“Get as many as you can in your backpack!” I howled.

“I know, I know.” My sister carried the syringes, dropping them in her bag as fast as she could. I picked up the ones who were falling on the metallic floor of Subject 245’s test chamber. One broke, spilling the precious liquid all over.

“Shit.” I could barely hold four in my hands. My sister had fifteen. I regretted blowing my backpack up now.

“Two minutes remaining.” Bonnie echoed.

It would have to do. No time to pick up the syringes in the last experimentation room.

I ran outside, followed closely by my sister. I grabbed the door handle and teleported straight into the station main room.

We had one minute left when we emerged into the system world. Nothing had changed, except Rik was standing a few meters away, clearly looking at the weird door that had popped there.

“By the Blue…what is…” He said in utter confusion.

“No time! Take those and inject them to the villagers who are gravely wounded.”

“Is…Are those elixirs!?” He asked, almost even more surprised at that than us emerging from a door that came out of nowhere.

“No. Yes!” Gaëlle shouted. “Get moving you fuck!”

He gave her a weird look, but jumped down, and ran to the people laying on the ground.

I picked a few syringes from Gaëlle’s backpack, then we both followed him.

It was a carnage. I saw a man with half a face, brains visible, still breathing somehow.

“Bonnie can it save him?” I asked.

“…Please specify subject ‘him’.”

“The fucking guy I’m looking at!”

“Individual is deceased.” She responded.

“What!?” I examined the man again; his breath had stopped. “Shit. Shit. SHIT.” I ran to a woman with blood all over her belly. She wasn’t screaming, holding the hand of her kid, who was crying, kneeling just next to her.

“Are you okay…are you okay…” She repeated ceaselessly.

I punched the syringe in her thigh, and looked at the boy, he couldn’t have been more than seven.

“Hey. Hey…She’s going to make it.”

“…Wha…Who are you? What did you give to mommy?”

The hood of my cape had fallen down, and I felt the stares of many bore down my back.

“It’ll make her feel better. What about you? Are you hurt?”

“…N…noo, mom…mom she…”

“Okay, good.” I couldn’t wait for him to finish, as I saw someone else squirming in pain on the ground only a few meters away.

He grabbed my hand as I tried to punch the syringe next to the hole in his leg.

“I recognize you, stranger. What is that?” He had to be fifty, or thirty it was hard to tell. But his firm grip and sun-skinned skin showed a man who had survived many rough winters. The wound in itself should have killed him in minutes, the artery clearly being cut, but he had a belt put above that served as a tourniquet. Did he do it himself? I didn’t see anyone else who could have helped him so rapidly. I was speechless at these people's survival and will to fight. Would I have acted like them in the same situation?

It didn’t matter right now.

“It will heal you.”

“At what price?”

“Your silence.”

He gave me a long look.

“Decide now.” I mentally prepared to leave him to die. But then his expression changed, and he nodded sideways.

I emptied the syringe as he groaned in pain.

Then I ran back to my sister to get more.

I was kneeling on the boxes around the fish stall, looking at the ground, comforting my sister.

She was next to me, crying softly.

The people of the village had gathered again, and quickly organized to move the wounded and carry the dead away. How many had we saved? How many had died because of our choices? I had no idea. I would soon know.

I considered the idea to run. Rik had seen us teleport. Would he understand? No, most likely not. Would his misunderstanding be to our advantage?

I did not know.

I couldn’t bear to look at what was happening on the plaza, but unfortunately, my enhanced senses made sure I could hear everything.

The sobs. The shouts of anger, people cursing Henry, cursing the Blue. The deep wail of a child. It broke me.

The crystals were all up in the sky when the village slowly quieted down.

Kan talked to some of them. His son had given him one of the syringes, and he seemed in much better shape than before.

I didn’t listen. Should we leave? Probably. But I could barely walk, even less carry my sister through the forest in my state.

“Nielle. Elle.” I recognized the voice, and I looked up.

A middle-aged woman with rough features and dirt blonde hair looked at us.

“Anna.” I gulped. Gaëlle wiped away her tears, and I felt her squeeze my left shoulder.

There was so much in the woman’s stare. It almost made it impossible for me to breathe.

“You did not kill my husband.” She finally said.

I gasped and squeezed my teeth.

