Chapter 468: World Doesn’t Need to Obey

Eir did not sleep in the bed.

Damon discovered this the next morning because he found Jian Li standing in front of the room, looking inside with a strange expression.

He approached.

"What is it?"

Jian Li pointed.

Eir was sleeping on the floor.

Not beside the bed.

Under it.

Damon remained silent for a few seconds.

"Why?"

"I don’t know."

"Did you ask?"

"She’s sleeping."

"Fair."

The stone drake was there too.

Sleeping on Eir’s abdomen.

Damon narrowed his eyes.

"Traitor."

The animal did not even react.

Jian Li tried not to laugh.

"Maybe she’s warm."

"My shirt was too."

"Are you still bitter about that?"

"Yes."

Eir opened her eyes.

She did not move.

She looked first at Damon.

Then at Jian Li.

Then at the low ceiling of the bed.

"Good."

Damon crossed his arms.

"You slept under the bed."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"More enclosed."

Jian Li tilted her head.

"Did you like it?"

"Yes."

"Then it’s fine."

Eir slowly crawled out.

The drake protested when it lost its support, opened its membranes and jumped onto the mattress.

Damon pointed.

"Now it uses the bed."

Eir looked at the animal.

"It chose."

"Naturally."

She stood up.

Her hair was completely disorganized.

Some green fibers at the ends had curled during the night.

Jian Li tried to fix one.

Eir immediately stepped back.

Jian Li stopped.

"Sorry."

Eir touched her own hair.

"You were going to change it."

"Just fix it."

"Ask first."

Jian Li nodded without arguing.

"May I?"

Eir thought.

"Yes."

This time she remained still while Jian Li separated a few strands.

Damon watched.

Her response had been immediate.

Not aggressive.

Not suspicious.

Just clear.

Ask first.

Eir really was learning.

Maybe too quickly.

"Did you sleep?" Damon asked.

"Yes."

"Did you dream?"

Eir became still.

The question seemed to catch her off guard.

"I don’t know."

"Then you probably did."

"Why?"

"Because that’s usually the answer."

She looked at Jian Li.

"Are dreams memories?"

"Sometimes they use memories," she replied. "But they’re not exactly that."

"Images without control?"

"More or less."

Eir became serious.

"That sounds bad."

Damon nodded.

"Frequently."

Jian Li looked at him.

"You’re not helping."

"I’m being precise."

Eir continued thinking.

"I saw trees."

"That doesn’t narrow things down much," Damon said.

"They weren’t mine."

He fell silent.

Eir touched her chest.

"I was walking among them."

Jian Li smiled.

"Then maybe you dreamed."

Eir seemed satisfied.

"I want to do it again."

Damon looked at the bed.

"Under it?"

"Yes."

"Naturally."

Neria had also woken up well.

Ester found her already dressed and sitting near the room’s window.

That, by itself, was not a problem.

The problem was the bag beside her.

"No."

Neria looked at Ester.

"You don’t even know."

"If there’s a bag, it’s no."

Damon arrived in the middle of the argument.

"What happened?"

Neria pointed at the bag.

"I want to go out."

"Of the base?"

"Yes."

Ester replied:

"She walked too much yesterday."

"I didn’t walk too much."

"You had to sit down three times."

"I recovered."

"That’s not the point."

Neria looked at Damon.

He raised his hands.

"Don’t drag me into this."

"Coward."

"Experienced."

Eir entered shortly afterward accompanied by Liora.

Liora was already eating.

Damon did not ask where the food had come from.

Eir looked at Neria.

"Wants to go out."

"Yes."

"Then go."

Ester slowly turned.

Eir noticed.

"With a limit?"

The healer relaxed slightly.

"With a limit."

Neria sighed.

"Everyone is against me."

Liora replied while chewing:

"I’m not."

Ester looked at her.

Liora corrected:

"I’m neutral."

Damon smiled.

"Quick."

In the end, they reached an agreement.

Neria could go out for two hours.

No running.

No carrying weight.

With breaks.

Ester would go with them.

Eir too.

Liora, obviously, too.

Damon looked at the small group.

"This is turning into an excursion."

Jian Yue appeared in the corridor.

"Are you going?"

He thought.

"Probably."

