If the spider on the ceiling could be counted as a person, then it was the only guy who was there when Rei opened his eyes. Robert, William, and Johnny were gone without leaving a message.

Weariness and discomfort pervading his entire body, down to the marrow, making him unwilling to get up. When he remembered why he had ended up here, he had no choice but to bounce back.

The rattling sound followed as he tried to move and made him realize he was lying on a pretty old sofa–someone definitely moved his ass up here. He was grateful for the kind action, and to not let him rot on the creaky floor outside.

Putting aside his slight surprise behind, he tried to reach the sofa's arm to sit up–it felt harder–requiring more effort as his muscles were limp as baby arms.

"Hold on! Don't get up just yet.” A woman's voice sounded, as he looked over, the chubby woman was coming from the kitchen. “Stay here, okay. I'll bring you some water. Just don’t move around.”

He nodded, it seemed she was the one who took care of him while he was unconscious. “Thank you, Madam,” he said, his voice felt weaker.

“Save your breath. You need it the most,” she replied without a beat.

He thought she had exceptional hearing to be able to hear his sluggish voice at such a distance.

He adjusted his sit position to find some comfort. On this old sofa, that was quite tricky stuff. A misstep and this sofa could tip over.

I mean this thing should be a relic from the past, right?

While leaning on the sofa carefully, his eyes roamed the interior of the cafe. He found many tables and chairs, three menu boards on the wall, a cash register, and a layer of dust on the floor. It seemed that this place had been closed for a while.

"Here. Take it slowly," Madam handed him a glass of water, pulled out a chair and sat beside him.

It took four gulps to empty the glass before he handed it back to her.

"If you’re still not feeling well,” Madam said, “I can give more milk to you."

“Milk?” He recalled that thing being shouted by one of them before he passed out, loud enough for his brain to record it precisely.

And … giving milk to an 18-year-old dude would seem unsuitable and deserves a question mark. At least, for his case.

"No, no. I didn't mean to treat you like a kid, I swear. I just heard from Robert and William that you have some sort of amnesia and forgot the very basic things…” She shrugged in disbelief, yet still tried to believe. “From what I saw a few hours ago, that’s most likely the case.”

There was a pause.

“Well, it's kinda true milk can neutralize toxins in your body, but that isn't the reason why you should have it."

Rei became even more confused. If not that, what else? He barely had the idea.

Madam opened a book she had picked up from one of the tables. It looked like it had just been placed there, no dust on it. She turned a few pages, her eyes seeming to search through each line until a smile graced her face.

She pointed at the bottom page and started to read.

“This part. The Neutral subclass has a very intimate–that is to say, very good relationship with milk, or any milk-based drink. If coffee is one of the forbidden drinks to consume, then milk has the opposite effect,” She raised her finger, pointing at me as a warning. “Not only coffee, you shouldn’t drink alcohol, eat pork, humanoid meat, and fanged beast meat.”

That’s a lot, honestly.

“What if I eat a bit … just a small portion of it?”

“If there's no one around to help you, then that will be your last breath." She closed her sentence with a smile.

Clearly, her pretty smile didn’t match what she had just said.

Putting aside that weird gap behind, the whole thing actually didn’t make any sense. Even if someone suffered from a severe GERD, it was highly unlikely that they would die that fast. There should be a window of time for someone to actually die just from drinking a coffee.

Worth noting, Rei didn't have GERD, and coffee was his favorite drink in the morning–more precisely, lattes. That was why he found it hard to believe something like that existed.

However, the way his body reacted when it happened, the pain he suffered with it, finally convinced him to believe that was real. Real enough to make his head throb when he thought about it.

“This ridiculous side effect apply to all people?”

“Yeah. Each subclass has their own taboos after all. Like me, a person with the Support subclass, I can’t eat meat-eating animals, red-colored vegetables, and mangosteen. If I try to eat any of it, you could say the very thing that happened to you would happen to me.

“But, our restrictions are still lighter than the Attacker subclass. They only can eat their own game meat. If they eat some dish from this cafe for example, they will die. Unless they brought their own meat to make the dish."

“That sounds crazy,” He really meant it. “But, has anyone ever died because of it?"

To Rei, it still seemed like an in-game drama scenario. Too absurd for common sense to take in as real things.

"Three men died last year. The count has been in double digits for the past five years. Despite the mayor's weekly warnings, there are still many casualties every year,” She shrugged her shoulders. “If you want to know the details, I'm not the right person for it. You can ask the Major when you see him."

He pursed his lips. "No, I mean they ... truly died? Not respawning or showing up again afterward? You know... like a game?"

He wasn't very eloquent in his words. Perhaps a little hesitant and worried that his question seemed idiotic to her. Or to people in this artificial town.

