"Oh, there you are," Miss Ivy called out to me as I lingered in the hallway. "Where were you? I've been searching all over."

"I was in the washroom."

"With those in your hands?" My hands still held the cleaning equipment.

"It's just—"

"Okay, okay, leave it." She held my hands in a hurry. "I have to say, Maya, I am really impressed by your work. Just now I checked the room, and it's squeaky clean."

I almost forgot the work I was assigned. It was why I came here and why I tried to give my best, but my mind still floated in the event that transpired moments before. It also became my concern, and yet I asked the question that didn't concern me the least now. "Do I get the job?"

"As a beginner, you are more than qualified, Maya. I will train you myself starting tomorrow, and you will stay in the shelter outside the mansion until you get better at your job. Happy?"

"Yes." I forced out a smile.

"Come with me; I will show you to your room." I looked back at the closed door, which seemed so ordinary from outside. I kept the cleaning equipment back in the storage and followed her. Maybe it's best that I don't tell her what happened.

The room Miss Ivy showed me was just enough for one person. A bed, a window—that's all there was. Yet I oddly felt at home. It was right beside a beautiful flower garden of white and purple. The night came as early as the evening. The moon hid behind the clouds, and a gleam of its luminescence escaped, lighting the entire mansion. My eyes fell on the closed window on the first floor. I shouldn't have left. The thought crossed my mind, but it was already late. He must have slept. I laid myself on the bed and kept thinking about the day. I didn't know when I fell asleep, but the warm rays of the morning sun greeted me, signalling my first day of work here.

It was still early. The first thing I did was to go and stand before his door, circling left and right. Should I go inside? Or should I leave? If I go in, I fear what he will say, and if I leave now, I will keep thinking about him the whole day again.

Is he alright? I didn’t see any other maids checking on him later that evening, and he didn’t look the type to share his pain either. Miss Bianca also clearly instructed me to stay away from his room. I didn't tell Miss Ivy about this either. What should I do? If I came back at night, everyone would have gone to sleep by then. I am still new, so I could make an excuse if anyone finds me sneaking around. "Yeah, that would be good."

"What are you doing?" I turned to leave but stopped as I heard a voice. It was the young master.

"I-I was just thinking of cleaning the hallway."

"Do you clean the floor with those?" He pointed to what I was holding. There were some bandages and a bowl of clean water in my hands.

"I…" My eyes darted left and right to find an excuse.

"Come in."

"O-Okay…!?" I hesitantly entered the room. It was the same as yesterday. The place where the vase should have been was still empty. The whip was still hung on the wall, and the bed was still messy. He must have woken up not too long ago. There were bloodstains on those white mattresses that were now completely dried up.

"Were you checking on me?" He went near a rack filled with many books. His hand went straight to a book of his choosing as he pulled it out. He placed the book on the table and sat on the chair facing me.

"N-No, nothing like that. I was just... checking on you." An excuse seemed unnecessary. He seemed to already know why I was here. "I am sorry, young master. Yesterday, in that situation, I couldn't say it was my fault. And you had to go through all of that because of this useless me. How are your wounds?"

"It’s fine."

"No, it's not. I didn't even check on your wounds later. I know it's shameless of me to ask, but can you please tell me how you are feeling?"

He watched me for a few seconds before opening his mouth. "Do you know what this book contains?" He grabbed the book on the table and pointed it to me. The cover of the book had no name, but it was thick enough for him to hold it in both his hands. I shook my head. "It's a culmination of unconventional theories on how to form a mana core." I didn't understand where he was going with that. "I have been reading it for more than a month now, and do you know how each one of those methods ends? A failure. They are just random nonsense written by some wandering mages in the name of theories that just look believable enough to try." His tone was normal, but it had a subtle depth that showed his pain in a peculiar way. "And I will be a part of this experiment in a month's time. I don't know if I will live or die, and here you are worrying about something you should not."

"How can you say that, young master? How can you ignore your current condition when you weren't even treated properly? I don't know how dangerous what you talked about will be. But if you leave your wounds untreated for a while—"

"They will fester. I know. But as I said, I’m okay." He turned around and lifted his shirt.

