To Live Again, For the First Time!

Chapter 67 - Off Track Pt II: (Tough-Luck)

Emilin used the strength from her forearms to reach for the hiking bag a distance away. Her movements were akin to that of a sloth, both slow and draggy. 

A pitiful sight to say the least.

She was panting more than she had been throughout the entirety of the hike yesterday, but the injury had a lot to do with this exhaustion.

'Ha, since when has moving been so tiring.'

Her situation reminded her of some of those homeless and handicapped people who crawled in the streets.

Some didn't have working legs and others simply didn't have the energy to stand up.

It wasn't a rare sight in her past life, especially in the areas where she used to roam around when she did so in the area where she stayed.

Back then she roamed around just for the sake of roaming and so there weren't many sights that she hadn't seen. Well, at least not many that you would be able to find on the streets.

Roaming because she didn't have a purpose nor a pattern.

The word area is used since she didn't even know where she had been. She didn't know the name of the city she roamed around nor the name of the street she had died on. 

Well, maybe it is more accurate to say that she didn't recall.

Perhaps she had seen the name before and had not bothered registering.

It's quite ironic, Emilin clearly knows the names of all the countries on that planet and even spoke so many of their languages, yet she didn't even know which continent she had died on, much less the name of the country or even city, you don't even have to start talking about street names.

Everything was just a little muddled in those departments, but some of the memories were still intact. Like those of the life she had spent. She didn't really know how they went, but she did recall the general situation on those streets.

Even if she didn't want to remember anymore.

Of course, back then, she didn't feel any pity for those people on the streets, after all, she didn't even have the feeling to spare to pity herself.

Ever since she came to this world, saving the homeless and weak had also most definitely NOT been her top priority.

  It would be more accurate to say, it didn't even occupy a spot on her list of priorities. 

But now that she looked at herself, she couldn't help but reflect a little. 

When she thought of the memories of her past life, she couldn't help but empathize a little with the people who lived on the streets. 

Especially those who had no one else.

'I'm already lucky enough. I was born in a well-off and loving family in this life. Who am I to complain. It's only a scraped leg.'

At this moment, Emilin thought about changing some of her ongoing plans.

Her whole family moved to Hé Continent and after Emilin discovered the significance of this event, she immediately started making preparations. 

She had always put her family's safety above all else, no matter how unscrupulous she had to be, just like how she wouldn't mind letting countless people suffer from illnesses that she could cure with her arsenal of knowledge.

Of course, none of this touched on illegal boundaries, but still, if she simply gave away all that knowledge, she would probably be able to safe countless lives.

But that is not her job!

She wouldn't be able to make the most out of her knowledge's true value and she wouldn't be able to protect her family either, only placing a greater target on their backs.

She needed people to feel indebt to increase her status and thus raise her position in this world, and she could only use unscrupulous methods since she couldn't reveal her identity, and even if she did, it would be hard to believe.

It would also greatly affect her day-to-day life as well as her image with her partners. With the exception of those who had already worked with her long term, who would want to put all their trust in a 15-year-old girl.

She simply didn't have the power to protect her identities. 

If real big shots came looking for her in waves, not only would she not be able to live a peaceful life, she would also be putting her identity as well as her family in jeopardy. Even so, accumulating power was still necessary.

This was why Emilin had always been very careful, putting safety as the first priority, second to nothing else.

At that time, she hadn't really considered what she could do for other people, not the sick, handicapped, much less the less fortunate.

She just felt like it was none of her business.

She didn't feel that it was necessary for her to care for other's well-being when she didn't even know if she could protect her own family, but after a while, that was mostly used as an excuse to not get involved.

Well, it still isn't her business, but thinking about her situation right now...

Thinking back to the moments before her death. It was quite sad to have died alone on the streets. There was probably no one in that world who would remember her, not even the other hobos.

No one could stand in testament to her existence. At least not that she knew of.

Even if she didn't want to, she couldn't help but feel pity, not wanting others to have the same fate as her.

