It was a forest, I am in a land covered with large and humongous trees. That would have made sense since I flew across the mountains from our town but I did not expect to see these large trees and most of them are fruit-bearing. "No wonder their people did not want to leave this place and join the big civilizations. If I was reincarnated here, I would choose to stay here as well." I'm amazed.
Looking at how clean the surroundings are, they must have not wasted a single fruit. "Come. I will show you around." Amira grabbed me by the hand and showed me everything there is to see in her village. Her people are looking at me with eyes filled with curiosity and a slight hint of adoration towards me. I can't blame them, I am a stranger after all, but they seem to want to talk to me or something.
"Amira, are you sure that I am allowed to come here? I'm a stranger, remember?" I asked. I'm worried that she might be in trouble because of this. Villagers would be naturally wary of people that they are seeing for the first time, but none of them are showing that sign. I am worried.
She looked at me with a smile and let out a cute chuckle. "Hehe- that would be understandable since you were unconscious when that happened." The pleasant smile on her face made me confused as to what she meant by that. "I don't remember doing anything for them, though?" it plagued my mind. Thinking about the reason for their welcoming behavior is quite suspicious in my eyes.
"Can you enlighten me on that part?" there was no way but to ask that. I can't just stay in the dark all the time. Especially in this weird situation. Thinking that I also needed to know, Amira brought me to a bench where we sat and she told me everything that happened that explains their behavior towards me.
A few moments later,
"Oh….. so that's what happened. I don't really get it." I responded. She looked betrayed. Even after telling me everything that I needed to know. I betrayed her by saying that. I am an idiot.
"Anyway, that's what happened. Now you know why my people don't see you as a stranger. To be honest, that house that you are using belongs to the most injured member in our hunting group at that time." She added. "Who would let someone lend their house to a stranger so willingly? He must be grateful to do something like that! But I did not even do that on purpose! I was unconscious!"
I'm wasted. All of these just made my head hurt. "This is absurd. How in the world did this happen to me?" I can't deny that they are good people but this is just too good to be true. If they live this way, other people would just take advantage of them. I need to ask if there is anyone besides me that's acquainted with them. "Amira. Is there anyone besides me that comes here sometimes?" I asked.
She tilted her head and I knew right away that she did not understand what I meant. "What are you saying? I don't understand." She clarified.
"I mean, are there other strangers that come to your village to buy things like fruits?" I have a feeling, a slight feeling of uneasiness. She thought about it for a moment and then nod her head.
"Every year, there's a group of merchants that come to buy our fruits. We are bountiful every year so there are a lot of fruits that will come to waste if they were only left to us. So to solve that, we sell them to those people to buy clothes and other things."
It makes sense. "If this has been going on for a long time. It makes sense that our town has the same fruits as what I tasted earlier. That means, the merchants had either sold fruits in our town, or the merchants lives in our town!"
Thinking about it made me realize that I might not be far off from our town after all. "Amira, can you tell me how far is the nearest town?" this will determine the place that I have reached using flight.
*Flight is one of the spells that William came up with after realizing that the magical beast has the natures of wind and water. It is an improvised spell that he made considering that flying depends on the wind.*
"If this place is quite close to the town then I have not gone far. A person like me who had opened their eyes to the truth of Void Mages will be surely sought out by power-hungry leaders. I can't let myself be restrained by such people. Especially now that I know the nature of Void Mages." I said to myself.
"The nearest town is about a few days journey from here. Why do you ask?"
I felt a slight bit of relief. "So I flew all the way here for only that short amount of time?" I might have caused Amira to be curious as to why I asked her something like that. She leaned her body towards me, I am a few inches higher than her, so I can immediately see her cleavage.
I wanted to tell her to stop doing that but out of nowhere, a voice called out to her. "Amira, dear. Can you come here for a moment?"
The way Amira reacted to her made me sure that the person who called Amira is important in their village, "A staff? Is she a shaman or a-" I saw the strange staff that she is holding, it made me think of two things. She is either a shaman or the village chief.
Not long after, Amira got back and told me that the person she talked to wants to talk to me as well. "Will it be alright?" she asked.
She is an angel. She is worrying about me all the time. I nod my head and flash her a confident smile. "I think I will be fine. Looks like your chief has something to discuss with me." Her face, and the reaction that she made confirmed my initial thoughts about her identity. "H-How did you know?" she asked.
"It's just I have a feeling," I said as I left. "Village chiefs tend to be older since they have more experience and insight in a lot of things. That is how they are always depicted in games too. I wonder what the chief has to tell me?" I asked myself as I knocked on the door where Amira had been earlier and the same old woman opened the door.
"Welcome. Please come inside." She's quite hospitable and offered me a seat. "Good morning." I greeted her with the utmost respect and bow my head. I knew that she is the chief, and my gesture surprised her. "Good morning, young lad. It seems like I don't need to introduce myself any longer."
