The light barely crept inside.

Mihe could tell from the discussions nearby that the night was beginning soon.

Sadly, the presence of said discussions outside meant it wasn’t wise for Mihe to step out. The risk of someone catching them was too great. Further, it wasn't clear what the consequences would be if they did get caught, but they did know they didn't want to experience them.

Using this time to digest what happened they fully went through the events of the day so far. Meeting Gedaous, learning about the gods, talking to the old man, going to the church and...

Sadly taking another person's life.

All that they had wanted was to just recover their memories and move on. Yet, with one panic-stricken decision, they had dashed all possibilities of that ever happening. Due to their own cowardice and incompetence in analyzing the situation they took an innocent person's life and deprived their family of the right to ever see them again...

They really were a terrible person.

Mihe spent a few minutes spiraling into guilt and confusion. They still knew nearly nothing about 'THE HUNGER FOR MORE' or 'THE COURSE OF THE INEVITABLE.' Despite being apparently the smallest and weakest of the 'Big Three', 'Little Murphey' still was more powerful than they could ever dream of. Destroying half of a church with no exhaustion or arms coming out of their eyes was beyond their comprehension.

'Little Murphey' really was a terrifying force to reckon with.

Suddenly, a high-pitched, nasally voice crept in from outside as the blotch of light was covered by something.

"Aaaaaaaalright! This should be the last one!"

The lid of the trash bin they were hiding in flew off violently, and a face peered inside.

It belonged to... well, they couldn’t tell if the being was a man or a woman, but their face appeared to be rotting off, with maggots crawling about. One of their eyes was missing, but the other was a deep hue of crimson that had a weak glow.

As soon as they made eye contact with them, what must have been the wails of a hundred people screeched through Mihe's mind. They winced in pain and tried to cover their ears, but it was no use.

"There ya are! Y'know, I didn't expect someone like you to be hiding in a trash bin!" The stranger examined Mihe, noticed them trying to cover their ears, and quickly realized what was happening.

"Oh wow! I never thought that amnesia would remove your resistance from me entirely!" The stranger laughed, grabbing Mihe by the shoulder, causing the screaming to stop.

They were hyperventilating. The screams would've been too much by themselves, and when combined with the stress of the murder, they entered a trance-like state, not entirely aware of what was happening around them.

"Oh yeah! I forgot that the initial stress of the amnesia would cause this! What was the phrase again?" The stranger thought for a moment, trying to recall something.

"Piccolo! Piccolo! Gotta go! Gotta go!"

Hearing those words only confused Mihe. What the hell did 'Piccolo, Piccolo, gotta go, gotta go' mean? Why did they even say that? None of it made sense as they exited their panicked state and turned to look back at the stranger, who in turn, was still smiling at them. Though now, Mihe noticed that the smile had some kind of fake quality to it.

"...How did you know I'd do that? Or that I had amnesia? Did you know me?"

The stranger laughed, "Of course, I know you! I'm..." They quickly trailed off, struggling to find words.

"You're what?"

They shrugged then stated, "I would tell ya, but I can't!" Prompting them to begin laughing

Mihe was frustrated. "What do you mean you can't tell me? Just tell me, you bastard!" They yelled while trying to grab the stranger by their collar as they dodged said attempts, still keeping their hand on their shoulder.

"Woaaaah! You might be right about the bastard part! But you didn't have to say it out loud!" The stranger laughed, despite Mihe's lack of amusement.

"Just tell me why you can't tell me, at least!" they pleaded.

"Oh yeah! I can't tell you because you'd remember!"

Mihe stared, waiting for the stranger to continue, but they didn’t.

"Why is me remembering a bad thing?"

"Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell, mama said you’d get pissed at me and her if your memories were restored prematurely," the stranger answered in their signature cheery tone.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"I'd... get pissed? Why would I be angry?"

The stranger tilted their head and then laughed—a more genuine, hearty laugh than before. Something about their question genuinely bemused the stranger.

"Ahahaha, 'why would I be angry?’” The stranger sighed before quickly dropping their smile and looking at Mihe without an expression.

"You'd be angry if I killed you now, wouldn't you?" They said bluntly.

Mihe felt they shouldn’t press further and remained quiet.

"Awwww, is the poor little..." The stranger cut themselves off. "Is the poor little amnesiac scared now? I can't kill ya yet; mama would get mad if I did. Plus, you don't deserve to die without knowing exactly why you deserve to die."

"While I can't tell you why you sealed your memories, I can tell you that you’d be fine with recovering your memories yourself."

The stranger peeled away from Mihe, letting go of their shoulder, and walked off, leaving them utterly baffled by what had just happened. They tried to catch a glimpse of the stranger, but they had disappeared into the alleyway that their trash bin was in.

