Nem woke up a bit late in the morning, mainly because the carriage stopped. He rubbed his eyes, not having any new clothes to put on, he just exited through the door, expecting breakfast.
The sight that greeted him was a bright sky and green hills, with only a few trees growing here and there. In the distance, Nem could make out the shape of a forest, and turning back to where he came from, the high peaks of the mountains of Sydai. The air smelled fresh and a bit humid and sweet, different from the mountain.
'We should be getting close to the Red Empire already. That is really amazing speed... Well I didn't really know where exactly was the monastery on the map anyways. Probably closer to the frontier than I thought, Tom's memories are rather blurry concerning his trip to the farm, he was too busy with crying after all.'
Nem felt a tinge of empathy towards the boy whose body he took over, but it was only that much.
'Having someone's memories is different from witnessing their story from the side, he's more a part of myself now, so it feels weird to pity him... Well, a dead part of myself anyway. What a strange feeling.'
Frowning for a bit, he quickly concentrated on the meal he had yet to eat. The advantage of having such a cute and playful appearance was that even though he often made those kinds of expressions, nobody would even take it seriously. He had noticed it before and was quite confused about it, but after finding that magic mirror and trying out faces in it, he had noticed that he really didn't look troubled or even serious no matter what face he was making.
Or at least, he never succeeded in doing it in front of the mirror. For example, when he was frowning just now, it looked more like he was bothered by the sunlight. Even when Nem was being serious, it only seemed like he was doing to appear serious.
'For me that's probably a good thing. At least I like it that way, it would be tiresome to think of an excuse every time I have a troublesome thought.'
Nem was not a 10 years old boy, and even among 20 years old men, his thoughts were often pretty depressing. It couldn't be helped, no matter how much you liked to joke around, by always expecting the worst out of people, it's difficult to be actually cheerful.
'Of course, being transported in a fantasy world after death and getting superpowers is a complete game-changer, sh*t I might even be happy if I was the target of an assassination attempt. Actually, scratch that, dying really feels too bad.'
Before Nem could be immersed in this particular memory, his eyes suddenly spotted something. His body froze and his face showed a bewildered look. In front of him, in the humid green weed, was a small creature with a short and almost metallic looking strong lower- body and a long slender neck of scales that ended in an angular reptilian head.
It was...
'A hybrid of a toad and a snake ?'
The creature's upper body kept twisting and turning in a relentless fashion, while the lower body sat still like a statue. Even though he was still far from the beast, Nem took a step back.
'This thing is dangerous, the way its legs aren't moving may mean it's gathering power and ready to jump at any time. If it's venomous, the element of surprise may prove deadly. Could it be some sort of mythical creature ? But it's a bit small isn't it...'
Suddenly, the thing's neck seemed to retract a bit, putting Nem in high alarm. The others were eating and resting further away, and he didn't want to alarm the creature by asking for help, so he decided to stay put and observe.
The snakehead seemed to attempt biting the lower body but only ended up retracting even more. At this moment, Nem caught sight of the protruding eyes on the lower body of the creature. It looked like... a toad's eye.
Nem's eyelid twitched.
'Isn't that just a toad eating a snake ? It's got to be that... Damn what are the chances of actually seeing that happening before my eyes ? Since when do toads even eat snakes ?'
This reminded Nem of the "lama accident" when he first came to this world, and he suddenly felt really depressed. Thinking of picking up a rock and throwing it at the "mythical creature", Nem finally gave up and went to eat with the others.
Seeing his pouting face, the blessed of Darkness laughed and proceeded to completely ignore him. Nem didn't know whenever to laugh or cry. It really was impossible to be serious with this face.
'I hope this problem will be solved when I grow up. By the way, when is my growing coming ?'
It had been two months since he came to this world, and Nem didn't feel like he had grown even one centimeter. Even his hair didn't change much.
***
Two days later, Nem was still in the carriage, looking out the window.
After traveling for a while in a rural region of the Red Empire, staring at farms, small villages and hills, the sight currently visible from his window was more refreshing.
The vegetation had become progressively denser and greener, before finally turning into the massive wall of trees, plant and vines that was currently facing him.
In only four days, Nem's carriage had already reached the tropical rainforest separating the South Countries from the rest of the world. This dangerous and enormous jungle was called the Thousand-Years Forest, since it was said that everyone who entered it would be lost for a thousand years.
Of course, it was only an expression, since only gods and demons could live that long, but it sure got the point across. Nem wasn't clear on the history, but for at least two millenniums after the Great Divine War, the jungle was left uncrossed, and the people divided.
The two sides spoke a different language, had different cultures and different technology(even if it only amounted to sharp weapons at the time) and were separated by an almost uncrossable obstacle.
Even if they just happened to share the religion, this made any form of contact very difficult, and the South Countries still remain in a sort of independent state even now.
'Actually, I even doubt the fact that they had the same religion. Even if they both saw the Great Divine War and got the name of the gods right, they couldn't have the exact same teachings or traditions. In the end, there is just too much I don't know. I should find a real historian and have a long talk with him or her one day.'
He had a self-deprecating laugh. 'I sure wasn't so interested in history in my original world.'
The carriage stopped right before entering the forest, and Nem immediately climbed out of the window to the top of the carriage. He had done it a few times before, and that was when the carriage was in motion, so it seemed especially easy today. He asked the man at the front :
"Do we have a special way to cross ?"
The man was used to see Nem on his roof by now and responded without showing any surprise.
"Not really, there is a spot somewhere around here where a permanent road was installed. That's why Lunhart is so developed by Alario in the first place. The only issue is that the vegetation grows especially rapidly on the edge of the forest, so we can't do anything but look ourselves and clear a passage before sending the carriage." He observed the trees attentively. "There was a sign and even a large rock monument once, but everything was devoured by the plants eventually."
'Scary ! Why is it growing quicker on the borders ? Is the forest trying to eat people ? Too scary !'
Staring at the thick vegetation in front of him and the things it probably contained, Nem started to sweat. This reminded him that even though a child didn't smell as much as an adult and that he had gotten used to bad hygiene due to his mental illness, he had not changed clothes for the entire trip and it was really uncomfortable.
'I hope they got me a nice room and prepared good clothes at that Leo Hotel.'
What he was wearing wasn't even the monastery's clothes, but common low-quality goods.
Nem waited patiently, lying down on the top of the carriage, half-sleeping for the adults to do the work. Even though he seemed to almost make fun of them, the blessed of Darkness never expressed any discontentment, looking as nice as always.
Nem couldn't tell why, if they were really such good people, they would end up transporting a child spy from a shady monastery that didn't even belong to their own Church to a city they themselves qualified as "jungle".
'In the end, appearances are deceiving... I wonder if they would sell me to some random slave trader if they got a high enough price.'
As for punctuating that nice thought, the men came back to the carriage, carrying sharp blades they had taken out earlier to cut some vines.
After they got back on and let out a loud whistle, horses started advancing again, entering the jungle.