Pail hugged his new friend as tightly as he could. They’d only known each other for a day, but they had already proclaimed each other best friends. They even wore matching twin braids. If that was not best friendship, then what was? After many promises of meeting again and attending each other's weddings, Pail ran to catch up with Norman and Pretty, who had already started walking after the fifth goodbye hug.

  “Serena said that these here braids make me look like the purdiest bride in the whole world! Did ya know that?” Pail bragged as he shook his head around, making his braids whip around. He didn’t really care about being pretty, but they were fun to play with.

  “But you’re a boy.” Norman reminded him. He couldn’t blame Serena for not noticing. By the way the boy looked, Norman would’ve assumed the same if he hadn’t given him a bath. “Boys are grooms. Brides are the ones who wear the white dress.”

  “Really? Serena would look real purdy in a white dress, don’t ya think? I’m gonna grow big and strong like an ox, so I won't be able to fit in one!” Pail giggled at the thought. He was going to become someone strong in the future, like a housebuilder or a dragon. “Hey, mister, what’s an ox?”

  “A big cow with long horns,” Norman explained, though he wasn’t an expert on bovines, so this was the best explanation he could provide.

  Pail nodded sagely. Horns were cool. Maybe he could be an ox when he grew up? Dragons also have horns, and they can even fly, so maybe a dragon was better after all. But if he was a housebuilder, then he could make a big house for Pretty and the kind mister. This needed some serious thinking to figure out; there were simply too many great choices.

  While Pail was deep in thought, Pretty was excitedly sniffing everything they walked past. They'd never been in this part of the forest before, so there was much to inspect. Everything smelled the same but slightly different, slightly colder. Pretty kept their senses peeled for any mana fluctuations that would give away any beasts that might attack.

  After a few hours of walking, Norman was checked out and needed rest. He called for a time out and slumped against a nearby tree. Weren’t isekai protagonists supposed to magically have unlimited stamina and combat prowess? Norman certainly didn’t look like one as he forced water down his flushed face. But then again, those guys usually get reincarnated into perfect bodies by gods, while Norman was teleported from his office by a glorified parasite.

  [WHO ARE YOU CALLING A PARASITE?]

  “You need to attach yourself to me to survive. If you’re not a parasite, then what are you?” Norman retorted. He liked Savant perfectly fine, but he had to admit that he was still a bit salty over the whole ‘transported into another world’ thing.

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  [...]

  “I thought so,” Norman told his system with the minuscule amount of sass that a man like him could manage. That small amount of smugness was cut short when he felt a wave of an unfamiliar emotion flowed through their mental link before disappearing. Strange.

  Pail hunched over a burrow in the ground, poking at it with a stick. He was pretty sure he saw something moving in there, and he wanted to see it. “Is anyone in there? Are ya a lil’ critter?” He asked whatever was hiding in the hole.

  When he didn’t get an answer, Pail shoved his grubby little hand in the burrow with all the impulse control of a single-celled organism. He felt around the damp earth, grasping at roots and rocks until he felt the smooth skin of a critter. With a quick yank, Pail unearthed a small snake and held it over his head. The startled snake wiggled with the burning will to survive the giant who invaded its home, only to be met by childish giggles.

  Norman, who had just finished catching his breath, got a snake shoved in his face. It took a second, but his face turned pale as his mind caught up to what was happening. If there was one thing Norman couldn’t handle, it was snakes. They’re wiggly and slimy and poisonous, not to mention their strange alien shape. Nope. Norman couldn’t handle snakes. That’s why it wasn’t that big of a shock when he passed out, falling straight backwards and into a bush.

  “Mister! The snake killed mister!” Pail screamed and threw the snake back into the forest. He just wanted to show him the cool snake! He didn’t mean to kill him! Pail panicked as he rushed up to Norman’s motionless body. “Wake up, mister! I didn’t mean to kill ya!”

  Pretty quickly followed, thinking they were playing some new sort of game. They jumped on top of Norman’s chest and began licking his face. It seemed that there was something very lickable about Norman’s face. Pail quickly pulled Pretty back the best he could, earning an excited yelp from the oversized fox kit. “This is a fun game! We should play more! The big human never plays like this! Yay!”

  “No, Pretty! You can’t play with mister right now! He’s dead! The snake killed him!” Pail shouted in a mix of despair and confusion. What was he meant to do? He had seen plenty of dead people when he was with the angry misters, but they always got taken away to somewhere else. Where were they taken away to, and how would Pail get there while carrying mister?

  Pail grabbed hold of Norman’s limp arm and strained his entire body to pull the man who was more than twice his size. It didn’t work, of course. Norman was light compared to the men of Silvae, but he was still a grown man. There was no way a malnourished kid like Pail could move him further than a few centimeters. Pail lost his grip and fell forward on his hands and knees. It was the pain of scraping his knees that shattered the facade of bravery, and he started bawling.

  “Mister! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to! I didn’t know you were allergic to snakes!” He blubbered, burying his head in his bloodied knees. He just wanted to show mister something cool; he should have known that he was deathly allergic to snakes!

  Pretty curled around the boy to comfort him, finally realizing that they weren’t having fun. They didn’t know what was happening, but if the small friend was upset, then comforting was what they would do. Pretty gently lapped at the blood and nuzzled against Pail’s wet cheek. “Don’t cry, small friend. You helped me when I was crying, so I will help you, too.”

  In the middle of trying to communicate their love for their friend, Pretty’s ears perked up at a distant sound. It sounded like a human, and it sounded like it was coming closer. Someone was coming.