"Yes! What were you doing? Did you even eat!? Just where did you go!?", Mornil's questions didn't seem to end. As he continued to pant, he kept asking more and more.
5 days? Hadn't he been training for 50 days? Why was Mornil saying 5 days?
"5 days?", Shiro asked again, with a surprised tone.
"Yes kid, 5 days! Why do you keep asking that without answering me?", Mornil asked.
"Ah, no, that…"
'Wait, does this mean 10 days in the training space equals 1 day in the real world?', Shiro questioned, trying to think about it.
[Answer: Affirmative.]
The screen appeared all of a sudden in front of him, due to which he panicked and almost fell back.
It was not uncommon for the screen to pop up, but he didn't know how to explain Mornil about it.
"Come on, tell me, what happened? Did someone kidnap you or something?", Mornil asked a ridiculous question.
Shiro could see Mornil's face through the screen, as the screen was semi-transparent or translucent!
"Uh, can't you see this thing?", Shiro asked, pointing at the screen.
Mornil looked confused, and after tilting his head once or twice, grabbed Shiro's hands.
"Boy, you haven't eaten anything in a long time and now you are hallucinating and talking weird. Come with me, let me have a check-up…", he said as he pulled Shiro inside his clinic.
'So, he really can't see the system. Does this mean you are visible to only me?', he asked the system directly this time.
[Answer: Affirmative.]
After walking inside Mornil's house, which was a clinic actually, Shiro had his pulse checked and then his eyes. Then Mornil gave a few herbal medicines, all of which he forced Shiro to drink, in order to help him recover.
*Ding*
[Unknown substance detected in the drink]
[Would you like the system to analyze the components of the drink?]
[Yes/No]
This notification popped up just as he drank the medicine. Shiro paused and looked at it, moving his hand to click yes without even thinking for a second. Just as the screen vanished, Shiro realized that he was touching Mornil's forehead with the index finger of his left arm.
"…"
"What are you doing!? Drink it completely! You are still behaving weirdly, moving your hand and touching my forehead…", Mornil looked at Shiro with a weird expression.
"Ahem, yes…", Shir gave a weird laugh as he drank all of it in a single breath.
[Conducting Analysis…]
[The substance will be temporarily inactivated and its effects inhibited unless analysis has been completed…]
[…]
Shiro kept staring at the screen which displayed these messages, not listening to what Mornil was saying.
"Shiro? Are you paying attention to what I'm asking?"
"Huh? Oh yes, uncle?", Shiro finally looked at Mornil again.
"As I was asking-"
"Where have you been? I was looking for you everywhere!", Mornil asked anxiously. Ever since Shiro disappeared, he had been looking high and low for Shiro. After all, Shiro was only an 8-year-old boy who just turned into an orphan a few days ago.
Shiro remained quiet. He wasn't sure about how to explain what had happened during these 5 days without confusing Mornil. Plus, Mornil wouldn't even believe it if he said that and would make him drink even more of that disgusting herbal medicine, thinking he was still hallucinating.
Shiro didn't even try to find an excuse and just said, "I'm going home, uncle. Take care of yourself.", as he tried to escape from Mornil.
"Wait, Shiro!", Mornil yelled as he grabbed Shiro's left hand again.
Shiro turned around to see Mornil. Mornil's face was still pale, but there was a sense of urgency radiating from his desperate eyes.
''You need to leave this place!"
"…"
"Huh?"
"Why, uncle?", Shiro asked. He had just come back from the Training Space, and now Mornil wanted to kick him out as soon as possible? Or was there some other reason?
"The people from the Anti-Pirate Federation are going to come soon. If they see that someone made a grave for Loyola, they would immediately go and interrogate about the case and will eventually end up finding you."
Shiro tilted his head in confusion.
"Wait, they are still searching for me?"
"Yes, as you know, they used to come to this place every month. Last time might have been an exception, but looks like from now on, unless they capture you, they would continue to come here…"
"They have a bounty to claim after all…", Mornil sighed.
"Huh? What do you mean, uncle?"
Mornil told Shiro to wait as he walked into his house again. Shiro could run, but he decided to give the benefit of doubt to Mornil first. After a while, Mornil walked out of his house. He came back with a piece of paper in his hand.
"Here, read this."
Shiro accepted the paper and began reading the details carefully.
He saw the large words 'WANTED' printed on top of the paper. Right below the words was a hand-drawn image of Shiro with the words 'Dead or Alive. Reward: 500 GC'.
Shiro looked at it with bulging eyes. The Anti-Pirate Federation wanted him that bad? They were willing to pay 500 gold coins to whoever as long as they handed him in.
Just as he glanced at it in confusion, a system notification popped up.
*Ding*
[Congratulations!]
[Sub-Mission: Found The Host's First Wanted Poster!]
[Rewards : +1 Fame]
Shiro was befuddled by the notification. Apparently, he wondered if it was a good thing? His fame had increased after he found this wanted poster.
Of course, Shiro thought otherwise. How could a wanted poster be a good thing?
"The anti-pirate Federation is out to kill you, Shiro. They came just 1 day after you vanished to search the area for you again and left this poster and went away. Many more flyers were placed in different places around the town."
"So you must leave here immediately. It doesn't matter where you go, as long as you're far from here."