“Where are you kids going so late at night?” One of the guards asked, switching glances between me and Celie.

“Oh- uh…” I wasn’t prepared for a question, and I started to break a little sweat.

“Ah leave them be. They’ll come running back when they see a slime.” One guard teased.

“Hm… I don’t know.-”

“Cmon’, let em’ go!” Urged another guard.

“If anything wrong happens, it’ll be your fault, not mine.” The guard turned his attention away and sighed.

They didn’t seem to care much about Celie’s weapons, and so we hastily made our way across the bridge.

“Ok…” Celie set her backpack on the ground and had difficulty reaching in for something. “Got it!”

She pulled out a map and spread it on a nearby tree stump.

“Here!” She dragged her finger from a sketched rodbye city down further north east into Webb City.

“You’re not deciding off a whim, are you?”

She ignored my question and stuffed her map back into her bag.

Before we marched down the trail, I stopped Celie as a sudden thought crossed my mind.

“Eve…”

“Eve?”

She would understand me leaving, right? I mean, I’d still come to visit her… but I’ll be gone just for a little while…

I felt terrible for leaving her so much and not telling her about anything, but it was too dangerous for us to go back into the city.

“Who’s Eve?”

“Ah, a friend.”

“Ok. Can we go now?” She yanked on my sleeve.

“Fine, just stop tugging on my sleeve.”

We went far out of the tower’s sight that stood tall in the city’s walls before flying again, scanning for a nearby town that we couldn’t find on the map.

It took us 25 minutes to cross a town, except it wasn’t any ordinary town, it was Dunwich.

“Celie, can we stop here for a moment?”

“What?”

“Please…”

“No, I’m tired.”

I ignored her response and softly landed in the entrance to Dunwich. Wildlife had occupied the collapsed homes, and debris scattered everywhere.

Her complaints faded as I picked up a rock which bashed into a skeleton. She gasped, and I closed my eyes and lowered my head in condolences.

“Jiro-” Celie sounded like she was going to sound off with multiple questions, but I immediately interjected.

“My name isn’t Jiro Nakojima.”

“Wait, what?” Her list of questions seemed to grow

“I’ll explain everything after all of this.”

I’ve concluded that because Dunwich is a somewhat humid town, the bodies decomposed in less than a whole year.

I stepped over debris scanning what used to be my home, and I flinched when small creatures jumped out of nowhere and ran away.

Celie stuck close to me, scared that one of the skeletons might jump out at her.

I didn’t blame her though because in this new world I couldn’t let my guard down over anything.

Even though the debris made it hard to tell where things used to be, I knew how to make my way home, and once I did, I shed a tear.

It looked just like any other house, but it radiated a feeling of homesickness.

“Jiro- or uh… whoever you are… What is this place?” she asked as her impatience grew

“Didn’t I say to just be quiet for a moment?” I wiped my eyes with my forearm and sniffed my nose.

“Why can’t you tell me?”

“This is my home.” I muttered before tracing my memory of where Ceday had died. Celie, who hadn’t noticed I left due to gazing at my home, grew anxious and sprinted towards me, stumbling on the way.

“Hey, Jiro, I’m sorry-”

“I don’t want your pity. I just want quiet.” I said as I turned to her. She slowly nodded her head in disappointment, and I continued on my way until I finally met my destination.

“Dreu” I faced Dreu’s skeleton. I knew because I remember exactly how and where they died. I then turned to Zane, calling out his name, and then finally, Ceday.

“Mother.” I shoved off all the debris on the corpses of my friends and loved ones.

Celie looked as if she was going to break into a stream of tears while also jumping at any noise creeping behind her.

You people gave me light… Thank you…

I couldn’t hold my tears in, and I cried a river that night.

Knowing we couldn’t be there any longer, I said my goodbyes, and me and Celie were back in the sky, searching for another town.

As we flew, I answered some of Celie’s questions like “What’s your real name” and “What happened?” As if those questions didn’t tire me out enough, my mana was nearly exhausted.

It took us about 40 minutes to reach another town.

We landed at the entrance and were immediately greeted by a husky man and a cut dwarf holding wooden spears 6 inches taller than them.

Because we were kids, the two spearmen, who were guards at the entrance, let us in.

For some reason, this town was much more flourishing than Dunwich. Cruck houses were lined down aisles, and there were a few shops and markets.

It struck me a question on how this town was further away from the city while Dunwich was much closer while also having great resources.

“Alright- do you have any money?” I asked Celie, who was disinterested in the town.

“I don’t know anything about money.”

“You seriously need to read…” I shook my head in disappointment.

She didn’t even bring any money…

“Well, we’ll just have to find somewhere to sleep.”

