"Waaah!" Inya made a noise.

"Uh... right away, I'm coming!" Sofra stopped arranging the dishes and rushed over to the cradle.

"Restless, huh?" Reyte chimed in.

"Safia was the same way. Tao is the one who was unusually quiet."

Sofra took the infant in her arms and began to nurse.

Tao, who had been diligently swinging the cradle, could now only stand feebly beside his mother.

"How are you? Did you get some rest?" Reyte asked, studying her friend's face.

It had only been a few days since the attack and the birth. With everything she'd been through, plus the restless nights with a crying infant now, it was no surprise that dark circles appeared under the woman's eyes.

"It's fine, it was similar when Safia was born, it will pass." Sofra smiled reassuringly.

"Do you really need to sort everything out now? I can bring you food from my home, or we can ask neighbors to aid."

"I'd like the house to be in order when Indres returns."

"That too... why did he have to go? So soon after childbirth." Reyte shook her head.

"He's a hunter. His duty, like the others, is to make sure that the spawns don't wander around anymore. Not all were slaughtered."

While his wife and children were relaxing at Reyte's house, Indres made sure that the broken front door of his house was repaired. He also threw everything that had been broken in the kitchen during the fight - furniture, crockery, and other items - out into the yard. What was useful, the man put in a corner for his wife to sort and put away later. Sofra wanted to do that now.

"One man more or less... well, not that I know any better." Reyte shrugged.

Tao knew the woman to be about his mother's age, with a slender face and thin lips. Like most in the village, Reyte had dark brown hair and eyes. The only thing that stood out about his mother's friend compared to the other women in the village was her sharp, direct gaze, matching at times her equally sharp tongue.

Reyte continued to arrange the dishes on the table and then put them in the cupboard.

"You're saying not all the spawns were slaughtered, huh?" she spoke again after a moment.

Sofra lined her eyebrows questioningly.

"Well, if you listen to what everyone is saying, even the ones who fought, it sounds like an absolute victory. The village is almost intact, no one has died, only one seriously wounded and that was by accident." Reyte explained.

"It's better than elsewhere, right? My husband would disagree that nobody died." There was irritation in Sofra's voice.

"I'm just saying what I hear. You've been sitting at home all day, so you don't know anything." The friend excused herself.

"I understand... You said someone was hurt? Indres mentioned something... one of the new guards?"

"Yeah, remember that guy who hurt himself in last spring's tournament? The one you fixed?"

"Oh... Krase, I think was his name?" Sofra tried to remember.

"I don't know. Well, looks like he overdid it with his fighting skills again and his arm won't be good for weapons anymore. A pity, though, considering the healers healed everyone else who was bitten or hurt."

"Hm... if the healers can't help, then I won't have a miracle cure for anything either. I have one that improves circulation and tissue repair, but..." Tao's mother started going over her remedies in her mind.

"Calm down, sis! You have enough to worry about!" Reyte brought her back to the present.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to start working ahead of time. But if anyone needs medicine, I have plenty in stock." Sofra allowed herself a smile.

"Even one birth scares me. How you can stand on your feet so soon after... all that, is over my head." Reyte sighed.

"Well, that proves my medicine works, doesn't it?"

Inya fell asleep again, so her mother slowly put the baby back in the cradle. Tao began to sway it slowly again, while Sofra returned to help her friend with work.

"Anyway, no one is too worried about that boy or your dog... I heard that the elders want to use this as an opportunity to convince the other villages that we are the safest and strongest. So that when the new wall is finished, more people will come." Reyte spoke again after a while.

"I see." Sofra simply said.

She didn't look like she wanted to talk more about it.

"How is Safia? Still restless?" Reyte changed the subject.

It wasn't much more positive.

"She's... asleep now." Sofra's face grew grimmer.

"Herself?"

"I gave her a potion."

"Well... it's a good thing the boy's holding up." Reyte looked up at Tao.

He lowered his eyes and gritted his teeth.

Every time Tao sees a dark place in the house or outside at night, his eyes involuntarily begin to search for two coal-red points. In his mind, he often repeated the words of battle magic, trying to calm himself down. It was difficult to fall asleep at night.