Ester looked at him.

"No fighting."

"We’re going for a walk."

"With you, that needs to be specified."

"Offensive."

Mirath outside the inner sectors felt different.

Eir noticed immediately.

The base had clear rules.

Corridors.

Rooms.

People who knew who she was.

In the busier streets, no one knew.

Some people looked.

Not because they recognized Eir.

But because her appearance was unusual.

The small plant-like lines beneath her skin.

The hair with green fibers.

The eyes.

Eir noticed the looks after only a few minutes.

"They look."

"Yes," Damon replied.

"Why?"

"You attract attention."

"Is that bad?"

"Depends on what they do afterward."

A man passed by them.

Looked.

Kept walking.

Damon discreetly pointed.

"That’s normal."

A woman looked twice.

Then smiled at Liora.

"Also normal."

A child stopped completely and pointed at Eir.

"Mom, she has plants on her face."

The mother pulled the boy’s hand down.

"Don’t point."

Eir watched.

"Why?"

Damon answered quietly:

"Because pointing at someone can be rude."

"But he saw."

"He did."

"So pretending he didn’t see is better?"

"No."

Eir frowned.

"Humans complicate simple things."

"Yes."

The child kept looking.

Eir approached.

The mother immediately became tense.

Eir stopped at a reasonable distance.

She had learned.

"You can ask."

The boy looked at his mother.

She hesitated.

Then nodded.

"Are those roots?"

Eir touched one of the lines on her face.

"Similar."

"Does it hurt?"

"No."

"Are you a tree?"

Damon bit the inside of his cheek.

Eir thought seriously.

"More than you."

The child opened a huge smile.

"Cool."

The mother did not know what to do with the answer.

Damon started walking before it got worse.

Eir returned to his side.

"Did I answer correctly?"

"For him? Perfectly."

"For her?"

"Maybe not."

"Complicated."

"I warned you."

The market caught Liora’s attention first.

Naturally.

Food everywhere.

Fruit.

Bread.

Meat.

Sweets.

Liora stopped in front of a stall.

Damon noticed too late.

"Don’t touch."

She was already holding a fruit.

The vendor looked.

Liora looked at him.

Then at Damon.

"Money," Damon explained.

Liora immediately put the fruit back.

"I don’t want it."

"You wanted it until two seconds ago."

"Now it costs."

Eir watched.

"What is money?"

Damon took out a coin.

"A way to exchange things without needing to give something else directly."

Eir took the coin.

Observed both sides.

"This is worth food."

"If someone accepts it."

"Why?"

"Because everyone agreed it’s worth something."

"That seems imaginary."

"It is."

The vendor started laughing.

Damon pointed.

"You’re not helping."

Eir kept looking at the coin.

"How much cake?"

"Depends on the cake."

"Complicated."

"Yes."

She handed the coin to Liora.

"Buy."

Liora held it as if she had received a relic.

"Can I?"

"It’s yours."

The girl disappeared toward a sweets stall.

Damon looked at Eir.

"You just created a problem."

"She knows how to choose."

"That’s exactly the problem."

Neria was laughing.

Liora returned a few minutes later.

Without the coin.

With three sweets.

Damon looked.

"Did you negotiate?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"He said two. I kept looking. He gave me three."

Damon fell silent.

Ester ran a hand over her face.

Eir seemed impressed.

"That’s commerce."

"No," Damon replied. "That’s Liora."

Neria needed to rest after approximately forty minutes.

She did not argue.

That surprised Ester more than everything else.

They sat in a small square.

Eir remained standing.

Watching.

There were musicians playing on the other side.

Two men and one woman.

Nothing particularly elaborate.

But Eir became completely still.

Damon noticed.

"You’ve never heard music?"

"I’ve heard sounds."

"It’s not the same thing."

"No."

She moved a few steps closer.

The woman played a string instrument.

Eir watched her hands.

Then her face.

"Why does she do that?"

Damon replied:

"Because she likes it."

"What is it for?"

"For this."

Eir looked at him.

"That doesn’t explain."

"Not everything needs to serve something else."

She became serious.

The music continued.

Neria looked at her mother.

"You liked cake."

"Yes."

"Did the cake need to serve some purpose other than being good?"

