On the way back we met a cute little fluffy rabbit who turned out to be, surprise surprise, a mimic. The story didn't last long, because the holy paladin quickly punished the monster and we continued on our way.
When we reached the place where we were attacked by the dragon, we told the story to Jeanne, to which she said with a degree of surprise, "dragons rarely attack wagons for nothing. You've either been very unlucky or the dragon was a sadist."
"One doesn't preclude the other," I laconically remarked, whereupon we continued on our way with the hope that the paladin's authority would allow us to earn the favor of the furries. Yeah, furries, I'm still not used to this name.
But as we began to approach the village, it was suspiciously quiet. There was no hum of village or nature life, no guards were visible nearby.
But as we got even closer, things only got worse. The furry houses built in, near, and on the trees were destroyed, not a single inhabitant could be found, and the grass was trampled with heavy rime.
"It looks as if the men from Surrik have come for them," said Jeanne.
"I agree with Captain Obvious," I nodded, walking into the nearest ground house.
"Hey, where are you going?" asked Jeanne.
"The residents have been kidnapped or even killed, they won't be using their stuff anymore," I remarked.
The interior was more like a bear den inside a large wooden box than a house. Light came only from the door I opened, and it was damp.
Four walls, a roof, and the floor was just plain earth turned into a pit filled with soft pillows, blankets, and fluff.
"Okay, I was wrong, there's nothing here," I sighed. Not only did I find nothing, but I also made myself look stupid.
"Ahem, if you want to find something, I suggest you look inside the kangaroo and mayor's houses," Adele said quietly.
"Adele!" yelled Jeanne. "Don't encourage him!"
"I'm sorry," replied Adele sincerely.
At this moment, Uncle Jack and Kyle had already headed inside the hollow and large trees, which had an entrance that was a two-meter high carved gate made of the same trees. After Adele's words, they clearly intended to raid the kangaroo houses, but I'll be the first!
"Et tu, Uncle Jack?!" exclaimed Jeanne, trying to stop the act of looting.
"Sorry, adventurer's instinct," said Uncle Jack calmly sipping from his flask. Where did he get so much alcohol?
I headed straight after them, not really trying to change Jeanne's mind, especially since she wasn't trying to really stop our attempts in any way.
***
Well... compared to the bear's den, the kangaroo's house looked more human, except for the utter devastation.
The bed was broken in two, the alchemy table was upside down, the glass that had once been flasks and jars lay haphazardly on the floor, the various liquids inside the flasks mingled into an incomprehensible mass of slime.
The house was a single room with a small pantry, which instead of a door was curtained with a gray cloth.
Of the furniture, besides the ruined table and bed, there was a closet with three shelves, built right into the wall, from which all the things, now lying on the floor, had been discarded.
The first thing I was interested in was a leather wallet, opening it I found a solid amount of coins of various colors.
There were about 20 copper coins of different denominations, from 1 to 10 and 4 silver coins with denominations from 1 to 5. I kept them for myself! I also took the wallet, so I didn't waste it...
There were also scraps of papers, folders, torn books that could not be read and wax candles. There was nothing else of interest.
Apparently, those who had made a mess here had already taken all the most valuable things, missing only the wallet with money.
Next, my eyes fell on the pantry.
Looking inside this very pantry, I found one large iron table, on which the now overturned boxes, scattered vegetables and fruits, as well as a single piece of meat in a... plastic bag were supposed to be located. Where did this plastic bag come from? Isn't it a fantasy world with magic?
There was also an ordinary cloth bag lying on the pantry floor. When I picked it up and shook it out, onion husks fell out.
Next, I put in some normal-looking fruits and some vegetables that could be eaten raw, namely carrots and radishes. Unfortunately, there were no cucumbers or tomatoes.
Meat is a perishable product, but I took it anyway. If something happens, I can always throw it away.
Coming out of the house I saw a marvelous picture. A huge hollow tree was home to hundreds of residents.
Directly across from me was another house carved out of the bark of the same tree. There was a way further up or down, which was a wide staircase, also carved from this tree. A true work of art.
Having gone further to the top I looked into other houses, but there the situation was quite deplorable: everything was destroyed and looted, even vegetables could not be gathered.
The same can be said about the mayor's house, which was at the very top of the housing complex. Well, it's time to go back.
Back on the street I was met by my companions, who were mostly discussing the small catch. I also told them that I hadn't found anything particularly valuable, but now we had some decent food just in case!
We might not even need it since we are close to the city, but if there is a way to avoid problems, even if they are unlikely, why not do it?
Jeanne looked glum at first, but as soon as I mentioned the food she started to look happier. Apparently, she didn't like the mimic's meat that much. We continued on our way.
"Adele, remember when you were talking about the system you mentioned that characteristics equal to zero and four don't show up, but what about mana?" I asked quietly.
She looked at me with surprise and interest.
