, he began waving his arms to show he was busy and couldn’t chat now.

Squinting his eyes, Aldwin stared at him. He seemed unsure before he waved at Max and began walking back to his home. Was he waving hello or goodbye? Either way, the village idiot seemed to have understood his message.