Volume One: UFO

Chapter One: UFO

　　A vast, unbroken plain stretched out beneath the sky, with no hills or mounds—calm as the sea on a windless day. The wheat fields were so orderly, it was as if God’s gardener had measured the height of every tender stalk, making the surface as flat as a mirror.

　　“Sean Carter…”

　　A loud call came from afar, as if a sharp blade had sliced through the tranquil air.

　　A small child emerged from the wheat field. He wasn’t tall, and his appearance was quite ordinary, but the one thing that left a deep impression was his pair of lively eyes.

　　He turned to glance at the sun sinking behind the hills, sighed softly, and ran toward the direction of the voice.

　　A man in his forties or fifties frowned and shouted, “Sean Carter, where did you run off to again?”

　　“Dad, I finished all my chores, so I went to play in the fields for a bit,” little Sean Carter replied obediently.

　　“Sigh, let’s go home.”

　　Old Miller took his precious son back home.

　　Sean Carter was Bond Miller’s only son. From birth, he had been especially sensible, hardly ever giving this rough-handed man any trouble. Yet every time he saw his son’s eyes—so much like his late wife’s—Old Miller would be filled with deep longing.

　　Their family lived on the outskirts of Scott Baker Knight’s manor. Although the knight’s fief consisted of only this one estate, for the people living here and in the surrounding dozens of miles, Scott Baker Knight was the highest noble they could ever hope to encounter.

　　Thirty years ago, this was a barren land. It was Scott Baker Knight’s father who led a group of landless refugees here, and after decades of cultivation, they finally established a home of their own.

　　After the knight’s father died, Scott Baker inherited the land.

　　Here, aside from Scott Baker Knight and his vassals, most people were free citizens like Old Miller.

　　But these free citizens still had to pay taxes to Scott Baker Knight in exchange for his protection.

　　Fortunately, the knight was not greedy, so although life here was tough, at least people could get by.

　　Old Miller was one of those who came here to settle thirty years ago. He started a family, had children, and had long since put down deep roots.

　　His only sorrow was that his wife died the year after giving birth to Sean Carter.

　　In such a remote place, there was a dire lack of qualified doctors and medicine.

　　Sean Carter was sensible and obedient, helping his father with chores from a young age, which made Old Miller very gratified. But he had one very bad habit: he was unsociable and simply couldn’t play with the other children. Moreover, he had a peculiar hobby—he liked to run off to the wheat fields and daydream whenever he had free time.

　　If Old Miller didn’t call for him, Sean Carter could sit there until the next day.

　　Old Miller often thought that if Sean Carter were a bit more lively and outgoing, he’d have nothing left to worry about.

　　Holding his son’s hand and heading home, suddenly, Old Miller and Sean Carter seemed to hear something. Instinctively, they looked up to see a huge, oval-shaped black sphere streaking across the sky, thundering like a bolt of lightning as it crashed fiercely into the distant mountains.

　　Old Miller’s legs trembled uncontrollably, his eyes filled with fear of the unknown, his mind blank, unable to react at all.

　　“Get down!”

　　A nearly frantic shout rang in his ears. He instinctively obeyed, dropping flat to the ground and burying his head in his arms.

　　With a deafening boom, the massive oval sphere finally struck the ground, sending a thunderous sound echoing for miles.

　　The earth shook, giving the impression of doomsday, as if the world were collapsing.

　　From the village came countless terrified screams, and everyone was thrown into a frenzy.

　　Sean Carter pressed his small body close to his father’s side. He didn’t cry out meaninglessly, nor did he bury his head in his arms like his father. He simply stared intently at the place where the sound had come from, a bright light in his eyes that belied his age.

　　The ground didn’t shake for long—perhaps it was just an illusion caused by panic. The terrified people finally quieted down.

　　Everyone was discussing what exactly had fallen from the sky, but no one dared to go and take a look.

　　Before long, the vassals from Scott Baker Knight’s manor came out and announced the lady knight’s orders to everyone.