I could move my fingers, yet was unable to see a thing. I felt like something light was resting on my face. I was about to remove it when I heard some voice talking around me. I decided to stay still to listen.

“Do you really think the spell would work, eh?” A squeaky voice of a man echoed.

“I am confident that I did it right. Dessspite that, we can only make sssure after he wakesss up.” A relatively deeper voice of a man answered.

“Poor child! What is a boy so young doing alone! Hopefully he’ll be alright,” someone said with a voice resembling that of an old woman.

“Whatever the reason, he isss not normal. That white hair and red eyesss, it isss my first time to sssee such qualitiesss.”

“Normal or not, a child is a child eh?”

As per their conversation, they did not seem hostile. I decided to remove the cloth and then sat up. There were three individuals in front of me. They backed away a bit as I blankly stared at them. They were wary, or maybe something similar to the emotion called fear.

“May I know where am I?” I asked.

“I-I found you all banged up and passed out on the woods! Don’t you remember, eh?” The short old man with a scraping voice restlessly answered.  

“I see. Thank you very much for taking care of me.” I stood and bowed.

It was a gesture that I was taught in order to show gratitude. It did not seem like they took it that way since they took another step away from me.

“You… Are you alright to be moving now? How are your bruisesss?” A tall man with a deep voice asked.

“I do not feel hurt anywhere. Thank you very much for helping me,” I answered.

“Thank goodness!” A short old woman uttered as her hands held each other near her chest.

“Say child, what do you see?” The tall man asked.

“What is the purpose of the question?”

“Gontusss sssaid you might have hit your head. I want to make sssure that you are fine,” he explained. “I want you to dessscribe everything asss detailed asss possible.”

“Okay. There is a very short old man, and an old woman with almost the same height. The old man has no hair on the top of his head, has a large round nose and orange eyes. The old woman has a fluffy white hair and pointed nose.” I pointed at them as needed.

“How about me? What do you sssee on your sssurroundingsss?”

“You are a tall man with orange hair and blue eyes. You are wearing a cape. The floor and walls are made of stone. I am sitting on a wooden bed. A candle that is on a small table is lighting up the room.” I described further.

“Thank goodness, Scalus!” The old woman cheered as she looked at the tall man.

“Now that we have checked your wellnessss, I am afraid that we have to escort you out of here,” said the man named Scalus.

“You are sending the poor child alone! It is dangerous!” The old woman protested.

“Golla, you of all should be aware of our rulesss,” he answered in an intimidating tone.

“I know but…” 

“Why not give the boy at least a few days so we can make sure that he’s fine, eh?” the old man butted in.

“Gontusss, not you too?” Scalus started massaging his forehead.

“I also want to ask this of you. I have nowhere to go back to. I would be thankful if you will allow me to stay here.” I bowed down again.

“Scalus, please!” The two old people clung on his robes.

“Fine! I will hold you two accountable if something blowsss up. In the firssst sssign that he makessss sssome trouble, I will kick him out!” Scalus pulled his robes away from the old people.

“Thank goodness!”

“That’s why you’re the best!” Gontus uttered before he turned to me. “Scalus is kind eh?”

“Thank you.” I uttered.

The man briefly glared at me. He did not utter another word before he removed himself from the room.

“By the way young man, what is your name?” Golla went closer to me.

“I am referred to as number seven. You can call me that.” I responded.

“A number for a name, eh? We can’t have that!” Gontus came nearer as well.

“That is what I only know of.” I responded.

“Why don’t we give him a name then?” Golla looked at Gontus.

“Yeah! How about we call him Sven! Not bad, eh?”

“You just removed a single letter! And also, it literally means young man!” Golla scolded, while Gontus was slowly backing away.

“Sven… I will take it. From now on, you can call me Sven. Nice to meet you, Gontus and Golla.”

“You will be living with us so you should call us Granpa and Granma instead, sweetie,” said Golla.

“That’s not bad to the ears, eh? Now, from the beginning!” Gontus commanded as he flicked his fingers.

“You can call me Sven. Nice to meet you, Granpa and Granma.”