Chapter 1. Where Am I?

A/N :This is my first work ever so if my story might be bad, so please bear with me.

T/N: This is my first time making a story and this work of mine was made because of a lot of stories so I kinda get my inspiration from them.

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Catherine POV.

It hurts my back hurts, for some reason my back really, REALLY hurts so I tossed around in my sleep, hoping to get more comfortable. I tried to go back to sleep but I couldn't seem to get comfortable no matter how much I tossed and turned. In the end I decided to get up and start my day since I couldn't get back to sleep no matter how much I tried to.

I opened my eyes and what I saw was a vast green forest surrounding me. I turned my head around and I saw a beautiful blue lake on my right side. Did I just sleep outside? I thought to myself that,

No wonder my back hurts so bad, I've been sleeping on the ground like this... I massage my poor aching back hoping it to lessen the pain.

But... something doesn't feel right, the last thing I remember was...

"Eh? I'm pretty sure I went to sleep in my bed, yesterday."

Anyway for the time being let's try to remember what happened yesterday.

"Yesterday I attended class for a whole day, then as I was going home, mom called me and asked me to get some groceries and so I went to the convenience store to buy some at 6:00p.m and arrived at home safely by 6:30p.m. I had dinner with my family, took a bath and I guess I finally fell asleep at maybe 10:00p.m? Since tomorrow was weekend, I went to bed, late. That's all I can remember."

Yup. Just my usual daily routine in life.

"So... Where am I exactly?!?!?!" I finally can't contain myslef and asks myself while panicking,

I looked around frantically.

"Just what the hell is happening.."

Am I dreaming or did I sleepwalk here? But even if it is dream I wouldn't feel the pain indicating my poor aching back and even if I did sleepwalk, I lived in a big city and there was no forest like this nearby.

"Anyway, just standing here and doing nothing is useless. It's better if I try to explore this area. Who knows, maybe I might be able to find someone here."

I peered at the lake right in front of me. The lake was so beautiful, the water was crystal clear I could even see the fish swimming around.

"I'm so thirsty.. I wonder if the water is safe to drink..?"

I didn't know the exact time but I guess it had been few hours since I woke up?

No wonder my throat feel so dry.

I wanted to drink this water but I didn't know whether the water was safe to drink or not.

"I'm going to drink it! If the water is this clear I'm sure it's going to be alright!"

I walked to the edge of the lake but although I said I'm going to drink it, I still felt a little bit hesitant.

What if I got stomach ache?

I scooped the water with both of my hands.

The water felt cold on my skin.

So nice, it must be refreshing if I were to drink it....

I braced myself up and gulped the water in one go.

Somehow the water tasted sweet, it was so delicious!

"Huh? Someone's here?"

My back stiffen when I heard someone speaking from behind me.

Turning my body around, I saw a handsome middle aged man.

His age.. around 30ish, I think.

He had dazzling brown hair that swayed with the wind. His face looked like a foreigner and he was carrying a fishing rod with him.

And he was really, really big. Probably around 2 metres tall?

"Umm..." I started, not sure what to say to this stranger in front of me.

"It's okay, I'm not a suspicious person, lass. My name is Theo. Theodoric Cleva. I'm the guild master from the Adventurer Guild in Pedestrell."

"A-ah.. My name is Kate. May I ask where is this exactly? Pedestrell? Where is that?" Yes I know that I lied but it's better safe than sorry. As I started to shoot barrage of questions to him.

"Kate? Umm, right now we're in a forest by the Pedestrell City."

Pedestrell City? Where was that? I never heard about Pedestrell City before.

"Actually, Theo-san I was sleeping in my house but when I woke up suddenly I ended up here."

"I don't quite understand but I guess you're lost, huh? Anyway are you hungry, Kate?"

Theo-san seemed like a nice guy. I kinda feel bad for lying to him but nevertheless, don't let your guard down.

"A lost child? I guess I am. Thank you for the offer! *grumble*" I blush in embarrassment as my stomach growled. Theo-san chuckled,

"Don't worry. My house is a little far away from here."

I nodded in embarrassment as I hold the culprit of my embarrassment, he soon began walking as I followed after him,

After 5 minutes of walking, I finally saw the road. I guess I was not that far deep into the forest yet, huh.

Another thing, I just realized that I was barefooted, well that was given after all, I was sleeping in my room.

There was nothing I could do so I had to bear with it.

Though, I was sure my feet was going to be bruised by the time we arrived at Theo-san's house.

At the very least I had to be careful so I wouldn't stab myself by stepping on a twig or something!

~*~

We had only walked for 30 minutes but Theo-san had already taught me a lot of things!

Apparently this world, Alazar was a world of magic and sword where there were elves and monsters roaming around the world.

I was definitely not in my home.

Heck, I was sure there was no place like this on earth!

This was a forest next to Pedestrell City, in the kingdom of Aspel.

And Theo-san was a local here.

Once every 5 years a person from different world would be transported into Alazar so this was a normal occurrence.

According to Theo-san, it seemed like I was one of those other world people.

Ah, my head hurts, why does it kinda remind me of those manga's I read where the main characters gets transportated into another world and so on.

What was more, at first I thought Theo-san was a foreigner who was fluent in my language but according to him I was the one speaking in the official language of Alazar.

