The villagers were nice. I couldn’t stand their looks of pity. I’m not a beggar nor did I get robbed! Their soup was bland but it warmed me up. I also got some modest clothing that made me look like I had a house and family.
They wanted to know my story but my story was either: I just got here. Or a very long story that I don’t feel like telling. I weighed my chances. Do I feign amnesia or tell a vague bullshit story.
Bullshit story it was. I told them that I was a farmer girl and got lost trying to find my dog that escaped. During my search, I had encountered a strange monster that intrigued me it was part pheasant, part boar and now I want to know more and am looking for the best and biggest library around.
The villagers bought my story as they had seen strange creatures too, they couldn’t stop asking questions about my hat though, which I ignored. Here I was thinking that it was just Boshi Town’s strange environment. They told me that Gittrian has a large library that contains literature, catalogues, encyclopaedias, fiction, and more. It might have what I was looking for.
I was unsure how to thank them. The villagers were fine with verbal gratitude. They still thought I was robbed… The urge to correct them was hard to hold back.
A comfortable spot in a barn was prepared for me. It had been a while since I had actively interacted with humans. It felt strange. I was no longer an outcast. I was still alone but it didn’t feel as bad as I could solve that problem whenever I wanted. I should make sure to visit Paul and Paula from time to time. I wonder if they will reproduce like rabbits again now that Paula is young again and has become more lively.
The morning came early. Walking to Gittrian would take too long and I didn’t want to scare the villagers into revealing that I was a Misha so I flew off early in the morning. Gittrian was quite far. I still remember where it was. It surely hadn’t moved had it?
The first thing I saw after 4 weeks of flying was a city block of gold. I had mixed feelings about it. It looks pretty but not because one could, means that one should. My knowledge might be rusty but as far as I knew, gold was a terrible material to build with.
I spotted some augmentations helping the gold in keeping its structure, [Auto Evacuate] in case something goes wrong, and other magic augmentations to make this work. This is insanity. It was daytime so I was circling above the city and refracting light so nobody below could see me. I would have to wait till night time to land. The city has a barrier so I can’t fly in without anything going off.
The barrier was primitive but I’m not here to cause trouble. Yet. I decided to spend the night in a small forest near the northern gate.
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The city was nothing like I remember. I already knew this as I had been circling over Gittrian for a while but now I’m seeing it up close. There are so many things I don’t recognize. Some were recognizable, as Boshi Town wasn’t a primitive settlement. It did keep up with the times, although not perfectly.
The knowledge from Boshi Town is the only thing I have.
An old man was sitting on a bench feeding pigeons. I approached him with my best smile.
“Good morning, sir, could you perhaps tell me where the library is? I arrived here just today.”
“Ooh a tourist? Not going to admire Aurum?”
“Aurum? Is that some sort of cake?”
“No, Aurum is a city block made out of gold. It’s very popular with the tourists.”
“Oh, I will give it a visit but I’m more interested in the library!”
“Ooh a well-educated lass. The library can be reached if you take the dark blue floating platforms. Do you know how they work?”
The old man pointed at different colored platforms that were floating around the city and transporting people. The mana runes that make them run are quite complicated. Whoever designed this knew what he was doing.
Was it efficient? Nope! Does it work? It does! And it’s making sure I don’t walk my new shoes into dust!
Ok they’re not my shoes as I had gotten them from the villagers but it doesn’t take much imagination to realize that they’re technically mine now.
The old man was kind enough to explain the system of the floating platforms to me and even pay for my ride.
The floating platforms have a set route. The color decides what route they take. They will stop at stations where people can get on and off. They will need these cards as proof of payment.
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
The station had a list of color-coded destinations. It also had a map of the city and the colored lines going through it to indicate which colored platform stops where. The system was easy to understand. I thanked the old man and waved at him as I hopped on a dark blue platform.
The old man made strange movements and pointed to the other side. The platform started to move and I looked at where the old man was pointing.
It seems that the dark blue line goes in two directions. I had gotten on the one that goes in the opposite direction. Maybe this system isn’t as easy to understand as I thought.
It was a nice ride. The platforms floated above the buildings so that the ground was clear of almost any form of traffic. Horse and wagon used to be very popular before I got sealed away. I don’t see any of them now. I did spot some horses and carriages on my flight here. It seems they still get used to traveling between villages or cities.
I arrived at the next stop and I got off. I made sure to get on the dark blue platforms that went in the opposite direction. My blunder did allow me to get a good look at this part of Gittrian. This city had become so big. It felt strange. Not many people can say that they’ve been in Gittrian before it became the capital city of Hjuva.
