"So that''s a human village?"


    Karteira looked around her. The people walking, the strange buildings, and the shops.


    So many things completely different from what she experienced in the fairy realm.


    "Not exactly. This is a beastman village."


    Orion walked next to her, and then explained the situation concerning the beastmen.


    "They don''t look much different than humans, they have pointy ears, sharper fangs and a beast tail."


    "They have been discriminated for a long time. These small villages exist so that their population can be regulated. They are in some ways caged."


    "They are protected by human soldiers, but that stops at this. The villages acts as supply spots for moving armies too."


    Karteira, who knew nothing about the outside world, showed a disgusted expression.


    "Who thought about that?"


    Amelia walked next to her, giving her own thought.


    "Probably the same people that thought killing fairies for their body parts was a good idea."


    This time, anger and disgust mixed together completely covered her face.


    "Let''s forget about that, we have to find a place to sleep at, and we have to buy supplies."


    She calmed her inner turmoil, and nodded. Once Orion concluded that Karteira had calmed down, he moved forward, passing the gate of the village named Lavira.


    "Good, then let''s go. Stay close, we''ll try to avoid any suspicious actions. We wouldn''t want the guards to notice us."


    The girls followed in his steps as they entered the village.


    After walking and looking around the main road, Orion stopped in his tracks. Two beastmen children were standing in his way.


    ''We''ve just entered. What''s it going to be, a trap?''


    He was on guard. They didn''t look mischievous, or even evil.


    They were children you would find in any normal household. Orion stared at the siblings.


    The girl was clearly older than the boy, around ten, she had a yellow one-piece dress stopping at her ankles, brown hair in a ponytail, with brown eyes. She had a pleading look in her eyes.


    The boy was the youngest as he looked five. He was wearing baggy white pants and a light blue shirt, with similar physical traits to his older sister. He looked extremely lost, and could cry at any moment.


    Their clothes were overall clean, but a strange detail caught Orion''s attention. There was traces of blood on their clothes, most likely someone else''s.


    As usual, many possibilities entered his mind. He immediately crossed out the trap, because the moment someone ignored them, that plan would fail.


    "Orion?"


    Amelia looked over his shoulder, not knowing why he stopped. The moment she noticed the children, she understood.


    Orion was unable to ignore, or hurt children. He didn''t particularly love them, but they had an important place in his heart. They were the future, the hopes of many parents.


    He himself applied his parents way, them who sacrificed their lives to protect their own child. If he could, he would protect every children in this world, just to take over the mantle of his parents.


    He crouched, one knee to the pavement.


    "Do you need help?"


    Without beating around the bush, he asked the oldest sister.


    She stayed silent, as she stared in his eyes. After a second, she slowly nodded, still looking in his eyes.


    She was holding her little brother''s hand with her right hand. With her left hand, she pointed in an alley. It was a normal alley, nothing unusual was in sight, which led him to believe that his main idea could be right.


    "Lead the way."


    He stood up, and turned to the girls behind him.


    "You can follow, but this might not be good for your heart. Now''s the time to look for around town if you don''t want to follow me."


    Karteira stared at the two children, and then at Amelia.


    The two girls nodded at each other, before speaking at the same time.


    "We''re coming with you."


    The oldest girl ran inside the alley with her little brother, with the group following closely behind.


    After walking for a bit, they arrived in front of a house. It was a perfectly fine house, it was the bigger and highest house of the neighborhood.


    The children turned to look at Orion, no words coming from their mouth. Only tears began to flow from their faces, seemingly remembering what happened inside.


    The three walked past them, and opened the door.


    The smell of blood wafted in the air.


    Strangely, what Orion thought had happened wasn''t there. No bodies, no signs of struggle, no blood splattered.


    He was perplexed. This was not what he was expecting.


    ''This is not a murder scene then. Why are we here in that case?''


    He looked around the room. It was a dining area, and a kitchen. Nothing unusual at all.


    ''There is nothing wrong in th-''


    Suddenly, from upstairs, he heard something.


    *cough* *splash* *cough*


    "Damn it, this might be worse than a murder scene!"


    He heard the sound of a liquid hit the wood, which led him to panic.


    ''Now I understand the fear in their eyes!''


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    He left Amelia and Karteira on the spot, and ran upstairs. He opened the door furiously, and saw one of the worst scene in his life.


    A woman, most likely the mother of the two children outside, was laying in her bed, covered in blood. There was so much blood in the room that it was impossible not to step on it.


