Despite passing through the wall for the first time, it never truly felt like I had entered in a new world of mystery. But now, seeing the sky for what it truly was, I was assured of my place in the world. I was within the Great Barrier of my continent, free to explore the new land to my heart's content.

And, disrupting my trance of excitement and relief, a cold voice spoke out to me.

???: "So, you're finally awake."

???: "You've got a lot of questions to answer for us."

???: "Come on, guys—go easy on the kid!"

???: "I'd rather he pack his bags and leave at once!"

Staring at me, all with differing expressions, there sat a group of four individuals: three girls, one boy, same as the voices I first heard when I woke up. There was a woman with blonde hair who spoke in a cold and monotone voice as she sipped her tea, a woman sat affectionately beside her who didn't seem that much older than me despite acting far more mature than the rest, a man whose kind and calming voice tried to deescalate the situation, and a terrifying woman with red-streaked hair who callously pointed a thin rapier to my neck, inches away from slashing it.

Blonde Woman: "There's no need to be so rash."

Angry Woman: "Come on, Jessie! We can't trust this kid!"

Kind Man: "Listen to yourself, Connie! He's just a kid!"

Mature "Woman": "I agree with Steven—despite everything, he's no more dangerous than a house pet."

Blonde, Angry, Kind, Mature...Jessie, Connie, Steven, and...

Jessie: "That's enough, all of you. You too, Annie."

Annie: "That was barely an argument though..."

Connie: "Yeah, it felt a bit more like an ambush! I thought we all agreed that we were going to be wary of the kid?!"

Steven: "Wary, not standoffish. He's barely had the chance to say 'Hey, how are you all? Thanks for saving me!' before you threatened his life!"

Connie: "I-I was just—!"

Jessie: "I said that's enough!"

Even her scolding yell was still stern, cold, monotone, and relatively quiet. It felt more like a command than a statement filled with frustration. In all this time, I had yet to squeak out a single word to the group, and had already been treated as both a villain and a victim.

Pale Boy: "If it's alright with you all, I think I'll just—"

Jessie: "Sit down."

Gesturing to a tree stump in between myself and Connie, Jessie's icy tone forced my legs to bend to her will, planting myself onto the faux seat. There was a moment of silence between us all. And then another moment. And another. And another.

Annie: "That's a harsh start to the morning, huh?"

Her affectionate voice seemed to cut away the silence in an instant, breaking the tension that left us all distraught. Perhaps she really was the most mature of us all...

Annie: "I'm not going to be choosing between you two, okay? Let's get the facts straight before we continue."

Jessie: "I agree. We'll play Roundabout for it."

Steven: "I still don't agree with the term 'play'..."

Annie: "Hey! It's not your turn yet!"

Steven: "Wha—alright, alright, fine!"

Annie started to think for a moment, pondering her next line, before beginning the "game" that they called "Roundabout". To put it bluntly, it was a way for everyone to speak one thought at a time, working through the issue, without it ending in a screaming match between two opposing ideals.

In practice, it looked like—

Annie: "We shouldn't leave any Human, regardless of the circumstances, to their death."

Steven: "I think it's important that we disarm not only him, but ourselves as well. Keep the camp free of discourse, you know?"

Connie: "...Pass."

Jessie: "Without any further information, the most that we can conclude is that a lost kid has stumbled into our camp, riddled with invisible injuries."

Annie: "Invisible even to me...With such a dangerous situation, it's immoral to leave him to his own devices without a proper doctor to look at him."

Steven: "If we truly feel unsafe in the meantime, we can all take turns watching him outside of his tent. I have no qualms taking the first shift."

Connie: "I disagree with the notion of keeping him around, but...I can also see why it would be irrational."

Jessie: "Then, I'll recap: we're all in agreeance with keeping him in our camp, however, he should neither be unsupervised nor armed unless on a mission? Is that correct?"

Annie: "Sounds about right!"

Steven: "All good here."

Connie: "I..."

Jessie: "Voice your concerns, if you need to."

Connie: "...Shikata ga nai."

It was a phrase spoken in an unknown language, perhaps lost to time. It wasn't unheard of for Old World Language to have made it this far into history, but those who could speak even a single coherent phrase were rare. For Connie to do so must mean that she was exceptionally intelligent, or at the very least, had hailed from a family with important stature in that language.

Steven: "Shikata ga—what?"

The phrase, however, had clearly not fully rubbed off on everyone.

Annie: "It's her way of saying 'whatever'...Weird how she hasn't said it around you, huh?"

Steven: "What's that supposed to mean?!"

Jessie: "Regardless, we've reached a conclusion. All of us, except for you."

Pale Boy: "Wha—me?"

Jessie: "What do you have to say about this?"

What do I have to say?

Where do I start...

Before I left, my family had taught me a lot of values catering towards the idea of...how should I put it?

"Success is a web of skills, not a podium of lies."

If one is to succeed in this world, simply being alone isn't enough. Lying to get your way isn't enough. Betraying what it means to be Human isn't enough. Success is built upon the desire to succeed, the skills to succeed, and the people around you who wish to see you succeed.

I'm trapped in a new world, completely oblivious to any dangers it may possess. I'm injured, though I can't see or feel it, and my only companion is a wolf that could turn on me at any moment.

If I had something to say about this...something that stuck true to my family's words...

Pale Boy: "I'm very grateful for your assistance, but I cannot stay here without compensation."

Steven: "You want us to...compensate you?"

Annie: "Isn't that supposed to be the other way around?"

Pale Boy: "N-no! What I mean is: I'm offering to help you in any way I can, for as long as I stay with you."

Jessie: "Ah, work for treatment, is it?"

Pale Boy: "You could say that, yeah."

Jessie: "Very well. Any objections?"

No voices spoke out against the arrangement, bringing a close to the game of Roundabout.

Jessie: "Now then, to start the day. Let's begin with—right, sorry. Introductions."

Annie: "Oh, yeah! We don't know his name yet!"

Steven: "There wasn't a whole lot of time for it. Apologies, kid! Well, my name's Steven, if you hadn't picked that up before."

Annie: "My name is Ann, but my friends call me Annie!"

Connie: "...Pass."

Jessie: "The stubborn girl is Connie, and you may address me as Jessie."

All eyes shifted towards me, the last name that remained unknown—or at the very least, unannounced. Having never uttered my own name for the entire journey through the forest, saying it once again was like awaking from a nightmare. A very dense, hazy, nightmare.

Pale Boy: "My name is...John. John Ordano."