So they were still around just last night…
Lynn's mood lifted slightly.
If Giggs and the others hadn't been gone for long, the odds of something bad happening were relatively low.
"Other than that, do you know anything else? For example… did they say where they were going?"
Carter shook her head and tapped her ear. "This old woman's getting on in years, my hearing's not so good. Besides, I don't think they mentioned anything.
"Oh, right, Little Lynn, have you had dinner yet? I was just about to cook mine. Should I make you a portion too?"
She was as warm and kind as always.
Lynn was about to refuse, but a thought struck him, and he agreed instead.
"Then I'll trouble you, Mrs. Carter."
He was someone who separated kindness from grievance, and this would be a good excuse to thank her properly.
Taking the half piece of rye bread left in his shack, Lynn headed over to Carter's place.
The old lady was behind her shack, using a wooden stick to move the manure she'd collected into a pit she had dug herself.
Setting down the bread, Lynn picked up two dry sticks and went to help.
"No need, Lynn, you just wait in the shack for me," Carter waved him off.
Lynn shook his head. Back on Earth, perhaps he would have found the idea of handling manure hard to accept, but here, it didn't bother him at all.
Most of what she collected was dry, and with the dry sticks in hand, it wasn't even that unpleasant.
Carter watched him work and was moved. She dabbed at the corner of her eye and murmured,
"Little Lynn, you're a good boy.
"I can tell you, children used to live comfortably, never having to do any hard or dirty work.
"I was the same, you know.
"I was a maid once, a lady's maid. My mistress was very wealthy, and I never had to do filthy chores like this.
"So every time I see you all, it feels like looking back at my younger self.
"And I understand… I know what it feels like to fall into the mud all at once, and how hard it is to accept it all.
"You're a fine lad, Little Lynn…"
Under her rambling, Lynn stacked the manure neatly and covered it with straw.
She wasn't wrong; he truly couldn't imagine what his life would be like now if he hadn't gained the Insight ability.
For some reason, his thoughts drifted back to Giggs and the others.
Where had they gone?
…
Half an hour later, Carter brought him a steaming bowl of mixed-grain porridge.
Though the short, old woman made a living partly by collecting manure, she never let herself smell foul or look unkempt.
On the contrary, everything about her was kept neat.
She always wore a smile, her now-graying brown hair combed smooth and tied into a ponytail at the back with a bit of straw.
One look was enough to tell she was quick and capable with her hands.
The porridge contained leafy greens, flakes of dried fish, a few nuts, and was mainly made of oats and barley. It looked delicious.
It was obvious she had brought out her best stores to treat him.
Lynn accepted the bowl; his appetite immediately stirred.
It had been nearly a week since he came to this world, and he'd eaten nothing but coarse, sour rye bread.
He had only had proper hot food twice, once when Mrs. Carter had cooked porridge for them shortly after his arrival.
The other time was when he'd spent three hours cooking a pot of barley porridge himself… husks and all.
The bitterness of it all was something only someone who had truly crossed into another world could understand.
Moved by the thought, Lynn didn't stand on ceremony with Mrs. Carter. Holding the clay bowl in both hands, he blew on it for a moment before taking an eager sip.
He swallowed in one gulp and praised sincerely,
"This porridge is delicious, Mrs. Carter."
Carter smiled and handed him some bread. "Eat slowly. I even reheated the bread you brought over…"
The next moment, she suddenly froze.
Lynn was holding out ten silver wolves to her.
"Lynn… what is this?"
Ten silver wolves, nearly a whole month's income for her!
"It's for the meal, and also to thank you for calling Steward Ellison today," Lynn explained.
Even though he could have handled those two thugs on his own, that wasn't the point.
The simple fact that Mrs. Carter was willing to speak up for him at risk to herself was something he felt deserved proper thanks.
"This is too much, Lynn. And we're neighbors. I couldn't just stand by and do nothing."
"Please take it, Mrs. Carter," Lynn said, shaking his head.
But she still refused.
It took quite a bit more persuasion before Carter finally accepted the coins.
"Still, Little Lynn," she said, holding the silver wolves with a hint of worry on her face, "don't mind me being naggy, but next time something like that happens, you should go find Steward Ellison first. This whole area's under the Ironclaw Gang's watch."
Her voice grew more serious. "Those thugs aren't easy to deal with… I'm afraid they might come back. If you run into them again, you should just turn and run.
"You're young, they won't be able to catch you.
"As long as you can get away, as long as you survive… there's always hope."
Lynn didn't agree with her approach, but he understood she meant well.
So he didn't argue, simply listened in silence, and nodded lightly.
Running might save you once, but never forever.
The only real solution was strength.
But for people like Mrs. Carter, the option of "becoming strong" had never existed.
The two continued to chat over porridge.
From Carter, Lynn learned more about Emeraldwood City, such as the fact that three major gangs held the most power: Serpentcoil, Bloodmark, and Golden Shadow.
It was said each had at least one formal wizard in their ranks.
Together with their affiliated minor gangs, they essentially divided up the entire "Stonehouse District" and "Woodhouse District" between them.
The Shacks District, however, was an exception.
Just as the academies never bothered to establish a presence there, the major gangs also looked down on it, never extending their territory into this place.
Lynn was a little puzzled by this, but with so little information, he could only guess it was because the residents here were poor and offered little profit.
And precisely because of that, the Shacks District had little in the way of law or order. The light of justice didn't reach here; muggings and brawls were common, and once night fell, few ordinary people dared wander outside. Chaos was the norm.
There were more gangs here than in all the rest of Emeraldwood City combined.
In a way, these gangs had formed their own "order" in this place.
When the porridge was finished and the conversation wound down, Lynn noticed Carter growing drowsy and took the initiative to excuse himself.
By the time he passed Giggs and Leona's shacks again, his mood had settled a great deal.
Humans were, after all, social creatures…
In a world so foreign and lonely, being able to sit down and talk, even for a while, was a great comfort.
"In the end, I'm still just an ordinary person…"
Shaking his head with a faint smile, Lynn quickened his pace back to his shack.
The next morning, before dawn broke, Lynn opened his eyes, got up, and began to practice his swordsmanship.