The northeastern part of town, Thatched roof subdivision, Dr. Kolver's Clinic.

Ash, who just woke up, dove right into the plate of roasted meat before him. He was so preoccupied with the taste that he didn’t even feel Dr. Kolver rub his back before patting it as the old man turned his head toward Martha.

“So let me get this straight. You followed Ash, who hypothetically died in the forest after digging a hole in the ground, and no one else saw this but you. Martha, are you sure?" Dr. Kolver raised his left brow at Martha’s ridiculous claim.

Ash, who was eating, finally stopped and perked his ears, trying to listen.

It is hard to act like a normal animal in times like this. I need to find a fine line between being suspicious and being a smart animal that will still be considered dumb.

Ash thought to himself. He already knew how stupid it would look if he tried to convince others that he was a former human. He was pretty sure he had already experienced the five stages of grief in some form, but because he was a dog, he didn't care anymore.

He wasn’t even sure how the people here would react to such information. In his previous world, if found out, he would be dragged, locked, and experimented on.

In the worst-case scenario, he would be suspected of being a witch's assistant and would be burned at the stake.

Now that his goal to become a gallant wolf guardian wolf of the forest is ruined, he needs to find a way to become human. Since this is a magical world, there must be something that would allow him to survive.

“Yes,” she answered.

“He was without a heartbeat. Back then, he wasn't even breathing, and finally, he won’t even respond to my love taps.”

The room was silent for a moment before the doctor released a long sigh.

“I know that I'm going to regret asking this, but what are these love... taps?” Dr. Kolver asked in a grave tone.

Without a beat, Martha answered with innocent eyes, “I just showed him the true value of love by smacking him in the head like I usually do, but it was just a light sma—love tap.”

Seeing her stumble on the last part, Dr. Kolver lowered his head while Ash stopped eating as a piece of meat that he was chewing fell into his open mouth.

He slowly turned his head towards Martha and barked, Sooo... You are the reason why my head hurt like hell at the time!

Grrr…. Woof! Woof!

“Calm boy! Tsk.”

Dr. Kolver sighed in relief as he saw the small white dog slowly turn to his meal and continue devouring it. He wasn’t sure, but he felt that it snorted at Martha for a moment.

With his brows furrowed, he gazed intently at Martha and asked hesitantly, “How many times have you exactly done this, love taps?”

Martha didn’t even hesitate and said, “About a hundred times?”

Woof! Woof! Woof!

“Down boy! Down! Shut your trap! Martha, say you’re sorry!”

Ash was already exposing his canines while barking at Martha with unconcealed rage.

After a moment of calming skills and Martha's half-baked apology, Ash was now gazing at Martha, with his eyes squinting at his suspected murderer.

Martha ignored the small dog’s weird gaze and continued sharing her recollection of the events.

“I don’t want Lucy to hear the news that Ash died yesterday, so I just buried him right then and there. I lied to her about Ash going to a faraway place to prevent her from knowing. Now she hates me. She even cursed me to be struck by lightning, Dr. Kolver.”

“Tsk, tsk. Tsk. Well, that young lady.”

“It’s a good thing you hid it from her. If what you mentioned was indeed true, that girl would’ve been devastated! I tell you now that you did the right thing.”

For a moment, the old man shook his head lightly, with his forehead wrinkled even more. After a few seconds, his face eased up, and he continued, “Well, I can assure you that Ash is not an undead, if that’s what you’re worried about. He has a healthy body. Although slightly weakened, he is recovering miraculously. Whatever happened, we can say that it’s nothing short of a miracle, but at the time, before you jumped to conclusions, I would have suggested that you should have visited me first.”

Dr. Kolver redirected his gaze at Ash and said, “I’m not doubting your assessment at the time. The only other logical reason is that Lucy found another dog that has the same look, size, and age. That is to say, it could happen with a higher possibility than her dog coming back from the dead.”

"That doesn't seem to be the case. When she told me how she found him, it was close to the area where I buried him," she added.