“I did. I couldn’t control m…”

“No. Rik has told me what happened. I harboured hatred for you, stranger, such deep hatred I have never felt before. I was so certain never to forgive the one who killed my husband. And I was right.”

“I…”

“You were not the one who killed my husband. Ascensus Henry was. He sicced the hellish monster on you in the plateau because my husband was starting to suspect Henry’s true motivations. I would have been one of the widows of the Red House. But you brought the truth under the Krist. You have helped bring justice to my husband’s murder. I am indebted to you. I forgive you.” She bowed deeply and left.

I could barely breathe. I looked up, saw Rik among the talking crowd looking at me. He gazed away.

Maybe he too, despite everything he had said, had finally forgiven me.

I didn’t think I could forgive myself, though.

My sister looked at me, then hugged me sideways.

The villagers discussed their future. Some people came to thank us for our help, some had even brought us food and [Purified] water.

It felt like a bad dream, the bodies had been removed a few hours before, and now people were already ready to move on.

As I told my sister that, she disagreed.

“Nn, nn. We are amongst survivors here. Either you adapt or you die. Those people chose to live.”

I was once again speechless. I looked at the men and women and sighed. Maybe I was the wrong one, to stay there laying in shock.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

We had killed the [Dark Crow], killed Ascensus Henry, saved the village. It hadn’t been without cost, but it had been done.

“Did you notice the lack of notification when we killed the [Dark Crow]? No name, no level.” I asked my sister.

“Yeah.”

“Why is that?”

“I…either because it was because of a too high-levelled shenanigan, but my guess is that…it wasn’t a monster.”

It took me a few moments to understand what she was implying.

“It was a tamed animal.” I finally deduced. “Killing the bear and the furball didn’t give us any notifications. We only received one to get the bonus Experience.”

“Yup.”

“Shit. How do you raise a crow to be so big?”

My sister didn’t answer me, thinking about something else.

“It’s sad. The big evil monster was only like that because of its shitty master. It could have been the village’s mascot, protecting them from harm in exchange for shiny pebbles.”

I didn’t know what to answer to that.

As the evening fell, Rik and Kan came to invite us back to their home. They carried two extra chairs inside, and we ate some tasteless gruel with warm goat milk. The place was slightly cosier now that they had turned on a lantern and more candles. During the dinner, we barely talked, but once Kan brought a bottle of purple liquid and a few glasses, the mood changed.

“You’re free to sleep here, but I’d rather have my bed, if you don’t mind. The tower is stable, and you’ll certainly be more comfortable in the apartments of the Ascensus for now.” The old elf began.

“Oh that’s very nice of you. We’ll go there then.” Gaëlle seemed pleased with that.

“Or you could use this special door of yours to get back to your home.” The elf continued, undisturbed.

That brought an uncomfortable silence.

I clenched my teeth.

Rik apologized: “I thought it would be best to relate what I had seen to my father. I understand you would have preferred it to be kept a secret, and I am sorry.”

“…Did you tell anyone else?” I asked.

“No.”

“I heard a story.” Kan gulped the glass of violet-smelling alcohol in one go. Everyone else hadn’t touched their glass yet. “That ten years ago, the Ascensus was in contact with a strange man that wasn’t from around here. He appeared out of nowhere, dressed in clothes we never saw, and soon after, Henry became more influential. The [Dark Crow]’s attacks started a few years later, after the strange man appeared once again. I wasn’t there, obviously, but I heard the villagers gossip about it so many times. A noble with special skills, barely seen, coming in and out of the forest. When I became a guard for Canvas, he had stopped appearing already, so I didn’t think much of it. But once, there were two men that I did not recognize that had descended from the Upperseas. They didn’t look like people from Solace or Hope. Are you two like him?”

Gaëlle almost growled. “We are nothing like Benedict.” She spat the word.

“So you know of who I’m talking.”

Me and my sister exchanged a glance. What could we tell reveal? Tell the truth? We didn’t know those people. I spoke in untranslated English. “I do believe they are trustworthy.” I began.

“I agree.” My sister answered.

I could see that the two men didn’t enjoy us talking between us, but they would need to handle it.

“But no one can be trusted with this.”

“I agree also.” My sister nodded. “We shouldn’t be trusted with that either, all that freedom in the hands of former subjects…”

“But we are, we are responsible.”