I could only be surprised by what I saw. There was not a single wound or a scar left by one. His skin was as good as new, as if nothing had ever happened. "How? How is that possible?"

"I told you already. I heal fast."

"But…" I thought he said that to lessen my worry. But from what I see, this isn't just simple healing. Can a human even heal that quickly? Maybe he used some sort of potion?

"I think you still don't understand, but it’s best for you if you don’t get involved with me much. As I said before, there are others to take care of me." He was serious when he said that. But I felt it was more out of concern for me. He didn't want me to get into trouble. That's all he wanted. I heard a few rumours on my first day, but I didn’t know how or why those rumours started. They felt too exaggerated when I heard them, but suddenly I felt there was more to where and how those rumours started. "You can leave now, and please don’t linger around this room unless you were ordered to." I bowed to him, placed the bandages and water on the table, and was ready to leave the room, and his voice sounded again. "I didn't ask before. What's your name?"

"It's Maya."

"Well, Maya, have a nice day." His words didn't match his age. A young boy less than half my age was more thoughtful than I ever could be. Maybe that's how all the nobility are. I closed the door on my way out. He was a mystery to me. Something that made me naturally curious.

Since then, it’s already been a week. I woke up every day, cleaned a few rooms, and slept at my temporary shelter. Miss Ivy was kind enough to show me around. I avoided Miss Bianca from that day on. It’s more like I haven’t seen her since. This was a big mansion, and she must have been busy with other things. Nothing affected my job as a maid, so I thought I was doing okay. But Miss Ivy says I still have more things to learn. Currently, I have three more weeks to complete basic training. I have been diligent these past few days. But one thing worried me. Like others, I haven’t seen young Master Ash ever since. His room was always locked, and the window was always closed.

A few times, I saw a carriage going out of the mansion during the evening and returning at the wake of dawn. There was no commotion over it. I couldn’t see who was in there, but I knew it wasn’t some random guest. I wanted to ask Miss Ivy about that, but I missed my chance, and I have been busy ever since. The air around the house felt gloomy. Even if this was a huge mansion with lots of people in it, it was already great that I had someone to talk to.

I was at the end of the long hallway. I cleaned one of the empty rooms on this floor and just came out. Even if no room was being used, it was a maid's job to keep it clean without a speck of dust. That incident still haunts me, but all's well that ends well. But I couldn’t say the same for the young master. If I walked a little more, his room would be to my left. I had cleaning equipment on me this time around, but he would know if I tried to make another excuse.

Is he alright? I didn't know how many times I thought of him. I felt like no one cared for him here, and that was the truth. From the few gossips I heard, they saw the young master as someone who didn't exist in this house. A person who was completely ignored. I didn't know the reason, and as a trainee, I never dared to approach them when they kept staring at me like an outsider. Even so, the thought of his well-being kept me awake at night.

I can’t stop thinking about him. At the same time, I couldn’t say why. I knew that these thoughts would eventually get me in trouble if I didn’t stop.

"Maya, are you coming? You have a few more things to do." Miss Ivy called out to me from the end of the long stairway. I came out of my daze at her sudden call.

"Coming!" I turned back, carrying the cleaning equipment on my way. I couldn’t do anything today, either. And from now on, I decided to stop being nosy and focus on what I came here to do. My unwanted worries remained as thoughts for another day. And I decided to leave it at that.

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Dreams and reality. The border separating them was very thin. To escape reality, we dream, but those dreams turn into nightmares, haunting us like parasites and agonising us at our sweetest hour. After a while, we lose the only reason to live, as both dreams and reality become places we want to escape. The border becomes so vague that it ceases to exist at one point. It’s the hard truth.

Will I live? Will I die? The question repeated itself in a non-existent loop. The answer to that was simple and clear, but something in me didn’t want to conclude it with just that. A simple answer to a simple question, or an answer that I can only dream of. It was a choice I couldn’t or didn’t want to make. A reality that I could only think of as a dream.

"Oh, oh, what do we have here?"

Hearing an unknown voice, I tried to open my eyes. The blurry scene of a person's face moving with a source of light coming from behind made me realise I was still alive. Or was I still dreaming? Drifting in a place of all this darkness, at a distance, a hand reached out to me. I wanted to grab it and get out of this place. But I could feel nothing but my fluttering eyelids, which struggled to stay open.

