The Beginner's Village?

A carriage steadily went up the hill road, left and right, until they reached what seems to be an outdoor market, hidden behind the grove of trees.

I parted ways with the caravan leader, who seemed to be relieved that I was leaving. Before I managed to hide into the trees, someone unfortunately called me out.

"Hey, missy!"

I silently sighed, and looked at L'Arc, who was walking towards me with a wave of his hand, and by his side was Therese, smiling as if she was embarassed.

"Do you want to explore with us? This place seems cool!"

"..."

I did not want to explore with them, and when I was about to shake my head, L'Arc started walking off as if I agreed with him.

Walking past me, Therese smiled apologetically, and I shook my head.

Why did L'Arc seemed so chill and cool in the story, and yet here he seems rude?

Still, I followed behind the two. It was worth exploring after all, and Wolf seemed to be in that direction.

...

We started wading our way through the small public market, with at least 4 tall houses standing at several places. Demihumans, beastmen, and humans alike all coexisted peacefully.

It was much different than Melromarc.

"Selling acorn seeds that can sprout fruits that can hatch into legendary armor-or trash-but has a better chance for legendary loot!" a guy standing on crates yelled at a crowd.

"Selling furniture and carpentry items! Man...I don't even know why I'm selling furniture in a public market."

"We're selling fish, so get lost!"

"I'm still setting up my stall, and other people are already selling things!"

The two stood amazed at the bustling market. I, on the other hand, felt there was no need to be here at all.

"Wow, this sure is...lively," L'Arc looked around, fascinated. I also noticed there was a tinge of nostalgia in his voice.

"Yes, it is indeed." Therese nodded with a smile.

"Oh, what are you selling?" L'Arc asked a merchant next to him. The merchant's stall had shrimp and fish laid across his table, and some hanged on the canopy of his stall. There was also some unique fish I had never seen before. For example, there was a blue eel-like thing on a plate, and it had a huge blocky head.

"Oh, hello. We're selling fish, so like I said seconds earlier, get lost! Also-!"

"Don't worry about Zac, he's a bit abrasive, but I know his father, so he has to sell me any fish that I want," a woman spoke up from the side of the stall, glancing at the merchant named Zac meaningfully.

"You-!" The merchant named Zac eye's twitched, and he started to speak in retaliation, but the woman again interrupted him.

"I know your father, so you have to sell me any fish I want!"

The two started bickering, and so the two left them to continue onwards to their destination, the other one already walking ahead of them.

The group made their way across the stalls, until they started walking up the slope, with a couple fences not connected, where a small foretress laid.

'Our destination...'

Although it's walls is around two stories high, it seemed to be enough, with its brownish-red and grey stone.

We weren't paying attention to that, however. What we were focusing on was a tower...a tower that's almost toppling over.

Wolf, smelling something tasty, phased into the ground, searching for whatever that appetizing smell was.

When we walked through the town, we noticed a man heading towards us with a smile.

"Welcome merchants, adventurers, and friends! Welcome to the Tutoria-I mean Tumble Town. Why do we call it Tumble Town? Well, we call it Tumble Town because...the tower is almost tumbling over as you can see."

He pointed at the hanging tower to the left of the entrance. The tower looked old.

We, however, didn't return the greeting, because although the man looked like your regular, average, standard guard, it was his hair that stood out.

Everyone, included myself, stared at the hair. It was shaped like a question mark.

'This place can't be the beginner's village, right? There's a tutorial NPC right here. Why couldn't we come to this place when we first arrived to this world instead? It's even better than Melromarc.'

Including better humor.

"Oh, yes, don't mind the hair. I just make it like that for fun, although going through doors is a problem..."

He laughed a little, awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

"Anyways, if you are visiting adventurers or tourists, and you want to find a place to stay, then Red Troll Inn is your place to go! Just head to the left of the blacksmit-you can see him right there-and you'll see a big red building with the sign 'Red Troll Inn.'"

"Oh, thanks man."

"No problem, always happy to help! If you need to know anything, just ask me!"

L'Arc waved at the question marked guard captain, who also waved back joyfully.

"This is quite the place, ay missy?" L'Arc turned looked at me with a big smile.

"..."

"Yeah, not much of a talker, huh? No wonder I feel that you're almost like Therese-"

"L'Arc."

"Sorry, sorry. My bad, my bad..."

Rubbing the back of his head and laughing, L'Arc lead us to where the front of the inn was at, which was some yards away.

...

