For the next two days, the family of five didn’t venture any farther from the farmhouse.
Clara continued keeping track of how much food they ate each day.
The first day’s numbers didn’t tell them much, and the second day only gave them the faintest idea.
By the third day, however, there was finally enough written down to start seeing a pattern.
They still couldn’t say exactly how long their food would last, but at least they had something more useful than We’re running low.
Arthur kept himself busy as well.
There were still plenty of things around the house that needed fixing.
During the first few days, he’d focused on the most urgent problems—the roof and the cabinet doors—so anything that didn’t immediately interfere with daily life had been left alone.
With the weather staying clear, he spent the next two days securing several loose boards and taking care of a few smaller repairs.
Helena went through everything they owned again, sorting and reorganizing what little they had.
The three children had their own things to do too.
Lucas kept wandering out to the overgrown patch behind the house, trying to figure out whether the areas he’d noticed before could actually be cleared and used for planting.
Clara continued recording their food consumption while also writing down everything they’d learned so far on their old sheets of paper.
There was too much they didn’t know, and she didn’t want them forgetting the few things they had managed to figure out.
As for Theo—
He had learned to check the ground before leaving the house.
If it had rained the night before, he would stand at the doorway the next morning and study the path with complete seriousness.
Which patches were darker.
Which ones looked soft enough to turn muddy.
Which side seemed drier.
He paid more attention to the ground than anyone else in the family.
The first time Arthur noticed, he found it amusing.
After seeing it several more times, he simply got used to it.
At least this was easier than watching Theo stare miserably at his shoes for half the day after stepping in mud.
On the third morning, Arthur put the board he’d just repaired back into place and stood at the doorway for a moment, looking up at the sky.
It was even clearer than the day they’d first gone out to explore the area.
There hadn’t been any rain for two days, so the roads should have dried considerably by now.
He thought about the wider road they’d seen last time and finally made a decision.
“We’ll go a little farther today.”
Clara immediately looked up from the notes she was organizing at the table.
“To that fork we found last time?”
“Yeah.”
Arthur nodded.
“There were wagon tracks on the wider road, so people probably use it often.
We’ll follow it for a while and see if we can find anyone from the village.
Or at least figure out which direction the town is in.”
No one objected this time.
They’d already spent several days inside the farmhouse.
They couldn’t keep relying on guesses forever.
Besides, after their previous discussion, they were at least somewhat prepared.
If they ran into someone who knew the original Bennett family, they wouldn’t bring up the past themselves.
If they didn’t know something, they wouldn’t make up an answer.
Whenever possible, they would let the other person speak first.
Whether they could actually manage that when the time came—
Well, they would find out.
After gathering a few things, the family left the farmhouse.
Theo was still careful about where he stepped.
Unlike last time, though, he no longer needed to stare at the ground before every single step.
After walking this route once before, he clearly remembered which areas tended to collect water.
Whenever he noticed darker soil ahead, he naturally moved around it.
Lucas walked beside him for a while before glancing down at his brother’s shoes.
“They’re pretty clean today.”
Theo looked down too.
“They’re supposed to be clean.”
“They weren’t last time.”
Theo stopped for half a second and turned toward him.
“That was before.”
Lucas tried not to laugh.
“That was only a few days ago.”
“Before is still before.”
“…”
Lucas discovered that he had no argument for that.
Clara, walking ahead of them, overheard the conversation and looked back.
“At least Theo knows how to avoid the mud now.”
Theo immediately nodded.
“Exactly.”
Lucas glanced at him.
“You’re really good at hearing only the parts that help you.”
Theo ignored him and kept walking.
Before long, the family reached the fork in the road they’d found last time.
The tree beside it was still easy to recognize.
Clara spotted it almost immediately.
“Here.”
Arthur stopped as well.
This was roughly where they’d turned back last time.
Since they intended to explore farther today, this was where they would continue.
He looked toward the wider road.
The wagon tracks left by the rain were much shallower now, but they were still visible enough to show that this road was regularly used.
“This way.”
They continued forward.
It wasn’t long before they noticed more fields appearing along the roadside.
Some had already been worked.
In others, they could see piles of dried grass.
Farther away, the occasional rooftop appeared between the fields.
