Chapter 9
At first glance, Taylor's timetable didn't change much, if at all. She had to wake up before sunrise to prepare for the day's work as same as when she lived in the castle.
The difference though was that her host also chose to wake up around the same time as her, which make sense, as they didn't have maids or servants to cater to them. And despite having Haku as a 'relative', said 'relative' seemed to not bother giving them the privilege from her position at all. If anything, in Taylor's opinion, that fox give them even more burdens to contend with in the form of looking after her or those who failed that stupid test she pulled out.
That said, Taylor has promised herself that she won't become a burden to this little happy family no matter what, despite their relationship with that fox.
"What's taking you so long Taylor? Hurry up, the groceries won't wait for us. First-come-first-serve and all that!"
Mao's voice from beyond the door snapped her out of her thought and remind her that her host still waiting for her to change and thus she quickly put up her maid clothing and opened the door to meet up with Mao in the hallway before heading out.
While Taylor wished she could have more variety of clothing than a dozen maid outfits and sleepwear, she still acknowledged that she has limited knowledge of fashion in this era, and her direct experience also came from a rather 'high-standing' resident instead of a common class. Her attempt at finding a change in wardrobe was doomed to stand out in the crowd, something which she didn't want to garner.
While asking Yang and Mao for help was certainly an option, Taylor hesitated to impose on them more than she already had. Not only they provided the lodging and meals during her stay, they even let her study their medical knowledge for free when she asked yesterday after Yang came back from his work. She couldn't bring herself to be more selfish than that.
As they trudged through the road under the gloomy red sky toward one of the market squares, Taylor observed the sight of the townspeople waking up. Mostly comprised of mothers or caretakers walking to and from the direction of the market square, with basket or bag either full or empty. Several smokestacks lining on the rooftop of the residential district showed signs of breakfast being prepared for the family who will soon go to work at dawn.
That moment, a shadow cast over her and Mao, drawing their attention to what Taylor assumed to be a housewife flying over them and landed at the market square which was now in their sight. Other fliers of many races were also doing the same as they approach their destination from multiple directions.
The memory of her argument with Yumeko from yesterday reared its head, and Taylor noticed that most of the female fliers she saw didn't seem to care about anyone looking up their skirts while flying at all. Hence, she decided to take a peek at another one who conveniently flew overhead… and saw something like a black mass covering the opening…
"Yeah, there're spells to hide things up their skirts. No point in taking a peek you know."
Mao realized what Taylor was looking at and snickered, which made the latter blushed in embarrassment and tried to shift her attention by asking a question.
"Is it something that comes naturally with flight magic?"
"It's a mandatory spell or technique that every female magician must learn concurrently with the flying magic. Failing that, or because they couldn't be bothered to do it, they'd just wear pants under their skirt."
Taylor felt an urge to smack her head against the nearest wall for forgetting the simplest solution to such a problem! And when she thought about it, even her bloomers kind of get it covered already and her fuss against Yumeko yesterday was meaningless!
They reached the market square which centered around a large Oak-like tree with white leaves and branches that covered the street around it. People from various races which Taylor could identify as housewife or servant from their clothing moving about purchasing grocery and various goods they'll need for the day or occasionally chatting with their friends and acquaintances.
Discounting the non-human or the fact that everyone was carrying their grocery basket instead of plastic bags, this place was just a normal market in Taylor's opinion.
"Oh, we're lucky. They've got fresh pork today!" Mao, who took just one sniff in the air exclaimed, which surprised Taylor as the girl pulled her sleeve "Come on, we must be quick before others snatched all the good one!"
Taylor didn't have a chance to ask how Mao knows that when a throng of housewife and servants blocked their sight from most of the stalls and smells of various foods and ingredients mixed to the point of practically indistinguishable before the girl dragged her through the crowd straight to the row of meat-selling stalls on the other side of the square which could easily identify by yellow light from lamps hanging over it illuminating their products.
