The tavern was bustling with business. It seemed that the recent discovery of the 'ruins' had attracted a large number of foreigners to this place, and the place with the highest concentration of foreigners was the local tavern in front of us. Aylu and I struggled to find two empty seats against the wall, but there was already someone sitting across the table. It was a middle-aged man, and beside him sat a thin figure hidden in a black robe.
"Are you also going to find the ruins?" The middle-aged man across the table heard Aylu excitedly telling a story about the Great Forest and the expedition team, so he looked at me curiously.
I raised my head to look at him. He was a muscular man in his forties. His skin was slightly tanned, and his muscles were solid. He had short black hair, a square face, and sharp eyebrows. He looked quite reliable. He was wearing a set of clothes that was very different from the short robes that the locals wore. It looked like a short-sleeved training outfit. His grayish-black clothes were a little old, but they looked very clean. The clothes were tightly wrapped around his muscles, and it didn't fit him very well — — but it did show off his robust body.
Next to this middle-aged man was a huge black sword that was almost as tall as a person. Needless to say, it was his weapon. So … he was a warrior. He should be the 'adventurer' that Aylu mentioned.
"I'm a little interested." I still didn't fully understand the situation here. I didn't know what the so-called ruins, local church, and forest monsters (for the time being) meant, so I could only answer vaguely, hoping to get more information from the other party's conversation. "I'm a scholar who travels everywhere, and I'm interested in all kinds of strange things. This time, I'm not here for the ruins, but for the story."
I first stated that I didn't know much about the ruins, so that the other party wouldn't appear to be ignorant if he really discussed it with me. As for my identity as a traveling scholar … Heh, you don't say, I found that I was getting more and more used to this method of lying. My identity as a scholar was definitely a jack of all trades. Anyway, no matter where I went, I could always use "I'm a scholar" to fool the other party. After all, it was understandable for scholars to appear a little unreasonable. After all, when you stay at home for a long time, you'll naturally be a fool …
Sandora floated over and bumped me on the back of my head. "You're saying that again. Can't you think of something more creative next time? You can say that you're a novelist who's out to gather information."
My expression didn't change as I replied in my mind, "Most people who write novels starve to death at home. How many rich people have you seen come out to collect stories?"
The middle-aged man on the other side of the table was stunned for a moment, then he laughed heartily, "Ah ha, a scholar. I really couldn't tell. The scholars I know are over sixty years old, and their beards are longer than their hair. I've never seen one as young as you … But then again, you don't look like someone who likes to fight or take risks. You're quite bookish, so you can only study. Hey, my name is Leon. I can be considered an explorer … the kind with more experience than an adventurer. "
It seemed like the other party was an easy person to get along with. I smiled and bowed, "Well said, well said. You can call me Chen Jun."
"Chen Jun? Is that a name? " Leon smacked his lips as if he found the strange name unbelievable. "Nowadays, it's popular for scholars to use pseudonyms. Right, let me introduce this person beside me who doesn't like to talk. She's Qingye, my girlfriend. We're all from other places, and it's not easy to be away from home. One more friend means one more path. Qingye, greet her. "
The person sitting beside Leon was completely covered in a black hooded cloak. Previously, I could only tell from her figure that she was a skinny woman. Now that she lifted her hood, I discovered to my astonishment that she was a beautiful elf with long, light green hair!
"Hello, I'm Qingye, an apprentice priest of the Lost God Sect. I've come here for an adventure with Leon."
The female elf greeted me in a somewhat reserved manner, then pulled her hood back up to cover most of her face. Leon lightly patted her shoulder and chuckled at me, "Don't mind her. She doesn't really like to talk. She's been studying scriptures all day long, and her brain has gone stupid."
I smiled nonchalantly. Then, I chatted idly for a bit about my daily life. As I gathered information about this planet, I muttered to myself, "Lost God Sect? The local sect gave themselves such a name? That doesn't sound very auspicious … Could it be related to the discontinuity of civilization?
However, it wasn't convenient to ask about such things now. It was better to slowly interact with more people and understand this sect first. The little girl Aylu had been ignored by the adults, and no one was even listening to her story. At this time, she finally became a little impatient. Children have shallow patience, and after a while, she became restless, "Do you want to go to the general store? Do you want to go to the blacksmith shop? It's getting late. Once the sun sets between the two mountains on the horizon, a day will have passed! If you continue to ask for a guide, I'll add 20 copper coins! "
Only then did I remember that I had "hired" a guide. Leon, who was sitting across the table, revealed a curious expression. It was obvious that he had never heard of a "guide" profession in such a remote town. After all, this was just the identity of a guide that the little girl had imagined from a bunch of knight novels. Looking at Leon's expression, I could only smile a little awkwardly, "I don't know which family's kid is from … I'm not too familiar with this place, so I asked her to lead the way to find a place to stay."
Leon grinned in understanding, "That's true. Fortunately, we arrived early. In another two days, I'm afraid there will be a lot of tents outside the town. It's always like this every time a ruin is discovered or the Church opens up a place for exploration. A large group of people will gather together. There are also many scholars like you who have no interest in relics and specialize in history … Ah, that's enough. Take care. Maybe in two days, we'll meet at the ancient tower."