The houses weren’t particularly close together, but it was enough to show that they were gradually entering an area where people actually lived and worked.
Clara kept looking around as they walked.
If Arthur hadn’t insisted that she leave the paper at home, she probably would have started taking notes already.
They had gone a little farther when Lucas suddenly stopped.
“Dad.”
Arthur followed his gaze.
There was someone in a nearby field.
The person was too far away for them to make out his face, but they could see him bent over, working.
It was the first stranger they’d seen since arriving in this world.
The family of five instinctively became quieter.
Arthur remembered what they’d discussed a few days ago and lowered his voice.
“Just keep walking normally.”
Helena nodded.
“Don’t stare.”
The three children immediately looked away.
They didn’t approach the person in the field and simply continued along the road.
They hadn’t gone much farther when footsteps came from a smaller path beside them.
Arthur instinctively looked up.
A man in his forties was walking toward them with a hoe resting over one shoulder.
His trousers were rolled up to his calves, his shoes were covered in half-dried mud, and his sleeves were pushed up.
He looked as though he’d just come from the fields.
Theo’s eyes landed on the man’s shoes for exactly one second before he quickly looked away.
He wasn’t supposed to stare.
Mom had just said so.
He resisted.
Unfortunately, the man had already noticed them.
He stared for a moment before calling out naturally,
“Arthur?”
All five of them stopped.
Arthur’s expression barely changed.
Inside his head, however, there was only one thought.
Here we go.
Just a few days ago, they’d sat around the table discussing what to do if they met someone who knew the original family.
Now it had actually happened.
And the very first thing the man had done was call Arthur by name.
Arthur watched him approach and did his best to keep his expression natural.
There was only one problem.
He had absolutely no idea who this man was.
Helena had clearly realized the same thing.
She said nothing, merely casting her husband a discreet glance.
The three children became even quieter.
Lucas had thought their earlier discussion had prepared them well enough.
Surely they wouldn’t panic too badly when they actually met someone.
Now he realized discussing it beforehand and actually facing someone were two completely different things.
The man had already reached them.
“It really is you.”
He adjusted the hoe on his shoulder.
“I saw you from a distance and thought I might’ve gotten the wrong person.”
Arthur had no idea what to call him.
Asking Who are you?
was obviously out of the question.
Using the wrong name would be even worse.
So he chose the safest possible response.
“Yeah.”
Then he fell silent.
Helena: “…”
Lucas lowered his head.
Clara quietly looked away.
Only Theo stood there with a perfectly serious expression.
The man didn’t seem to find Arthur’s reaction strange.
He glanced at Helena and the three children.
“Taking them out for a walk?”
Arthur nodded.
“Yeah.”
This time, even Helena nearly turned to look at him.
They had agreed that they should say as little as possible.
Arthur was apparently determined to follow that rule to the letter.
The man didn’t seem to care.
“Good idea.
Weather’s finally cleared up these past few days.
Before that, it just kept raining.
Mud everywhere.
And with your place being so far out, a few more days of rain would’ve made the road a real pain.”
The entire family immediately paid closer attention.
Your place.
The man knew where they lived.
Arthur finally gave an answer longer than one word.
“It’s much better now.”
“That’s good.”
The man nodded, then casually asked, “So how’s it been since you moved out?
Settling in all right?”
The question made all five of them pause internally.
Moved out.
Judging from the state of the farmhouse, they’d already guessed that the original family hadn’t been living there for very long.
But a guess was still only a guess.
This was the first time someone from outside the family had confirmed it.
Arthur didn’t ask for more details.
He had no idea how close he’d been to this man before.
Asking too many questions out of nowhere could easily make him suspicious.
So Arthur merely let out a quiet sigh.
“It’s all right.
We’ll manage.”
It sounded like an answer.
In reality, it told the man almost nothing.
That one wasn’t bad.
The man didn’t notice anything unusual.
He probably assumed Arthur simply didn’t want to talk much about family matters.
“That’s true.”
He nodded.
“You’ve only just split off from the family.
Can’t expect to have everything right away.”
Arthur’s eyes shifted slightly.
Helena heard it too.
The three children remembered those words immediately.
Split off from the family.
So this hadn’t simply been a move.
The Bennett family had actually separated from a larger household.