I guess it was like auto translator? I heard Theo-san speaking the language and in return Theo-san heard me speaking in Alazar language.

The legal age in Alazar was 18 years old for both men and women and Theo-san here was actually 30 years old!

He didn't look like he already 30 years old at all!

Sadly, he thought I was only 15 years old even though actually I was already 18. I kinda feel like I'm being called short or even worse insulted.💢

The average height for male in Alazar was 200cm, for female is 180cm. No wonder he thought I was still a child since I was only 165 tall.

Thankfully this world used the same metric system back in earth and the measurement for time was the same too.

So I didn't have to learn new measurement system.

Sigh.. there was a lot of new information to absorb.. My head felt like it was going to explode.

~*~

Finally we had arrived in Pedrell City. Thanks to Theo-san, I could go through the gate checking relatively easy.

We walked past the market, there was various stall selling all kind of things I had never seen before.

From food, clothes to knick knacks, everything was so interesting! As I was too busy I didn't notice the stares that were glued to me.

I was too busy getting fascinated by the various things here that I didn't realize we had already arrived at Theo-san's house. His house was not that far away from the market and it was really big. It was bigger than the average house I saw in Pedrell.

"Sorry, I haven't prepared anything since I didn't plan on receiving guest today. Please take a seat anywhere you want while I make some tea for you."

"Ah, thank you very much."

Theo-san took me to the dining room, there was 4 chair there so I sat on the chair closest to me.

I looked around the house inconspicuously. For a single man that had been living alone, Theo-san house was really spacious but also really tidy. Somehow, I kinda feel a little amaze for I have a brother who is like a living human pig, whereever, whenever he is, he always leaves a mess but aren't all boys like that, well that is until today.

While I was busy looking around, suddenly a cup of steaming brown liquid appeared in front of me.

It looked like the normal black tea from earth.

I was extremely parched when I drank the water from the lake so I didn't think much about it but now that I was in the right state of mind somehow I felt scared to drink something from another world.

Theo-san took the chair in front of me and stared at me, waiting for me to drink the cup he gave me. Since we had walked quite a distance, I actually felt thirsty but still, I was afraid to take the first gulp.

After a while, I finally gave up and I lifted the cup with both of my hands gently and blew the steam 'fuu fuu' like that.

"Ah! It's tea! Delicious!"

"I'm glad you like it. Actually this 'tea' was brought by an otherworlder too, like you. People will feel more at ease if they experience something familiar to them, right? I hope it will calm your nerves."

"Ah.. yes.."

After I heard that the tea was brought by an otherworlder, I drank the tea in one big gulp. To think this was actually the same tea from earth..

Theo-san was really a gentleman, he saved me from being lost, he even gave me tea because he wanted me to feel at ease. He was a really kind man.

"Kate, the thing that I told you before, about other worlder, do you understand it now?"

"Umm, the truth when I first heard it I felt skeptical because to me, you seem to be speaking my language. I thought I might be dreaming but the pain in my back, the thirst, the tiredness after walking, everything is real. After seeing the city, it finally sinked in. I guess I am in other world now."

Yes. I had no other choice but to believe that this was not earth.

After all, the people in here carried sword like it was normal thing to do, Theo-san included.

What was more, I wad just an ordinary student, there was no benefit for someone to try and trick me anyway but like I said it's best to be safe than sorry.

"It's okay to take everything slowly. I've met a couple of otherworlder that hurt themselves because they were confused and overwhelmed when they first came to Alazar. Actually it even surprised me that you can even stay calm in this kind of situation. "

Well it was normal to react in such a way.

It must had been hard to accept the whole concept of other world because that kind of thing only existed as fantasy in earth.

"Yes, I admit I was confused but I have no other choice but to give up and just accept it, right? I'm really blessed to be able to meet Theo-san, thanks to you explaining things to me, I can let the reality sink in slowly."

I was really blessed.

If I hadn't meet Theo-san, I would've went and got myself lost in the forest and probably die. I don't have any capability to life in the wilds so my survivability is close to zero.

"Ah well, you're actually my type, of course I would be willing to help."

"Pardon? What did you say?"

Theo-san said something but his voice was too low so it was hard for me to catch his words.

"Nothing! Don't mind it! Anyway, you're welcome to stay here while you get used to your new life. I live alone anyway and I have lots of empty room to spare."

"Eeeeh? I can't trouble you anymore than this.. I will look for a work that provides a live-in space for their employee, please I would feel bad if I were to intrude on you."

After all the things he had done to me, he was still willing to help me more? And what was more, wouldn't he feel afraid that I will steal something? I was a stranger you know!

"You really are very high spirited huh. Well there's an unspoken rule that the first person that found an otherworlder are required to take care of the otherworlder until they settle down. After all it's not everyday you find an otherworlder. So don't mind it."

Is that so.

To think there was that kind of rule regarding the otherworlder..

Theo-san continued, "And the people from the other world is much much smaller than the people in Alazar. Kate you look like 15 at most or maybe 12 years old! Even though you look like a child, you look really seductive! You're bound to get in trouble if I were to left you alone. That's why, it's okay for you to stay here until you settle in."

"Se-seductive? I don't really understand but if there's such unspoken rule like that, for now I will be in your care."

I guess I will be in Theo-san care for. now on.