Chapter 3: Drastic changes
About a year and a half passed since Einhard awakened to his past memories, at this point, he was already pretty used to this new world, rather Einhard accepted that this was indeed his whole life from now on and there's nothing he could do about it.
Einhard was no longer a loner after becoming Elise's little brother, at first it was a rather jarring experience, Einhard had an older sister in his previous life as well, but he never called her by 'big sister' or the like, in the first place they weren't as close as siblings should be, but that's not important here, the point is that it took time for the situation to fully sink in Einhard's mind.
Everything's going fine, but Einhard is troubled by something
'What am I going to do in my life?'
He is having an existential crisis, sort of...
Do not make a mistake, Einhard did have a dream that he was willing to spend his life on, but achieving that is impossible with this worlds' level of technology and trying to advance civilization by his lonesome would take a lifetime itself.
Einhard raised his palm in front of him and gathered mana above it.
Over the year Einhard got exponentially better at handling mana, reinforcing his body is not a problem anymore, rather once he ironed out the basics for reinforcement, it became very easy to use, but there is still a risk of injury if carelessly used.
Back to the point.
Looking at the ball of mana on top of his palm Einhard thought
'I wonder, how much things can be done with this'
Mana, as Einhard understood, is the energy used to fuel spells, but there is boundless potential in it, he is sure of it.
'Maybe... uncovering that potential is worth dedicating my life on...?'
Food for thought... but before that, there is something much more essential... is the right word, which is...
'Money, of course!'
Einhard thought as he scattered the mana.
Without proper finances, there is not much he can do in this world.
Of course, as a child, EInhard does not need to worry about money, for now, that is, he is going to grow up eventually and it wouldn't hurt to occasionally think of ways to amass a fortune.
Oh, Einhard has a lot of ideas already, he didn't come to this world empty-handed, knowledge is what he brought along, but rationalities do not escape him, there is no way in hell that anyone will leave alone a child that is, essentially, a treasure trove of unknown wisdom, for better or worse, so he will keep his mouth closed until he's no longer in such a vulnerable state.
"It's not like something crazy is gonna happen in the meanwhile, right?"
The moment Einhard thought that he realised something crucial
"I just jinxed myself, didn't I?"
Maybe he did, maybe not, who is there to know such things.
.
.
.
.
.
"Why are we doing this again?"
Currently, Einhard could be seen with Colin, sneaking out of the orphanage, he was seriously thinking if babysitting was something he had to do here.
"What is it? chickening out?"
Colin taunted, without much effect
'No, you numbskull, I'm worried you're dragging me into something troublesome'
Einhard thought irritably.
Seeing the deadpan face of Einhard Colin gave in
"Come on! don't you want to go to town at least once, be glad I even brought you with me this time!"
They were secretly going to town.
"I don't even want to be here!"
The reason why Einhard was going, despite not wanting to was that he caught Colin sneaking away, there is a rule in an orphanage, going to town alone is forbidden.
Caught red-handed, Colin just dragged Einhard with him, so that he couldn't tell anyone about this.
Just thinking about it gave Einhard a migraine, he let out a tired sigh
"What are going to do there anyway?"
EInhard asked in resignation
"Well... we'll meet up with my friends there and... hang out"
"So, a waste of time it is"
This made Colin mad
"Huh! you got a problem, midget?!"
Thinking it would pain to argue any more than this, Einhard shrugged and didn't say more, not before glaring at Colin.
Truth to be told, Einhard doesn't mind hanging out with friends at all, but that is only the case when it's his own friends are there, which Einhard still doesn't have that many.
But, uselessly roaming around without anything meaningful to do is not Einhard's cup of tea, he'd much rather stay at home and do nothing there, if there is absolutely nothing to do.
"So, how long have you been sneaking out for?"
Einhard was the one to break the silence.
Colin brought his hand to his chin in thought
"Around... a few months? I guess"
He replied after a second.
Hearing that Einhard was honestly surprised
'He's been doing it for that long without getting caught'
That is truly impressive, the adults at the orphanage are indeed busy looking after so many children but, they are not neglectful, this little guy knew the exact time frame in which they would not suspect a thing about his absence, not only that, he never forgot to come back on time, even Einhard wouldn't have known about this had he not caught Colin in the act.
Truly, getting exposed like that... it was bad luck for both sides.
.
.
.
.
.
The visit to town went rather smoothly, Colin's friends were surprised by Einhard at first, but soon they accepted him.
Einhard, dare he say, had fun.
Exploring the town was an eye-opener, compared to earth it was not that impressive, it had close to zero decoration throughout its layout, the ground was muddy and generally not very clean, additionally, unlike what Einhard expected of the fantasy world, there were only humans on the streets, no elves or beast-men, but despite all that it was fun being in the medieval town.
'Well, not like I expected that much from a rural town like this'
The fact that less than two hours was enough to completely 'explore' it, among other things, was quite telling.
'Two hours, eh... wait, two hours!? shouldn't we get going then?'
As Einhard was about to ask Colin, he felt a chill go down his spine, he ignored the bad feeling and asked anyway
"Hey, do you hear that?"
Even though that was not what he wanted to ask, the question came out as natural as breathing.
At first, Colin was confused, but soon his face changed to that of a realization.
"Now that you mention it, I do. It sounds like..."
Colin started
"A warcry..."
Einhard finished the sentence for him.
'It can't be...!'
The bad feeling from before came in full force.
Everything after that was like a weird dream to Einhard.
The town was being raided, townspeople killed left and right, the road was soon filled with intestines and other innards.
Amidst all of that, Einhard was frozen, from fear or shock, maybe both, it matters not if he is an adult in mind, this is the first time he has witnessed a slaughter, brutal and merciless.
It is impressive how things can go south so quickly and unexpectedly.
At some point, someone got to him, a raider most likely, he said something to his comrades, but Einhard didn't have a mind to listen to it.
From what appeared to be a conclusion of their discussion, they decided to take him alive, Einhard wasn't only one, there were others, mainly women and children, Colin was also among them, but he was unconscious.
Einhard would also share the same fate, he felt a sharp pain at the back of his head and his vision started to darken.
Before he completely blacked out there was one thought lingering in his mind.
'A medieval world, eh...'
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
BenedictPhorr
BenedictPhorr Chapter 3 is here.
There will be one more chapter this week, after that, I'll go for bi-weekly updates, maybe even 3, the future will tell.
Till the next time!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone