The door of the shop was blasted open and a shadowy figure exited the shop. Its unseen eyes looked at Keith with morbid fascination and that interest paralyzed Keith for a whole minute. He was unable to turn his eyes away from that figure covered in black fog.

"N-No! Demon! Stay away from me!"

If not for the yell of fright given out by the man at Keith's side, Keith would not have even realized that this situation was dangerous. It seemed as if the black fog had enchanted him somehow.

Seeing as how its spell had been broken, the black figure decided to jump Keith and grab his attention that way. But Keith was not an easy target this time.

Since he had his wits, Keith was able to cast a shield in time and bounce the man back into the shop.

The other person at Keith's side quickly snapped the door of the building shut and there was no further moment from the shadow thereafter.

It seemed as if the shadow had calmed down once it had been locked inside.

"Y-You! I told you to leave this town and not to go near the shops. Do you want to bring disaster upon this town?"

The man scolded Keith once he had calmed down and caught his breath. Keith was surprised at the sudden ferocity in his scolder's voice. This man had been timid just a few seconds ago.

"I did not know it was dangerous inside the shop. But what was that black thing? And what creature was it possessing."

This time, it was less about curiosity and more about Keith's desire to save himself. He ended up asking questions he knew he should not be asking.

Even the man he was conversing with gave Keith a blank look before sighing.

"Those 'creatures' you saw before are humans. Currently, the original residents of this town are under a curse that turns them into mindless zombies being controlled by the mist. Well, all the adults. The kids are alright."

"Anyway, no one knows from where this mist came from or what it wants, but this town is done for. So, there was a spell cast on each house to keep these zombies inside. As long as the doors of these shops remain closed and no one attracts these zombie's attention, we all would remain safe."

The stranger quickly explained to Keith. His voice still sounded nervous after having come so close to dying.

"So, you still want to get out of this town? If so, then follow me. Our group will be leaving for a business meeting tomorrow so you can tag along and get a bus at the next village."

Keith was not overly excited about going with this man and his 'associates' but this man had saved Keith's life once.

So, Keith supposed that there was no harm in following this man once more. It would not hurt him in any way at least.

"Sure, lead the way."

The man led Keith to a house on the outskirts of the town. It was barely within the city's reach and there was no shop nearby.

"Don't look so tense. This place use to be an abandoned mansion but the travelers fixed it up so that it could be used. There is no one in there but our people."

The stranger quickly explained, trying to put Keith's mind at ease.

That did not help much. If anything, Keith was even more worried after hearing what this man said, but he decided not to let it get to him.

"Hey guys, I am back. And I brought someone else with me as well so you should prepare a guest room for tonight."

The stranger forced the door open, alerting the other participants of the house that he was back.

A bulky man walked down the stairs and looked Keith up and down before waving his hand lazily.

"Looks alright. If you want him to accompany us, then let the kid in. Where did you even pick him up from?"

Stranger #2 asked in an annoyed voice. But Keith had a feeling that this man was not angry at him or stranger #1's decision.

"Well, I found him in the town and saved his life. But one of the zombies decided to exit the shop and then I got saved by this man. Anyway, long story short, we both saved each other's lives so I decided to bring him back."

Stranger #1 tried to boast about what happened. But his words came out a little tenser than before.

Now that Stranger #1 was back in a familiar environment, all the tension in his body was drained out. His legs went boneless and he almost collapsed.

Luckily, both Keith and Stranger #2 were able to catch him in time. Keith even went as far as to gently lay this man down until he was able to support himself.

The man looked thankful as his back hit the bed. His body relaxed and his eyes shut close in pleasure.

"Hmm, this feels better than before. Thank you for laying me down. I will go to sleep now."

And just like that, stranger #1 went to sleep. There was an awkward silence that followed once the man was asleep.

Stranger #2 did not seem, to find Keith particularly remarkable, but he gave the stranger #1 some face by not acting rude to Keith.

"So, who are you, kid? And what are you doing in this town? Nor a lot of normal folks come to this place."

Stranger #2 asked Keith without even giving his identity out. Not that Keith needed to know who this stranger was. The less personal he was with these people, the better it would be for Keith in the future.

"Just call me Noah. This town was supposed to be a junction for my journey back home, but I did not know it was in such bad shape. Seems like I made a mistake."

Keith quickly admitted to not make himself sound suspicious. 

"Hmm, that happens. Most people do not tend to check out news of small places like these. You must be a big city folk and your connection be an international one. There are too many places with similar conditions for this one to be special."

Keith was speechless after he heard those words.

This was what he thought regularly but he had never voiced it out loud. Nor had he expected someone from this world to say such a thing as well.

People in this world were getting more and more self-aware as time passed by.

"You know what? You are right. I feel as if every second town I visit has some kind of problem going on with it. I cannot help but feel like this world is cursed."

Keith had only meant to say it as a passing comment. But these words made him shiver for some reason.

He also felt the presence of eyes looking at him and he quickly turned around. But no one around him could be the owner of such an intense stare.

"What's wrong? You went tense suddenly and also stopped talking. Do you need my help with something?"

Stranger #2 asked with a kind voice. Keith just shook his head, deciding not to worry stranger #2 by telling him that he felt the presence of eyes on his back. There was no need to worry about this man after all.

"No, it is nothing. I think I just got spooked by the air in this place. Anyway, can you show me a place to sleep for tonight? I feel tired."

Keith wanted to rhea his room and contact Clair. It had been some time since he last talked to her. And Keith was worried about her.

Now that he thought about it, there was not a lot of information available about the guild alliance to him. People were not even whispering about the grandmaster and the guild.

That could only spell trouble for Keith in the future if he did not know what was going on.

"You want a room? Sure, I have one. I will wake you up when it's time for dinner. You can rest until then."

The room Keith was shown to was nothing great. It lacked a lot of necessities but it did have a soft and comfortable bed.

As soon as Keith's head hit the bed, he was out cold. He did not even feel when he fell asleep. He only knew that someone was shaking him aware and calling him down for breakfast after a few hours.

Stranger #1 had woken up and was now calling Keith down for dinner. The sky outside the room was dark and gloomy as well. There was not a single cloud in sight but there seemed to be no star up in the sky even then.

It was a stranger contrast that made Keith shiver. But even he did not know why he was feeling like this.