A cacophony of sounds rang inside Kai’s ears as he walked through the loud street market, the coarse voices of haggling merchants accompanied by the firm tone of the traders and the occasional cry of a child created a busy, bustling atmosphere along the road that seemed to extend from one part of the city to the other.
The road’s size differed greatly from area to area, ranging from narrow enough to fit three people to wide enough for an entire circus to pass through, each of its corners illuminated by the lamp post’s warm light, on top of the beautifully lit storefronts.
The hustling chatter turned to drunken mumbling and yelling as Kai passed by a bar, dozens of patrons drinking and enjoying the view from the outdoor seating area, and even in such a place there wasn’t any lack of merchants or scammers trying to sell their wares to the almost unconscious customers.
Gazing at it for a second, Kai scoffed and kept walking forward, his blue coak sticking out like a sore thumb amid the plainly dressed crowd.
“Hey bro, that kid, don’t he look rich to ye?” A man holding a pint of beer said to another who sat next to him, his brown eyes following Kai’s figure as he stopped and looked at the various wares on display.
Next to him stood a man of similar appearance to him, sharing indistinct black hair and brown eyes, and even their face structure was similar. “Mhm… sure seems like it, bro…” Both of them let out a light crackle as they stood up, hurriedly following Kai, who in contrast didn’t seem to be in a hurry.
A heavy set of footsteps approached their table not long after, the nearby light revealing the figure of a tall, blurry man with broad shoulders and dirty clothes, a towel draped over his back, and he let out a light, aggravated scoff as he picked up the pint, cleaning the table before turning away, giving the brother duo a last, hateful glance before walking toward the bar.
However, his footsteps froze in place as his eyes landed on Kai, and the pint within his hand broke into countless shards as he clenched his fists in anger.
…
Kai strolled through the crowd, sneaking through the small gaps due to his stature, and making his way to the few stalls that interested him. This city’s architecture is eerily similar to the one from my old world… as much as I can remember from it. Rodney’s memories aren’t exactly useful in this case… but there are too many similarities for it to be a coincidence.
And even at the last… last market I’ve been at, some objects didn’t belong in a world such as this… I want to figure out where they came from, so looking around the stalls seems to be the best option for now… unless I can ask the Goddess directly. A light chuckle escaped his lips at the thought, brushing it aside and stopping in front of an old merchant with a relatively small stall.
The stall could only accommodate a few pieces of merchandise, however, Kai’s pupils widened in surprise upon seeing what the old man had laid out on the table. Among the piles of relative trash stood a metallic, circular object, something that every household had in one form or another - A clock.
Looking at it with amazement, he carefully picked it up and watched the clock hands slowly turn, the characteristic sound of a mechanical tune ringing in his ears.
A… wind up... mechanical clock! Could it be that the people here managed to create such a relatively advanced contraption? This is the first time I see such a relatively new invention compared to the medieval period this world seems to be at… and yet…
Kai shook his head and put the clock down with a racing heart, only now noticing that the old man looked at him with an annoyed expression. “Youngling, are you going to buy it or not? If not then scram, you’re scaring my customers!” He said, shooing him away before wearing an amicable smile toward anyone who passed by his stall.
Lousy old man, no wonder no one buys your stuff! I wanted to ask him whether or not he made it, but forget it. Walking away dejectedly, he made sure to take a look at every stall, stopping in front of some before leaving or being driven away. Besides that clock… everything else is either toys or carvings, but there’s no doubt in my mind now… other people from my universe arrived here, but it seems like their memories have been lost or they never reincarnated with them. A shiver ran down his spine at the thought, his eyes tearing up slightly at the prospect of forgetting where he came from, just like he forgot who he was. Just like I forgot my mom… my aunt… and… who knows who or what else…
Clenching his fists, he turned around, unaware of the pursuers greedily watching him from the cover of the darkness. “Brother, that kid, he seems pretty stupid, doesn’t he?” the one who previously held a pint asked the other, who leaned against a wall, playing with a small pocket knife as his eyes lingered on Kai.
A smile creased his lips, and he let out a light sigh as he stood straight, hiding the knife away before saying “Yeah… curious though, why is he only looking at the shit stalls? He hasn’t made any purchases yet… there’s no point in attacking someone all show and no substance.”
The other man rubbed his chin, seemingly deep in thought, however, his eyes quickly widened and his palms trembled in excitement as he pointed toward Kai’s location. “Brother! Look! That kid is filthy rich! He just pulled out a bag full of money!”
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
…
“Ah, sorry kid, I didn’t mean to…” a man said in a shy tone, looking down at Kai who had already walked a small distance, tucking his robe back into his pants. “No worries! It’s fine, it was my fault, to begin with.”
Not waiting for the man’s reaction, his tiny figure quickly disappeared among the sea of people while he mumbled in a slightly aggravated voice. This is too impractical, if I get into any more fights this robe will be the death of me! I need a replacement, at least to cover my eyes. Although silver hair is rare… it’s not a trait, so I should be fine… hopefully.
