Chapter 4: Carriage to Orario

"Finally, I have found it, I have!"

"My very own sun...I... am the sun!"

Solaire?

"Yes, I did it... I did."

My hand shot forward, trying to grab ahold of the fading image of my closest companion.

"Solaire!" I yelled.

The next thing I knew, my surroundings were no longer the fiery hell-scape of Lost Izalith, but instead the interior of a rustic wooden carriage with a canvas cover, letting a minimal amount of light to radiate through.

Did I just experience a human trait known as a dream?

I observed the clenched fist in front of my face, turning it around and relaxing the muscles to find nothing in its grasp.

"A dream huh, more like a nightmare."

I sat up from the uncomfortable bedding below me. From the corner of my eye, I saw the bandaged figure of the man who accompanied me in my conflict against the goblins. He was rhythmically bleeding and looked to be in better condition than before, despite the blood-soaked cloth wrapped around him. Good.

"Oh, so you're finally awake?" asked a silvery voice.

I turned my attention towards the exit of the carriage, eyes landing on the image of a brown-haired woman looking right back at me. Bags had formed under her eyes, giving her a haggard appearance quite out of place for her youthful face.

"I take it you are the ones who brought me here?"

"Yes."

"I see. Well, then I guess I owe you my gratitude. But I must wonder, what was a person like you doing in such a place."

She gave a long-winded sigh. "We received word of a monster attack at a nearby village from some fleeing villagers. So I brought a few troops over with me to deal with them, but lo-and-behold, instead of getting some easy magic stones I instead find a naked man with a sword and his half-dead companion who'd already done the work for me."

"Sorry?"

"No, it's not your fault. Nobody would have guessed such a horde had been hiding around here for years. If only a certain group of people did their job properly, then I wouldn't have to clean this bloody mess up. Do know how tiring this is?"

The woman ended up breaking out in a heated rant about things that didn't interest me.

"By the way, where are we?" I asked, cutting her off.

"We're a few days away from Orario. We've just taken a brief break and will be heading off soon."

"Orario?"

I'd never heard of such a place. Either this woman was mad or something was very wrong here.

"You're kidding, right? Are you telling me you've never heard of the Labrinth City of Orario?"

"About that... I guess I'll need to explain my circumstances."

I fabricated a backstory about a poor man who went travelling by himself but ended up getting whacked on the back of the head and robbed naked by a band of thieves in the middle of his journey. Due to cranial trauma he received, his memories were hazy to the point where he couldn't even remember his name. I don't have one, anyway.

The woman, of course, had a few questions about why I still had my sword, to which I replied with, "they must've felt sorry for me."

She shook her head. "It's no wonder you're so clueless. Well, let me fill you in; basically, Orario is a massive city built on top of a dungeon deep in the ground."

"So it's a giant prison? How idiotic. Who in their right mind would build a city around such a thing?"

"Don't interrupt me. So, as I was saying, the dungeon is not a prison, but instead a massive underground structure filled with monsters lurking in every corner of the damn place. A long time ago, the city didn't exist and monsters could freely leave it and attack people, but after certain historical events and the descent of Gods, the dungeon was sealed.

"However, just because its sealed doesn't mean people can't enter and explore its depths. We call those brave enough to venture inside 'adventurers' and they possess power far above the average person."

I stared at the insane woman in front of me. Everything she mentioned didn't exist where I was from. At this point, I could be on another continent untainted by the Gods who used reside in Lordran. And being in an entirely different world wasn't off the table either, considering the ludicrous incidents which occurred there.

"I'm not crazy, if that's what you're thinking. Once you see it for yourself, you'll be amazed. Anyway, that's enough talking, I've been rambling on for too long."

"Wait! Just how long was I out for?"

"A week."

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The next few days passed by in a blink of an eye. Time is even more convoluted than Lodran when going to sleep. One minute it's nighttime and then, after opening your eyes, rather than darkness shrouding your vision, sunrays greet you instead.

It's very absurd for a person like me who never needed to sleep. Though I must say, being able to let everything go for an unspecified amount of time is pretty good.

Anyway, enough of that.

From the information I've gathered from chatting with that woman who popped up from time to time, I discovered I'm in a refugee convoy en route to the city of Oreo? No Orario, yeah, that's it. Apparently, too many people had perished under the brutal onslaught of the goblins to make living at the village possible.

After I gained enough strength to leave the carriage, I tried to speak with a villager. It was an odd experience, to say the least.

When they saw me, they all dropped to their knees and thanked me like I was some sort of divine being. My "valiant" act, their words not mine, had saved them from all being slaughtered like livestock and earned their eternal gratefulness.

Also, did I mention I tasted food for the first time? That's right, rock bread, a staple meal of the impoverished folk. The spongy texture and bland flavours which simulated my undead days were so great, I loved every second it was in my mouth.

It was shit. Even a dungpie probably tasted better.

"We are nearly there!" The carriage driver yelled.

I parted flaps and stared outside, seizing a glimpse of a massive tower surrounded by imposing walls covering my whole field of vision. So this was Orario.

We weren't too far off, only a kilometre, in fact. I could already see multiple lines which had formed at the main gate.

Our convoy soon arrived and had to wait an excruciating hour under the boiling gaze of the sun before reaching the front of the line.

I exited the carriage, beads of sweat rolling down my face and wearing a permanent frown.

The guards ordered us to line up and asked questions about what our purpose was, etc.

They also inspected each entrant to ensure we weren't a part of a terrorist organisation that called themselves the "Ares Familia" before giving us clearance and letting us enter.

The inside of the city was just as I thought it would be. Hundreds of buildings, lots of streets and many bustling inhabitants who collectively generated a lot of noise. An unknown aroma also wafted into my nose, prompting my mouth to water.

Could this perhaps be tasty food?

"So this will be our new home." A villager commented.

Our group returned to the carriages except for me, for it was for time for me to leave.

I had already got as much as I could from these unfortunate people and couldn't bear to take anymore.

From the little possessions they had left, they still provided me a white buttoned shirt, brown pants held up by a leather belt. Along with that, they gave me a black vest which I wore over the top of my shirt and a brown cap.

I looked quite fashionable.

"Also they let me have a lot of coins." I said aloud, fiddling with one in my hand.

The currency in this place was called Valis and had to be lugged around in pouches, unlike the massless souls I was accustomed to. The value of an individual one wasn't too high either, which resulted in generous amounts being required to perform transactions.

I was about to leave when I heard the voice of the woman from before.

"Hey I need to speak with you." she said, standing a few carriages back.

I ignored her and disappeared into the crowd. Now I could really start my new life.