06.11 cycle twenty two, Ca’thir, of calendar Moonrachia

  After a few days…

  We finally reached the Vaelthoria

  The morning air gracefully touches my face, with its soft breeze, and a dim light that slowly shows its color on the horizon

  The first thing I noticed was how empty the harbor was compared to the capital of the Arnentia kingdom

  It was so strikingly different that I didn't even process the terrain or the scenery at first

  When I look around, there aren’t many people except the ship crew, who are trying to dock the ship

  After turning my eyes again into the scenery in front of me, I really can’t put it into words alone, it’s beautifully nature-like, and I think it would be a good tourist spot

  If there aren’t a lot of warning signs across the area

  While Arnentia's capital is a modern magical city, what stands before me is more like a small harbor from the medieval era

  It wasn't in good shape, either, I could see destroyed roofs and walls patched with wood so thin a gentle punch could break them

  Then, out of nowhere, Kiara spoke up beside me, "You think it’s a pretty bad harbor, don’t you?" She looked around as if trying to remember something. "But, it wasn't always in this condition."

  "So? Do you mean that when you left for Arnentia, this harbor didn't look like this?"

  "Exactly. This sort of thing is normal in the Vaelthoria kingdom, you never know—someone could die at any moment." And she looks at me, “But not everything in Vaelthoria looks like this.”

  The ship was swaying a little bit before it docked

  “Let’s take our things.” Kiara said, “I don’t think it’s good to stay much longer.”

  *****

  06.28 cycle twenty two, Ca’thir, of calendar Moonrachia

  As we tried to disembark, a man who looked like Captain Jack Sparrow walked up to us

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “Once again, I am truly grateful for your presence here, especially for saving all of us.” Then he pointed into a small building at the harbor, “In case you need something, you could just ask someone there, and just show him this.”

  A silver coin? It featured a person with half of their face hidden by a pirate hat—an icon? A group?

  Then he forcefully placed the coin into my hand, “Don’t shy away from asking for help from us.” Before I noticed it, the surroundings and my peripheral vision were filled with the ship's crew and the traveller

  I couldn’t help but smile a little bit, “I will gladly take the offer then.”

  When I head out from the ship with a few of the travellers, and reach the central harbor area

  I looked back once more, and I could see that they were moving the corpses of those who died in the earlier accident. The smell clung to my clothes so strongly I knew I wouldn't soon forget it

  “Let’s go, Kiara, lead the way.” Kiara then walk few breaths away from me, before I finally turned my face away and caught up to her

  Then I looked at her and said, “Where are we going?” She then pointed her finger in front of us, “There’s a small village in front of us, after that we’re going to find transportation.”

  “Is the village that Noah mentioned still far away?” She holds her chin and tilts her head a bit, “Not that long, it just… we need to walk from a certain point to head there.”

  “Oh? It’s a hidden village or something?” She just nodded, “Something like that.”

  The walk, and our surroundings, are still filled with warning signs, as if the forest itself is something that is forbidden from human

  But I couldn’t detect anything with my mana sense. Was the sign exaggerating?

  Then a small building entered my vision, before the rest slowly followed and showed up

  I don't think "small" is the right word, it's actually quite large—big enough for at least a few hundred people

  And again, the village had a wooden pillar wall, a wall that stood a few meters high, and many wooden pillars jutting out horizontally, as if intended to impale anything trying to force its way in

  When we enter, there are a few people heading to the harbor with a few pieces of equipment and something like that

  Unlike the harbor, the village doesn’t look like destroyed, not even a bit, and there’s one building that stands differently than the rest, a guild building

  “Don’t you think it would be dangerous for me to walk around? Should I wear my hooded cloak?”

  Kiara shook her head, “It would even make you look suspicious, besides the news about Kaleth's death already spreading out.”

  I just stared at her and said, “Makes sense enough.” And then she walks away again

  But… why the hell did she head there???

  After letting out a heavy sigh and preparing myself, I ran off and caught up to her, “I thought we were trying to find transportation? Why did we come here instead?”

  She just looked at me with her expressionless face, and then tilted her head, “Gathering information?”

  Right… there’s no internet here, guild and merchant are probably the only places where we could buy information… I still haven’t adapted well here, huh

  When we enter the building, it surprises me a bit because of how well-designed the interior actually is

  A small chandelier hung above the ceiling, a candle was placed across the table, and around the corner of the room

  A sweet coffee scent filled the building, followed by a small talk by a few of the adventurers

  I followed Kiara to the counter, where she showed her adventurer's badge to the receptionist… Huh? She’s an adventurer??

  I lift my head a bit, trying to peek up to the badge, Grade-III adventure..? How high is that? honestly I don’t know anything outside the Arnentia kingdom…

  “Could I get all the big news in the span of this week?” She shoved 3 silver coins into the receptionist's hand, “Of course, should I write it on paper?”

  “Yes, please.” And then the receptionist went somewhere

  I just realized how vital information is here. On Earth, you can get the news while sitting on the toilet

  But, here? The only thing you could do is buy them up… That means, average and low-income individuals won’t even know anything unless it’s something big, or news that comes in rumors

  After a while, the receptionist comes back again, “Please wait a bit, there’s too much going on this week, so it might takes sometimes.”

  And she leaned toward us and whispered, “Would you want to know something really big?” Then she stood straight once more, “But the current payment is lacking a little more.”

  “How much is it?” Kiara asks, “Just two more silver coins.” The receptionist answered with a smile on her faces

  Kiara then put two more silver coins, and the receptionist wrote something on paper

  All of the race representation went on the main continent

  ---END---