The Village
Isaac had been in the hospital with Isabella for two days. He had learned useful information while Sister Cateline and Isabella conversed during the daily check-ups and meals that Sister Cateline would make for Isabella. Isaac had learned that Isabella was the owner of the village's bakery, and he learned this information from the conversations between the two. He had learned that Isabella while she couldn't be considered to be the richest in the village by any sort, was still able to make enough money to get by, and then some more, due to her famous bread recipes that were passed down from her deceased mother. The entire bakery itself can be seen as an inheritance, for it has been passed down family generation lines. Her mother had originally owned the bakery when she was young, and her grandmother was the previous owner of the same bakery. Not only did Isaac learn of this, but he had also learned more about the hierarchy of the church. The role of a priest, as he expected, was pretty high up in the church, even more so, if a priest were to ever show a talent for the arcana of healing or life, as Sister Cateline had said, they would be able to gain the title of archbishop, and if they became well respected enough, a pope.
"It is probably not in my best interest to become the pope of a church, I rather pursue knowledge on magic instead of being tied to a church in this new world. But being a priest would put me on the same level as Sister Cateline, maybe I can learn magic from her in the future". As Isaac pondered more about his future goals in the new world, a small child with blonde hair in a ponytail, around the age of 8 or 9 walks into the room Isabella and Isaac had been staying in and gives her news that excites Isaac.
"Mrs. Isabella, Sister Cateline has sent me here to tell you that you are free to leave the church at any given moment, there are no problems that we can find that would make us want to keep you any longer. Do remember to visit us, we will miss you, Mrs. Isabella"! The small girl says happily, before waving off to Isabella and returning the way she originally came. Isabella smiles slightly before looking down at Isaac and taking his wrapped body, and getting up out of the chair she was sitting in, heading throughout the hall of the church. Isaac could see that the church had many different places, Isaac saw multiple children reading what looked to be a holy book, and multiple nuns going to and from different places in the church. The church seemed busy, but it might have just been the imagination of Isaac, who had never really been to church, more than a couple of times in his previous life. Isaac finally had gotten to see through the outside of the church and the scene he saw outside was equivalent to a bustling street. There were people all around outside, children were playing outside, running and chasing after each other, there were stands outside the homes, with constant shouting about deals or prices. Adults would be walking around, and Isaac even saw a group of knights leading a man in a set of expensive robes across the cobbled pathway to what he assumed was the huge mansion in the distance that was the only building of its type he could see.
As Isabella walked the cobblestone pathway through the village, she was greeted and congratulated by a lot of the stand owners, assumingly who Isabella knew due to her career as a bakery owner. Isaac had been viewing all the sights he could take in until he and Isabella stopped at a double-sized building that had a sign with a metal symbol that resembled a loaf of bread. Isaac and Isabella had made it to the bakery, the place where Isaac would spend most of his time in this new world. Isabella pulls a key out of a pocket that seemed to be sewn on her dress and opened the door to the bakery, releasing the soft and tantalizing scent of fresh bread into the air, and filling Isaac's nostrils, invoking a sense of hunger in Isaac, causing his stomach to rumble. Isabella hearing the rumbling of his stomach looks down and plays with his stomach by lightly tickling it before saying, "Is someone a little hungry"? She giggles as she says this before walking through the bakery up a flight of stairs, and setting Isaac down in what looked like to be a pre-modern crib made of wood, with pillows on the inside of it, instead of a standard mattress. When Isabella left the room, Isaac had tried to move his body around to see if he could get used to his newborn body, but he found that it was extremely hard to even move his legs and arms in the way he is normally used to.
"It seems I need to practice for some months to get the hang of my body moving again, I can't let Isabella see me move around too early otherwise it might draw unnecessary attention to myself, I doubt a newborn being able to walk in a month or two would be considered normal even in a world full of magic". Isaac thinks while continuing to try to move his body around before he gets tired, causing his face to become slightly red and puffy.
"Yeah, I need to get the hang of being a baby". Isaac rolls his small, adorable, eyes before deciding to crawl closer to the edge of the crib seeing as it was much easier to crawl than to walk. Grabbing onto two wooden railings of the crib, he attempts to pull himself up his feet, using the railing as an anchor for himself. After almost less than half a minute of pulling, he was able to pull himself to his two feet.
"Sucess! Oh...W-wait WAIIIIIITTTTT"! Though Isaac was able to successfully get up on his two feet, his weight had caused the crib to topple, causing a thumping sound to occur as he fell to the ground alongside the crib. Isaac rubs his head using his tiny hand, feeling a slight bump that looks quite comical from an outside perspective.
