Just as I was about to buy something to give back to my family, someone suddenly grabbed the corner of my shirt from behind.
Turning my head, it turned out to be a short, short-haired girl.
This unfamiliar little girl was wearing a khaki shirt and shorts. She looked thin and small, but the expression on her face was full of vitality. Her skin was slightly dark, her eyes were big, and there was a kind of irrepressible drive and intelligence in them. She had a head of light yellow shoulder-length hair, and there were some small shiny metal pieces hanging at the end of her hair. This unique style of dressing was very different from the surrounding commoners, and I couldn't help but take a few more glances at her. But no matter how I looked … of course, I didn't know her.
"What's wrong? Do you need help? " I felt that I definitely didn't know the locals here, and I dressed as much as possible in line with the local people, so there shouldn't be anything special about me. Then maybe this little girl in front of me was just lost and needed help?
"You're not from around here, right?" The lively little girl opened her mouth and spoke as crisply as popcorn. Her pair of big bright eyes unscrupulously swept across my body. She nodded her head and concluded, "Do you need a guide? My name is Ailu, I'm here … Well, I'm the guide here! I specialize in leading the way for new adventurers! I'm very familiar with this place, I know the location of all the pubs and grocery stores, and I even know where the blacksmith shop is! Do you need a guide? It's only twenty copper coins a day ~ "
"Guide?" I was stunned, and then I looked around in shock: A small village built along the river, if it wasn't surrounded by a wall, I would even think it was a village. A small place with only a few hundred households, how could it develop into a tourist industry?
Also, this place didn't look like a tourist attraction. Looking at the farmland outside the town, looking at the ordinary streets and houses, looking at the naked children running around the haystacks, and the obviously primitive large forest in the distance … Well, the last one might be a little interesting, but other than that, this place didn't look like a tourist attraction in any way. Or could it be that the people on this planet have a more unique sense of beauty and lifestyle, and this ordinary riverside town is a tourist attraction?
The little girl who called herself Ailu seemed to see my confusion, and suddenly jumped up and down, "It's not lively enough right now, it will soon be lively! When the time comes, you won't be able to find a tour guide like me! And if there are more adventurers, the competition will be fierce. You'll definitely fall behind if you run around alone. Although I'm not very familiar with the depths of the forest … I'm very familiar with the periphery! I can bring you into the forest for an extra twenty copper coins! In addition, I can arrange accommodation for you. My family runs an inn … I used to run an inn! There are still a lot of rooms available, and it only costs twenty copper coins a day! "
The little girl chattered on, minding her own business. Before I could even open my mouth, she had already filled in the blanks. However, I didn't care what kind of person she misunderstood me as. I was only curious about one thing. "Why are they all twenty copper coins?"
"Clearly marked prices, honest to all! When Ai Lu does business, it's always a fixed price! " The little girl used a seemingly unrelated excuse to explain herself, and then tugged at the corner of my clothes again. "Come on, come on, let's go to the tavern first, then the grocery store, and finally the smithy … Don't you adventurers always go in this order? I'm a professional! "
Just when I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and didn't know how to resolve the misunderstanding, Sandora's voice suddenly sounded in my mind. "Since we don't have a destination, why don't we follow this little girl and learn about the local life?"
"Alright, then I'll have to trouble you to lead the way." I smiled and patted the little girl who called herself Ai Lu's head. At the same time, according to my previous observations, I secretly created some local currency to pay the little girl for leading the way. Speaking of which, this kind of world with a relatively backward level of technology was easy to fool. At the very least, the currency was relatively primitive, and copper coins were easier to create than credit cards and anti-counterfeiting chips …
Ai Lu looked at me in surprise, as if she was a little surprised that someone would actually let her lead the way. At that moment, I felt like I had been tricked, but the little girl quickly hid the surprise in her eyes and happily ran to the side. "Come, come, come ~! I'll bring you to the tavern first! There are many adventurers here, and they've all gathered in the past few days. They're amazing! "
"Why doesn't she look like a tour guide?" I couldn't help but mutter in the spiritual connection, "Who would leave their guests behind and happily run forward."
"I don't think she looks like a tour guide either," Sandora hovered next to my head. "But it could also be the nature of a child."
There were still a lot of doubts in my mind. For example, how did this little girl Ai Lu see through my identity as a foreigner, and how did she imagine me to be a so-called adventurer? Why would such a small riverside town have a 'tour guide' service, and what was with the 'it's going to be lively soon' that she mentioned? With my late-stage OCD symptoms, if I don't figure out these questions, I'm afraid I won't be able to eat or sleep in peace. Thus, I quickly caught up to the little 'tour guide' who was skipping and jumping in front of me. Using the identity of a newcomer, I started chatting with her: "Speaking of which, how did you know I'm a foreigner? I'm dressed like a normal person here, right? "
"Foreigners can tell at a glance!" The little girl Ai Lu said casually, "I know everyone in this town! So, as long as I don't know them, they must be foreigners. "
I: "… …" So that's how she identifies people!?
