Ren felt like someone had hit him in the head with a wooden tennis racket. Painfully, he opened his eyes. Instead of Mary’s simple wooden ceiling, he gazed up at herbs of all kinds hanging from rafters. None he recognized. Where am I?

“You’re awake! Thank the goddess.”

Ren turned to Mary’s voice and found her sitting next to him. Her eyes were bloodshot, but she was giving him the most relieved smile. Did she cry? He didn’t have time to contemplate it as she reached over and hugged him. He was too tired to feel embarrassed, though his heart skipped a quick beat.

“Mary-chan, are you alright?” Ren asked.

Mary released him and glared down at him. “Am I alright? You’ve been unconscious for three days! I didn’t know if you were going to...”

She pulled back from him and turned away.

Why is she turning away from me? She’s cried in front of me before... but now that I think about it, she wanted something from me then. Maybe those were crocodile tears. Either way, I upset her.

Ren tried to sit up but couldn’t lift even a finger. The door to the room opened. Role entered with the archer Pan and one more guy. He was wearing a long white/green cloak and had frizzy red hair with enormous glasses. Ren recognized the robes. Healers wore them in Y.O.W. No, I can’t assume anything anymore.

Role introduced the man. “This is Henrick. He’s a healer. Since you were puking up blood, we brought you to him.”

Ok. So, some things are the same. Henrick walked over and, much to Ren’s discomfort, bent down so that their faces were a few inches apart.

“You almost kicked the bucket. Hehe. Hmm, you seem to be stable now.” Henrick straightened up and Ren let out a sigh of relief. “By the way, my services aren’t free. I treated you before payment because I owed Role a favor, but I still expect to be paid.”

“Oh, ok. How much?” Ren asked. He could slowly move his fingers.

Henrick looked thoughtful, then held out one finger to him. “One small gold.”

Ren heard Mary choke.

Ah, that’s most of her savings. Wait, if a house is a large gold is a treatment really a small gold? The exchange rate seems off.

“That’s a ripoff!” Role yelled and made everyone flinch. “Are you trying to scam us?”

Ren looked around at the room and noticed the evil grin on Henricks face.

What? Oh, he jacked up the price. Ugh. I guess there are people who’ll take advantage of you in this world too. Should I just pay him? Ren glanced over at Mary, who looked worried. I have the money. So, I could just pay him, but if I keep getting ripped off, I’d run out of money soon… It pisses me off that he upset Mary-chan. What would I do as Knight in this situation?

Maybe it was because he was too tired to be nervous, but he didn’t stutter when he spoke. “No, that seems unreasonable. You’ve already treated me. So, if I wanted, I could just not pay you.”

The group looked over at him, surprised as he struggled but sat up. Henrick looked confused, then irritated.

“True, but you’re going to need potions to fully recover. I only treated the base injury. You’re going to need more treatment. You sure you want to not pay me?” Henrick’s smirk widened.

“What injury? What did you treat me for and how?” Ren’s eyes narrowed. It was just a feeling, but it felt like the man was keeping something from him.

Henrick faltered, and he glanced over at Role, who seemed a little unnerved too.

“I, um, treated your raging mana. You’re, yeah, you’re not used to your mana and tried to cast a spell that you couldn’t manage. So, your body rejected it. Your mana’s still not stable. I still have to treat you for that.” Henrick bumbled over his explanation.

Ren closed his eyes. It was true something felt off in his body, but would it really be his mana? I guess that’s possible. I was just a game character in my other world, so I don’t really know how magic works in this one. Still, his explanation feels off and he’s trying to rip me off. Can I really not cast spells right now?

Ren opened his eyes and held out his hand. “Fire.”

There was a small sucking sensation that drained his energy and a ball of fire appeared over his hand. Everyone looked shocked. Ren’s eyes narrowed at the small dancing flame before he turned his hard gaze on Henrick.

“I can’t control my mana? Should I just let this spell go wild then?” Ren looked up at the wooden ceiling with the herbs. It was a bluff. He wouldn’t put Mary in danger, but both Henrick and Role didn’t seem to think he was kidding.

Henrick groaned. “Fine. Two large silvers. Potion ingredients are really not cheap.”

Ren glanced over at Mary and she gave him a small smile. He closed his hand and the fireball went out.

“I really recommend you not use magic for the time being.” Henrick reiterated. “You really are unstable.”

“Fine.” Ren agreed, then looked over at the archer Pan. “Thank you for saving us earlier.”

Pan stared at him blankly. Role quickly grabbed the archer around the shoulders. “H-he, doesn’t talk much. Right, Mary?”

Mary tilted her head and looked a little confused. “That’s true. I’ve never heard him say anything until today.”

Um, ok. That’s odd. Whatever. Ren frowned, then remembered the creature that attacked them. He shivered. “What was that thing?”

The room grew silent. Role looked very concerned. “I’m not sure. I’ve never heard nor seen it before. We couldn’t catch it. Though even if we had, I’m not sure we could have killed it. It ran outside the city. I don’t know how it got in. There’s a barrier on the city to stop monsters from entering.”

Like the safe zone. Ren glanced over at Mary, who looked scared. I almost died again today… Mary almost died. I couldn’t do anything to protect her. Ren looked down at his hands and frowned before taking a deep breath. I need someone to help me learn to control my magic again. I need a teacher.