“We can’t just bring him in like thi…”

“He isn’t on the bounty!? You’re kidding me… Dark users can be counted on one ha…”

“...I’m not keeping him! Why can’t Frederick take…”

…

“Hey… Hey, wake up.”

Something slapped him gently, bringing him up from the half-unconscious, drifting state he had been in for a while. What… had happened? He remembered being awake just a while ago, back when he’d been in the… Oh, shit. He looked down at his arm, only to groan in pain as his entire body felt as if it was on fire. “Oh, damnit… Ugh, what the hell happened to me?” His throat… shit. It felt as if it had been suckerpunched.

It was painful, but the pain had restarted his brain, bringing back his memories.

Something big had happened. He had met people and they had attacked him, and he’d only barely been able to save the goblins and Avelyn.

…Through that whole ordeal, he had somehow made it here, in some rustic looking shack, slowly being shaken awake in a nice, comfortable bed. Geez, how long has it been since he’d actually slept in a bed? Warm and comfortable, even with the pained response of his body screaming at him, he sank deeper into the sheets. A warm smile spread on his face, enjoying the sensation just a bit longer-

He was shaken again, rougher this time. “Hey! I know you’re awake! I saved you, you know!?” He groaned as she grabbed his arm, the searing pain just barely enough to offset the comfort of the bed. “That’s my bad arm… Lemme sleep…” He turned away from the voice, only to be pulled back. Annoyed, he opened his eyes, seeing the little girl in front of him.

She was young, looking like a ten-year-old. That put her about seven years younger than him, give or take. Certainly younger than the group he’d seen before. A bunch of 20-somethings, probably. She had a white blouse on, and her hair was tied back with a cloth, giving her a look of a tired mom, definitely not a look that fit a child. He was suddenly just a tad more conscious about forcing someone so small to take care of him…

But just a bit more than usual. He pulled his arm away from her, sticking his tongue out at the poor girl like an immature brat. “It's been a long day for me, whoever-you-are. If you let me sleep for a bit then I promise I’ll do what you wan- Whaoh!” She had climbed over the bed, to get up behind him, pushing him up with all the strength her little body had to offer. It was, unfortunately, just enough to push him out of the bed.

Now, that didn’t mean he’d just allow himself to fall, though. He stood, just in time to move out of the way out of the little brat. The sudden movement made them lose balance, and he watched with amusement as she tried saving herself, only to have them fall to the floor head first.

Her head thumped loudly on the wooden boards underneath them, only drowned out by her pained yelp. It was a bit amusing, seeing her take a hit like that. While she whined about the pain, he looked down at his own body. The wounds were… actually pretty well kept. He could see the places where he’d been cut by the harpy had been stitched, and the wound in his arm had been completely bandaged by what seemed to be pretty high-quality gauze. He didn’t expect something like that from a backwater shack like this…

Something was up.

Or whatever, he really couldn’t be bothered to think at the moment, not with the pain in his body. “Hey, I’m up. So, uh… I suppose I should thank you, right?” The girl was on the floor, rubbing her forehead with a pout and tears in her eyes. She seemed more angry than sad, though. It made sense, the idiot she’d been helping had acted ungrateful and caused her harm…

…Maybe he had been too much of a dick. He bent over, lending a hand out. They stood there for a moment, her looking at him with anger and him trying to keep an apologetic smile on his face. Eventually, she took his hand, her glare never once leaving his eyes as she stood.

“That hurt…”

Tch. This sucked. He absolutely could not make an enemy in this situation. “Sorry about that. I’m a bit out of it when I wake up.” He grinned, making sure his hair was a bit more proper. “Who might you be?”

He winced as her eyes only narrowed at the question, but relaxed once she sighed in exasperation. “You’re mean for one of Lily’s friends. I’m telling her what you did.” His eyebrow raised. Who the hell was Lily? Definitely not anyone he knew.

Not that he’d tell her that.