    She was extremely worn out, and was gasping for air, her skin white from the lack of blood in her body.


    "And they saw their mother in that state?!"


    He walked to the frail woman in bed, who could die at any moment. Amelia and Karteira finally arrived upstairs, and peeked inside the room that smelled horribly.


    "What is this?! This is terrible!"


    Amelia brought her hands to her mouth, shocked by the scene. Karteira had her mouth opened, not knowing what to say. She had never saw someone in such a state before.


    "Hang in there, I''ll help you feel better."


    Orion placed his hands covered with light magic on her bloodied body without hesitation. This was not the time to think if he had to hide his healing power.


    He began to massage the woman slowly.


    From what he observed, she might had a disease, or an injury in her lungs, her stomach, or both.


    The woman opened her eyes.


    "Who... are... you?"


    Orion looked deep into her lifeless eyes.


    "Someone who''s trying to save your life. Now stay silent, you''ll have all the time in the world to ask questions later."


    She tiredly nodded, and fell asleep.


    "Good."


    Ignoring the woman''s supple parts, he continued to massage her chest for a long time.


    ''This is worse than it looks, her body isn''t healing as fast as it should. How did she even survive this long?''


    ''Did she fought for dear life just to be with her children a little longer? How much hope and resilience do you need to resist such a terrible fate?''


    Orion glanced at the girls who were looking inside the room.


    "Both of you, go get me cleaning tools. We need to clean this house for the children, we can''t let them outside any longer."


    "I also won''t be able to heal this person in one sitting, we''ll have to stay longer than intended."


    Grabbing into their senses, they straightened when they remembered the children waiting at the door.


    "I''ll go find a bucket, Amelia, take care of the children."


    "Alright!"


    The two left Orion, running to do their things.


    An hour later, Orion had used almost all of it''s energy. He was drained of magic power.


    The woman stopped coughing, which was a good sign, but her body was still in bad shape. She still had an unhealthy color.


    Amelia and Karteira took care of cleaning the blood splatters, opened the windows to let the stagnant air leave the house, and comforted the siblings that were fearing the worst for their mother.


    During that time, Amelia managed to talk to the oldest girl. She was Lila, and her brother was Leon. Their mother had a beautiful name, Crystal.


    Orion was sitting next to the woman named Crystal, watching her state as he recovered his magic.


    With a grunt, she opened her eyes, that showed life once again, notifying Orion that what he did wasn''t in vain.


    He stared at her light blue eyes, and spoke first.


    "Hello, how are you feeling?"


    She, with difficulty, sat in her bed.


    "I... I feel better. I don''t have any difficulty to breath anymore."


    She touched her chest, where the source of the pain was.


    "There is still a remaining feeling, but... I''m really fine."


    She placed her hands on her face and began to cry.


    ''This wasn''t what I expected when I stopped by this village.''


    He smiled, and stood up from his chair. He walked outside the room and downstairs, where everyone was.


    "She''s awake."


    Before he could say anything else, the children ran past him, and entered their mother''s room after walking upstairs.


    "Mom!"


    "Mother!"


    "Lila! Leon! I''m so sorry."


    Sounds of crying began to echo in the house, leaving Amelia in tears and Karteira biting her lips.


    Orion tried his best not to let it affect him.


    ''It is a good thing they stopped us, if not, these two would have lost their mother.''


    Amelia, still in tears looked at Orion. She was able to see through him.


    "It''s great that we managed to avoid these two from being orphans like us."


    He walked to her and gave her a tissue, replying with a single word.


    "Yes."


    After what half an hour, the children called Orion.


    The three walked upstairs and entered the room.


    Crystal was sitting on the edge of her bed, her children at her side.


    "Thank you very much for saving my life and protecting my children''s future."


    The three bowed at Orion, grateful for his kindness act.


    "You don''t have to thank me. Thank your own body for bearing with this pain until now. I just happened to arrive in time to heal you."


    "But without you, I would have lost my life anyways. Please."


    Orion placed a hand on the back of his head and looked to the side, not knowing what to say.


    "You are welcome."


    While Orion was feeling weird, the small Leon walked to Orion and grabbed his pants.


    "Mister, what''s your name?"


    When he looked in Leon''s eyes, he saw himself, and immediately relaxed.


    Like he did outside, he placed a knee on the now cleaned wooden floor.


    "I''m Orion. Orion Feales. A traveler?"


