The first thing I felt was the wind, it was cold, but not unbearable. I once again felt the sensation of life. I could breathe. I could feel. Did I get reincarnated? I didn't deserve to have a second chance. I had multiple opportunities to escape my lifestyle and I didn't take any of them. I don't regret any of the choices I made.
Ever so curious, I opened my eyes and I saw buildings all around me. The whole place was oddly silent, like if the place was abandoned. The place looked like a small village that was fairly well off. The place was clean and didn't reek of smells. I felt that I was wearing a cloak of some kind. That is pretty convenient in case I wanted to remain conspicuous.
There were different types of buildings around me. I decided to search for stuff that could be useful. Walking to the nearest house, I peeked inside. Strange. The house was really clean despite it seeming like no one's been inside for a long time. I enter the house and looked around, it seemed like a pretty standard house. I search through the drawers and cabinets which strangely had nothing in them. As I go through the house I became increasingly annoyed that there is nothing of use. I decided to find another house to look inside of. The inside looked very similar and there was still nothing of use in the house. I decided to give up on checking the other houses since they all look the same and probably has nothing of actual use.
I left the house and felt slightly unsettled. Why is there nothing in these houses outside of the furniture itself? I look around and notice that all of these houses look quite similar. As I pass a few houses I wonder if I should check the houses anyways in case there's somehow something of use. As I look around I finally see a house that looks a lot grander than the rest. This must have something of use… right? I enter it and surprisingly the house is actually pretty dirty inside. I search for stuff and notice something strange. A floorboard of the house looks out of place. I go towards it and try to lift it. Sure enough, it lifts up. There is a small compartment with something inside, there's a knife of some sort and I reach for it in anticipation, as I brought it out under the light I immediately sighed. It's just some rusted dagger.
It seems like there was something else inside and it must have been taken already. This is strange, why in the world is this the only thing I've found in all of the houses? Oh well I guess I'm just unlucky. I guess it is better than nothing.
I leave the house and decide I should probably try to find a place with water and food. I decide to leave this weird village and see a path leading somewhere. The only logical choice is to follow the path. As I walk I realize that my body is more tired than I thought. I decided just to rest a bit. After I while I decided to not waste too much time and continued on my way. It seems like there are other villages, but I didn't see any sign of people yet. After a long time of walking I see what looks to be a wall and signs of people. It looks like all of the people are walking in the same direction. I was confused as to why there was no one in the village I was in and maybe my question would be answered soon.
As I get closer the wall became more clear and it seems to be made of stone. This world I had woken up in is probably set in a medieval time period. How original, I think to myself. It seems like there's people in a line trying to get into the city. Some of them seem to have carts which carried their belongings. There's not much for me to do outside the wall so I decide to try and enter. I can hear people talking now. I can't seem to hear what they were talking about. I might as well get closer. To reduce the amount of trouble I might encounter, I quietly pulled up my cloak. Somehow, no one was looking my way and there was a decent density of people so it was pretty easy to sneak to the back of the group.
"Everyone you have to separate into two lines so that we can get everyone into the city! I can't believe some of you don't even know how to listen to basic orders!" someone with a slightly deep shouts. It seems like there's a person who is in charge of getting all the people inside the the city. The person seems to be annoyed at how slowly the people were moving. I could see the person who was shouting now, he has a sword and is wearing chainmail armor. It seems like he is one of the castle guards. There are other knights near him, but it seemed like he was in charge and did most of the commanding. He shouted again, "Come on move faster!"
I decide to dive into my thoughts as I wait. This explains why I found nothing in the houses I searched, the owners were probably instructed to leave their home for a reason that I hope to figure out. I wonder if it's because there's something dangerous or it's like a mandatory event or something.
As I was thinking to myself the line got shorter and no people joined the line behind me. It seems like I'm the last person in the line. The line moves forward slowly while the captain of the guards continues to make comments concerning the line moving slowly. This guy must be having a bad day or something. Does he ever get tired of shouting? Time passes as the line inched forwards. Finally, I was the only person left in the line.
"The day is finally over I thought it would never end! I just had to be the one who pulled the short stick," the person in charge of the right gate sighs in relief.
"Do you have any weapons on you? Please pull them out," she requests. I decided to show the rusty dagger since it wasn't of much use anyways and maybe they had like a metal detector or something.
"Thank you for showing your uh, weapon," she says as I wonder if she is surprised at how rusty my "weapon" is. I found it randomly ok? It's not my fault I'm unlucky, I brood.
"Well I still have to confiscate that weapon. You won't be needing that anyways. Also, you can go in now" she instructs me. I give the rusted dagger to her. Well that weapon was short-lived. The people who were in the line are in front of me. There are rows and rows of tents further up ahead and there seem to be people sitting near them and talking to each other.
Suddenly a voice called out and I felt like I was forced to listen to it, "You guys might be confused as to why you were all instructed to move here and why the market that is usually here is gone. Some of you might not know this, but every generation, we test the people's aptitude in magic. This is to ensure that we don't lose out on good talent. We also use this time to ensure that none of the people have gotten a rare, non-transmissible disease which we will then cure you of. The disease is mostly harmless, but it's best to prevent any discrepancies from happening. Most of you will be leaving very soon, but the younger generation with aptitude in magic will have to stay in the tents with a family member until tomorrow. You will find out what is happening tomorrow so don't worry about it for now. First is to cure those with the disease and test for aptitude. This time there are six lines, four lines that will test if you have the disease or aptitude, one that will cure the disease, and one to give those with aptitude food, water, and a tent for the night."
Turns out this world has magic huh? What if I didn't have any aptitude in magic? I decide that I would sneak in anyways if I didn't. I went to line up at the end of yet another line. This time, however, was much faster and soon enough it was my turn. I walk to the table they set up and the person sitting there glances at me.
"No disease. Yes aptitude. Please move to the line on the far right. Next! Oh you're the last one. Welp that means my job here is done~" he stretches then casually stands up and just walks away.
No wonder that these lines took so much less time…