“No matter. For now, just know that Ash is healthy for his age. Whoever this one is," Dr. Kolver paused for a moment but then added in a somber tone, “Just don’t give it any more love taps, or that young woman will find another teacher to rely on. Am I understood?”

While Dr. Kolver continued giving tips about how to ensure Ash would be healthy, Martha’s pupils shook indiscernibly for a moment, but Ash caught a glimpse of it.

So she’s afraid that Lucy will abandon her and choose another teacher? Ash pondered why a sword teacher would be this concerned about her student. Maybe Lucy's parents were loaded and were paying her a huge sum for her tutelage.

“Where was I? Haha! I’m getting sidetracked. Maybe Ash was lucky enough that rogue lightning from behind the lightning mountain somehow hit his buried body. I say he was really lucky. Otherwise, you'll be coming home to the wreckage of a teenage girl every day, so be happy Ash is still alive. When will that girl's mother ever return?"

Ash shook his head as he remembered something. I guess it's time. I hope they're the same.

Identify!

Arf!

_____________________

Winston Kolver

Level 29 First Order Human [Healer]

Health: 190/190

_____________________

Another translucent window also popped over Martha's head.

_____________________

Martha Chasen

Level ?? ???

Health: ????/????

_____________________

Ash didn't move for a moment and acted like nothing had changed. After a moment, he shifted his pupils and observed the eyes of the two.

They also can't see it... Ash concluded when Dr. Kolver and Martha continued their discussion, not noticing the translucent windows above their heads. He was about to brush it off, but when he saw Martha’s status, ‘Question marks?’

Dr. Kolver concluded as he looked up for a moment. He slowly stood up and said, "Then, with my expertise, we can agree that Ash isn’t an undead. With your strength, constitution, and skill, I’m sure there would be nothing to worry about if he ever becomes one.”

“It’s better to let him eat a lot of food, rest, and don’t forget that Ash only has a few months left to live, or a year if he’s lucky. Hah. Hah.”

What!?

Ash’s eyes widened as his head turned towards Dr. Kolver.

Then, all the puzzles fit into place. Ash didn’t die because he was attacked in the middle of the forest by the hundred-smacking frenzy or got hit by stray lightning. It made more sense that Ash died of old age!

At first, he thought he was a wolf cub, so he brushed off his size and age, thinking that he still had a lot of time to recollect and plan out his future. But when he discovered he was a Corgi, things happened one after another so fast that he wasn’t able to have time to think for himself.

In his previous life, some pets would leave their owners to find someplace completely isolated and hard to find because they would be too weak to defend themselves from predators. This behavior was usually related to cats but could also be found in some dogs.

The old Ash must’ve been afraid that he would endanger Lucy like he did when he almost served himself to that bear. Ash shuddered at the thought that someone was controlling him at that time. Fate? Ash shook his head as he tried to find other evidence when he remembered something.

He immediately summoned his interface and was lost in thought as he gazed at a single word.

[Weakened]

No… No. No. No.

“Dr. Kolver, you deserve all my gratitude. I’ll fill in Lucy with the good news.”

The room became silent for a moment before Martha added,

"Doctor, I hope you will not tell anyone about what I just told you. For Lucy's sake, this knowledge shouldn't travel outside these walls."

Dr. Kolver responded casually, with his two fingers zipping over his mouth, "Of course, my lips are sealed."

Martha carefully retrieved the stunned Corgi and left the house without looking back.

Dr. Kolver, standing by his doorway, shook his head with an amused look, but it was suddenly replaced with a baffled look in an instant.

He shouted, “You forgot to pay! Don't forget to pay me next time! Or let Lucy pick up some herbs for me! The usual!

In the distance, Martha raised an arm with her clenched hand.

"Heh! You think I'm that old?"

Dr. Kolver let out an amused chuckle as he went back inside while shaking his head.

….

As Martha carried Ash through the sea of houses, Ash said nothing. Although he looked like a normal dog, a torrent of thoughts was racing through his head.

I'm gonna die. I only have less than a year to live.