    He said the first thing that came out in his mind.


    "Pfft!"


    Karteira couldn''t help but laugh at that. Amelia was simply smiling, but knowing her, she was going to tease him later about it.


    He glared at them sharply.


    "Those two are my traveling companions."


    "My name''s Amelia Diom."


    "Karteira. Just Karteira."


    They both politely gave their name.


    The little Leon had stars in his eyes. The man in front of him had saved his mother, and he was a traveler? How cool was that.


    It was different for Lila. She wasn''t excited by the man in front of her, but by the two ladies behind him.


    She was grateful to Orion for saving her mother''s life, that was a given. She just had grown to like the ladies that took care of her earlier more.


    "What a peculiar group of travelers. You might already know my name, but I am Crystal, the mother of these two."


    There was only Lila near her, so with some effort, she placed her hand on her daughter''s head.


    "We had just entered the village when these little ones blocked our path. The moment I noticed the blood on their clothes, I decided to have a look at their situation. The rest lead to this moment."


    Orion stood up, and explained what happened.


    "You have to rest for now, as I can''t do anything about your missing blood. If you authorize us to stay a bit longer, I''ll continue healing your body. These two can take care of your children while you recover."


    Crystal made a hard face. She seemed to be thinking about her options.


    "Of course, if you want us to leave, we''ll oblige-"


    "No, it''s not that! I won''t throw the kind people who saved my life out. I don''t want to rely too much on you three, you might have things to do, right? I wouldn''t want to take your time when you are busy."


    He placed a hand on his chin.


    ''It''s no problem telling her what we were here for. I guess that wouldn''t hurt.''


    "We will have to find a place to sleep at before sunset, and we''ll have to resupply before leaving tomorrow, but that can be done at any moment."


    Little Leon looked at his mother with a beaming expression. He ran to her and hugged her.


    "Mom."


    "I know, I know. You really like him don''t you?"


    He furiously nodded.


    "If you need somewhere to stay the night, why don''t you stay with us? Well, we have only two spare beds, is it a problem?"


    Orion was about to kindly refuse, before Amelia beat him to it.


    "It is no problem, thank you very much for the offer. It helps us greatly."


    He turned and glared at her angrily.


    ''We can''t impose on them! What are you thinking?''


    She simply shrugged. For her, it was an opportunity to share a bed with Orion, like they did when they slept in the same room in the past.


    He quietly sighed, and turned to look at Crystal.


    "We will have to bother you tonight, is that fine with you?"


    She nodded while smiling.


    "I don''t know if I''ll be able to cook for them anyways. Having you around is the best solution for me right now. We''re both helping each others."


    Orion noticed that her face began to slowly drop lower, her eyelids also closed slower than before.


    He walked toward Crystal and Lila, and crouched again.


    "I''m sorry, your mother is getting tired. Do you mind if we let her rest?"


    She turned to look at her mother, and also noticed the tired smile on her face.


    The little girl hugged her mother and walked toward her little brother.


    "Sleep well, mother."


    Her children waved at her, as she lied in bed. She waved back at them, and before long, she closed her eyes and fell back asleep.


    ''Just staying up that long might have taken all of her strength away. I''ll be looking after you and your children as promised.''


    The group left her room quietly. The children showed the interior of the house, their own rooms, and the room they will be staying in.


    Orion kept his senses active to notice any change in Crystal''s behavior, but there was no changes. She was slowly healing, as her color began to return closer to a living being. It was still small, but shades of pink reappeared on her face.


    Karteira and Amelia were talking with Lila, while Leon kept following Orion everywhere.


    Maybe out of boredom, or because he liked the child, Orion showed a bit of his magic to Leon.


    He explained that it was a dangerous power, but that if it was used correctly, it could save people, just like he saved Crystal.


    What Orion showed and told led that little boy to choose a path in life that would have never been possible without meeting Orion.


    With sparkles in his eyes, he listened to Orion talk until he had to look at his mother''s health.


    The girls took Lila with them to resupply. They were grateful to have a cute guide like her. The shopping finished relatively faster, and they managed to return before sunset with everything needed.


    Amelia prepared food for everyone, even for Crystal, who ate when she felt better. They enjoyed dinner together, and left to rest in their room.


    Yes, the only room that had two spare beds. Tonight will be one of the most hellish night of his life... or not. He fell asleep the moment he touched the pillow, exhausted from overusing his light element.


    The next morning was, in fact, the true chaos.