Chapter 604 - People still live here

“We should go, and try to communicate,” Sofia decided, “It stands to reason that there are high chances for the Deep’s skill being somewhere in this ‘reality’, and they could also know about the dead god’s location. That would be a lot faster than exploring the entire moon hoping to stumble upon it.”

“I’m not against it,” Alith commented, “but let’s agree on a few basic rules for safety…”

“You were never this careful before,” Sofia remarked, which was answered by a giggle.

“I can try to guess what’s going through a Pirate’s mind or what instincts a tentacled monster might have, but on blur-faced people from the deep I’m really not that confident,” Alith explained, “Reminds me of the old tales from my grandpa too, with the Gods like Zeus and all those old mythologies. When the rules of reality start to bend is when you need to be the most careful.”

“What ‘rules’ did you have in mind, then?”

“Do not let our group get separated is the first thing. Then, if they’re hostile, we don’t hesitate to either kill them or run the fuck away. If they’re not hostile, we do not eat or drink anything they offer us, and if one of us starts acting weird the others should immediately take them and leave.”

“You think they would try to mind control or hypnotize us?” Sofia asked.

“I’ve no clue, but you can never be too cautious.”

“We’ll try to keep all of that in mind then. But you know, I find it unlikely that we would even manage to meaningfully communicate. If they’re really like survivors from the lost epoch, they won’t even speak a language we recognize…”

“I’ll worry about that if they don’t attack us on sight,” Alith finished the conversation, starting to walk down the hill.

Sofia turned to Bookie. “I want you to be as safe as possible so try to stay silent unless there’s an emergency, alright? Let me and Alith do the talking. And stay close to Pareth.”

“Understood, Sofia!” Bookie enthusiastically answered, running a few steps to Pareth’s side, “I’ll stay super super safe!”

“Good boy,” Sofia praised with a smile that couldn’t be seen as she ruffled his hair.

So soft… She thought as she let go of the ‘skeleton’ and followed after Alith, who was waiting for them, observing the tapped tree from up close.

Making it down the hill was quite fast, and soon, the group of four arrived at the outskirts of the village, in front of them were sprawling fields of golden wheat, gently swayed by the fresh breeze.

“No walls or anything,” Alith commented, “just fields then village, not even a wooden fence. I guess the wild animals here aren’t too dangerous.”

“That’s pretty common for the poorer villages,” Sofia explained, “wooden and stone barriers wouldn’t stop the monsters anyway, so usually there’s just a hunter or two managing the wildlife around and that’s enough to keep people safe.”

They thought there was no one in the fields currently, but after their short exchange, a man stood up from within the crops, some fifty meters away.

No mana. Sofia immediately reacted, as she had completely failed to notice the man prior to seeing him despite him being well within the range of her mana senses that she passively maintained without even trying to. Aside from his entirely blurry face, he looked exactly like a common human farmer, with dirty overalls, an old straw hat, a graying beard and worn sun-tanned skin suffering from years of working outside in the fields. 

“The road’s on that side,” the farmer shouted amicably, pointing to his left, “So don’t step on my crops, will ya!”

He speaks the common language?! Not even ancient human, the modern worldwide system-imposed language?!!!

This place the system can’t even reach!

Sofia and Alith looked at each other, which was awkward as they couldn’t read each other’s expression at all, and Alith quickly turned back toward the farmer to answer, “Thanks! We’re going, then. Have a nice day!”

The farmer nodded from afar, “Nice day to you, travellers!”

The group quickly left, following the direction the man had pointed at. Sofia and Alith exchanged in whispers. “I guess we’re travelers now?” Alith said first.

“Guess so. I can’t believe he spoke the common language. Think maybe the admin spread it when he came here?”

“Could be. Either way I won’t complain about it. Guy wasn’t openly hostile either so it’s a good start. Hopefully we can just ask for information and get the fuck out of here, this places makes me uneasy the more I look around. It just feels like a weird dream.”

“Let’s hope it’s that easy…”

A few hundred meters in the direction the man had pointed, there was indeed a paved road cutting through the fields. In one direction it led far into the valley beyond where the eye could see, while in the other, it led directly to the base of the obelisk, which stood smack in the middle of the village, a gigantic pillar like the trial towers. The village had clearly been built around it, and it was adorned by numerous flowery decorations.

