Chapter 3 - After the War I

To witness a lizardman negotiate with a man with a beard and Angga's half height was mesmerizing for him. The scally person swayed his tail because he was trying to focus on grabbing some extra profit from the seller since he knew which goods had better quality. Unfortunately–or fortunately for the lizardman, dwarves people usually can't remember their initial price without any notepad. By this cold-blooded creature's observation, the notepad was nowhere to be seen, so he only needed to ask many questions about the dwarf's prices.

"How much is this meat?" The lizardman continues to look over everything laid before him to attract the customer.

"It's five golds. No less." The dwarf replied.

"Fair, but I'm interested in this fruit. I heard the stock of the grapes is going to diminish?"

"Yep, yep. So it's quite rare nowadays. You're lucky to witness a rare fruit before your eyes this evening! Due to its scarce quantity, because it's not their season yet, I can give you around seven golds."

"I've taken a liking of those fruit, you see. But I must check on this buckler behind you. Say, how much is that?"

"A keen eye is attached to your skull, dear customer. This lovely buckler can withstand any low-lever type of monster. Don't expect it to handle a superior attack than that. Still, judging its ability to handle most of the monsters' attacks around this town, seven gold is the best deal."

"Interesting. However, it isn't my time to get that excellent equipment of yours due to budget issues. Ah, right, I'm going to purchase this meat," the lizardman pointed at the first meat he asked for, "how much is it?"

"This one, ah–where did I put my notepad…"

"You said it was two golds before. I remember all."

"Are you certain, sir?"

"Never been sure before. I wouldn't lower your prices because I want to see us both prospering with anything we do."

"Thanks, sir, you can have it for two golds!"

"Deal!"

Both of them made the payment with a huge smile on their faces. Angga, who happened to be listening to that conversation, couldn't close his mouth until he realized Clara had been observing him, too.

"Hey, that short guy is going to make a loss here."

Clara folded her arms in front of her chest. It's pretty stuffy there. "Mind your words, Angga. That's rude. He is a proud people of Cuce, that's what they usually claimed."

"I'm sorry–but that's not the point. Is that okay, actually?"

"As long as both of the parties agreed, right? Hey, I suggest you take a walk around here since you've probably never seen anything about this place before, right? I saw your reaction, and it was fabulous."

Clara grinned while Angga wanted to hide away his embarrassment.

"S-Sure. But seeing how that lizard man is having a negotiation with Cuce people makes me wonder how many kinds of people are living here. There are winged people, too. I saw it back there."

"Yeah. Everyone has their own strength to live in this world and their lives. But, as long as we're living together in this society, then that's good," replied Clara nonchalantly.

"Amazing, though. I wonder what kind of people you can meet in this place?"

"You really don't know anything, eh? Makes me wonder what kind of life you have had until now. But I'll gladly give you a brief explanation! You see–"

A lot of kinds of people have been living in the Union Kingdom. Clara and Aleid were the ones from Satwa people who had their distinct abilities compared to other races, depending on what bloodline they had. About Clara herself, she and her kind usually had more strength than most of the other Satwa people. Sharp Ears people were also the most common, and one could see them almost everywhere. Scally people mostly are Sea Plain Folks and sometimes can be seen on the market of the town to sell or trade goods from the sea. The traditional side of the population mostly lives around the coach since they're good with the water environment. There were also Sharp Teeth people with green skin who easily built their physical strength, so they tended to do quests from the tavern.

Every sight baffled his heart whenever Angga turned his eyes due to the fantastic discovery before him. A pair of humanoid animals are joking with each other while having an unknown-meat satay. A few families with wings brought their children around could be seen as they were begging for toys at the Satwa's guy stall. And a little performance of another lizard people blowing controlled straight water similar to a water fountain but vertical while being watched by a lot of entertained non-human people.

With those comprehensive explanations from Clara, Angga accepted his fate that he had somehow been transported into another world while taking a shot at the banyan tree.

Looking at all those, Angga reached into his pocket, realizing something was missing.

"Wait, where is it?"

The guy frantically checked every part of his body, only to find out that he found nothing. Clara wondered what he could have been searching for. When the reality hit Angga hard, he fell to his knees.

"All of my savings… it's gone, my camera…" Angga wanted to cry so badly.

"What kind of thing that you lose? Maybe we can search it together?" asked Clara as she came closer.

"It's a camera around this size." Angga made a square shape using his hand, but Clara failed to understand what he meant.

"I don't understand, but maybe you want to return to where you went today? We can go to the place where you first arrived here."

"Yeah, let's go!"

Angga wanted to find his camera no matter what. All his savings from working for around two years were almost gone to purchase that camera alone. So he won't be sucking his thumb and complaining about it while crying about how the world works wonder, yet unfavorable for him.

With Clara's help, they both tried to trace where they'd been headed until they returned to the initial spot where Angga appeared. Aleid was confused when they appeared again in the building before but quickly left when the camera wasn't there.

In the end, the camera was nowhere around. Angga grinned in pain while trying his best not to cry in front of Clara.

"We can ask around. Maybe someone picked it up and took it somewhere safe."

"It's okay, Clara. It's okay…"

Clara somehow felt sympathy towards Angga. "I'm not sure. You're on the verge of crying."

"Just as you said, it's actually not okay. But what can we do? Well, I'm sure I can repurchase it when I save up enough." Angga tried standing up again with his staggering feet.

Perhaps the cost of his getting into this other realm aside from his world was his mirrorless camera—a high price to pay without Angga's approval. 

