Chapter 2 - The City of Freedom

I navigated my way through the forest, which I now knew to be the Whispering Woods. Tied to my back was Reid, whom I decided to carry with myself like any sane person would. On my way, I tried to not think about the more pressing matters for now, because I had decided that I will think about them when I'm back to the little apartment that I was renting. There were plans forming in my mind, but I did not want to dwell on them yet.

When I passed nearby the Cider lake right before the bridge that led to the city gate, I stopped for a moment to take in and enjoy the beautiful sight of the sunset that made itself appear in the eyes of Teyvat's citizens. It was a sight to see, the red wavelength from the sun that got reflected from the lake's surface could give someone an illusion that they were standing in a sea of blood.

The sight brought me a sense of nostalgia. I had often been through Cider lake during sunsets when I used to play the game, thus got to see this beautiful sight multiple times in that stylized world. Now, to see it right in front of my eyes in reality made a feeling well up in my heart. It was hard to explain, but standing there, I felt more homeliness than Kazemaru had ever felt before in Monstadt.

This was a realization for me. But then again, in hindsight, it did make sense. After all, no matter how much of a wonder child he might have been, he still had a place to call home in this world unlike someone like me. The closest place I could think of as home in this world would be Monstadt. That is where the Traveller's adventure started, and that is where we all began our journey. The streets of Monstadt were still etched in my mind to such a degree that I could go around the city blindfolded. Not that I would take that dare, of course.

Taking in that beautiful sight, I let out a sigh of content.

After that, I walked back towards the city. The medieval bridge that arched over the lake was an incredible sight in itself. Compared to the scaled down versions in the game, the monuments in this world had a majesticity to them which one could only witness with their eyes. I almost felt like this trip back to the city had gone from a simple walk to a sightseeing trip.

Out of habit, which I was not sure, whether it came from Kazemaru or me, I was expecting to see a child feeding pigeons on the side of the bridge. But seeing his absence, I realised that it was already sunset, and the guards must have ushered him inside the city to his home.

Deciding not to take any longer, I hurried the rest of my way inside the city, only to slow down as I entered the gates. This place, it was gigantic. Even though I had Kazemaru's memory fragments, they could not prepare me for the otherworldly sight of those huge windmills that towered the city. I could only stare in wonder with my mouth open in astonishment. It would take me a moment to realise that people were staring at me, which made me cough in embarrassment. I also felt a bit conscious of the huge claymore on my back, so I ran left to the small residential buildings in the city.

There it was, the one bedroom Kazumaru, or now, I, was renting. It was a family home, and I lived in the single bedroom on the ground floor, while the owner lived in what was a 3-bedroom apartment on the first.

The reason the ground floor only had one bedroom was simple. It's because they constructed it in such a way that they could live together on the first floor and have one extra bedroom on the ground floor in case someone may want to rent it, or they get guests. The rest of the area on the ground floor was a big hall and dining area with two big bathrooms and toilets. The hall gave a person a sense of freedom even inside the house.

Now, the house, while it was no mansion, it was homely.

The owner's family had him, his wife, and their two young children, one of whom was an 8-year-old boy, and the second being his 10-year-old sister. They were quite wholesome people who lived in harmony. They let me rent their home at a relatively small price for a month, which thankfully, Kazemaru, or now, I, was able to pay. How? Due to Kazemaru's savings from his time in Sumeru and what he earned from picking flowers, mushrooms, plants, and so many other things from the wild. While it was nowhere near enough to sustain a person's living, it was enough to pay my rent.

Now, one might think, just how much savings Kazumaru must have had to be able to live this leisurely. Well, it turns out, being a researcher under a Dastur paid quite well, and because most of one's needs, like food and resident were taken care of by the academia, researchers had a lot of money to save. For now, I still seemed to have enough to sustain me for 2 more years, but now, I had plans. Plans that would require the usage of Mora.

But that will be taken care of later, now, I just wanted to have a hearty meal and relax. And I was really thankful to the landlady, who offered to cook extra meals for Kazumaru when she noticed that he never cooked, and only bought food from the Good Hunter. She said it was a waste of money for him to buy food from outside every day when they could just cook a person's extra. Since that day, Kazemaru had eaten with them regularly.

