Lara just Passed By

"Do you speak English?"

"Seems like I suddenly do..." David was also wondering. He tried to think about it and found that he could easily use his knowledge of English, which was almost the same as thinking in his native language.

This was definitely not his previous level of English, but more like suddenly acquiring the knowledge of English.

It seemed incredible, but David did not feel anything strange as a time traveler. Having experienced various brainstorms in his previous life, he immediately understood what was going on; the cheat had arrived!

Looking at Lara suddenly appearing in front of him, he had a guess about how he got his cheat from her.

Although it came a bit late, after waiting for so many years, it was better than never!

But why did it appear now? Did something big happen to him recently?

Did it specifically wait for him to turn eighteen before activating it? David joined the exploration team at the age of sixteen and stayed in this remote place for two years. He just turned eighteen this year.

Apart from that, the biggest change was his identity, from an ordinary person to a village chief.

Combined with the sudden appearance of Lara and the ability to use "British English" that he should have gained from her, he leaned towards the latter possibility.

Dimensional travel! Although it was someone else who traveled through dimensions to find him, it was not uncommon.

He had also seen many dimensional travelers who came to him with various brainstorms for opening shops, inns, and clinics in his previous life. So, if he became a village chief, it was not uncommon for dimensional travelers to appear within his territory.

It was not difficult to judge whether his guess was correct or not. He just needed to see if any "familiar people" suddenly appeared.

"In that case, I must continue working hard as the village chief!" David thought to himself and looked at Lara again. She looked skeptical.

This was normal. No one would immediately believe someone who said they suddenly knew something. Moreover, Lara had just experienced a shipwreck, was knocked out and kidnapped, and was naturally cautious when facing strangers.

"Although it sounds incredible, everything I said is true." David could only use a serious expression to emphasize that he was not lying.

Lara looked at David seriously and was finally convinced by his overflowing sense of justice. She decided to believe his nonsense. "Okay... Can you tell me where this place is? And who are you?"

As Lara was treating her wounds, she felt much more comfortable. Although she still felt a little weak, she was not as uncomfortable as before.

Until this moment, she had the energy to pay attention to other issues; Where was she exactly? How did she get here? How could she reunite with her companions?

She carefully looked around the environment when she talked to David just now.

No matter how she looked at it, this was plain. How did she run from the mountain to here in the blink of an eye? The huge climate change also made her very confused.

"This is the pioneer camp located northwest of the Ironwood Forest. I am the village chief, David."

"Hello, David; I am Lara Croft, an archaeologist. I lost contact with my colleagues due to a shipwreck and accidentally ended up here." Lara thought that this was a very ordinary place name. As for the Ironwood Forest, it was even more common. "What is the Ironwood Forest?"

"The Ironwood Forest is located northwest of the Ironwood Castle, which is the most important town in the north of the Tiran Kingdom."

"Ironwood Castle? Tiran Kingdom? Where is the Tiran Kingdom?"

David looked at Lara, who was full of doubts, and continued to tell her what he knew; the Tiran Kingdom is a human kingdom located in the north of the continent.

They were in a plain area north of Ironwood Castle, the most important town in the northern part of the Tiran Kingdom. Because of the barrier of the Tiran Mountains and the elves who lived in the Ironwood Forest with extremely poor relations with the human inhabitants of the Tiran Kingdom, the Tiran Kingdom had not been able to occupy this vast plain area until the pioneering team was established here two years ago.

David's camp was one of the three pioneer camps established to cultivate this land. If all went well, it should develop into a new village, incorporating this land into the Tiran Kingdom's territory.

"???"

As David spoke, Lara's head was filled with question marks. It was like she would be completely overwhelmed, but she held back and didn't interrupt David's narrative until he finished speaking. Then she said, "Were you just telling a story?"

"No," David shrugged and put on a serious face, indicating that he was telling the truth.

"How is that possible?"

If David's description was true, it meant that Lara had somehow stumbled into another world. Although David's description was rough, it was clear from his account of the journey the pioneer team had taken after leaving Ironwood Castle that this was not some small island.

