New discovery

Hearing his reply, the old woman stayed silent for some time before she lifted her cane and pointed to a road on the right.

"Albeit this town.. well village used to be a much more bigger business hub in fact, our village is now small and as such, everyone knows each other."

"We built our home in the husk of something greater, so don't get too confused."

"Follow this road and talk with Old Edward, he was an old adventurer and is the sole one in our village now."

"Just be patient with his personality, as although I imagine he is going to like you quite a bit... He still is a retired veteran, a grumpy one."

"He is currently the head of the Adventurer guild branch… Or what remains of it."

She pointed towards another road, the one on the far left.

"If you follow that road you are going to find an 'Inn'."

"Although to be honest, that was only an Inn during the time when I was just a child, now it's nothing but a big house where Illia and her family live."

"Tell them I sent you and they will probably take you in… You have 'coin' right?"

Damien scratched his head and asked:

"How much would a night cost here?"

The old woman smiled and said:

"Around one silver per night."

"..."

Damien looked at her with a poker face.

"That's a lot..."

'I don't have that much with me right now.'

"Are you saying we are not worth such an amount?" She asked with a half-smile.

But Damien shook his head.

"I will definitely pay; I am just saying it's quite a lot for what I'm used to."

'And I am sure there is a reason, this is a high-level area, so there must be a reason why it's so expensive just for the sake of it...'

"Continue with that thinking process and you'll fit right in." She said with a smile as she turned around, waving her right hand to him.

"Until next time young Damien, I hope you can find your calling within this place at the end of the world…"

But Damien replied:

"Thank you for your help… But isn't that basket too heavy for you? Do you need some help?"

And an old lady carrying such a huge basket on her back would definitely appreciate some help!

"..."

She stopped and looked at him in wonder.

"Ho?... It's been a while since someone offered to help me, so long I've stopped asking for it as well..." She said in an oddly deep and melancholic tone.

"Thats… Quite sad." Damien replied with a heavy expression.

'Are people in the village that self-centred and cruel?'

"I won't refuse if that is the case… My house is right at the end of the road…" She said as she pointed at the road in the middle.

Damien tried to look, but he couldn't see the end...

She took her basket and gave it to Damien.

"So, help me carry it there… If you can."

She dropped the basket on his hands!

*THUD!*

"!"

'WOW!!'

But nothing much happened, and the old lady smiled cheekily.

"This is quite heavy, madam…"

'Are you telling me this old lady was carrying this? Also... How did this basket survive?!' 'If not because of my new stat I wouldn't be able to carry this.

'Is she one of those disguised masters?'

Looking at his confused eyes, she shook her head, using her cane to lightly bump his head.

"Something I've noticed so far is that you think too much… Relax, some things in life just need to be appreciated, let it flow, nothing else."

"Letting go of one's worries can oftentimes help one overcome them."

"So, chop chop! If we take any longer my house is going to leave on its own."

"After you madam." Damien smiled as he waited for her to take the lead.

*******

*3 minutes later*

"Thank you, me and my back appreciate your little action." Eino said with a small smile.

[Congratulations Lady Eino has taken a liking to you]

[There is a higher chance of her making a decision in your favour] 

Damien was surprised by the information he just stumbled upon.

'Doesn't that mean that as long as I help them or maybe even give them basic respect, they would help me.' 'This just opened a large door of opportunities for me.'

"Here, for your troubles." She said as she threw something toward him.

'7 Silver coins. Exactly the number of coins I need to stay in the inn for a week.' Damien thought as he inspected the objects in his hands.

"After you talk with Edward and hopefully pass his test, go and talk with Old Troy. It's pretty easy to find him, he is always in the training camp near the Mercenary Guild."

"I'll do it… But there is one thing I've been wanting to ask…"

"Say it, the thing I lack the least is time."

"So, uh… I've seen literally no one… And the few people you talked about are old people… Where are the young?" He asked carefully.

Damien did not know anything about the Village, so he had to speak carefully else he could invoke the wrong emotions from them.

"That is simple, did you notice how the soil was relatively barren around our village?"

Damien nodded.

"This has quite the deep story but that doesn't matter right now, what matter is how we get our food."

She pointed towards the South.

"If you go South, you are going to eventually reach a large ruin, but I would advise you against that, there is also the forest to the South-East, but going further than that is dangerous due to monsters… The same goes for the North and the West."

"Ah, monsters… So it's like that huh..."

'That is a given, there were no players before me, and it was quite the barren land... But with these conditions…'

'There were always going to be some kind of monsters.'

"The soil in the surrounding areas are all barren, so the few young people that we have here... Are all sent Southeast to the forest, and they become hunters, and the few that can become fishermen from the rivers in the forest…"

'... I see…'

Damien was silent, he didn't have any words to offer them, so he just nodded with a sad expression.

"But oh, we do get some visitors from time to time, and it seems like your arrival has been a hot topic among them."

She looked at him and said:

"The young people often hope for someone to make a change in this place, though it's not like they can actually believe it is going to happen, but they still hope…"

'It seems like this place has its own hardships…'

'And like the name suggests, this place is truly forgotten.'

She looked at him and said with a smile:

"Welcome to Gleyma, kid."

"I hope you can find your place here, don't hesitate to look for me if you have any problems, I'll try my best to help you."

But Damien nodded and gave a bow as he said.

"Thank you… Old Lady."

[Congratulations Lady Eino is good impression of you has increased]