Some places.

[Still Randall's POV]

After Anne's unplanned mini crash course on the usage of miasma, which is a more chaotic version of mana exclusive to demons, we set out towards the outer core layer of the town, where his place was. We'd get our stuff and leave the town for good.

On the way over, a talk had to take place, to Jack's dismay.

"Hey Jack. We've been thinking about something."

"Hm?"

"I think we're going to stay in your place for a while."

He stopped dead in his tracks, and slowly turned to face us. His expression had already turned quite ugly by the time we saw it. 

"That's... not happening. I have too many things to deal with to even consider adding 'taking care of a pair of strangers' to the list."

"Oh, we wouldn't be staying for free, of course not. I'm pretty sure we can reach an agreement or something, such as helping you with certain tasks or chores..."

It took two moments for the purple titan's fist to soften. He stood there, with eyebrows digging down. 

His eyes, blue as the brightest spots of my rapier, slowly opened. "It doesn't sound like a bad deal, somehow..."

He scrutinized Anne's figure loosely. Particularly, the arm she used to summon her penblade last night. Then, it was my turn.

"But even with that, you two are still outsiders... It'd be dangerous to let you stay."

The doubt seemed to be swaying him towards a negative answer.

'He might need a small push in the right direction...'

I quickly went through everything I had seen here. Particularly, the images I remember from his house and his attitude...

And the way he spoke...

"... You're not from here either, are you?"

He flinched.

"That-"

I caught a glimpse of a smile on Anne's face. "He's right. Your speech pattern is too different from that of the other townspeople, just like your schedule. Besides, the fact that you're in the Muscle Refinement realm doesn't help your case."

Muscle Refinement... That's equal to a Grade 6, if I remember correctly.

"That... I'll admit your first two points make sense, but that last part? How does that-"

"Most of the people I've seen here, including some of the guards, haven't even broken past the Bone Refinement realm. That leaves two possibilities: You're either an anomaly in the town, or... an outside factor."

... Not bad. 

He looked at us, rather distrustfully. I jumped in again.

"Look, we're in the same boat. Why don't we join hands and row towards a similar goal?"

Jack stood silently. After five tense seconds, he opened his mouth.

"... I think I can accept it."

I let out a sigh, releasing some of the pressure I had in my head. 

'Fortunately, it worked.'

"In that case, we should go to the town."

What?

The two of us looked at him, confused, and he picked up on that. 

"If you guys are staying here, then I have to give you a tour around Fegendale," he told us.

That makes sense. Besides, it's still quite early.

The sun hasn't even peeked its forehead in the horizon yet.

"Why, thanks."

"After all, you guys need to know how to move around here if you want to be helpful."

Anne kept her silence. Even as we walked, her strange aura did not cease to remind us of its presence.

None of us really talked anymore, until the army of wooden houses came into sight.

One of them had a hole with a big tree growing out of it. Its green, hair-like leaves shielded most of the building, except for one entrance, which seemed to be the main one.

"That's Hairy Joe's place."

Glancing at Jack, he seems to have caught me staring at that particular house. "Is that someone important?"

"No, but he's a pleasant person to hang out with, and knows how to brew nice tea."

A head nod in reply, and we kept walking.

"You see that place with the potions by the windows? That's Shuldry's Cauldron, owned by Shuldry. I don't really get along with her, but it is important that you know about this business. The owner is one of the few skilled alchemists in the town, after all..."

"Alright."

"Jack, do you mind if I ask something?" voiced Anne, who had been looking around.

"If it's related to the town, go ahead," he replied in a friendly manner.

"Is there an academy here? Or any facility in charge of educating?"

He nodded. "Yes, we do have an academy. It only has people prepared to teach at the Starter and Basic levels, though… But it is possible to graduate after Basic here, so-"

Huh, an academy. If I remember well, those are similar to my world's schools… Even Violet acknowledged that they are Teutonia's backbone while having a chat in her library.

Anne's eyes widened. Both with disgust and horror. "There's no Intermediate? Are you kidding me? And how is graduation after BASIC even leg-"

"Keep it down. As for why, most folk don't even know or remember that the third layer exists. So do not bring it up at any time, unless we're alone."

'Strange.'

A few turns on the dirt roads later, we arrived at a place with lots of stones lying around. In front of a rather large building made with mostly smoothened stone, stood a stone-carved sign.

And yes, Anne kept quiet. Though, if the shock from earlier, most of which still persisted, drawn all over her face served as energy, I'd be able to power up a mansion for a couple of days.

"This is our first stop: the Stonegrinder, owned by Peter. He's a friend of mine."

Only after knocking on the door did we enter. 

