Chapter 1: EiEfSi
CHAPTER ONE - EIEFSI
The city of Kurai Mori was a large city surrounded by hills ranging from 300-500 metres in height. The hills were covered with dense forest which didn't allow even sunlight to properly gaze at the surface of them.
Most people in the city were preparing for tomorrow's festival with a smile on their face, but it was not the same for everyone.
In the northwest forests of the city, atop a hill, eleven workers were cutting trees. All of them were covered in grime and sweat, wearing short pants and sleeveless vests, which were totally wet from their sweat, though it helped cool their warm bodies.
In the midst of silence, suddenly, one of the workers spoke, "Boss! I can't do it anymore."
Nobody was making any excuses but, the words of this worker acted as fuel for the others, one by one, they started speaking,
"Yeah! Boss… My arms are hurting too!"
"I will not say my arms are hurting, but I can't swing my axe anymore… I don't have any stamina left."
"I have done enough work… I can't do it anymore…"
"Yeah! I will collapse at any moment now…"
Every single worker used different words to explain their condition, but they all meant to say the same thing; they were tired.
"Boss! We have been working for four hours straight! I think we deserve a break!"
"Yeah! He is right! We deserve some rest too…"
"We can continue this work tomorrow, can't we?"
"That is a better idea!"
Upon hearing their words, the boss spoke. "Even though I am the boss here, I can't give you a break... I don't want to sound rude, but you people are slaves who were bought for this and only this work. We have to complete this by tomorrow before the festival begins."
"Eh?!" All the workers had the same reaction to the boss's response. The boss's words felt rude, as if they devalued the workers.
"I am a slave myself. I am only obeying the king's order! If we are unable to chop down all the trees on top of this hill by tomorrow night, I don't know what will happen to us." said the boss.
Upon hearing the boss, one of the workers spoke, "But we cannot really do anything right now! Even if we don't take a rest now, we will still not be able to do anything, not by our choice but because we can't force our fatigued bodies."
"I can understand…" After a long pause, the boss continued, "Are you all really that tired?" He asked with a sigh.
"Yeah but… If we get a break… We will surely be able to continue the work with more energy."
"Is that so?" said the boss.
"Yeah!"
"You all are really desperate... Alright, fine…"
"YEAAAAHHHH!" All the workers shouted with excitement, but their celebration was quickly interrupted by the boss, "But only for half an hour."
"Eh?!"
"Half an hour should be enough for your bodies to recover."
"But-?!"
"No more words! Pack your items, and let's go downhill to our tents. Y'all need a rest, don't you?"
"Uh-?!"
The workers were left speechless, but that's all they could get, so they didn't wait any longer and started packing their items. It was evident from their expressions that they didn't get what they were expecting.
[Temper your expectations until the process is complete; anticipating less softens the blow of failure.]
The workers packed their items and soon left the place. As the workers had left, there was no one at the top of the hill to keep an eye on the chopped wood except for two people.
These two have been gazing at the logs since the beginning. Just like a hunter, these two were hidden inside the bushes and had been waiting for this moment only.
As soon as the workers left, the two people came out of their hiding spot. It was a 15-year-old boy and a 60-year-old man.
Both of them were wearing normal clothes with dirt and sweat stains on them, and their skin was also dusty. Their appearance made it clear that they were poor.
"Kiyoshi…This wood is rare and only found here. If we sell this in the underground market… We will get a good amount of money… Good enough to be able to spend our winters with that money…" said the old man.
"Hm…" The boy, whose name was revealed to be Kiyoshi, replied.
The old man's words made it clear that they were here to steal the logs for money to survive the winter.
The region was cold, and at worst, the temperature would get lower than -17°C. Only food won't help someone survive these winters; thick clothes made of wool were a necessity.
But wool was very expensive for the poorer section of society in this region, which is why money was the main requirement. This was the condition of every nation in the east.
"These logs are worth more than a thousand Jem each… I bet you can grab two logs at once, considering your strength... Even one log is enough, but it isn't bad to be a little bit greedy..." said the old man.
[Jem is the name of a currency used in the underground market.]
