I’m currently inside my house.

I get up, take a bath and then I look at the mirror near my bed.

I look at my face and move it side to side.

I have brown hair and brown eyes, and I have a scar on my forehead. The scar is a diagonal line from right to left covering only the left side of my forehead.

Overall, I am not a handsome fellow… more on a regular looking guy.

After that I scan my body.

“My body…”

It's packed with muscle, I have solid chest muscles, my biceps and triceps are prime and even my leg muscles are conditioned very well. I remember my body as Jon and this is like heaven and earth compared to Cole’s body.

The question is…

“Who am I?”

I both have their memories.

I have Cole’s body.

The question is which personality I have.

…

“Do I have Cole’s personality? Jon’s? maybe both of them…”

I dressed up and sat down on the bed.

“Cole…”

I try to think of Cole’s personality based on his memories.

“He’s a hard working guy just like Jon. (chuckled) But Jon is a hard working guy in his work while Cole is.”

I look at my hand.

I remember how hard Cole’s life has been.

Then scan my place.

“But he's not that intelligent compared to Jon… No… it’s not that he is not intelligent, more like, he only follows the custom he grew up in. Well he doesn’t want to take risks and that is really an acceptable reason. If he made a mistake it could lead to his death. In this world, you can die for a simple mistake.”

“Jon on the other hand has a safe world. He can take risks, not because he is courageous but because the risk doesn’t involve losing his life.”

I put my hands on my forehead.

Sigh.

(Two different lives are flowing inside my brain…)

(I still cannot grasp who I am?)

(Am I Cole’s with Jon’s memories?)

(Or Jon in Cole’s body?)

OR

“Am I… will I become a different person altogether?”

This started to haunt me.

I will stay like this for a time being… trying to find the answer to my question but in the end, I found none.

“I cannot stay like that.”

There are plenty of things to do.

I got up, tidied up my things and started to move.

The very first thing that I did was move outside the south gate, which my house is nearly situated on.

I looked for the biggest tree in the nearby forest and dug a small grave in front of it. I put Nate’s heart in the grave and slowly cover it again. Then I put a large stone above it as a marker and offer a prayer of thanks.

Then I move back to the city towards the ‘Lightning Claw’ guild.

Lightning Claw is Cole’s current mercenary guild.

I believe some people already saw me yesterday and it will only take a matter of time before the guild hears the news of my arrival. I am not a big player on this guild so they will not come and look for me, but I don’t want to attract any attention so I will just report back in the guild and resign with the excuse ‘I don’t want to be a mercenary for now because I’m afraid on losing my life’ that would make me a laughing stock but I can deal with it.

When I enter the guild house I notice that it is really packed right now, there are twice as many people inside the guild house compared to other days. I approach the counter and talk to the girl over there.

“Lea, what happened? Why are there a lot of people here?”

“Oh! Ah… you didn’t hear the news… the guild will be disbanded.”

It seems like she didn’t remember me. She tried to smile but I can still see that she is already irritated.

“I see…”

…

“If you want your cut on the participating, the war forgets about it!”

She is now unleashing her irritation.

“Duke Nicolas said that he will not pay our guild because (she made an air quote) ‘the war is not over yet’.”

Hmp!

“That is why, if I were you, forget your cut… the guild master already decided that he will disband the guild immediately.”

Each person will receive 10 gold after the war, that is the condition given to those who are willing to participate. It seems like the people in here wanted to protest.

(What can they do? The Duke holds the power in this place… it’s just a waste of effort.)

(At the same time, this makes my plan to leave the guild much easier; this is a win-win for me.)

“Ok then I will take my leave.”

Lea looked surprised but I didn’t mind her, I turned around but then I remembered something.

“By the way, Lea, do you still sell maps?”

“Yeah, we still have those.”

“Then can I buy every type of map available.”

Lea looks at the stairs. Her eyes shrink and her mouth twitches.

“Wait for me.”

Lea moved to the storage area and after a short while she came back with the maps rolled together.

“Here… take these, it has every continental map and some local map, but we don’t have any detailed map on the other continent.”

I took the whole bundle.

“Thanks, how much for this?”

She shakes her head.

“Keep it… you’re the first person that didn’t shout at me because of this circus.”

(Wait! Another free!)

(Yeah!)

“Thanks, Lea see you around.”

(I have to go back home and focus on planning.)

Maps are laid down on the table and papers are scattered around it.

For the past 5 days I've been recalling all the scenarios in the main book. Various marks can be seen all around the map so I could have a good grasp of their location and timeline.

