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The sun was high in the sky. I was still a little bit upset the fast travel made me lost so much time, but all I could do was discard it as a minor hindrance for the time being. I should still have some time before the catastrophe was announced, enough time to find my comrades.

The very first person I should meet is of course Qalendra. I hadn’t met her for a long time, yet I couldn’t forget her face, her voice, her smile, and everything that made her. How I desired to take her in my arms and embrace her, recalling together the old memories we shared, the things we did. The things we wanted to do.

I asked Nilie to help me get inside Lagida without a hitch, and now we were waiting in a line between carts, mortals and beasts. The drudges were big looking reptiles, hopefully herbivores. Those big ones walked on four limbs and carried a large shell on their back, on which many ropes were rolled around it to tie the animal to the carts. They seemed docile, however I didn’t want them to approach me.

“Why are there so many people entering Lagida?” I asked in annoyance; there were simply too many people trying to get in but not so much exiting the city.

“I’m not sure…” Answered Nilie doubtfully, looking at the other people around us. “Maybe there is some special event in town…?”

I scanned our surroundings to check on the other mortals, noticing now that many didn’t wear blades or chainmail, but rather seemed to put their trust in magically manufactured objects. Capes that emitted a blinding light, small balls that seemed to generate a large explosion, wands that could spit fire. However… I hardly believed it, but all those items seemed inefficient as protective or offensive gear.

The cape could barely emit light while in the dark, I didn’t feel any deadly potential in the balls, same with the wands which could not breathe out a large cone of flames. They all lacked strength. How could they defend themselves with such pitiful equipment?

I sighed while refocusing on the remainder of the line in front of us.

“Something wrong, Spirit?”

“Nothing…”

…

Time always flew slower when you were patiently waiting for something to happen. Here, I had the impression of having wasted a complete hour before we finally reached the entrance of the city. The mortals in front of me all had to pass some sort of inspection before being allowed to go in.

“So we must go in that tent?” I asked the armed man in front of me.

“Yes, sir. You don’t seem to bring a lot on you so it’ll be quick, don’t worry.”

I wasn’t worried about time.

Nilie and I made our way inside the tent, where we were welcomed by two mortals clad in an uniform I had never seen before.

“Welcome, travellers. Please show us the content of your bags and your carts.”

We weren’t travelling by cart, and we didn’t have a bag with us. That was awkward.

“Oh. Well I guess there are guys like that… Can you show me your items so I can record them?”

Nilie removed the shield from his back and the scabbard at his hips, lending them to one of those strange mortals. He then casted a spell on them, before giving them back to the yume.

“I detected no enchantment on them. It’s fine, but don’t cause a ruckus in town.”

He then glanced at me. What did he expect more from me?

“I don’t have a sword on me.

-You don’t travel with any magic item on you?”

It seemed to surprise him.

“I need no equipment.”

I myself was enough to face the gods. What kind of weapon could I use when I was already mighty enough?

“Wait, he’s a sorcerer?” The second man asked in the back, eavesdropping on my inspection. What a rude fellow. He glanced at his colleague before staring back at me again. “Are you?”

I remembered being labelled as a sorcerer yesterday by some bandits. Maybe I was, according to their standards? But I was also thought as a spirit by another yume. Knowing the story behind it, I couldn’t deny it… Yet that wasn’t true either. Finding myself in a hitch, I asked Nilie for some help.

“What am I supposed to say here?”

He must have been surprised to feel all the eyes staring at him all of a sudden.

“But… You’re a spirit, aren’t you?”

The two mortals looked at each other, then laughed loudly. Nilie’s face became slightly redder, seemingly embarrassed to be suddenly laughed at by two strangers.

“No, I swear he is! He made monsters vanish with a thought, he tamed an infestation of mymus… He even cured the nevra!”

Somehow, I felt like he forgot to tell most of my actions to them. I hesitated for a moment if I should correct him a bit… But no, this was a mortal’s quarrel. I had no say in this.

“Wow, really? He tamed an infestation?” The first yelled in a bizarre tone of joy.

“How about the spirit shows us what he can do, uh?” The second one showed how curious he was about my power.

Should I? Shouldn’t I? I glanced at Nilie whose face lost his colours. That didn’t answer me at all. Maybe it was fine to show them a tip.

“How about a simple trick?” The shackles shined on my wrists, a sign I gathered and used energy for a purpose.

If anything, I was a big fan of removing a wheelwork from a bigger system, and then watch it how it managed to keep working without it. A mortal’s mind was really special: you never knew which gear you shouldn’t remove from them.

