"A human city… I don't think towns have walls as big as this. Weird, I wonder how I wasn't able to spot this place from the treetops. Looks about big enough to be seen from home…" I marveled at the tall walls of what I assumed to be a human city, it towered over the nearby towers. I'm not really sure how I missed it while traveling through the woods. I mean, I know I'm incredibly stupid, but I highly doubt that I'm blind too.
But judging from my inability to spot the city walls earlier, my doubts can be debunked with a snap. Much to my dismay.
"Hmm…damn, I can't even remember ever seeing it ever. I really must have not been paying attention." With a sigh, I ordered Horsey to go around the walls to try and find an entrance somewhere. "I hope I can get in without any hitches. Or else I might have to sell my clothing for an entrance fee…a big problem as I can't really summon my kit right now, I'd have to walk the streets naked."
"But would they really make an 'orphan' kid run around the streets naked? Maybe… but I'd rather do that than be in this forest where that thing's lurking." I really did not want to encounter the monster again, I could feel myself wanting to vomit whenever I remembered how it tore apart the poor catdger. It was as if it was violence incarnate, that sickeningly evil grin it had on its many mouths as I lay there in horror, watching the catdger get butchered, while also resisting its siren call of being one again.
I don't know why I felt like it was calling to me, and I honestly didn't want to know. Seeing how it brutalized the catdger was more than enough reason for me to know that it didn't have pure intention towards me.
It took a bit, about thirty minutes, until we found an entrance to the human city. 'Though, I'm still not sure if it is a human city, but judging from the architecture, it should be one.' I thought, but I knew full well that I had absolutely no idea what I was going on about. What does human architecture even look like? I don't think skyscrapers and triangular office buildings exist in this world.
I ordered Horsey to get closer to the entrance, enough that any guards making rounds near the gate would be able to see me. I hoped that they'd come to me, I'm not that much of a people person, I had few good memories of my last life, but I knew full well what being alone felt like. I only really had my mother, and little siblings, to have actual social interaction with. It's gotten better now, with me interacting with the dianians that my parents lead. But I'm not so sure if I'll be able to do the same with humans.
'If I could interact with those people at the human village near the Forest of Illusions, then this should be pretty easy.' I told myself, after that, I tried giving myself a small pep-talk to calm my nerves.
I was finally right in front of the entrance, there didn't seem to be anyone there, so I figured that maybe I should get a bit closer to be more visible to passersby. I got off Horsey and told him to follow me for a bit.
I fidgeted around the entrance, looking into the city. There didn't seem to be a guard, but I can see people a fair bit away walking between lit lamps. 'They look human enough.' Aside from the obvious animalistic characters of some of the pedestrians in the near distance, they all had humanoid shapes, so I didn't think that much about it.
"Ah. ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ divorakk… ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤?" I heard a voice speaking what sounded a bit like gibberish from behind me. I turned and saw an adult man, he had an extremely macho form. Very muscular, broad shoulders, and many scars littered his very strong body. His hair was black and he had a handlebar moustache. He wore leather armor, and on his waist was what looked like a sword. Despite his intimidating appearance he had a sweet smile on his face and had a very pleasant aura. The mana around him was honest and energetic too, so I had no reason to think that the man was a bad person.
But I still was not able to understand anything that the man had said. I tilted my head to the side and my face wrinkled involuntarily, my mouth hung slightly open and my eyebrows furrowed.
The man looked confused for a few seconds before he looked as if he had finally understood the situation. He picked me up and showed me to the women behind him, they all looked as strong as him, and wore the same armor and had the same weapon on their waists. 'Maybe they're the guards?' I thought, as I let myself be handled like a plush toy.
"¤¤¤¤¤¤ divorakk. ¤¤¤¤¤¤." His tone let me know that he was explaining something to the women.
"Excuse me, I don't understand anything you're trying to say." I spoke up, I used the East's language. Maybe they were using some sort of local dialect.
They all looked at me with shock. Before I could ask why, the man turned me towards him.
"You, east?" He seemed to ask. My brows furrowed in confusion, why was he speaking in broken Eastern? But I nodded yes after the confusion finally blew over me.
"World, speak? Speak world?" Asked the man. "¤¤¤¤¤¤ Eastern…" He spoke, clear confusion and concern in his voice. The only word that I could understand was 'Eastern' so I just assumed they were talking about the language.
I assumed that they were asking me if I could speak the universal language. I shook my head yes. Everyone in my family knew how to speak it, Mama told me it's because we had friends from other continents, and the universal language was our way of communicating with them. So learning it was an absolute necessity. We also often spoke it at home.
Though, I wasn't perfect at it, but I was decent enough that conversations aren't a big problem.
"Great! Now, child. Where are your parents? How did you even get all the way here? Are you hurt? Are you hungry?" The man rapid-fired the questions.
"Uhm, I don't know where my parents are. I rode Horsey from the Forest of Illusions to here. I'm not really hurt, and I don't think I'm hungry." I answered, and I saw his face crunch in confusion.
