Tralelin

Ardiel Elrond

The closer we came to Tralelin, the more I was sure that the human culture of this world is set somewhere in the middle ages. Well, that is basically how all fantasy stories go, so why would this world be any different? I definitely wouldn't expect skyscrapers and cars driving around.

Already from the outskirts of the town, I already saw familiar architecture. Just like Robert's home, the houses were constructed in a European fashion. Very similar to what you could see on the pages of a medieval history book that depicts Germany. Constructed in a half-timber architecture style, and with white or yellow plastered walls.

Making our way down the main street, it was laid out in cobblestone, smoothed out by the many years of carriages and people walking across it, so the ride wasn't very bumpy.

Around us were homes, tightly packed together. Some were converted into shops on the first floor, and living quarters on the second. Some had neat balconies with flower pots hanging off the railings. Market stands appeared here and there, and people were yelling out, praising their product and trying to attract customers. In the air, was a tinge of smoke, food, and…well…horse shit and other excrements. With the beauties of a medieval town, come its minuses as well, and the bad smell here and there was no exception. Well, to be fair, this was a small town in the middle of nowhere on the outskirts of the kingdom, so it made sense that wealth was not a word to describe this place. If you disregard the sometimes occurring bad smell, the town wasn't actually all that terrible, but certainly not a place you would stay in for long.

On this road, to its sides were a lot of people scurrying here and there, and in the middle were wagons, carriages, and horseback riders. The men and women were dressed in a typical medieval European fashion. What stood out however, was the frequent encounter of someone wearing armor, and in possession of a weapon, or someone with a robe and usually a large hat, carrying some kind of staff. Definitely adventurers, some are swordsmen, some are mages. They stood out like a sore thumb amongst the regular townsfolk, but helped to diversify the crowd. Especially the mages, the robes they wore and the staff they held were all different from each other, both in style, design, and color.

But as much of an entertaining spectacle was it to watch the townsfolk, it seemed that they were even more intrigued when they looked at us. I think I should start getting used to receiving stares from people, given the fact that I am an elf now, which apparently is some kind of rare enigma to them. When they spotted us, the townsfolk froze, and began whispering. Even the adventurers halted in place and stared when they spotted Loueras, and then us in the wagon. It's one thing when you spot a grown adult elf, but a completely different scenario when you see a bunch of kids as well. A whole elf gang. Not something you see everyday, that's for sure. Just how much of a seclusive race are the elves for people to react like this?

As we made our way further into town, a completely different foul stench entered our noses, causing me to instinctively pinch it. My friends did the exact same.

"What is that awful smell?" Tariel exclaimed.

We looked at Loueras for an answer, but his face was alarmingly grim, and contorted with a mix of anger and disgust.

"What we are about to pass…I better not catch any of you making even a single step inside." His voice was icy, and malicious. I have never seen Loueras this angered before. But what was it that we were about to pass by that caused him to act this way?

The answer did not take long to reveal itself, and we passed by some kind of plaza that looked like a market. One part of it was a large dark blue tent, almost like a circus, and the other was an open area with cages, and small pedestals on which I could see people standing on.

But the people looked much different. They were dressed in rags, many of them malnourished, and confined to chains with their hands and feet shackled. Humans, individuals that looked human but seemed to stand out with hair or peculiar skin color, smaller people who were probably dwarves, and even beastfolk, a mix race between animals and humans. Despite their differences, they were all in the same sickly state.

Could this be what I think it is? A slave market? "Um…Loueras? Is this by any chance a…"

"A slave market, Ardiel." He said through clenched teeth, glaring at the well-dressed people. Probably the owners and managers of this place. "A malevolent practice that still occurs within human society. Disgusting filth." He spat.

"Even once they are bought, they are usually treated just the same, if not worse." A man, probably one of the managers, looked over at us with a gleeful smile but paled and retreated as soon as he saw the glare that Loueras gave him. I then caught the sight of him whispering something to a nearby man, who then also looked at us.

As I gazed upon what was happening, a girl, judging by her appearance in her late teens, looked at us with desperation in her eyes. She was malnourished, and bruised, and her eyes had no glisten, no hope. They were a dead man's eyes. When our eyes locked, my stomach churned, and I flung my head to the side, unable to look at her, and not do anything. 

It felt terrible. What if I was in that position instead of her? Watching the people pass by freely while I was cuffed and shackled, beaten, and then sold as property. Losing all hope as I slowly rotted away, only to be tossed out somewhere like a piece of trash when I died. 

"Do not explore, or even step foot in this place. This is my first, and final warning to all of you. Should I catch you, you will be sent right back…" he paused for a moment, "that is if you are not captured for slavery by the time I find you."

All of us gave each other an understanding look, and then reassured Loueras that none of us would go there. He seemed to loosen up a bit, but even after we left the slave market behind, his grim expression remained for a while.

We rode in silence after that. Our excitement about entering a human town gone as quick as flicking off a light switch. After some time, we arrived at a building, standing in a fairly quiet and empty street, away from the busy main roads. It was built like any other home, just about two and a half times wider. Above the door, was some wooden sign that I couldn't read.

Loueras parked the wagon next to it and hopped off. Then gestured to us to do the same.

We made our way inside. There were barely any people. Two men were sitting at a table, drinking some kind of alcohol, and another was dressed in a black cloak, hoodie over his face, and sleeping in a corner with his chair leaning against the wall, and his feet on the table.

As we made our way over to the clerk, he let out a brief surprised yelp when he saw us. Based on my knowledge of the human language, Loueras was asking to buy something, after which he handed the man some money, and in return, the man hesitantly handed him three keys. Then quickly retreated to the back.

