My Level Zero System

She chuckled, her voice laced with pride.

"That\'s the kind of person he is. It\'s enough to have a good first impression. I have feelings for that old man because when I was young, he shared half of a potato with me."

The old woman closed her eyes and spoke, seemingly recalling a distant past. Mera was quite shy, until the old woman opened her eyes and looked towards her.

"But... Kain is a special child."

"Back when we first picked him up, we were so scared to make the decision to raise him."

Mera was surprised, but the old woman\'s words were not finished.

"We know little, but there are some things we do know. Kain has silver hair and golden eyes, no normal child would have that. We thought he was the son of some noble, and the reason he appeared near our village was... he was being hunted."

"Hunted…"

Mera was confused, because she thought the same thing.

Under normal circumstances, even the illegitimate children of nobles could live well with a normal standard of living, because nobles did not lack money to raise them.

So it is not necessary to give the child up for adoption, and if it is necessary, it does not mean having to run all the way to a remote village to ask for adoption.

It\'s just that when this happens, the most likely possibility is that the noble family is fighting for power. Those who want absolute rule will completely eradicate any seeds that could threaten the inheritance. That\'s why Kain was brought to this place.

"We were very hesitant, because once we got into a big trouble, we would all die. But we couldn\'t bear to leave a child to be eaten by wild animals."

The old woman\'s voice trembled, Mera was silent.

"Suddenly, Kain woke up. The boy couldn\'t talk yet, but he raised his little hand and grabbed my husband\'s little finger. It seemed like he was pleading with us."

"After that, we decided to raise the baby."

Hearing this, Mera let out a small sigh of relief. Even though she already knew the result would be Kain standing here, her heart still jumped when she heard such things.

"It turns out that he had been fighting for his life since he was in the cradle."

Mera thought absentmindedly. The old woman continued speaking.

"From that moment on, I knew Kain was a very special child, a child... no, the smartest person I had ever seen."

"Kain has cried very little since he was little, and is also very independent. He learns everything very quickly, and nothing can stump him."

"Because of that, we know that this village will not be able to hold him for long. One day, the boy will definitely leave here, searching for the sky that belongs to him."

"Mera, Kain is so smart, but because of that, he always has a distance from others, and no one can truly enter his heart. You are a good girl Mera, I really hope you can do that, no one wants to see their child lonely."

Mera was also moved and nodded unconsciously. She looked into the distance, where the young man\'s figure was still flickering before the firelight.

"We don\'t need Kain to repay us, it\'s not an obligation. But... we want him to know that this is his home."

The old woman\'s voice drifted away and by the time Mera realized it, she was gone.

…

It was late at night, the party was over and everyone had gone home to rest and prepare for the next day.

Meanwhile, Kain lay on the grass near the riverbank, listening to the sound of the flowing water, noisy but strangely soothing.

He looked up at the sky, which, although no longer the deep blue of the morning, possessed a different charm.

Suddenly, Kain felt footsteps approaching.

That\'s Mera.

"They say you often lie here."

"It\'s so late and you\'re not going to bed yet? Be careful or your face will wrinkle like an old lady\'s."

"Humph! I\'ll just do it, even if I don\'t sleep for three days and three nights, it\'s fine."

Mera responded to him without hesitation, then she sat down next to him.

The atmosphere returned to a calm peace, as if the night was covering everything.

A moment later, Kain\'s gentle voice rang out.

"How is this place, is it good?"

"Yes."

Mera replied, her tone of voice also suddenly becoming light.

"I can feel that this place is very good, from the way of life to the way of thinking. Not because of their hospitality."

Mera smiled, a genuine smile that came from the bottom of her heart. In this small village, she felt even more warmth than in the Whesling which was a thousand times larger than this place.

Compared to Myra, Mera is more introverted, so there are some things she feels more clearly.

Now that she thought back to the first time they met, Kain had stepped forward to stop two idiots who were about to fight with magic in the middle of the street, and then thanked Mera on behalf of the people around him.

At that time, Mera felt that Kain was a bit foolish. But now she understood, it wasn\'t that he was foolish, it was just that he was raised very well.

"Kain."

"What\'s wrong?"

"Nothing, they just told me a lot about you."

"Really? What did they say?"

"Very smart, everyone says you\'re so smart that it makes me tired. What is this about knowing how to carve at five years old, knowing how to hunt at seven years old or something…"

Mera\'s voice sounded like she was complaining, but there was no hatred in it.

"But there is one thing that I am very impressed with."

"Impressive? Even someone as haughty as you is impressed, so this must be quite impressive."

Kain teased her, but Mera didn\'t get mad, on the contrary she smiled.

"Yes, very impressive."

"They told me that because you were too smart, they couldn\'t follow in your footsteps. But they also said that no matter how far away you went, there would always be a place you could call… home."

After saying these words, Mera also felt a little emotional as she thought about herself.

Was the place in Whesling still a "home" to her? Perhaps it was only once, and it all ended when the figure of that woman disappeared.

Mera looked at Kain, wanting to see what expression he had, and she was just stunned.

In the soft and dim light of the night, the young man smiled, not a shy smile, not a polite smile, nor a reassuring smile.

It was a smile that came from the heart, from true happiness.

(End volume 1 - The Boy From The Village)