The man had no idea that one casual sentence had just given them one of the most important pieces of information they’d learned since arriving.
He continued, “Still, I don’t think moving out is such a bad thing.
Having your own place and living your own lives has to be easier than everyone crowding together under one roof.”
This time Arthur’s nod was completely sincere.
“Definitely.”
He had no idea why the original Bennett family had split from their relatives, but after living on their own for the past few days, he couldn’t deny that having their own place felt much more comfortable.
The man’s attention shifted to the three children.
“Those three haven’t changed much.”
Lucas, who had only just started relaxing, immediately tensed again.
Clara didn’t dare move unnecessarily either.
Theo had been trying very hard not to look at the mud on the man’s shoes.
At those words, his attention finally left the shoes entirely.
Haven’t changed?
Changed from what?
They had no idea what their original selves had been like.
The man studied the three children for another moment before apparently noticing something.
“Why are they so quiet today?”
Lucas: “…”
Clara: “…”
Theo: “…”
None of them dared answer.
Arthur was just about to say something when Helena smoothly stepped in.
“They’ve been walking for a while.
They’re getting tired.”
The man immediately understood.
“No wonder.”
He looked at the children’s short legs without the slightest suspicion.
“They’re so little.
It’s already impressive they managed to walk this far.”
Lucas secretly relaxed.
He suddenly realized there were advantages to being three years old.
If they didn’t want to talk, they could be tired.
If they reacted too slowly, they could be sleepy.
And if they had absolutely no idea how to respond, standing quietly beside their parents was perfectly normal.
As long as they didn’t suddenly act far too mature for three-year-olds, a lot of things were surprisingly easy to explain away.
The man looked back at Arthur.
“But since you’ve only just split off, you must be short on quite a few things at home.”
Arthur didn’t answer with another “yeah.”
He thought for a moment before saying, “We’re using whatever we already have.
We can slowly add the rest later.”
“That’s the best way.”
The man clearly approved.
“That’s how you build a life.
Bit by bit.”
He glanced toward the direction they’d come from.
“That house is old, but at least it’s livable.
The land behind it has been neglected for a long time, though.
If you’re really planning to grow something this year, you’d better start clearing it soon.”
Arthur immediately stored that information away.
The land behind the house.
The man knew about it.
And from the way he spoke, it sounded like the land was indeed theirs to use.
Arthur followed his lead.
“I’ve looked at it these past few days.
It’ll definitely take some work.”
The man laughed.
“Of course it will.
That’s a big patch for one man to handle.”
He paused before adding, “If there’s anything you can’t manage on your own, ask around the village.
We don’t live that far apart.
Someone will lend a hand.”
That was important too.
The village.
So their farmhouse did belong to a nearby village.
And judging by the man’s tone, the people there probably knew one another fairly well.
Arthur nodded.
“All right.”
The man seemed to have somewhere else to be and didn’t linger.
He adjusted the hoe on his shoulder again.
“I should get going.
They’re waiting for me at home.”
Arthur nodded.
“Take care.”
The man had already taken two steps when he suddenly stopped.
“Oh, right.”
The family had only just begun to relax, and all five of them looked at him again.
The man pointed in another direction.
“Don’t let the kids go near that ditch to the east.
All that rain raised the water, and the bank’s slippery.
A child falling in wouldn’t be a small matter.”
Arthur’s answer was serious this time.
“Got it.
Thanks.”
“All right.
See you around.”
The man waved and walked away along the other path, the hoe still resting over his shoulder.
The family of five remained where they were.
No one said anything.
Only after the man had gone far enough that his figure was almost impossible to make out did Lucas finally look up.
“Dad.”
Arthur was still staring in the direction the man had gone.
“What?”
Lucas asked the question all of them had wanted to ask from the beginning.
“Who was that?”
Arthur was silent for two seconds.
Then he looked down at his son.
“How would I know?”
Lucas fell silent too.
Clara was the first to lose control and laugh.
Helena pressed a hand to her forehead.
“You sounded so natural talking to him that I almost thought you’d figured out who he was.”
“What part of that sounded natural?”
Arthur felt the need to defend himself.
“How many things did I even say at the beginning?”
Lucas immediately started counting.
“‘Yeah.'”
Clara added, “And another ‘yeah.'”
