Losing track of how long he had been leaning against the tree, Victor was sure he had nothing left that he could expel from his mouth, but his body refused to listen. Gagging and retching, the only other thing he noticed was a soft patting on his back by the woman he had saved. They hadn't said a word to each other since he started throwing up and only now he felt like he was finally finishing.

"It's ok. You did good. You did better than you should have had to."

The woman's voice was soft but somehow loud against the quiet wind lightly blowing the leaves that held tight to the trees.

"Sorry about the mess," Victor said with a soft retching sound from the last word.

When he looked up the woman had a smile and was shaking her head as her voice crackled, "You have nothing to be sorry about. You saved my life. He killed my husband, my son ran off like I told him to and he was about to do horrible things before probably killing me after or taking me as some sort of prize for later. If the worse you do is lose your stomach on one of the trees then it is the best trade I could have hoped for on this awful day."

Even though he knew the woman was right, Victor couldn't help but think it was still an awful thing to do as he started to stand up and step away from the mess.

"I should get back to town. I just........ you could say I...... Can you point me the right way?"

"Oh no," the woman rebuffed, "It will be dark before you can get back, and if you're lost all the more reason to come back with me. I'll make you a good meal and you can sleep under a roof instead of under the stars. Then in the morning, I'll take you to town and we can report what happened."

Looking at the body of the man that he had killed, Victor realized that he had made a person into a corpse. This was somebody who had been walking, talking, and living just moments ago and now, thanks to him, he would never do anything again.

While it was true that Victor had killed more people than he could remember in video games, this wasn't a pile of ones and zeros.

"It's.... no no right... If you're sure it's not a bother. I mean what about your son? He might show up with a guard or something. He might...... why did he think I was your son now that I think about it?"

Taking Victor's hand, the woman started to lead him as she spoke, "He didn't see my son, but heard me yelling at him to run. Since you came back he probably just thought you were him. Rorden, if I am honest he looks stronger than you, but if I am honest he wouldn't have had the heart to do what's needed. If we raised animals to butcher instead of working on an orchard he probably wouldn't have been much help on the farm growing up."

Going silent the woman let go of Victor's hand and ran to the body of her husband, kissing her hand and touching it to his lips.

"I'm sorry dear. I wish you were still here. In a way, though you did save me like you said you would. You kept him at bay. You let this young man find us with the time you provided me and who knows how things would have gone if things were different. I'll come back for you soon after I can get the horse set up on the cart."

She reached into a pouch on the man's belt and took out what looked like five small items.

A gemstone that looked to be carved into an oval shape, not as pristine or well angled as many Victor had seen, but with a unique beauty all the same.

A pair of wooden figures that, on a superficial level, looked like they could be the king and queen of a chess set.

The last item looked to be a third figure that was barely started alongside a small wood cutting knife.

"My husband liked to carve figures when the work was done. He never got any money worth note from it, but it made him happy, and sometimes he would make something just for the family. These are the last ones he made so I need to find somewhere to put them."

As she looked at the figures the woman started to sob. Tears flowed down her cheeks from her eyes as she clung to her husband.

Not knowing how to manage something like this Victor was hesitant to approach. He knew that if it was his friend Betsy he could say something like, stop crying and lets go break something, to help her. If it was Susan she would just cling to him for about half an hour and he would just lightly pat her. Now, however, since it was someone he didn't know the best way to help escaped him.

It nagged at him until he finally bluntly asked, "Can I help?"

There was near silence, except for the light sobs she let out. Turning to look at Victor, she wiped her eyes.

"Sorry about that," She started. A slight pause between nearly every word as she continued.

"I just don't know what to do. I spent most of my life with him and now he's gone. Let's just go home."

The walk to the house was quiet. Victor heard the woman crying, but it did soften and happen less frequently as they got closer to her home. Although as the tears were less noticeable he couldn't help but notice that she was clinging to him even tighter. He couldn't help but wonder how this woman saw him as he noticed the outline of the home.

It wasn't anything that he would think worth noting for the most part. The house seemed to be one story. It was quite long and on one side it had what looked like a well near a water trough that had a long wooden post made over it.

"Looks like Rorden took the horse. I would guess he is going to be back before too long unless he doesn't come back at all. They might not think it worth sending someone out right away."