After a solid 10 minutes of being silent, Angga shook his head and faced Clara again.

"Alright, I'm back. Got several questions about this place, though, if you don't mind me asking."

"That's a speedy recovery, but welcome back! Alright, what do you want to know?" Clara is ready to answer every question that'll pop out soon.

When his senses came back, Angga was somehow reminded of many fantasy stories, such as the journey to destroy a powerful ring or something like that. It has many other races, such as elves, dwarves, and orcs. That's why Angga felt a strong sense of familiarity when he observed the town center not long ago. Then, he also has one more thing to confirm.

"I bet people here are good at using magic or miracles similar to that. Is that right?"

"Yeah, it's pretty common here, just like breathing. Why'd you ask something so obvious?"

"Because I can't do one," he replied shortly.

"What are you saying, Angga? You did a teleportation magic in front of everyone. I am also the witness."

"I didn't do that. I just happened to be randomly taking a shot at my previous world, and suddenly, I appeared here. Okay, I can tell your face that you totally doubt my statement. Can you give me the easiest magic here?"

Clara's facial expression quickly changed since she was doing a simple magic. "Alright, just do this basic thing that even children can do. Rub your palms like this and raise your index finger like this."

Clara did the thing, and her index finger was glowing. She beckoned Angga and he did the same thing with his hands and pointed his index finger upwards. Nothing showed up.

The girl got closer to observe while Angga repeated the same procedure—still nothing.

"Huh?!" Clara couldn't believe her eyes and almost shouted, "Even babies can do this accidentally when they rub their hands! Are you sure you're not tricking me?"

"Look! I did it three times before you, and nothing comes out!"

Clara carefully observed Angga's index finger. "That's true. Pretty weird…"

"Nothing is weird if you believe me that I came from the land where magic is nonexistent."

Clara gasped.

"So you really someone who came from another world?!"

The orb floating around Clara was now moving faster around Angga as he noticed it as if the orb had a mind of its own so it could move independently.

"Yes. At least I don't have something like that," Angga pointed to the floating orb. "What is that?"

"That's a Recording Orb. As the name suggests, it can save a moving picture and viewed later."

Angga was dumbfounded, while Clara was intrigued by his reaction.

"Why? Are you saying you don't have this recording device in your realm, too?"

"We do have something similar, but it's not shaped or moving like that. That's why I don't know what to say because I saw everyone here possessed that thing, too. I see! It also serves as a telecommunication device, right? Since everyone has that."

"Yeah, it does. I see that you're kinda observant as well." Clara grinned as usual.

"That's…super amazing."

The fact that this world hasn't only got a miracle in every place called magic but a communication device as well somehow hit Angga pretty hard. Perhaps his world would be this much more manageable if magic existed in the first place.

"I don't think that this world also got the supporting technology, especially in instant communication. That way, you can pass the flow of information instantly."

"Are you talking about our magic mail? We can do it via mail if it's about a quick communication."

"Eh? Then what about the orb? You said it was for telecommunication?"

Clara chuckled, combined with her grin. "What's that again?"

So this girl said yes to every question that Angga asked without really its meaning. The bamboozlement feeling was so strong from Angga's head.

"It's cruel that you toyed with me like this, Clara. But it's alright if you don't want to tell me. The one that I'm still amazed about is everyone here got their own magic."

"Not only magic, but mostly everyone got their own distinct abilities to support others. We live in a society, after all."

Aleid suddenly appeared behind the two, so Angga's heart almost jumped out of the place.

"Why are you suddenly here?" Angga astonished.

"It's because I'm wondering where you two are going, and you suddenly came back to the building when I was enjoying my drink and disappeared again. I'm sorry for your misfortune, still."

"It's okay, really," Angga gritted his teeth, trying not to let his emotions get the better of him, "let's change the topic. I'm interested in what you said about everyone having their own abilities. So that means yours and Clara's also differ?"

"Why, yes. We're coming from different bloodlines. Our physiques are already different. But I can say that most of our fighting abilities are barely being used anymore. Except those who took quests from the tavern and faced the monsters outside regularly."

"Why is that?"

"Why, you asked? At least you remembered about this, right?"

Aleid adjusted his clothes so he could look neat while preparing for something. Angga didn't understand why Aleid acted like he would go to do a presentation in front of a hundred people while Clara was enjoying the show.

Within a few microseconds, Aleid's sheep-like left leg resembling goat's hind legs launched into Angga's head. He only spared an instant moment to review his life, which obviously wasn't enough to cover his pre-school times until he landed his current job.

"Ah–"

Angga was still alive, and his sight pointed to Aleid's legs, which dissipated like dust. When he pulled back his legs, the scattered dust instantly reshaped Aleid's legs to their original shape.

"That. It's common sense that we no longer can kill anyone," closed Aleid.

Angga fell on his rear, almost crying while staring at Aleid.

"T-That was scary…"

"Whoops, I don't expect that kind of reaction from you, Angga. Let me help you." Angga gave his hand as Angga slowly reached him. "I guess it's true that you came from another world. Sorry for doubting you."

"How did you know?"

Aleid scratched his head. "Clara was too loud before. I can hear it when I walk here. I guess I need to explain how everything works there. Maybe you'll find similarities to your own realm, but you decide yourself."

Since this world was genuinely different from Earth, Angga widened his ears to accept whatever came from Aleid's mouth.

A long time ago, this kingdom was in constant war against the demon kingdom.