"Uh- Alright…" Kiyoshi made a dull face but then agreed with the old man. He walked towards the pile of logs and bent down to pick them up.
Meanwhile, the old man had a big smirk on his face because of how smoothly their plan was going.
The logs were smaller than any others found in this world, but they still weighed around 119 kg each. Kiyoshi grabbed one and began to pull it up to hold it on his shoulder, but he realised something strange.
"Old man… I can barely hold one at a time."
"Heh-?! Is that so?" The old man said it in a funny voice.
Being able to hold two logs at once with his strength was merely a bluff to motivate Kiyoshi. But it was still an impressive feat to be able to hold 119 kg on your shoulder at the age of just 15.
Kiyoshi had now held the log on his right shoulder. He turned around and looked at the old man with a smile. His legs and arms were shaking a little bit because of the weight, but he was able to move properly.
"Great! Now all that is left is for you to move forward, and then we will leave." said the old man.
Kiyoshi started moving forward towards the old man, but suddenly something very unexpected happened.
Something that shocked not just them but every single person who was present in the city of Kurai Mori.
A huge blast took place in the middle of the presently calm city, right where the king's castle was built.
Nothing was properly visible except for the smoke generated because of the blast. But merely from the scale and sound of it, anyone could figure out that the castle was no longer in its original shape.
There was no residential building near the king's castle, so it didn't cause any casualties except for those who were present in the castle during that time.
Kiyoshi and the old man were the first ones to see it properly and were left flabbergasted due to this shocking event.
Not just them but two soldiers who were inspecting the forest as per their daily protocol were caught off guard too. But unlike them they only heard the sound of it so they were not so sure.
"What the hell was that?" said the soldier whose badge read 0734
"Was that an attack?" said the other soldier whose badge read 0735
"An attack of such level? It is impossible…"
"I can understand that, but what could that be?"
"They stored many firecrackers for tomorrow's festival in a single place... Maybe, due to a mistake, they all exploded at once…"
"Yes, that could be a possibility. An attack is impossible considering that our capital city is surrounded by hills in all directions. Even a long-ranged cannon is impossible to move in such hills."
"But we should still check it... What do you think?"
"I don't mind; I want to see the reaction of everybody. The king won't forgive
them for wasting that many crackers! Haha!"
"This hill will take us to the city very quickly... Let's climb it!"
Meanwhile, atop the hill, Kiyoshi and the old man were still standing, shocked by the sudden incident. Kiyoshi, while looking at the disastrous scene, said, "Wha- How could this have happened?!"
"What?! How?!" The old man had the same sort of reaction.
Both of them were shocked and stood still in fear. They were afraid of the disaster and the one behind it. Something of this scale could not have been a mistake, it being an attack by somebody else was the most possible scenario.
This was also the worst-case scenario because it would alert all the soldiers, making Kiyoshi and the old man's escape impossible. Being caught like that could lead to their deaths.
For once, the old man looked somewhere else and saw the two soldiers approaching them. Though they were trying to reach the top of the hill to find the reason for the loud noise, they would also find the old man and Kiyoshi by default.
Kiyoshi was still looking at the site of the blast and the black smoke floating in the air, slowly reaching the white clouds in the sky, and the fire which spread on the ground and burnt the nearby houses.
Kiyoshi, already in shock, was about to be startled again as the old man quickly pushed him into the bushes and then jumped in himself to hide.
"Agh- Wha-" Before Kiyoshi could speak, the old man shut him up by putting his hand on his mouth. "Shushhhhhh-"
Kiyoshi realised the situation and asked very quietly, "What is it?"
"Two soldiers… outside… arrived just now… if they see us, we die…" The old man used many expressions and hand signs while saying this. He was absolutely in fear.
Outside the dense bushes, the soldiers who had just reached the top of the hill saw the black cloud of smoke.
"I told you it's the firecrackers!" 0734 spoke in an excited way.
"Alright, but did you see this log falling on the ground?"
"I didn't! Stop trying to scare me with these silly jokes. After all, my prediction was correct. You might be jealous of my skills. They call me the detective prodigy in the neighbouring nation!"