"Making this old man do all the work. You are going to pay for it, boy." With a grumbled tone, he jumped from an unknown height, stopping right above me as he grabbed me by my clothes and pulled me out of the empty hole of darkness. A stream of light rushed through my half-closed eyes, making me close them in reflex. He touched all over my body, putting his head above my chest, listening to my heartbeat, and closing my nose with his two thick fingers before removing them as I struggled to breathe. He then lightly slapped my cheeks. I didn't respond. I felt like I was alive. I was, but I couldn’t move a muscle. So, he slapped me even harder the next moment. "I thought that would work. Normally, it would. That would be way too easy, uh? But with how you look, it’s already great that you are still breathing, kid. It looks like you got your ass beaten."

That’s right. I should have been dead. The last thing I remember was burning alive, becoming food for the monsters. Did I even survive that? The man lifted me and threw me onto something. I tried to move again, but it felt all numb. My eyes became more clear as the moments passed, and some hard substance with a stinky smell fell on my face. An eye covered in many layers of transparent skin stared directly into mine. I stared back at it while holding my breath. Unable to stay like that for long, I breathed out and gasped for air. As my breath touched its slimy body and reached my nose again, it carried a wet, stinky smell that invigorated my tongue, making me want to throw up.

"I only have one cart, so hold on tight for a while with your new friend!" The old man's voice echoed in my ears as the ground beneath me shook, making the monster corpse fall to my side.

I stayed lying on my back. The scene above me changed little by little. The cave roof, which was filled with varying colours of mana crystals before, now had thick vines spreading everywhere. And it looked further away from me than before. Was I not in the same place? Nonetheless, it still looked like a canvas, with each vine extended from the rocky ceiling, representing a monochromic brushstroke of artistic amusement. I couldn't help but find beauty in such simple things. The vines looked like the roots of a large tree, but each one of them was bigger than a tree’s trunk. I could only question what it was. I remembered I was underneath Misty Grove, but it still felt surreal.

Thinking about that, I realised I was not feeling any more tremors. How long have I been asleep? I wanted to get up and know what was going on. I tried to move, but my body still felt numb. And in one corner of my mind, I felt resigned. Will that make any difference? Time ticked with no intention of stopping. I felt lethargic, and my eyes became foggy as I couldn’t keep them open any longer. Even the stinky smell of the monster corpse beside me felt like a soothing aroma as I slowly dozed off to sleep. The warm feeling of everything leaving me, including the little deep-hearted pain and useless worries, swarmed over me like fresh daylight on a winter morning. It felt good. The feeling of limitless freedom.

"I left you for a second, and you dozed off again? Don’t you dare lose your consciousness now. That will be the end of you." A sudden jolt of pain woke me up. My cheek burned like it was being slapped. Once again. "Where did that tenacious will of yours go, huh? Just be with me for a while."

"Haah!" He poured some thick, wet substance onto my face, which made me jerk a little. Some of it went inside my mouth, a sweet taste spreading all over.

"Are you dead or what? I said to just stay awake, dammit! Is that so hard?"

It is. I felt my sensation returning. Slowly but surely. That made me more aware of my body's state than before. Every part that was damaged. Every kind of pain I felt. The scarring memories that each monster left. A horrifying sense of reality that I tried to ignore. I tried to get up by putting on some strength, but my whole body felt as if pierced by thorns the size of my hand. It hurts. It’s painful. Was that a healing potion? The pain only increased with each passing moment. I moved my limbs and struggled as I scratched the wooden surface beneath me. My body temperature increased as every pore on my skin excreted sweat in response. Gasping for air, I turned my body, crouching, beating my head, and gritting my teeth. The space around me was too limited for me to even struggle.

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"Oh, we already reached while I was talking." His words didn't make it any better. The man carried me inside some structure and put me on a soft surface. "Ah… My back is killing me. Why are you so damn heavy? And you are going to clean this bed once you are cured, okay?"

