Howling winds whip through the desolate tundra, producing a haunting and relentless roar.
"Huff huff huff...huff...huff..."
My irregular breath fights against the snow and ice particles carried by the deafening gust.
I drag my legs across the thick snow, every step sinking into the landscape. The swirling blizzard obscures my vision and turns the world into a monochromatic nothingness of white and grey.
*Thud*
Something obstructs my leg. A purplish blue body with a sword protruding out.
...
I squeeze through the snow to avoid the corpse.
Yet the further I travel, the lingering sight of the dead increases.
This is a battlefield.
Wrapped in multiple layers of clothing and a large chunk of sword behind, I continue to trudge forward. Bandages surround my arm and forehead.
"Huff huff huff...shit!"
A sharp pain torments my left foot.
I fall back and inspect my leg to find a knife pierced.
"No...no no no...damn it!"
Pulling out the knife let out a groan muffled by the blizzard. I sacrifice part of my coat to wrap my feet.
"Ugh..." I pull the leather strap over me and abandon my sword.
Operating on pure willpower, I continue to push myself ahead, attempting to reach salvation.
There is a camp nearby. I just need to get to it.
Suddenly, I can hear heavy crunches. The silhouettes of multiple horses appear faintly.
"H-Help!...Help!" I attempt to scream against the icy wind but to no avail. They simply ride past me.
"Ah..."
*Thud!*
"W-What?..."
My legs shut down without warning. I can't feel them.
...
So this is how I die.
How regretful...
I dig a hole with my last strength and throw myself in.
"Huff huff...huff..."
In the face of death, my life flashes.
My name is Loi Krist, an ordinary man with average talent and abilities. I attended a sword academy at ten and graduated at eighteen. Afterwards, I applied for the army and took ten years to rise from a squire to a knight. Due to an incident, I was expelled from the army and had to work as a mercenary. But all of those don't matter as long as my family is well.
I have two younger brothers and one younger sister. A mischievous bunch but they are everything to me. My father died as a general when I was twenty and my mother is bedridden.
...
Poverty struck when the war arrived...and I had to join the army as a mercenary.
But to think I will die a dog's death because my employer betrayed me to "save costs".
...
Perhaps this is Karma. I've killed, looted, stolen, and destroyed many lives in the war to survive. I did whatever I could to help my family.
...
It's warm and comfortable as if I am in my mother's embrace. I feel incredibly sleepy.
...
YOU ARE READING
A Background Character's Fate
Fantasy"In war, commoners are the victims in victory or defeat." Struck by poverty amidst a long and devastating war, an ordinary mercenary dies among the countless corpses on a snowy battlefield. Yet by a stroke of luck, he regressed to his younger self...