"Whatever you say…"
But as they walked forward towards the cliff, the scenery became more visible to them.
"Isn't this too much for firecrackers?" 0735 spoke in a sarcastic manner.
"Y-Yeah, you were correct, I guess… The city is under attack…"
"Not only this, but it was the king's castle… How did they manage to do this?!"
"I don't know, man… Do you think we should go there?" 0734 asked 0735 while turning his head towards him.
But what he saw shocked him. The moment he turned his head, he saw 0735's head being smashed by a log and blood pouring like water does from a broken vessel.
"What the hell?! the log did move! he was correct! but it can't move by itself, damn it!" 0734 turned around to see the attacker. It was the 15-year-old boy who attacked the soldiers out of desperation.
According to the old man, due to the city being under attack, the soldiers would be on alert, which would make their escape impossible. They needed to escape quickly, but due to the two soldiers now being on top of the hill, their only way to escape was by eliminating these two soldiers.
The attack on 0735 was fatal, not only because of the impact but because he was standing near the cliff. He fell down and met his end. Meanwhile 0734 pulled out his sword and attacked Kiyoshi.
Kiyoshi blocked it with the log but 0734 instantly responded with a kick on the log which pushed Kiyoshi.
To avoid falling down the hill, Kiyoshi dropped the log to decrease the weight on him. He rushed towards 0734 but the soldier responded with another attack with his sharp sword.
Kiyoshi managed to dodge it by sliding under him. 0734 turned around for another attack but Kiyoshi picked up another log and blocked the sword again.
"damn, how is this kid able to do what he is doing?!" 0734's thoughts were of an impressed person. He was impressed by Kiyoshi's fighting skills.
Kiyoshi tilted the log and smashed it under 0734's chin like an uppercut. The impact was so great that the soldier bit off his own tongue.
"Rrrahh- Augh- You bastard…" He was bleeding from his mouth and coughed a lot of blood.
"I win!" Kiyoshi proclaimed his victory but this was his mistake.
The soldiers caught the confident boy off guard and kicked him. This unbalanced Kiyoshi who was already holding 119kg. Using this as an advantage, he tried to cut Kiyoshi down.
"Dieeee!!!" The soldier was holding his sword with both hands. He lifted his arms and swung them with full force at Kiyoshi.
But before the sharp edge of the sword could touch Kiyoshi, the soldier was hit in the head from behind. The one behind this was the old man. He threw the rock away and rushed towards Kiyoshi.
"Are you alright?!" The old man asked Kiyoshi while giving him support to stand up.
"Annnngghhh-" The old man pushed the log from the top of Kiyoshi to let him free.
"Hah- Thanks…" Kiyoshi thanked the old man and grabbed his arm to get up.
"Here… Get up…" The old man pulled the boy by holding his hand. But right before Kiyoshi could stand on his feet, the old man's back was sliced by the injured soldier.
"You old bastard! You thought you could kill me with an attack like that?! I swear I will chop your body like a butcher after I deal with this boy." The soldiers threatened the injured old man while staring at Kiyoshi with intimidating bloodlust.
Kiyoshi was terrified by this turn of events. His eyes were wide open in fear as he saw the wounded old man. On top of that, the soldier's bloodlusted stare was frightening him; it was as if his death was certain.
"what do i do?! uh-" Kiyoshi could not think of anything under this pressure.
While breaking the silence, the soldier 0734 spoke, "Hey boy… I appreciate your talent but look at you… In the end, I stand and you are sitting like that miserably… You should've chosen your opponent very carefully… I am known as the fighting prodigy in the neighbouring natio-"
But before the soldier could finish his final sentence, he was blown away with great speed. In an instant he disappeared from both the old man and Kiyoshi's sight.
"Wha- What happened?!" Both of them had the same question in their mind. They looked to their right and saw the soldier's body. The body looked as if it was crushed under a heavy boulder. It looked as if it was minced by a butcher.
"Uh- Wh- Who could have done that?!" Both of them were intimidated by the look of the soldier's body.