“…So.” My sister cut to the chase. “What do we do?”

“Let us not lie to them but reveal as little as we can.”

“[Speech] on.” My sister said and turned to face the two men.

I did the same as her.

“What do you want to know?” Gaëlle asked.

“I want an explanation.” Kan responded. Rik looked at us, not sure which side to take.

“We can’t give you one.” Gaëlle responded.

The soldier scoffed, rose his feet to the table and balanced himself back on the chair.

“You can’t uh? You just appear out of nowhere, kill our hunters, kill our leader, kill the monster that plagued us for years. And I have to believe you did this for no reason?”

“We didn’t want to kill Gorgnar.” L countered. “We did want to kill Henry very badly, I personally cannot accept pigs who prey on vulnerable…sapiens.”

“…And it wasn’t a monster.” I added.

“What?” Rik exclaimed. Kan didn’t look surprised though.

“We got the kill notification. No name, no level.” I explained.

“So, it was a normal crow, changed by Henry…or more likely changed by the strange man. Which you two knew.”

Me and my sister shivered. Of course. Benedict could have made that crow. I wasn’t going to ask Bonnie now, but that was the most sensefull theory.

Kan’s suspicion was warranted. But that didn’t change the fact that we had to reveal as little as we could.

“Maybe just telling them we come from another world.” Gaëlle spoke without the [Speech] skill.

“…Maybe.”

“We need more general information; we don’t even know what’s the currency. They’ll realize it themselves soon enough.”

That was a decent argument.

“Me…” I began. “Me and my sister are not from around here.” I tried.

“We had gathered as much.” Rik answered with a short laugh.

“New Pettisbrough?” Kan gave out the name of what I supposed was a place. Whether in the Overworld or the Upperseas I couldn’t even start to know.

“No. We’re not from this world.”

This time, both men looked at us in surprise. “What?” They said in unison.

“We come from a place named Earth. We use the doors you saw to travel.” Gaëlle continued for me.

“You…you are otherworlders? You weren’t born in Blue? But you look like two humans!?”

“Humans exist in a lot of worlds. Elves as well.” Gaëlle answered him.

“Which makes the things we know and the things we don’t very…extreme. We know almost nothing of your world, but also know about… dangerous things.” I spoke slowly, careful of my every word.

“That is a ridiculous claim.” Kan responded.

But Rik looked shocked. “That’s how you broke the [Trapping] record. How you blew up the [Dark…the giant crow.”

“Our world doesn’t have an ocean in the sky, for example.” Gaëlle told them.

“L, careful.” I warned her. The less we told them, the better it would be for everyone.

“You believe them, Rik?” Kan looked at his song with a raised, angry eyebrow.

“I…I think it makes sense. They knew so little, I thought they were sheltered nobles, but so many things didn’t fit.”

“We don’t even know how currency works in this world.” I laughed weakly.

“You don’t…?” Rik stared in bewilderment.

“Preposterous.” Kan didn’t believe us. “You use the system like us, you are two normal, even if unusually pleasant to look at, humans.”

“The one named Benedict came from the same world we did. Be he wasn’t as careful about the things he brought here. That’s what brought the [Dark Crow], and the scribe named Oliveri.”

That made the old elf stop in thought. “Olivieri…the scribe. Where is he?”

“Probably in the rubble of the sixth floor. If there is a sixth floor left.”

“…The tower is solid, the seventh floor crumbled, but everything else is intact.”

“Well.” I sighed. “When you find his body, you’ll see he wasn’t human. He wasn’t from this world either.”

“…” Kan was pensive.

“There is an easy way we could check.” Rik seemed to have an idea.

“We won’t be inspected again.” Gaëlle immediately countered. “There are things in our [Status]…exit…that are too private. Our levels are one thing, the rest…”

“No, I…it certainly would clear doubts. But you claim you have no money. Everyone has at least a few coins. I sell you this bow for one coin.”

He pulled out his bow and placed it on the table, making his glass topple over and spill. He didn’t care.

“What are you doing? That is our heirloom you can’t…” Kan tried to interpose.

“They’ll give it back, I have no doubt. I also promised them I would trust them.”

I rose my shoulders and arms. “I have nothing to give you? How is this supposed to prove anything?”

