Some moments had passed. The pain in my head vanished little by little. No longer hurt as much as before, my consciousness began returned. Set in the night sky with stars, the foliage moved quickly, such as falling from a waterfall. The floor surface where I laid down repeatedly shaken violently.
I glanced around. Dozens of wooden boxes and baskets were neatly arranged. Only one box next to me was broke apart and spilling its contents.
No doubt, I was in the cargo where I fell.
When trying to get up, the pain came back. My hand immediately holding my head until the pain was gradually disappeared by itself. I sat in one corner. The cargo wall was quite high. Even though I was standing, I still couldn't see the rider nor outside. The opened roof made the cold wind wrapped my body. I was shivering with cold. Then drew a cloth that covered a wooden basket in order to keep the body warm.
I rechecked my own body carefully. In addition to ensuring that all parts of me were still intact, I found my short bow broken. Maybe crushed when I was falling. Similarly, some arrows in my quiver, leaving only a little that could be counted by finger.
I lifted my head upwards. I didn't know where was the cargo going. All I could do was waiting until it stopped. I couldn't just jump off the cargo that run fast. Or my body would be severely injured. I dropped my gaze to the wooden floor. Sinking myself into the sea of memory. I remembered the last time, Dimas was trying to pursue this cargo. Wondering what he was doing now? Was he still pursuing this cargo?
But it seemed impossible. Only a crazy person who did it. It was unlikely that he would trouble himself that far. He was the type of person who lived simply. Suddenly I remembered when hunting some time ago, he was trying to lure the forest tiger with the rest of his dinner. Hoping luck would bring the tiger into the trap. I swear, it was foolish. Maybe this time, he returned to base and thought I'd be home by finding a way somehow. But deep down inside my heart, I hoped his anxiety trait came to his mind.
Honestly, I was afraid.
I wanted to be saved by him now.
*************
Time passed when I fell asleep. This cargo had a complete stopped. I rubbed my eyes, then blink repeatedly. I lifted my head upwards and found out the morning sky had come. Soft sunlight showering on my face. Stroking warmly with such was giving me strength.
A moment later, I heard the conversation outside the cargo.
"Hey! Don't drop it, stupid!"
"Sorry, Sir!"
The noise of the crowd sounded close. Similarly, the sound of footsteps, the clatter of metal, as well as items from other cargo that seemed to be around here. Made this forest into a crowded atmosphere.
"Hurry! Unload your cargo and put into Elvian carts, or they won't pay us!"
The words of one who heard like their leader made me flinched. Elvian? Wait, wait, wait! If not mistaken, Dimas said they were merchants of Northern Iuna Sigrotia. So they sneaked into Lurivia Kingdom to had a transaction with Elvian?
At the moment, I pondered, a sound of approaching footsteps startled me. I stood up, my instincts told me to immediately hide. Then deftly threw away my broken short bow into the corner of the cargo. Not forgot to return the cloth on a wooden basket to cover it.
This place didn't have much room to hide something big like me. Once someone came inside, I'd screwed. My gaze glanced into the surrounding. There was a wooden barrel that was quite large and looked solid. Without further ado, I opened the barrel and hide inside it. Unfortunately, it filled with a kind of wet pickles. As a result, now my whole body got wet and smelly like highly acidic liquid fermentation.
"Damn! Why I always get bad luck?" I cursed in my heart. If the situation were better, for sure, I would get angry.
When the sound of footsteps right outside the cargo, I'd closed the barrel. The wooden barrel was very tight, I really couldn't see anything out. Really dark in here. I was still grateful for some air remaining in this barrel, which I could use to breathe and hear.
"Shit! Why my cargo messed up like this?" Shouted one of the traders. It then invited others.
"You're really unlucky, old man!"
"Maybe there was something fell. It's your own fault that let your cargo roof open, old man!"
"Don't be left behind while at the convoy, old man!"
"Stop blaming, you polts! Didn't you know manners to an elder? Now, help me unload my cargo!"
The men went into the cargo and start hauling stuff. I immediately gasped. Panic if they found me in this barrel. I wonder what they would do to me later. Facing with lawbreakers like them, I must be prepared for the worst situation.
Every second was running slowly when the men brought out the wooden boxes and baskets. The footstep of one of them approaching. My heart like stopped. My chest felt tight. Wishing he would ignore this barrel and let me here. But it was impossible. Because a second later, he tried to lift the barrel where I was hiding in. I almost screamed when he nearly dropped me.