Just as that thought crossed his mind, he stopped. Looking up, he saw a stall whose facade was covered in masks of different animal species, different cultures, and different, intricate designs. Well… speak of the devil.
Inspecting the masks, there was one that immediately stood out to him - A white mask, with red whiskers, eyes, and ears creating a fox-like pattern. This… I like it. It didn’t take long for him to reach for the mask, however, his small stature made it almost impossible for him to grab it.
“Excuse me,” he said, grabbing the vendor’s attention. “I want to buy the fox mask, how much for it?”
“Three silver, a fair price for such a fine piece of art.” The middle-aged seller said without a hint of condescension, looking down at Kai, a soft smile creasing his bearded face.
“I’ll take it!” Kai immediately replied, pulling out the pouch his parents gave him and picking out three silver coins from within, handing them to the vendor, who in exchange handed him the mask.
Just as he turned to leave, excited to put on the mask, the man’s voice rang in his ears from behind him. “Kid, you best be careful swinging that money around, you never know what kind of characters roam these streets.”
Kai halted his footsteps and turned toward the vendor before nodding lightly in his direction.
He’s right… could I be any more stupid? Berating himself, he tucked the mask inside his robe and kept walking forward, occasionally glancing at some stalls or window shopping, eventually, a sharp cry rang in his ears, and his eyes darted toward its source - A small baby boy that had fallen while play running, scratching his knee in the process.
The boy’s parents rushed to his side almost immediately, picking him up and calming down his nerves before gently cleaning the small wound. Kai watched all this happen from afar, his eyes lowering to the ground, and he inhaled deeply as a melancholic expression formed on his face.
The muffled sound of his dragged footsteps echoed in his ears, and they remained the only thing he could hear at the moment. The world around him slowly faded away, and only the road remained as the singular checkpoint connecting him to the real world. His heartbeats thumbed in an irregular rhythm, and a sudden wave of dizziness hit him as the flow of blood to his brain dwindled. What’s happening… my head…
Holding his head with one hand, he attempted to prove himself against a wall or a tree as he felt himself about to lose consciousness, however, the hard feeling he expected was instead replaced by a soft, rough texture. Looking up, he squinted his eyes, managing to make out the blurry figure of a man. “I’m sorry sir, I didn’t mean to…” Kai said, attempting to pull away his hand, however, he was swiftly met with resistance, a tight grip refusing to let go.
“Hey now… kid, didn’t your parents teach you not to touch other people all willy-nilly?” The man’s coarse, muffled voice rang in Kai’s ears, causing his entire face to flush red, and, clenching his fists in anger, he squirmed as blood and adrenaline rushed throughout his entire body, trying to break free of the stranger’s grasp.
“Let… go…!” He pleaded through gritted teeth, while at the same time uncospicously reaching for the purple sword hanging by his waist. His fingers brushed against the sword’s hilt, ready to be drawn at a moment's notice, however, before he could even entertain the thought of fighting with such a muddled mind, the morbid sound of crunching bones rang in his ear, and he quickly pulled back his hand, watching the person that held on to it be sent away flying by a… Bear?!
Staring at the figure before him, Kai's eyes widened. The man's imposing form created a looming shadow, and the intensity of his gaze sent shivers down Kai's spine. Staring at his blood-stained fists, Kai clutched the hilt even tighter, shaking his head before taking on a half-proper fight stance, his legs shivering slightly, however his crimson eyes burned with determination.
As his vision cleared, his heart skipped a beat upon seeing the scene before him, finding himself in a relatively dark and damp alley, he stared straight ahead at the large, tall man who glared at two others, their appearance eerily similar, as if they were twins, however, one of them had their face caved in, a mixture of blood and tears dripping on the ground.
“Fritz, what is the meaning of this!” The man whose face was still intact raised his stone, staring down at the large, burly man that stood beside Kai, steam emanating from his blazing body.
“Hmph.” Fritz let out an angry grunt and slowly made his way toward the second twin, his heavy footsteps sending increasingly more powerful waves of mana with each step.
“Fr- Fritz! We c-c-can talk this out! We’ve been buddies for a while, right?” The twin’s legs trembled uncontrollably as he backed away, his quivering fingers reaching for the knife in his back pocket, a terrified grin stuck on his face as he gazed at his brother, whose body lay almost motionless on the dampened ground, save for a few groans.
Fritz’s eyes squinted, his fists tightening even more as he advanced toward the man with rapid, steady footsteps, whose pace gradually increased until… His fist flew toward the twin, who was now pressed against the wall, and reached him almost immediately as Fritz’s huge figure became as agile as a snake. A loud boom resounded into the air, however, the crunching sound of bones that Kai had expected never arrived, but instead a small cloud of dust appeared from the point of impact.
“Don’t go after children. Ever. Again.” Fritz said in a coarse voice, pulling out his punch from the wall, which now had a new hole on its surface. The twin fell to the ground, his knees shaking, accompanied by the metallic tang of his knife as it fell on the floor.
The burly man turned toward Kai, walking slowly while rubbing and wiping his knuckles clean of blood, and it didn’t take long for him to arrive by Kai’s side.
“Kid, you alright?”