Chapter 3: The Village of Mujyara

I was amazed after going out of the door and couldn't help but give a moan of admiration.

"Woah…"

The house earlier was actually built within the trunk of a large tree with a diameter of roughly 30 meters. We are placed about 10 to 20 meters above the ground, on the second level.

Houses were made below and above with wooden pathways running around the trunk connecting them.

What's amazing was that despite all that, it still stood strong and didn't wither. What a frightening vitality.

I surveyed the surroundings and was surprised just the same.

The surrounding greenery and the hustle and bustle of the residents below made me confirm that this world really is a different world.

"Above us is the house of the Verna's. They focus on Leather Products so you can visit them if you want to order some leather clothes."

I snapped back to reality after hearing Nina's energetic words.

"Below us is the house of Gust's that focuses on hunting. If you want to learn how to hunt game you can ask them."

Nina walked downwards on the stairs at one end of the platform. After circling around the tree once, we reached the ground.

"Is there any place you want to go to?"

She asked me in a hurry. Looks like I can decide our destination at least.

"Is there a carpenter or woodworker in here?"

"Yes, of course. They are the Hansel Family. They live about 5 trees away."

Nina pointed far behind my back. As the trees here were large, easily over a hundred meters, the distance between each tree too was large.

The fifth tree seems to be about a kilometer away. Still, I could clearly see it. As expected from a giant tree.

"Then let's head there first. I'll leave choosing the course to you."

I soon regretted that decision.

Instead of going straight towards there, we zigzagged and greeted everyone we passed by. A good chunk of time was wasted walking around.

After about an hour, I was introduced to almost everyone in the village. Looks like at noon, most of the residents gathered at the center. That was below Mary's and Nina's house.

Another hour was wasted walking around and greeting everyone.

The farmers, the fishers, the jeweler, the village chief, the doctor, the seamstress, the butcher and others.

I was introduced to nearly 400 residents. There's no way to remember them all. After passing the third tree, the number of villagers thinned which made us walk in peace.

"Is there a reason why there's too few men here?"

I cannot help but wonder. As about 80% of the villagers introduced to me was female.

"The men of each house sometimes gets drafted to be soldiers. However, not even half remains after."

"… Is that so…"

Looks like there were things like war in this world too. If you included magic to the equation, the tragedy may be even greater that the wars on Earth.

"Are females not allowed to fight?"

"Why are you asking the obvious? Of course we can't. Do you think we can wield that heavy sword and run around fields full of the stench of smoke and blood?"

She has a point. However, it seems that gender equality is yet to be implemented. Or maybe the king was just a feminist?

"… Thanks to the war, women were slowly losing the luxury of choosing good men as their partners. That's why this village has this low population."

She added in a slightly irritated voice.

"… How long is the war going?"

"Hmm? Ignoring the gaps between each battle… Roughly about 300 years?"

300? Don't they get tired of it?

"What's the point in killing other humans…? What idiocy…"

I muttered under my breath. However, Nina seems to have heard my murmur.

"What are you talking about? The enemies are demons! They don't deserve pity!"

She shouted. Her voice full of anger. Is the enemy kingdom that bad?

"They would destroy the villages they passed by! They would kill everyone they lay their eyes to! Even to my parents! They–!"

Noticing that she was ranting, she quickly shut her mouth. Looks like I stepped on a landmine.

"I think it's better to end this topic here. Alright?"

I tried offering her a lifeboat and she quickly grabbed onto it. She softly nodded her head.

"Looks like we finally arrived."

After almost 3 hours of walking, we finally arrived. I was starting to think that this level of walking couldn't be called leisure anymore. I haven't even walked half a kilometer in my previous daily life and she made me walk for hours on end. Thanks to that, my legs were starting to ache.

"Ohh! What's this? Did Nina finally get a boyfriend?"

A man in his late twenties greeted us after reaching the fifth tree. His black hair was swept to the back and his beard and moustache was covering almost half of his face.

His skin was of a healthy dark brown, signs of having worked under the hot sun for hours. Still, seeing his white teeth peeking through his smile, you would notice that it wasn't his natural skin tone.

"T-There's no way! D-Don't jump to conclusions!!"

For some reason, Nina got flustered.

"Good afternoon. I'm just a Nobody, freeloading on Nina's house for the moment. You can call me Nazo."

I immediately held my hand out to him. The effect of introducing myself to hundreds of villagers. It was almost reflexive now.

"Oh! I'm Orga, this village's carpenter. If you ever have a job for me, just ask! I would even prioritize you as you are Nina's boy! Hahahaha!"

"Then maybe I'll trouble you later on. I'll be counting on you by then."

"Of course! Don't be shy and just come! Hahaha!"

He seemed to be a good guy with a lot of sense of humor. I smiled just like him and let out a small laugh.

"..."

When I turned my head to the side, I saw Nina blushing to her ears with her upturned eyes staring at me full of unease.

"If you make Nina cry, I'll make sure you pay for it so be prepared! Hahaha!"

"Of course. If ever I did something as idiotic as that, please do so. Hahaha."

Nina turned her face downwards. I can't see her expression now. However, her body was trembling slightly. What's wrong?

After a few hours of talking with Orga, we decided to finally head back home.

Nina's pace was a little bit faster but I didn't particularly mind. I'll be having plenty of rest later so getting tired isn't a problem.

Just before the sun sets, we reached the tree where Nina's and Mary's house were. Looks like sun down here was a bit early. It's not even 6 PM yet and the sun was already setting.

After we climbed the flight of stairs and reached the landing of the second floor, Nina opened the door and entered. Was knocking not necessary as this was their house?

I followed closely behind her.

"Welcome back. Did you enjoy your stroll?"

Mary spoke while setting a steaming hot bowl of soup on the table. Looks like she already prepared dinner.

"It was very helpful. Maybe I can make your tools for drawing by tomorrow."

"I'm not particularly in a hurry so please take your time. Oh, on the other hand, how about teaching me how to read the ancient letters by tomorrow?"

I knew this would happen so I decided to make the tools tomorrow. By then, I needed to sort out my memories and finally face this reality.

"… I think I'll make the tools first. Teaching you would be easier if we have tools."

"If that's so, then I'll be counting on you."

"..."

"..."

I was getting bothered with Nina's behavior. She was quiet since the moment we came to Orga's place. Up until this moment, she was yet to speak a word.

Mary too seemed to have noticed it. She was worriedly looking towards Nina who was silently and mechanically placing food into her mouth. Dinner ended just like that.

Mary, who finally couldn't bear the situation, spoke up.

"Uhm… Nazo? Can I ask you to fetch water? You know where the well is right?"

Mary gave me two wooden buckets.

"Of course. But it's a bit dark now so I would need some light."

"Then take two of this."

Mary passed two «Luminescence» scrolls to me and told me how to use it briefly. I walked out of the door with a small ball of light floating by the side of my head.

I was surprised on how easy it was to use the scroll. I didn't know that I could control mana. This was a fresh experience for me.

After about 15 minutes I reached the well. Since it was already dark, there's nobody using it. I managed to quickly gather water and returned.

After half an hour, as I needed to take breaks on lifting the buckets, I finally reached home. I don't want to remember how hard it was to climb the stairs.

I knocked on the door and it opened almost instantly.

"Welcome back. Sorry to push this job to you despite being a patient."

"It's okay. I know my body better than anyone so if I deemed it impossible, I wouldn't have done it."

Of course it was a bluff. I thought my arms would break.

After washing the dishes, we finally decided to sleep.

I insisted on sleeping on the floor though. Of course.