A few long hours had passed. It was approaching night, and there was no sign of civilization besides the paths they had followed.
Yadrith, bored out of his mind, decided to relieve his boredom in the only way he could.
Asking the mute spider questions.
"Hmm... It's quite funny that your mother can shoot webs, but you seem closer to a jumping spider. Can you shoot webs?"
They had established: don't jump or react if negative, and if positive, jump once. Mahaya did not jump.
"Do you have other siblings?"
She jumped.
"Have you met them?"
She stood still.
'Hmmm? She's never met her siblings for seventeen years? Well, Miel did mention she hadn't interacted with anybody besides her.' He suddenly felt confused. 'She's the same age as me, and Miel seemed rather young. I wonder...'
"Is your mom in her thirties?"
"..." The spider did not jump; however, it turned for the first time in a long time and stared into his eyes with an odd look.
"Forties?"
She did not jump.
Yadrith recalled Miel's youthful look.
"...Twenties?"
The small spiders let out a noise, not anything like a human sound... But, a small squeak of annoyance.
"Then... Do beings in this world live hundreds of years?"
She jumped.
'That makes sense.' He scratched his head, thinking about his earlier stupidity. The common sense he was used to is no longer practical in this world.
"Sorry, these might be some very odd questions." He parted his mouth slightly. 'I'm practically hinting to her at the fact I'm not from this world.'
He paused for a moment.
'Eh... I don't care.'
"Will we make it soon?"
The spider jumped.
"Great, I didn't want to sleep outside."
Just as Mahaya had promised, a large wall appeared in view.
'Oh? City Walls? How fun!' He thought about the implications of being in a medieval setting. 'Err... I wonder if this world has at least baths and proper toilets.'
In just a few minutes, they arrived at the entrance and were stopped by city guards. One of the guards let out a menacing aura and approached Yadrith, causing him to tremble slightly. The guard was a large man with red skin and a protruding black horn coming from the middle of his skull.
Besides the horn and skin, he looked like a basketball player who took all the roids in the world.
"A human and... True Demon?" The lead guard stared at Mahaya in shock. His menacing aura quickly dissipated, and he took a step back. "We will let you and your mate in with no problems, young one."
Yadrith grimaced, "...Mate?" He muttered under his breath. He didn't have the energy to complain, yet he thought about how absurd that statement really was.
"How would that work between a spider the size of my fingernail?" He spoke softly before feeling a sharp pain in his palm.
"Ow!" He yelped. "You bit me!"
If he had fingers, he probably would have instinctually crushed the spider then and there.
The guard coughed, "As I was saying, you two can enter the city. Quarrel there..."
He looked up at the guard, his eyes bloodshot.
"Could you direct me toward an inn?"
The guard pointed at a building near the entrance.
"We get a lot of travelers."
***
'How bizarre.' He stared at the interior of the bathroom connected to his room.
'I assumed this world was a complete medieval setting, but that was wrong.' He moved; he carried his oil lamp into the bathroom, sat it down on a surface, and opened the window, letting moonlight shine in.
He looked at the toilet, which looked like an odd box with a lid meant for sitting on.
"At least I don't have to throw my stuff out the window." He smiled and looked toward the bath; it was an already prepared hot tub in a barrel.
'Looks like the sewage system isn't on the level of having a modern bath.'
He curiously approached the toilet and stuck his head out above the lid. They were on the second level, so there couldn't possibly be a hole.
He looked in, and deep in the toilet, there was a metallic surface.
'Hm... How is the waste disposed of? There's no way it just sits here until someone collects it, right?'
He lifted his hand, and a white handle appeared in his view.
'...What's that? The flush?' He put his hand over it but had a bit of difficulty due to having only a thumb. After a bit of struggling, he finally managed to pull the handle upward, and just as he did, he felt an odd heat below his head.
He furrowed his brow and looked down.
"L-lava!?" He felt overwhelming amounts of heat and fell backward. The metal closed once more.
'...That's definitely a medieval solution.' He thought for a moment and stood back up, dusting off his clothes. 'I hope I didn't get a face full of toxic gas.'
"There's probably a ventilation." He spoke outwardly, 'Otherwise these people would be dropping like flies.'
He smiled. "I guess I'll take care of my business then."
He did a quick survey of the bathroom for any out-of-place jumping spiders and got to work.
***
Yadrith exited the bathroom refreshed, with a smile. The webs, surprisingly enough, were resilient enough to not dissolve in the hot bath.
He looked at Mahaya sitting on the nightstand, staring back at him.
"The water is still warm." He suppressed any laughter and lay down on the bed next to the nightstand she was sitting on.
'My first night comfortably sleeping in another world.' He turned opposite from the spider. 'Thinking back to that toilet, how the hell does the lava stay molten!?'
With such thoughts about the mysteries of this new world, I fell asleep.
***
Yadrith woke up to a chill sweeping over his body. His blanket had been pulled toward the opposite side of the bed.
His face twisted in confusion and then anger. He looked toward the nightstand, where a small spider was staring at him intently.
"How funny of you."
In his mind, Mahaya suddenly had a personality. The fact she did something so petty made him feel bad for his rude jokes and comments, believing she was a dull spider at first.