“What do you think death is?” Madam frowned upon his question. That was something he didn't expect. “You shouldn't think that life is like a game credit. One of our workers, a boy, disappeared without a trace six months ago. And even the system couldn't detect his whereabouts until now."

“...What happened to him?”

"What else, buddy? Dead. In this town, there are two reasons why someone can’t be detected by the system–either dead or imprisoned by the Floor Guardian. I’m sure that boy was never a jerk in any sense."

“Dead? He broke his own taboo?”

“Might be. After all, you won’t die just because of that, right?”

Right. Other ways to die remained available, such as being killed in a duel. Still, that didn’t explain how the girl he met for the first time died in that white room. The little robot claimed that she was killed in a duel against him. But, he had no recollection of them dueling either.

"Being killed without a duel... is it possible?" Hesitating, he asked.

And her forehead began to wrinkle. "Looks like William was right, your amnesiac is indeed severe." She exhaled, closed the book, and carried the glass to the kitchen. "Of course, who wouldn't die if your head was cut off by a sword?"

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Madam's laughter could be heard. Clearly, it was sarcasm to Rei’s ignorant question.

And she returned with a cup of milk.

"My best advice is,” she said, “you should see the Major to ask for a piece of wisdom or two. If only you hadn't come down from the upper floor, you might have found a more reliable doctor on the Royal Road." She handed over the milk and gestured to him to drink it.

Upper floor, he thought. Something was quite wrong with her statement, but he gave his first priority to empty the cup. He didn't feel any immediate effects other than his stomach being full of liquid and sweetness. Anyway, it was a good milk.

"No, Madam."

Madam shook her head in wonder. “No what?”

"I didn't come from the upper floors," he added.

Her forehead knotted, she became more confused this time.

"You must be joking–no, your amnesiac must be acting up."

"No. I know it sounds crazy, but I can guarantee I am telling you the truth. It won't do me any good to lie to you in the first place,” Rei started to sit up straight, then drew a line on his palm with a finger. "From this place, I probably came … from the west part. The drunken duo–sorry, the gatekeeper over there are my witnesses, you can ask them if you still doubt my account."

"The drunken duo... I know them." Then, a silence ensued.

She strokes her chin while looking at Rei. Then shook her head twice. "This may seem like a rehash of an elementary class subject, but let me explain it to you again, Rei. Please pay your attention.”

Her response made him realize that she didn't believe him yet. So he nodded, and let her explain.

“The only way to reach the Outer Plane is through the large gate in the south. And if you want to leave this floor to the upper level, you have to take the Grand Elevator in the north. Other than those two, you won't find any other way out of this town. There is no other gate in the wall either. Not a single one. If anything, maybe because you lose some screw in your head." She gestured twice, touching her head. "I suspect your amnesia is the root cause."

He wanted to argue after listening to her. But he knew that it would only make things worse. Hence he changed his mind and began to take the information into account.

If what she said was true that there was no gate in the wall, then most likely, it was some kind of secret door that only opened in one direction–from the outside. This was his assumption.

Because Rei wasn't that crazy or too senile to forget what he had done just a few hours before he arrived in Cradle. However, he chose to pretend to agree with her words even though it was clear that their arguments contradicted each other.

When it came down to bias, of course he would have more faith in himself. More than anything–like most people do. Once he thought of it, his senses kicked in–forcing him to realize his circumstance.

He gave a good massage on his head afterwards. Then, taking a breath to keep his composure up as he organized the newly added information into knowledge shelves in his brain. Adding up everything he knew until today was still not enough to give him a clear lead on the mystery behind his memory loss and kidnapping case.

Urgh, I wonder if we have detectives here.

They continued to talk about the layout of the walls, the north and south gates, her vacation and the menu for today's meal. Madam became so enthusiastic that she revealed the secret recipe behind her dishes to a stranger like him. He wasn't sure if this collection of menus was useful in the future, but he made a note of it regardless.

At least, it was a good conversational diversion to relieve his anxiety.

"Yahalo!"

The greeting coincided with a girl bursting through the front door, rolling around like an actor in an action movie.

"How are you, madam? I'm fine, thank you!" She asked and answered it herself.

The bizarre demeanor of the red-haired girl in the pale, waist-laced vest managed to keep him on his toes. Her cheerful face didn't diminish in the slightest, as if there was nothing wrong with what she had just done.

"Oh, Justia!" Madam greeted her with a hug and stroked her hair. "Long time no see, sweet girl."

He thought it was strange to welcome the person who had just almost smashed your café door … it turned out to be an acquaintance of hers.

"I came straight here when I found out your cafe was open today."

"You are so sweet, my dear. Wait. If you're here... then your training with your master is over?"