The inn looked rather large. Coated in a red painting, and the building reinforced by wooden pillars, it seemed to be at least three floors tall.

L'Arc whistled, appreciating the building.

"This is the only inn in the town? No wonder...it has to be quite large after all. Before that..."

He turned to look at a man, who was loitering around at the front of the inn.

"Hey, can I-"

"Jeez, why are you talking to me? If you have quesitons, ask the guy with the question mark on his head, for gods sake!"

"Okay, okay! Calm down dude."

The man only grunted and turned away, leaving L'Arc speechless.

"Man, that guy is sensitive...well anyways, since we got some time today, why don't we have a look aroun-?"

"I have buisness to attend to," I interrupted, not bothering to entertain them any longer. When L'Arc began talking to the man, Wolf began to be 'agitated,' and so he sent back 'his feelings' to me through our bond.

With Wolf feeling like that...it's most likely something of utmost importance. Being with these two, in the meantime, is not important.

"Okay, after we're all done, let's meet back at the inn later. For now, we'll look around!" L'Arc walked away with exuberance, seemingly not bothered by my refusal.

"Sorry about that Lamb, L'Arc is always like this..." Therese apologized, wearing a weak smile on her face.

I only shook my head, and this time walked away.

There's no need for us to keep them company. We have things to do.

...

Since I do not want to get spotted, I moved through the shadows. Which is the rooftops and alleyways of the town.

Speaking of alleyways, it was quite strange. Sometimes when I walk through one, there would be a broken down house, and one time there was a garden, where a gnome was hiding in the ground like a carrot.

A gnome. How could I tell it was a gnome? Well, he was small, he had a pointy hat-everything screams that he's a gnome.

I also did not notice him until I almost stepped onto him.

He was wearing an orange pointy hat, and his heada was sticking out, yet he remained buried with the carrots.

Of course, as I was quite adept at stealth, and the gnome didn't notice anything unusual, but I couldn't help take a second glance.

'Why would he hide in the ground like that?'

I wasn't interested in asking him either way, as I was just curious. And the distance between Wolf and I shortened.

Jumping across two walls,and a couple houses, I landed in what seems to be where the town gets their fishes.

A couple houses lined the left side of the mountain, and on the right side there was what seemed to be a crane, and a bit further away, a river that falls down the cliff of the mountain, splashing onto the streams below.

A waterfall.

Slowly walking within the shadows, I saw fish hanging over tall wooden fences, resembling a stall I saw a while back. Sneaking past it, I didn't notice a man staring strangely at me from the crane a few feet away.

Once I turned around, I finally noticed him.

"..."

"..."

We stared at each other.

"So you're stressed to, huh?"

I remained silent as his question.

Seeing that I didn't respond, he kept talking as if he understood me, even when I was wearing a mask.

"If I've had a long day, I like to relax at the and fish to my hearts content. The sound of water just washes my stress away. Right down the waterfall."

He nodded at the small bridge, where it currently sat on the far right of the lake, which was also where the lake water becomes a waterfall. At the end of the bridge was a small forest that borders the lake.

That was where I sensed Wolf was at.

"..."

I nodded at him, and he nodded back at me, and we walked our seperate ways.

And that was the end of our encounter.

...

Walking across the creaking bridge, I walked into what seems to be in between a lake and a forest.

To my left, a muddy lake with lilypads floated across it bordered the town wall, and on the right was the forest.

Lamps hanged from the branches, clearly meant for people to be able to traverse there way through the forest when its dark.

Walking deeper into the forest, I finally found Wolf, who was staring at something.

Feeling my approach, the floating white wolf head turned towards me, and gruffed.

"Lamb...I found something strange. Strange yet familiar..."

"Strange? Wolf, did you eat it before?" I said.

"..."

Smoothly returning back to my regular and airy posture, I looked at what made Wolf confused and wary. On one of the trees, there was a line of...strings.

'Spider strings...webs...'

Although they seemed like they were spider strings...they were indeed special. They glowed within the dark, and when one observes it, one could hear something from it.

A tiny whisper. A voice that seems to radiates mystery...and death.

Wolf spoke from above me, turning to me for an answer.

"Does this not seem familiar?"

"This is..."

Before I finished my answer, we were interrupted by a voice from a bit farther away. With Wolf disappearing back into the ground, I turned to the voice, and saw a man wearing a red shirt, and had a fishing rod on his back.

"Hey! Are you looking for a new rod? I got some fishing rods here if you want!"

"..."