“How’s your business after the incident? No one wants to buy accessories anymore, or rather not many can afford them anymore. You hear what happened to Yore’s family? The knights took them in for questioning after they were found harboring demons in their home.”

As Din and I walked through the town, many gossips could be heard from the townspeople. Most of them were afraid of how destructive the demons were while others were worrying about the state of the city.

The city appeared completely different from how it’d been when we left. Buildings were broken apart, some didn’t have roofs while many others were crumbled and only a few had their foundations still standing.

Tal had mentioned that there were probably other Spirits who had awakened that night, but to think their Wishes would be this dangerous.

As expected, there were many guards wandering about in the streets and the alleyways. Din was wearing a hooded cloak to cover his face.

It was a grim and cloudy day, almost as if it could rain at any moment. I moved about slowly, but I could see Din was moving at a quick pace towards the direction of the hospital.

“If you walk too fast, the guards might suspect you of something,” I warned.

Realizing that now, Din slowed his pace to match that of the others walking down the street.

The streets were busy as many workers were clearing debris and moving them into carts. The food vendors that used to be present on this street weren’t there today. I felt disheartened as I saw a familiar food cart in pieces under some of the rubble.

It didn’t take us long before we reached the hospital. Luckily, the area around the hospital appeared untouched by the battle.

Din moved close to me and whispered, “I’ll be watching the entrance every few minutes, just wait outside once you’re done.” He then continued walking to not arouse suspicions.

This was the hospital Din’s mother was in. I looked up at the grand marble building. There seemed to be about three or four floors with a reception area right in front of the entrance. There were few people waiting in the seats in the reception area.

Doctors and nurses were moving about hurriedly. I had to find the room where Din’s mother would be in.

I searched through the first floor. There were many injured people in each room. Some had cut wounds while others had burn marks. Each room were filled with multiple nurses and either one or two doctors.

“Quick, get me clean water! You apply pressure on his leg for the time being. When the clean water is here, make sure to wipe away all the blood. I need to check on the other patient.”

The situation in the second floor was similar except each room had fewer patients. On the first floor, each room had about five to six patients while on the second floor, there were about three.

On my way to the third floor, I could already notice how different it was. There were only a few nurses wandering about and no doctors in sight.

The first and second floors were probably for those that were injured recently while the third floor was for those that had been here in the past.

Unlike the other two floors, the rooms in this floor had their doors closed. I leaned forward through the door to take a peak.

The first room was filled with elderly men. They were gathered around a table and were playing with cards.

“Aren’t you fellows tired of losing your money to me already?”

“Just shut up and throw your next card down.”

I moved to the second room. This one had elderly women. They were all sitting in their beds and gossiping.

“I hear King Leorin plans to turn Ravenwalt into a military city.”

“Eh? I thought we were already one! With all those weapon carrying men walking around.”

“No, no. Ravenwalt is the capital of Grandel, that’s why we have so many knights.”

“I’m scared for my grandson. He looks up to knights. If he runs into one of them demons, I’m not sure what’ll happen to him. I’m only glad we found out Lady Morrison was a demon before she became an Ace knight. To think if a demon got into the ranks like that, the power they could have.”

“I hear a new general is coming to take over.”

“Oh yes, I heard that too. Sir Lenstone, I believe was his name.”

“Yes, yes. That sounds like him.”

Aside from the first two rooms, there were a few empty rooms after that. Then, I ran into a room that had a name tag.

It read Aria Morrison.

This must be Din’s mother’s room.

I phased through the door. It was a room quite smaller than the other ones in the hospital. The curtains were open with the view of the castle straight ahead. The window was closed so none of the noises from the streets could be heard from inside.

Only one bed was present against the wall unlike the other rooms. On the bed was a woman around her thirties.

She was sleeping peacefully in the bed.

According to Din, she was in a coma after the break in at their mansion. I moved closer to get a better view of her.

Her hair was darker than Din’s. It was long and looked well kept. The nurses must check in on her daily.

Even while sleeping, she was beautiful. Her skin was light and appeared smooth with no scars or marks of any kind.

I was glad that she was taken well care of in this hospital. The fact that her son was a wanted man now didn’t seem to be affecting her situation at all. This was great news for Din.

I placed my hand over her’s.

“Don’t worry, ma’am. I’ll watch over your son.”

“And may I ask who you might be?”

Taken by surprise, I moved away from her and checked the room. There wasn’t anyone nearby. The voice I’d heard belonged to a woman. Could it be Din’s mother?

“M-my name is Lorelei. I’m your son—Din’s friend.”

There was no reply. I waited for a while, but the voice remained silent. Maybe that wasn’t her.

I moved closer towards her body. The voice spoke when I was touching her hand so maybe if I touch it again, she’d appear.

Hesitantly, I hovered my hand next to her. It was then that I saw it, that I saw her.

A ghostly figure of Din’s mother was floating beside her bed, looking at me with a gentle smile on her face.

“May I ask who you are?”

She asked in a calming voice.