The place looked quite familiar with the same plain views all around it, the short and wide wooden houses, gravel or dirt pathways with some kids running around by the sight of farmers and shepherds who were going to work. Our carriage was swarmed by people immediately either due to an unexpected visit from our side or the peculiarity of this merchant's travel companions, after all, one of them was an elf dressed in exotic clothes.
The crowd was getting larger, gazes of excitement and curiosity were universal, especially those of kids who were waving at us. Faust answered their enthusiasm with a wave of his own, along with Riaz, who also giggled at them. Then, the crowd split in two and forward came an older man whose head was bold, but chin hidden by a grey beard. He knocked with his walking stick on the ground and whispers slightly toned down, then he observed us all and smiled.
"Welcome, travellers, as I can see you lot are going to the city of Ultur?" said the old man, the crowd looked at us, with some people looking elsewhere, as if trying to tone down the attention we received. The voice of this man was hoarse, but weirdly monotonous, as if he had said this line many times before.
"That's right, I really hope that you happen to have some kind of free rooms or at least empty stalls that we can use?" asked the merchant, and I was already prepared for the worst, as even I never slept in stalls. I could see the troubled smile on Riaz's face, however, neither Nila nor Faust were really troubled by this possibility. Especially Nila, as she was silently reading the book and letting everyone else deal with the negotiations.
"Yes, yes, of course. We have three houses empty… at the other end of this village." the old man nodded a few times, then turned to the crowd and observed it a little before continuing, "I would like to have Layla here."
The crowd split in two once again, their smiles unwavering, as they let a young woman pass through towards us. They truly were united, which was a common occurrence for villagers, as everyone knew each other well. In the end, even that village back at Schöltum had people who understood and supported each other, however, these people seemed somewhat off. I could not tell whether it was a matter of culture or my lack of overall knowledge regarding people at places like this one, but I felt like their smiles were way too welcoming, especially in the part of the region where people were reportedly disappearing.
But either way, their weirdness did not bother me that much, since we would not stay here for too long anyway. Once the woman in a light white dress and a flower crown presented herself before us, she pointed at the other end of the village and came forward. The merchant pulled the lead and horses came after her at a much lower speed. By this clapping of the hooves we moved out of the crowded road, some villagers were waving at us once more, especially children. Some of them even followed us by asking questions such as, "Where are you from?", "Where are you going?", "Is there anyone else who will come soon?", "Are there only 5 of you?" and so on.
The woman who was leading us, Layla, giggled at their eagerness to learn more about newcomers. Naturally, Faust was the one to answer every single one of these questions, although his answers were unusually dry, but the merchant managed to add better details, especially for the last couple of questions.
Once kids ran off elsewhere, Layla turned to us and smiled, "Excuse us for such ruckus, dear travellers. Folks here are always excited upon seeing new faces around."
Faust shook his head and returned the smile, "No trouble at all, it's good to see such a friendly community. You all are like a family here!"
The woman chuckled at his words and replied, "Well, we definitely are a big family, we did not have a chance to spread out yet."
As I understood, she meant their inability to move out of the village to find a better life. After all, it was hard for a country bumpkin to compete against professionals who breathe the city life. Usually, those kinds of places were unforgiving, especially because they tend to breed crime and delinquency among those who failed to adapt. That's why not everyone would take the risk of moving out of their well known hometown.
Riaz nodded a few times to her words, then leaned back and calmly said with his hands crossed, "It must be especially tough to spread out with those spooky rumours around regarding the disappearance of people on their way to Ultur."
"Ooooh, that's right! How are your people coping with this type of stuff?" raised his brow merchant and leaned forward. The woman turned around and simply smiled, "The rumours are only rumours, but it really is hard to deal with persistent eyes of officials who come by here. But anyway, are you heading to Ultur?"
Riaz hummed at her words and nodded, so did the merchant who happily explained our pathway, "That's right! We came here from the city of Wohr. I want to sell some goods at the dwarven town, but due to these rumours, I was required to have mercenaries by my side. And look at that! We did not even see any outposts by the road! Those pesky officials make up new rules, but have zero care about regulating them."
Layla giggled at the merchant's words, but did not say anything further. After this small chat, we continued our path to the end of the village that was getting closer to us with each step. At one point, we were passing some houses in the distance with overgrown pathways towards them along with unattended windows and porches, as a result, these few houses looked quite run down.
Faust called out to the woman and pointed at these houses, "Is this where we will be staying?"
The woman looked over at the houses, but then giggled and extended her hand towards newer looking houses forward from us, "You will be staying there, as for these houses… their inhabitants died long ago, and now we use them as a storage."
After conducting us to the guest houses and helping the merchant to tie his horses, Layla waved at us and followed the sunset back to the village. There were three houses in total, the smaller one with a stall where horses were stationed was given to the merchant, Nila and I settled in the middle house, while Faust and Riaz took the rightmost house. But of course, before the night actually set down, our new team members barged into our house, disrupting the peace and my studies. Nila was not really bothered by their presence, the book she read in the carriage remained in her hands while the two lousy guests were trying to entertain us with small talk.
"The hospitality here is truly marvellous! I did not expect for people here to be so open-minded about strangers, considering the rumours around the place." exclaimed Faust while sitting on my bed and peeking at the kids book I was reading. It was quite embarrassing to show, since I was no longer a kid, but it really was my current level of word comprehension, thus I had to withstand his annoying smirk.
Riaz sat by the wooden table on the only chair around. He found a kettle on the stove and, as a result, prepared some of his exotic tea for everyone present, but Nila was the only one who accepted his offering. Upon hearing Faust's words, Riaz replied, "That's right, they are really cheerful for someone living at a place where people disappear… I also never heard the church bells here."
"Were they supposed to play?" I raised my brow, to which Nila took a sip of her tea and replied while still drilling the book with her eyes, "The evening service should have started a while ago, but since I never heard church bells, I assumed that they simply do not have a church here."
"Yet, I saw a priest in the crowd." Raised his finger Riaz, then he lowered his head and continued, "And their manner of speech, their body language… it just all feels off."
I could understand where Riaz was coming from, in the end, I also suspected that these people were way too welcoming for their own good, although I didn't really notice anything strange in their words or movements. I was about to dismiss Riaz's concern as just a false alarm, but then Faust also revealed his feeling of unease, "To be honest, I also feel bad vibes from this place. They certainly want us to stay here, but it almost feels like their wish does not align with kindness of heart. Maybe they would ask for a large sum of money once we try to leave the place?"
The last suggestion Faust made with a scoff, it would certainly make things much easier, moreover, such a goal made a lot of sense, considering their position within the rumours. But then, Nila raised her eyes from the book and tilted her head, "I didn't really notice anything out of place, I believe you all are just overthinking."
"But are we? This is a three to one at the moment." retaliated Riaz, then Faust added, "I do not think all three of us would go insane at the same time."
"Well, the merchant did not complain either." said Nila and dropped on her bed, further burying herself in the book. Both Riaz and Faust contemplated the situation for a while, I also decided whether there was a reason to ease down concerns or not. I squeezed the gemstone where Solitaire was residing, only now did I realise how long it had been since we spoke last time. He did not even have a chance to have a glance at our new companions. Maybe he would hint at some kind of bad omen that was hidden in this village? But if it really was a grave danger, would not his pesky smile express such concern in his usual playful words?
And while I was considering a way to wake up my pocket ghost, Faust suddenly stood up and announced, "Very well! Then to make sure that we and this village is safe, we will establish a night watch!"
Riaz giggled nervously and shook his head, while Nila sighed and expressed her opinion on this idea, "Pass."