There are also different newspapers and rumors, on piece of paper, to monitor the movement of ‘those’ people.

With the disbanding of the Lightning Claw guild, I have a lot of free time on my hands so I continue to train my body these past few days. At first I thought that I would have a problem with it because I have Jon’s memory or soul or whatever you call it, but I was wrong.

Everything is ok, there’s no problem in moving with my body at all, it all feels… natural.

In addition, from my body training, I also made a habit to check the status of Ellie’s Quest on the adventure guild. Of course I did that stealthy using my Essence. I trained my Essence whenever I can and right now I could say that I am more efficient compared to when I first received it. Though it’s still a long way before I could completely master it.

Overall, I became very busy in the past few days. I’ve been training my body, improving my handling of the Essence, doing various things, I update my notebook from time to time specially when I remember something new and lastly, I made a thorough planning for the future.

For now, I’m planning my next step.

I look at the map then I tap my finger on a specific forest on the map.

This forest is located northeast of Slothub and it will take 2-day to travel by foot.

(This is my 2nd mission…)

Then I look at the northern part of Slothub.

Siocas Plains.

“Max was dispatched yesterday, it will take him at least a week to go back to the guild then it will take another week for Ellie and Max to kill that monster.”

“2 weeks, at least 2 weeks.”

Then I move my finger towards the mountainous region on the west.

“The full moon…”

I look at the window and I notice the bright sunlight coming from that window and finally resting on my wooden floor.

“There will be a full moon 5-days from now.”

I look back at the map.

“I need 4 days to travel there by foot.”

Then my hand moves towards the road near the mountains.

“I can leave the horse over here…”

But then I realize something and then I shake my head.

“Haaaa… that would leave a trail. Tsk! this covert mission is kind of irritating and tiring.”

Then I trace my finger to the river that will travel along the road towards the mountain.

“Just looking at this map makes me feel tired already.”

Then I look at my bed. I could see the set of bags I prepared for this mission.

I close my eyes, imagine the mission I’m going to take and the mission after that, then I shake my head once more.

“I’m running thin here…”

“I need 8 days to complete my mission and Ellie’s party will finish theirs in at least 11 days.”

I look at Siocas Plains.

“The book didn’t say anything about how Ellie’s party traveled towards the plains but if they will use horses then I may not make it in time.”

I look back and forth between the forest and the mountainous region.

I have a feeling that I will not make it in time.

Then I saw the pouch on the table.

“Hmmm… I only have enough money to cover for a month. Sigh, I spent a lot on materials and items for this journey, I need to get money soon.”

I smile but I feel disappointed.

“The loot on the mountain is so much better than the loot in the forest. (Sighed) However, I just don’t want to miss out on an opportunity.”

…

“Is this what they called FOMO?”

Then I look at the path towards Siocas Plains coming from Slothub.

“The only god sent is that the path towards the plain are considered monster regions and if I’m going to follow the ‘common sense’ in the book, adventurers will not use horses in this area to prevent attracting more monsters.”

“However, we are talking about Ellie here.”

Ellie, the future Princess of Flames. This main character has an aggressive attitude, she doesn’t prioritize strategy instead she wants to attack everything head on. If a ‘muscle for brain’ can be used to call out Mage with this kind of attitude. She will earn the number one spot for that.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

“Well… there’s nothing I can do about it if I don't make it back in time, so be it. I have to prioritize this.”

Then I tap my finger to the mountainous region again.

It’s been two days since I began traveling towards the mountain.

After I exited Slothub and moved across the forest, I went straight towards the river and then I followed the river towards the mountainous region.

The path that I took is similar to the path towards the plain. It is known to be a monster infested area. I could use a horse or carriage but I would probably need a bodyguard while travelling.

That is why I choose to travel on foot.

I can maintain my speed, I can control my noise and most importantly I can observe the area.

While traveling back to Siocas Plains, I didn’t encounter any monster even though that road is famous for being a monster infested zone. The only reason I can think of that allowed that peaceful travel is the presence of the previous march. That kind of movement will have startled lower to middle class monsters.

In addition to that I also pick up several herbs to mask my scent, what I mean by several is a bag full of Octalion grass and Dungdung flower, both of these plants produce a very stinky smell that acts as a monster repent… and also human repellant. That’s why I dispose of the whole bag before arriving at Slothub.

However, the path towards the mountain isn’t disturb by any march. That is why I should expect monsters all around the forest and road.

This time I didn’t use Octalion grass and Dungdung flower. I currently have the Enhanced Sense which I judge to be enough for this mission.

