That night, Alfa had another nightmare.
A crimson sky burned above the village. Houses were consumed by flames while the screams of villagers echoed everywhere. Massive fires devoured Osko Village, a village where every resident had red hair.
The cries of a man and a woman rang out.
Little Alfa trembled beneath a wooden table while clutching bottles of medicine. Outside the house, the Dharma and knights attacked without mercy. Fire was hurled into homes, and villagers were dragged outside only to be slaughtered.
"The red haired race will become a threat to the world of Uranion!" one Dharma shouted. "Exterminate them all!"
Alfa watched through a gap in the wooden wall, frozen in fear. A Dharma pierced an old man with a spear while another knight burned a woman alive. Osko Village became a sea of flames. But even before the village was destroyed, young Alfa life had already been painful.
Since childhood, Alfa had never been talented with magic. In Osko Village, magic was everything. Local children were taught spells before they even learned how to write. But there was one little girl named Alfa who was far more interested in medicine.
She preferred crafting remedies, using alchemical liquids, mixing powders from herbs, and experimenting with healing substances. While other children practiced fire magic, Alfa spent her time blending herbs instead. As a result, she became the target of bullying at school.
"Alfa only knows how to make medicine. She's a complete failure as a mage."
Many teachers were disappointed in her. But her family was even worse. Alfa father hated the fact that his daughter had no talent for magic. One day, while young Alfa was mixing medicine with her hands covered in muddy herbs.
'BRASH!' A burst of fire struck her hands, burning her skin.
"AGHHH!!"
"What's the point of those dirty hands?" her father shouted. "You should be studying magic instead of playing with mud and making medicine!"
Inside the house, Alfa cried alone. But no one cared.
1
"HAH!"
Alfa suddenly woke from the nightmare. Her breathing was heavy, and cold sweat covered her face. Reflexively, she hugged herself tightly, pulling her knees close while lowering her head against them.
"Damn it… another nightmare." Alfa muttered.
Her room was dark and cramped. Bottles of medicine filled the table. The smell of herbs and medical alcohol saturated the room—that scent had become Alfa's signature. Wherever she went, her body always smelled like medicine.
The next morning, Alfa had breakfast with her adoptive parents in a small city called Roshal. It was not as large as Jayakarsa City, but it was crowded enough because it served as a trading route between villages.
"Study hard at the knight academy," her adoptive mother said while pouring soup. "If your grades are good, your future will be bright, and earning money will be easy."
Alfa merely chewed her bread absentmindedly. The words entered one ear and left the other.
"A bright future?" Alfa thought bitterly. To her, the world had been rotten for a long time already.
1
That morning before leaving for the academy, Alfa returned to her room after breakfast. She tidied up the small desk in her room, reorganizing the medicine bottles scattered everywhere. Thin cloth gloves covered her hands.
Some drops of potion liquid had spilled onto the table the previous night, but Alfa refused to touch them directly. She grabbed a cloth and carefully wiped the surface clean. But a single drop touched the tip of her finger.
Instantly, Alfa's body stiffened. She quickly grabbed a small bottle filled with alcohol solution and poured it over her glove. She rubbed her hands repeatedly.
"Disgusting," Alfa whispered.
Even after the liquid disappeared, she continued cleaning her hands. Her adoptive mother entered the room, reminding Alfa to hurry to the academy. Then she sighed upon seeing Alfa behavior.
"You're really strange, Alfa," she said. "You panic over the tiniest bit of dirt."
Alfa stayed silent. Her eyes continued checking whether any stain remained on her hands.
"I hate my hand dirty." Alfa answered quietly. "It feels like something is crawling on my skin."
1
At the knight academy, Alfa's day went badly as usual.
"Alfa! Focus!" a teacher shouted during sword training. Alfa gripped her sword tightly, but it slipped from her hands again.
As always, the other students laughed behind her.
"Hahaha! Look at Alfa, the medicine girl failed again!"
"She better suited to working in a pharmacy!"
Alfa stayed silent.
Her fists tightened, but she only smiled faintly while burying her anger deep inside. When sword practice ended, every student's hands were covered in sweat and dust. Some students casually sat on the ground to rest. But Alfa was different.