While holding the little girl Aylu back, who was gradually becoming more and more agitated, I called the shop assistant over to settle the bill. After that, the two of us returned to the street outside. Although we had only stayed in the tavern for less than half an hour, it happened to be the day when the sun was slowly setting. It seemed that the locals here did not have the habit of wandering outside after the sun had set, so the street was already a lot more deserted. The remaining pedestrians were either wearing a variety of clothing that was not quite the same as the local people, or at a glance, looked travel-worn. Needless to say, most of the people still wandering outside were foreigners … adventurers.
With so many foreigners pouring into their town, I did not know how the locals would feel. Perhaps a lot of people would feel annoyed, but there were also people like Passali who opened a tavern and felt that business was improving. As for the little girl Aylu, of course, she was also very happy. She finally had the opportunity to come into contact with the world she saw in the storybooks. But I reckon that she would soon find out that the books were all lies. In this world, there was no such thing as princes rubbing shoulders and coming to the west of the village to watch a girl bathe by the river …
Previously, the owner of the tavern, Passali, said that she would find someone to inform Aylu's family to pick up the little girl, but when Aylu and I left the tavern, the little girl's parents didn't show up. It seemed that the tavern was too busy and the dwarven auntie didn't have time to take care of her.
"Let me tell you, our town used to have a big character. Don't be fooled by our small town, the Great Forest next to us is the location of one of the five elven cities … Although it is in the deepest part of the forest and there is a barrier that prevents ordinary people from entering, the elves often come out to choose adventurer companions from the town. You know, the elves have an Adult Experience, right? When they reach a certain age, they will leave the forest and come into contact with other races. Our town's most famous Dragon Slayer teamed up with an elf …"
That was not the end of the little girl Aylu's story. Right now, she was talking about the seventh Dragon Slayer in her town. As I looked at the gradually quieting town and the gradually setting sun, I thought about how to arrange my schedule for the next few days.
The Empire General was still hovering in orbit, in an invisible state, so it would not be discovered by the locals. In fact, looking at their current level of technology, it seemed that they would not be able to discover anything in space. Sandora and I originally thought that this was a rather advanced interstellar civilization, but we did not expect that the space stations in orbit were all ancient equipment that had been asleep for who knows how many thousands of years. On the surface, there was only a feudal agricultural civilization. In this case, there was even less of a need for the Empire General to reveal itself.
So what should I do for the next few days?
This planet seemed to be hiding some secrets. Although it had nothing to do with the Empire, since I had nothing to do, I might as well observe the situation here. At the same time, I could let the Empire General release some probes to search the surrounding star systems to see if there were more signs of life. When we first saw the equipment in space, we deduced that the civilization on this planet had developed advanced space technology. Although they seemed to have lost their civilization, we might be able to find more of their relics in the surrounding star systems. We might even be able to find colonized planets that did not lose their civilization. Although the chances of this happening were not high, it was worth looking forward to.
Far away in space, the Empire General quickly received the order. Several factories located at the lower section of its longitudinal arm immediately started assembling a batch of probes. These probes then rushed out of the ejection channel and flashed across space.
This time, we might be looking for the remnants of a colony that had been destroyed by the extinction of life. (Based on experience, civilizations of the Interstellar Era and above would often leave behind many such relics after the technological collapse, just like the large-scale fortresses left behind by the Empire.) Since these relics were inanimate objects, they were generally not easy to find. So, I let the probes scan the surrounding star systems at low speed and high precision, not letting go of even the vast expanse of space. Of course, this would take a long time, but in any case, there was nothing else to do.
At this time, Ailu had already told me the story of the demon king who had destroyed the world sealed under the town. (This planet is really sturdy, the demon king's population density is almost as high as that of humans). Seeing that she would not be able to finish her story in a short amount of time, I remembered that I was planning to find a local residence to stay here and experience the local life. So, I patted her head and said, "Ailu, the story is almost done. I think we are still quite far from the grocery store … First, bring me to a place to stay. Didn't you say that your family runs an inn?"
"Yes, an inn!" Ailu immediately became excited and pulled me forward. "It's right in front of us. My family used to run an inn, but after we had too few guests, we closed it down. Recently, there have been a lot of adventurers, and I was just about to let my mother open the inn again! You are the first guest to reopen the inn … Ah, the sun is setting! "
Ailu looked at the last ray of light in the sky, turned around and extended her hand to me. "Sheng Hui, twenty copper coins for the guide fee!"
How could I continue to fork out money (even though I did not earn these copper coins myself) and be a fool? So, I casually patted Ailu's head and said, "When we reach the inn, we will settle the bill together."
The little girl thought for a moment and surprisingly did not think that there was any problem with this. Instead, she happily agreed. Then, she pulled me along for a few more minutes. Finally, a large two-story building appeared in front of us.
