Life didn't get easier, even in another world

"Mmm..." The first thing that he heard was a soft groan. It didn't take long for him to realize that the voice belonged to himself. Once he came to his senses, he found his body numb and his eyes heavy. The boy didn't want to open his eyes. Just when he was struggling with his strange condition, a hand gently caressed his temples and cheeks.

"...Mummy..." the kid called out, feeling the familiar warmth, as he forced his eyes open. However, what he found in front of him wasn't his mother but a man. 'Mummy is not here anymore...' reminding himself, he rubbed his eyes and looked around. He was in a small, dark place barely lit by the light of a lamp. In front of him sat a man that he didn't recognize at first glance but remembered after his fuzzy mind got cleared a bit. He stared at the man's crimson eyes and tilted his head. As if reading his mind, the red-haired man sighed and shook his head, "Your body was in a pretty bad condition after being injured and beaten multiple times. You were unconscious for a few days, but seems like you've finally recovered."

The man moved away with a bowl of water in his hand while saying that he was no longer in fever thus he didn't need it. The child groaned a bit before finally managing to raise his weak body and sit up. He only noticed something cold around his neck once he did that. "Uh?"

Little Reyn grabbed the cold and shining thing dangling from his neck and stared at it dazedly. It was a necklace with complicated patterns engraved on it, a familiar and beautiful necklace. "Huh? Huh?"

His heart started beating fast and he felt confused and heated up at the same time. The child wrapped his hands around the necklace and turned to the red-haired man who shrugged in response. "I've returned your necklace to you so once you recover in one day or two, take it and go to the city on the other side of the plain."

"Uh? But... that..."

The kid's thin lips opened and closed multiple times, but he couldn't say much. The red-haired man sighed again after being stared at with a pair of large and widened hazel eyes for an extended time. "That necklace seems pretty expensive but isn't too precious if one examines it closely. Of course, it can still be sold at a high price in small cities that don't have much top-quality jewelry. However, I recommend that you don't attempt to sell it or show it to others once you reach the city I mentioned. If it's a memorial or such sort, just keep it hidden with you, or if it's not, then just wait until you're old and strong enough not to get bullied by others then sell it. That'll only bring you danger if others see it at the hands of a little frail kid-" the red-haired man flinched and paused talking mid-way, "...Why are you crying?"

"Sniiifffff!"

Streams of water were flowing down from the child's eyes. "Misssterrrrrr!" the boy wailed with a shaky voice while hugging the necklace and hiccupping. "Mnnnnnnggg! Mu-, hick, mummy's, sniiifff!"

"...."

"Misterrr!" the kid crawled closer to the man and grabbed his loose robe while still holding the necklace in his other palm, making the man flinch again. "Misterrr you're so kinddd wahh!"

"...."

After staring at him for a few seconds, the kind red-haired mister who was really pretty grabbed the kid with both hands and easily lifted him up. "Go back to sleep."

"Misterrr, hic!"

"Yeah, whatever."

The child was placed back on a mattress while still bawling his eyes out. Even after the blanket was pulled up to cover his body, he didn't let go of the man's robe. In between his sobs and with a husky voice, he asked the question in his mind before the man could get away.

"Mister, hic, why did you help me?"

His brother had once told him that people wouldn't randomly help each other without wanting anything in return. Redmond had told him that while playing a game, as a joke, to steal his little brother's snacks in return for finding him a bunch of flowers, but the words were engraved in the child's mind ever since. The kind red-haired mister who was really pretty stared at him in silence for a few seconds before turning around. He mumbled an answer as he picked up the bowl of water once again, "You were so pitiful."

"..."

The kind red-haired mister who was really pretty left the room after that. Little Reyn stared at the closed door for a second before looking back at what he was holding in his palm. Through tears, a smile formed on his face.

'Mummy's necklace is back... I have it back,' he held the jewelry close to his heart. 'I promise I'll keep it safe from now on!'

He pulled up the blanket, curled up, and watched the necklace until he eventually fell asleep. . . . . . . . . . .

"You seem fine enough, now get going."

"Uh?" Reyn ran behind the man. "Are you kicking me out?"

"Yeah, get out!"

It had been a few days since he woke up and his body felt all good and healthy, but his kind red-haired mister who was really pretty was now telling him to leave!

"Misterrr can't I just live with you?" the man was moving around and adjusting some stuff that the little kid didn't recognize. They were in the middle of the dry plain, where the man seemed to be building a building or something like that. The place where he stayed was the underground area of the said building. "No. Get lost."

"Why??????"

"Why would I let you live with me?"

"Why not???"

The kind red-haired mister who was really pretty but little Reyn still didn't know the name of placed his hands on his hips and sighed. "Why would you want to live with a random person you've met in the streets?"

The child raised his head to look at the man in the eyes. With his hands clasped, he pouted a little bit with a sad face. "But I don't know how should I live alone..."

"You'll learn."

"Noo! Please, mister! Please!"

"Haaaa!"

The kind red-haired mister who was really pretty but little Reyn still didn't know the name of brushed his fiery red hair back. He then reached out a hand and grabbed the kid's small hand. "Come with me."

"Uh?"

Without any resistance, little Reyn followed the man through the plain until they reached a city after walking for a few hours. "Here is the city I told you about. Go."

"...."

He said that and turned around, leaving the kid in the middle of the crowded street with no regrets.