Text popped up whenever a stop came near. The library was the 6th stop and I got off. It was very easy to spot which building I needed to go to.
The library had the shape of a large gold bar. The front of the Library read: ‘Gittrian’s National Library.’ Under it was carved: ‘Knowledge is worth more than gold.’
I smiled. Whoever carved those words knew exactly what he was doing. I agreed. Everything starts and ends at knowledge. Knowledge is power. Knowledge is progress.
This pleased me. I stepped inside. I was used to libraries but not modern ones. The entrance section didn’t look like a library. I had no idea what it looked like.
“Excuse me. I came here looking to read up on history, culture, and maybe some magic.”
“Oh right over there miss! Follow those signs, after that find whatever category you want and step on the teleport pad and it will bring you to that section.
I got excited. I might be old but I could imagine what that meant. No endless walking to find what I need! Just take teleport pads to my destination!
This library’s interior was beige and it tried to keep a golden theme. But whoever designed this place had realized that too much gold would be extremely tacky so this place had beige as the main color and various browns and golden browns to make sure the theme persists.
History was the first subject I needed to catch up on. Personally, I don’t think much of history but 2.5 millennia is a very long time… nations could rise and fall 10 times over in that time period. At least Hjuva was still standing. Good job Hjuva!
Most history books were boring. The country of Ignacio is now known as the Igrini kingdom. 3 countries I’ve never heard of had combined 940 years ago and had formed the country of Zanyr, named after the first emperor Zanyr Zanyr. What’s up with this narcissist? Naming a country after himself? Is he related to that bitch goddess? Won’t that be confusing? They had also named the capital Zanyr.
How would anyone know what you were talking about when you mention ‘Zanyr’. Is it the emperor? The country? The capital? I don’t understand humans.
Oh, there is also the Zanyr river and Zanyr Mountain. This is silly… have humans devolved since I got sealed away? Who would approve of this lunacy?
Nothing else stood out as much as this. The language had changed but I was aware of that. The whole continent had once been united by a dragon named Kaledon and the continent is named after him but also the language that everyone got united under. But that’s now Old Kaledonian. Everyone speaks New Kaledonian now or just Kaledonian.
Boshi Town had also switched over to Kaledonian so this is no surprise to me.
There were more historical events but nothing seemed as important as those others besides… a country in the north, Bizax has its national religion worshiping the Sarian goddess Biian. Even its capital is named Biian… At least I know where to stay away from. Or… where to drop [Meteors].
I might hop by, drop a [Meteor] on their capital, and flee to some faraway place. This country made me think. Maybe there is a god named Zanyr.
My search came up empty. There did seem to be a country to the southwest of the current Zanyr, the country, that was supposed to become a part of Zanyr, the country, but eventually walked back their decision. They are now known as the Jarn kingdom and they produce… textile. The main residence of the king is made out of yarn.
I rubbed my temple and double-checked if I wasn’t in the comedy or fiction section. This must be a joke, right? I tried to find out more but I got kicked out of the library unfortunately as it was closing time. It seems that catching up is going to take more than 1 day.
Something that I realized was… I have nowhere to stay. I found something after wandering for 30 minutes and secured a lodging. I had forgotten to check if bronze, silver, and gold still get accepted everywhere.
The next morning in the library revealed that bronze, silver, and gold are still accepted everywhere. I devoured as much information as possible. Most didn’t seem as if it would affect me. I got kicked out of the library day after day as I arrived before opening time and got kicked out at closing time.
“Hey are you at least going to try and leave this library before closing time?”
A short wrinkly man in his early 60’s addressed me. he hard large round glasses on his big round nose.
“Is it time already?”
“I appreciate your thirst for knowledge but it doesn’t seem as if you’ve been sleeping a lot.”
The man held up a mirror. I screamed as I looked terrible. I had bags under my eyes. I ran out of the library screaming.
The first thing I did when I arrived at my hotel room was take a long bath and start skincare. I can’t make this mistake again. I need to stay on top of this. Who knows, maybe I will turn into an old woman for real if I don’t.
I spotted a flyer in a small basket holding soap, perfume, and face masks.
“Floating lotus? A spa?! Oooh! I guess I’m going there next! Oh the Aquini Kingdom. That’s quite far. And why is it in the middle of the jungle?” I committed the address on the flyer to my memory and continued bathing.
I had caught up with history and culture. Just magic left. Maybe humanity had caught up to the Misha in all this time. Who knows.
The bed was made up as the sheets get replaced every day. Humanity has come far. I dove into the fluffy pillows and retired for the night.