Loueras guided us upstairs, where we stood before three neighboring doors.

"Far left is mine, the middle is for the girls, and the far right is for the rest of you." He explained. "Stay in these rooms for now. I will make my way to the guild office to register you for your exams tomorrow. It would be unwise to have you attempt them today, without getting any rest."

After we made our way into our rooms, Loueras handed the girls two pairs of some kind of device, and then to us. 

"Put these on the windows and the door while I am gone. They will activate at night in case there will be an intruder."

So this is the analog to my previous world's laser security system, cool.

Once he made sure that the alarm was set up, he left. The girls then waved us goodbye for now and entered their room, we entered ours.

Comparing the room of this "hotel", or I guess inn, to the one we stayed in back in Aelinorien, would be an insult. The room was small, made entirely out of wood that had already aged, and only had three beds, a small closet, and two bedside tables in between the beds. The only light that was offered here was the sunlight that shone through the window, and at night, I only hoped that the oil lamps, with glass so dirty there were no longer see-through, situated on the bedside tables still worked.

Galen was the first to say something. "I thought Robert's was bad, but this…"

"Imagine if we were also human? Would we then live in places like this?"

I said nothing, and nervously approached the beds, praying that the moment I sat on one it wouldn't crumble into two, or a whole swarm of cockroaches would erupt from under the bedsheets. But thankfully, none of that happened. It creaked like hell, but surprisingly, based on my first impression, it wasn't uncomfortable to the point of waking up with back pain.

Maybe it was my resilience given my past as a human that I could tolerate this, but Galen and Faelar immediately said that they preferred the bedrolls in which they slept on the ground. Honestly, I also mentally agreed with them, but still said nothing.

And my silence continued right up until Loueras returned about an hour later. He informed us that we would participate in a ranking exam tomorrow morning. A ranking exam is basically what determines your starter rank as an adventurer. People used the letters of their alphabet to determine their rank, and it would go from "E", being the lowest, to "S", being the highest.

Anyone could get a rank if they wanted to, no discrimination. Just apply for a ranking, and you will be scheduled for an appointment. To determine your position, you would have to fight one of the guild's examiners and get an official card with your rank on it based on how well you performed.

I'm not sure how hard it is to get a rank, or what the difference in strength is between each one, so neither can I predict what rank I could be getting tomorrow. First off we were kids, and for all I know, every adventurer would be some crazy powerful swordsman or mage, so all of us could end up with "E".

But your initial rank is just a starter, from there you can continue to get stronger, and then raise your rank, so it's not like what you receive is what you will be stuck with for life. That's truly reassuring, but honestly, since I practiced so much with magic and fighting, it would be disappointing to get an "E", so perhaps at least a "D" is what I will be going for.

Then, after another hour or so, Loueras called us all for dinner. Dinner here directly corresponds to the aesthetic of the inn. It was some kind of porridge slop with chunks of meat and water for drinks. Loueras ate it without batting an eye, but the rest of us gagged. We barely forced the food down our throats. Luckily nobody was there to see and get upset at our spectacle.

"I think I am going to puke," Faelar said while clutching his stomach, and walking over to our room slightly bent over, and his face turning greener by the second.

"So will I," Galen responded, not looking any better.

"Is that what they all eat? But the food at Robert's house was good."

"What do you expect from an inn?" I answered. "I mean look at this place, and compare it to Robert's house. There, it was Melinda's home cooking, here, it is meant for the average scum to chow down."

"Not a warm greeting huh? Slave market, stink, and weird people who walk around wobbling."

"They were drunk," I answered. It says a lot about the difference between the elven and human cultures when my friends don't even know what a drunk is, moreover the word for it.

"Drunk?" Faelar asked. "Is that even a word?"

"I guess there are some things even you do not know. You know what alcohol is, right?"

"Yes. It's that liquid that smells weird."

"Well, if you drink a lot of it, that is what will happen to you. It is called 'drunk'."

My two friends exchanged glances, and their faces paled even more than they were before. None of us were expecting this kind of "excitement" when we drove into town, even I was left in shock. I guess life in the cleanliness of Elvedriel spoiled me, and it was an unusual sight for me to once again witness drunk and the occasional prostitutes walking around the more secluded parts of town.

I saw a lot of that in my previous life, especially when I came back home from work late at night. But the slave market really freaked me out. I still have the face of that teenage girl burned into my memory, and no matter how much I tried, that image stayed as if it was stuck on there with super glue.

Then my friend's question arose, what if we were human? What if I was reincarnated in this world as a human, and found myself in the middle of all of this? I guess I could have been born in a proper city, or in the countryside, but the "what if" still remained.

But I wasn't. I was no longer human, and I no longer come from this culture. So why do I not feel emptiness? Why do I not feel like I lost something dear to me? Is it because of me witnessing the slave market, the drunks? No, it did not feel like it. It was something more.

It was just like Vie said. All experiences lead to personal growth. What I feared the most, the feeling of losing a part of me when I see that I no longer belong where I once did, was not there. I looked at this town, its culture, its customs, and didn't feel like a large chunk was ripped out of me. I felt no sadness, but happiness. Even if this town was heaven on earth, I still wouldn't have felt anything to it. If it was hell on earth, same thing. I just smiled. My life is different to what it was before, and I was able to accept it. 

I did not feel longing for my past. I did not feel any longing for my human side which once was the entire "me". I was happy with the new one I have now.

I have moved on. And I was happy.