Arthur: “…”
“I talked more after that.”
“You did.”
Clara nodded.
“‘It’s all right.
We’ll manage.'”
Lucas added helpfully, “And ‘definitely.'”
Theo thought seriously for a moment.
“And ‘all right.'”
Arthur looked at the three children.
“Weren’t you all exhausted just now?
How do you remember everything so clearly?”
Clara answered with complete honesty.
“Because we were too scared to talk.”
Lucas nodded immediately.
“Especially when he asked why we were so quiet.
I thought he’d figured us out.”
Theo frowned slightly.
“I don’t know if the old me would’ve talked to him.”
The amusement on everyone’s faces faded a little.
That was the real problem.
They didn’t know how the original Bennett family had interacted with the villagers.
They didn’t even know what the three children had been like before.
The man today had only thought they seemed unusually quiet, and Helena had managed to explain it away by saying they were tired.
But what if the next person they met had been extremely close to the original family?
Helena thought for a moment.
“Looks like the plan we came up with before was right.”
Arthur nodded.
“Talk less.
Listen first.”
Lucas looked at his father.
“So that’s why you kept saying ‘yeah’?”
Arthur answered solemnly, “That’s called being cautious.”
Lucas nodded thoughtfully.
“Oh.”
Two seconds later, he added,
“Yeah.”
Arthur: “…”
Clara burst out laughing.
Helena turned her face away, but her shoulders were clearly shaking.
Arthur stared at his son.
“Is that funny?”
Lucas immediately shook his head.
“No.”
“Then why are you smiling?”
“I’m not.”
“The corners of your mouth are literally up.”
Lucas quickly pressed his lips together.
Arthur decided not to argue with him and brought the conversation back to what mattered.
“Let’s sort out what we learned.”
Clara stopped laughing.
This was what she was best at.
“First, we guessed right.
The family only moved into that house recently.”
Lucas continued, “Second, it wasn’t just a normal move.
The family split up.”
Helena nodded.
“And the villagers know about it.
Arthur continued, “Then there’s the overgrown land behind the house.
He knew about it and told me to clear it if I wanted to plant anything this year, so it should really be ours to use.”
Clara committed it to memory.
“And the village.”
Arthur nodded.
“Right.
There really is a village nearby, and it can’t be too far away.”
Lucas remembered what the man had said before leaving.
“There’s also a ditch to the east.”
“We need to remember that too,” Helena said.
“Especially you three.
Don’t go there by yourselves.”
All three children nodded.
Theo was quiet for a moment before suddenly speaking.
“There’s one more thing.”
The other four looked at him.
Arthur asked, “What?”
Theo answered with complete seriousness.
“That man’s shoes were really dirty.”
Silence.
Lucas closed his eyes.
“Does that count?”
“Yes.”
Theo didn’t hesitate.
“They were covered in mud.”
Clara was already starting to laugh again.
“So?”
Theo thought about it carefully.
“If he ever comes to our house, he can’t walk straight into the kitchen.”
Lucas turned to stare at his brother.
“He didn’t even say he was coming to our house.”
“I said if.”
“He might never come.”
“What if he does?”
“…”
Lucas gave up.
He had discovered that whenever cleanliness was involved, Theo operated according to a logic entirely his own.
Arthur was already used to it.
“Fine.
If anyone comes over, you can be in charge of checking their shoes.”
Theo actually nodded seriously.
“Okay.”
Helena looked at her husband.
“Don’t actually give him that job.”
Arthur held back a laugh.
“I was joking.”
Theo immediately looked up.
“But I already agreed.”
Arthur: “…”
That was enough to make Lucas laugh too.
The family decided not to go any farther.
They’d finally met someone from the village and had unexpectedly learned quite a lot.
That was already more than they’d hoped to accomplish today.
Arthur looked at the sky.
“Let’s head back.”
None of the children objected.
They’d already been out for quite a while.
If they kept going, their three-year-old bodies definitely wouldn’t have enough energy for the walk home.
The family turned around and followed the same road back.
Lucas walked quickly at first.
Clara didn’t complain either.
Theo continued watching the ground out of habit, carefully stepping around anything that looked even slightly soft.
After a while, however, all three children began to slow down.
Arthur noticed almost immediately.