When I reached home, I went straight to my bedroom to hide Reid in the most inconspicuous place I could find. Then, it was time to freshen up. I went to the bathroom and washed myself. Thankfully, the house had hot water for the bathtubs, which allowed me to take baths after mean at night.

Seeing that it was more than an hour before dinner, I decided now was a good time to think about things. I informed the landlady that I was going out on a walk, and will be back by the time dinner is served. I climbed up the stairs that lead to the City Centre, where the giant statue of a certain bard overshadowed the land.

Now that I was out, sitting comfortably on a stone chair, as wind caressed my cheeks, I could finally let go of the breaks I had put in my mind about this situation. The breaks that let me live the day till now on autopilot.

---

First things first, I had died. I needed to come to terms with that. From my experience with Isekai fiction, there was little to no chance for me to go back home, even more so because I had died and not directly transmigrated. Even Klein Moretti had no hopes of going back, when he didn't even die in his Earth.

Even more so, I could only be glad that I was Isekai'd to Teyvat thankfully, and not the world of Od Laguna. Because god forbid, even with Reid, I wouldn't be able to survive in that world. So, it was best for me to grab whatever silver lining I could find and accept the facts around this weird phenomena.

Next thing for me to consider was, what I would do now. Kazemaru had died, and I could either be stubborn and continue to work on his legacy as a researcher, or I stop that train of life, and think of what else I could do. Now, I had two reasons to do the latter, the main being, I had little interest in botany, and the secondary one being, even with Kazumaru's memories fragments, I lacked the knowledge he had. Because they were just that, fragments.

So, with this aside, now I had to think about what I was going to do in this world. There were many professions I could try. I could continue with my current habit of gathering and become a professional salesman, or I could start hunting and become one of those hunters from Springvale. Or, addressing the elephant in the room, I could become an adventurer.

Of course, the thought of becoming a Knights of Favonius came to my mind, but considering my status as a foreigner, I doubt I will be eligible for it.

Of course, just in case, even if I could become a Knight, it would still pale in comparison to being an adventurer. Because then, I won't have the absolute freedom that an adventurer has. But there was only one problem in this idea, at least it appeared to be a problem to me. It was that I had no vision, and most of the successful adventurers had visions. Not that that was always true. But still, this heart desired more.

But, if I think about the assets I had right now, the greatest one would be Reid. While I wouldn't be able to use it until I'm facing someone really strong, it was still my strongest card. And the fact that I was Isekai'd with Reid, I felt like someone was instigating me to pick up that weapon and go on a journey that will involve violence and dispute.

While that didn't bother me in the game, this was reality. If I decided to be an adventurer, I will eventually have to hurt, and maybe even kill too. So this needed resolve, a resolve to continue no matter how bitter things get. As long as there was one person left to fight for, including myself, I will fight; that is what I had to tell myself. Of course, I would not actively seek a fight against humans, but if required, I will need to make sure that I don't step back.

For now, I had no reason to have a resolve like that, but even so, I wanted to be an adventurer. Maybe I could try it, as a hobby, as a recreational activity, or just as a way to earn some Mora. But the no matter what, I just had this desire to be an adventurer. However the way I called it though, the real reason I wanted to be an adventurer wasn't something that inexplicable. In truth, it was more immature, more childish, for it was simply because I thought that the adventurers were cool. And, if I could fight like the heroes I had seen in various media, read of in stories, it would be sooo super cool!

I couldn't help but feel second hand embarrassment from my own thoughts. Well, I guess now it was done, I was going to be an adventurer, no matter what. And for what reason exactly? Well, to fulfil this selfish, yet childish desire of mine of course.

So, now, the first thing that I will be doing tomorrow is to register myself as an adventurer to the adventurer's guild, and meet sweet bot lady Katheryne too. Then, I will be buying a claymore which I can use to train myself in the way of sword and use in adventuring.

But right here, at this moment, I was hungry, and I was going to have a meal. Having finally cleared my thoughts, I got up from the chair. I looked up at the tall, high statue of Barbatos and couldn't help but think of a certain wind borne bard. The bard who secretly kept an eye on his people without them even knowing.

I dusted my pants and walked my way back to the outer area of the city where I lived. When I reached, I knocked on the door twice. A few moments later, a child roughly 4 feet tall opened the door to welcome me inside.