We all heard a loud bong! as we saw the two mortals silently falling on the ground. I found it funny because it always worked.

As for Nilie… He was for some reason holding his head with his hands. His face was still as white as the snow. Was he feeling unwell?

“S-Spirit? They’re… They’re not dead, right?”

I went and lifted one of the victim by the neck. The soul was still intact, and every organs of the physical body was still properly functioning.

“They’re not. I only deleted their current psyche. If anything, they are unconscious due to the shock.

-But… It’s not lethal, right? It doesn’t leave a scar, right?”

The soul and the body was fine, I already checked. However they may not remember what happened recently.

“… They only need some rest for now.” Maybe.

However, he then heard a loud shout from the entrance of the tent. “WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE?!” It was one of the armed men.

That was how I was thrown in jail. I wasn’t mad at them, the guards aggressively explained to me the crimes I committed and how much time I had to spend here.

Merely a few hours, or until someone paid my caution. Creating objects weren’t my forte, so I forbad myself from generating currencies and paying my own ransom. The last time I tried to materialize something, the results were… Unexpected and disappointing. I wanted to create life by myself, but all I managed to achieve was this strange lifeform mortals called mymus.

Thankfully, those creatures somehow recognized me as their progenitor and adored me to some degree. That was how they became useful in my treatment, because I obviously couldn’t sustain myself while sleeping for so long. The mymus hunted preys above ground, then synthetized the nutriments and fed me for all those years.

Thanks to them, I could still keep a part of me that was still considered normal. The feeling of hunger.

However, as a lifeform… They weren’t what you would call decent beings, so I stopped creating things in fear that I would bring another unwanted wheelwork to this world.

I relaxed myself on the couch. I was in no hurry, because I knew I would eventually meet Qalendra and the others in a short future. I had nothing to worry about. But Nilie seemed to have a different view on our situation.

The yume rolled his thumbs together, his legs shaking under the stress of his anxiety. What was so bad that would make him worry this much?

“You’re tense, Nilie.” I reached out to him with my voice, but he answered with an angered tone. “Of course I am. If they find out I lived as a bandit until now, it will not end well for me… Ahhrgh! I shouldn’t have come here, knowing my sister lived in this city…”

His sister… I never had a family back then. No siblings, and my parents were frequently out waging holy wars in the name of the gods. I couldn’t relate to his feelings at all. As an immortal, I should have lived long enough to watch thirty or forty generations birthing and dying under my eyes. I should have spectated thousands of situations, of scenes where mortals conflicted with each other.

But I couldn’t, because I was too busy saving my strength for another cataclysm.

I knew nothing about the mortals, how they felt, how they lived. The only things I knew were… What I could observe during the times I was awake. They were brief pictures, short sentences, but I still remembered one wonderful thing whenever I looked at them.

The joy of living. The joy of being alive. The happiness of surviving for another day.

I envied them, because they could go back to their peaceful lives. As for me, I had to go back to the cavern, and wait. Wait for the next catastrophe to be announced.

When I saw Nilie in this state of anxiety, I wanted to cheer for him, comfort him, telling him it’ll be fine. I had no idea how. All I could say was…

“It’ll be fine, Nilie. I am here to protect you.” It was my role, my duty. My mission was to protect everyone. As for Nilie… I wanted to give him a special treatment, but I didn’t knew how.

The yume stared at me, then hid his face in his hands. “I don’t know, spirit… I don’t want you to hurt these people… I know it is part of my redemption, but… Now, I’m…

I am scared, of the consequences.

I am scared of what await me, even though I know I deserve it…

What should I do, spirit?”

What should have I told him then? I had no idea, I never comforted anyone. My role was simply to save the world, nothing more. I searched in my memory, in this immortal’s memory anything that could give me an answer in this situation.

I searched for a while, but to no avail…

I have never consoled anyone, nor did anyone console me when I was feeling down. Qalendra was here to support me, but we never could share much time together because of my duty and my condition.

It was the same with my old friends. They described to me the situation, then showed me where I should go and what I should do. We never have much time to take our time and talk about anything, because my time was limited.

Actually, I never had that much free time when I was awakened previously. Everyone rushed me after my revival, then brought me back to the cavern for me to rest. It was… It was the first time ever I could leisurely go at my pace. Was I awakened too early? I had no idea…

I dared not look at the yume, for I had no answer to his question. I simply gazed at the ceiling, but for some reasons I couldn’t think of anything anymore.

We stayed silent for the next hours.