Chapter 10 – Escape

As humans grow up, the things they understand grow with them, and so they begin to comprehend how reality and life works; As a result, whatever dreams they had as children, they tend to adapt to such reality.

His dream has been once for him and his family to grow up as fatties, but now he comprehended he didn’t want them to be fatties; he just wanted to be well fed. He realized that his family wasn’t that well off at a young age, so he tried to work and help his father. What made him determined to do it now more than ever was his mother had grown weak due to labor, and he now had a sister to feed.

Times were tough, but he was confident in turning it around.

***

While we were on the verge of entering the periphery of the town, I asked, “Was it alright to leave them laying down like that?”

“It doesn’t really matter,” Rich answered. “We’re leaving right after we regroup, and I made sure they won’t wake up for a while.”

I remembered how hard I had to hit Adrian to wake him up. Yeah, it was going to take a while for them to sobber up.

“What about the old man’s body?”

“We don’t have time to bury him, and they would assume we killed him if we did anything to the body. Leaving it be is our current best option.”

“Technically, we were the cause of his death.”

Rich sounded out a bit annoyed. “That wouldn’t have happened if someone had some patience and didn’t make him feel cornered with a barrage of questions all at once. We might have gotten something out if you had a single drop of patience. Did you really have to do it that way?”

“Don’t try to hide behind the reason of wanting more info. If that was the case, more than a half dozen men were lying on the ground that we could have asked. If you have something to say, just say it,” I answered. “In fact, I know what it is. Yes, it was an unfortunate result, but how was I supposed to know he could instantly kill himself. Also, yes, those barrages of questions were important. I didn’t want the answer of any of them since it was apparent from the beginning he wouldn’t answer. What I wanted was to see how he would react.”

“And how did that turn out?” Rich asked sarcastically.

“I got more info than you would have gotten with the way you’re acting,” I replied. "I didn’t really trust anything he would say without proper evidence. So without much info, I wanted to know what his motives were based on his reaction. I reckoned if he had remained silent, that would mean he had something to hide. If he was afraid, it meant he would hesitate but would give us something in the end.”

Rich interjected, “And what does killing himself mean exactly?”

“Guilt, most likely.” I said, “It's given that different people give different reactions, but in unknown circumstances, they tend to react the same. The last sentence he said also confirmed it for me. Whatever they did or are doing, he wanted to take it to the grave.”

After remaining silent for a few minutes, Rich talked back, “You’re oddly confident about your statements.”

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“I wouldn’t say I’m experienced, but, yeah, I went through incidents where I had to base my actions on people’s reactions. So, I kind of know how it goes.”

Rich opened his mouth, seemingly trying to say something but nothing came out. He closed his mouth and didn’t comment any further. There was only a look of contemplation on his face.

Soon, we were inside the town, trying to figure our back to the inn. If there were something I had to state out about the town's current state, it would be that it was emptier than before. Last night when I had taken a stroll, I had seen at least I saw a couple of people, but now there was none. I had noticed it earlier when I was chasing after the ghoul. There was no one on the streets as we chased after it. I couldn’t spare it much thought at the time but thinking about it now, with all the noise the ghoul caused, how was there no one in town that came to look?

The lack of people made it harder for us to find the inn since we couldn’t find anyone to ask for directions, but eventually, we found a familiar area and made our way back to the inn.

As we neared the inn, I saw the silhouettes of the other people from earth standing outside and, Cathelyn, the self-proclaimed guide, talking with them.

When they spotted us coming, they stopped talking, and Cathelyn came forward to meet us.

She asked, “How did it go?”

“It went badly wrong,” Rich answered. “We managed to kill the ghoul, but on our way out, we met some of the townsfolk, and they tried to capture us. They also seemed to know more about the ghouls than they were letting on. And when we tried interrogating one of them, he killed himself.”

Rich then pointed at me. “He reasons that the one we interrogated killed himself out of guilt. And I support his reasoning to some extent.”

Cathelyn pondered a few seconds, then said, “I am considering taking the newbies out of this questline. I don’t think we can handle a bunch of ghouls backed by some crazy town civilians, with them still unable to use their traits. They’re a very much liability at this point.”

Rich nodded. “Me and Lorn agree. We had decided earlier to group with you and leave this questline.”

“Good, then we should take the nearest exit out of the town.”

“I suggest we head northward. It was where the guards told me to go when I went snooping around.”

“You trust what they said?” Rich asked.

“At the time, they wanted me out of the town as fast as I could, so yes. At least it’s better than going around randomly where ghouls could suddenly come out and attack us.”

Cathelyn frowned heavily. “Since you brought it up, I am not worried about the ghouls; it’s the residents of this town that are on my mind. If you remember, I told you they suddenly drugged us with tranquilizers the moment we were teleported here. Furthermore, when I came back, there no one in town except the newbies. I felt no presence. I'm more apprehensive about what the people here want to do than some mindless ghouls.”

“You’re thinking they’re going to ambush us?” Rich inquired.

“Not thinking, but sure. It was already weird from the beginning they let us go from the prison.”

“I agree with her,” I remarked. “Most of the people of this town have been very hostile to us from the beginning. I reckon it won’t be beyond them to attack us.”

Rich seemed to have realized something and frowned as Cathelyn. “Then the newbies are a problem.”

Cathelyn nodded. “Exactly. They have become a big burden.”

“How much support did your base give you?” Rich asked.

“I have some artifacts that could help, but I didn’t want the newbies’ first quest to be easy even if we were going to abandon it. If they become complacent in just the first layer, then they are good as dead. The first questline was supposed to make them comprehend how dangerous other worlds could be.”

“That’s a problem for the future. Without your help, they will die here and now.”

Cathelyn grumbled. “I get it.”

It was apparent to me that there was something I am missing.

While Cathelyn went back to the group from earth, I turned towards Rich. “I didn’t understand most of the conversation back there. But from the gist of it, you’re worried about the other newbies like me. If so, can’t they just use their powers? Whether they are capable of fighting or not, it should be plausible if we are just escaping.”

Rich sighed. “That’s not possible. Your point of view is slightly skewered. In the beginning, it’s not very often that new Otherworlders come into their powers as fast as you did. It usually takes time, based on how compatible they are with their core its type.”

“So you’re saying they can’t use their traits yet?”

“For the most part, yes. Maybe some possibly can but just haven’t figured it out yet. The big problem is we don’t have time even to check who, much less explain to whoever it is the way to use them.”

While I had a few more questions, Cathelyn came back to us, holding two necklaces.