The road is silent on my way back. The only sound I hear is the light clicking of spider feet behind me.

At that thought, I direct the spider to see if they can quiet that down.

Surprisingly, it happens quite quickly. A look at their feet reveals that they simply created non-adhesive web on the bottom of their feet, effectively silencing the sound.

With my bracelet hidden and the hood of my clothes up, I look like a regular person here.

The stone-like road stretches before me, as I head closer and closer toward Big Sister Crane’s place. Few people are on this route, a seemingly strange sight, but it appears something had cleared them out.

My intuitive scan shows that based on the pattern of debris and foot traffic, an event is going on, likely in the direction of the Yellow Sashes territory.

“Huh, they might be trying to make-up for the lost time and revenue for certain sectors, by putting on a special event.

It’s things like this that remind me, that though I come from a society where these tactics have been refined to another degree, the people and organizations are not dumb and helpless.

Things continue to grow here and, in many cases, already exist.

The world continues to move with or without my knowledge.

Case in point: Ai, Lin, and Gong, regarding the engineering of the well. Concepts for things like that are apparently well established. Not only that, but they picked up the concepts from such little information, and so quickly, that there is no question they would have succeeded in my world.

…I’ve been seeing a remarkable amount of exceptional people lately.

No. That’s not exactly true. I think it’s more that some of the people who I’ve met are exceptional. The others… like the homeless people on the street… I’ve discounted many of them, because they didn’t reach my notice.

Though, even in that sense, I could be wrong. For the people that are still here, they had to have something good about them, if they’ve made it this far in this world.

At the very least, they couldn’t make stupid decisions or have backing that couldn’t be discounted. Or they might already have been killed.

… ah.

Except for that alchemist’s son. He was definitely not the brightest bulb in the pack.

That poor father.

Ending my thoughts on that, I can feel the evening air cooling my cheeks. The soft sounds of my shoes hitting the stone. The darkening sky revealing the stars.

… The lack of people around.

My body slowly tenses up and I feel my entire body go into alert mode.

Why is it so quiet?! Why is no one here?

I send out a pulse in every direction. The spider goes into combat mode, sensing my anxiety.

… Only to find that there are people here. Just living their lives. Obviously, in a poor situation. But, normally nonetheless.

In one of the nearby alleyways, a few kids kick a rock back and forth. In another, a woman is trading some stale bread for some cloth from one of the countless broken down buildings.

While there are some suspicious people around, it looks like they are just the normal spies.

There is no danger here, is what my scan tells me.

My shoulders and back begin to relax, as I pause on the side of the road.

…I’m so tired.

It’s been one thing after another. One life-threatening situation following another. I’m tired of the constant anxiety and fear.

I want to go home.

I want to sit by a tv and play video games after a long day at work.

I want to eat a normal, good meal. Not the strange meats of this land.

…I miss my job, my co-workers… my friends.

I was never the social one, but I had a few people I relied on.

Jessica, who always found a chance to visit me at work, even though she was in a different department.

Brian, who was a college friend. He always was a kind guy, just looking out for others.

I really looked up to the air of open-heartedness he always gave off. It’s probably the reason I feel so guilty about my reasons for healing people.

And Tammy, my sister, who I honestly could call my friend.

After Mom and Dad’s death, we got closer and supported each other through the grief. We never really stopped, honestly.

I miss my world. I miss how peaceful it was.

Where I lived, I didn’t have to worry about waking up to a life and death scenario. Though, I was privileged in that sense. I was mostly an introvert, but one that knew how to work and live in an extrovert’s society.

A flash of memories emerges in my mind, of the Man. The one with bugs emerging from below his skin.

An ambush that sent me flying into a wall. The pain of nearly dying. The fear of having to always be on edge.

As these thoughts pass, only one thought remains.

…I want to go back to the cave. To safety. To not come back out.

As the sky continues to grow darker, I find myself sitting down against the spider’s back, just staring at the evening sky. Some time passes.

A ping from the spider shows Gong’s worry about me. I convey my safety to back to her through Gong. A ‘hurry back’ feeling comes from her.

With the increasingly dark area and my growing wish to return to my new home, I get up. The spider joins me and stretches her legs. Softly, I absentmindedly rub her back. Feeling the soft texture of her ‘fur.’

A curious thought crosses my mind.

I really haven’t looked to closely around me, have I? I guess because of one thing happening after another, I really was just too busy to really pay attention to the details of the place I’ve been living in.

A look at the sky shows the hints of a blue tinged moon. The stars, which I never studied back on Earth, feel strangely foreign.

A look back to the ground shows the architecture that resembles ancient Chinese styles, that feel so foreign to me. The composition of the materials seems to be made of stone rather than wood-like substances.

The path I’m walking in is made out of some kind of stone, that I feel must be cheaply made, due to how often I see it used. In the center of the street, there are manholes spaced out over distances.

Even in this poorer section, they still have sewers. I’m not sure I want to know where everyone uses the restroom.

Wait.

Actually, where should we be going to the restroom, while in the caves?

My feet have already begun to travel back home, as I ponder the things I did not consider.

As I walk, I hear soft crying in the next alleyway. As if from a child.

My body stops.

Another thing? Do I really want to be doing this?

I’ve literally just got out of an unpleasant situation.

There are countless people in trouble at any time.

Even in my world, it was like this.

…But I didn’t have a chance to help them.

Or I did, but I could easily ignore it.

I can feel my head shaking slightly, as I crouch to my knees in frustration.

DAMN IT!

My fist slams into the ground, bloodying my hand, but also creating a loud cracking sound and a small pothole.

Silence fills the area, before a hum of sound comes and people come out to peek. Only to see a giant spider and retreat away.

Soon, no one else is around. But the spies, of course.

Throwing a pulse in the direction that I heard the child in, I find her sitting in a nearby alleyway, next to the sleeping and heavily injured bodies of what is likely her parents. They are in a ramshackle hut, similar to the one that Lin and Ai had been in.

I’ve seen more than a few of them along the way.

The child hasn’t even seemed to have noticed and has her head buried in the chest of her dad. His chest rises and falls laboriously. The parents are clearly comatose.

Fuck…

I know that feeling. Holding onto them as tightly as you can.

Desperately hoping they’ll wake up. That somehow, they’ll be okay. That you won’t lose them.

But I have too much to lose.

I’ve already decided to limit healing people using my powers. Situations like this? Are too dangerous.

The area around the two comatose parents has some small items, which I can easily guess are consolation gifts.

Someone also shoddily wrapped the parents up in cloths, covering some wounds. I don’t think the child did this.

The area around where their demi-human ears should be, are bandaged the most carefully.

… they must have been well loved by the people in this area.

Shit. I can’t leave this alone, can I?

The more I look, the more reasons I see to help them.

It’s always going to be like this, won’t it?

There are always reasons for and against doing it.

Fuck it. I’m helping this child. I’m going to use alchemy to do it.

Though, I’ll have to figure out how to get ingredients and work with what I can find.

I should talk to the kid first.

Ugh.

I can’t wait to get home…