*Knock-Knock*

  …

  *Knock-Knock-Knock*

  …

  *Knock-Knock-Knock-Knock-Knock-Knock-Knock-Kno…*

  “What is it!? Another wounded?! Another monster attack…?!” a baggy-eyed mother Dana burst open her room’s door, alarm written all over her face, but then she recognized who had actually knocked, “Nathan? What are you doing here? You should be resting, child. Your body is in no condition to…”

  “Pay up.” He interrupted with an upturned palm.

  “What?”

  “We had a deal. I did my part. Now pay up.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “The skill training, of course! You said you’ll give me one hour of skill training if I managed to make friends with the brat. Well, I did! Now I want my training!”

  “Y-you…” she gaped at him, auburn hair disheveled and flabbergasted, today Dana sported no hint of her usual demeanor, “You fled in the middle of the night and almost got yourself killed! If anything, I should be punishing you, not rewarding you!”

  “Yeah! I did exactly that, but just because you told me to!”

  “I-what?!”

  “The brat said he wouldn’t forgive me if I didn’t go with him and you made me promise to do my best! So, all this” he pointed to his scarred twitchy arm and the leg he was favoring, “is on you! With that cleared out, let’s go back to what’s important; I finished the side quest, now cough up the skill points!”

  “Nathan I… You should have known better than to go out alone like that…”

  “Oh? And why exactly should I know better, huh?! We have stablished I know nothing about this world! In fact, I’ve been very insistent in trying to rectify that problem, but the only people at hand with any answers made a show to rebuff my questions at every term! Damnit lady, you even made a deal with me specifically to prevent me for asking questions! Then I go and almost died trying to follow my end of the bargain and this is how you repay me?!”

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  Yeah, Nate was in a hell of a mood.

  For hours, he had pored over the encyclopedia looking for anything skill related, and if he managed to learn some interesting facts - for example that all skills level’s capped at five, he had bounced head first into a wall of contradictory terms and a bunch of obscure nonsenses that had halted his investigation on the spot.

  To further his frustration, his Read skill had not shown any progress, nor had he noticed any difference on his reading speed now that he had it.

  But the straw that had broken the camel’s back came when his bowels informed him that it was time to go.

  He had struggled to raised his injured body out of bed and hobbled downstairs to the outhouse, and upon reaching it he had discovered that, unlike the last time he stooped to using it, the place was an utter, disgusting mess.

  Nate had cried tiers of blood as he forced himself to do his business.

  Why hadn’t Dana cleaned the outhouse!? Normally he wouldn’t desire something like this to his worst enemy, but the woman could clean it without touching it!

  Damnit! If she wasn’t in the mood to get rid of the gunk for whatever reason, then she should at least teach him to use his skill so that he could do so himself!

  And so, fed-up with everything, he had marched to Dana’s room to demand his due.

  “Fine…” she said with a resigned sighed, “you are right, I have told the mothers to try not to answered your questions, partly because I was convinced that your memories should come back in a matter of days and, to my shame, partly because I hoped to catch you in a lie.”

  “You did what?!”

  “Please understand. I have reason to suspect that something truly awful had happened to you. I needed to be sure you weren’t pretending. Not out of malice, mind you, but many children do put a on masks, so to speak, to protect their feelings.”

  “Well, dah! Something truly awful did happened to me, and you have only made it worse!” Nate winced immediately after he said that.

  Dana’s sad eyes rested on his trembling hand for a moment.

  She had saved his life, sheltered him, fed him, and this was how he repaid her?

  Yeah, she had refused to answer his questions, but who was he to demand anything here?

  And of course, she wouldn’t believe his story, he would have trouble believing it himself too if he wasn’t living it.

  Worse, it wasn’t just him. Nate had seen the main chapel on his way here, and just as Uric had said, the place looked like a field hospital. Those bags under her eyes meant she had stayed up all night tending to the wounded.

  This woman was a freaking hero! How many lives had she saved? And on charity no less… And what did that make of him?

  “I am sorry.” Nate sighed, “I am acting like an entitled brat… I shouldn’t have said that...”

  “No… No, you were right. You were crying for help and I didn’t listen… In this I have made you a disservice…”

  “No! You are not responsible for me! You don’t have to do anything…”

  “Yes, I am, and I do.” She nodded decisively to herself, “Follow me. Is time I uphold my end of our deal.”