"You came here as soon as they let you in here, huh?" Alexander voiced out.

"Of course I am. You're the first person I met since coming here, so it's only natural to stick with you, wasn't it?"

"Hahaha! true. But look at your clothes. You really have to get a new pair of clothes right away. But it's okay. Let's just wait for grandpa."

Souji grabbed a chair near him then sat on it whilst facing Alexander and spoke. "He doesn't look much like you, however..."

"Well… I'm adopted you see… Grandpa runs an orphanage that is also here in the village. Many kids are there. Including me."

"How'd you met him?"

"Uh… I lost my parents in a monster attack. And then I became a refuge at a young age, eventually becoming a stray kid. Then I met him. He's a genuinely good person, ya' know?"

"I see…"

"Is that really why you wanna talk to me?"

"No. I simply asked... I'm not familiar with this place. I don't know where this is on part of the world or if I'm in a different world altogether. I want to learn everything you can tell me about this place."

"Yeah… okay, I'll help you learn about this only country that is currently surviving in this world."

"The only country?"

"Yeah. The whole world already fell before the might of the monsters. And only this country managed to survive."

"How'd these monsters came to be?"

"A virus."

"A virus? What is that? That's a new word I heard."

"Really? Didn't your place ever teach you about those kinds of simple words?"

"No…"

"That's too bad then…"

Midway on their conversation. Souji's stomach rumbles and silence follows. After a few moments, Souji spoke.

"Would you mind getting me some of that…?"

"Oh… Sure!" Alexander then pressed a button at the side of his bed and a holographic screen appeared. He inputted some buttons and the wall behind him cracks, the cracked portion is separated from the metallic wall and is moved to the left. Opening a pathway at which a bowl of porridge comes out of riding on a levitating tray and onto Souji's lap.

"Uh… Should I pick it up…" which he hurriedly does, picked up the spoon just beside the bowl and started eating ravenously as the tray goes back in and closed.

"Ah... How barbaric…" Alexander exclaimed upon seeing such a way of eating however Souji didn't mind it at all due to his hunger.

"S… sorry about that. My body seems to be healing but that doesn't mean I won't get hungry. And I'm just so hungry, so…"

"It's ok, haha. I'm not mad. Just seemed unsightly so I commented like that."

"Okay. But can I get more?"

"Sure. There's a lot of that after all."

"Where… do these come from?"

"Of course they're cooked. At the kitchen of this infirmary."

"Who's cooking these?"

"Well. It's automatically made. And it is free and there's always a stock here in the infirmary. Consider that you can eat as much porridge as you like, although that's the only food being served as of the moment."

"Okay then, give me more, please."

"Sure thing!"

After having his fill. They continued their conversation. With Souji laid back onto the chair due to his fully sated stomach and Alexander sitting upright, explaining with a serious tone and expression.

"How would I explain what a virus is… Well. Let's just say it's some kind of spreading disease, it happened a few centuries ago. And that disease is very dangerous. Because it transforms any living creatures such as animals and humans. It turns them into those hideous forms you had encountered in the forest and corrupts their minds to attack those uninfected and sometimes other monsters for various reasons, prominently, territory.

They can still however possess their consciousness but their minds will still be twisted and corrupted and that only gives them the advantage to think but not give them their own free will. Those of which are called intelligent monsters. Most of them are Alphas, categorized because of their mental ability to seize control of non-intelligent and lower-level monsters. The other group is simply those monsters that had retained their consciousness."

"How did that virus thing came to be then?"

"It simply came from a meteorite. We don't know where it could possibly come from but it is noted that it traveled over a few light-years away from a nearby star system. What's baffling though is that, how did it even managed to travel that far and leave its star system? To this day. Nobody still knows its origins."

"What happens to a person infected by this then?"

"They… started turning violent and over a few hours will eventually turn into a complete monster of different hideous forms and powers. And in just a whole week. Only one country remained. Speaking of powers. It is discovered that those infected can tap into this mysterious energy field that nobody knows exactly. We simply called it magic."

"How did this place managed to survive then?"

"This country is the single strongest country in the whole world and the most advanced in technology. Advanced enough that they managed to cook up a vaccine a few days later as the virus just started to spread. However, they were only fast enough to give the vaccine to the whole country and refugees from different parts of the world and instilled the system of domes to protect us from monsters since it is strong enough to just fend off multiple monsters. We lived peacefully for a century until the monsters formed hordes that are controlled by Alphas. A new breed of monsters. That is why there are soldiers always running around. To kill monsters and also harvest them for materials or as a food source since it could be eaten."

"Are those that I ate…"

"Yeah! Of course, they are. We have no livestock here because all of the animals have been infected and the traditional meat is only accessible in major cities! Still. It tastes good, right?" He said with a smile on his face which irritates Souji a little.

"Yeah… It is."

"What about that magic you used. You're not infected, right? How come you can do that fire thing?"

"Ahh… that's just the byproduct of the vaccine. We injected a weaker version of that virus to help our bodies remember how to fight it when we encounter it but then it gave us access to this magic but on a weaker scale. However, it's still strong enough to kill monsters."

"So this vaccine thing gave you both protection and power, huh?"

"Yep!"

"Wait. How is it being spread?"

"Well… through wounds. When somebody is attacked by an infected. Speaking of wounds. You're wounded by that Alpha but you never got infected. Which means you're already resistant to it."

"How am I resistant to it? I was never given such thing...!"

"No. There's no need to be given that. People that had been given passes on that resistance and power to their children!"

"Really? But I don't even know if I have any relatives here... No. That's impossible! I have no relatives to begin with!"

"Uh… I don't know. I do kinda believe you being from a different place altogether but what's important is that you have such resistance. That's already enough."

A knock then came outside the door and Hector gets inside. "Here are your clothes Souji. I had settled the matter with the people outside so you needed not worry anymore. And about those bizarre clothes of yours. I know a person that could help you restore it if you like which of course I will send right away after you changed into these."

"Thank you so much, mister. Where can I go to change for these then?"

"Oh, I'll lead you to an empty room."

"Yes."