Fortunately, the little girl continued: "In addition, looking at your actions, you also seem to be a foreigner. You're not familiar with the roads here, and you're interested in all the common things in the market. When you buy something, you hesitate for a long time and don't know what to choose. I'm a professional tour guide, and finding foreigners who need help from a crowd is the most basic survival skill. Oh right, do you want a map of this place? A map of the town and the surrounding ten miles, it's only twenty copper coins! "
The little girl's words were clear and logical at the beginning, but once again revealed her true nature: She probably only knows one number in her life, right?
I nodded, and then I saw Ai Lu take out a crumpled yellow papyrus from the front pocket of her blouse: "Here you go, twenty copper coins! One hand over the money, one hand over the goods! "
Although it felt like a scam, I still counted out twenty copper coins and stuffed it into the little girl's hand. Then, I took the crumpled ball of papyrus and unfolded it. Sure enough, it was a scam: It was a square piece of papyrus that wasn't neatly cut. On top of it, there was a map that looked like a simple stroke. Look at the naive tree symbol, look at the naive dog symbol, look at the naive sun symbol … … I also drew these things before I was in the second grade of elementary school. Moreover, my family's Little Bubble still draws similar things, and in all fairness, even Little Bubble's drawings are more neat and tidy than this.
This was a map that cost twenty copper coins, and I could tell at a glance that it was drawn by Ai Lu herself. More importantly … …
I reached out and wiped my hand on the map. Immediately, I had to wash my hands: This thing is fading! She drew it with charcoal!
"Just based on this map, I can confirm that we've definitely been scammed," I whispered to Sandora through our spiritual connection, "Even the most unreliable tour guide wouldn't really sell this thing for money."
"You've been scammed, I didn't ask you to buy anything just now," Sandora said as she floated above Ai Lu's head. Of course, the latter didn't know what was going on, "Continue to follow her, let's see what other tricks she has up her sleeves."
At this moment, Ai Lu had already put away the copper coins with a pleasantly surprised expression. All signs indicated that she didn't expect to actually earn money, and this made me even more certain that she was actually a mischievous brat. But since I have a lot of experience with mischievous brats, and more importantly, I have an extremely high tolerance, so I decided to accompany her to relax. After Ai Lu put away the copper coins, I patted her head: "Speaking of which … … You said that this place will soon become lively, what's going on?"
"You don't know?" Ai Lu shook her head to show that she wasn't a child who needed to be patted on the head, then looked at me in surprise: "Aren't you an adventurer? Are you just passing by? "
The disappointment on Ai Lu's face was visible to the naked eye, as if once she confirmed that the person in front of her wasn't an 'adventurer', she would turn around and leave. Although I didn't know what was going on, I still decided to continue the misunderstanding. So, I used my years of experience in deceiving people to make my lie as convincing as possible: "Of course I'm an adventurer. But as you can see, I came out alone, so my intelligence isn't very good … … Well, I didn't expect so many people to come here, I thought I was the only one who was attracted here. Aren't you a tour guide? Tell me what you know. "
"Oh, so that's how it is," Ai Lu didn't think too much about my vague explanation, and when we talked about a certain topic, her face lit up with inexplicable excitement. "Of course it's because of the ruins in the forest. The news of the recently discovered ancient tower has already spread to the kingdom's capital, and the priests of the church have issued an amnesty to allow exploration. As a result, a lot of adventurers suddenly came here! Isn't it always like this in novels? Mysterious ancient ruins suddenly appear next to an unknown village, and then many powerful adventurers come to destroy the ruins of the monsters and so on. The earlier the adventurers, the easier it is for them to become heroes. The local children who lead the heroic adventurers will later become famous scholars and so on … … Ai Lu will soon get to know a lot of powerful adventurers! Then I will also become famous! "
I immediately understood what was going on with this little girl … … I told children to study hard and not read too many extracurricular books!
But after removing Ai Lu's chuunibyou fantasies, the remaining information was still very useful: It seems that this seemingly ordinary riverside town is really about to become lively, and the reason for the liveliness is the discovery of something called an 'ancient tower' in the forest next to it? Could this ancient tower be related to the discontinuity of civilization?
Sandora and I decided on the spot that after accompanying Ai Lu around and getting a general understanding of the town's situation, we would take some time to explore the forest. Maybe we would find something interesting there.
And the little girl Ai Lu, whose mind was filled with "get to know adventurers, become as powerful as those in novels, and finally travel the continent to become famous scholars", quickly brought us to our first destination. It was a small tavern that looked not much bigger than a ramen shop that could be found on the streets of Earth. Listening to the movements inside, it seemed really lively.
"This is the place!" Ai Lu shouted at the entrance of the tavern. "This is the home of adventurers! The starting point of your journey! "
Just as Aylu's voice faded away, an aunty dwarf with a 1: 1 ratio of length to width ran out of the tavern. She grabbed Aylu's ear and roared like a lion, "Little girl, you're here to make trouble again! You're here to make trouble again! Go home and continue your dreams! This is the River Valley Tavern! Last year it was called the Forest Tavern! Two years ago it was called the Pork Bone Soup Tavern! Three years ago it was called the Gold Inlay Tavern! Even before my grandfather's generation, it wasn't a home of adventurers! You … … Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't see any customers at the door. Are you here to eat? "
The dwarf auntie looked up and saw me standing three meters away with an embarrassed expression on my face. She immediately lost her composure and tossed Aylu to the side. With the kind and shrewdness of a merchant, she smiled at me and said, "You didn't get tricked by this child Aylu, did you? She's always dreaming, don't mind her … … She's not a local, right? "
I: "… …" Did my disguise skills deteriorate over the years? How could anyone find out that I wasn't familiar with this place? And it was all discovered at first glance!