She caught on fast, did she have an encounter like this in the past? After our brief exchange, she offered me what it seems like tea and bread. "Don't worry, I did not mix anything with them." She claimed. "She must have seen my reaction but that is how you should act inside a stranger's place. You should not accept anything so easily. That is what I was taught."
That is what I told myself. But honestly, I want to try the tea and the bread as well. The taste of the fruits earlier is far different than what we have back in my town, so I was wondering if the tea and the bread fall in the same situation. "Thank you very much." Being in a foreign place like this, this is my way of showing trust since they have done nothing to me for the past few days.
"I read in the articles back on Earth that strangers coming to a secluded part of the mountains ended up getting killed. Thankfully this is not the case here. I was fortunate!"
When I break the bread and stuff it in my mouth. I immediately felt the softness and the hint of sweetness in it. I'm shocked and confused at the same time. "The bread is stiff when you break it into small pieces but when you put it in your mouth it becomes soft?"
Strange. That is the only word that I can describe the bread. The chief chuckled mostly because of my reaction and I can understand that, I might have done the same thing after seeing someone react to our food and find it strange. "You must be confused. It's fine. We always get that a lot. Especially when they taste our tea."
I turned to my cup that instant. "Is the tea even more confusing?" it had the shade of green, which means it has not gone through so much process as we have back in my hometown. "Does everyone who tastes this the first time have the same reaction as I did?"
I asked out of curiosity and the chief was kind enough to answer that. "Yes. But your reaction is different from all of them. When they react to the bread or the tea, they will immediately give us praise. But you, your reaction is different. The moment you tasted it, it seemed like you are wondering how we created such a strange bread." She said with a smile.
"My reaction is different?" I'm confused as to what the chief meant by that, little did I know that it will impact her impression of me later on. At the time being, I urged myself to taste the tea, and boy was I surprised by the taste.
"It has mint, that's for sure but what is this taste? At first, it is sour but has a sweet aftertaste! It's like I'm eating a sweat and sour candy! Wait! This is one of the fruits that I have tasted earlier!" a smile crept on my face and when I saw the reaction of the chief, I somehow felt happy.
"No way, you managed to turn the fruit into tea?" I blurted out and the chief let out a chuckle. "Kekeke! I knew you are different from the others! You pass! Hahah! Young lad, you are the first one to recognize the taste of the tea. While most of the others before you will immediately offer me something in exchange for how it is made, the first thing that you have in mind is the fruits!"
After that, the chief explained to me that it was all a test to see if I am a person worthy of staying in their village. It turns out that the house that I was staying at was the place where strangers like me needed to stay before we take the test and if we pass we are allowed to stay in the village, in the houses up on the trees.
"So there are other drifters that had gone to this village in the past?" I asked while enjoying the tea. "Yes. There are too many people for me to count in my term. Sadly all of them failed. In the end, their greed got the best of them." The tone of the village chief made me a bit worried. "She sounded like something bad happened," I said to myself.
And to my surprise, she told me everything about what happened. "As being a part of the village now, you must be curious about it, no? Then I should tell you what happened." She suggested.
Our talk lasted for almost two hours and by the time we finished, it was already noon.
"I have already asked Amira to take your things to the house that you will be staying at while you are here in the village. Have a great stay!" she said enthusiastically before closing the door.
"That was a lot to take in. No wonder they looked like they were expecting something." I said to myself with a sigh. A few minutes later Amira arrived and asked me to follow her.
"That's high." That's the first impression that I have after seeing the tree. "The higher you are from the ground, the safer you will be from the monsters." Amira enlightened but I already know that. "That makes sense but isn't that a bit too dangerous? Just think about it, if you fall I don't think you have any chances of living when falling from that height."
She froze. She must have realized that just now. "Amira, please tell me that people don't die in your village from falling out of their houses." Instead of getting a reply. All I got was her horrified and sweaty face. "It's more than enough for an answer!"
For me, I can at least cross that out of my way to die since I can just use the Flight spell, as for Amira. I think she might be able to learn that as well, she has the aptitude for wind, after all.
There are stairs for us to use to reach the house but it's too tiring so I decided to fly to the top.
FWWOOSH!
I felt a sudden chill as the wings appeared behind my back, Amira is also amazed based on her expression but it doesn't seem like she understand what I am planning to do. "What are you going to do?" she asked.
I knew it. "We are going to fly up to the top. Climbing from all the way here will burn a lot of energy after all." I explained briefly before offering my hand. She is quite excited about it as well, "Maybe it is her first time flying?" I told myself.
We flew and reached the top faster than I anticipated and upon taking a look at the house, it seems like someone is using it before me. "Is someone living here?" I asked as I drop off everything my stuff. Amira smiled and showed me around the house. "I have a bad feeling about this," I told myself after seeing a few underwears hanging right after we arrived at the top.
"That's all of it. You will be sharing this house with me, so I look forward to living with you." She said with the same pure smile.
"FUCK....I knew it!"