"..." Lara opened her mouth but didn't know how to describe the situation. She remained silent for a long time until her hunger made her snap out of it. "This is really hard to believe."

She asked some questions about the local customs and learned about some of the cultural practices in this world. She also learned about the existence of mysterious powers and races that were like something out of a fantasy story, which made it a little easier for her to accept that she had truly entered another world.

At this point, Lara suddenly thought of another question. "Aren't you surprised by all the questions I'm asking?"

"No." David had had enough time to come up with a suitable explanation. "Your appearance made me realize that your background was likely to be very special."

David described Lara's strange appearance, and Lara understood why he was so calm. He had never seen her as an "ordinary person" from the beginning.

"I see."

Lara felt her headache slightly as she unraveled various mysteries. Could she still go back? Although this world was fascinating and filled with adventure, it wasn't the right time for that. She was very worried about her companions, who had just experienced a shipwreck. She didn't know their situation or whether they had escaped safely.

Lara, who was filled with concern, didn't notice that David had cooked a meat soup for her dinner while she was lost in thought. It wasn't until the hot soup was placed in front of her that she snapped out of it.

"Thank you!" Lara sincerely thanked David as she looked at the bowl of steaming meat soup. "I'm so lucky to have met you."

"You're welcome." David returned Lara's gratitude with a bright smile. He was in a good mood now, as Lara's appearance meant he had a golden opportunity and the motivation to continue working hard in this place.

Moreover, Lara was a beautiful woman with both looks and figure. Who wouldn't want to be around a beautiful woman?

Lara, who had finished her bowl of soup quickly, noticed that David was just standing by and watching her. She suddenly felt a little embarrassed. "Aren't you going to eat?"

After asking, she remembered that David had previously mentioned the situation at the campsite. He was the only one left, and resources were scarce. "Is there not enough food?"

"No, I just finished eating before you arrived." David explained, "I got lucky and hunted a deer during the day."

"That's good." Lara was relieved that she hadn't eaten up what little food he had. She then asked about the environment around the village, wanting to confirm if there was anything special nearby. Otherwise, how could she suddenly have ended up here? Perhaps if she found the source of that mysterious power, she could find her way back.

David guessed what Lara was thinking but didn't tell her about the so-called mysterious power, which was likely himself. Instead, he straightforwardly introduced the surroundings; to the west of the village was an incredibly vast river, whose source could be vaguely seen from the north-facing mountain peak.

The river flowed from north to south, then turned westward on the western side of their village, with another much narrower river flowing from south to north converging with it.

One of the main reasons for choosing this place as their campsite was because it was the turning point and intersection of the great river, providing abundant fresh water and aquatic products such as fish and shrimp.

Another reason was the northern forest, which could provide plenty of high-quality timber. It was very suitable for farming, coupled with the flat terrain and mostly plains to the east and south.

It was a good choice, no matter how you looked at it, but the subsequent progress and expectations were far apart.

Listening to David's description, Lara couldn't hear anything magical or peculiar, "Have you encountered anything special in the past two years?"

"The most special thing is your apparition."

After hearing David's answer, Lara felt very helpless. It seemed that she had to change her direction of thinking.

"Rest well tonight! Even if you want to do something, you must wait until tomorrow morning." As they chatted, the sky had already turned dark. David needed to prepare for the upcoming night.

Except for the wooden house used as a warehouse and kitchen, the other three had the same structure and layout; a large room with a fireplace in the middle and simple beds arranged around the hearth. David had spent two winters in such a rudimentary environment.

According to the pioneers' plan, these simple wooden houses were only temporary dwellings. Still, without being able to cultivate farmland, no one had the mood to build their own wooden house. As a result, there are only a few temporary wooden houses here to this day.

These wooden houses were poorly insulated and needed a fire to spend the night peacefully. David was now carrying the necessary firewood inside.

Lara was also helping, but when the two of them were carrying firewood, they almost simultaneously noticed a faint shadow appearing not far outside the village.

"Is this...another one coming?"