Mao spared those stalls one glance and then walked to the one with a long line of people waiting to make their purchases. While Taylor wanted to remind her that they still have to go back to cook breakfast before Yang wakes up and that every stall was clean, she was also aware that Mao was the local here and know things better than her and thus ultimately left it to her judgment.
And that yet to factor in that Mao, or her Dad, seems to be well-known around here, seeing that many people greeted her with a happy smile which Mao returned the greeting right back.
However, the same couldn't be said for Taylor. People also looked at Taylor, but with a slight frown on their faces probably wondering why she was with Mao. Though no one came forward to ask about her or inquire Mao about it yet, she doubted that it would stay that way for long.
Indeed, she didn't have to wait at all, because as soon as the row shortened and Mao finally get to order the meat she wanted, the butcher - who was an insect person with three pairs of chilling blue eyes lining along his pale green carapace face completed with ant-like mandibles instead of mouth and four pale green arthropod arms jutting out of his brown shirt and blood-stained apron – looked at Taylor with curiosity while his hands expertly dicing up the meat into pieces as per Mao's order.
"So, who's this fine lady, little Mao?"
The growling masculine voice that emitted from between the butcher's mandibles almost made Taylor jump in surprise. He – judging by his voice - sounded gentler than she first imagined, made all stranger by the fact that his face and mouth was that of an insect and shouldn't be able to produce human language.
Mao didn't seem to care much, which is not surprising when her order of the day only amounted to "The same as usual for this month, Uncle!" and the insect-butcher went to work without further inquiry. She handed out her basket when he started packing the diced meat with leaves and threads and answered his question and introduce the butcher to Taylor with a cheeky grin "This's Taylor. Taylor, this's Uncle Orthog."
The insect-butcher silently waved one of his hands to the side, prompting Taylor to retrieved the filled basket and stepped to the side to let other customers place their orders.
"Er… Nice to meet you, I'm Taylor…"
Unsure how to greet the insect-man, she bowed slightly while introducing herself as Yumeko taught her.
"I see… you're from the Pandemonium castle, staying with Yang for this month, am I correct?"
Orthog's responded while chopping up another piece of meat for another housewife, his voice conveyed gentleness that his face couldn't, and it lifted Taylor's anxiety a little as she nodded at the insect-man question.
"Then I welcome you. Perhaps we will meet again. For now, I am busy."
"I…" Taylor surveyed the line of people who were politely waiting to make their purchase and nodded "I understand… later then."
"See you later Uncle Orthog!"
Without waiting for Orthog's response, the two of them left the meat stalls and moved on to another section of the market square to purchase other necessities. And the same event repeated with other vendors they meet.
"You're quite popular around here huh?"
Taylor muttered out loud as they were walking back to Yang's house with their basket filled with today's purchase.
Despite darker thought of Taylor associating her with social butterfly and hence, the terrible Trios, Mao break her expectation by sporting only mild grin and cheery reply that devoid of malice despite the deadpan content of her words "Well, when you're the local doctor of this part of the town and helping them since before I even born, it's natural that everyone will know me and my Dad."
Taylor looked down the cobblestone path they were traveling which was sparsely populated by people walking to and from the market square and muttered: "Helping people, huh?"
Mao heard the taller girl's muttering and glanced up "Yeah?"
"Well, from where I came from, there are heroes who beat up bad guys and I once dreamt of becoming one… did I said something?"
Mao's face suddenly gained a frown which caused Taylor to paused in her 'hero gushing' and looked at the smaller girl in apprehension and confusion.
After a moment of walking in silence, Mao finally replied with a slightly annoyed tone "I think that it'd be better than there're no heroes and villains at all…"
"Huh?"
Hearing Taylor's confused voice, Mao shrugged "Well, since this's the month of gathering and you're staying with us, you'll see soon enough."
Taylor was about to ask, but then they reached the house first and hence Mao asks her to cook the breakfast while she went into the store to prepare herbs and medicines for the clinic. And when the breakfast was ready, Taylor was already forgotten about the question partly due to the surprise that Renaissance household in this town has access to gas pipeline and hence no need to burn coal or wood, and partly in a hurry to finish the household chore in order to get start in the medical study before the clinic open.