Martha wasn't sure why the dog was unusually still this time. She just thought it must have something to do with what Dr. Kolver fed it and just shrugged internally.

Ash was staring dead into space, not minding the scenery on their way back. A flurry of depressing thoughts churned inside his mind, threatening to erupt.

Ash shook his head and thought, I shouldn’t think about that for now. What should I do now that my days are already numbered? Dr. Kolver is a healer, so I wouldn’t count on it to increase my lifespan. Magic exists here, so there must be a way for me to survive, or at least increase the time I have left.

Every path his mind takes and creates a solution, his identity as a four-legged, potentially rabid, and stupid animal always gets in the way.

With no way to get his thoughts across, the last thing he would want to try was to convince Lucy or Martha that he was a human stuck in a dog's body.

The best thing he could do is find time, separate from Lucy or Martha, and find some way to obtain knowledge on how to obtain power quickly or find a way to turn back into a human.

Both options will be hard, but they're not impossible. The memory of the foggy forest war before he was forced inside Ash’s body renewed his determination.

Plus, I got this. Ash thought as he gazed at his unassigned stat points. Not only was he sure that this stat would increase his health, but he also had a chance to increase his lifespan.

Sigh. As long as Lucy is nearby, I'm still safe. This woman might also be reasonable. I mean, as long as I behave, she won't murder me. Right?

Ash concluded his line of thought that not only his remaining time would be threatened by his draining lifespan but also by other physical or maybe even magical factors.

With Ash’s future preliminary plans in place, he decided to gather more information to reinforce them.

He glanced over Martha's shoulder and found a few pieces of black smoke billowing behind the set of trees. He turned his head to the front and thought, That should be where the blacksmiths dwell, or maybe some mines.

So that’s why Dr. Kolver was rambling about some miners.

He started to create a mental map of some kind as he behaved on the way back to the crowded area, where the streets were full of people rushing to work or preparing for something.

With his thoughts cleared, Ash could now focus on how the people dressed themselves and their lifestyles.

Some men wore different hats to block the rays of the sun, while some women propped up an umbrella after they got out of their homes. People with darker skin didn’t even bother protecting themselves from the heat and just went on their way.

He could see carriages or wagons running along some streets while being pulled by horses in different lanes.

The town was running like clockwork, with a few uniformed personnel sometimes redirecting traffic.

This place seems to be more advanced than the medieval ages in my previous life. I can see some resemblance to the Georgian era. But why are the races so mixed?

Based on his previous life, Ash could discern their looks, which came from different ethnicities, but the weird thing was that they didn’t discriminate against each other.

Nobody bothered anybody except for sharing polite greetings and light banter.

This place feels nice, he thought.

They went a different way this time. They passed by clusters of some sort of housing with decent paint job and style. Their first floors were made of bricks for a firm foundation, while the rest of the floors were built on wood.

The streets weren’t that clean, but at least Ash couldn’t see any type of animal excrement anywhere, indicating this town has good plumbing or even a waste disposal system.

Ash confirmed his hypothesis when he saw three people dragging a large wagon that overwhelmed Ash’s nose. The workers would knock on the doors and collect each family's garbage while the others drove the wagon to the next house.

Trees were placed in strategic positions to provide some shade while cooling the area at the same time.

It must have been planted a couple of years ago, Ash thought as he shook his head.

Ash, don't underestimate this world. Remove all your preconceived notions and start with a clean slate! Nothing is normal here!

Ash mentally smacked himself as they arrived at a wide-open area with stone floors surrounded by three-foot stone pillars with large black cauldrons akin to the Olympic cauldron he had seen in his previous life, sitting on top of the four stone pillars. with a lot of wooden boxes stacked against each other. He could see some people were building several small houses akin to stalls at a festival.

I wonder what they're going to sell.

The day was still early, so the weather wasn’t that hot, but some carpenters were already sweating from hammering and all the heavy lifting.

But then Ash saw someone familiar heading towards them as drops of blood were left in his tracks. A man was carrying a severed head.