“Good morning, Mum,” my musings were interrupted by a soft voice, one that came from my lap. For a moment, the voice threw me for a loop, the words just too alien for me to process. Or rather, that last word, that was far too alien for me, alien enough to stun me for a moment. I had managed to accept Lia calling me her Mother, though only in the sense that I was the Mother of her entire species, not in an individually responsible way. That Lia was mature enough to handle herself, in addition to being strong enough to fight for herself and not require a great deal of protection helped, as did the fact that she could, in theory, hunt to sustain herself. She didn’t truly need me, didn’t require my aid at all costs.

But Sabrina, the owner of that soft voice, was different. Right now, she was sleepily pushing herself up a little, shifting from lying on the couch with her head on my lap to having her head rest on my chest while her body was cuddled up against me, in a position uncomfortably close to one I had often taken with Sigmir. Only, both of us had been naked and the nuzzling involved was intimate in a fundamentally different manner. And yet, despite the discombobulation I was experiencing, I wasn’t truly repulsed by Sabrina, I wasn’t tempted to toss her off my lap and away from me, as I would have expected. She, somehow, had managed to burrow into my defences with startling ease, making me comfortable with her presence despite the problems her presence would bring. I didn’t have to truly think about the disadvantages that bringing a child with us had, nor did I have to imagine what people, both those here and those at Apple Gate Farm, would say.

“Good morning, Sabrina,” I replied, gently petting her head, desperately trying to figure out what to say. With a more mature person, I would have rebuffed them, but doing so to the child who desperately clung to the possibly first source of security since her father died felt utterly wrong. But why did I have to be that source of security? What did I know about children?

“Who’s that?” Sabrina asked, her eyes drooping a little as she looked over to Lia, as if she was about to go right back to sleep.

“That’s Lia,” I replied, speaking quietly to keep my… daughter from waking up, “She’s travelling with me, we work together to keep each other safe,” I explained, getting a nod and soft hum in response.

Maybe it was our voices, or maybe it simply was time for her to wake, either way, Lia started to stir and moments later, she looked up herself, her eyes flickering between Sabrina and me.

“Oh, the little sister is awake,” Lia cooed with a wide grin on her face, “Hi, little sister, I’m Carnelia. You can call me big sis,” she introduced herself, the glee in her voice making me wince just a little, especially when it was answered with an equally cheerful reply from my chest.

“That’s so cool, I never had a big sister. I’m Sabrina, what have you been doing the whole time?” she asked, and immediately, the two started to chatter at each other. Lia happily explained how she had been out all night, hunting the monsters in the area while Sabrina giggled at some of the descriptions, without any signs of distress. I had no idea whether that was normal, or how children were supposed to react to scary details, though even if I had known what was normal, I doubted it would apply here. Sabrina, or really all surviving children, had been through a difficult time, no matter how their parents tried to shield them, they’d have learned something about the harsh world out there. Those without parents, like Sabrina, could only thank their lucky stars to remain alive, the realisation reminding me that I shouldn’t judge the people here too harshly. They had dropped the ball in one sense but in another, they had stepped up admirably, allowing even an orphan like Sabrina to survive. Such care wasn’t a given and it likely should be something to be emulated by others.

Not quite sure how to proceed in the situation I found myself in, I decided to go with the simple solution. I didn’t want to kick Sabrina off my chest, she seemed to be quite comfortable, nor did I want to stop her from bonding with Lia, the two fit together surprisingly well. So, I simply leaned back, resting my head against the couch and closing my eyes. I didn’t try to truly sleep, I just let my mind drift while my eyes were closed.

It didn’t take too long for the noise in the room to pick up, as people were waking up and moving about. After ignoring the obvious attention paid to Lia, Sabrina and me for a while, I decided that I apparently needed to get involved.

For some reason, the people seemed to think that Lia was some sort of pushover and had started to mutter about us, making the tension in the room rise to the point that it felt palpable. What they had in mind, I had no idea, nor did I know why they thought that just because I appeared to be sleeping I wouldn’t react to any hostility, especially hostility directed at the person right next to me, or the child resting on my chest.

Why they looked at Sabrina with hostility threw me for a loop, at least until I actually thought about it. To the people here, I must look like some dangerous force of nature, something akin to a dragon able to swoop in and casually wipe out the threat around them before making myself comfortable in their space. To them, it must look like I’m capable of taking away what little control over their lives they managed to retain.

And now, that threatening force of nature decided to play pillow for one of their most vulnerable, feeding and bathing the child while they had to languish in uncertainty, not knowing what would happen to them. Fear was to be expected, but fearing a child would be foolish, so the fear morphed into anger. Or something like that, I wasn’t quite sure but it seemed to make sense, at least in my mind.

Regardless, maybe I should drive the point home that they only needed to fear me if they annoyed me, something they were slowly starting to accomplish.

Letting out a loud sigh, I straightened up, looking around the room. The people nearby didn’t quite seem to know what to do with themselves, their situation having shifted massively the night before. Some were talking quietly amongst themselves, either in pairs or in small groups, others were simply sitting around, peering out of the window as if looking for Undead. They wouldn’t find any, not after Lia had promised there were no more undead in the area, but the locals didn’t really know that.

“The offer of a warm shower for those who want one is still open,” I called out, my voice managing to quiet the room immediately, only for noise to pick right back up when the people tried to figure out how that would work. They weren’t used to magic yet, though even if they had been, none of the people here were beyond level five, once again driving home just how passive they had been.

For a moment, I considered to try explaining what I had in mind but looking at the people who seemed to be far more interested in discussing how I couldn’t possibly provide what I offered, I decided against it. Instead, I simply stood, making sure that Sabrina didn’t take a tumble, and walked over into the shower-room. The drains still worked, at least for now, and with a bit of conjuring, I had my very own indoor rain-shower. It took a bit of focus to maintain, but with the attributes I had received from crossing the divide, it was quite trivial, even adding that bit of Fire Magic for warmth wasn’t taxing me much.

“There’s going to be water for the next two hours. If you need drinking water, we can deal with that afterwards, for now, those who want to can get clean,” I called out, before moving back to the door, so I could look outside.

My call was enough to draw in a few people, or maybe it was the sound of falling rain. Eihter way, they came wandering in, looked around and walked back out, likely to strip or something. I didn’t really care about organising logistics for them, they could manage that for themselves. Hell, if I could, I would set myself up somewhere completely separate from the, just to make sure I was spared the vision of naked flesh that was communal showering. I had no desire to see anything like that, not now, not ever.

But the people could get clean and the smell would hopefully lessen, making accommodations here far more acceptable. I wasn’t planning to stay here for long, I still wanted to destroy the Withered, but helping the people here was time-sensitive. Waiting to kill the Withered mainly meant they would get stronger, and thus give me more EXP, making it a fair deal.