As I was walking back down the illuminated roads of the city I realized just how strange this world was. The light used just to make sure you could clearly see the next step you took was so strong, that combined with all of the ones that were in the city, would make it impossible to look up at the night sky and see the trail of stars that you would have been able to see in a clear night of my world.
I would pass by people who would sometimes glance at me or stare, and I could see in their expressions that they lived a peaceful life. I could tell that none of them worried about hunger, war, or death more than a noble in my world would, despite the fact that everyone I saw was no more noble than the person next to them.
I gazed back up to the sky, and I stopped to think about what I should do for shelter. Even if the sky was clear, it didn't mean that it would stay the same, and I couldn't stay out here all night. While crossing a road, I looked at one of the tall buildings, and I saw that there were people living there as if it was any other home, which made me remember the strange room I woke up in.
Frowning as I kept walking, I wondered if I should go back to that room… Salrak did say that he had prepared things for me to be in this world, so that room is likely one of those things. However, everything in that building was so strange, from the lightning-infused glass door, to the silver gates on every floor, and the way people acted.
I shook my head. It didn't matter if they were weird, it was the only place for me to go to right now, since no matter where I looked, there weren't any inns or loud pubs around here for me to stay, so I looked around the buildings, trying to identify the road that I took to both get here and to get back to the strange building.
It was somewhat difficult to know where to go, but thanks to the numbers and symbols on the corners of every road intersection, it was easier to figure out where to go, so I started making my way in the direction that would most likely lead me to that building.
* * *
I got lost. I thought I had a handle on the way the numbers on the sides of the buildings worked, but it seems like they don't all mean the same thing. Luckily for me, there were still plenty of people outside—despite how dark the skies had gotten—and I had managed to see some of the police people going around, so it seems like it's not a particularly bad place to be in.
I walked by an open garden, full of plants, trees and small colorful structures, full of what appeared to be training equipment; however, they made no sense to me, since they were far too small for a real knight to train on it. They could very well be used for children to train… or simply to play.
Regardless of that, all of these structures were unattended, and the few police people that went by didn't pay attention to it. I made my way to them while looking around to make sure that nobody would come over or come out of it and have an issue with me being around them. It was clear, so I decided to make a small camp under one of these structures.
There wasn't much to use in this garden, since the grass was well taken care of, and the trees that were around appeared to have been placed there intentionally. I was still able to grab a few of the dry twigs that they dropped to use later to create a small fire with my magic.
Generally, in the past when I was still in training, there would always be someone in the group that would be on the lookout while other people were resting, but since I was alone, I would have to be the one to be on the lookout. I could try to use a detection spell to create a field around me in case someone came over, but I wasn't sure if it was possible with my current power.
Still it was better to try it, so I focused on the magic circulating in my body, giving it will and shape to what I wanted it to be. Once I had it ready, I released it.
"Uhg…" I groaned.
Doing that spell would've been as easy as flicking a finger in the past, but right now, without any Holy Power and using my mana alone, it drained much more than I expected, leaving me almost dry on my mana levels. But it was done, I managed to create a field that covered me for a handful of steps around me. Even if the spell itself was invisible to the naked eye, I could feel the spell working. If someone were to step into it, the spell would send a signal back to me.
As I was having a look around to ensure everything was in place, the Watch in my wrist vibrated, startling me as I hastily looked at it. I brought it up to see what that was about and the black jewel glowed with words on it.
[Congratulations! New Skill Acquired!]
"Huh…? What is this about…?" I whispered to myself.
[Small Detection Ward (C) has been added to your Skills list.]
"What is the meaning of this…" I asked myself again, frowning as I tried to understand why this message appeared on the jewel.
After a few seconds, the words on the jewel suddenly disappeared, leaving the black jewel as clean as it usually was. The only reason why it reacted like that was after using that spell, which could mean that it likely reacts to the way I manipulate magic, so if I were to do something else…
I lifted my hand and aimed it at one of the trees in this garden. I manipulated my mana again to create a small rock in the shape of a needle. It was a very simple spell, so it didn't drain me as much, and once it was done, I launched it with my mana at the tree. It silently flew through the air, embedding itself on its trunk and leaving just half of it sticking out.
The Watch vibrated again after a few seconds, and I turned to look at the jewel again.
[Congratulations! New Skill Acquired!]
The same message as before, which meant that…
[Rock Needle (F) has been added to your Skills list.]
This Watch was recording the way I manipulated my mana and giving it a similar name to the ones that were used in my world, although that rock needle didn't have a name before. I went ahead and used a small fireball on the few bits of things I brought to start the campfire.