She hurriedly opened her bag and took out cleaning cloths along with a special liquid. She scrubbed her hands over and over again.
One student laughed loudly upon seeing her.
"Hahaha! Look at that!"
"The medicine princess is scared of dust!"
"What a freak."
The others joined in mocking her.
"If you're afraid of dirt, then don't become a knight!"
Alfa remained silent while carefully cleaning between her fingers.
Her hands trembled slightly.
1
After sword practice ended, Alfa left the academy with an exhausted body. Her hands still ached from training.
She stopped by a bakery at the roadside and bought warm bread. But before eating it, Alfa pulled out a small bottle from her bag and poured vitamin liquid over the bread. Several drops of green liquid soaked into the surface. Only then did Alfa begin eating slowly.
Not far away stood a small stall selling drinks. A purple-skinned person sat there calmly drinking beras kencur. His appearance was striking messy white hair, a bright white blazer, and a black cloak resembling dark smoke surrounding his body. Other customers occasionally glanced at him strangely. Even the drink seller paused for a moment, staring at Matelo as though looking at an alien being.
But nobody dared ask questions. Those who saw Matelo assumed he was merely a traveler or wanderer passing through. Matelo did not care about the curious stares of humans. As a seraphis, he was already used to human attention.
He slowly drank his beras kencur. At the same time, a faint voice echoed inside his mind. A long distance communication between seraphis.
"My chosen individual has already started moving," Matelo said. "Sancaka has killed several knights and civilians."
Then Matelo fell silent, listening to another seraphis.
Another voice sounded confused.
"The others chose famous and powerful individuals. But you chose someone like Sancaka? He's a nobody."
Matelo did not answer immediately. Instead, his gaze shifted toward the bakery ahead. A red haired girl was eating bread drenched in strange liquid. Matelo narrowed his eyes upon seeing her red hair. That hair color reminded him of an old report—a village dominated by red-haired people had once been exterminated by the Dharma.
As he watched Alfa, Matelo noticed something else unusual. The girl even wore gloves while eating. Before touching her bread, she carefully cleaned her fingers with some kind of liquid Matelo did not recognize.
Matelo narrowed his eyes.
"That girl is obsessed with cleanliness… interesting."
1
While Alfa was eating, several academy students approached and surrounded her. Instantly, Alfa felt something bad coming.
"Hey look, Alfa eating bread with medicine again."
"Hahaha! That's disgusting."
"No wonder she always smells like medicine."
One of the students grabbed Alfa red hair.
"What a weird race. How is your hair naturally red?"
The others laughed.
"They say red hair means you're cursed."
Then one of them suddenly snatched Alfa bag.
"Hey! Don't touch that!" Alfa shouted in panic.
But the student only laughed before throwing the bag onto the ground.
'BRUK!'
Medicine bottles scattered everywhere, some of them shattering. Alfa immediately lashed out and tried to punch him, but her attack missed. Instead, one of the boys slapped her hard across the face.
'PLAK!'
Alfa fell to the ground.
"Hahaha! So weak!"
The others forced Alfa back onto her feet. They grabbed her arms and yanked her red hair roughly.
Punch after punch struck her body.
Her stomach.
Her face.
Her ribs.
Until one final blow slammed hard into her stomach.
"UGHK!"
Alfa vomited the bread she had just eaten. Then her body collapsed onto the ground. Her classmates walked away laughing, leaving Alfa alone. Slowly, Alfa stood up again. Bruises marked her face, and tears fell from her eyes. But her eyes were filled with hatred.
Matelo still sat calmly while drinking beras kencur. He watched everything without helping in the slightest. What interested Matelo was not Alfa's pain, but her hatred.
Matelo realized that Alfa's anger was not directed solely at her classmates. There was another hatred buried much deeper inside her.
The voice communication between seraphis echoed again.
"There are indeed reports from Uranion. The Dharma attempted to exterminate the red-haired race."
Matelo remained silent for several seconds. Then he continued drinking his beras kencur.
1
That night, Alfa sat alone beneath a large tree near the academy. A bottle of anti-sleep medicine rested in her right hand, while her left hand held painkillers. Her body still ached from the beating earlier that day. She slowly drank both medicines while staring up at the moon.
