It must've been later than I thought, because I began to feel the cool scent of the morning much sooner than I'd expected. While walking in the city I eventually relaxed and forgot about my urgent situation. If it was a dream nothing would matter anyway, but if it was real, if I had somehow entered a different world through an astral portal, it could mean a revolution in our entire view of the universe. Would I return to my world if I fell asleep again? Would I have to consciously look for another portal to go back? The thought of cutting this adventure short made me want to stay awake. In spite of everything that had happened, I felt wonderful. No, I felt like that precisely because of what had happened. I had just stabbed my way out of a castle where a bunch of dudes were trying to run some weird experiments on me, of course I felt powerful! It was like the concept of fear had completely vanished from my mind. Now, I have to admit that such a state of mind might've been slightly dangerous, after all, it made me want to rampage and see just how far I could take it. Still, I wasn't going to pretend like it wasn't fun.

When the sun came up I was still walking about in the city, and suddenly the streets that used to be empty were flooded with people coming out of their houses. Some of them were lively, some were complaining and nagging, but I didn't see a difference. To me, this completely stereotypical medieval town looked every bit as charming as the most exotic vacation resort in Dubai. Not that I'd ever visited such a place, but who cares? Speaking of Dubai, how come I had spent a good portion of the night walking barefoot, wearing nothing more than a robe, in this generic representation of medieval Europe without feeling the slightest bit chilly? It must've been summertime, or perhaps the sensors of my body weren't functioning properly. I looked at my feet, rubbed my hands together and touched my face, but nothing showed signs of being cold. Strong evidence to suggest that I had some sort of plot armor.

Watching people go by, and getting some strange looks in return, I remembered that the guards in the castle hadn't been able to understand what I'd said to them in my native language and, although I could understand every spoken word I'd heard so far, the writings on that big book were beyond my comprehension. This led me to believe that I'd been bestowed a partial knowledge of the local tongue which only allowed me to hear, not read or speak. A strange sensation, because the words weren't available in my head until I heard them, but it was still a decent advantage.

I decided to listen carefully to every conversation I could overhear and do the excercise of remembering the words and practicing their pronunciation. It wasn't the most enlightening excercise of my life, seeing as most people couldn't be bothered to discuss anything richer than gossip about so-and-so's quarrel with who-cares-whom over the lack of commitment to household chores, but it taught me a few useful things; most notably: that I must've been a wizard, because "who else would wear such an ugly robe?" This confirmed that wizards were common enough in this world to be recognized by the average citizen, although I hadn't seen any magic in the castle, which made me suspect that wizards were merely extravagant scientists.

During my observations it became clear that the populace didn't think anything of me, so I was relieved to know that I wasn't an officially wanted criminal yet. I ended up following a pair of women who were taking a litter of six children to church. A good place to seek help, right? It was the tallest building I'd seen so far in the city, made of smooth stone with intricate decorations everywhere I looked: the bricks were colored in patterns, the windows were reinforced with slim columns carved in ascending flower designs and had detailed mosaics depicting scenes of people talking to demons on one side and beings of flaming light on the other, the immense doors had iron plates and handles molded like fractal branches, the ceiling had frescoes with golden accents and the pillars were carved to resemble totems of several humanoid heads with stern expressions piled on each other. It was impressive enough to make me feel ashamed of being there.

But the most impressive thing was the priest. He wore the expected white robe with a red belt and golden edges, had the calm demeanor of someone who has no troubles in life and walked about greeting everyone with a smile. And his ears were pointy. Not slightly so it could be explained by reason, they were as long as his entire face like the blade of a knife. After noticing that, I took a closer look at him and saw that his eyes were large and his lips thin, all of which amounted to an unsettling appearance. I'd often seen drawings of elves and dwarves, but seeing one in the flesh was entirely different. If elves were supposed to be beautiful, then I had come across the ugly duckling. Perhaps it was a matter of getting used to it, or the people in this world had much different tastes. Would a female elf appear beautiful to me? It seemed unlikely, but punching scientists in a lab also seemed unlikely before I did it, so I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

He must've seen me staring, because he gave me a cautious glance and began to walk in my direction as soon as he was done chatting with the two women that I'd followed. As he stood in front of me I realized he was very tall compared to most of the humans I had seen so far, and his tone of voice, although soft, carried a hint of annoyance when he addressed me:

"I don't often see Academy fellows here, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"No Academy, I not wizard," I said, trying to make my message clearer by gesturing. He looked me up and down as if deciding whether to believe me or not, and I continued "I not find home, come church for, uh..."

"You're lost, is it? And just who gave you that robe?"

"I are in Academy, I fight, I run, come church."

"Oh my, what a mistake. That's not blood, is it?" he said, pointing to my hands. How had I not noticed it before? Must've been too excited to care. I hesitated, and he took it for an answer. The elf priest furrowed his brow and looked around at the crowd which had already filled most of the pews, and it crossed my mind that he had no intention of sheltering a murderer.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"I not bad. Lost. Wizard bad." It would've been useful to conjure up the word 'help,' but I couldn't remember it.

"Listen, I believe you, but this is not a good time to be discussing such matters. Go to the back and wait until I finish my sermon, then we'll talk."

"I listen sermon, learn words, learn talk good."

