“What are we doing here?” Quinn asked Ada as she threw her conflicted thoughts to the back of her head. If she was truly in a different world, then it only made sense to blend in. Questioning the probability of magic definitely wasn’t blending in. No matter how much she wanted to give into hysteria, she schooled her expression.
Ada shook herself off, the loose raindrops splattering into the wooden floors as she did. As soon as the water touched the wood, it seemed to be sucked into the grain. Hell, for all Quinn knew, the wood was literally drinking the water. She wouldn’t put anything past a land where magic existed. Either way, she followed Ada’s actions, throwing the rainwater out.
Ada led them to an empty table. “We’re here to kill time. My pa is… busy at the moment, but he said he wanted to talk to you later tonight.”
“But why here?” Quinn couldn’t understand why at a tavern specifically. She could’ve waited in the clinic just as well. Sure, the environment was a lot better here, but she was still a hurt patient.
“‘Cause I’m hungry. And I need to talk to you. The most important thing is that the Silver Grove has the best food out of everywhere in a fifty-mile radius.”
Ah, so it was just because of hunger. Magic may exist, but it seemed that humans were still humans at least. That being said, Quinn was quite hungry. She didn’t know the last time she had eaten a meal.
They both settled at the only table not surrounded by people. As they did, the girl tending the fire bolted over with a happy grin on her face. Her dark brown pigtails fluttered with her quick movement. “Ada! What brings you here?”
Ada stood up and gave a light hug to the girl. “Elena! How are ya? Is your pa healin’ up all right?”
The girl waved her hands at Ada. “No worries! No worries! He’s all fine thanks to you. He had a migraine, so he went to bed early tonight, but I’m sure he would be glad to see you and your miracle-working father anytime!”
“I’ll have to bring him over sometime. He could use tha’ break.” Ada sighed. “He's been slammed with injured since the start of the season.”
Elena nodded. “It’s those ole’ folk. They’ve been pent up the entire winter, bursting with energy. Now that it's finally spring, they’re too eager to start their activity again. But enough about that. What can I get for you?”
‘So its spring…’ Quinn idly mused. She was half expecting the seasons to be entirely different in this place. It was good to see that at least some things were the same. She wouldn’t be entirely clueless, just mostly clueless.
Ada sat back down across from Quinn. “Hmm… what stew is it today?”
“Raindeer bone broth. It was made with fresh vegetables and a specialty spice my father imported from the south called salt.” Elena looked as if she was salivating just thinking of it.
“Two of those then. Oh, and some water.”
Elena started to back away. “I'll bring it out in a moment.”
“Hey wait! How much?” Ada pulled a coin purse from her waist.
“Nothing, nothing.” Elena backed up a little quicker. “It's the least I can do since you helped heal my father.”
Quinn stared at Ada as they waited. It was a bit awkward, but she didn’t know what to say. Where did she even start? Give her an empty thank you for the treatment? She most definitely couldn’t pay for it.
Ada couldn’t take the silence anymore and spoke up, “How did ya end up in the forest anyhow?”
What would she say? Quinn would most definitely sound insane if she told the woman that she came from another world using a failed portal. Or maybe not. Magic apparently existed, after all. But still, it would be best to keep the fact quiet and lay low. Who knows? Maybe this place had a tradition of burning world travelers at the stake.
Quinn finally decided it was best to opt for a lazy answer. “I can’t remember.”
“Right… amnesia. Forgot about that…” Ada drummed her fingers on the table. “Well, what's the last thing you can remember?”
“Waking up horribly injured.” Just barely diving into the memory of her intestines feeling like outestines was making her queasy. She should really see a psychiatrist… Or would it be a mind mage here?
Ada nodded, her wheat-like hair shaking off a few rouge drops of rain. “Do you remember walking to Aftersafen?”
“After who now?” Quinn asked.
“Oh, it was the village you walked inta’. I was told you made quite the terrifying sight. The guard on duty nearly bolted seein’ you walk towards him coated head to toe in blood.”
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Right, she did remember the figure shouting from the wooden walls. “Then how did I end up here? This is Wieldenbach, right?”
“They brought cha’ over the next day. Your injuries were too much for them to handle and my pa is the only true healer in the area. Right then, what can you tell me about yourself? Do you remember where ya’ came from? Your family?”
“My family…” Right… Since it had all but confirmed that Quinn was in a different world, it was unlikely that she would see her family again. Her mood instantly dropped with the realization. Her mom and sister… What would they do without her? She was the main breadwinner in the family. Her sister would most likely have to work several jobs to support herself. Her mom… Well, she just hopes her mom could stay out of the bottle long enough to realize her daughter disappeared.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up a touchy subject… On the bright side, at least you can remember them. This is a good thing! It's not complete amnesia, just a loss of memory leading up to how you ended up in the Veiled Grove.”
“Veiled Grove?” Quinn asked.