The woman's voice fluctuated as she spoke. If not for her tight grip on his arm, Victor would have put his arm around her to pull her in close.

"For tonight..... well tonight I guess I'll be here. I know I'm just a stranger to you but if you don't mind that at least you won't be alone tonight."

Even though he expected it, Victor didn't fully realize how much his words could release a stream of tears as she held tight. The woman thanked him over and over as they slowly got to the door.

Inside of the house was a fairly simple layout at first. The main room had a couch and a few chairs that looked to be handcrafted and stuffed with straw for cushions. The other side held what was likely the dining area, a table with four chairs. Just beyond was a door leading to what seemed to be a kitchen if the hanging food was any indication.

The other side started with a hallway that leads farther in, until you got to, what Victor assumed, were bedrooms or workrooms of some sort.

"This place seems nice."

While he wasn't sure if it was true or not the look of the house reminded him of one time his family went to stay at a cabin when he was about ten. Far enough away from everything that you could enjoy nature, but close enough that you could get what you needed if you forgot it.

If not for the murder of this woman's husband and his murder of the killer, Victor would think that this place seemed like where one might go for a vacation like one of his friends told him about once. He didn't remember the specifics, but it was something about how stripping away all devices except for lights and those in the kitchen would help one's mind reset. He wasn't sure if it was true, but it was suddenly on his mind.

"Thank you." The woman replied.

The silence was starting to overpower the room before Victor coughed and tried to break up the awkwardness.

"So my name is Victor. I was hunting these little critters and I found you. I wasn't trying to save you so don't feel too happy with me. It was dumb luck is all nothing more."

Walking over to Victor the woman took his hands, "Well no matter why you saved me. You are a good man whose family must be proud of him. I know you were scared but you did it. And with the magic, you used to make your weapon invisible. That must be a very useful spell that I am sure many people are asking for you to teach them!"

The last bit of the woman's words got loud and she forced herself to go quiet, "You can call me Paiea. You can sleep wherever you like tonight but....." She seemed a bit hesitant to finish her thought.

A moment passed before she continued, "Just for tonight, and I know it's rude to ask, but could we share a bed? I don't want to sleep alone right now."

Victor was torn. He only had two answers that he could think of, yes or no.

The worst that he could think of for no was that Paiea would be sad and start to beg and sob and plead and maybe demand he leave, but he didn't think that would be the case.

For saying yes the worst that he could think of was that she made a move on him, but he admitted to himself that he didn't know if there were rules or expectations in this world related to this sort of situation. Plus he knew this woman was likely to be vulnerable and wanted to feel safe.

"F fine." He agreed, "But since I'm not sure what you're thinking I will say this. If you try to do anything that I find weird to me in my sleep or just that I don't want I am going to sleep in a different room."

Silence passed for a few seconds before Paiea let out a small, soft laugh that grew louder as it continued.

"Oh, no nothing like that. Sure if I was younger I might try something, but the last thing I want to risk is my son coming home and finding me in that situation. If you really thought I was going to try to take someone I just met like that so soon after...."

Her words stopped for a moment as she looked at him.

"I think I'm going to go and get Rammi then make some dinner for us. You just relax, but keep your clothes on. We don't want someone who is just wandering by to think you were like the last man."

Paiea left the house and Victor heard her mutter something before coming back in. She remembered their horse wasn't there and came back.

While she started to prepare a meal, Victor and, after opening the shutters, looked out the windows. The soft sound of nature as he looked out it was relaxing and, even though he found himself thinking about what he had done, it wasn't as bad as he expected now that time had passed. He even had time to think about what happened.

His card had allowed him to store his weapon and draw it out when he needed to. Sure he only learned how to do this when he got a weapon stuck in a tree, but it worked.

When he figured out the fact that he could dismiss and summon his blade as fast as he could think about it he practiced it as much as he could with both his weapons. Switching hands, making his weapon vanish from sight and bring it back halfway through a swing or during a thrust that would only be delayed by the weight of the item at the last moment. He wouldn't say that he was an expert or even capable if he was honest. He did come to the conclusion that this meant surprise could be just as, or possibly more, useful than talent.