"That hurt like hell, babies don't have any resistance". Isaac thought before making a somewhat stupid look realizing the stupidity of the thought in his head. What are babies supposed to resist? A nuclear bomb? Hearing the sounds of footsteps, Isaac panics slightly not knowing what to do in the heat of the moment before doing what babies are most known for doing a superb job of.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH"! Yes, Isaac's great plan was to cry as to not throw suspicion on himself. While Isaac didn't know if the fall theoretically should make a baby cry, he didn't want to take the chance in the first place. Isaac was everything if not paranoid in a new world where getting exposed could result in his demise, or maybe even worse being experimented on. "No matter the world or place, evil will still plague it like the stink of a sock that has gone a month without wash". Isaac thinks as he continues to fake cry as Isabella walks in and picks him up from the floor".
"Poor baby, Mama's sorry for leaving you in here all by yourself like that". Isabella speaks softly to Isaac in a heartfelt tone. Isabella cradles and rocks Isaac back and forth in her arms as she whispers sweet things to him until Isaac ends up closing his eyes. Isabella lays Isaac back in the cradle, before staring at the orange sun almost setting in the sky. "If only he was still here to watch this sunset with me". Isabella says softly before a small tear glides down her face. She catches the tear before it falls all the way down before replacing her saddened look with a smile as she stares at the sleeping Isaac with a smile on her face. After doing so she walks out of the room back into the bakery, assumingly to continue her work. Opening his eyes, Isaac leans up slightly in the crib, thinking back on what he had heard.
"If only he was here?" Isaac thinks as he ponders about who this possible he could be. His father, or maybe a person completely unrelated to the family that Isabella had met? Isaac wasn't sure what to think, but he knew it would take years to learn about what seemed to be a sensitive topic for Isabella as it wasn't appropriate at this moment in time. Noticing the darkening surroundings, Isaac found that he was becoming more and more tired, so he fell into slumber quickly after shutting his eyes once more. The village grew silent as night fell upon the entire village, making the village dark and absent.
Three months have passed since Isaac has first arrived in this new world, his life hasn't changed even a single bit from when he first arrived, but Isaac was able to relearn how to walk with his new body within a month of being in the world. This has allowed Isaac to gain some mobility in the world, though of course, he doesn't plan on letting Isabella know that he can walk on two feet yet. "It would be extremely weird for any newborn to walk on two feet within only three months of being born. I guess it doesn't have to be the same in this world, but better not risk it".
Isaac had heard many things within these three months, sometimes just the gossip of his mother and other men and women of the village, pleasantries, and gratitude whenever Isabella sold bread to the people of the village, but there were far more interesting things he had learned. Isaac had learned of the existence of a library in the village from a worker in the village who was telling Isabella about how he wishes that Isaac will grow up to be an avid reader, as he doesn't see many new faces go to the library frequently. While a village library might be a very normal thing, it was still a jackpot lottery for the one million dollar prize for Isaac. Knowledge is power, and if he can somehow get to the library, he will be able to learn much more in this world, whether that be the history of this world, the history of magic, or even maybe about how to acquire magic.
"I should mark out my goals in order, I have completed being able to move around already. My second goal should be to get a general geographical idea of the entirety of the village. I am most likely going to be in this village for a long amount of time, I'm not even sure what I want to do with this new life of mine, but there's one thing for sure. I can't afford to waste time just lazying around. I should try to cry to get Isabella's attention and point outside, maybe she will realize I want to be taken outside". Isaac ponders while standing up in his crib holding his chin with a thoughtful expression on his face. As he hears the door to the bakery open, he immediately lays down and pretends to be sleeping as Isabella walks inside while carrying the basket of items for the bakery and the house. She picks up Isaac and Isaac acts as he has just woken up while in her arms.
"How's the love of my life been doing all day. I hope you haven't gotten too lonely without me being back here all day". Isabella cradles Isaac in her arms while looking at him warmly while walking slowly around the room. Isaac puts his plan in motion and points towards the window while making a face as if he's about to cry. Isabella who saw Isaac's face almost immediately understood him and scooped Isaac up into her arms while wrapping him in some cloth so that he couldn't move. "Does someone want to go outside"? Isabella asks while mimicking the pointing Isaac did. Isaac just made cute baby noises with a smile on his face as if confirming what Isabella had just said to be true. "Well, why not, going outside for some fresh air is probably good for babies". Isabella says to herself as she begins to go outside of the bakery and lock the door to the bakery.