He also didn’t fail to notice she still hadn’t told him her name. “Ah, yeah, Lily... Well, I can’t say she and I are on the best terms either. I’m glad she came to help me, though.” For some reason, his mind felt faster, quicker on the uptake. He thought back to everything that happened before, the group, the pain, this girl…

The fact that she looked like the spitting image of the bastard woman who had hit him with the spear. If that wasn’t Lily, then he’d eat his ruined pants…

His pants?

“Oh, jesus…” Now that he looked down, he realized he’d been in a completely different outfit than before. This new one was a dark gray, with simple stitching that seemed hurried and rushed. He no longer looked like a hobo who had been thrown in a shredder, more like a simple peasant you’d find next to a castle or something. But, he couldn’t take this as a good thing, especially since there was definitely no underwear on him anymore.

His face felt warm as he realized what that meant.

“Hey, uh… girl. Is there anyone else in the house? Like… a nice old grandma or a dude?” She looked at him quizzically, before shaking her head no. His heart froze as he realized he’d probably been dressed by the girl, or worse… The ‘Lily’ woman who had taken him out in the first place. He didn’t have the balls to ask her, hoping that it’d be better not to know. He sat down on the bed, and the girl jumped up to sit next to him, staring at him with the classic curiosity found in annoying children.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“...”

“...”

Damnit.

The silence broke him, her gaze too intense for him to stay quiet. “What do you want? If you want me to leave then just give me my old pants and i’ll be out of your-”

“What happened to you?”

He paused at her sudden question, wondering who the hell would ask someone in his condition such a touchy subject. Besides… “Weren’t you already told by your sis? Kinda messed up for her to leave you with a complete stranger.” Her eyes shifted guiltily at the words, and for a moment Elliot felt a chill crawl down his spine. He was allowed to be here, right? No way this girl was pulling a fast one on him…

He chalked it up to him being paranoid, and leaned back onto the bed, groaning as his sore stomach and limbs stretched.

“I was lost in the woods, and right before I met her I was cut up by a monster and shot by some fucki-ehh… some bad guys. Your sister helped me out.” The girl’s eyes seemed to shine at his every word, which made him feel a bit better about his shitty situation. “A monster!? Was it mean? Sis told me you were robbed and I knew she was lying but… but you actually met one?” He grinned, wondering how the hell this girl had never seen a monster.

He’d been in this world for only a few weeks and already he’d seen five of those bastards.

He leaned into the story, raising his arms up ominously. “Ah, yeah… She was twice as big as you, and she had terrifying wings and claws as big as my fingers on her legs. She almost looked pretty, until she flies right past you and bit into your neck!” The girl yelped as he suddenly brung his hands out in front of her fact, shaped like claws.

She pouted as he laughed, but he couldn’t help but notice the intense curiosity in her eyes. She moved closer and grabbed his bad arm, earning Elliot a surge of pain that made him want to cry.

“H-how did they look like!? Were they scary?”

He was shaken silly with each question, and the pain in his arm only got worse. Damn girl was stronger than he expected. He couldn’t find it in himself to be mad, though. She was just a kid, and quite a sheltered one at that it seems. It was good to want to see the world, but this world especially seemed like the type to kill those people off early…

He started explaining about the goblins, the way he had met them. He talked about their camaraderie and how he… valiantly took them on one by one. When she finally got tired of that, he told her of his experience with the harpy, and how she had taken two of his best men. “Big feathery wings with sharp teeth… But she looked human enough that you’d almost believe it if she tried acting cute. Until you look down and see her… giant bird claws!”

She squealed and laughed happily, acting scared as he loomed over her. He stood up and raised his arms in a dramatic, scary way, walking around like a particularly injured penguin. It was fun, talking to someone human that wasn’t after his neck.

Agh, his arm hurt like a bitch, though.

Maybe he was getting too carried away, but he didn’t care. This went on for about a half hour, and for some reason he hadn’t become annoyed with the incessant questions. The girl must have been pretty bored, because she never seemed to run out. “She was pretty!? Monsters are ugly, aren’t they?”