“Just say that you’ll give me a coin in exchange for my bow.” Rik explained.

“What? But I have no coins. My pockets are empty, my sister’s bag is empty, she has none either.”

“Plenty of American dollars out in the bedroom, but no coins, sorry.” My sister said with an embarrassed smile.”

“Gaëlle!?”

“They don’t know what any of that means, don’t worry.” She waved dismissively at me.

She was right, the two men were watching us confusedly.

“What are you two talking about?” Kan asked. “Are you serious? You are, aren’t you? You really don’t know. That’s almost proof in itself. By the Blue.”

Rik insisted. “Just say you’ll give me a coin for the bow, Nielle.”

“Fine, I give you a coin for the bow.”

You have no coins

The system message made me jump. “What?”

Gaëlle stared at me. “Wait. I give a coin to Rik for the bow.” Then she exclaimed. “Wow, you use the system to store money? How does that work?”

Kan looked at his son.

“They have insufficient funds.”

“So either they are the poorest people on Blue. Or they tell the truth.”

“The poorest people in Blue gave twenty elixirs away to save our people? To save you?” Rik questioned.

“Fine.” He looked back at us. “It seems your claims hold some sense. It changes things. Obviously.” Kan lowered his head. “Can you not go back to your world then? Show us the door.” He asked.

Me and my sister grimaced. “We can’t. It takes time, we can’t use it often.”

“How long?” The old elf asked.

“We’d rather not say.”

The soldier blinked. “Oh. Oh of course, it is a rather dangerous thing to reveal.”

“But…” Rik looked at us, having remembered something. “There was a door in the [Ground Drake]’s lair. Just like the one that appeared in the plaza. Except this one did not disappear afterwards. Is that why you wanted to go back there?”

I really didn’t want to reveal anything, but that we couldn’t really hide. “The door you’re speaking of is permanent. It’s how we came to this world at first. We fell in the lair while the [Ground Drake] slept, escaped and found ourselves in Canvas.” I simplified very roughly.

“I see. Could we use it?”

“No.” I shook my head. If Bonnie allowed access, he probably would have been able to, but that lie was essential. “Only me and my sister can.”

“What about the strange man…Benedict?” Kan asked.

“He’s dead.” I responded simply.

“Well, that is reassuring at least. Rik, let us not keep those two ladies waiting any longer. We have much to think, and a night’s rest will do us good. As I said, you may go to the tower and sleep in Henry’s quarters. I will come look for you tomorrow, and we’ll talk some more. I suppose there are many things you wish to discuss. Money will be essential, I believe.”

“Ida.” Rik and him exchanged a stare.

Kan sighed. His shoulders fell, his posture became less aggressive, more open.

“I thank you, Nielle and Elle. Your presence brings immense change to this village…maybe to this world. You are dangerous, certainly. But after what you have done…after saving my life…You are heroes, and I hope you will believe me when I say that we do not wish you harm. Our debt is too high. I heard Jonas tell me that the only thing you asked for was silence. That, I give you my word, will be held… I will tell you everything I know about the System.”

“Ida!?” Rik exclaimed but was stopped when his father raised his palm in a calming manner. “I simply ask you…please do not leave yet. Stay a few weeks. Even a few days.”

“…Why?” Gaëlle asked.

“Because even though Henry was the worst human I have ever met, I believed his last words. The defence of this village has been easy, so much so that it took me two more years to reach level 50 in my [Soldier] class. The crow was helping with our defences. But now that I have reached level 50, I can teach people my class. I do not ask you to teach us your powerful skills or bring the things this Benedict brought. Simply help us until I have gathered enough soldiers. In our clan we had ten, and one [Scout]. But we were much smaller in size than the village. Give me some time to bring twenty men to level 10, or the villagers you saved will not live long enough for Solace to arrive above us.”

It brought a long silence. I didn’t need to speak to my sister though, a clench of her hand in mine was enough.

She was the one who spoke for us.

“…We will think about it. At the very least, we will be there tomorrow.”

She knew we were going to help, I had heard her sigh during the soldier’s speech. But we needed time to gather our thoughts.

“…Have a good night, then.” Kan rose to his feet, then bowed. “And thank you for helping us bring justice to my wife.”

Rik rose and bowed as well.