Safia was worse.

She couldn't fall asleep unless there was a candle or a lamp in the room. And even then...

"Noooo! Mummy! Mummy!" the girl started screaming and tossing in bed the first night after coming home.

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The parents decided to let their older daughter spend the nights in their bed for a while. But Safia's nightmares did not end there. Her screams also usually woke the infant. Now Indres and Sofra had to handle two children who could wake up crying at any hour of the night.

"Can't you give her something?" Tao heard his father ask the next morning.

"Sleeping herbs are not healthy for such a young child," Sofra replied firmly, with a distinct tiredness in her voice.

Judging by what she said to Reyte now, the mother had given up.

Tao was left to sleep alone in the small room. Sofra was worried about how he would feel, but the boy didn't mind. He thought it would be safer.

For the others.

The guilt was beginning to suffocate him again. His arm was losing the strength to move the cradle.

Tao had stopped all his training. Not just the ones that directly spread spirit power, but anything supernatural. He hoped it would stop further attacks.

But for what had happened...

Was it acceptable to remain silent and say nothing? To pretend it wasn't his fault?

Besides, what if the monsters attacked again anyway? If next time someone really dies? Father, mother, or Safia?

Tao really considered telling at least part of the truth. About the fact that he knew magic and had used it. Would that be believable even for a very gifted two-year-old child?

Is that too weird? What then? How would they look at me then?

Tao remembered his past life when he told his parents about failing the university entrance exams. Their voices and looks showed the same:

He was an embarrassment.

It would have been better if he had never existed.

Disappointing and disgusting.

Tao didn't want to feel that again.

What was the point of living again, only to be unwanted again!?

No! No! There must be another solution! He tried to convince himself.

"Tao, are you feeling alright?" Sofra had noticed that her son was standing by his little sister's cradle with a strange look on his face.

"I want to sleep." He responded, avoiding his mother's gaze.

This had been happening a lot lately.

"Fine, go. Just in the other room, yes? Don't wake your sister... the big sister." Sofra nodded.

"Mm..."

"Is he really all right?" Tao heard Reyte's muffled voice as they left the kitchen.

"He doesn't cry at night... or at all, as usual, but I'm still worried..." his mother's voice faded as he reached the bedroom.

On the one hand, sleeping during the day meant it was harder to fall asleep at night. But the gloomy thoughts weighed on his heart. At least in his sleep, he could feel peace for a while.

***

Tao was aware that his past life was real. The information about scientific advances, Earth's history, and his own life was too detailed to suggest that it was all just a long, strange dream or delusion. His dreams now were much foggier, and he also remembered that dreams in his previous life had been the same.

Tao occasionally dreamed about his previous life. When he had more of these dreams, he sometimes could no longer tell whether the memory was real or a recollection of a dream. Of course, if the memory seemed too strange or unbelievable, it was probably a dream.

Tao saw himself in his old high school classroom. There were no other children or teachers, just a girl sitting on the bench in front of him. Maya Shiraishi. Tao remembered the girl's name well because he liked her better than the other girls in the class... Why? Because of her looks? Achievements in studies or sports? No, Maya was nice to everyone, lively and cheerful. Quite the opposite of Tao's persona at the time.

It wasn't a serious feeling, the guy never once considered asking the girl out or anything. He was too busy studying, and he wouldn't know what to talk about on a date. And yet, if someone had asked him which girl he liked, the answer would have been – Maya.

She looked around curiously as if seeing the classroom for the first time. The girl's gaze stopped at the window, where she could see a bit of the city streets and buildings. The steel and stone high-rise buildings contrasted quite strongly with the single-story wooden houses in the village. She walked closer and rested her hands on the window sill. Maya's shoulder-length hair shone in the sunlight.

"Do you want to go somewhere?" The girl spoke to Tao after a moment with a smile.

"Go somewhere?" he repeated.

"Wherever you want, whatever comes to your mind?"

For some reason it was hard to think, he had never been interested in entertainment places near school either.

"Is it bad here?" The boy evaded an answer.