He laughed, recalling the fear in his heart when the harpy’s cold, lifeless eyes lunged at him in the forest. It was a hellish experience he never wanted to experience again. If that wasn’t a monster, then he’d eat his own legs. “Who knows? Maybe she wasn’t a monster, maybe she was just a really scary girl with wings and claws, haha.” The girl pouted, obviously catching onto him keeping information from her. “I’m not dumb! I’m eleven! Monsters can look pretty… I guess.”

He shrugged, and his stomach growled, making him wonder if there was any food in this small house. At least, until he heard a door open outside the room.

“Mika! Are you here?”

The girl froze, looking at him with as much dread in her eyes as he had when he was hunted in the forest. He almost asked what was happening before she started pushing him back onto the bed. “Leila! H-hide!” His heart did somersaults as he realized what the hell was happening. “She knows I’m here, right? Like… I’m not just going to be killed if she finds me in here…” The girl looked to her side, seemingly acting innocent. “She does but… She told me not to wake you up! You were supposed to drink a… uh… trakilizer.”

A what?

Ah, she meant a tranquilizer, didn’t she?

Shit.

“You were supposed to drug me!?”

He shouted in a whispered tone, which was barely better than shouting. The girl simply nodded as if that were the only answer he needed, pushing him towards the bed with more strength than he expected. “She’ll be mad if you’re awake!” He wanted to ask why the hell she thought to wake him up if her sister had tried to keep him drugged, but was shoved into the bed before he could. “Sleep!” She whisper-shouted, before rushing out the door. He was dumbfounded for a second, before immediately rushing to cover himself in the bed.

Half of him wanted to just break a window and escape, but that would definitely get the poor girl in trouble…

He recalled how easily the woman had put a spear to his neck, and almost pulled the covers back to jump out the window until he heard the door open. He immediately shut his eyes, praying to whatever gods were watching at the moment for some sort of miracle.

“You drugged him, right?”

“...yes.”

“...Huh.”

There was a bit of noise from them, a clanking of bottles and some dust.

“...Huh.”

His heart pumped out of his chest at the second unimpressed sound, something he’d heard a million times over when people weren’t buying into his bullshit. Her next words made him realize why. “Mika, why isn’t this bottle opened if you drugged him?” He cursed, forgetting that he had just put his livelihood in a stupid eleven year old girl.

At least get rid of the evidence, he wanted to scream! “...I closed… it?” He almost moved to facepalm, before realizing it’d only make him as stupid as the girl. He heard the woman sigh, about as disappointed in the girl as he was.

“...Look, Mika. If he woke up he could have harmed you, so listen to me next time.”

“But Lily!! He isn’t a bad perso-”

“What?”

“Eep!”

He literally recoiled in the bed, and he hoped that the woman hadn’t seen him move. That’s it. If he made it out of here alive he was going to live in the forest and never speak to people again. He promised the gods that he’d become a saint who only lived off bread and water, as long as they made it so…

The footsteps making their way to his location only made him more certain that he wouldn’t get to live his dream as a forest hermit, however. “Why does that sound like you talked to him, Mika?” He could hear her presence, and he fought to keep his legs from shaking. “I-I meant he doesn’t look like a bad person! He looks skinny and… and… weak.”

Wow, ok.

He was regretting not shattering the window more and more.

Especially after what he heard next. “So he’s asleep, right? That means he won’t react if I just-” Something pointy was pressed up against his back, and in a final surge of panic he jumped up and tried crawling away into a corner of the bed, only for the sudden pain in his arm to make him fall on his face. “Oh dear gods please above I didn’t mean to lie I was just trying not to die please don't kill me, uhm… What?”

He tried standing up again to move away from the weapon, only to see Leila raising her hand in the air, the other planted firmly on her sister’s head.. She was holding a wooden spoon, looking more disappointed than anything else.

“...what?”

It seemed he’d been just as stupid as the eleven year old girl. The woman sighed, rubbing her temples as she turned to the little girl.

“Mika, you know I’m going to have to punish you for this?”