"If I were stronger… my life would definitely be different."
Suddenly, a cold wind blew. Someone emerged from the shadows. Alfa immediately stood up in panic. The figure had purple skin and messy white hair. A bright white blazer was covered by a black cloak moving like smoke.
"Hah! Who are you?" Alfa asked.
"My name is Matelo," he replied. "I'm not human. I am a seraphis."
Alfa eyes widened. Matelo slowly approached her.
"I came to choose a selected individual."
A card appeared in Matelo hand. A dark card marked with strange symbols. Alfa accepted it with trembling hands. Suddenly, words appeared on the back of the card.
"KILL ALL DHARMA!"
The words froze Alfa in place.
"Murder the Dharma?" Alfa asked quietly.
"You hate them, don't you?"
Alfa fell silent. Then she slowly laughed.
"I do want to destroy them… but I'm weak. I can't even use magic or wield a sword like everyone else."
"Strength is not the most important thing," Matelo said. "Humans can accomplish anything when driven by intent. You are talented at creating medicine. With hatred, you can fight against anything."
The cold night wind brushed against Alfa face. For the first time in her life, Alfa felt acknowledged by someone. Matelo then summoned a strange object. An old dark colored gas mask. Its appearance looked bizarre to Alfa.
"What is this?" Alfa asked.
"A Type 99 gas mask," Matelo answered. "I obtained it from another world. There is a world consumed by endless war, and I took it from there."
Alfa held the mask, studying the object whose purpose she did not understand. But it looked terrifying enough.
"Wear it someday if you ever stand in a place filled with poison."
After saying that, Matelo vanished.
1
The next morning, Alfa overheard two teachers talking at the academy.
"I heard a village was destroyed by kurawa," one teacher said.
"They say every villager was eaten alive."
"The village's name was Wanasura Village."
Alfa quietly listened.
But something slowly surfaced inside her heart.
A faint smile appeared on her face.
"This is my time to shine," Alfa whispered.
That night in her room, Alfa began creating medicine. She wore gloves, covered the table with cloth, and even used small metal clamps to avoid touching the ingredients directly.
But when a bit of powder accidentally touched her skin, her breathing immediately became frantic. Alfa quickly washed her hands with water and herbal liquid. Once until three times It still did not feel enough. She kept scrubbing until her skin turned red.
Finally, Alfa sat down weakly. Her eyes stared at her own palms.
"I hate my hands being dirty," Alfa whispered.
1
The following day, Alfa arrived at the academy carrying poison. The poison was hidden inside medicine bottles. No one suspected anything because everyone believed Alfa was merely a strange girl obsessed with medicine.
Lunchtime arrived. The students and teachers drank water and soup as usual. Moments later, screams erupted throughout the academy.
"AGHHH!!"
"My stomach!!"
Teachers collapsed to the ground, students vomited blood, Bodies convulsed violently. Alfa simply stood there quietly, watching everything with a calm expression.
"If you all live… you'll only become knights. Then you'll become Dharma. And after that, you'll start killing other people."
Alfa stared at the corpses surrounding her. Then she spoke softly. "The seeds of heroes do not always grow into saviors. Sometimes they grow into executioners."
Alfa turned around and walked away from the academy filled with corpses.
1
That afternoon, Alfa returned home earlier than usual. Her adoptive parents looked confused when they saw her.
"You're already home?"
"The academy is closed today," Alfa answered casually.
Night eventually fell. Alfa immediately left the house.
She wore a flatcap hat, green clothes covered with many straps for storing medicine, and long brown pants. A large shoulder bag filled with potion bottles hung at her side. The smell of medicine surrounded her body.
Alfa walked along the dirt road toward the city's outer wall. And there, Matelo stood waiting.
"You're leaving?" Matelo asked.
"Yes," Alfa answered while adjusting her bag. "I need companions."
Matelo looked northward. "In Kertarimba Village, one of my chosen individuals is there."
"Someone like me?" Alfa asked.
"Perhaps," Matelo replied.
Matelo's body slowly dissolved into black light. Before disappearing completely, he spoke softly: "I hope you enjoy your work, Alfa."