There were stalls of sellers waiting for people to buy something, not going out of their way to draw in customers. As we walked, and people noticed us, some gasped quietly, and others hurriedly ran away.
I look over at Erica and can't tell what she's thinking because of the mask. However, I still say,
"I think these were important people. We should probably change."
Her face turns to me, and she nods. As we near what looks to be a city center square, we see many more people moving about, but it is still as quiet and uninviting as ever. When people see us, they rush into their houses.
Most of them were built of stucco and wood, with thatched roofs. In contrast, other more established buildings were 2-3 stories and made of stone or a brick-like stone.
I was interrupted by the large *dong* of a bell ringing through the streets. All the people start rushing about in a hectic manner, and we start getting bumped around, and the crowd of people running around us starts drawing us apart.
Through the slits of my helmet, I see Erica growing further. I reach through the group, trying to find her again, and I feel something grab my hand, and I pull towards it. Before I knew it, Erica and I were holding hands, and the rushing crowd had died down. Erica says,
"Mind if we keep holding hands? Just in case it happens again."
I couldn't help but smile and chuckle a little before saying, "Sure we can," with a nod of my helmet.
After walking for a while, trying to find a place to drop the armor, we run into a group of armed guards surrounding what looks like a maid with cat ears. Before we can turn away, the girl spots us and runs over to us, leaving her guards behind.
The maid had short black hair that went to her neck and seemed as lively as her bonding over to us; her ears were the same black as her hair but had small white tufts coming out but seemed lower than expected. She quickly jumps into a bow when she gets within talking distance and looks up at us.
"We have finally found you! We heard you returned from battle, but we couldn't find you anywhere. Please come back to the castle. One of the church's ambassadors has arrived."