The weeks following the Crazy Ass Undead Attack, or “The Incident,” as all the adults called it for some reason, all blurred together for me. The guards eventually were able to work with the priests in the general temple, the healing church, and the orphanage to destroy all the undead that had been unleashed. Apparently, none of the undead were high class monsters.

I bet Allie could’ve taken them all on herself if it wasn’t for me…

I was bedridden for a week in Corby’s home following the attacks due to using Allie’s hat and some injuries I didn’t realize I had. Corby stayed by my side most of the time. Mom came and got the twins, but I didn’t actually see her. The twins came over to visit every day, which mostly consisted of cuddling and some or all of us crying.

Corby’s tendency to over worry was apparently something he got from his moms. Ms. Scully even had the orphanage’s priest, Mx. Fatu, pray for my forgiveness for using Allie’s hat. She was a kindly old demon; Corby’s family seemed to know her well. I didn’t see what all the fuss was about wearing a hat, but apparently, the gods took this kind of stuff seriously. Mx. Fatu told me that they had the feeling Pallea would overlook it since it was to save the lives of kids.

That seems like a nice goddess. Thank you, Pally!

I felt this strange shiver when I thought that, but I didn’t pay it any mind. Too much going on.

Less pleasant was the Cadeumite priest, a human who didn’t introduce themselves. They just poked my wound, which hurt a lot, and did flashy magic stuff which hurt a lot more.

“Sorry, child. Healing often means hurting before you feel better. You’ll have a scar, but you’ll live. The ghoul didn’t pass any toxins into you, Cadeum be praised.”

He got up without waiting for my response. His shoulders slumped as he walked away, clearly exhausted.

Guess he’s been busy. Lots of injured people…

I was a little bitter when I discovered that dude cost a few silver, and Corby’s moms refused to let me pay them back.

Not that I had the money on me, but I could’ve saved up!

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I managed to recover enough to move a day before the town’s funeral ceremony. It had taken this long just to find everyone—or at least what was left of them.

The surviving townspeople all gathered around the main road outside of the town where a massive pyre had been erected, with the remains of the dead placed on it. On a small platform stood our town’s gravekeeper, Ruben. Most people were creeped out by him, but he was a sweet human who came here when he was a Freshie only a few years ago. He had a sweet tooth and sometimes shared treats with the kids. People just didn’t like him because he was the only other human in town and was probably a little too excited about death.

I mean, somebody has to do the job. Might as well enjoy what you do.

But today, even Ruben was somber. He led the ceremony, saying stuff about life and rebirth and asked his god to bless the pyre. Then he led us as we called out 32 names. I didn’t know most of them. I couldn’t tell if I was relieved to not know them, or guilty for not taking the time to. I did recognize some. A kind neighbor, a cranky fisher that would shout at me, a couple of guards. They also read out Allie’s name. My mind protested furiously, but I didn’t speak.

She’s gone, but that doesn’t mean she’s dead. The undead came out of the light thingies. So if Allie vanished in a light thingie, maybe she just went somewhere else. And if she was somewhere else, then she’d survive. My Big Sis wouldn’t let anything kill her. I still owe her a cinnamon bun.

I had tried telling this theory to a lot of people, but the only reactions I got varied between pity and anger. Mom in particular didn’t want to hear it. Mom had to stop herself from slapping me and demanded I never speak of it again. Then she started crying. She did that a lot now.

I looked away from the intense heat of the fire and looked at my family. Bellum and Milly were each holding one of Mom’s hands, trying to comfort her as only innocent kids could.

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Bellum and Milly would curl up in my lap every day. We all missed her. They had been waking up with nightmares for weeks. A lot of us did. I had taken to sleeping between the twins. Otherwise, I’d wake up in a panic that I had lost them. Corby had dealt with my panicked wake-ups for a while as I was recovering. He was too sweet to complain, even when I ended up punching him when I woke up in a fright.

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There wasn’t much for pre-System kids to do to help rebuild the town, so us older kids wound up babysitting the rest while everyone worked. It was a mess of emotions. Some kids kept breaking into tears while others had returned to their joyful and excitable selves. When it was my turn, I kept the peace by telling stories. I told stories of Allium’s exploits; sometimes I’d throw in stories she had told me about underwater cities and demon food that would burn your tongue with some magic called ‘spiciness.’

Every day we had a different guard watching over the group just to be safe. One day, I actually recognized the guard. He was the mustache guy that had saved me from the really fast undead. What I hadn’t realized was that he was a demon, and his mustache was made of fire.

So that’s why I was able to see it in the dark that day. Fire mustaches are awesome!

After I finished my turn to distract the kids, I went over to him.

“Hey, mister? Thank you for saving me that day.”

He seemed confused, so I explained the situation to him.

“Oh! You’re that kid! Pallea be praised, I’m happy to hear you made it through. We all owe your sister a great debt. She wiped out half the undead all by herself. She was an amazing lass.”

