Arianell lay comfortably on the cart pulled by an ox. It was a rough ride, but she enjoyed the rural feeling.
After leaving the merchant group behind, she walked until dark before she arrived at the first settlement. It was an unofficial village with more tents than buildings, people there were grumpy and unfriendly to strangers.
All the villages in the west were like this. She walked past three days until she finally found an old man with an ox cart, who was heading to Deneb.
"I'm sorry, miss, it is goin' to bump all the way," the old man controlling the ox was apologetic. "I must say though, our village doesn't see visitors every day. What brings you to these forgotten parts?"
"I'm reuniting with my family here," Arianell lied. If anything, lying was the first thing she learned since leaving. It was extremely dangerous for a 16-year-old girl to wander alone. She lied and thought of excuses to evade people's eyes.
Deneb was one of a few cities built in the west. They are meant to be the last haven before the wilderness. It was a fortress with tall walls, but not everyone could afford to live inside the city's wall. A lot of the western residents were scattered outside without any help.
Arianell's house was also located out of the town.
As she covered part of her journey on foot, she couldn't see the changing landscape right away. But unlike her initial shock at the barren land, the environment did get slightly better. And the olive trees were scattered on the land.
"I have seen only olea trees in these parts, Is the west famous for olea fruits?" She asked the driver as she sat at the edge of the cart safeguarding supplies.
"Heh, famous?" The old man chuckled. "You can say so. In a negative way."
"Did you try to use it in cooking?" She inquired.
"Cooking, you say? The youngster has funny ideas these days… The fruits are inedible. It is extremely bitter. No matter how desperate you are, do not put those things in your mouth."
The driver thought back to his past, how children would use those fruits as a punishment.
"My grandfather said there used to be a lot of oleas. Nothing else would grow around here. However, trees stole the water from the land, so oleas were cut down to preserve the moisture in the soil. It was too late though, the land already died."
Arianell's mouth twitched as she heard that story again. She wanted to shout aloud, that trees are necessary to keep the water in land, but people only believed what their ancestors taught them. She was convinced by now, that the barren land is not a Goddess' curse, but human's stupidity.
After a few hours, as time slowly moved, they finally got close enough for her to get a clear view of Deneb. The city was named after the star of dreamers, yet the atmosphere was rather gloomy. The monumental black stone wall surrounding the city was as tall as a five-storey building and stretched far.
"The wall is said to withstand the attack of a thousand demons… Not that we had any chance to test it…" The man explained to the newcomer. "Demons has never crossed the Forest, so these walls are just for a show."
"Have you been in the Forest before?"
The driver looked at her as if he just heard a crazy thought.
"You seem to be young and naive, so I'm telling you… Keep away from the Forest. People curious enough die there. Even if you are hungry, it's still better than dying. Youngsters these days have strange ideas, so I'm warning you just in case. You never know when the curse will get you," he said dimly.
The closer you get to the Forest, the land becomes more and more fertile. Probably even more than the southern region called the granary of the kingdom. That's why people blinded by greed will enter that place without worries, thinking about the feast they can find inside. They never returned.
People believed that Forest was enchanted. It looks like a regular forest at first, but the deeper you go, the farther from life you will be. Eventually, Forest will swallow everything and never return it.
"We are here," the man stopped before the gate. "I can't take you any further, you need to go by yourself."
She got off the cart and parted away with an elderly man. They stood by the gate with soldiers on each side. Arianell took her luggage and tried to go inside, but one guard stopped her.
"Two silvers per entry."
What?!
That was too expensive!
"That's the rule for everyone. Unless you have an entry card."
She gave him two coins thinking about the unfair robbery.
Arianell planned to visit the city and its market, as she wanted to buy more supplies before looking for her house. Also, after eating stale bread and jerky for the past few days, warm food was first on her wish list.
"Ma'am! Please buy some newspapers. It's only two copper."
The little child maybe only a 10-year-old stopped her. She looked at a girl with an extremely thin arm, that was basically just skin and bone.
Copper coins was even less valuable than the bronze one, it was the same equivalent as cents in her old world. Two copper won't probably buy the child a single piece of bread.
Arianell took out her leftover food and handed it to the little girl.
The child was stunned at first, then hesitantly moved her hand towards the packet.
"It's okay, you can take this."
The girl looked into her eyes briefly, then grabbed the food quickly and ran away, in case Arianell changed her mind.
Arianell picks up the newspaper on the ground. It was a few days old edition that someone already read and tossed away. Children from the slum will collect them and try to sell them again to earn a little change.
The news of count Randel's passing was on the front page. The previous count wasn't a well-known figure in the nobles' society and the county was far from the capital, but commoners love stories about his heroic deeds. His death was a huge blow as it meant that demons had claimed another territory and were getting closer to the human world.
Those living in the west got more nervous every day as the news about the army retreat was delivered.
Arianell was calm. She read the newspaper as she strode along the street until she stopped before the tavern. Establishments like this were the perfect place to gather information. People not only talked about official news from daily newspapers but also gossiped a lot.
She always thought that no one could beat the gossiping aunties from her old world, but the various visitors to the pub proved her wrong.