Although part of her mind questioned the wisdom of learning from people living in such archaic era compared to her modern upbringing, Taylor also knows that there's no way she could get any modern medicines or healing techniques which require technologies hundreds of years beyond this world's grasp, and that world with different flora and fauna than Earth Bet was bounded to have different medical knowledge as well.
Taylor joined Yang at the table in the front section of his clinic. Said table which she saw covered in a blanket yesterday now has various plants… and hideous-looking animal innards and parts which caused Taylor to shuddered at the sight despite bereft of blood and gore lying on it.
The old man was unfazed while handing her an apron, a notebook, and surprisingly, a ballpoint pen which probably came to be because of magic screwing with technology development just like the gas stove, or so Taylor thought. Predictably, the first order of business was to memorize the uses of these ingredients, and that included sorting them out by hand.
And it was that moment where she learned that the old man became just as strict as Shinki during magic class back at the castle, if not more.
"Medical art is not a toy." He explained as he observed her trying to remember the difference between all those disgusting animal innards and parts, seriousness evident in his voice "People's lives rest on your shoulders. Medicine can become poison and poison can become medicine. Any slip-up you make risk death. Hence, I cannot afford to let you treat this lightly, Taylor."
"I thought that there're magic spells for healing people," Taylor argued as she pointed her finger at some livers and looked at the medical book Yang lent her for reference before filing the knowledge of how to prepare it or use it into her head.
"Well, seeing that my clinic and other mundane doctors around this town and in this World still not out of business yet after all these years, what do you think?" Yang asked back with a smile on his face and his voice bereft of malice, which caused Taylor to suppressed the urge to facepalm herself for forgetting such obvious fact.
"Those who can heal with magic are rare. Those who can cure disease with magical art alone even rarer, either this World or beyond. And even then, they still needed to study medical science to be effective, because not everyone has ample power to brute-force bending reality, like Lady Shinki." Yang continued, but then he added: "…even Lady Shinki won't do it unless it is really necessary."
Taylor's mind couldn't help but noticed the similarities of the healing magic and Parahuman with healing power on Earth Bet that they're both rare as hen's teeth and accepted Yang's reasoning. That didn't make picking up and sorting out 'medicine' less disgusting though.
At least, the plumbing and water supply system of the town was as advanced as in the castle, so freshwater supply will never be an issue, to which Taylor was thankful for magic or whatever that brought the semi-modern sanitary system to this Renaissance World hundreds of years early.
Taylor tried to suppress those feeling while continued with her study, but again her suspicion and modern common sense won out and again another question has been asked less than ten minutes after the previous one.
"Is what written here true, about all these things can be medicine? I… kind of find it hard to believe."
She partly expected Yang to ridicule her just like when she displayed her skepticism about magic to Yumeko back when they barely know each other, but instead, Yang smiled and calmly explained "It's a culmination of generations of studies, and trial and error that we learned what can be used to cure maladies, regardless of Worlds, Dimensions, or Universes. Can you say with confidence that people of your World spontaneously developed a knowledge of what can be used to cure any given diseases without experimentation first?"
Taylor couldn't rebuke Yang's statement because she knows he wasn't lying, not when she still remembered her history lessons from Earth Bet however short it may be, especially the fact that many advancements in the medical field came from inhumane experimentations during War or otherwise.
The lesson didn't take long, as the sun rose and Yang and Mao have to open the clinic soon, Taylor had to relocate to the back of the clinic and self-study with Mao to accompany her. It wasn't a great loss however, as Mao proved to be capable of handling the basic lesson without any insults or mocking. Practically an exact opposite
However, there was a problem…
"…now you know, the sensation of having your life hanging on a thread when eating a poisonous pufferfish is so great…"
'My God, she's a masochist!?'
As their conversation topic shifted to poison and medicine, Taylor quickly discovered, to her horror, that Mao has a few screws loose if she was this kinky when talking or thinking about consuming poisonous substances.
