A completely white expanse. An endless white that stretched on forever. No matter where you looked—right, left, front, back, down, or up—the only thing you'd see was white.

  In this endless, boundless white expanse, there was a child.

  This child wore a black t-shirt and black sweatpants, with hair reaching down to his shoulders.

  This child was Kaelis, who had just died—or rather, died a while ago.

  Kaelis felt nothing. No pain, no happiness, no sadness, no despair—none of those emotions. At the same time, he didn't feel himself. Did he even have a body? Was he standing, on the ground, or floating in the air? In this boundless white area, that wasn't a question that could be answered.

  Kaelis didn't even feel like he was himself. Or rather, for Kaelis, the very concept of feeling might not even exist.

  Did he have a mouth to speak with? Even if he did, could he use it? These questions meant nothing to Kaelis because he could still think and see.

  —This isn't the 『Corridor of Memories』. This is... that place from that day.

  Thinking these things to himself, Kaelis still didn't know where he was.

  This wasn't Kaelis's first time here; he'd been before. Back in his own world, it was the place where he'd seen those dream-like—or rather, nightmare-like—things in the park.

  With his eyes, Kaelis spotted something. In this endless, all-white expanse, there was a black dot. It wasn't exactly a dot, but it was about that size. A dark shade of black.

  —Huh?

  Kaelis, who couldn't speak, could only think this inwardly. He couldn't make any external movements because he wasn't even sure if he had a body to move.

  This endless white expanse was covered in white mists, just like before.

  As time passed, these mists grew thicker, making visibility harder. Kaelis's vision blurred, and eventually, it would reach a point where he could see nothing.

  Suddenly, Kaelis lost both his sight and his ability to think, and with that loss, he became completely unable to feel himself. Or rather, did he even exist?

  ***

  Having lost his senses, Kaelis was slowly regaining them. First, he felt his heart beating. Then, he felt his body warming up.

  Next, he felt the coldness of the stones his butt was sitting on. Finally, he felt the chill of the sandstone wall he was leaning against on his newly warmed back.

  Kaelis was gradually regaining his abilities. Trying to open his eyes, he managed to do so with difficulty.

  His eyes first saw the sandstone wall in front of him. The place was dark. Judging by the distance between the wall he was leaning on and the one he saw, he was in an alleyway.

  The alley's path was blocked from sunlight by the two surrounding walls. That's why it was dark. But it wasn't pitch black because light came in from both ends, providing a bit of illumination.

  Kaelis's body was sweaty. Was this sweat from the air or from panic?

  Just like that day, Kaelis tried to speak again.

  "Aa— uuv— a"

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  The results were exactly the same as that day; he couldn't speak on the first two tries. Forcing himself to try again, this time he succeeded.

  "I— I"

  Finally regaining his ability to speak, Kaelis checked his body with his hands. His body was there, and he could feel it.

  He lifted his head from the wall it was resting against. One leg was stretched straight, the other bent in an inverted V shape.

  Raising his head, Kaelis quickly stood up. This time, he thoroughly checked his entire body with his hands.

  According to him, Kaelis had just died a moment ago. His feet, hands, and ribs had been broken and damaged, but now none of them were like that, and there was no pain. Everything was perfectly fine.

  Kaelis's face tightened. His expression showed panic and confusion about what was happening.

  "Didn't I just die!?"

  Unable to make sense of what had happened, Kaelis didn't feel like a dead person at all right now. This was bothering him a lot.

  "Was everything I saw just a dream?"

  For this child questioning himself, there was no valid answer right now.

  Scanning his surroundings, the area felt very familiar to Kaelis, but the building styles were different.

  "Isn't this the alley in Naucratis?"

  "... These are sandstones— There, they used normal polished stones."

  Answering his own question, Kaelis still hadn't gotten over the shock—or rather, he had no idea what had happened to him again.

  Back then, Carlos had come from the start of the street, and he'd followed him. But now, no one seemed to be coming; in this narrow alley, Kaelis was standing alone and had to walk his own path this time.

  Exiting from the alley's closer end, the first thing that greeted Kaelis was the bright sunlight.

  Looking around, Kaelis found himself on a road or avenue again.

  There weren't as many people around as in Naucratis, but it couldn't be called empty either. Starting to walk on this road, Kaelis was trying to understand what was going on.

  The sun here was at its peak, burning and heating everything. Kaelis didn't remember ever sweating this much before. With his black clothes on, he was directly absorbing the sun's rays.