Even if she didn't save the whole world, she could at least change a few people's lives, right?

And so, another thing was added to her never-ending to-do list.

After she solidified her heart, she was determined to at least start doing something to help those who are in similar situations as she was in the past. 

Maybe she would be able to accumulate some more good Karma to top it all off.

While thinking about all this, Emilin had finally finished her exceptional struggle, reaching her bag after an eternity of crawling like a fricking slug.

She opened the largest zipper and then a compartment within, reaching for her medical supplies.

There wasn't anything too complicated in there, but she had everything she needed.

She first took some of her water to clean up the wound. Even if she wanted to use it sparingly, she didn't have that kind of luxury right now.

She felt like their wound was already on fire, she couldn't skimp on the clean-up process or else her leg may really get infected.

By then, she would be in big trouble.

Emilin did her best to remove all the dirt and leaves on and around her wound. Following the standard first aid for a cut, Emilin proceeded to stop the bleeding, disinfect the wound (which hurt like hell, if I must add), finishing the bandaging process exhausted.

Maybe it was the accumulated fatigue or even the amount of stress she had endured in the last 30 minutes (it took a long time to calm down and get to that bag ok! (-//?//-)), but Emilin frankly felt like she couldn't move another inch.

Thankfully this exhaustion didn't impact her ability to do first aid as her bandaging clearly looked like it came out from some drawing.

Neat and perfect, it was practically shining around all the dirt.

She moved her leg carefully with her hands so that it would be stretched out straight before laying down on the floor.

The sky was still blue, the white clouds were still up in the sky, the world hadn't ended yet and she hadn't died and gone to some dreamland, the pain in her left leg could attest to that.

'Why didn't I just leave that place when I took that damned photo, it clearly wasn't the safest spot,' Emilin released a big pent-up sigh that she didn't dare liberate when she was still in the middle of a rockslide site.

'But it was worth it.' The smile on Emilin's face at the moment was that of a child who was just given candy.

Even when she was a child she had probably never smiled like that.

Yet now, she was smiling like a kid while looking that the tiny chip that she held with great care in both her hands, the one that she took out of her breast pocket.

Raising it up above her head, against the background of the clear sky while lying down completely disheveled on the floor, she stared at it intently.

She was really like a child at the moment.

An innocent child with a pure smile.

She was so cute! (? ??????? ?)

'I have to go back and check these photos later, but now here's the problem. How do I make my way back?? I don't know the way around here anymore and it's not like I can climb back up that cliff.'

Though this was a great problem, it wasn't one that Emilin could consider right now when she was seriously low on energy.

Even if it was the afternoon, and she had slept all night, she couldn't help but want to sleep.

'Whoever created the 'siesta' [1] is a genius!' She chuckled.

It was good that Emilin still had the energy to laugh... even after almost getting crushed by a mountain of boulders.

She quietly put her chip back into her breast pocket, but she didn't move her gaze even after putting it away. 

She stared into the sky in a day dreamish manner.

'Yeah, I should definitely get to help some more people, maybe it can improve my Karma. It seems like I haven't been having the best of luck.'

Since she needed to rest up anyways and her leg was injured, she really couldn't bother moving from the spot and so she just dozed off on the spot.

Who knows what exactly was going through her mind when falling asleep, but if it was something like 'this day can't get any worse', well she'd be better off knowing that it can and it will.

[1] Wiki- A siesta (Spanish pronunciation: [?sjesta]) (Spanish, meaning "nap") is a short nap taken in the early afternoon, often after the midday meal. Such a period of sleep is a common tradition in some countries, particularly those where the weather is warm.

***

Mini-theater:

Emilin just before falling asleep:

Emilin: *Acho* *Acho* *Acho* *Acho*

Emilin: This may really be bad luck, first a rock slide and now someone seems to be talking about me behind my back! God.

Author: *Gasp!* How did you know this god was talking about you behind your back!

Emilin: *Squints eyes*

Author: I mean-- um-- I don't what you talking about.

Emilin: Hey wa--!

Author: Sayonara