"Mao, are you crazy doing that to yourself!? You'll get yourself killed!"
Taylor couldn't take Mao gushing about the sensation of being on a self-inflicted verge of death any longer and yelled at her before she could stop herself. Glancing warily at the door to the front, she half-expect Yang to burst in at any moment for hurting his daughter.
"Not as crazy as those who shoved it down someone else's throat to see what happen."
But that moment never comes. The girl answered Taylor's question with a serious voice as if the previous gushing was just a hallucination, which draws Taylor's attention back to her in an instant.
Mao rose her eyebrows the moment Taylor focused on her and repeated her question "Well, what's better? testing the medicine and poison on myself, or shove it down some poor sod you came across on the street?"
Taylor gulped at the question, which reminded her too much of the gangs and druggies back at her (former) hometown on Earth Bet who is more than willing to drag people into the dark alley and inject them with drugs to get them addicted. Yang's earlier question also came to the forefront of her mind.
'If not them, then who'll be the lab rat?'
Taylor rubbed her forehead and replied in a defeated tone "Aren't you a bit too enthusiastic?"
"What's wrong with being passionate about things you like? And aren't you a little too pessimistic?"
Seeing that she's not going to win this argument, Taylor settled for a compromise "I know I'm just freeloading you, but can you please keep that down? It's…" she paused "…disturbing, seeing you like that."
Mao drummed her fingers on the table for a moment and then nodded with a slight disappointment on her face "I still insist there's nothing wrong with expressing your interest for the world to see. But I'll try."
Taylor fought back the urge to retort back about 'expressing one's interest' and continued studying the book. But her worries remain on one thing.
"If you're wondering if I'm going to shove something unpleasant down your throat or spike your drinks, don't worry about it."
Mao suddenly piped up as if she could read Taylor's mind, which alleviated her worry a bit…
"I will be going to ask you first before doing it."
And like that, her worries returned in full again.
"Can we just study books or the like without doing that?"
"If you're going to stay in the comfy castle and never get out to find the ingredients yourself, sure." Mao replied instantly, before adding with a more serious voice "But there's an old saying 'No plan survives first contact' and all that, I guess. Besides, are you going to rely on strangers with no credential whatever to supply you the ingredients you need? Or are you sure you won't need it when you get lost in the wood or something?"
Her question made Taylor paused in reading the book and pondered about her question. With a sigh, she relented and replied: "Tell me when we're about to do it."
"Yes!"
Mao let out an enthusiastic cry which startled Taylor a little.
After Taylor resumed her study, the girl also keeping her promise and tone down her 'enthusiasm' whenever describing effects of some medicines or herbs of interest that Taylor asked her with. The creepiness factor was still there, but it was now tolerable.
'On the other hand, this feels like a study session in the old day…'
However, her reminiscing of the happier time long gone was interrupted by several booming sounds in the distance. Taylor stood up almost on instinct and turned around to find that Mao also did the same.
"Prepare the medicine. Get those with painkiller properties first, consult the book if you have to, I'll handle the rest."
The grim look on the face of the younger of the two conveyed the seriousness of the situation well enough that Taylor quickly moved to do as she instructed without questioning. After all, someone who lived in a hellhole of a declining city full of superpowered gangsters and criminals for most of her life would know what it means;
A universal language of incoming trouble, and victims.
Yang didn't show up in the room Taylor and Mao were using to prepare things, but Taylor guessed that he has to wait there to receive whoever injured in that 'explosion' earlier and trust his daughter to prepare things in the back for him.
"Is this happen in the town often!? Hey, wait!"
Taylor asked Mao as she finished laying some strange color potion bottles on the table, while the latter went into the kitchen, causing her to follow and found that Mao has fired up the stove with a pot of water on top.
"Mao, this isn't a time to cook you know!"
Taylor couldn't help but quipped at Mao before her words died in her throat when the latter pulled out a wooden box carrying acupuncture needles and then stashed them into the pot. When she was done with it, she turned to Taylor and finally explained "We uses acupuncture to complement other treatment, so I have to boil the needles. Don't want the ill to become even iller after all."
