He walked through the main street with determined steps, clearly having a destination in mind. It was getting a bit late, and people were returning home from work. Along the way, some workers stopped to greet him before continuing on their way.

Everyone in the village knew the doctor who lived on the outskirts. While not everyone seemed to like him, it would be foolish to ignore the only doctor in the village, at least in front of him.

On another occasion, Zack might have stopped to talk to people, but now he was too nervous; he just wanted to confirm his hunch. After walking for a few minutes, Zack reached his destination.

In front of him was a large store, with people coming in and out intermittently. A symbol of a bag with coins was engraved at the entrance, indicating that the store owner was a member of the merchants' guild.

The merchants' guild held a special status in the kingdom. Nobles could ignore or even disdain members of other guilds due to their status, but no one dared to underestimate the merchants' guild. This was because they controlled the money. Most nobles couldn't maintain their lifestyle if they offended the guild leaders.

Unlike other guilds, such as the blacksmiths' guild or the carpenters' guild, the merchants' guild didn't produce any products but acted as intermediaries. Most luxury goods came directly from the merchants' guild. For example, the sale of salt in the kingdom. If nobles in areas not connected to the sea offended the merchants' guild, the supply of salt to their territory could be cut off.

Of course, not all guild members enjoyed such privileges. If a small merchant offended a significant noble, the guild would usually ignore the problem. It all depended on who they were dealing with.

The store in front of Zack was just a small business, but still, no one was willing to offend it. That showed the influence of the merchants' guild.

Just as he was about to enter, Zack stopped. His experience in his world told him that it wasn't appropriate to enter like this; he was too nervous. One thing his mother taught him was never to put yourself in a weak position when dealing with someone in business. They should always see you as strong and determined. Otherwise, they would do their best to take advantage of you. At best, the money he would receive would be much less than expected.

Finally, Zack decided to take a walk around the city. Although he had been here several times before, there were still many places he hadn't explored. Seeing that he had time, he decided to go to a place he hadn't been before, the town's residential area.

The village is divided into different sections, depending on the daily activities in the village. Zack had already been to the industrial and commercial areas, so this time he decided to go to the residential area. In all the time he had been in this world, he hadn't seen how ordinary people lived.

The residential area wasn't far from the commercial area where he was. After a couple of minutes of walking, Zack reached his goal.

He could feel the contrast immediately. In the rest of the village, the streets seemed to have been hastily constructed, trying to make use of every possible space to place another store. However, it seemed like people took their time thinking about how they wanted to design their houses.

The streets were wide, and on both sides, trees were growing. Children from the surroundings were running through the streets without a care in the world, playing among themselves. In the center of the residential area, there was a small square with a statue in the middle and benches surrounding it for people to sit.

If the other areas of the village represented progress, this place represented tranquility.

The residential area was not as he had imagined. Unlike the other areas he had visited before, the residential area was eerily quiet. Most adults were working in other areas or at home, and the number of people here was less than expected. Except for some elderly people and children strolling around, there weren't many people.

Zack sat on one of the benches to admire the landscape. Since the day started, things had been happening non-stop. It wasn't until he started to relax that he realized how tense he was. The sound of children playing and the clouds drifting in the sky had a hypnotic effect. Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep.

...

..

.

"…ter"

 M..ster" 

"MISTER" 

"AAHHHHhhhh"

Zack woke up startled by the screams he had heard. When he looked up to locate the source of the sound, he saw one of the children who had been playing before, looking at him with some fear for startling him.

While the child tried to explain himself, the first thing Zack did was check his pockets to see if anything was missing. Seeing that everything was still in place, he sighed in relief and focused on the child again.

"I'm sorry, mister. I didn't mean to make you angry. It's not safe to sleep here; one could catch a cold," the child said with a trembling voice. Seeing the crying child in front of him and noting that nothing was missing, Zack's anger for being awakened disappeared completely.

"It's okay. I know you had good intentions. Just be a bit more careful next time, understood?" Zack said, patting the child gently. At that moment, he noticed that the child seemed strangely familiar.

"Have we met somewhere before?" he asked, somewhat curious. It's not normal for a child playing to come to someone they don't know and wake them up, even if it's in the middle of the street.

"Mister, don't you remember me? I showed you around the city the other day," the child replied somewhat anxiously, trying to make him recognize.

(Ah. It's that kid.)

At that moment, he remembered: on the first day he came here, he paid a few coins to a child to show him around the village. Who would have imagined they would meet again in this situation?

"What are you doing here?" Zack asked.

The child looked at the ground for a moment, thinking about what to say. Seeing this, Zack began to suspect that the encounter between them and the help he had received might not have been entirely selfless. But that's normal; there are very few people who help others without expecting anything in return, and they don't expect to run into them while they're sleeping.

Just as he was about to offer him some coins as a gesture of gratitude for waking him up, the child looked up and with a determined look asked him, "Mister, are you a doctor?"

"Please help me. My sister is very sick, and I don't know what to do."

Faced with the unexpected request from the child, already gearing up to ask for help, only one thought came to Zack's mind:

(I can't rest in peace.)

To be honest, today has been an exhausting day, and all he wants now is to go to the merchant to get a price for his potion. It was also obvious that he didn't have enough money. If his sister was truly ill, he couldn't afford the necessary medicine, not to mention that he couldn't manufacture it either.

The harsh truth is that he is not a doctor. Although he has some knowledge, it's not enough to cure serious illnesses. The best thing he can do in this situation is to ignore the child. If the villagers find out that he went to see a doctor and couldn't cure her, they will start doubting him. In the worst case, they will demand proof of his abilities.

That could be a real problem. He couldn't risk being discovered by a stranger.

A silence fell between the two, and with each passing second, the child became a little more nervous. Just when he thought he wouldn't answer him and that he had rejected him, a shadow covered his figure, and a voice sounded above him.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Aren't you going to show me the way?"

Moments later, a scream echoed throughout the square, making everyone turn towards the source of the sound.

There stood a child in shabby clothes and a refined-looking adult. The child was grabbing the man's pants while crying, despite the man's attempts to push him away, trying not to hurt him.