A fairly spacious room presented itself before us. Small sculptures portraying different types of grass blades made with polished stone stood proud, in spite of their glaring flaws. 

On the other side, a young, human-like demon quietly drew something on a paper sheet. His dull, brown hair covered one of his eyes, while the other amber one maintained its focus on the paper.

He looked up, and closed the book before placing it down on the wooden counter. Yet, I managed to have a glimpse into the paper sheet. 

The black-and-white side portrait of a woman, or maybe a demoness. I gotta say, he's skilled.

"Need help with anything?"

"Is Peter here by any chance?"

"Depends on who asks," answered the sharp youth, who maintained eye contact with our fellow Titan.

"I'm the pizza guy."

The brown haired youth, wearing a simple grey uniform with a white apron, went to the back. He emerged from it after a few dozen seconds. "Go in."

He strolled right into the room, leaving me here. My eyes inevitably glanced at the sculptures, most of which depicted… Grass blades.

Blades with slightly different colours, blades with cracks on their structures, barely or notoriously twisted blades…

"What about you, mister?"

'Ah? Did he ask me?'

I glanced around, and confirmed it. No one else was here. "Me?"

He nodded.

"Oh, I'm just looking around."

"I see."

He went back to continue working on his notebook's painting, while keeping an eye on me. 

"... These sculptures are quite detailed."

"I know. Teacher often pays attention to details."

I pretended to analyze the stone-made structures, just like an expert would. Though, the answers from the kid started to dwindle in quality.

"This mushroom looks nice", "the depth is good", "the artistic freedom taken by the artist can be seen at its grandest here", alongside other phrases were spouted out by me. 

Fortunately, it clearly seemed to be working. Not only did he sink his head deeper into the notebook, but he even attempted to pretend not to hear me.

Attempted. Because whenever he did, I'd snatch his attention once more with louder words and shove him back into the small talk. Though, this whole torture (for him) came to an end after a minute.

"Got it. We'll talk later, Peter."

The kid spared a glance for the titan that had just emerged from the back room. And then sunk back to the book.

'Might stay for thirty seconds, then leave. Shouldn't be too suspicious that way.'

As Jack greeted the lad and he turned to leave, a certain demon dressed in some particularly extravagant blue clothes came into the building. 

Her purple hair barely managed to cover up the blue ears. Her triangle-esque face only added to the titan's… beauty, I guess?

'Come to think of it, it does resemble that of the drawing made by the clerk in the stonegrinder.'

The titan's resting bitch face transformed into a bright smiling expression as soon as she saw Jack. "Ah, Jackie!"

She rushed to him and hugged his arm rather tightly. The clerk cast his gaze downwards, but kept mostly quiet.

"Come on Nade, let me go already."

"Why? Is it that hard to resist me~"

"No, you're just annoying," he answered bluntly, before shaking her off.

"Tch, how crude," voiced the mildly ticked off demoness, scoffing.

"Good morning, Miss. Is there anything you-"

Without even bothering to let the clerk finish, she slammed a few bills on the counter, each worth about 50 notes. "Dad wants four sets of reinforced icestone for next Wednesday-"

Jack pointed at the door with his eyes.

"You're leaving already? I'll keep you company!"

The titan, possibly named Nade, went back to Jack's arm, frustrating any attempts to sneak away in silence. Though, he kept her busy while waving me off. So I left the stone store, joined Anne in her silent observing, and met back with Jack after… Ten minutes?

Regardless, he did introduce us to a few more buildings, and to Nade herself. Of course, he got rid of her before meeting us. But he still told us about that titan.

"That was Nade, a demoness who always seems to be after me… Be careful with her."

Regardless, moving on to a more important topic: The other buildings.

The Solpani farm, the blacksmith, the local (and only) nursery, and the Town Hall.

His description of the last facility made it highly important in our eyes. After all, underneath the stable exterior rested a massive bunker with enough space to accommodate the whole town, along with the surplus resources stocked up throughout the year. Of course, it had three layers of doors for extra protection… Granted, they're all made of wood, but the intent is there.

Regardless, all of this is purely to survive for that one month where the Extreme Fall takes place. It really makes me wonder what it is like…

Anyway, getting to those 3 already took up much of our day. Afterwards, we made our way towards Jack's house after he passed by a farm to get some supplies for tonight.

He offered us to go ahead while he bought some groceries, but we chose to stay nearby. The "oh no, how could we? We'll wait!" excuse really worked wonders to convince him. 

So anyway, we all went to his place together, and started to prepare some food… Well, mostly Jack and I. Anne proved to be a disaster for this. 

That is, until someone interrupted by knocking on the door.