However, the dwarf auntie's words had completely exposed Ai Lu's true colors. She really was a rash little brat who talked big. However, this girl didn't seem to have the slightest awareness of being exposed. She didn't even have an embarrassed expression on her face. She just grimaced at the dwarf auntie for a long time, then pulled me into the tavern: "Tavern Auntie Passali, a woman with a bad temper and a loud voice. Hmph, just wait and see. When the time comes, this tavern will definitely become a gathering place for adventurers. Auntie Passali, sooner or later you'll be responsible for giving out missions to adventurers! Come, I'll bring you around to familiarize yourself with the atmosphere here … … "
The owner of the tavern glared at Ai Lu fiercely, but it seemed that Ai Lu had always been this mischievous, to the point where no one could discipline her, so the owner could only glare at her. Then, she smiled at me and explained: "Don't mind her, this child is a famous' character 'in our town. She always likes to fantasize about random things. Recently, there have been more and more adventurers in town, so it's getting harder and harder to discipline her. In short, don't take anything she says seriously. I'll inform her family later. "
Ai Lu jumped up and down: "Auntie Passali, you're being prejudiced! I'm working very hard to help my family earn money! "
What I got in return was another glare.
I smiled indifferently: "It's fine, I just happened to come from another place, so I'm not familiar with it. This little girl really did bring me around a lot. Speaking of which … … You guys found a ruin nearby, right? "
I tried my best to pick out the information I already knew, so as to not make it seem strange if I said too much. As for the naughty child Ai Lu using a hand-drawn map to swindle twenty copper coins … … Hehe, can we not talk about that? Besides, I was just playing with a child.
Passali beamed with joy: "Ruins, huh. Recently, because of this, a lot of people have been attracted here. But it's also a good thing, our family's business has improved a lot. In the past, only people who came to buy things from the elves would pass by this place, but now that it's been a few days, this place has become very lively."
I turned my head to look at the street not far away. It was indeed very lively. Previously, when I looked at the scenery of the town from the outside, I thought that it was just a prosperous town, but now that I knew about the ruins, I took a closer look. Indeed, there were many people who didn't look like commoners … … They were probably foreigners.
It was probably because there were so many foreigners that the townspeople were well prepared for unfamiliar faces, so Ai Lu and Passali were able to guess that I was also a foreigner. After all, in a small town like this, the townspeople would more or less have some impression of each other. Even if they hadn't met each other before, they would still be able to tell at a glance if the other person had the 'smell' of a local.
No matter where they went, foreigners would be very eye-catching in this kind of small town where neighbors talked to each other like chickens and dogs.
The tavern's furnishings were simple, and there was nothing special about the structure, but there were a lot of customers. Ai Lu dragged me here and there, but we couldn't find an empty table. In the end, we could only find an empty seat near the wall and sit down with two diners who seemed to have been here for a while. It wasn't until the moment I sat down that I remembered something: I don't remember saying that I wanted to eat and drink here, right?
Why did I get dragged here by this weird little girl!? Wasn't it just for sightseeing?
"This means that this little girl is indeed born to be a tour guide," Sandora landed on the table in front of me with her invisible body, and rolled around while making sarcastic remarks, "It doesn't matter if you're interested or not. It doesn't matter if you want to buy something or not. It doesn't matter how much you spend. But I suggest that you don't stay here for too long … … It's easy to go crazy when others eat while I watch. "
"… …" I realized that Sandora was probably going to go crazy for a long time in the next few days.
But since I'm already seated, it's a little inappropriate to turn around and leave (mainly because it's a little scary to look at the tall dwarf auntie blocking the entrance), so I beckon the waitress who was running around busily between the tables to bring us a few dishes and drinks. As I did not know what was in this world, I allowed her to look at it, so as to make sure that I was a visitor from afar, Aylu took the opportunity to sit beside me and began to tell me the story of the town and the ferocious beasts in the forest. Her story was vivid and vivid, from the brave pioneers who fought against the savages of the plains in the early days of the town, to the ancient monsters that lurked in the forest next to the town, to the Royal Knights who would come to the plains outside the town every few days to fight against foreign invaders. Her story was colorful and vivid. I went through her story and came to the conclusion that if half of her story was true, then the town was at least two thousand square kilometers in size, and there were already three armies of the Royal Knights lying in the forest next to it, and a dozen princes had peeped at the local girls bathing by the river west of the village. In the end, those girls all became the queens of neighboring countries.
… How many knight novels did this child read?
While I was still shocked by Aoi's increasingly unreliable description, a middle-aged man who also looked like a foreigner sitting across from me suddenly spoke, "Are you also going to find the ruins?"
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