He had been walking for quite a while and felt he had gotten far enough from the demons. He decided to rest for a moment under a tree that wasn't too big, yet had lush, dense leaves.
With nothing but the clothes on his body and the black cloak he had just obtained, he tried to sleep, ignoring the cold night air.
The wind blew quite strongly, making the atmosphere even colder. Clusius longed for the warmth of his simple wooden home. He missed the moments when he and his family spent time together. He realized that his family would never be the same again. The loss of his father had made half of his world feel shattered.
Before falling asleep, a few tears slipped out and wet his cheeks. Deep in his heart, he hoped that his mother and younger sibling were safe, because they were the only reason Clusius kept going. He hoped that someday he would be able to meet them again.
August 23, Year 47
The sun was almost directly above Clusius's head. A warm breeze gently brushed through his hair. With tired eyes and red bumps all over his body, he woke up.
"Ugh… I miss my worn-out blanket…"
After stretching his body a little and spacing out for a moment, Clusius quickly prepared himself to continue his journey in search of the nearest village.
After only a few steps, his stomach began to show signs of hunger. Fortunately, his eyesight was still sharp enough to spot fruits from dozens of meters away. He saw a pilis tree—its leaves were small but dense. Its trunk wasn't tall, yet not too low either, making it easy for even a seven-year-old child to pick the fruit. He plucked some and ate them as he walked.
In his heart, he complained, "Damn… I'm so tired, I still want to rest. But if I rest too long and don't find a village soon, I'll be forced to sleep under a tree with hundreds of damn mosquitoes…"
As if one paragraph of complaints wasn't enough, Clusius continued grumbling while walking across a grassland decorated with bright red flowers.
"Besides my messed-up sleep schedule, I'm not even sure my body will still be intact by morning if I keep sleeping out here without protection," he muttered.
He had been walking for several hours. Half of the sun had almost been swallowed by the bios, signaling that evening was approaching. Unfortunately, Clusius had yet to find a single village. His body was exhausted—he wanted to rest, but he felt anxious about continuously sleeping in the wild.
"Damn, I can barely walk anymore. If I keep going, my legs might just fall off. Looks like I'll have to sleep under the trees again. Hopefully my luck holds up. I'm grateful that these past few days it's only been mosquitoes biting me, not a pack of wild beasts like wolves," he grumbled inwardly.
He wanted to stop, but from a distance, he saw a signboard. Curiosity led him to take a closer look.
"No way… There are two demes around here! Finally! I have hope of sleeping safely and comfortably. But there are two demes… which one should I go to? Maybe the right one—right means goodness."
Clusius chose the path on the right, heading toward the deme called Golden Strawberry with hopeful steps.
Clusius continued forward with optimism and hope. His right eye gleamed as he imagined his mother's beautiful face and his sibling's chubby cheeks, while his left eye remained pale white as usual.
The sky grew darker, and his steps quickened. The sound of grass swaying in the wind, along with the clinking of the coin pouch tied to his belt, accompanied his journey toward a small deme that would change much of his life.
When the moon and stars had replaced the sun in lighting up the bios, Clusius finally arrived at the village.
"Stop! Who are you, and what are you here for?" Two guards blocked his way into the deme.
"I am a refugee from the Deme of the Night Sky, which is part of the Blue Stone polis¹. My deme was destroyed by demons, and I came here to survive and to search for my family."
"Your family? Didn't you come here with them? Where are they?"
"I don't know. I got separated from them while we were fleeing from my home deme. Now I don't know where they are. I hope they came to this deme."
"That's unfortunate, kid. Not a single refugee has come to this deme. Maybe they went to the other deme, or perhaps they've already di—" the guard's mouth was suddenly covered by his companion's hand.
"If it's not necessary, don't say it. Ahem… you may enter this village, as long as you can pay."
"How much?"
"Ten matria."
Clusius checked his coin pouch.
"Here, may I enter?"
"Of course. But where will you stay, kid?"
Clusius fell silent for a moment.
"Don't even think about sleeping on the streets or in public places. The guards will keep driving you away. And if the people feel disturbed by your presence, the guards will gladly throw you out of this peaceful deme—and you won't be allowed back in."
"…For now, I'll stay at an inn or something like that, while I look for a job to earn money."
"That's up to you. I hope you find a job soon, but it won't be easy."
Clusius stepped into the deme.
"Is there even work for a kid that small?"
"There is."
"What kind?"
"A slave… or an adventurer."
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1. polis = Greek term for a city-state.
A city-state is a form of independent governance consisting of a main city (asty) and the surrounding rural areas (chora).