Suddenly they sensed a terrifying presence to their left. They turned around and at first sight they saw a giant beast walking towards them where each of its footsteps felt like an earthquake.
But after blinking once and twice, they saw a normal young blonde man in his 20s.
The blonde man spoke, "He talked too much didn't he?"
Kiyoshi and the old man looked at the blonde man in fear. They were frozen not because of the cold temperature but because of the presence of the new face in front of them.
They were terrified but the fact that the blonde man saved their lives gave them a sense of relief.
"Uh- W-Who are you? Why did you save us?" The old man asked a pretty straightforward question.
The blonde man at first ignored the old man and looked at Kiyoshi, he said, "Would you help this old man?"
Kiyoshi snapped back to reality, "U-Uh Ye-Yeah!" He instantly took off both his and the old man's sweater. He tightly tied his sweater around the old man's wound and then covered it with the old man's sweater to give it warmth.
"Are you fine now?" He asked the old man while holding him. It was visible that Kiyoshi and the old man had an old relationship; the old man was most likely a guardian to Kiyoshi.
They were also business partners as the old man's plans and ideas alongside Kiyoshi's strength worked together pretty well and granted them an advantage which the rest of the people in the same profession didn't have.
The blonde man kept looking at the both of them, he waited and then spoke, "Now, the reason I saved you is because you two must participate in EiEfSi Sama's judgement. I couldn't have let a brainwashed sheep like that soldier kill you before being judged by EiEfSi Sama."
As the blonde man stopped, the old man asked him while breaking the silence, "Who is… EiEfSi?"
——————————
In the centre of the city of Kurai Mori where once was situated the king's beautifully built castle, now had merely its debris. Though the so-called beautifully built castle was built by slaves living under harsh conditions, it was still considered beautiful by many.
There were blood stains on the debris which indicated that some people died being crushed under it. But not everyone was crushed under it.
Atop one piece of debris, stood a man with black hairs which were not too long but still covered his forehead and almost reached his eyes.
He was staring at somebody else who was right below him. It was the king whose one leg was crushed under the debris.
The king started shouting in despair, "You bastard! Why are you doing this to us?! What have we done to you?! You want money?! Or is it power!!! Please leave me!!! Take everything!!! Just leave m-"
He stopped when he realised that the man gazing at him was not paying any attention or he simply didn't care. He got no response; the man kept staring at him without showing any movement.
"Hey! Respond! You have taken everything from me! My wives! My children! My army! My people! What do you want now?!"
"I can see it…" Finally the man responded.
"Y-You can see… What?! What exactly is it that you are seeing right now!"
"Your true nature…"
"Eh-?! W-Wai-"
After saying this, the man slowly moved backwards and gently pushed the giant debris on top of the king. The king might be all powerful but could not survive being crushed under a giant boulder and died right there.
As the man gently walked out of the debris, he stepped in a pool of blood. The once peaceful city of Kurai Mori was now just a graveyard of unburied corpses.
On a few corpses, there were crows feeding, while on some there were vultures, on some there were rats and on some there were wild dogs.
The people who were left alive were staring at that man while hiding themselves at the same time. Though the man was aware of their presence, he didn't care much. He slowly walked away from the debris.
The silence was soon broken by someone, "EiEfSi Sama!"
Out of nowhere a person shouted a name which was most likely this unknown man's name. This man was revealed to be EiEfSi, the master of that blonde man who saved Kiyoshi and the old man.
EiEfSi turned around to see who shouted his name and saw the blonde man who had brought both Kiyoshi and the old man with him.
Kiyoshi and the old man unlike the two were terrified and were in fear of the genocide committed.
"What?! Did this man... Did he... Kill all of these people?!" thought the old man.
"Who are they, Alberto?" asked EiEfSi to the blonde man, whose name was revealed to be Alberto.
"I found them on top of that hill... They are most likely not from this city..." replied Alberto.
EiEfSi smiled innocently and said, "Oh... That doesn't mean that they should not be judged, right?"
Alberto matched his innocence with a smile and said, "Yeah..."
"are these two not in their right mind? are they smiling?! after doing this!" thought the old man.