Disinfection. After seeing the technology and knowledge ahead of Renaissance-era she came across up to now, Taylor wasn't that surprised anymore that disinfection technique could become common knowledge among doctors and pharmacists here. Though she couldn't help but wonder why there're no modern buildings erected in this town yet.
Once the preparation was completed, the two carried the equipment out to the front where Yang directed them to placed them on the counter, and then wait.
They didn't have to wait long before the victim of the 'explosion' showed up on the clinic's front door. On a gurney carried by a pair of minotaurs and another pair of goat-men who all dressed in an armor suit of the town guard was a large burly man dressed in white garbs with a golden symbol over his chest which reminded Taylor of clergy attire. The injury was clear for everyone to see from the red liquid staining the bandage on the stump where his entire left arm once was. The man's face was white from blood loss and seems to fall unconscious while transporting here.
Yang wasted no time ordered the guards to carry the man to the table, which was long cleared of all the 'medical ingredients' he used to taught Taylor that morning without a trace, and placed him there. Mao who was on standby at the table quickly swiped a set of needles from the box and quickly pin them all over the severed arm.
"Stop the blood flow first." Mao explained quietly while her hands still busy removing the bandage from the stump of an arm "Then numb the pain with acupuncture and potion, extract all the nasties in the wound out, and finally check for poison before shipping him off to the main hospital and hope that they can regrow his limb."
The old man Yang did exactly as Mao said with the tools prepared beforehand without missing a beat, and spared a moment to gesture his hand at his daughter, all but telling her to stayed on the sideline and explain to Taylor while he was working.
So far things were going smoothly, but it was hard for Taylor to understand what're they doing or why. Not for the lack of explanation, but because it was too fantastical to be true especially when considering that Yang and Mao are neither Parahuman nor magicians. The common sense of the modern Earth dictated that such small needles and herbal medicine shouldn't be able to stop the blood flow from such severe injury, or numb the pain as effectively as a modern painkiller and the clergyman on the table should be wake up screaming by now.
Taylor dismissed the thought. She was ignorant when she initially showed up in this world, and time and again was proven wrong.
'I should've stopped using modern Earth logic in this place.'
Meanwhile, Mao took the opportunity to inquire the guards about the happenstance of the clergyman. The goat-men and minotaur looked at each other before shrugged haplessly "He tried to stop the violence between a group of self-styled 'Hero of Justice' and delegates from Dragonoid when trying to pass through the town checkpoint."
Mao looked at the guards with sympathy, but Taylor blurted out in disbelief "What kind of Hero of Justice harms an envoy? How can they call themselves such?"
The town guards suddenly took notice of the brunette in maid dress and then turned to Mao with questioning glance, to which the girl replied flatly "She's from the castle."
"My condolence."
On one hand, it seems that such a short explanation was enough to convince the minotaur and goat-men town guards that Taylor wasn't some stranger illegally entering this town. But on the other hand, the display of sympathy from them was rather telling…
"Are you familiar with Lady Haku?"
Upon the hesitant question, the town guards winced and then nodded, which practically confirmed her suspicion – fellow victims – and thus no questions need between them. She idly wondered how come they could tolerate that arrogant fox when she wanted nothing more than punching her from the ridiculous test alone.
Taylor let that question lay and went back to the original topic, which the guards happily supplied with a slight disdain in their voice.
"They're fame-seekers, nothing more"
"It's no use to reason with a delusional racist prick like those adventurers styling themselves as Hero of Justice anyway. Claiming such title for themselves should tell you enough how they think of themselves."
"Delusional?" Taylor repeated the word from the town guard with questions written all over her face.
"Those guys keep coming out of the woodworks lately it seems…" Mao commented which earned a grim nod from the town guards, seemingly ignoring Taylor's question for a brief moment.
"Practically every year in fact."
The minotaur agreed with the girl, and after throwing a glance at the clergyman, he turned to Taylor once more "Sorry for not able to answer a question right now, Miss. We have our duty and must take our leave now. Hopefully growing his limb back at the hospital will be as quiet."