After another few moments of writhing in unbearable pain, it became bearable enough for me to get accustomed to it a little. The roof of the shelter had cracks and vines all the same as outside. It looked like crumbling rocks made of grey and black, all covered with growing moss and algae. They seemed like they would collapse at any moment. I pulled myself and sat on the bed, staring at the many distortions on top of my body. My left hand and left leg were missing. It felt empty. All the pain made me forget how damaged my body was. Everything was mending up on the surface, little by little, but my insides were a mess, and I started to realise that fact. For me, surviving another day would be a miracle on its own. My eyes fell on the things in this small room. There was a small desk with a lamp on it, and even the bed I laid on was just enough for me to fit.

"Oh, you can sit now? How are you dealing with the pain? Are you able to talk?" An old man with a small stature entered through the doorless entrance. He wore thick leather boots and gloves. And a small plate of armour that barely covered his gorilla-like chest. His face was completely filled with beard and moustache hair, and in its entirety, he looked like an enormous dwarf. A word of contradiction. But he was also the one who saved me.

"Th-Thanks." Stuttering words came out of my parched mouth. "Thank you for saving me."

"Then why does your face say something else?" He handed me a small clay pot filled with a thick, red, slimy substance. I didn't have to smell its pungent odour that attacked my scent glands as if to remind me how dangerously unhygienic it was.

"What is this?"

"I am not so well versed in medicine, but looking at your condition, you do have a chance… I think. Fifty-fifty, maybe? Or twenty…? Nah, you will live. Trust me. And don't make that face as if there is no tomorrow."

I didn't understand whether he was joking or just being ignorant. Even with my fast healing, which made me look like an unusual specimen to everyone, I knew I would die. Without something like a high-grade healing potion, my fate was already set in stone.

"You are dilly-dallying too much, kid. Drink that fast." He grabbed the clay pot with his huge, thick hands and forcefully brought it near my mouth. I tried to resist, but my unrecovered strength was leagues below his own. When I looked at the bubbles popping out of that unknown liquid, I shut my mouth, turning my head to the side. But it was to no avail. "It’s fresh monster blood, which I collected from a monster I killed a week ago." Fresh? That was basically something from a rotten corpse.

"Worry not. I won’t ask for any compensation."

I am going to die.

"Don’t leave a single drop, okay? Drink everything like a good kid. Right there."

He is going to kill me. He opened my jaws with one hand and forced the monster's blood into my mouth. I wanted to throw up, but he didn’t give me that choice. As soon as he poured everything down my throat, he closed my mouth with the hands that covered most of my face. I was unable to breathe as those lumps of old meat blocked my airway. It passed through my food pipe, leaving a burning sensation all over. The disgust alone made my eyes water as I struggled to pull his hand with my lone right hand. It was like a sturdy pillar that didn't even flinch. "Slow down there and be a good boy and drink this, too."

I thought it was over, but he pulled out a huge leather sac from behind. It was three times as big as the bowl, the sound of a liquid echoing in my ears wherever it moved in his hand, as if it reminded me of the torture that was yet to come. It only made me fear the old man even more. He shoved its opening end right into my mouth. It burned my intestines, making me writhe in pain, and some of it came out of my nostrils. But without any shred of mercy, he even closed them completely. It became more and more difficult to breathe. The pain. The heat. The uneasiness increased. I want to die.

A few minutes passed as I struggled to move my body. It was literal hell to not even be able to scream in anguish. "You just ingested five bowls worth of fresh monster blood."

You made me do it. And don't call it fresh. Why was he carrying monster blood as if it were some kind of refreshment? I didn’t know, and that wasn’t my concern at the moment.

"You will die, kid." He stated the obvious.

Just kill me already.

"You should have already. But that didn’t happen." I wanted to speak and ask him why he made me go through all that. But I feared the words that would come out of my mouth. Yet I spoke out my thoughts.

"That's because of the self-healing ability I was born with."

"I knew you were different from the moment I found you. Did you survive after getting your ass whooped by those fish monsters?"

I took a moment to look at my body state. "If you call this surviving, then yes."

He put his hands on my shoulders, pulling me close to his face. "Don’t joke with me, kid. Even if they are small and brainless beasts, monsters are monsters. Do you think a boy like you has a chance against them?" His piercing gaze searched for truth in every word I spoke.