Victor spent the rest of the evening just relaxing and eating the dinner that Paiea made for him.

As the sun set Paiea's son returned with two people who looked to be in a uniform.

The son looked to be a bit taller than Victor and was more muscular. It was obvious to him that if they were side by side that nobody would think them the same person. Especially since the son had some nicely cared for facial hair that looks like it had been styled to an extent.

The criminal's corpse was going to be brought in to Green Rebirth to see if he was wanted and, assuming some reports didn't claim him to be an innocent man, Victor was asked to visit the guard station when he had the chance to pick up anything that might be his to keep but to wait at least six days so they could make sure everything was done properly.

Paiea's son pulled Victor into a hug and put just enough force into it for it to hurt a little bit. The son's words were rushed and flitted from point to point as he spoke, but it brought the result of him thanking Victor for everything he did and saying that he is willing to do anything within his power to repay saving his mother.

For the time being, Victor just told him that Rorden could be the one to sleep beside his mother and he would take his bed for the night.

After the family took care of the husband's body, putting it in something like a crate, for the time being, and filling it up with straw and flowers. The weapon had been removed, apparently by the people who took the criminal's body, and he was now wearing a clean shirt that looked to have a bit more color than what he was wearing if you didn't include the blood.

Come morning the three of them had a home cooked breakfast that reminded Victor a little of back home. He hadn't had a meal that was home cooked with fresh ingredients instead of quickly cooked with whatever they had or bulk cooked so people could just buy it as they came.

Despite the scent of the meal and the sound of nature just outside, nobody spoke. Everyone just looked at their meal as they ate. Eventually, Victor decided to speak up.

"Well, I'm sure he is glad that you are both safe and such. I mean I just.... got lucky so maybe it was a bit of him protecting you after he died?"

Victor was never good with what to say, but since the silence was bothering him he took out something he heard on a show once. The only good thing about the fact that this world seemed to have a lack of widespread entertainment that he was used to was that nobody would call him out for just copying something from a movie or TV show.

Just like he remembered in the movie, Paiea started to cry. Her son went to her side and held her as she started to thank Victor for his words.

"I'm sure he would have done anything to help you. Maybe give you a bit of bravery if you felt like running or help aim your spear so it could...."

She paused for just a moment, "You broke your spear. Oh dear, we don't have one anywhere for a replacement."

The shift in topics and tones was quick enough that Victor almost felt that his neck snapped from trying to watch the flow of the conversation.

"It isn't that big of a deal if I'm honest. Plus I might get a reward if he was wanted right? Unless it was an alive only situation..... but that isn't too likely right?"

Victor was mostly asking that to himself than anything else as he almost felt like this was a small reminder of home, which caused him to fight back a few tears. He thought of how his dad was likely looking for him and how his mom was reacting to the fact they probably all assumed he was dead.

Unable to hold it in anymore he bolted to the door, leaving the mother and son alone before letting tears stream down his face as he put more distance between the house and him, but not letting himself lose sight of it. He only returned once he felt that he had no more tears to offer the ground under his feet.

The trip back wasn't eventful by Victor's standards. They took a cart into town, after filling it up with fruits from the trees. There was talk about renting a room now that Rammi, the husband and father's name, no longer needed a room for his crafts. If it was closer to town Victor thought he might ask how much she would charge, but at the same time, he didn't want to see her face every day only to remind him of the blood he still felt lightly splashed on his hand.

Even though he tried to refuse any sort of reward, Victor found himself with quite a few odds and ends for his trouble.

A small bucket of fruit from the trees. While they were a bit more oval shaped they looked and tasted like the apples he was used to, except for the first bite that had more tartness than the rest of the fruit.

Along with it was a knife for wood carving because, as Paiea put it, she was sure her husband would want him to have it.

Last was an invitation to come home any time he wanted and a kiss on the cheek that made him fidget just a little bit as he went to turn in the beasts that he had hunted the day before.

Going inside of the guild's office he didn't notice that there was someone watching him while putting ink to paper.

"So that's him. He doesn't look hurt either."

Putting away the paper, the woman took out a comb and brushed her hair, giving it a bit more volume, before taking out and eating a berry that lightly stains her lips a darker red.

"Time to see what someone like him has up his sleeves."