He opened the door to his new home, a cottage that stood in the middle of nowhere. There were a few houses in the surrounding, but they all stayed a good distance away from each other. The house were all made with woods, and it wasn't the good type of wood.
"I'm home!"
Bell announced as he opened the door, the house looked smaller on the inside than it did on the outside, there was only a small table that was surrounded by four wooden stools in the room and a fireplace, there was also a much smaller room at the back and a staircase leading upstairs. The room was dimly lit by the fire from the fireplace but he was still able to make out most to the things in the room.
"Welcome back" A woman peeped from the room at the back and greeted him. "How was work today?"
"It could have been better (if I didn't die)" Bell didn't say that last part out loud. "I'm hungry"
"Don't worry, dinner is almost ready. Please, help your sister down so we can all eat together" she said trying to fake a smile but it was faint. "And change your clothes"
She really looked miserable, tired of life. And, she was barely holding on, maybe it was because of her family.
"Okay" Bell nodded and walked upstairs. She didn't realize that it was blood, the room wasn't well lit, so he wouldn't blame her if she didn't notice it.
For some reason, he felt his body shaking.
There were only two doors upstairs on each side of the wall, from the memory he got from the body he knew the door to the left lead to the room he shared with his little sister, Ryu.
"Ryu, are you awake?" Bell called out with a voice which was a little louder than a whisper.
There were two flat mattresses on the ground with a blue haired girl wearing a gray dress, lying on the one at his right. A small dim lantern stood beside her head as she laid down, facing upwards.
According to the body's memory, Ryu is a fifteen years old girl who got blind when she was barely a years old, they never knew how it happened, she just woke up one day and started yelling that she can't see, her family tried everything there could be to no avail. She was once a bright girl was a bright future, but now she has became nothing but a shadow of her former self.
'I'm sure by now, she must have forgotten what we look like.'
"Big brother, is that you?" Ryu said with a frightened expression on her face.
"Yes" Bell answered and kneeled down beside her, he carried the lantern with his left hand while holding her hand with the right hand.
'Her skin is really soft!'
"Thank the goddess" she let out a sigh of relief. "I thought it was someone else"
"Why would you think it was someone else?, We're the only ones living in this house"
Bell asked as he tried to help her stand up, he pulled her up and held her slender waist till she stood on her feet.
"Your voice-"
"Huh?"
"Your voice sounded a little bit different"
What she said made him froze for a while.
"Big brother, what's wrong?" she asked as she curiously touched his body till she felt his face and rubbed his forehead against her's.
"No, it's nothing"
Even though Ryu was blind but she could still see, for someone that has been like that for that long, it's only expected of her to know the voice of her family.
"Your body still feels the same. Maybe I'm just thinking about it too much, you must have grown some much. I wish I could see your face" His little sister said with a warm smile on her face.
Bell tried to hold back his tears as he helped her to the door and slowly down the stairs.
"You will, I'll make sure of it"
.
.
.
Bell stared at his dinner, using the wooden fork to play with it. Dinner that night was roasted meat and cabbage, and he was tired of it.
It wasn't like he didn't want to eat it, but his mind was clouded with thought. Should he tell them that he wasn't from this world?, Would they even believe him?, Saying that would just make him look crazy. He didn't know if he was his thoughts or the thoughts of the previous owner of the body that was making him needing to help them, they are now his family after all.
"You don't look too good, Bell. Did anything happen?" His mother asked.
"I want to go to the capital" Bell said without even knowing it.
But at least it was better than telling them that the real Bell was dead, if he was able to leave, he would be able to explore this world and also be able to make enough money to take care of his family, that was what the previous owner wanted and since he isn't alive to fulfill that dream, he was going to do it for him. But, for some reasons, his mother didn't appear to be happy, instead, she looked sadder than she did before.
The room was quiet for a while before Ryu broke the silent.
"I'm hungry" Ryu said, making Bell feel like she was trying to end the awkwardness between him and his mother.
His mother quickly regained herself.
"Bell, please feed your sister" she said and stood up, heading upstairs with her meal. "I'm going to rest in my room, I'll be leaving early tomorrow. And Bell, meet me in my room when you're done"
"Okay" he replied with a nod and turned to Ryu.
Bell fed Ryu her meal and she carefully opened her mouth then chewed the meat. She must have noticed something wrong, but she didn't say anything.
"Big brother?" She suddenly called out as he tried to feed her. "Why do you want to go to the capital?"
"Hmm, I was just thinking if I could get a better job over there, maybe as an adventurer. I'll join a guild and make a lot of money, then you and mother could come and live in the capital"
"...cough... cough..." Ryu almost choked on her meal as Bell hurriedly carried a cup of water to her, she drank and kept the cup.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I just remembered something" Ryu said with a saddened look on her face. "It's just that..., That was also what father said few years ago, and he never came back"
Bell received received another glimpse of his memory. His father had also went to the capital few years ago. He said he was going to be an adventurer and make a lot of money, but when he left for the capital, he never came back. His family had received a letter few weeks later saying he died during a dungeon raid and his corpse was devour by a monster.
'That must have been the reason mother was also like that, there were scared that another member of their family was going to die. If tell them that the owner of the body, bell, is dead. It will scatter their broken hearts.'
"Ryu?"
"Yes, big brother"
"Do you think I would die that easily?"
"I don't know" Ryu was rather straight forward with her answer. "You're not much of a fighter, you can barely lift an axe. But I know, you'll never go down without a fight"
"Then that's all I need. I'm going upstairs to meet mom, stay still till I'm back, okay?"
"'kay" Ryu nodded.
Bell stood up and walked upstairs, leaving Ryu behind as she absent-mindedly stared into the darkness of the night through the opened window.