This large building looked somewhat similar to a traditional rental apartment on Earth. The exterior was simple, and the main body of the long building was divided into two floors. The upper floor had neatly arranged windows, which should be all guest rooms. The lower floor probably had the function of both the owner's residence and various functional rooms. Next to the large building, there was also a cylindrical side room. Now I knew that it was basically a warehouse and a place for livestock.
Elated, Ailu dragged me towards the wide-open front door, shouting as she ran: "Mother! Mother! We have guests! We have guests who are here to stay! Also, Ailu made money today! "
When I entered the main door, I found myself in a spacious lobby. A young woman wearing a coarse dress raised her head from behind a table in the corner of the lobby when she heard Ailu's shout.
This was a very beautiful woman. Even though she was already a mother, I could still see the elegance of her youth. Her black hair was coiled up high with a flower-shaped hair ornament at the back of her head, giving her a mature and dignified look. Although her skin was slightly dark, it was a healthy and clean color. The only flaw was that her face carried a look of exhaustion, as if she could not wake up from sleep. Her eyes were almost completely closed due to drowsiness, and there were dark circles under her eyes, indicating that she did not get enough rest. This kind of listless appearance was a little strange.
A pile of books and papers were spread out on the table in front of her. It looked like she was sorting out the accounts or something. She looked up at the door and quickly noticed me as a stranger. She revealed a puzzled expression and said, "Accommodation? We are no longer open here. "
… As expected, this little girl Ailu was indeed a super active and super unreliable brat. However, I still let her drag me for half a day without any hesitation. This is really …
"Eh, I heard from Ailu that there is a hotel here." I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Then, I pointed at Ailu who was already running towards her mother. "I am that … scholar from another place. I came here to study the ruins. I thought there would be a place to stay. If I knew that your house wasn't open, I would have gone somewhere else. It's already so late. "
Actually, I didn't really care about the accommodation. If it really didn't work out, I could always find a place outside where there was no one and open the cabin. Or I could directly teleport to the Admiral of the Empire. It would be a proper presidential suite treatment. However, I was interested in the local customs of this planet, so I wanted to experience what the local residences were like. Of course, this matter couldn't be forced — a brat could kill someone.
"Foreigners?" Ailu's mother looked really tired, even her voice sounded weak. She looked at the sky outside and the pedestrians on the street, then seemed to remember something. "Were they attracted by the ancient tower in the forest again? Adventurers? "
"Scholar, it's a scholar!" Ailu seemed to be even more anxious than me, jumping up and down to help explain, "It's a very powerful person, even more powerful than adventurers! I earned money today! "
"Earned money?" This was the second time Ailu's mother heard this word. Only then did she focus her attention on it. Then, she suddenly remembered something and stood up in a slight panic. She dragged her daughter over, "Did this child cause you trouble? She's usually a little whimsical and often causes trouble for people. It's best if you don't take what she says seriously … Did you give her money? "
Although I really wanted to nod at this moment, when I saw Ailu's frightened expression like a frightened rabbit, I felt … I should still nod! If I don't teach this brat a lesson, won't she become completely crooked?!
So I nodded.
"Hurry up and apologize to this gentleman!" As expected, Ailu's mother immediately showed signs of anger. Looking at her expression, it was obvious that this wasn't the first time a certain brat caused trouble. The latter immediately received a barrage of lectures. But with my many years of experience dealing with brats, a brat like Ailu who already had a chuunibyou brain to the point of fooling people on the street was impossible to educate in a short period of time. Moreover, my purpose here wasn't to let this little girl get lectured, so I hurriedly tried to smooth things over: "Ahem, actually it wasn't that much trouble. Moreover, she brought me around the town for half a day. She's very dedicated to her job as a guide. If it wasn't for this little girl's help, I really wouldn't know what to do here."
After thinking about it, I still didn't mention the map. It wouldn't be good if this little girl got beaten up.
Ailu's mother saw that I didn't intend to pursue the matter. Looking at the sky outside, she nodded: "You're a foreigner, it's definitely too late to find a hotel at this time. Then you can stay here. In any case, there are a lot of empty rooms upstairs. I'll go up and prepare a room for you. Oh right, how much does this child want … Oh, it must be twenty copper coins. She only knows this number. "
Me: "…" A mother knows her daughter best!
"How about twenty copper coins as a accommodation fee?" I chuckled, "Just now I saw the prices here, it should be about the same."
"Actually, the accommodation fee isn't much. We haven't done business for a long time. But if you're willing to pay, I'll prepare dinner for you. Just treat it as a meal fee." Ailu's mother smiled warmly. Although there was still an inexplicable sense of exhaustion on her face, she still had a dignified and steady bearing. She then pulled Ailu to the second floor, "You can wait here for a moment, I'll go prepare a room. Please don't move around. "
After Ailu and her mother slowly disappeared on the wooden stairs, I muttered to the invisible Sandora, "She has a good temperament, but she doesn't seem like a commoner."
"I don't really care if she's a commoner or not," Sandora lightly moved towards the books that Ailu's mother was flipping through. She should have just been looking at them out of curiosity, but she suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "Huh? Ah Jun, look at this! "
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