At his word, his companions quickly moved to secure the clergyman on the gurney while he pulled out several silver coins from his pocket and gave them to Yang who nodded and accepted the payment without saying anything. But when the minotaur was about to leave with the unconscious clergyman, he turned his head around to look at Yang and assured him "Do not worry about those adventurers, we've arrested them and will begin trial soon, even if those delegates from Theocracy who hired them as security ask us to be lenient, the law still has to be upheld."
With that parting words, they left the clinic in a hurry, no doubt bringing the clergyman to the one who can regrow his limb.
As the door slammed shut, Taylor and Mao were broken out of their thought by a cough from the old man "Look at two of you, interested more in gossips than watch and learn when I'm helping the man. Ah, youths these days…"
"Dad, I helped."
Mao mumbled a protest, which only caused her father to laugh.
"Sure, you are, but what are you doing after you have done helping me hmm?"
Despite his tone and smile devoid of malice or accusation, Taylor still looked down on the floor, admitted that she got carried away by the event than to pay attention to what Yang was doing to help the injured.
As if sensing her turmoil, Yang brushed the topic aside with a simple encouragement "Do better next time, Taylor. You're still young and can adapt easier than an old man like me."
"Yes, Mr. Yang."
After Taylor replied, Yang's face turned serious before motioned his daughter and Taylor to go back to the living room. Seeing his face, both of them could only obey.
As they gathered around the dining table, Yang didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point while crossing his arms on the table "While Mao already knows what I'm about to say, I'd like to use this opportunity to remind you all the same."
Taylor straightened up, and Yang continued "Do not associate yourself with adventurers more than you have to. Especially do not get any idea of being a Hero from those people."
Seeing his guest's confused and slightly mutinous look, Yang's eyes creaked open slightly and stare at her "I'm sorry to be demanding this early when your unpleasant memory of my sister still fresh. But things are not what it seems on the surface."
"He means those adventurers and their so-called heroism." Mao quickly supplied with not so small amount of disdain.
"Mao, be nice."
"But Dad, you know that it's true!"
Yang's eyebrow twitched at his daughter's argument, but chose to remains on the topic and continued with Taylor "Back to the adventurers and their so-called heroic act. Despite the name, in my eyes, they're nothing more than a glorified mercenary. As what happened today indicated. They will take on almost any jobs which require violence and glorify themselves in battles, hence mercenary."
Taylor nodded numbly but her question was partially answered and thus she asked: "But where's that 'Hero' thing came from if they're as you say?"
Yang let out a long breath, his gaze turned toward the door to the backyard before answered "Some people don't get along. No. I'd better say some groups of people will never get along."
When Taylor was about to protest the vagueness of his answer, the old man continued "While demi-human in this town and others that send delegates to attend this annual gathering are civilized, educated, and cultured, there're many of their kinds that rejected this and wander in the wilderness of this world, indiscriminately terrorizing people from the civilized towns and cities, accusing them of destroying or throwing away their 'true heritages'."
Taylor's sharp mind began to understand uttered out loud "These human adventurers battled them?"
"Along with dangerous wild beasts, yes." Yang grimaced, his face marred with sadness "Hence, their experiences clouded their judgment and prejudice take precedent, while those who were saved from the savagery of these tribes praised adventurers as heroes. Over time, they let it get to their head, and this's the result."
Taylor pondered on the origin of 'Heroes' and could find no fault in his reasoning, however that begs the question "You've been adventurer before?"
Yang shook his head "No, but I traveled this land of Makai for a while when I first arrived before settled down here…"
"You came from Earth?"
"Yes." Yang replied quickly, his face turned grim before turning back to the original topic "But that's a story for another time, Taylor. What I'm trying to say is sometimes the word hero is subjective, they don't necessarily combat evil, merely doing a good deed for one group of people is enough. But said deed doesn't necessarily benefit everyone."