Again, the Watch vibrated right after with the same congratulatory message followed by…
[Weak Fire Shot (F) has been added to your Skills list.]
It was detecting them only after I used them, and it didn't know if I could do any other skills, spells, or special powers already—like the Darkness and Hellfire Power from Salrak. I felt tempted to use more and more of the old spells and skills I knew from my world and time as the Hero, but I noticed that there were a few people giving me strange looks, so I decided to put that aside, ignoring them as I looked down at the steadily burning fire.
This fire reminded me that I also didn't have anything to eat at the moment, and while the ice cream that Nicole gave me was good, it wasn't enough to last me until the next day. I probably should look for something to eat, but… as it usually is with large cities, there probably isn't anything to hunt.
Merchants would be my best bet, but without coins, they wouldn't hand over anything to me, and even using my body to get around them isn't a guarantee of anything—not that I need to lower myself like that.
I sighed. For now, there was little I could do about it. But what was certain was that I should start looking for a way to earn coins. I already signed myself up to that academy, but they didn't seem to have a place to stay for their students, since everyone else I saw at the academy grounds would go their own way, with Nicole even getting a bus to go somewhere else.
I should also try to ask around about that reward that we should've gotten for the bandits we took down. Maybe I have to go to their headquarters and ask. Regardless, sleep was the only thing I could do, so I lay myself under the strange structure I had picked and closed my eyes.
* * *
A warning from the detection spell woke me up, causing me to stand up in a hurry to see what had happened or who had intruded into my space. I also activated my mana and rushed to look around.
"Whoa! Easy there!" exclaimed a man when he saw me quickly rushing over.
I carefully examined him, looking at the way he was dressed before I realized that he was a police person, being accompanied by another one.
"What is the meaning of this?" I asked, keeping my mana activated.
"We got called due to a fire in the park and were going to extinguish it," the police man answered.
"Why would you do that? This is the place where I'm resting," I replied, frowning deeply at the fact that these people were intruding in my space.
"Camping?" the other police man asked with an annoyed expression. "Listen girl, you can't just set a fire in the middle of a public park—it doesn't matter if it's for some online challenge or whatever. So we'll have to ask you not to do it."
I didn't understand what he was talking about with an 'online challenge' but I did understand that I couldn't set up a campfire in this garden—or public park, as they called it. "Very well… I will not use fire."
"We're going to need your ID as well," the second police man said to me, his annoyed expression just as strong as when he first came here.
I didn't really think much about it, as it was a thing that was asked for for everything in this world, so I pulled out the card and handed it over to him while keeping a close watch on what he did with it.
The man looked between my card and the glow on one of those phones. "As per the police code, you're getting a fine of fifty dollars for setting a fire in a public park, please pay it as soon as possible,"
"A fine?!" I questioned, taken aback as I knew full well that that was nothing more than a debt I owed the lord of this place. "Why do I need to pay a fine? I haven't done anything wrong!"
The police man that was pressing things on his phone sighed and ignored me, while the one that was next to me gave me a tightlipped smile. "Yeah… sorry but that's just the law."
I was taken aback and out of words. I thought that perhaps they would want a bribe or something like that, but without money to do anything, I couldn't even float the idea of doing that, and from their attitudes, it seemed as if they didn't even want it. I could only watch with a frown at how the man looked at my ID card for a moment before passing it back to me.
"You'll find the information on the fine and how to pay it by going to the police's website and searching with your ID. Please pay it as soon as possible," the one with the deep frown said before turning and leaving.
"W-wait, I don't even know what a website is," I said, almost matching the frown on the police man that just left.
The one that was still close to me laughed—seemingly thinking that I was joking—as he also started leaving, ignoring what I said. I was left alone in the park again, looking down at the ID card. I couldn't help but think that I shouldn't have given that man my ID card, but I wasn't one to cause trouble with guards, which is something that never happened, since as the Hero of the Holy Gods, they would always make things easier for me.
I sighed heavily and sat back down in the same place I was, now left mostly in the cold of the night as everything else was slightly illuminated by the city lights. I must not have been that long since I lay down on the ground to sleep, since my mana hadn't fully recuperated, and the sky was just as dark as before, so it should still be a few hours before the sun comes out again.
Accommodating myself as best as I could on the cold ground, I closed my eyes and tried to get some rest, which was going to be somewhat difficult, since the detection magic I placed before had been used already, leaving me alone to be on the lookout for the night. But I had been used to that as well, so I should make the best out of this.
There was just one thought in my mind…
I should've kept on looking for that building…