"Gosh! This thing is very heavy. What's in this barrel, old man?"
"It's the best of my farm pickles. The price is expensive. Don't you dare to drop it!"
"Hey! Quick help me, Lazy Pig!"
"Ah, well! Wait a minute!"
This cargo was almost destroyed when the Lazy Pig entered. Who knew how fat this man. The entire cargo swayed each his leg stepping. I almost screamed again when he lifted the barrel. If I didn't shut my mouth with a hand, my presence must have known by them.
The man called Lazy Pig was carrying the barrel where I hiding out of the cargo. I waited anxiously until he put it on the ground. After that, he went away. I didn't know what was going on outside. I also couldn't use my Super Sense.
But I knew for sure, this wasn't the right time for me out.
The situation out there apparently still bustling with traders and the Elvian. I knew there were long-ear people around here because they used Elvian language in the conversation. Since coming to this world, somehow the language differences that existed wasn't a big problem for me. As if from the beginning, I already understood all languages in this world.
"It looks like all over," said one Elvian.
"Pay them, then return! I can't stand having to linger with inferior beings like them."
"Return?" I wondered.
Not yet removed my curiosity, the barrel where I was hiding was moving again. Not because it was transported or carried by a person. This movement was more gentle and stable. Referring to the words of the merchant before, it looked like I was in the carriage Elvian right now.
My face became pale instantly. Then blaming myself who always getting into this damn luck. Sweat was pouring from my forehead. I felt this barrel getting tighter. If it continued like this, I'd be brought over into Elvian region. My plan to escape would be more difficult if it happened.
I wonder what possessed my mind, I used Super Sense to observe the surrounding. I managed to see the entire contents of this horse-drawn carriage. This carrier was larger than a merchant cargo. Able to accommodate a lot of stuff in one go. The barrel where I was hiding located in the middle of the load. Overlain by several small wooden boxes that blocked my way out. It'd took great strength to get rid of it.
Then I paid attention more out of the carriage. There were dozens of Elvian entourage escorting the five chariots. The unique thing of this carriage is, they didn't curb the horse. Just hanging the rope on the horse's body. They also didn't flog it to make the animal walk. Just need to be directed only; the horses somehow immediately understood. I changed the view to one Elvian. He looked old enough, his age may have already reached a thousand years. The old man's eyes were sharp. I felt my heart pierced by him when he suddenly looked at me.
I stopped my Super Sense soon.
"Stop!" He ordered. The sound of his shoes rattling my heart as he stepped on the ground after he got off the horse.
My heart stopped beating when he opened the doors of the carriage. I held my breath, pretending to be an inanimate object. But that didn't stop him. The old man rushed inside. Desperately I held my presence and Esze aura. My chest had deflated. My face was probably already turned blue right now.
But I have to hold it. I wonder what the old man was doing. It looked like he was looking a the load severely. One second passed like a century. One minute went by like a millennium. The more I stayed, made me forgot the time was already running.
"What was it, Captain?"
"Nothing. Maybe just my feeling." Then the old man's voice away, followed by the sound of a door that shut. "Faster! We have to get to the city as soon as possible."
The carriage moved forward. I immediately took my breath a lot. But it hard to breathe, so I pierced the barrel with my small dagger that I always brought on my waist. Make a small slit through the air circulation and let the fresh air inside. That incident made me swallowing in sweat. These wet-pickles even made worse. I swung my hands to the neck.
"It seems impossible to escape right now," I muttered. "Better to wait for the right time."
I waited and waited. The carriage was going pretty slow. The longer I was here, the more I couldn't stand being in this damn barrel.
About an hour later, the carriage stopped. The sound of the door was loud when wide opened. From a small hole that I made previously, I saw shadows of Elvian troops got inside this carriage. They moved the load elsewhere. I began to surrender in this barrel. I didn't give a damn where they'd take me away. The last time I knew, some Elvian took me in a cart.
I curled up in the barrel. Head down and hoping all of this shit ended quickly. Imagining I could slip out of Elvian area and went back to my warm room. I thought, better beaten to death by Grussel than trapped in this situation. At least the pain and fear could quickly disappear. Not like now, that not knowing when this despair would end.
I didn't know how long I was in this narrow and sour-smelling wooden barrel. Maybe a couple of hours. Both my legs were cramped. About thirty minutes later, I realized that this barrel had stopped moving. Apparently, those Elvians left me here alone.