I tried to distance myself, but it was the same as before. No use. So I stared back at him, gritting my teeth. "You think I care about that now? They were twice the size of me and attacked me relentlessly, without a shred of mercy. All I cared about at that moment was to survive. I crawled before those mindless beasts, trembling in fear. No one came to help. It was just pure luck that I survived to see the light once again. I couldn't believe it myself. Now you ask me as if it's my fault. It's not like I defeated them with my skills."

"Hahaha!" He let go of me and walked around the room, covering his mouth.

"You think I am being funny here? I came out of death's door just to die once again. Is that a joke to you? I am asking you, is my life a joke to you!?" I was angry at his attitude. Did he think he could mock me just because he saved me?

"I can laugh as much as I want. I will laugh as I wish. That shouldn't concern you. Better, you should be asking different questions here." He dragged the round chair near the desk and sat before me with his hands digging deep into the soft lump of cloth on the bed. His eye level matched mine. A gleam formed under his bearded lips. "Luck, you say? There is no such thing, boy. This one bowl should have been enough to kill you, but what? You only have a mild fever even after gulping down a ton of them? Boy, tell me... what are you?"

I wonder. "I told you it must be because of my ability. If that's not the answer you are looking for, then how about the one you choose to believe? Say it. Say what you are thinking, old man. Say what you want to believe. A five-year-old with an ever-dying body. How absurd is that? Is that what you thought? I know I should have died with those injuries and that amount of blood loss, but miraculously, I survived. What are the odds? It makes one wonder what type of creature I am. Only one word comes to mind that befits that. A word I wish I had forgotten. A word that keeps haunting me even at my death. A monster, as they say." I ran my fingers across my body, contemplating my thoughts. A warm sensation greeted me at the place where my mana core was. "What am I?" I asked myself out loud. Unlike others, I was born with a core. Unlike others, I don't get hurt. Unlike others, I was not someone with a happy family. What does that make me as a human? Can I even call myself one?

"I want to know that, too. But whatever you may think you are, you are human." He spoke as if responding to my thoughts. "At least, that's what you look like to me." He slapped me right in the face. "You feel pain." He then got up on his feet, grabbed my neck with his right hand, and lifted me as simply as a piece of paper. He blatantly choked me out of breath as he threw me on the bed after a few seconds. "You feel desperate. You feel scared." I looked into the old man's eyes, who was ready as if to pounce on me. "That's what humans are. You called yourself a monster. Monsters are ruthless, but not someone with four dangling little limbs."

"Say that to someone who believes it."

"I do. And it's not they, but you, who's having a hard time believing in yourself. If you think of yourself as a monster, then trust me, boy, I have seen the actual ones. Not monsters, but humans who are called one. They are far more terrifying than you think. Far stronger and far more cruel than any monster you have read about or seen. However the world views them, one thing is for sure: they are the ones who have the power to change this stagnant society. They are the ones who hold the actual power among worldly misconceptions. Immortal beyond beliefs. The true geniuses are what they are called."

"A genius? Me?"

"You are nothing but a frog in a well. You know nothing of the outside world, nor have you seen anything close to what can be called true terror."

"I think I have seen enough."

"No, you haven't. When you explore the world and meet the true eccentrics, you will understand how small your worries are."

"Small?" My life wasn't so insignificant for someone to just scroll over. "I was seen as something low and feared constantly because of those small misconceptions. Cast aside, I lived my life in solitude. But I still accepted everything that was thrown at me. You dare to say that as nothing?"

"Just as you said, you are five years old at most. You've got a whole life ahead of you, boy. If you think this is the end, then you are completely wrong. And this is coming from someone who was born way before you. I am not saying I am too old, but you are too young to just accept your situation as it is. Even if you think it's wrong, it's just a mere five years to me."

"What else can I do other than accept my situation? You think I have a choice?"

"Create them if you don't have any. Break the wall if it blocks your path. Life isn’t just black and white. It’s more than that. When I was your age, I used to rebel so much that I still remember the beating from my old man. The situation you are in now isn’t the most suitable one, but you persisted. Where did that vigour go, huh? Have that tenacity till the end. Rebel against those around you. Stop minding what they think and do what you feel. If that makes you a villain, then let it be."

