Chapter 70: Tears in the Dark

Chapter 70: Tears in the Dark

The road is silent on my way back. The only sound I hear is the light clicking of spider feet behind me.

At that thought, I direct the spider to see if they can quiet that down.

Surprisingly, it happens quite quickly. A look at their feet reveals that they simply created non-adhesive web on the bottom of their feet, effectively silencing the sound.

With my bracelet hidden and the hood of my clothes up, I look like a regular person here.

The stone-like road stretches before me, as I head closer and closer toward Big Sister Cranes place. Few people are on this route, a seemingly strange sight, but it appears something had cleared them out.

My intuitive scan shows that based on the pattern of debris and foot traffic, an event is going on, likely in the direction of the Yellow Sashes territory.

Huh, they might be trying to make-up for the lost time and revenue for certain sectors, by putting on a special event.

Its things like this that remind me, that though I come from a society where these tactics have been refined to another degree, the people and organizations are not dumb and helpless.

Things continue to grow here and, in many cases, already exist.

The world continues to move with or without my knowledge.

Case in point: Ai, Lin, and Gong, regarding the engineering of the well. Concepts for things like that are apparently well established. Not only that, but they picked up the concepts from such little information, and so quickly, that there is no question they would have succeeded in my world.

Ive been seeing a remarkable amount of exceptional people lately.

No. Thats not exactly true. I think its more that some of the people who Ive met are exceptional. The others like the homeless people on the street Ive discounted many of them, because they didnt reach my notice.

Though, even in that sense, I could be wrong. For the people that are still here, they had to have something good about them, if theyve made it this far in this world.

At the very least, they couldnt make stupid decisions or have backing that couldnt be discounted. Or they might already have been killed.

ah.

Except for that alchemists son. He was definitely not the brightest bulb in the pack.

That poor father.

Ending my thoughts on that, I can feel the evening air cooling my cheeks. The soft sounds of my shoes hitting the stone. The darkening sky revealing the stars.

The lack of people around.

My body slowly tenses up and I feel my entire body go into alert mode.

Why is it so quiet?! Why is no one here?

I send out a pulse in every direction. The spider goes into combat mode, sensing my anxiety.

Only to find that there are people here. Just living their lives. Obviously, in a poor situation. But, normally nonetheless.

In one of the nearby alleyways, a few kids kick a rock back and forth. In another, a woman is trading some stale bread for some cloth from one of the countless broken down buildings.

While there are some suspicious people around, it looks like they are just the normal spies.

There is no danger here, is what my scan tells me.

My shoulders and back begin to relax, as I pause on the side of the road.

Im so tired.

Its been one thing after another. One life-threatening situation following another. Im tired of the constant anxiety and fear.

I want to go home.

I want to sit by a tv and play video games after a long day at work.

I want to eat a normal, good meal. Not the strange meats of this land.Ne/w novel chapters are published at novelhall.com

Or I did, but I could easily ignore it.

I can feel my head shaking slightly, as I crouch to my knees in frustration.

DAMN IT!

My fist slams into the ground, bloodying my hand, but also creating a loud cracking sound and a small pothole.

Silence fills the area, before a hum of sound comes and people come out to peek. Only to see a giant spider and retreat away.

Soon, no one else is around. But the spies, of course.

Throwing a pulse in the direction that I heard the child in, I find her sitting in a nearby alleyway, next to the sleeping and heavily injured bodies of what is likely her parents. They are in a ramshackle hut, similar to the one that Lin and Ai had been in.

Ive seen more than a few of them along the way.

The child hasnt even seemed to have noticed and has her head buried in the chest of her dad. His chest rises and falls laboriously. The parents are clearly comatose.

Fuck

I know that feeling. Holding onto them as tightly as you can.

Desperately hoping theyll wake up. That somehow, theyll be okay. That you wont lose them.

But I have too much to lose.

Ive already decided to limit healing people using my powers. Situations like this? Are too dangerous.

The area around the two comatose parents has some small items, which I can easily guess are consolation gifts.

Someone also shoddily wrapped the parents up in cloths, covering some wounds. I dont think the child did this.

The area around where their demi-human ears should be, are bandaged the most carefully.

they must have been well loved by the people in this area.

Shit. I cant leave this alone, can I?

The more I look, the more reasons I see to help them.

Its always going to be like this, wont it?

There are always reasons for and against doing it.

Fuck it. Im helping this child. Im going to use alchemy to do it.

Though, Ill have to figure out how to get ingredients and work with what I can find.

I should talk to the kid first.

Ugh.

I cant wait to get home