The girl curled her lip.

"Are you sure you don't know any interesting places?" she urged him to remember.

Maya moved closer and leaned toward Tao.

High school, cram school, and home. His boring room... what would happen if he brought home a girl? Tao had no idea what his previous parents' reaction would have been.

"Karaoke bar?" He offered.

In an instant, they were both in the karaoke room. One that Tao remembered seeing on a TV drama, not a memory from his own life. The details seemed... vague.

Maya studied the room again but looked rather disappointed. After a moment, though, she smiled again.

"Sit down, tell me something interesting." The girl insisted.

Tao found himself sitting on a soft sofa, while Maya pressed her body against his shoulder.

The boy wanted to obey, but nothing came to mind. The most interesting event in his life was being reborn into another world, but there seemed no point in telling Maya about it in the past, before it had happened.

"Excuse me, can you start?" He offered, trying to buy time.

The girl's face darkened for a moment, her gaze becoming more direct, focused on the boy's eyes.

I'm not small, right? No, this is my old height... Tao felt confused.

Maya suddenly sat on the boy's thighs, facing him. The girl then took off her jacket and unbuttoned the top buttons of her shirt. Suddenly the girl's face looked more attractive than Tao remembered, more grown up.

"I want to hear something interesting from you... If you tell me, I'll do... something nice for you." Maya's smile became distinctly flirtatious. Her voice – more mature.

Her hands began to caress the boy's head back and sides, while the girl's bottom rested against his legs.

Tao thought the situation was rather... interesting. But for some reason he didn't feel thrilled, rather tired of thinking so hard. As much as he wanted to see what would happen next, his heart wasn't jumping with the crazy excitement that could be expected when a young, pretty girl was in his lap. The boy did not feel like a man.

Right, I have the body of a child, puberty is a long way off... it's all completely pointless... Tao realized.

In other words, it was a dream. Maya didn't behave like that. The boy's consciousness was starting to wake up.

But it didn't.

"Well? Don't you like me?" Maya grabbed the boy's head, focusing his gaze on her.

Her gaze now seemed heavy, like steel, and filled Tao's consciousness. As long as the girl held his head, the boy couldn't get away from this dream. Moreover, it seemed that thinking was becoming harder as if something was pressing on his brain.

"I like you, but I...." Tao didn't know how to explain.

"Why are your arms lying by your sides? Don't you want to touch me?"

Tao obeyed and began to feel Maya's hips and waist, though without much energy, just because it was required.

"You don't feel anything?" The girl tried to smile but looked frustrated. She swung her hips back and forth, rubbing along the boy's thighs and crotch.

"You're... heavy?" He gave a stupid answer.

"No, you're not a baby! I can see the truth! You must feel something!" Maya became angry.

The pressure on Tao's consciousness became heavier, he had the impression that the girl's hands were pressing on his head from both sides and sharp nails were trying to pierce the skin.

It began to hurt... Tao wanted it to end.

But he did not have the strength to move his body against Maya's will. He needed more power...

Just like countless times before, Tao summoned his spirit power to strengthen his muscles. The spirit power filled his mind and body. The boy grabbed the girl's wrists, pulling away from his head. Tao’s consciousness became clearer.

Maya seemed shocked by what had happened. Wide-eyed, she looked at the boy, trying to free her hands.

He realized that he felt a foreign presence in his mind. This presence was in front of his eyes, in Maya's body.

"Who are you?" Tao asked angrily, not releasing his grip.

Maya froze, her face twisted in anger, then made an arrogant smirk.

Suddenly, the girl's wrists turned soft as jelly and melted between Tao's fingers. Maya slipped out of the karaoke room, the room itself disappeared, but the boy felt like he was falling...

***

Tao opened eyes in bed. He was breathing heavily and sweating. Moreover, he had begun to concentrate his spirit power not only in the dream but also in reality.

No, it was not a dream, the boy felt sure.

At the very end, his consciousness was as clear as if he were awake. Not to mention the fact that Tao had never experienced such a vivid, intense dream, not in his present live or previous one.

Someone still wanted something from Tao.

Nothing was over yet.

***