Ada laughed lightly. “Yeah, that's the province we’re in. It's named that way after the fog that rolls in every night. Oh! I should warn you not to be outside of the village gates when night falls. No matter what you see or hear, ignore it and stay inside the walls.”
That didn’t sound ominous at all. Nightly fogs, never-ending storms, and cryptic warnings, oh my! Quinn thought it was like a perfect cocktail for a mystery novel. “Why not?”
“It's already dangerous to be out at night in a normal place, but the fog here is suspected to have an effect on people’s minds. People go missin’ in it all the time. Come mornin’ when the fog disappears, not even a trace remains of where they went. Even several parties of seasoned fighters have gone missin’ in the past.”
Great. This sounded like the perfect vacation spot. Quinn couldn’t help but mentally curse the PM-1 for sending her here.
The food arrived, silencing both of them as they started eating. Quinn thought that the stew was rather delicious. It wasn’t the best thing ever, but it was quite filling. The water - of which she was concerned with the cleanliness when she remembered medieval times of her own world - turned out to be freshly collected rainwater. A massive benefit of living in Halis, as it turns out, was that the citizens always had access to pure water from the storms.
After they had finished eating, Ada cupped a hand to her cup as she stared at Quinn. “So what can ya’ do?”
Quinn paused mid-drink. “What do you mean?”
“I mean what skills do ya’ have? We’re takin’ care of you on our own copper for now, but that will only last ‘till you are fully healed. After that, you’ll have to get a job of some sort to pay us back.”
Quinn was stumped. She highly, highly doubted that her work experience as a scientist would bring anything to the table when it came to this village. The mage - who was still singing war ballads - might find some of her knowledge useful, but she doubted it. She had completely zero awareness of how magic worked. For all she knew, this world’s fundamental laws were entirely different, which would throw off over half of her knowledge’s value.
There was one thing that came to mind. Back before her da- the incident, she used to be quite the huntress. She used a bow instead of a rifle, preferring the feedback and thrum of the arrows meeting their marks. She mainly hunted smaller game and deer, but she was sure she could at least use some of her archery skills. “I was a hunter.”
“Oh? Did ya’ hunt monsters? Or just animals?” Ada leaned forward.
“Small game, some deer, and some larger predators. I’ve never had an opportunity to hunt a monster.” What kind of question was that- oh wait, magic world. Of course, there would be monsters. Would she have to start carrying a weapon to defend herself?
“What kind of deer?” The intensity in Ada’s gaze as she spoke startled Quinn.
“Um… white tail? When I traveled, I hunted reindeer-“
“Rain Deer?” Ada had an excited look on her face.
Quinn scratched at her cheek.“Yeah, reindeer.” She really couldn’t see why the woman was so stoked about it.
“This is perfect! If ya’ can hunt a couple of Rain Deer, your debt will be cleared in no time. Probably even one will do if it’s in pristine condition.”
“I can’t help but feel lost. What’s so good about reindeer?”
“What isn’t good about Rain Deer? Just their fur alone could go for several silver pieces. And if ya’ can get their horns in perfect condition? 5 gold, easy. That’s not even including their blubber.” Ada had a dreamy look on her face. “And their meat is soooo good.”
Quinn knew that people liked reindeer, but she couldn’t help but feel there was something wrong with the situation. Ada had told her the medical fee would be a single silver.
Before she could voice her confusion, the mage stopped singing. He had been going at it for at least an hour now. He bowed several times as everyone started clapping for him. Quite a few people stumbled over and tossed copper coins into a hat he had set out.
The entire tavern became quite noisy as people began to file out the door. Most of them were unmistakably drunk, though a few seemed fine.
As soon as the door opened, the almost magic seal - which could have been literally magic for all Quinn knew - broke, revealing the noise of the outside world. She had seen lightning flash nearly constantly from the window for the past hour, and now she could hear the thunder. Its loud booms vibrated the walls and drowned out most conversations. The rain seemed to be lighter than it was earlier but was still coming down nonstop.
Oddly enough, she could hear a bell ringing through all the ambiance. Its high-pitched squeal easily slipped through the low baritone of the sky. It was not quite the same sound as when she was walking through the forest, but it was very similar.
“What’s the bell?” Quinn asked. She had to speak up quite a bit compared to normal.
“That? I suppose it’s almost nighttime now. The tower rings for half an hour before sunset.” Ada took a drink. “It’s mainly so those outside the walls know to come in before the fog.”
There was that fog again. Quinn wanted to speculate on its potential causes. Knowing nearly nothing about magic halted that pursuit. Of course, she knew several systems of magic from fantasy books and the like, but it was doubtful if those would help her. There was far too much variation to clue her in. And they were called fictional for a reason.
The door closed once more, muting the tolling bells, wicked blares of thunder, and the pitter-patter of rain. There were just a dozen people left in the Silver Grove by this point. It had suddenly turned quite dead.
Ada’s dirty blonde hair flopped about as she stretched out her arms. “Haaaawwwww… we should probably return. Pa worries too much when I don’t come back.”