The girl leapt a bit, and smiled with a show-off look on her face. Even from where he sat, it could be seen clearly.

"Look at the emblem sewn onto my vest!" She puffed out her chest, so that the emblem followed her curves.

Madam shuddered happily, "Oh! I don't believe anyone could pass the test of your master's madness."

"I'm the only one who passed it, Madam. Proof that I'm a genius!"

Whether it was genius or stupidity, he wondered. However, it was definitely none of his concern. Let the two of them be happy with the impressive-looking report.

"Uh, who is he?" In the middle of their happy talk, she finally spotted Rei. Her suddenly enthusiastic look was like finding a rare pokemon in the bush.

He immediately looked away from her glare. Avoiding trouble.

"'He's Rei. Just came from–I mean, to see the mayor. Ah, you're also going to meet the mayor, aren't you? Can you bring him along?"

The girl observed for a long time, raising her eyes and let a 'hmm' sound–perhaps to look thoughtful.

"Okay. No problemo. He seems like a nice person. He is a good candidate for marriage."

What kind of conclusion is that! Thankfully it was only in his mind. He could be cooked if a word came out of his mouth.

“What the heck are you talking about? I'm too old for that, dear.” And then she laughed while blushing.

Please do not blush if you do not intend to, madam.

"Oh, no need to be shy."

The red-haired girl continued to tease Madam with 'how to be a good bride' jokes which Rei didn't need to understand more deeply.

They kept talking and cuddling like mother and daughter until Madam looked at her luggage behind. “Wait … you wanna go now?”

She nodded.

"What? Why not tomorrow? Stay here for a whole day, and help me open the cafe, dear."

"I'd like to but I can't, madam. Mayor will go fishing with Robert tomorrow, I don't want to wait all day. I am dying to get into the academy as fast as I can."

The red-haired girl's words just now were probably a signal to get up and prepare. He looked through his belongings and once he was sure nothing was left behind, he approached them. Madam's attention quickly shifted to Rei. There was obvious concern on his lifesaver's eyes.

"I'm perfectly fine, madam," he answered the questions written on her face. "Thanks to you, William and the others, I can breathe again. I really appreciate it. I will repay your kindness if we meet again someday."

"Oh! Nice guy!" the girl interjected before Madam said anything. She created such an awkward air that Madam needed to clear her throat.

"Take care of yourself, Rei."

"Sure," he replied.

"Alright! We are leaving now, madam. I'll bring you some souvenirs later!"

Madam giggled and hugged her tight. "Good luck, dear."

Justia nodded in joy, then glanced at Rei. "Come on nice guy! Let's go!"

The red-haired girl's joy seemed boundless. Had been smiling ever since she arrived earlier.

If only Rei could be that positive about his situation. He needed that positivity actually, 10% of it was enough, at least to not let himself fall into a despairing situation. Hyperbolic thoughts, he knew that and insisted on carving out some hope.

He bowed to Madam before he went out.

"Rei, please lend Justia a hand. She's an overzealous girl. I'm worried that she'll get into a lot of trouble."

He didn't understand what 'problem' she was referring to. Justia was a nice and friendly girl, with a little too much energy to use. He really couldn't imagine that trouble would befall her. However, fulfilling Madam’s request could be a way of repaying her kindness. And for the free milks too.

"I will, Madam."

Then after bowing his head, he darted off in Justia's trail.

The street, which was previously empty, was now bustling with people of all ages. Children were playing, men were carrying their wares, and women were busy chatting in the corner. This spectacle made him relieved, although he didn't know if they were human or just NPCs.

He had no time to investigate them thoroughly.

After passing through the giant pillars, they turned north until they came to a building similar to the Pantheon–an old Roman building.

"We've arrived. Now where's that gray-haired man?" The girl's eyes tracked back and forth, followed by her steps that had been exploring every corner of the building.

He just stayed there, reluctant to reprimand how rude this girl was behaving. As if she hadn't been taught any manners by her master–no, he doubted if her master was actually a good teacher. Madam had said that her teacher's test was 'insane' and he believed there were no sane teachers in the world would give such a thing to their student.

Rei sighed and made peace with his thoughts. He shouldn't take care of things that weren't his problem in the first place.

All those thoughts surely invited weariness and he decided to sit down on one of the steps. By chance, he saw a board lying on the ground. Someone must have had too much free time to have knocked it over. He dusted it off and looked at the writing emblazoned on the surface.

"Closed. Please come back here tomorrow. I need to go fishing!" He read it out loud.

Hearing that, Justia immediately sprinted to snatch the board from him. Read it twice to make sure she didn’t miss a single word.

"I'll pluck out all his gray hairs!" She erupted, along with the hisses, tantrums, and swearing of a typical girl's frustration.

Urgh, this girl might be a problem after all.