He looked back at them.
“Tired?”
“No.”
Lucas answered much too quickly.
Clara shook her head too.
“I’m fine.”
Theo said nothing.
Arthur looked at his youngest son.
“What about you?”
Theo thought about it.
“My legs are a little sore.”
Lucas immediately turned toward him.
Theo looked confused.
“They are.”
Lucas lowered his voice.
“Couldn’t you have waited a little longer before saying that?”
“Why?”
“…”
Lucas didn’t bother explaining.
Arthur had already heard them.
He walked back toward the three children, looking at the little faces that were clearly tired even though none of them wanted to admit it.
He almost laughed.
“Want me to carry you?”
“No.”
Lucas and Clara answered at exactly the same time.
Theo was half a beat slower.
He seemed to seriously consider the offer.
Lucas immediately looked at him.
Theo noticed his brother’s gaze and finally said, “I can still walk.”
Arthur didn’t force them.
“Then we’ll go slowly.”
They weren’t too far from home anyway.
So the family continued at a slower pace.
When the farmhouse roof finally came into view, Lucas visibly relaxed.
Clara’s steps became a little quicker too.
Theo looked down at his shoes.
He hadn’t stepped in mud once today.
There was only a little ordinary dust around the soles and edges from walking.
He was clearly much more satisfied than last time.
As soon as they reached the doorway, Theo picked up the old cloth they kept nearby, crouched down, and began wiping his shoes.
Arthur passed him and casually asked, “Need help?”
“No.”
Theo didn’t even look up.
Arthur’s steps immediately became noticeably lighter.
“Good.”
Theo stopped wiping.
He looked up.
“Dad.”
Arthur had already gone two steps farther.
“What?”
“Are you happy?”
Arthur kept a straight face.
“No.”
Theo stared at him.
“You are.”
“I’m not.”
“You started walking faster.”
Arthur: “…”
Lucas happened to pass by and immediately explained,
“It’s because he doesn’t have to wash your shoes for you.”
Understanding dawned on Theo’s face.
Arthur turned toward his eldest son.
“Lucas.”
Lucas looked perfectly innocent.
“What?”
Arthur stared at him for two seconds.
Then decided to let it go.
He was too tired for this.
Once they were inside, the first thing Clara did was retrieve the old sheets of paper.
She wrote down everything they’d learned that day, one item at a time.
The Bennett family recently split from the larger household.
The villagers know about it.
The old farmhouse and the land behind it are theirs to use.
There is a village nearby.
There is a ditch to the east, and it is dangerous after rain.
She stopped.
Lucas stood beside her, reading.
“Anything else?”
Clara thought for a moment.
“Not for now.”
Theo had finished cleaning his shoes and walked inside.
“There’s one more.”
Clara looked up.
“What?”
Theo said,
“Someone knows us.”
The room suddenly fell quiet.
Clara looked down at the paper.
It sounded like such a simple thing.
And yet it might have been the most important thing they’d learned all day.
Until now, they’d stayed inside the old farmhouse, trying to piece together the original family’s life from whatever had been left behind.
From today onward, things were different.
There were people outside who knew Arthur.
People who knew Helena and the three children.
Those people knew why the Bennett family had moved out.
They knew where the family had lived before.
They might even know who they’d been close to and what their lives had been like.
As long as they continued meeting people from the village, they would eventually be able to piece together more and more of the original family’s past.
Of course, it also meant that every familiar face they encountered was another chance for them to slip up.
Clara thought for a moment before adding another line.
People in the village know us.
Arthur stood beside her and stared at the sentence.
His head was already starting to hurt.
The man they’d met today had been fairly easy to deal with.
But what about next time?
What if the next person walked straight up to him, called him an old friend, and started asking about something only the original Arthur would know?
Arthur was silent for a moment.
Forget it.
There was no point worrying about it now.
If the past few days had taught him anything, it was that thinking too far ahead rarely helped.
They would deal with it when it happened.
At least today, they had finally confirmed something that had been bothering them from the beginning.
They hadn’t ended up in this old farmhouse for no reason.
The Bennett family really had split from the larger household.
As for exactly how the separation had happened, why it had happened, and who they’d separated from—
They would have to wait until the next time they met someone who “knew them” to slowly piece together the answers.