Eir looked at her.

Then at the musicians.

"No."

"Then."

Eir kept listening.

For several minutes.

When the music ended, the nearby people applauded.

Eir took a second.

Then imitated them.

Damon smiled.

She noticed.

"Your face."

"I’m allowed."

"Why?"

"Because that was funny."

"I did the same."

"Exactly."

Eir decided to ignore him.

On the way back, they found an injured bird near a fountain.

One of its wings was bent the wrong way.

Eir stopped immediately.

So did Damon.

She approached.

Her hand began to rise.

Then stopped.

Eir stared at the animal.

"It can’t choose."

Damon understood.

"Not in our way."

"I can fix it."

"How much of your reserve?"

"Little."

Ester approached.

She examined the bird without touching it first.

"Probably a simple fracture."

Eir looked at her.

"Do I?"

Ester replied:

"If you do only what is necessary to align and stabilize it. No restoring the entire body to some previous state."

Eir thought.

"It can’t say yes."

"No."

"Then how do you decide?"

Damon replied:

"Sometimes we decide based on what clearly reduces immediate harm without taking more than we need."

Eir kept looking at the bird.

"That can be wrong."

"It can."

"Even when trying to help."

"Yes."

She seemed bothered.

"I don’t like that."

"Neither do I."

Eir finally touched the wing.

A very faint greenish light passed through her fingers.

Nothing more.

The wing returned to the proper position.

Small temporary plant fibers wrapped around the area like a splint.

Eir withdrew her hand.

"I didn’t restore it."

Ester examined it.

"No. You only stabilized it."

The bird tried to move.

Damon carefully held it and placed it in a small box that a nearby merchant offered.

Ester said they would take it to someone who cared for animals.

Eir kept looking at her own hands.

"Before, I would have done everything."

Damon knew.

"Yes."

"Now I did little."

"Because little was enough."

She nodded.

"That’s difficult."

"Usually important things are."

"Bad phrase."

Damon looked at her.

"Why?"

"Aria would say that."

He grimaced.

"I take it back."

Eir smiled.

When they returned to Mirath, Neria was tired.

Ester immediately took her to rest.

Liora disappeared with the two remaining sweets.

Damon did not ask.

Eir sat in the courtyard.

She looked more tired too.

"How much did you spend?" he asked.

"Little."

"That was an Eir answer."

"I am Eir."

"Fair."

Aurelia approached and briefly examined the manifestation.

"Did the reserves drop?"

"Yes."

"How much?"

"I have two days."

Damon became serious.

"Before it was three."

"I used it."

"On the bird?"

"Little. Walking. Seeing. Body."

"So simply existing here costs you."

"Yes."

He sat beside her.

"Do you want to go back tomorrow?"

Eir remained quiet.

"No."

"Do you want to stay until the limit?"

"Also no."

Damon looked at her.

She continued:

"I want to go back the day after tomorrow."

"Before you need to."

"Yes."

He nodded.

Good choice.

Eir noticed his expression.

"You were going to say that."

"Maybe."

"You don’t need to."

"You’re learning too fast."

She looked at the courtyard.

"Today I learned money."

Damon sighed.

"Unfortunately."

"Music."

"Better."

"Looking doesn’t mean threat."

"Sometimes it does."

"Complicated."

"Yes."

"Helping can be wrong."

Damon fell silent.

"Yes."

"Choosing little is also a choice."

He looked at her.

"Was that from the bird?"

"Also Neria."

"I understand."

Eir rested her hands on her knees.

"Before I thought that if something could be returned to a good state, it should be."

"I know."

"Now I don’t know what a good state is."

"Better."

She looked at him.

"Not knowing is better?"

"Sometimes. It forces you to ask."

Eir remained quiet.

Then nodded.

"Then I still want not to know some things."

Damon smiled.

"You’ll discover there’s plenty available."

She did not understand.

He preferred not to explain.

On the second day outside the forest, Eir still did not understand money, beds, music, personal distance or why Liora could turn one coin into three sweets.

But she was beginning to understand something more important.

The world outside her did not need to respond.

It did not need to obey.

And it did not always need to be corrected.

Sometimes it was enough to remain in it long enough to discover what other people had chosen to do with it.