He pulled out another sac from his behind and drank a mouthful from it. "Now that hits the spot. In the end, kid, do what you want and be how you want to be. If they called you a monster, then be a bigger person. There are narrow-minded fools everywhere who judge others based on their own principles. It’s alright if you are not one of them." Was he consoling me? Why now? I am going to die, right?

"Oho… I think it’s time. I've blabbered enough already." He threw a red liquid stored in a glass flask. More blood? "That is the highest-grade elixir that was given to me by someone. I am willing to use it on you. Ah… I know I am going to regret it later. So, boy, drink it before I change my mind. If you want to live, that is. The choice is up to you, though. But decide quickly, will you?"

Life and death. The line between them was as thin as a dream and a reality. If one becomes reality, the other becomes a long-lasting dream. Even then, both of them exist, and we continue to alternate between them as a means to survive.

"Even if it is you, the poison will take effect. There will be no saving if your decision comes after your death."

Yeah, why was I thinking? I fought for survival. I was alive thanks to that. The future is an unknown path, but why should my current efforts go unrecognised? A chance came to me, so why should I let it go? With no further thought, I gulped down the liquid from the flask. It was sweet, washing away the bad taste left by the drink before. Both were of the same origin, but one was a means to kill and the other a means to save.

"Good. You may regret your decision today. But live long enough to get past those regrets. It’s not advice from this old man, but from someone who has experienced something far greater." The world became blurry. "Sleep well now. You will be good as new once you wake up."

Drowsiness hit me as I tried to keep my eyes open. I fell into an ever-ending sleep. The state of my body was unknown. The chances of my survival were unknown. But all I could do was put my faith in the hands of this unknown old man, who seemed to know what he was doing. Who is he? What is this place? I wanted to know. I only hoped that the next time I opened my eyes, everything would become one long nightmare. This may be wishful thinking of mine, but it would be nice. Until the next time, I slept, and the world moved without me in it.

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Here, the sense of time had no meaning. An endless dream repeating itself. The dreams themselves were meaningless. Something I couldn’t understand as always. The places. The people. The things they said. I was a bystander in my own dreams. Days and nights passed in an instant. But it was still useless. Neverending even. When will this end? I was left alone as several people mingled before my eyes. After a day of work, the people left the space. The little lights attached to the ceiling turned off. The space called the office turned dark, and I was left here all alone again. I heard a huge sound, and a painful sensation spread over my head. When I checked with my hand, there was a hole in my forehead. But no blood came out of it.

In this dark space, a sudden light appeared before me, revealing itself to be a mirror. The reflection of my face was blurry, but I looked like an adult with my body. The hole in my forehead was clear even in that blurriness. I used my index finger and drove it inside the little hole slowly. Blood spurted out onto the mirror, covering it entirely. I tried to clean it, but it left a red handprint. Another few handprints appeared on the entire mirror. In the next moment, arms of different sizes came out of them, grabbing me by my clothes. One hand grabbed my neck, pulling me inside. I drowned in there, echoes of dreadful voices filling my ears. Someone, please… Please wake me up. Wake me from this madness. My cries of anguish went unheard in this pitch-black loneliness, as this world was but a dream. A faded reality.

"Argh!" A sudden jolt of pain woke me from my sleep. "I-I am alive." Looking around, I was lying on the hard floor. Bandages covered my whole body. I could move my right hand, but along with my left foot, my left arm was still missing. Even then, it healed without those limbs. It felt new. Light. The lack of my flesh. I stretched out my body, leaving a deep yawn. It felt like I didn't move my body for too long. There was no pain. That's good.

When I looked around me, I found myself in the same small room I was in before. It was dark, but the open doorway allowed enough light for me to see inside. Beside me, there was a soft bed with an old man soundly sleeping on it. He was snoring like there was no tomorrow. Who is the injured one here? My throat felt a little parched, and my eyes searched the room for some but didn’t find any. “Wa-water.”

