[Randall's POV]
'Four days have passed since that night.'
When the list was delivered, yes. Since then, a few of the goals were accomplished. Anne took care of the forest, and… Jack mentioned he had dealt with the intruder from his task.
The look he had on his face was printed in my mind. The guilt, the silence… and even the disgust. That happened yesterday. Now? He seems to be better. But not by a long shot.
Regardless, I looked at my clothes for today.
A surprisingly clean white shirt, rather ragged but still usable.
Regular light blue trousers, one of the two most commonly seen types of pants alongside the knee-length pants.
A great replacement for the brown uniform I've been wearing for a while, even if it's a tad tight. After all, safety comes before comfort.
I stared at the scarf I wore last time, during the farm "expedition".
'Should I bring it along?'
… Nah, better not.
With my new clothes and the gray cloak, I left the house through the hole. 'Maybe I should replace the cloak though...'
Actually, maybe not.
I took a few steps, and my mind wandered off.
'What should I do today?'
I didn't really have much of a goal for this particular day. Jack didn't ask for anything, and Anne suggested that I take a break yesterday… Not a bad idea, considering my training has been coming along pretty nicely.
Even the cultivation of my own body's resilience, one of the harder aspects to train due to how I'm supposed to improve it, is doing good.
In that regard, Jack's punches and my body morphs were two of the biggest progress enablers. Both created wounds that would end up regenerating.
Admittedly, the fisting was far more dangerous. A demon's body is far more used to having their claws pierce their hands, and the wings sprouting from their back, because of how it worked.
'They'd also use Miasma in order to mitigate the pain, but…'
I'm not quite there yet.
… While pondering about that and wandering around, I had laid my sights upon a particularly muscular demon.
He wore a squared shirt with two leather straps hanging on the sides, along with work pants and shoes. A dim shade of blue dyed both of the two main pieces, while dirt shrouded the skin of the shoes.
Bits of dark hair grew out of the sharp, purple jawline, just like it happened at the top of the head.
He and an equally tall demoness stood aside, both keeping their heads in a pale youth's direction. His white apron faced a particular wooden wall with a notorious hole.
"Come in, shove it harder!" yelled the female demon.
"No, be soft! Or it breaks!"
"Soft?? Jason, outsiders will break you if you are this soft!"
"The fuck they have to do with wood plating?"
The titan-looking demoness stopped. "Dunno."
Those two continued pushing orders onto the kid, who turned around and silently asked the duo to shut up. Then, he continued repositioning a stone-made rectangle until it reached a fairly good position. The male titan told the lad to stop, and the kid prepared himself for something.
And then, it happened.
"What a beautiful scene that is, don't you think?" stated a hoarse, almost jagged voice.
Shifting my head to the left, I spotted a cloaked pale man wearing rags similar to what I had before in colour, chestnut. Yet, something about his appearance remained unsettling.
"For sure, sir."
"Young one, has the local academy taught how Alchemy works?"
This stranger, whose long aged beard reached his own skinny collarbones, calmly observed the scene ahead. He paid no mind to the sunlight shining down on the wrinkles in his skin, revealing a certainly advanced age.
"I'm trying to remember… But no, I don't think I have."
"I see, then allow me to explain."
'Why…?'
"Soon enough, a white energy commonly called Alkahest will emerge from that boy's hand. Or hands, if he's just starting out or simply ignorant."
Just like the old man said, a white, somewhat fluid energy emerged from the pair of white hands. It slowly but surely took over the wooden plate's bottom half, eventually dying the walls in the proximity in its crystal clear viscosity.
"Now, the interesting part: By using Alkahest, one can do quite a few things… Transmute materials into other materials, repair bodies and even mend parts and materials together. Though, that's only possible after receiving a proper education… The sort that might just be missing here."
Missing?... Wait, I think I know what he's talking about.
A rather bright glow enlightened the houses in the vicinity, along with the bodies of the three demons. However, not bright enough to be blinding.
"A welding process, it seems. Looks like that brat's not as worthless as I th- Ah, pardon me. Such an attitude is not fitting of a teacher," voiced the stranger, who subsequently scratched his cheek in a rather awkward manner.
I took note of his words, but kept my silence.
Regardless, the light source died down, revealing a repaired hole. Admittedly, the colour contrast turned out to be jarring to the sight. However, the orifice had been sealed up flawlessly.
"Any questions, young one?"
"… Why'd you tell me all of this?"
The stranger's eyes jumped slightly, as if taken aback. Following that reaction, a once-warm smile appeared on his time-worn expression, along with some words.
"You don't seem to be from these parts. Your curiosity reveals it with ease."
Curiosity? What…?
"I see, you don't get it… No one in Fernbedie would pay attention to where others are heading, let alone how they use Alkahest."
… Now, it was my turn to be surprised. Unlike the "teacher," mine did not make itself known.
"Either way, meeting someone interested in learning in this sort of place was nothing short of delightful… If you can be careful in the next few months, perhaps you can even seek a better life in this land?"
He smiled, waved his hand and departed, leaving me standing there.
Next few months, a better life… Is this what I think it means?
'Most likely… Chaos. Tons of it.'
The spectre voiced something I couldn't catch, and the female demoness did the same. After finishing her sentence, she handed him a couple notes and spoke again.
Demian bowed down his head slightly and left. Both titans kept their eyes on him, and their mouths kept moving. I was unable to catch most of it, though…
Regardless, I had seen everything that was worthy of being witnessed. Thus, I also went on my way… Which just happened to be the same as the spectre's.
Not much was worthy of attention. If anything at all, really.
Until he found himself a block away from the Stonegrinder, that is.
A bunch of brown hooded individuals jumped the lone Demian, who quickly panicked and tried to run away. Yes, he tried, but that's it.
The third demon that appeared caught one of his arms and slammed him down mercilessly. The other two caught up.
"Beat his ass!" yelled the one with the whip.
"Gladly!" replied both of his companions.
For obvious reasons, I hid behind a nearby wall, only observing from a distance of a "block."
I don't even know if this is a full 100 meters or not…
Either way, the trio couldn't even last five seconds. Someone from the town reached the mildly violent stage, and chose to further contribute to the mess by fighting the bandits.
"Leave him lone, you fucks!"
The blue skinned fiend ran forward, but it didn't end too well. He did manage to wound one of the brown wearing outsiders… Though, he ended up the same as Demian. On the floor.
Those three kept kicking them for a bit.
"Enough," stated the one with the whip, grabbing the brown-haired lad shortly after. "Are you going to tell your boss to finally pack up and fuck off this place?"
Demian maintained the silence of his words, instead opting to let an action speak on his behalf.
A spit.
A bloodied spit to his face.
Demian laughed, amidst his coughs, but he soon screamed. "Ah!!"
His left arm, the same one he used earlier for the mending, fell to the now blackened floor.
"You think you can get away with THAT?!"
The leading demon's claws cleaved through the young one's other arm with ease. He continued the… No. This had gone beyond beatings.
The cuts that kept piling up on his face at a dangerously fast pace, every one of them originated from the same pair of stained claws.
"How dare YOU spit on ME?!"
… Should I get involved?
'He's going to die at this rate, and I'd also be guilty for the death of an innocent bystander…'
The bandit kept at it for a while, but one of his allies yelled at him to stop and run. "What do you want!?"
'That's it. I have to-'
"Shepherds!"
Eh?
His attitude changed when he heard that name. Spotting a group of five blue-clad individuals walking around only worsened his reaction.
"That… You!"
Their eyes met.
One of them dashed out with his blue spear prepared, and the rest soon followed suit.
"Leave Demian alone!"