I wasn’t mistaken, Enhanced Sense works like a charm… No… I would say that it is much better than a mere charm.

By enhancing my ‘feelings and hearing’, I could accurately detect the location of the nearby monster immediately and re-route to avoid any conflict.

(Enhanced Sense didn’t shine back then because the user died at the early chapter of the book. Hmmm… I guess because they are not the main character that’s why they have to die a stupid death.)

Jon's memory is correct. He also questions that part of the book.

The adventurers saw that Aldren’s body was being eaten by the monster, they also recognized that the monster is an Ogre Vulture but they still decided to attack the monster just to recover the body of Aldren and to have a good relationship with the Count.

Jon think it is a stupid decision to throw away your life for that kind of mission.

He feels disappointed towards the adventurer but he is also thankful to him.

(If he didn’t die, then I will not acquire this amazing Essence.)

Then I notice something in front of me.

(It seems like there is a large group of monsters in front of me.)

“Huff huff”

Dum! Dum! Dummm!

Step! Step!

Cole detected a group monster ahead so he looked at the map and re-route to avoid those monsters.

(Seriously, I really love his Essence.)

This pattern continues until sunset.

“Mmmmm…”

“Hehehe… I will win again…”

“Waaaaa…. Shut up!”

Pang!

“You lots! are bringing me such bad luck! Stay quiet!”

“You are just cursed. My friend, wahaha, just curse.”

I suddenly heard a lot of noise on my right side and I slowly approached them due to my curiosity.

I crawl behind the tree and peek at them.

The group looks like a proper mercenary group. They have a nice cart, they set up a tent and it looks like they are ready to camp out for the day. However, they are not a normal kind of mercenary group you can see in Slexor because at the back part of the camp I could see a caged cart and inside those carts are a group of people, gagged and tied together.

“Ahhhh! Lose again dammit!”

Pang!

The bandit-looking man approaches the cage and slams the mace on the side.

It made the slaves flinch and hide in fear.

“Hey! Can I fuck one of these slave tonight! I’m really having a bad day today!”

He licks his lips and looks at girls inside the cage.

The girls flinch once again and bow down their heads trying to hide it as much as they can.

“Idiot you cannot do that, they are all merchandise.”

The tough-looking man said that while he laughed at the bandit-looking man.

“Captain! Give it to him! then we will report him back to the Boss so that his private part will be chop off wahahaha”

Bandit-looking guy #2 laughs at #1.

“You're both an idiot, the boss will also chop mine!”

They continue talking about this nonsense topic for a while.

(It looks like there isn’t anything important here.)

I look at the cage once again.

(I don’t want to involve myself in this kind of situation, I still have a lot of work to do.)

I started to move back towards my route when.

“Hahaha! No! No! Hahaha! Boss will probably punish you by giving you something you really dislike!”

“Yeah! I don’t how the Boss does it but he has a great intuition he knows what the other people’s fears are.”

I stop.

“Captain! You remember that noble! The one with the terrifying presence! He barges inside the shop and demand a free slave then the boss goes back at the storage room, grab some rats and show it to that bastard.”

“Hahaha! Yeah! I remember that! The noble fell down and squealed like a little girl then ran away from the shop!”

“Haha! I will not forget that day!”

I sat for a bit.

…

…

…

I will try to analyze the situation once again.

(There are 4 people in the group, this is just a transport team… most probably they are not carrying anything ‘valuable’.)

I look at the cage with people in it.

(Most probably they will be sold to other cities.)

Then I try to recall their conversation earlier.

(It seems like their boss has an Essence… but it is also a possibility that he has a great intuition. If I move based only on that information I could get into trouble.)

(If I ‘kill them’ and ‘kill their boss’ there is a possibility that I will get involved in something that will surely give me a headache.)

…

(Nah!)

(It is not verified that the boss has an Essence, it’s very risky. If I just ‘kill them’ the boss will probably try to track me down and what will I get in return… nothing… instead I will become a hero for those slaves… no thanks!)

I made up my mind to look at the people inside the cage with pity.

(Slavery…)

(It's banned on Earth but in this world it is the same as buying a pet.)

(The saving grace for every slave is the kingdom they are in. There are kingdoms that ensure that safety and life of slaves and there are also kingdoms that just plainly didn’t care.)

(Slexor are one of those kingdom that didn’t care about slavery.)

As for me right now, as Cole I don’t feel the sympathy that Jon should be feeling right now.

This is probably because Cole grew up in this world that he sees all of this as ‘normal’.

I shake my head and continue to move back to my original route.