"Forest of Illusions..? Isn't that all the way East? A bit far for a kid, even for a divorakk…"
"But aren't we in the East? It's only almost a day's worth of riding to get to the Forest of Illusions from here. I know 'cause I just got here after setting out from near the forest this morning."
"...Kid, this is the West." Said the man, his tone was dead-serious and his face held no signs of a joke.
"No, this is the East! I know because I was just there a few hours ago! I even met this super terrifying monster on the way. A bunch of twisting hands, mouths, fins, and eyes." I said, trying to calm myself down and fight back the deathly-cold nervousness forming inside me, and the hot tears that threatened to form and fall.
"...Micah, report to the lord. She must be informed so that a message to The East will be delivered. It must be made known that the monsters of the abyss have started crawling out of the Black Sea." The man's voice shook. "Tell her that Shul'Ka had already victimized a child from the East. We'll take him in as a refugee." A woman from the group nodded and swiftly left the scene, her speed was very impressive. I don't think I've seen someone that fast before.
Shul'Ka? Wasn't that the name of the thing that gave me a blessing earlier? "Shul'Ka? What's that?" I looked up at the man, he looked down at me with a comforting gaze. He fixed the way he was holding me, from a ragdoll-style hold, to a more living-being friendly cradle. Did I really look that young? I don't know much about childcare but I don't think four-years-old children are held this way at all.
"Ah, it is none of your concern, do not worry we will fix this. That is Horsey, yes? Why don't we get inside the city. I'll show you what my beloved city, Dalvina, has to offer." The man smiled at me, it was a kind and caring one. One that I'd expect more from a woman than a man.
…I just realized this, but if I remember correctly then my old world didn't have many men like this. But I have never met any man that would fit my image of 'masculine' from my old world. Gender roles must be super different here.
"Well… Okay then. But I have to get back to the Eastern Isles as soon as possible. I have to find my Mama and Papa." I heard that they were going to be treating me like a refugee. I forgot exactly what that word means, but I'm pretty sure that, that also means that I can get a free ride home. I don't need to panic at all.
The man's face cracked, I couldn't exactly tell what the man felt, but from the way he held me tighter, I doubt that it was anything bad. "Ah… yes, your parents. I am afraid that Shul'Ka must have- nevermind. Do not worry, I'll talk to the king." He smiled, though this smile felt a bit melancholic, I don't exactly know why. But I feel like he's got something all twisted up.
He held me close, not really sure why, I don't even know this guy's name and he's acting like some sort of dad. Though it is in a good way, I can't help but feel annoyed. It's the kid in me screaming that I shouldn't tolerate this kind of thing, as I had my own Papa to come home to.
We passed through the gate, and I immediately felt a wave of magic come through me. It felt as if it searched my heart and my mind for something. When it couldn't find what it was looking for, it immediately left my body, making my manaless-self feel an abyssal emptiness inside me.
'I wonder what that's all about…' I could make a few guesses. Normally there'd be guards around a city's entrance. But there weren't any guards to be found here. They're probably using some sort of spell to search a person's intentions of coming into the city instead of employed gatekeepers.
If a person had bad intentions, I wonder what would happen? Eugh, I hope it's not anything too graphic. I've had my fill of guts and gore to last me a few hundred years, I'd really rather not see someone being torn apart by mana so soon after seeing a catdger get dismembered and disemboweled by a mass of writhing hands and limbs.
"I hope that you can stop yourself from having too much fun. I've heard what kind of a place the Eastern Isles are, mostly a place of survival and co-existing with nature. It's not really known to be a place of fun…unless you're someone who loves adventures, life in the East is apparently not that entertaining. So, let me be the person to welcome you to the culture of the Western Isles. Being so young, you must like toys right?" The man babbled and I only nodded, I was too preoccupied with staring at all the people around me.
'T-Shirts…modern ones…the architecture looks like a mix of modern and medieval. Is that a skateboard!?' I was trying my best to comprehend what kind of place this city really is.
"Unlike the other continents, the Western Isles makes use of the knowledge and technology of other worlds. So you'd be surprised what kind of fun and exciting things you can buy and see in shops. The lord of this city is an otherworlder even!" He sounded proud.
And I fucking called it. I knew it.
I'm not even surprised, from the modern architecture and the random modern inventions that I've stumbled across here and there, I already had a gut feeling I wasn't the only one from another world.
"Woah! Where did they come from?" I asked, I wanted to know how exactly people from other worlds stumbled here. I had no particular reason, just pure curiosity.
"Ah, sometimes they drop in out of nowhere, but most times they are summoned. The lord of this place was summoned by the king of Tennenborough, she was given this city after she gave priceless sacred texts to the Council Of Erudites." The man, whom I still had no idea the identity of, boasted. "By the way, while you're here, you'll stay with me. I'll keep you safe from Shul'Ka while Miss Cassey, the lord, informs the East of the situation, and processes the necessary boring adult things. Do not worry, you're safe with me, kid."
'Ah, this is gonna be a massive headache isn't it?' I could only think of the problems this whole situation would bring.