I didn't dare to move. Five minutes passed. After ensuring that no more people were around here, I ventured to use Super Sense. Projection in my mind gave a sight of a dark room. Which looked like a warehouse. I got it after seeing piles of mounting things.
Fortunately, the barrel where I was hiding not pressed down with other stuff, so I could easily open the cover. Finally, I got off this damn barrel. Seriously, I couldn't bear the smell of pickles. I leaned my back against the wall, then straighten both trembling legs.
The whole body and my clothes were wet and smelled of pickles. Despite wiped with a cloth covering the basket, the smell still not disappeared.
"Oh shit! It's really smelly! I think this smell would vanish if only I take a bath," I sighed with exasperation.
With an aroma like this, Elvian whose super sharp sense of smell could easily found me. It seemed that I must remove this disgusting sour smell before sneaking out of here.
Now it was time to go. I was well-rested. Too risky if I wasting time here any longer. The Elvian might be come back here to supply goods to the warehouse. To cover the smell of acid, I wrapped my body with a cloth. Then slipped away from the back door.
The next thing I saw, it made me amazed. It turned out the warehouse where I was before, was on the top of a tree as high as hundreds of meters. This Elvian made use of forest trees that had a super large diameter, and the height reached clouds. They hollowed out the tree and built rooms inside the trunk. Such as houses, school, restaurant, office, barrack, market, and many more. They also built paths for people on the side of the tree trunk. Walking on this road made you like hovering in the sky. Similar to the skywalk atop a skyscraper in the world I came from. There were also stairs leading to the room that was on the top or bottom of the trunk. For quick and easy mobility, the bridges were built between the trees.
Seriously, this was really cool. Finally, I saw something that really looked like fantasy thing in this world other than Esze.
People passing by on the street and bridges. All of them were Elvian, neither a single human here. But city life here was similar to Glafelden Town. Some of them were trader, or opening store and family restaurant. Children attended school in a big room inside the trunk at the top of the tree. Some employees went to work at the office with a nice uniform. It was all exactly the same as human life. One different thing was this place was just too fantastic.
Look! From up here, you could see the atmosphere very lively city. Down below, there was a pretty big place and spacious area. It seemed like it was a stage show. In that place, a group was showing an attraction witnessed by spectators who sat around the stage. The noise of audience's cheers and applause could be heard even over here. It looked like the appearance of that group was pretty good. If only I could be more carefree in this town, I was definitely going to go down there and watch the show.
But I must not forget the goal. Although the city was so amazing, I should not be too complacent. This was the Elvian region. This means other races were prohibited from being here. I would have been arrested if my actual race was found out. With a cloth that I took in the warehouse, I wrapped all my body and head, until only my face left. This fabric wasn't so comfortable that it made me inevitably had continued to grip it, so as not exposed and showed my different hair and skin color from them.
My little footstep climbing streets around the giant tree. People were several times looking at me, then closed their nose and muttered.
"What a smell girl!"
"Haven't she ever take a bath even once?"
"It's a pity, pretty but smelly!"
"Do not go near her!"
Honestly, I couldn't stand all those words. Because it reminded me of dark times when I was bullied by seniors at school.
The Elvian language made everything worse.
I hurried my steps. Taking a desolate road in order to avoid people. After a few minutes passed, I got on the small path behind a restaurant. When you first looked at this city, it might be very great. But the longer you looked, this height would create a headache and nausea for those who had heights phobia like me. This time, it reminded me as we arrived in this world by falling from the sky.
I felt nausea. I wanted to vomit repeatedly but swallowed back. My head was always throbbing every time looking down. I leaned back against the tree trunk. Cold sweat off my back, even my legs couldn't stand anymore. My power such as missing from the entire body.
But I must be strong.
I had to keep moving.
I had to get out of here.
Filled with strong minds that had been planted into my brain, I was able to force this body to continue moving. Walking down the quiet street above the height of hundreds of meters. Then taking the stair that led down. My goal this time was to get down to the bottom. Five minutes later, my head became dizzy. Although I suggested myself not looking down, in the end, I still did it.
With hard effort and a long time, I finally managed to get down to the middle of the giant trunk. After having had to pass through hundreds of steps and several bridges. This place was still tens of meters above the ground, but at least not too high to make me nauseous and dizzy.