A sac fell beside me. It was the same as the one I drank monster blood from before. "Drink it." The old man was still on the bed; his back turned towards me, but his snoring stopped. "It's water." I grabbed the sac, which was cold. Without thinking much, I opened it and gulped the entire thing down my throat. He then slowly got up from his bed, went near the table, and lit a lantern on it before taking a seat on the bed again. "It's usually very dark around here, and the lantern fuel isn’t available in abundance either. So it is better to adjust to the environment than to search for resources."

A sound like a monster scream came out of my stomach. "Do you have some food?" I asked out of courtesy.

"You really want to sweep me empty, don’t you?" Scratching his back, the old man went outside the room and came back after a few minutes with a small pack in his hands. "It’s not much, but this will do." He handed me the pack. It was made with multiple leaves folded one over the other. When I opened it, I found dried meat that was half-burnt. "Take this too." He handed me some white powder inside a folded, wide leaf. It was salt. "If you can’t eat it like that, sprinkle some on top. It tastes good. But don’t use it all. I don’t have much either."

Was he being generous or stingy? I didn’t understand. I tried to eat the dried meat as is, but the taste was revolting. Even after getting burned up almost completely, the unbearable stench made my stomach turn upside-down. "What is this?"

"Meat."

"Whose meat?"

"You know, living things."

"What kind of living things smell this bad even after being cooked? I haven’t eaten this kind of meat before." Burned to a crisp, more like.

"Hmm… Monster may be. Guess what? Sorry for not bringing an entire cuisine. Now eat. Blocking your nose while eating will make it taste way better. Trust me, boy." I didn’t want this to taste any better than it already does. But I followed his advice, closed my nose, and put the whole piece of meat in my mouth. I chewed it completely as it went into my stomach. "How did it feel?"

"Tasteless."

"That’s better than tasting bad. Now eat all of it." I ate everything like before. It left an unpleasant taste in my mouth, but even that felt sweet given how hungry I was. I hope I don’t have a bad stomach after this. "That’s a good boy now. You are learning."

He came forward and patted my head. Reflexively, I shook off his hand as I backed off myself. "I am not your pet."

"Is that how you show your gratitude, boy?" I couldn’t deny his help so far, but that didn’t give him the right to decide my actions. "You are thinking something way beyond your age again, aren’t you? Just calm down, okay? You are making this old man regret his decision already."

"Sorry, and thank you for saving me."

"Don’t be so fast to get rid of me now. If you truly want to be thankful, then do what I say." I shouldn’t have expected any better. In this world, who would help others without seeing any benefit? Words speak actions, and appearances speak character. He certainly doesn’t look like the type to take advantage of me, but I couldn't be sure of that.

"Are you asking me a favour or trying to make me your slave?" Slaves were just disposable livestock that could be replaced easily, and you didn’t even need to treat them like humans. Way cheaper than some random metal sword.

"What kind of household did you grow up in to think like that, boy? I was playing with my baby tooth when I was your age." My father was the Viscount of Riverdale. I could say that, but I didn’t know this man’s intentions yet. I didn’t know why he was here at a place like this or what he wanted from me.

"My parents died in an accident when I was a kid. The village I was born in was burned down by thieves. And I grew up alone in a small place near the forest."

"What a way to live. It must have been tough."

"It is."

"Now, now. Let’s put the idle talk aside, and why don’t we go out?"

"Is this about the favour you asked for?"

"I am very glad you put it that way, but it’s the help you owe me, boy. Don’t try to run away. It’s not going to be as easy as you think. You just came back from the brink of death. So let’s celebrate for now. It’s free, by the way." I couldn’t tell whether it was a joking truth or a serious lie. I had no choice but to surrender. I won’t win even if I resist in this situation. I may escape if I aim for the right timing, but where would I run? I don't know where I am, and in my current condition, it isn’t easy to survive alone. "I would have already beaten you if you were my grandson. Is it that hard to trust your one and only saviour? You are giving me a headache in the middle of the night. Stop with your nonsensical thinking and just follow me already."

I got up, but it was a little hard to stand without any support. "A little help?"

"Figure it out yourself. I am not your babysitter, boy."

"Fuu…" Trying to maintain my balance, I hopped my way out with a single foot.