Chapter 4: Someone Is Watching

Caelan stared at the message for a few seconds.

"...What?" His expression changed when he realized what he had done.

"Limit of use?" Caelan’s face twitched slightly.

He had honestly thought that he could use Life Thread whenever he wanted. He thought that the number after it was just a limit on how many he could use in a day.

If his ability could heal people, then having a limit was the last thing he expected.

"Seriously?" Caelan couldn’t help but feel a little regretful.

If he had known that using Life Thread is really just a one-time use, he probably wouldn’t have used it so casually. But it was already too late. There was no undo button to do it.

He looked at the woman whose wound had completely disappeared. At least she was healed. And she also saved him, so he guessed it was fine.

Caelan sighed quietly. Still, he couldn’t help feeling annoyed.

I guess I just need to level up to increase the limit, Caelan thought to himself.

Anyway, he decided to think about that later because it was starting to feel really cold. He rubbed his hands together and looked around. The snow had become heavier than before, covering the road and the surrounding trees in a thick layer of it.

The woman was also starting to shiver.

"Do you want to go somewhere warm?"

The woman quickly nodded. Caelan carefully helped the woman stand.

"We should move." Caelan looked toward the village ahead of them.

There were lights in the distance. Westmere was a village on top of the mountains. It was the main village here. Based on this body’s memories, that used to be where he lived.

"Let’s go to my place." He was about to start walking when something suddenly appeared in front of his eyes.

[Warning.]

Caelan froze, and his eyes narrowed as he read the message.

[Someone is watching you.]

"Huh?" His smile disappeared. He quickly looked around, but there was nothing there. Just then, he saw a tree far away. Behind it was a shadow that he couldn’t seem to point out.

Caelan swallowed as he withdraw his gaze at it.

Whatever had been watching them... He thought it wasn’t human.

[New Objective Available.]

[Find a safe place.]

[Reward: +50EXP, +1 Hollow Fragment.]

"Is something wrong?" the woman asked her.

Caelan simply shook his head and smiled.

"Just stay close to me."

Caelan continued walking with the girl following him closely from the side. Fortunately, he was able to walk now without getting himself killed.

As the synchronization of his soul and this body became complete, Caelan started to remember things that weren’t his. The only problem was he couldn’t remember anything that happened today.

"Where are we going?" the woman suddenly asked.

"My house is somewhere in the middle of the village." Caelan answered as they walked further ahead.

The woman’s eyes widened slightly.

"Your house?"

"Yeah."

Caelan stopped for a moment when he noticed her reaction. Something about the way she looked at him made him realize how his words sounded.

"Wait, I mean..." He scratched the back of his head. "You can go now if your house is somewhere nearby."

The woman became quiet. She lowered her head and looked at the snow-covered ground.

"The truth is.. it’s my first time here."

"Huh?" His eyebrows rose. "Your first time?"

"I was traveling from the mountains when my carriage was attacked by bandits." She nodded slowly.

"They suddenly appeared on the road. There were too many of them, and we couldn’t fight back." She tightly held onto her cloak as she continued.

"They took everything from the carriage. I tried to escape, but..." She paused for a moment. "I ended up getting injured."

Caelan glanced at her arm that was previously wounded. So that was what happened.

"That’s why I don’t know where I am anymore." She looked around the dark village. "I just kept walking until I found you."

Caelan stayed silent for a moment before letting out a sigh.

So she was lost like me. With the snow getting heavier, leaving her alone didn’t seem like a good idea either.

"Well..." Caelan sighed. "You can stay at my place for now."

"Are you sure?" The woman looked at him.

"Yeah. It’s not like I have anywhere else to go either."

She stared at him for a few seconds before a small smile appeared on her face.

"Thank you."

"Just don’t expect much. I live in a pretty small place." Caelan reminded her.

"I don’t mind."

Caelan nodded at her and continued walking.

They were inside the village now, but Caelan realized something was wrong.

Normally, the streets of their village would be filled with people. The warm light of magical lanterns would also be everywhere. But tonight, everything was silent. The sound of their footsteps was the only thing they could hear.

After walking for a few more minutes, Caelan finally recognized the road in front of them.

"This should be it." He looked around before stopping in front of an old gray-stone building

"This is where I live."

"It looks... old." The woman looked up at the building and nodded.

"It’s not that bad." Caelan looked at the building again, but actually, it was pretty bad. The walls were covered with cracks, and some parts of the place looked like they hadn’t been repaired in years.

"Okay, maybe it is a little bad."

The woman covered her mouth as she quietly laughed when Caelan withdrew his words.

"But it’s liveable, so come on." Caelan opened the door and stepped inside.

The building was just as dark as the streets outside. He carefully made his way toward the stairs while the woman followed closely behind him.

"Your room is upstairs?"

"Yeah."He continued up the stairs. The two eventually reached the second floor and stopped in front of the door at the very end of the hallway.

Caelan reached into his coat and pulled out a key. He unlocked the door and slowly pushed it open.

"This is my room." The woman stepped inside and looked around. There wasn’t much.

A single bed was placed against one wall. There was a wooden table near the window, a small bookshelf, and a single chair.

"I really should have cleaned this." Caelan winced.

The room was also a complete mess. There were clothes lying around, empty food containers on the table, and several books stacked on top of each other.

"Yeah, you should have." The woman looked around and looked at him as if she was judging.

"Oh well..." Caelan walked over to the bed and sat down.

"You should rest for a while." The woman nodded and slowly sat on the edge of the bed too. For the first time since everything started, the two of them were finally somewhere warm.

"I’m Caelan, by the way."

"Right..." The woman suddenly realized something and placed a hand against her chest. "I haven’t introduced myself either."

"My name is Eveline."

"Eveline?"

"Yes." She looked at him for a moment before adding,

"Eveline Ardent..."

Caelan waited for a few seconds because she looked as though she would say something more. However, after a second moment and there was none.

"Is that it?" He tilted his head slightly.

"You don’t recognize my name?"

"Should I?"

"I mean..." Eveline’s expression became strange. "Most people do."

"Sorry. I don’t." Caelan shrugged.

"That’s actually nice." Surprisingly, Eveline smiled at it.

"Why?"

"Because people who recognize my name usually treat me differently."

Caelan didn’t really understand what she meant. But before he could ask, Eveline suddenly looked toward the window.

"Do you have any abilities?" Caelan curiously asked her.

"No. I don’t have any abilities." Eveline shook her head at it.

"None?" Caelan blinked. Weren’t this world supposed to be a place where everyone has something in them?

"None." She gave him a small, helpless smile.

"My ability had already disappeared weeks ago."