I arrived in the rear of a huge room. Larger than the other rooms in this forest. One thing that invited me here was the fresh food aroma that came out of the window that was installed on the trunk. Just smelling it made me hungry. I just remembered that since last night, my stomach was emptied. No wonder a rumbling sound was out from there.
Maybe I could grab some food from there. Knowing the hot food was so close to me made my spirit back again. Suddenly my legs became strong enough to walk to the below of the window, then peered inside. Sure enough, the aroma before was derived from dishes that were on the table. This room looked like the bedroom. The size was big and had excellent and luxurious furnishings inside. Completed with a large canopy bed. This like the rooms of the rich person, or could be a type of super-luxury hotel room.
But screw it. No one in the room, I'd going to grab a little food, then out again. Not too much, as long as enough to fill my empty stomach. After paying close attention around the room and making sure there wasn't anyone here, I immediately sneaked in.
I opened the window with one hand while the other hand still clutching a cloth wrapped my body. Worried when someone figured out that I was a Haier-Elvian. I wondered what they would do to me. Of course, the penalty of intruding was heavier than stealing food. I jumped off the window. Stepping my feet to the floor as silent as possible so as not to make any noise. Then hiding near the bed.
I moved again toward the bathroom and peeked inside. Safe. There was no one there. After that, I checked the door.
"Nice! It's all locked," I muttered.
So I didn't have to be afraid when someone barged in and caught me. All was safe. Doubts and fears disappeared instantly, replaced by relief from the heart. With confidence, I walked over the table that was located in the center of the room. And then sat on the couch. I placed the cloth next to me.
Sweet aroma directly pushed into the nose. Honestly, I didn't know what kind of foods were served. But everything looked so delicious. My hand immediately snagged a piece of bread, food I'd known so well. This bread was still hot, as well as the chocolate melted in my mouth. The texture was very soft and fragrant.
"Yummy! It's delicious!" I said with delight.
This was indeed the most delicious bread I'd ever eaten. No bread like this in my town. Just ate a piece of bread alone made me almost best wept with emotion. Then I took a roll of rice that was on top of a flat plate. Inside it, there were different kinds of vegetables. It was also delicious and slightly salty. But still, remain in the category of outstanding delicious.
Lost in the delights of each dish, I had almost finished all the food on the table. My intention was originally just to take a bit and then ran off, turned into bingeing until satiety. Until I just realized when the sound of a key inserted into the keyhole. With lightning speed, I ran to the wardrobe and hide in it.
A moment later, the door opened, the sound of footsteps went inside the room. I was desperately trying to hold my breath, the heart was beating abysmally. This wardrobe was not closed completely. At the door, there were hollow lines.
Through the gap, I could find out who entered from the silhouette. That was a man with a tall body, which certainly was Elvian. He went silent after looking up the table. Surely he upset with me who had eaten his breakfast. Then he headed for the couch, then picked up the cloth that I used before.
"Damn! I'm fucked up!" I condemn myself.
The man sniffed awhile. Then like a police dog, he followed the same smell of the cloth. In other words, my body. His gaze directed towards me then walked over to the wardrobe. While I crawled backward and hit the wall.
* Crack!
When the wardrobe door was opened wide, I could clearly see the man figure. He had pale skin and golden yellow hair like a bright shining morning sun. With a short ponytail hairstyle, made the style look trendy. This Elvian looked like in the twenties when measured with the human lifespan. His face was quite attractive, he was typical of people who easily get along with others. His eyes seemed to be able to melt the heart of girls. This man had a tall body and quite stocky. Overall, this guy was like a dream prince in every girl's dream.
"Who are you? A human!? What is human doing in my place??"
His words interrupted my thoughts. I stood up by reflex in order not getting cornered by him.
"I ... um, I," I stammered.
"Wait ... but your ears ... No way!" He was so surprised. His eyes widened. His face as if in disbelief at what was in front of him. Looked like he already knew who I was. "Are you a Haie-."
His words immediately stopped as soon as I threw the clothes in the wardrobe to his face. I pushed him hard until the Young Elvian flinched. Then took a thousand steps out of the room without further ado. Right in front of the door, I passed two soldiers who guard in front. They looked puzzled to see me. Ignoring them, I immediately ran fast. Until a few moments later, the Young Elvian out of the room and yelled at me.
"Catch the girl alive and bring her before me!!"