And so we did. We went further into the village and found a flimsy barn sitting in open space.

We jumped the fence and I jumped into the hay stacks while Celie looked pissed that she had to even be in such a disorderly place, better yet, sleep on something as uncomfortable as hay.

I told her it was for only one night, but she took a few minutes of calming down before sitting down and laying against a wall only to fall asleep in less than a minute.

I laid my head on the hay stacks, which was very uncomfortable, but enough for me to sleep on.

__

The morning, which came very quickly, came full of allergies. I, myself, was to blame.

A hard lesson learned, sleeping on hay comes with allergies.

My nose was very stuffy and red. I was constantly sniffing and sneezing to where my heart felt like dropping. Celie laughed at me, but she herself had a little bit of allergies.

It was hard to come up with a plan to make money to stay somewhere decent, but I finally came up with one.

Well, I didn’t come up with it but a butcher had told me that if we brought him meat from beasts, he would pay us. I’m pretty sure he didn’t expect us to do it, though.

I happily agreed as snot shot from my nose and Celie flinched.

The only problem with this quest was that I didn’t know where to find beasts.

“You’ll find them deeper in the forest.” said the butcher, but we couldn’t even find anything when Celie and I searched.

“Why do I have to do this?” Celie complained.

“Because YOU didn’t bring any MONEY!” I shouted, and she stuffed her face into her crossed arms.

Suddenly, there was a rustle in the bushes. Celie unsheathed her dual broadswords, and I reached around my waist for a sword but then realized I didn’t have any.

I drained a lot of mana from flying around, and it takes about 2-4 days to completely recover.

“If push comes to shove, I’ll use my magic, Celie.”

“What does that mean?”

I sighed, realizing that phrase doesn’t exist in this world.

You’d think I’d get used to this by now…

Something big and gray jumped out of the bushes.

It was a fat, big saber-fanged wolf, drooling.

“YES!” Celie shouted, and she leapt at the wolf, brandishing her swords as she usually does. The wolf did not move, and it just stood there.

Something’s off here…

In an instant, Celie sliced the wolf repeatedly until it dropped dead. I expected Celie to be opposed to killing animals because she’s a girl, but I was terribly mistaken.

We brought the wolf back to the butcher to his surprise, and he paid us 12 copper coins which would only last us a night in a small room with one bed.

I was forced to sleep on the floor by Celie, who threatened that she’d kick my balls if I were to get into bed with her.

The next morning, Celie and I went around asking for any small jobs we could take up. Unfortunately, there were none.

We dropped as we walked down the roads. Some passerby looked at us strangely, some were coughing profusely. However, we made sure to avoid them.

We were also starving and thirsty. We’d managed a little bread and water that morning by begging to stall owners who finally let in after Celie’s begging turned into harassment.

“Can you hurry up and recover so we can make it to the city?”

“Celie, it may take us about 5 more days to get there.” I said, sighing along with her.

“You’re so useless…” She teased.

“Ok.” I didn’t bother giving in.

The next day, everything turned out to be a little better. An old lady let us stay at her place for the night. It was hard to sleep from all her coughing, though.

The further we made our way to the middle of the town, the more coughing we heard.

What the hell is happening…

Celie was confused as well, and she stood so close to me that her chest pressed against my shoulder as we passed by strangers, then she’d punch me in my waist everytime I blushed. “It’s not my fault!” I told her but she wouldn’t listen.

I honestly thought that she thought bullying me was a game.

We made our way back to the butcher who had offered us another job, which was to deliver some meat to a family. He promised us 5 copper coins each, and we happily accepted it.

Although, I was seriously concerned when he started coughing as well.

“Hey, Celie.” I tugged on her sleeve as she was gazing at the wrapped up box of meat.

“Celie!” I shouted, finally getting her attention. “I think that wolf was sick…”

“Hm?”

“I mean… wolves don’t just come out to humans for no reason… didn’t it look like it was just offering itself to us?”

“I dunno’.” She said, the box reeling her attention back in.

I sighed and dismissed the thought.

I hope it was just a coincidence.

We delivered the meat to the family of 2 teenage children and a happy couple who seemed to be in their early 30s.

They reminded me of Ceday and Otis, except I was an only child.

We collected our reward and slept at the old ladies house yet again.

The thought of bringing a pandemic to a town struck my heart, but I dismissed it and fell asleep.

.

.

.

.

.

“ALARIC!” Celie shrieked.

My eyes shot open and I threw myself off my bed.

“W-what?!”

“The old lady! I think… I think-” Celie sounded as if she were about to break in tears. I followed her voice and found the old lady lying dead in the kitchen.

“Oh no…”

What I wished not to be, came to be, and my body struck cold.

I think I might’ve just killed the village…