“Hey,” Liam sighed,” you okay?

  “Leave me alone!” I slapped his hand away from me.

  “You say that, but…”

  “What!?”

  “Nothing…” he turned away from me, scratching his chin with a perplexed expression,” I just wonder what happened.”

  Just a few minutes earlier I was at the peak of happiness. Meeting the army meant a chance at reuniting with my family, and even if this section did not take any survivors, they'll at least know where they were relocated!

  And yet, who could have predicted this cruel turn of events? The Goddess must have sent me down there to laugh at my misery, right? Ah, once again I get ahead of myself…

  “H-Hey! Don’t cry!” I was turned away, but his voice was audibly flustered.

  Just...Just what am I doing?

----------------------------------------

  Liam took me past out neighborhood into the deeper parts of the town. I never explored this far, but it seems this area might one of the richer places in the country. There were many shops open, some of which I think are owned by noble families based on the signs.

  It’s quite pretty, admittedly. Under the evening glow, the street lamps seem to have already been lit. The smell of street food has also begun to make my empty stomach grumble a bit. There were also children playing in the streets; games I have seen my girl often play through the window. Some shops ran other games with the incentive of prizes in exchange for some currency.

  Under normal circumstances, people would find this a wonderful experience. Especially since this is supposed to be in celebration for the country’s military’s prevail. Liam certainly seemed to be enjoying his time, because for the past while now he has been hopping from stall to stall without a care of the world.

  However...

  “...Are you messing with me?” I meekly looking up to Liam.

  “No, I swear to the Goddesses and Gods!” He chucked a piece of bread into his mouth, "This is the right direction, mhm!”

  “Then,” I quickened my pace and grabbed the bread bag from his hands, "tell me why we have been going in ‘right direction’ for thirty minutes!”

  “If you wanted some, you could’ve asked.” He smirked.

  “Tha-ah!” Just when I was going to give him a piece of mind, I felt someone brush up against me. “S-Seriously! I don’t like it out here, so please!”

  “Hm...The Hezek before wasn’t scarred of crowds like you are.”

  “Does that even matter now…” I grabbed his shirt in response, but I felt the rest of my body losing strength. I was going limp.

  I used to love these types of events when I was a kid, too. But as I grew older, these type of places only became tainted. After all, am I even welcome? I just feel so out of place. If I look up, someone is bound to be staring at me - judging me for my freakish behavior. It’s suffocating.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  “Ah...” He grabbed my hands grabbing onto his shirt, "The crowd an issue? I suppose so many unfamiliar faces might be a bit much with someone that recently lost their memories. Sorry.”

  “A-As long as you understand…” I managed to squeak out.

  “Yeah...Hey, follow me. There is less of a crowd over here, we can wait it out here until night.”

  “What about the soldiers?”

  “Ah, about that…” he said,” Actually, we won’t be able to see them for another hour or so. But, I wanted to make some memories with you so I had us leave early. I didn’t think you’ll be like this, though.”

  “...”

  “You mad?” I looked up and saw he has a troubled expression on his face. He was feeling bad.

  “No…” I can’t be mad. This child is going through his hardships after losing a friend. It’s childish to lie about this, but that’s exactly what he is. Perhaps in a way, this is my fault for being so harsh on him these past few days.

  “A-An hour,” I whispered.

  “Huh?”

  “An hour I said!” I shouted, "I’ll spend time with you for that long, then you have to take me, alright?”

  I should treat this as a way of getting stronger, too. The Goddess sent me here for a reason, so it is not far off to assume dealing with people like this is her intention, too. Plus, I feel a bit bad if I simply walked out of his life without giving him some closure. Putting it like that also makes handling him much easier.

  “R-Really!?” his face quickly transferred to a big grin, "You will not be disappointed! I’ll take you to your favor-ah, wait they might not be your favorites anymore…”

  He gave a, "Hmm…” for a brief moment before grabbing my hand and guiding me from the crowd, "If that’s the case, let’s just use the time for me to learn a bit more about you, okay?”

  After saying that he pulled me away into a hidden alleyway. There were still many shops and stalls set up but there were less crowded, which allowed for more to becker us over for a closer look. I still was too nervous to approach myself, but Liam inched me closer with a smile. Maybe it was because I was adamant to give him a good memory, or perhaps it was the way he looked at me with such anticipation, but I gave in and followed him closely.

  It was not all that terrible, though. The first thing Liam introduced me was a food stall that seemed to sell skewers. The meat looked familiar, but the way they made their sauce seemed extremely foreign. He bought me one and with a slight hesitation, I took a small bite. I was right in that it was a dish I never had before. Though, that did not mean much after it rested on my tongue for a few seconds. The tender meat melted in my mouth as the spicy yet citrusy sauce coasted down through my throat. Its deliciousness caught me fully by surprise that before I knew it, a loud, audible “Mmm!” escape my lips to the surprise of both Liam and the stallkeeper.

  “O-Owner, I want five more of those!” I recalled Liam exclaiming in excitement.

  Since then, he has bought me many more treats that he called “his all-time favorites”, all of which I wolfed down minutes after. A few times I noticed him chuckling but just when I was about to protest, he stuffed more food into my mouth.

  Then were games. I refused to play any of them because I was too preoccupied with the different types of food Liam had gotten me. But I saw him play a couple, one of which required throwing a dart. If the dart landed on a number point they could choose a prize set for it. Scanning the selection, my eyes landed onto a plush bear. Its fur was light pink with a yellow belly. Eyes were simply an X switch, while its nose was sewn to be an upside-down, brown triangle. On its neck was an endowed blue ribbon that extended our further from its body.

  "Something caught your eye?” Liam asked.

  “A-Ah...No, nothing.” That’s a lie.

  The bear reminded me of the exact someone my daughter had. It was her favorite thing ever that her father got her - so much so, that I remember Marcus telling me she would take it to the bath.

  "Is that so?” Liam said as he approached the booth, "Five rounds, please.”

  “Aye, here you are lad. May the scale be in your favor.”