Slumping into the bin, they tried to make sense of the encounter. Now the only two people they knew both wanted them dead. At this point, they were trying to figure out if perhaps they were an evil man before they lost their memories.

It was also now evident that they wanted their memories gone. The reason why wasn’t clear yet, but figuring out the motive was a good start.

They needed to find something akin to the Tebidnatic Church but capable of erasing or sealing memories. Although unsure where to look initially, Mihe had recalled what Gedaous had said in the hedge garden about the various deities.

Embarrassing as it was to admit, they did just now make the connection between the deity of knowledge called 'Tebidna' and the Tebidnatic Church which was capable of repairing knowledge in the form of memories. It made sense for deities to have churches, so instead of finding a list of churches, they could instead start with a list of deities and find the corresponding church.

Hopefully, that should be a simpler task.

This could also explain why the Tebidnatic Church was so hostile. If Mihe’s memories were sealed by a church that advocated sealing or removing memories, it naturally opposed the Tebidnatic Church's pursuit of knowledge.

Mihe rose triumphantly. They now had a plan! They needed to search for a deity associated with sealing or destroying memories, locate their church, and confirm its enmity with the Tebidnatic Church before exploring its records for any services Mihe might have requested.

Before celebrating their genius, a guard suddenly shouted from the other side of the alley, "Halt! You are being detained for questioning! Do not resist!"

They turned around to see two guards holding spears, sprinting toward them. Mihe immediately leaped out of the trash bin and ran in the opposite direction, deeper into the alleyway.

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

After a while, Mihe managed to evade the guards. Despite running for what felt like half an hour, they didn’t feel even a little bit exhausted.

While curious about how their muscles didn’t tire, there was a more pressing issue on keeping some form of a shelter. They couldn’t live in a trash bin indefinitely of course, so they tried to think of possible places they could reside in, at least long enough for them to go to a different country.

Two options crossed Mihe's mind:

1. Endure the woods’ dangers and try to flee through them. While this could lead Mihe to another country, ensuring safety, the trek might be deadly due to their lack of survival knowledge. The possibility of certain animals or monsters that could survive a bite from 'Little Murphey' was also a concern.

2. Request shelter from the old man. Although they were unsure whether he would comply, convincing him could allow Mihe some level of safety in the upper floor of the bakery. They might also be allowed to scavenge food from leftovers and access water. This option would buy them precious time to devise a better escape plan.

Although option one minimized risk at the cost of difficulty, option two seemed more appealing. While there was a chance the old man could report them, the gamble’s payoff could be enormous.

Logically, Mihe leaned toward the second option.

The main challenge was finding the bakery, but they could remedy this. All they needed was the river. If it flowed through the city, tracing its outskirts should eventually lead them to the river, which when followed should lead them to the Riverside Church. Finding the church would make retracing their steps back simple. Of course, this approach posed a time issue, with the possibility of guards finding them while exploring, wasting too much time and forcing Mihe to hide out for another day with no food, water, or method to tend to their injuries.

Alas, there wasn’t much of a choice to begin with. They needed to either hide out in a trash bin or in the old man's house as both options are infinitely more preferable than the forest right now.

After picking a random direction, they went in a straight line towards the outskirts of the city to the best of their ability, traveling through the various streets and roads of New Raastia.

Through this travel, Mihe observed three street types:

- Alleyways, where houses would allow ventilation to pass through and would dump their trash into. Businesses would also occasionally use them to store extra tables and seats whenever necessary.

- Medium-sized roads, accommodating two carriages. Outside of schools and restaurants, these streets had little business activity as they mostly consisted of houses. This was similar to the streets adjacent to the Three Courts.

- Main streets, broad enough for two carriages with sidewalks and bicycle lanes. Despite carriage-centric design, people frequently walked in these streets, and on busy days, restaurants set outdoor tables. These streets commonly held businesses that were frequented by the common class.

It really was an extraordinary city, with giant trees offering a stunning daily sight just by going into a park or looking at the horizon. Its organization ensured that anything one needed was a mere few minutes' walk away as well.

Yet, as Mihe ventured further toward the city’s outskirts, this structure waned. Buildings appeared dilapidated or abandoned mid-construction. A bit more walking revealed communal gardens and huts on dirt roads. It became clear that there wasn’t a well-defined border between the forest and the city; the city just faded out.

How does this city protect itself from creatures? Mihe pondered, tracing the city’s outskirts. While the lack of walls or barriers alarmed them with the constant threat of monster attacks, they weren’t afraid to kill said monsters; they just weren’t sure if they could react quickly and strongly enough.

So, they remained alert as best they could, mental fatigue heavy upon them. They longed for sleep but marched on determinedly.