"I was being a bit rude, so I'll let this go. Just this once."
He suddenly convulsed as he felt a wave of searing pain from both his arms and even his legs.
"Aghhhk!" He let out a muffled shout and sank back into the bed. 'This pain!'
His lips trembled as pain overcame his mind. Flashbacks of fighting the wolf appeared in his mind, and he uncontrollably shook.
Mahaya, seeing his behavior, jumped off the stand and scurried out of the room.
For the next few minutes, Yadrith went through unimaginable pain. He bit onto the pillow as hard as he could and shut his eyes tightly.
He had forgotten the extent of his injuries.
His legs had punctures from the maw of the wolf, his entire right hand was torn off, and all the fingers on his left hand were gone minus his thumb. It was ridiculous that he didn't feel any pain, so why didn't he?
Why is he now fighting this immense, terrible pain?
With each moment, pulses of great pain struck his mind, and he naturally tried his best to maintain clarity.
Suddenly, Yadrith heard footsteps, and a person entered the room.
A woman with long, elongated ears, blonde hair, green eyes, and a rather calming face places her hand over his chest.
He felt his pain immediately subside; with cold sweat, he looked up at the woman.
"...Thank you." His breathing was labored.
"No, thank you. At such a cheap price, I have cleared up my debt with Miel."
Mahaya jumped off the woman's shoulder and landed on the stand next to Yadrith.
"I will be off then." She gracefully did a short bow toward Mahaya. "If you come into contact with Miel again, tell her to stay away from me... She brings nothing but misery." The woman left the room immediately after her words.
Yadrith looked over toward Mahaya, who was visibly trembling.
Was it out of fear or anger? Probably the latter.
While staring at the ceiling, roughly an hour eventually passed. Feeling came back to Yadrith's body; there was still a bit of pain, but it was mostly in his legs. Probably from walking around on them despite being partially destroyed.
'The fact I didn't feel any pain until just this morning should have something to do with Miel.' He thought back to their meeting. 'The ability known as Rekh? Or perhaps, Ethra...?'
He remembered one more.
'There was Regalia too.'
He clenched his left and right fists.
'They're both fully functioning.' He smiled.
"Are you ready to begin our journey, then?" He asked.
The spider jumped onto his shoulder.
'I should thank her later... I hope she starts speaking to me soon.' He wondered how she even managed to get that woman to help him. She had to have spoken or addressed her thoughts in a way other than jumping.
"First, we must find information on the routes out of this land."
He walked down the staircase and entered the main lobby of the inn. A bunch of people were gathered in it, humans and demons.
'He did say they had a lot of travelers.' He was a bit surprised. However, this scene made him think back to Miel, inquiring about his identity. With so many people, why did she single him out? Do others avoid her territory?
'Miel isn't as she seems.'
She must've known something about him even before they met.
'I will have to be cautious of Mahaya as well.'
Yadrith stopped at the counter in the lobby.
"Do you know where I can get a map?"
The demon working as a bartender stopped for a moment and looked at him and even glanced at Mahaya on his shoulder.
"Maps are expensive due to the sheer size and rival factions in our land. I suggest you ask one of those adventurers; they are all here on different missions, but some of them should have maps."
"I see... Thank you." Yadrith said.
After leaving the counter, he glanced at the tables of people. Some were fully human, some fully demon, and others filled with both races.
Yadrith stopped at the closest table full of humans and tapped on the shoulder of a bald-headed man. The entire table stopped their conversation and looked at him.
"Do you guys perhaps have a map I can look at?"
"Haha, a map? Hmmm, if you pay us 10 gold per second, then you can see our map." The bald-headed man said with a smug look.
Yadrith frowned.
'We have no money.'
The inn let them stay one night for free. As for why? Yadrith had no clue. His companion probably brainwashed them or something of that nature.
"Ah... Is that so? I'll ask someone else then."
He scanned the room, and his gaze landed on a young man sitting alone. He approached the young man. "Hey... Do you have a map? Both my companion and I are trying to exit the Land of Demons."
"Oh? Are you travelling to Vestriam?"
"Is that where humans live?"
The young man looked at him with an odd look. "Of course, were you born here in the Land of Demons then? Or maybe Pelsac?"
"I have... a form of amnesia." Yadrith nervously said.
The young man sighed, "Alright, I don't have a map... But I'll guide you to Vestriam. My master once walked these lands with me."
"Guide us? So you'll just take us to Vestriam, no fee?"
The young man smiled. "I'm going that way anyway, and I need people to talk to."
"What do you think, Mahaya?"
The spider absently stared at the young man before jumping once.
'I guess that's a yes?'
"Alright, we'll travel with you. I'm Yadrith."
"Just Yadrith? Alright, I'm Oliver Renin."
The young man's blue eyes shimmered as if they were an ocean, and his long, dark, navy-tinted hair shook. It seemingly parted as he stood up, revealing his face.
'What a beautiful person.' Yadrith at least hoped he was a little above average looks-wise, but this Oliver Renin might be the most handsome man he's laid eyes on. 'Social media back on Earth would freak out at his appearance.'
His hair fell back over his face, obscuring his looks.
Oliver looked at Mahaya. "Good to meet you as well, Mahaya."