“Priorities.”

I didn't bring up another topic of conversation the whole way. Just as well. And better still, it didn't take too long to find some civilization. After sunset we came across a village.

It was, well, it was something.

I was sort of a ghost, but I didn't want to sleep out in the open. I had very little time to spare, though, so I didn't want to waste a second, and I probably wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. Not without a body.

“You know, I haven't had time to sit and think, so I've been figuring out too many things as I go along....” I said, standing at the top of the hill. Plague had deigned to stand next to me instead of walking on as I had expected. “And now I realize I don't have any money on me, but it wouldn't be worth shit here anyway.”

“Okay.”

I scratched the back of my head with one hand, thoughtfully.

“I guess it's true. Once a thief...”

“What did you steal?”

Another absolutely sincere question. And strange. It was hard to forget that the creature walking with me was not a human being at all. Well, that ship had sailed when I saw her face split in two.

Not her face. The face of the princess.

I didn't know her, I didn't even know her name, but she had existed. She deserved that respect.

I might be a criminal, but....

I'm not that much of an asshole.

“A lot of things. Money, time. Lives. I'm not a good man.”

“I know. If you were, you wouldn't be with me.”

There was nothing I could say to that, no way to protest. So I chose wisely for a change and kept my mouth shut.

“What now?” Plague asked.

“I guess now we'll see if this place has a bank.”

As we came down the hill, I saw that the town we had stumbled upon wasn't adorably rustic or anything. It looked like something out of one of those renaissance fairs or whatever it was called.

People who wanted to play at living in the good old days, only with running water and people who bathed more than once a month. Generally.

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Not to mention internet connection. This reminded me vaguely of about half the Chinese cartoons my sister liked to watch for some reason. Prophetic shit, it was creepy just thinking about it.

Anyway, the inside of the local bank was more of the same. Although it's not like I gave it a long, hard look either after I kicked in the front door, sword in hand.

“Freeze!”

I then raised my sword even higher. Out of habit, my instincts thought I had a gun in my hand. Because of course robbing a bank in the modern world with a sword would be stupid as fuck.

I held it up as if it were a pistol or a rifle with which to fire a few warning shots at the ground, like in the old days.

It was a bit embarrassing, but it helped that these people had no idea what I had tried to do, since they had never seen a gun before. At most a cannon. Or had they? It was also not good to assume too much just because of how it might look.

As easy as it was to forget, this was a completely different world than the one I'd lived in for three decades and almost, just almost, four.

Crap.

“This is a robbery! Stop and get down!”

I didn't exactly present an imposing figure when I would have to stand on my tiptoes to look the receptionist in the eyes. Not because she was particularly tall, but because I could barely reach the table or so I looked from here.

But that would change.

The attitude would change once they processed it. Not my sword or my makeshift bandana.

Not even my partner, who was following close behind me in that bloody dress.

I was talking about the fact, of course, that I was semi-transparent now.

What was important was what I was, not who I was. They didn't know me. Not yet. I had hoped I wouldn't have to repeat this sort of thing even in another world, but some things wouldn't change.

“Didn't you hear me? Get the fuck down!”

There was fear in everyone's eyes, I could see it, but I didn't need those things. What I needed was a real reaction. I thought, again, some things would never change.

I then smashed the pommel of the sword against the glass of a painting hanging on the wall. One of many, causing it to explode into a thousand pieces.

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. What made them really react.

By dropping to the floor or slowly getting down on their knees, hands over their heads. It said a lot about my life that this was the most familiar thing I had done since I got here. Familiar and even comfortable. I felt no fear, not even anticipation for the moment when they would sound the alarm and the cavalry would descend upon us.

I felt nothing in particular.

There was no shouting. Only murmurs. This world seemed to be stuck in medieval times, so I didn't have to worry about a literal alarm. It would be even easier than I was used to.

Bad idea to tempt fate, but that's what I thought.

I approached the receptionist. Followed closely by Plague, of course. So far she was behaving herself. She hadn't eaten anyone's face or revealed her tentacles. Great.

Everything couldn't go smoothly as it had so far. But so far so good.

“Where is the money?” I shouted. And yes, I had to stand on my tiptoes to get a good look at her. “Stop with that dumb look on your face. Where's the fucking money?”

I was doing my best to be intimidating. As much of a ghost as I was, I also looked like a brat. Good thing my voice was still that of a thirty-four year old man who may have enjoyed too many things he shouldn't.

Because otherwise I could have given up on sounding intimidating, squeaking like a fucking duck.

“Do you want me to cut you open from your neck to your stomach? I don't. I just want my money.”

It was important to offer them a way out. When fear blinded them, when they couldn't think of anything, they were willing to cling to anything.

And the best thing was that I was telling the truth. If I had to, I would kill.

But I didn't want to.

I was just willing to do whatever I had to do to someday see my sister again. That was all.

“Why does a ghost need money?”

I thought: Good question, lady. Good question.

“That's my business. Now!”