"Fine, fine! Sit over there and hide your hands. Ah, miss Blabiddi, so good to see you!" he said, and promptly walked off like I didn't exist.

Taking his advice, I clasped my hands together in front of my body and covered them with my sleeves like a monk before taking a seat next to an old man about midway from the entrance to the back. As before, people didn't think much of me besides noticing how ugly my robe was, although I couldn't exactly compliment their outfits either. Why did the priest seem so nervous? It might've been his fear of dealing with a violent criminal, but aren't men like him accustomed to seeing all sorts of cruel realities?

I kept asking myself these questions while the priest gave his service, but didn't strive to answer them. At least his existence hinted at the possibility of magic being real in this world. Would I also find goblins, dwarves, undead and other kinds of creatures here? Just the thought of it made me rock back and forth in my seat. How exciting! I had no intention to blend in and stay safe any more than strictly necessary, and since I was already a murderer, might as well roll with it. Now, of course I would risk getting chopped in half or tortured to death by my next enemy, or by the current ones, but my blood was so hot and the whole atmosphere felt so unreal, that losing didn't even seem like a possibility.

By the time the sermon was done I had calmed down, and when the crowd began to disperse I approached the priest again.

"Come with me," he said, and headed into a small room with a desk, three chairs and a bookshelf. I sat across from him and waited while he rubbed the bridge of his nose and stared into the void. After a minute he spoke:

"All this worry without a single drop of courtesy, shame on both of us. I believe introductions are in order. My name is Kihergan, I oversee the south-western brach of the Followers of the Light. What is your name?"

"Bawb," I said flatly. New world, new name.

"That's it?" he replied after a pause, with his brows high up. I nodded, and Kihergan shook his head before continuing:

"I must be honest with you, Bawb. We can't hide you here. Things are already tense enough between the Followers of the Light and the Academy without us lending our facilities to one of their fugitives."

"But, they..." I started, and he held up a hand to interrupt me as he began to speak again:

"I don't believe that you deserve whatever they have in store for you, Bawb. The Academy isn't exactly known for its moral firmness. However, being innocent will only get you so far in a city like this, especially when your enemies are so prominent."

"What I do? Not can go other place, not know!"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out, let me see... Ah, perhaps you could go with Galian, I doubt that the Academy will extend a search outside of Surom. Yes, that's a plan!"

"Who Galian?"

"He's one of our acolytes, due to visit the town of Brimbrom, to the south, in two days. He's going there with a respected merchant called Stuart, perhaps you've heard of him?"

"No, not know one thing" I said, shaking my head at my own poor attempt at communication. I meant to state my absolute ignorance of this world, its landmarks and inhabitants.

"Don't worry, all you need to know is that Stuart peddles many different kinds of goods. I'm thinking that we could smuggle you out of Surom and into Brimbrom in his cart. Disguised, of course."

"Brimbrom safe?" I said, actually finding this plan exciting.

"It will be for a while, but you shouldn't linger there. Now, it has been awhile since my last visit, so the matter of where to go next will best be left for you to discuss with Galian once you've arrived," Kihergan said, twirling his fingers across his chest as he leaned back on his chair.

"Thank you," I started, but he held up a hand again.

"Not so fast, there's one more thing to mention. Since you will have to wait, I suggest you find a discreet place. This may not be pleasant, but the slums are your safest option at the moment. Quite ironic, I know, but it is the truth. As you no doubt have confirmed, those Academy fellows can be much more dangerous than common thugs with knives."

"And where be slums?"

"Head east from here, you will know when you've reached them. Where exactly you spend your time is up to you, just make sure to come back in two days."

"Will come back. Thank you," I said, and this time he nodded with a faint smile. He got up from his chair waving a finger, saying:

"Before you go I'll give you some clothes, that robe will get you noticed much faster than you'd like. Wait here."

Kihergan left the room and came back a few minutes later with a bowl of water and a fresh set of clothing. He told me to wash my hands, get rid of the robe far away from the church and come back at noon in two days, and immediately left the office again in a hurry. I was left alone to change and process the new information I'd been given. The clothes were simple: a plain green shirt and brown trousers, no underwear and no shoes. Was this the extent of medieval poverty? After splashig some water on my face and washing my hands, I folded the robe as small as I could and exited the church. As I was leaving, a group of seven guys equipped with flashy suits of armor and weapons walked past me while chatting amongst themselves. By their varied equipment I could tell that they must've been some sort of adventuring party, but since those types have a high chance of being greedy mercenaries I decided to stay away from them just in case; it wouldn't be strange for the Academy to put a bounty on my head.

I walked around the city for a while until I was certain that my pursuers wouldn't link the discarded robe to the church if they found it here, then I threw the robe into an alley and went on my way. Getting accustomed to this world made me notice things that had escaped me before, like the fact that nobody seemed bothered by the club I was carrying, since adventurers came and went armed to the teeth. The winding streets were a bit confusing, especially near the slums, where the entire atmosphere began to change subtly until it became evident that this area was a rat nest. Crooked buildings that appeared to be on the verge of collapse, rubble and trash strewn about, large patches of cloth hanging everywhere, no more cobblestone pavement, people sleeping on the street and only a few businesses that dealt mostly with food and assorted cheap trinkets. It was easy to understand why nobody would come searching for me here, since it looked just like a medieval version of the high crime neighborhoods of my world.