It wasn't a strange concept given how the history of humanity on Earth Bet also marred with conflicts before the advent of Parahuman, heroes of one nation is a villain to their enemies, that much is undeniable. But for one growing up in the latter's era, it was hard for Taylor to grasp.
Still, most of the message got through and she agreed with him "I… understand."
Yang nodded and stood up "Keep that in mind when dealing with adventurers. I'd say this will not be the last incident that will spark during this month. It's hard for them to change their views of non-human after so long."
The old man clapped his hands calling the two girls to his attention "Now, with that out of the way…" his lips curled up slightly which gave Taylor a bad feeling which proven true in the next moment "…I'm disappointed at how fast you get distracted by the events around you Taylor."
Taylor's face fell, knowing that this was coming miles away, and unlike the school problems in her previous life, this one was legitimately her fault.
Seeing Taylor's face, Yang smiled "Let that be your lesson today. And always remind yourself that losing focus can cost people their lives in this field of practice. Also, do not hesitate to speak your mind to others, ignorance more often than not put people in danger in this line of works."
He made his way for the front of his clinic, but then Taylor decided to make use of his last advice "Please wait, Mr. Yang!"
The old man paused his steps and turned around, his eyes creak opened a little as if permitting her to continue which she did "I want to ask you about… about those tribes and their constant attacks on others."
Yang's eyebrow quirked up while his expression did little to give away his thought "Go ahead."
Taylor paused for a moment to gather her thought and then asks "What is your opinion about this town keeps playing diplomacy without going out there and help people in need? Why Shinki forbid people here from…"
"Tell me, Taylor…" Yang interrupted her question with a stern voice "…have your parents ever argued with each other?"
Taylor was caught off-guarded by the strange question that she took almost a minute before responding.
"Yes…" She whispered with her mind ventured to the time long lost in the World far away "but it's nothing serious, like what to buy or some stuff."
"What will you think if your neighbor showed up and tells your parents to divorce because he overheard that argument?"
…and then promptly yanked back to the present with Yang's question.
"Wha… what?" Taylor stuttered, her hands clenched the hem of her skirts, unsure why she has to get angry on a hypothetical scenario at all. Perhaps she was stung from being reminded of her old family? Or perhaps she was angry that Yang would dare to imply that he knows her family better than her?
Unknown to Taylor's thought, Yang replied a moment later "Your reaction, multiply by the number of people of said race who you wanted us to interfere, is the answer to your question."
It took another minute for Yang's response to registered in Taylor's mind, but when it does, her anger all but disappeared, replaced with realization.
Yang added once he saw his guest-turn-apprentice calmed down "Unless they invite us to help them themselves, going out there is the same as sticking our nose into their familial business, that path only breeds resentment." He sighed "And it's not pride that stopped them from calling for help, many times in history, outside help only traded one problem for another."
The bitterness in his last sentence was clear to Taylor, and before she could stop herself, she asked: "Is this your…"
"My personal experience? Yes." Yang replied with his eyes closed, he looked distant as he reminiscing the past "My home country on Earth faced a similar situation during my youth. In the end, no one in my homeland wins. I'm lucky to run into Haku back then."
It took Taylor a brief moment of refreshing her history lesson combined with Yang's age and name to guess which country he came from and what happened to it during his youth. But as if he read her mind, he preemptively held up his hands "That too, is a story of another time, like the story of my traveling days. Right now, you should get back to study. The day is still young. I'll be at the front if you need me."
Yang's tone leaves no room for argument. Taylor watched him leave before turning to his daughter who shrugged in response "Well, use this free time to crash course you before patients show up is a good idea, don't you think so?"
Taylor smiled and sits down while pulling out a book and begins reading. While Mao was right about clinic getting busy, she sincerely hopes that there will be none today.
Author's Note: For those who wish for interaction with Touhou casts, I'm sorry that it'll not be that way for a long while.
You see, this's 1950, while Touhou Windows was stated to be in 2000s some times after Reimu invented Spell Card rule. Right now Gensokyo is watching over by Reimu's progenitor without Spell Card rule, it can be... violent, and most of the main casts still not born as well.