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“Yes. She is,” I said sternly.

He paused for a second before letting out a deep belly laugh, his tail shaking. “Fair enough, kid. I ain’t gonna argue with someone crazy enough to run towards undead and kick shoes at them.”

I relaxed. “By the way, your mustache is super cool!”

“Hahaha, thanks. It’s actually magic. I started to cast it as a goofy way to practice, but now I’m able to keep it up as long as I’m awake. Saved my hide the other day to have a light on me at all times.”

“That’s so cool, mister.”

“Please, call me Sool.”

He stuck out his massive hand, and I shook it with both hands.

“I’m Nymia.”

We chatted the rest of the day away.

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As news spread of the Crazy Ass Undead Assault, we got all kinds of visitors. First were a few aides to the Awakened Ones, who came in to ask questions. People around town kept claiming they had seen the legendary Fenrir off in the distance, but I doubted it.

He helps guard the whole country. Doubt he has time to stroll around casually.

But then the visitors kept coming. From Fernia, Durva, Parlo, and some other nations I had never heard of. Most of them didn’t stay very long.

The people from Cadeumia stayed a while. They even started to offer healing, but their prices were so high that only a few were able to afford it. They were all humans, so they tended to stick out around town.

They must get cold without any fur.

They were all very stone-faced most of the time. But a few times I caught glimpses of them making faces that twisted up in disgust like they were being forced to eat a turnip.

Well, we do have a lot of turnips here. Only makes sense that some of them would have to eat them. Maybe these are the first turnips they’ve ever had? Poor humans.

The other group that stayed for a while was from the Guild, who were escorting some researchers from the College.

I took some time to go over to their camp as soon as I heard they had made camp.

Maybe some of them know Allie!

I walked past a lot of weird-looking devices to a tent that said “Guild.”

Ha! And to think, Corby says my reading skills need work.

I walked in and saw a whole bunch of weird doohickeys. One of them was in the shape of a dragon and had this big red part on the back. Curious, I went over to try and poke it.

“Hold it!” Someone shouted.

A behemoth of a person came from behind me and picked me up like I weighed nothing and turned me around to face me.

He was a black-and-white bearfolk, and the biggest one I’d ever seen. Looked like he was 2.4m tall and could lift a mountain without breaking a sweat.

“Young miss, what exactly were you doing trying to turn on a flamethrower pointed at your face?”

“Well mister, I came to talk to the guild, so I went to the tent that said Guild. Then I saw a cool thing and I wanted to poke it,” I explained.

“Did you not read the rest of the sign that said “Guild Armory: Do Not Enter?” He said with that exasperated tone Corby always had when trying to explain things to me.

“Um….no.”

“Ok. Well I’m gonna escort you to the tent you’re looking for so you don’t try to burn anything else down. You can fill me in on your request while we walk.”

He put me down and we started walking.

“Sure! I’m Nymia, and I wanted to see if anyone here knew my sister.”

He stopped walking.

“N-Nymia?”

I turned around confused, tilting my head. “Yup. Why?”

“Well, that explains nearly burning down the camp then,” he muttered. “So you’re Allium’s little sister?”

My eyes lit up. “You guys do know her!”

“Of course. I’m part of her party,” he said with a grin. “B-rank Pogo at your service.”

He looks so cute for someone so huge.

“You’re a part of One Fur All?!”

He sighed. “Yes. Your sister won the bet to name the party…”

“She’s the best at puns!” I declared proudly.

Popo laughed, but then his face quickly turned somber. “Do you think you could tell us what happened to her? We’ve heard a lot of conflicting reports.”

“I…yes. Of course.”

This is Sis’ friend. He deserves to know.

I explained what had happened, trying my best not to cry, but I could feel my tears betraying me by the end.

I bowed my head. “I’m sorry your friend is gone because of me.”

I was suddenly pulled into a wall of warm, fuzzy fur. “Shh, it’s not your fault. You’re just a pre-System kid. There’s nothing you could’ve done. And your sister won’t blame you, either.”

“Really?” I said, unable to stop my lips from quivering.

“Really. She loved talking about you, you know?”

I gripped his fur, and his big hand massaged my back. Then, he leaned down and whispered. “And I think you’re right. She’s still out there somewhere.”

I looked at him in shock.

Someone believes me?!

He nodded. “Those light circles sound like a forbidden practice called space magic. If she got caught in one, she could’ve been sent somewhere else. I’ll let the rest of the party—

“One Fur All!” I interjected.

“…yes. I’ll let the rest of One Fur All know and we’ll start looking for her after graduation. A-Rank opens a lot more doors. Your sister has saved all our lives a few times over; we will not stop until we find her, no matter how long it takes; I promise.”

I nodded fiercely. “I’ll look for her, too, when I become an adventurer.”

He grinned. “You sound just like her.”

I left the camp with a renewed determination.

If you don’t come back, Allie, I will become an adventurer and go out there to find you!