"It's a well-known fact, mana is displayed from birth in those who have a predisposition to magic," she replied.
Very interesting. So, I can learn magic now?
"Can you tell me more about the levels?" I asked. "Everything you know."
She wasn't surprised by my question, but looked away thoughtfully, remembering details.
"A level is a measure of life experience, it usually takes a year or more to raise one level, with the more levels you raise, the harder it is to go further up. Sometimes you have to do more than just gain life experience," with those words she looked at the relatively young Jeanne.
Indeed, she could hardly look 25 years old, what did she have to go through to get to level 10?
"As the level increases, the stats also improve by about +10% of the current stats, if the number takes the form of a decimal, it's rounding up," she replied. "Also, higher levels open up access to learning more powerful spells and abilities."
Now everything made more sense.
"Thank you," I thanked her for her extended answer.
She blushed and turned away in embarrassment as we continued forward.
Gradually, the trees began to appear less frequently, until they disappeared altogether. Very soon we reached the city, now it was surrounded by walls of wooden beams, but not completely.
The section we came to was still unfinished. Some of the timbers were lying on the ground, while others were not level and were about to fall. There were no workers or guards in sight.
After looking around a bit, we walked around the wall and entered the city.
As we entered, we were greeted by buildings made of wood and less often stone, music was coming from the distance, there were few people around and no one paid much attention to us.
"It seems that Surrik has defeated the furry invasion and has begun to rebuild the city walls to avoid any other incursions from the forest," Adele pronounced.
"Indeed," I nodded in agreement.
"You didn't find your gear in their village, did you?" questioned Jeanne, but without waiting for an answer she continued, "you can contact the mayor's office or the adventurer's guild, perhaps your things are there now."
"What about you?" I asked Jeanne.
"I need to go back to my Order and report everything, but I still have to warn the locals about the changes in the forest, so I will need to visit the mayor," Jeanne replied with a solemn expression on her face.
"Then let's stop by the guild first, it's closer, and then straight to the mayor," Kyle suggested, which was clearly not his style. He usually frowned and remained silent.
"We can do that," I nodded approvingly; maybe he's not such an asshole after all?
On our way to the guild, we encountered various unsavory individuals: dirty homeless people, drunks celebrating a victory, and most disgusting of all, furries without skins hanging from lampposts!
The stench was unbearable! It was full of flies, and the view was just nightmarish! Some passers-by, mostly children with sticks in their hands, came up to the carcasses and hit them like piñatas. Sometimes 'treats' in the form of maggots, small rodents and rot were spilled out of them.
Absolutely every one of us winced at the stench and disgust, except maybe Kyle. Considering his traits, he only winced at the stench, probably.
"Here it is, the guild," Uncle Jack said in a wistful voice.
"Thank God, let's go in, hurry up!" exclaimed the paladin pressing her palm to her nose.
To be honest, it wasn't much better inside. But at least it smelled of alcohol and sweat, not corpse rot.
This place was still dark and damp, and the stares of the local adventurers were still just as unfriendly.
"Oh, look, it's the Real Ass and his drinking buddy!" shouted the female receptionist who'd given me the task.
Upon hearing her caustic comment, everyone in the room started laughing furiously, the drunken stupor making their laughter more obnoxious and inadequate.
"Kyle, are you-..." the obese female receptionist started to address Kyle as he interrupted her abruptly.
"One more word and I'll gut you and hang you on a lamppost next to these animals!" he shouted to the whole hall.
The woman flinched at the unexpected threat and her face turned pale with fear. The hall once again erupted into laughter, drunken whistles and approving howls.
When things had settled down and the guests had returned to their drinks, we walked to the front desk as a group.
The woman's face was still pale, up close you could see she was already sweating.
"W-what can I do for you?" she asked stammeringly.
"We're looking for things that were taken from us by the furries," I said calmly, smiling slightly at the sight of this woman. In a way, she deserved it!
"S-sorry, we don't have them," the woman replied, "however, the mayor recently issued a mission to find the owners of some lost items. There's no specifics in the task, you'll have to go to the mayor's office, maybe it's your stuff?"
"Perhaps," I continued to smile, then turned around and walked towards the exit.
At first I had the thought of thanking Kyle for putting the bully in her place, but then I dismissed the idea. After all, he was defending his own honor when it came to him, not me.
"I'll restock," Uncle Jack said before leaving, obviously referring to the stockpile of alcoholic beverages.
I didn't bother to stop him, instead continuing my walk. I didn't feel like drinking alcohol right now, I had already managed to quench my thirst during my morning wash.
When we left the building, a fog had managed to descend on the city, though there was no sign of it at all before.
Cheering shouts suddenly began to echo through the city, and the lamppost near the guildhouse that had recently had the corpse of a furry hanging from it was now empty, though stained with blood.
I tried to look around, but other than my companions and the building behind me, I saw nothing... Wait!
"Where's Kyle?!" I exclaimed.