We spent the next few days returning to the border. Thankfully, the journey wasn’t as arduous as it had been the first time around. Perhaps our fight with the paradise bird had scared off the monster hordes in the inner reaches of the forest, because not a single group had approached us on our return journey. It was a shame we couldn’t get more experience from them, but there would be other opportunities.

Even the outer regions of the forest were remarkably calm, though. Only the occasional tier 1 or 2 monsters dared approach us, which gave Emeri and me some much-needed time to recover.

We hadn’t talked much about the birdsong we’d heard, because every time I brought it up Emeri changed the topic. She didn’t seem comfortable with the whole situation, and nothing I did or said seemed to comfort her.

Sometimes I felt like returning to my previous emotional state a few months ago wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Before my mindscape came into existence, I never would have noticed or even thought about others’ feelings. Something about that blissful ignorance felt freeing, even though I knew that path led to a place I didn’t want to go.

I spent my time reflecting on myself and my growth, until, eventually, the walls of Ruita appeared on the horizon. The border city was a welcome sight after our stint in the jungle, especially since we would be returning triumphant.

Even Emeri was starting to cheer up, happy to accomplish her goal.

About ten minutes later, we entered the city through the gates and headed directly to the alchemist that would prepare the medicine with the liana. The older lady had a store in the higher-end part of the city, where she talked with her customers personally in a warmly-decorated meeting room. She welcomed us in with a bright smile, but it was obvious she hadn’t expected us to return at all, let alone carrying a suitable liana bulb. The alchemist received the ingredient gingerly and went straight to work, telling Emeri and me to wait in her meeting room for about an hour.

Once the elder had disappeared into her lab and closed the door behind her, Emeri and I collapsed into the couches that surrounded the small coffee table at the center of the room.

A moment of silence passed.

“You know, I feel relieved, more than anything else.” I began. “I mean, we succeeded, didn’t we? Even if the death of the paradise bird was a sad affair, we didn’t kill it for nothing. A life for a life.”

Emeri shook her head slowly. “I don’t like compromises like that. It sets a bad precedent.” She countered.

I sighed, frustrated even though I agreed with her logic. “I know, but you were the one to suggest killing it, weren’t you? Why change your mind now?” I asked.

“I don’t regret that decision. It’s just… I wish I hadn’t had to.”

I looked away and grabbed a small piece of candy from a tray on the coffee table, popping it into my mouth.

“This is the path we chose. We kill in exchange for power. If you don’t like making compromises, then get strong enough until you don’t need to.” I suggested.

“Even if you don’t want to compromise, other people of a similar tier will force you to. If not them, then the system. That’s what my father always replies whenever I ask him.” She replied.

This time, I had no counter, so I stayed silent. This was the first time she had talked about her father to me, after I had insulted him in the tournament. Yet, his words rang true. I knew from the very start that the system was about making compromises. Sacrifice time, others, and yourself for power, that was the incentive of the system.

I had known this, yet it had never bugged me as much as it did, until now. Not since I’d seen Emeri’s smile disappear and turn into a frown over a single monster.

Surely there was something I could do to cheer her up? Think Arthur, think… Right!

I pulled a small book out of my storage pouch. From its cover, you could tell this was a children’s book.

“What’s that?” Emeri asked curiously.

“Have I told you about my journey into the between lands?” I asked her. She shook her head. “Yeah, I didn’t think I had. Regardless, this is the favorite book of a girl I met there. I’d like to read it to you.”

“What…?” she asked incredulously. “I don’t really read children’s books anymore, you know…” she replied shyly.

I felt my cheeks warm and started to sweat slightly. “Oh, right. …sorry. I just thought, you know, that it might cheer you up…” I murmured embarrassedly.

Fuck. I panicked. I shouldn’t have pulled it out. Why did I think Emeri would like what a six-year-old would like?

Just as I was about to put the book away, I felt a hand on my wrist stopping me. I looked up, and saw Emeri, her face as red as a tomato. We stared at each other for a moment, surprised. She let go and sat back down in a hurry, saying; “No, no! It’s okay! Read it to me!” With all mention of dead monsters and compromises forgotten, I agreed and started to read ‘The sword in the stone’.

“Once upon a time, there was an aged wizard, who lived in a small cottage…”

-Scene transition-

“Here it is.” I said, handing a vial filled with a purplish liquid to Agard.

“W- What? Is t- this a joke?” he stammered.

“No, this is the real thing. A concoction made of the ‘heart severing liana’. Feed it to her.” I said, pointing at Agard’s comatose wife.

He turned around carefully and, even with the tears streaming down his face, slowly dripped the fluid into his wife’s mouth as he held it open. Thankfully, the concoction did not need to be drunk properly for it to work. Just like all craftspeople, alchemists could add strange properties to their products. In this case, the old lady had specially made the concoction for this exact situation, which made administering it far easier than it otherwise would have been.

Once the entirety of the bottle had been emptied, Agard carefully place the empty vial on the nightstand and held his wife’s hand. Instantly, some color returned to her dried-out face, and her grey skin slowly returned to a healthier skin tone.

“The alchemist said that her recovery would be slow, despite these instant changes.” Emeri explained. “It’ll be a few more weeks before she wakes up, though the one dose should be enough for the entire process. Just in case, here’s the rest of the liana bulb.”

Agard once again accepted the pouch with the bulb inside and stored it in a drawer, his spatial artifact having been sold months ago.

Once his wife’s breathing evened, he let go of her hand momentarily, stood up, and embraced us both in the tightest hug I’d yet experienced.

“T- thank you…” he sobbed quietly.

A few minutes later, we decided to give Agard and his wife some quiet time and left. The day got a little brighter, since Emeri’s smile had returned.

-Scene transition-

The next morning, we stopped by to say goodbye to Agard, promising we would come to visit upon our return from Alterian. We would have stayed for a while longer in Ruita, but a boat towards Aho, the nearest Alterian coastal town, was about to set off in a few hours. We didn’t want to miss this chance to take it, because missing it would mean either waiting two months for the next boat, or traveling through the dark forest a second time, while a paradise bird hellbent on some vengeance chased us. Neither were appealing options.

By evening, we found ourselves at the docks, talking to the captain of the large trading vessel we would be using as transport.

“We’ve only got one cabin left, apologies.” The captain said gruffly. He was a middle-aged man with a scruffy black bear and a face covered in scars. Each told a story, though some a more gruesome one than others.

“One cabin will do, please.” Emeri replied hurriedly, handing over some gold coins to pay for the voyage. The captain grunted and accepted the coins greedily, before disappearing, as if we would ask for them back.

“One room? Really?” I asked the quickly reddening Emeri.

“Oh don’t get started, you great prude. There’ll be two beds.” She said confidently with both hands on her hips.

Turns out, there were not, in fact, two beds. I slept on the floor that night, while miss ‘two beds’ slept comfortably.