It had been four days since Alexander first stepped outside the room and into the village. Back then, his eyes had hungrily taken in the sight of everything around him.
Unfortunately, he had only managed to spend thirty minutes outside before his body grew weak, forcing him to return.
Yesterday, Ma had refused to let him leave, and today, he had snuck out.
"She'll understand," Alexander shrugged.
Late in the morning, Ma and Barth were never around. Where Barth went, Alexander didn't know, but he knew that Ma was busy at that time attending to patients.
She was truly the village's doctor.
The place where Ma and Barth lived was a large compound, surrounded by an old wooden fence that had no gate.
The compound had four small buildings, and Alexander occupied one of them.
The building he resided in was close to the old couple's personal quarters so they could easily watch over him. However, during the day, Ma moved to the farthest building to attend to her patients, becoming too occupied to notice what he was up to.
Throwing a black cloth over his head to hide his face, and dressed in loose brown pants and a shirt, Alexander silently slipped out of his room. He walked outside, looking no different from someone who had come to see the doctor and was now leaving her compound.
...
Beckle was the name of the village Alexander had awakened in, and other than the old couple's home, the only other compound in the village belonged to its leader.
Unlike the village leader's residence, which sat at the center of the village, the old couple's compound was located near the edge, with just a few houses surrounding it and a steep hill at its back.
As Alexander exited the compound, he was immediately greeted by the sight of other buildings, mud houses with hay-covered roofs.
The feel of his legs in motion was quite pleasant, and rather than head to the village center as he had done with Barth the last time, he turned and went in the opposite direction.
From his new memories, Alexander knew that while there were tall fences surrounding the village, years of neglect had weakened them. At this point, several spots in the fence had become gaps wide enough for someone to pass through.
With the couple's residence already located near the edge, it took Alexander only a few steps to arrive at one of these openings, a gap just wide enough to allow a slim adult through. He patiently waited as two little boys, who had gotten there first, slipped through. After all, it wasn't like the gaps were a secret.
Though the boys gave his figure a curious glance, whatever activity they were heading out to perform took priority, and they quickly ignored him.
Bending his back, Alexander followed after the kids had passed through.
He gave the few trees and the hill his eyes landed on a glance, then took a left, heading in the same direction as the boys.
His route led him along the side of the wooden fence, a dense region of trees coming into view on his right.
Ahead of him, the two boys began to glance back more frequently, likely growing curious or suspicious since he appeared to be following them.
But then, without warning, Alexander took a sharp left and stepped into the forest.
Soon, he was surrounded by tall trees filled with thick green leaves. After a few minutes, he gradually made a U-turn that made it seem like he was heading back to the village, but he was actually ascending.
A few more minutes passed, and Alexander arrived at his destination. He let out a sigh of relief as he took a seat on the hill that stood at the back of the village.
This point, where Alexander now sat, was the tallest for miles around. Feeling the soft green grass beneath him and the gentle wind blowing against his face, he gazed down at the village that lay beneath him, then at the land stretching far into the distance, and finally at the mountains surrounding it all.
"Why am I here?"
The wind around him picked up, as if understanding his frustration. It blew quite strongly, sending his hair billowing before settling again.
"Why am I here?"
This time, Alexander's tone was louder, firmer, and he looked up to the sky with a hopeful expression on his face.
He had always found the idea of gods dubious, tools of manipulation, but now, he searched for them. After all, who else but the gods could have done this to him?
"Is this some punishment? Perhaps hell?" Alexander silently questioned, his gaze returning to the village below, spotting several figures moving about.
It had been a week since he woke up, and though he had been taking things in stride, his heart had remained clenched. Now, he was letting the frustration spill out.
Alexander had interacted with some of the villagers, not to seek answers or learn about the place, but to find a reason to question the conclusions he was being forced to accept.
Nothing made sense.
Dying and having his soul transported to another world? The reason why something like that would happen completely eluded him.
He thought of his wife, his unborn child, his soldiers, and his empire. He wanted another answer. And his eyes, full of longing, could not help but settle on the lands beyond the horizon.
Though there were holes in the idea, a strong theory of Alexander's was that he was on a land separate from and undiscovered by the known world. It was his only hope.
[Hello Alexander,
Beckle will be attacked in two weeks by a band of slavers.]