  The people around him were wearing thwabs, garments that covered their bodies from neck to ankles. On their heads, they had ghutras, white clothes. Most men dressed like this, and it made sense in a place where the sun was scorching overhead.

  Kaelis probed his thoughts; this time, he wasn't showing anything outwardly but speaking inwardly.

  —This clothing style looks a lot like that merchant who came.

  There weren't many women in the crowd; the ones there wore abayas, similar to the men's, covering their entire bodies.

  —The culture here... resembles the Middle East in my world quite a bit.

  Even though he didn't know where he was, from the building structures, the scorching sun, and the people's clothing styles, he'd come to this conclusion.

  There weren't as many shops around as in Naucratis. The buildings were mostly homes for living. Some had businesses underneath: clothing stores, bakeries, herbalists, bakeries, and such.

  Kaelis had been walking for a while, observing his surroundings. He'd reached a few conclusions, but nothing was certain yet, and that was frustrating him.

  He walked a bit more. The sun here wasn't about to give up easily. Kaelis felt like he might pass out from dehydration. Unable to endure this heat, he started looking for an alley that could provide shade.

  There weren't as many alleys as in Naucratis, but Kaelis was lucky. There was a passage between two houses.

  Entering the passage, Kaelis, as expected, entered an alley. The alley wasn't very long, but it had shade.

  The alley rose slightly at one point, so there were sandstone stairs.

  To catch his breath and think better, Kaelis sat on these stairs. As he sat, he felt the coolness of the shaded cold sandstone on his butt, and it relaxed him quite a bit.

  Taking a deep breath, Kaelis started reasoning inwardly.

  —What could have happened? Were those experiences, the people I met, really a dream?... If they were a dream, what am I doing now? Is this another dream? I can't think it's a dream. The pain I felt couldn't be a dream; it was very real. But if I were dead, I don't think I could stay this calm.

  While thinking these things inwardly, footsteps started coming from the direction Kaelis had come from.

  Kaelis turned his head toward that point and opened his eyes wide to see who was coming.

  Two shadows—or rather, people—were approaching. One was very small, like a dwarf. The other was quite large and built, but could it be called human? Kaelis wasn't sure.

  The approaching people got closer. Now they were fully visible.

  The small one really had to be a dwarf; he didn't think a human could be that small.

  The large one had a hairy body and wasn't dressed like the people outside. He looked more like a dog than a human. Probably a hybrid, a dog-human mix.

  Their clothes didn't resemble the ones he'd seen outside much.

  The dwarf had something like a round hat on his head. Below, he wore a long black garment covering his entire body.

  The large one wore a sleeveless short jacket, open at the front, making his hairy body easily visible. Below, he had white, dirtied hose-style pants reaching below the knees.

  The large one started speaking in an arrogant and freakish way.

  "Hey kid, look over here."

  "Hey, you damn bastard!"

  The dwarf backed him up too. Kaelis started looking at them. He didn't look scared—until the small one pulled a pocket knife from his waist.

  "Empty your pockets."

  "———"

  "We're talking to you, empty your pockets! Or we'll empty your insides."

  The dwarf had gotten closer to Kaelis. The large one waited behind, supporting him.

  Kaelis chose to stay silent, but when his life was on the line, he had to do something.

  "Eh? Sorry, but I don't have a single penny to give you."

  "Huh?— fuck your bullshit, I don't buy it. It's impossible for someone like you to have no money."

  "These clothes prove you're a middle-class outsider."

  "So that's it."

  The small one's mouth was foul; the large one had stated the reason they wanted money from him. It was because of his clothes. So far, the first impression he'd given was middle-income. Carlos had thought the same.

  Kaelis didn't deny it outright and hadn't immediately set aside his pride. This child, who would tremble from fear, was suppressing his fear.

  "Come on, stop dragging it out and give us the money."

  Kaelis put his hands in his pockets and turned them inside out. The pockets were empty; seeing this, those two decided to press harder instead of giving up.

  "Where did you hide the money!"

  "What? I don't have a penny, didn't you see with your own eyes—"

  As Kaelis spoke, the dwarf in front of him pressed the pocket knife's tip to Kaelis's neck. Kaelis's hands and feet went limp, and he panicked. Kaelis's life could end with just one push.

  After this noise in the alley, silence fell. They had played their last card. Kaelis, with nothing in hand, had no card left and didn't want to die.

  From the other end of this silent alley, strong footsteps started coming. These footsteps belonged to one person, so the newcomer was alone.

  Because of the pocket knife at his neck, Kaelis couldn't turn his head and couldn't see who was coming.