As EiEfSi looked away, his smile faded away too and he asked Kiyoshi, "What happened to you two there?"
"Uh-" Kiyoshi was too afraid to reply. He was sweating and his heart was beating very fast.
"Reply, Kiyoshi..." said the old man, which helped Kiyoshi get back to his senses.
After telling Kiyoshi to reply, the old man said to himself, "there is no doubt that this man would kill us too if we do not co-operate with him... we must answer every question of his and do whatever he says..."
"Uh- — — — — —" Kiyoshi hesitated to speak but then slowly told him everything one by one from the start which EiEfSi listened to without any problem; he seemed to be interested in everything Kiyoshi said.
——————————
"Is that so?
— — — — —
Don't worry, you are a strong kid." said EiEfSi after listening to Kiyoshi.
Kiyoshi was shocked upon hearing that, "Uh- Really?!"
EiEfSi smiled at Kiyoshi which completely changed the atmosphere. Even though they were surrounded by corpses, that one move from EiEfSi made Kiyoshi forget about everything else. It felt like the warm season of spring after a cold winter.
Meanwhile, the old man was still sweating and trembling not only because of his wound, but because he could tell that the atrocity here was committed by none other than EiEfSi.
The old man said to himself, "is this the judgement he told us about… at first i thought he must be a person with a kind heart who is against the autocratic rule… but looking at what he did, he might be just another autocrat…
— — — — —
i am afraid that we may not leave this place alive... this man cannot be trusted... he has killed so many people... he won't hesitate to kill two more...
— — — — —
i don't know what you are thinking right now, kiyoshi… but do not think that this man is good in any way…"
[Autocratic rule here is a system of rule where power is centralised in the hand of one individual.]
[An autocrat here is someone who holds absolute power and authority over the rest who are within his vicinity.]
The old man was looking down the whole time and when he finally looked upwards, he saw EiEfSi slowly approaching Kiyoshi on foot.
This shocked the old man, "uh- no-" he was afraid that EiEfSi might kill Kiyoshi.
"what should i do?!" questioned the terrified old man to himself.
EiEfsi slowly walked towards Kiyoshi and patted his head which shocked both the old man and Kiyoshi himself.
He continued forward and walked past Kiyoshi towards the old man and took a deep breath, "Hah-"
"Eh-?! Nmnhghhh-" EiEfSi instantly slit the old man's throat with a knife.
"Huh?!" Kiyoshi turned around with his eyes wide open. He was not able to believe what happened just now because of its unpredictability and suddenness.
"was that all an act?!" Kiyoshi questioned EiEfSi's good gestures. He turned around and rushed towards EiEfSi while breathing heavily but instead of attacking him, he stopped right before him.
He stopped to look at the old man who could not even deliver his final words. Whereas, EiEfSi didn't even turn around as if he knew everything without looking at it.
He kept walking and then looked at Alberto and said, "Everything is done here, right?" to which Alberto replied, "Yeah, I have checked the whole city and did what I was supposed to."
It was not so late when EiEfSi and Alberto both left the city of Kurai Mori after completing their so-called "judgement". They left Kiyoshi behind, who was alone sitting in a pool of blood surrounded by corpses.
Kiyoshi was not crying but he was clenching his fists as though in pain. He felt empty, and his chest was hurting despite having no visible wound. The sudden incident left him no time to grieve.
The sun began to set, resulting in a decrease in the city's temperature. The temperature dropped below 0°C, reaching -7°C. Kiyoshi was breathing rapidly and shallowly due to too much stress.
"uh- i can't breathe…" He felt short of air and soon his eyes closed. He slowly began falling down on the ground. He collapsed on the ground at the same time the sun set itself behind the hills.
But before he could hit the ground, he was caught by somebody. The one who caught him was a man with greyish hair. This man was not alone, with him there was somebody else who was staring at Kiyoshi while standing behind him.
END OF CHAPTER ONE - EIEFSI
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
ayan_narutwu
ayan_narutwu last time when i started writing this novel... i had trouble with pacing... so i was not really satisfied...
I deleted that book and am starting again :)
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