A single person stood guard at the entrance of the village, sitting on a wooden chair, a tiny crossbow on his lap. Sofia could feel some mana coming from him, but it was pitifully low.

About level ten at most…

“Identify gives nothing. The people here have no scribe…” Sofia whispered to Alith as they started walking on the paved road.

“I’m already half-convinced they don’t even exist in our reality,” Alith shared, “this is just too weird.”

The one guard stood up when he saw the group coming. He kept his loaded crossbow in hand but did not raise it. He said nothing and just looked at the group coming his way.

“Stop right there,” he finally said when they were about ten meters apart from the guy’s chair which was propped up against the back wall of the village's outermost house. From there Sofia could easily hear the casual chatter of the few people walking around this part of the village. It was utterly casual and mundane.  

The group stopped. 

“Show your weapons!” the guard called out with a slight hint of hostility, slightly raising his crossbow.

Show your weapons?

Sofia and Alith just looked at each other in silence, Alith shrugged, “We have no weapons,” she answered. And that was true at the moment, as the weapons were all gone in this reality, even the admin’s dagger. 

“No weapons?” the guard repeated in complete incomprehension. “Are you not armed?” he asked, before moving slightly and seemingly taking a closer look at each of them, “Do you travel with no backpack and no protection?” he then asked, his voice calmer than before, “just two noble ladies and two young lords?” the guard continued, utterly confused, and slightly lowering his crossbow as his arms relaxed, “Did your escort die on the way? My apologies…”

“No no, it’s nothing like that,” Sofia stopped the apologizing man, “We can defend ourselves, even without weapons,” she said, showing the man the weakest sparks she could muster with a low-mana angel bolt.

“Sorcerer?!” The guard reacted, reeling back in shock, he let go of his weapon and dropped to his knees, starting to apologize profusely “Pray forgive me! I am but an ignorant commoner, I failed to recognize your-”

“I shall forgive you this time,” Sofia said to stop the man’s outburst, as it was starting to draw attention from the people in the village.

Shit. He could not care less when he thought we were nobles but the thought of a ‘Sorcerer’ makes him instantly drop to his knees?! I guess I have to act the part now. From his reaction, sorcerers aren’t exactly good people. Pareth, Bookie, no magic. Let them think I’m the only ‘sorcerer’ for now.

“Thank you for your generosity, lord sorcerer, I shall not forget this for as long as I live” the guard humbly thanked Sofia as he stood back up, awkwardly picking up his crossbow and placing it back on his chair.

Despite the situation being quickly handled, the guard’s outburst had attracted many eyes, and someone was already coming, having exited from the village's innermost house at the very base of the obelisk.

The guard also saw the person approaching as he had turned to place his crossbow on the chair, he greeted the incoming old man. “Village chief! Today is a blessed day, we have been graced by the visit of a mighty sorcerer!” he announced loud enough for the entire village to hear.

The village chief was a short old man wearing bright orange and red robes, he approached slowly, leaning on his cane for support.

This was no ordinary old man, Sofia could already tell. The cane and robe were both enchanted items filled to the brim with mana, yet the man himself seemed completely devoid of mana, making it impossible for him to fuel these items.

“Welcome to our humble village, sorcerer,” the old man greeted with a deep bow, completely ignoring the other three, “Please allow me to offer some hospitality, would you follow me to my house?”

Sofia agreed and soon her group was seated in the village chief’s relatively small house.

The old man stayed standing after he closed the door and pulled the windows curtains. “Is it already time?” he finally asked in a somber tone, his hands shaking, “I thought we still had a few days before the grand ritual…”

They were waiting for another sorcerer…

I can reveal that he’s got the wrong person but that might be dangerous. Or I can try to play along and fish for information…

I can do this.

“We are to hold the ritual early,” Sofia confidently told the old man, “When will everything be ready?”

Alith seemed surprised by this answer, she looked tense, but eventually nodded along with Sofia’s lie. Sofia could almost feel her staring at her despite being unable to see her face.

“As I feared…” the village chief mumbled, “Things should be about ready. We can probably hold the festival as early as tonight. I just wish… If we had a little longer… Ahh…” he let out a long sorrowful sigh, “If only our Queen hadn’t left us so early…”