As I was approaching the house, a sudden memory of my dirty old clothes came to me. I needed to wash them ASAP — the ones I was wearing now were starting to reek after all this labor. With that thought, I tried to open the door, and it did, in fact, open. Surprising. Did the old woman forget to close it? Or had she gotten tired of me coming at random times?
I went inside. The woman was cleaning fish in the kitchen area. We exchanged small nods, and I went to my room. I grabbed my old clothes and underwear, went to the bathroom, took the wooden basin, and filled it with water. After soaking the clothes, I sat on the floor and began scrubbing them with soap.
The soap was really frugal — it didn't dissolve in water as fast as regular soap back on Earth. Once the clothes were soaped, I dipped them in the water, then rubbed various parts of the fabric together. I refreshed the water and repeated the process. One final rinse, and I exhaled loudly, wiping the sweat from my forehead.
Okay. Now I need to hang these up outside, and they'll dry in no time. I went out and stretched the clothes across the fence. Except for the underwear, of course — I left that drying on the frame of my bed.
Now, I wanted to lie down for a bit. I'd delay my shower until the clothes were dry anyway. I approached the woman in the kitchen, took a mug from the wooden shelf, and filled it with water. This time, it wasn't just to quench my thirst — I also planned to try moving my mana again. Sure, water generated less mana than food. But maybe that was just what I needed.
I gulped three mouthfuls of water, then lay down on the bed and closed my eyes. I waited for a small amount of mana to accumulate and tried to move it slowly up toward the middle of my ribcage. As I moved it steadily, I noticed the mana I controlled didn't fade — unlike the still mana in my abdomen.
Is that how people are able to use mana freely? Do they circulate it without pause?
No way. If I lost focus even for a moment, the mana would fall back and begin dissipating immediately. It was hard to even form thoughts in that state.
As the controlled mana reached the middle of my ribcage, I realized I wasn't feeling any pain. Interesting. What if I tried directing it to my right hand?
The moment I moved outside the previous "path," a sharp pain hit me — like a sewing needle piercing the skin. I lost focus, and the mana dropped back to my abdomen. The mana from drinking the water had already faded, leaving only what I'd just withdrawn.
I took about half of it and shaped it like a syringe needle — long and thin. It worked. I pushed it back up to my chest and reshaped it again so the tip pointed toward my right hand. Pain flared up again, but this time I didn't lose concentration. It felt like getting a vaccine shot back on Earth.
I moved the mana like I was hammering, adjusting it until it reached my middle finger.
Well, well, well. Look at you — you finally did it.
With that thought, I closed my eyes and fell asleep.
A moment later — maybe longer — the old man opened the door. He invited me to eat baked eels with wild strawberries and gooseberries on the side. What a weird combo. But somehow, the mix of fish, bread, fruit, and berries made sense in my mouth. Honestly, it was the best thing I'd eaten in this world so far. The very first thing that actually tasted better than the bread itself. It had been a problem back on Earth too — so many foods tasted worse than plain bread.
I finished my meal and thanked the housewife once again.
It was time to go meet Miss Ellie. I took a quick shower, changed back into my original clothes, and then waited for the old man. We went to the house of the kindergarten teacher again. But this time, we parted at the entrance — and I didn't receive a new silver coin. Hopefully, what I gave Ellie last time was enough to cover the second lesson.
I opened the door, and the storm of laughter and screeching children greeted me once again. This time, they were playing some unknown game with the teacher — and I saw her smile for the first time.
It was breathtaking.
She looked at me and nodded, then, after a while, put the children to bed. I didn't have to wait long. Soon after, we went to the classroom. I sat in my usual spot and waited for her to bring the papers.
Everything went more smoothly today. I was still a bit embarrassed and uncomfortable being so close to someone I didn't know well. Back on Earth, I called it the "period of assimilation" — it took me 3 to 7 days to get a feel for someone and to relax around them.
But here, I didn't know the language, so assessing someone took even longer.
Still, I pronounced almost every letter correctly and learned half of the new words. She even let me take the papers home to practice. Before I could decide what gesture to use to say thank you, I was politely kicked out of her house — or was it her workplace?
I headed to the old man's office, but he wasn't there. So I returned home, placed the papers on my bed, changed into my dirty clothes, and went back outside.
After looking around for a bit, I found the old man talking to a stall owner. He glanced at me, then returned to his conversation with the middle-aged woman. About five minutes later, he finally walked over. I pointed toward the closest trash pile and shrugged.
He studied me for a moment, then led me to the western part of the village. But we didn't stop there — we continued walking until we had completely left the village.
Not far out, I saw some animal pens. As we approached, I spotted three trash holes. One for organic waste, one for stones of different sizes, and one for other items.
Trash sorting — in a medieval village?
I nodded at the old man with a wide smile, taken aback by the unexpected encounter. As I was wondering how I'd transport all the trash from across the village, the old man moved again. We visited a nearby homestead, where a kind villager lent us a two-wheeled barrow and a shovel.
Well, that settles it.
I dragged the piles over, then sorted through them, even using my hands at times. It was disgusting. But the worst part was the smell, and the blazing sun didn't help.
Eventually, I finished, returned the tools, and headed back home.