38: Returning to Forontia
By the time they got out of the dungeon, the sun was setting deep into the horizon, painting the sky a vivid orange hue. The air was crisp the moment they ventured outside, their weary skins drinking in the natural air that was once denied while venturing inside.
He didn’t expect to appreciate the open air so much, but he found himself taking in deep lungfuls, his arms outstretched and just enjoying the feeling of being alive after a horrendous outing. Haley was more than joyful, stretching her arms wide as though they were in restraints for a long time.
The journey back was peaceful and easygoing, though they had to venture far into the open land where the patrol routes were usually run. They didn’t feel like encountering monsters any time soon, just taking in the chance to relax on their return journey to Forontia.
They first enjoyed some amicable silence, but then conversations started flowing as naturally as the water running down the river. Whatever inhibitions anyone had before this run seemingly vanished, leaving them with only questionable fond memories of their time in the dungeon together.
Definitely questionable, but he had to admit that he enjoyed some parts of it, at least. The conquest of getting out alive while taking out your enemies is always a fun thing. At the very least, it taught Haley a few things about Van’s position as an adventurer, as she usually worked on her own end making potions and selling them in the market.
On the other hand, Van treated Aidan with more respect afterwards, no longer deeming him as some kind of creep who took his sister away. While that wouldn’t really be false, in the end, Aidan had no intention of harming Haley. In a way, she became like a little sister to him, something that Van was glad to see.
Van became even more grateful when Aidan told him that he could keep the armor for his work. The enchanted armor providing stat bonuses is something that most adventurers wished to have, and Aidan wouldn’t have it any other way than for Haley’s treasured brother to be protected when he’s out on the job. Besides, if he worked hard enough, he might end up just crafting enchanted armor himself, so it really was no skin off his back.
Soon enough they entered into the range of the city, and were quickly followed with the process of entering inside. Just to be sure, he thought about hiding his titles, but it required too much heavy focus during the busy hustling of entering into the city right before nightfall. He eventually just gave his pass over to the guard, the same pass that Nina helped get him on his very first day here, and he was let in without a single problem along with the siblings.
Entering into Forontia made his body relax in a way that he couldn’t quite explain. Despite getting out of the dungeon, he still felt like he needed to keep his guard up, especially around the forest they had to traverse in case any monster might show up. Now that they were in the safety of the city, his senses finally relaxed, and it allowed him to see further into the city with his higher Perception than usual through his Sense Vibrations.
Quite a lot of things happened, and yet at the same time, nothing really happened. The old couple living a few blocks down the street was still chilling like usual, while the young man who Aidan spotted a few times with a girl was now on his own, looking quite down in the dumps. The girl that was once with that same man was with another man a few blocks over, looking happy and chirpy as usual.
Same old story no matter which world you’re in.
“Hey, how about we head out somewhere to eat? It’ll be my treat.”
Aidan suggested, grabbing his party’s attention. Haley looked more than eager to join, but as usual Van’s seriousness took over as he held up his hand.
“I don’t want to impose on you any more than necessary. You already did so much for us and–”
“Van! Just shut up and accept it already!” Haley snapped, hitting Van’s back with a forceful slap. “What are you gonna do anyways, go home?”
“Haley…” Van growled at his insistent sister.
“Hey, it’s no problem,” Aidan quickly amended, grabbing the two siblings by the shoulders from behind and pushing them forward. “Come on, I know a great place.”
During the times when he would use Soul Meditation, he always glanced around the city to see what was happening. That eventually led to a discovery of a tavern not that far away from where they were, always bustling and busy with patrons and hearing nothing but good news about the food and atmosphere it provided.
When they eventually reached there, the building was stacked with people as nighttime approached, the entire hall filled with patrons sitting at their own tables, or some standing around and making merry with their own people. To his utter surprise, there were even barmaids going around offering drinks and food, some carrying huge trays filled with food that looked quite heavy for their slim frames, but he was again reminded that stats were a thing and they probably invested quite a bit in Might.
They met up with one of the barmaids, a pretty young woman with flowing brown hair and a busty top that seemed ready to spill out of her corset if she even breathed a little too hard, and were led to a nearby table far away from the other patrons. They didn’t wish to get involved with whatever games they were doing out in the center, and they just wanted to relax.
Once the barmaid left, Aidan truly considered whether bringing Haley to the tavern was a good idea, but seeing her looking giddy as she marveled at the food that was on the other tables proved that was pointless. Van, on the other hand though, couldn’t help but leer a few times at the other barmaids that passed by, all while professionally not getting noticed by his little sister. A clearly practiced skill he had honed over the years.
“I always wanted to come here to try it out, but I never had the time,” Aidan said, looking over the entire place himself and feeling the souls of everyone around him. “It’s really exciting tonight, huh? Is there anything special going on?”
“Nah, this is just how the tavern usually is,” Haley said. “I noticed this place too sometimes but I thought it was something only adventurers get to go to. But since we’re technically adventurers too, we deserve to be here.”
“Especially after our rousing success,” Van stated, bringing Haley to nod in satisfaction. “By the way, can we discuss how we’re going to split our findings?”
“Ugh, Van, why do you have to mention that now,” Haley muttered. “It was just getting good.”
“I don’t mind,” Aidan eased Haley’s concern. “I mostly care about getting enough to make up for closing the store. You guys can keep the rest.”
“Wait, seriously?” Van asked, his eyes displaying concern. “You did more of the fighting. I’m already getting the chest armor and that’s good enough for me.”
“For me, the levels are more worth it than the money,” Aidan answered. “Since I mostly took away the experience, it’s only natural that you guys at least get something material out of it.”
“I-I don’t know, I’m in the same boat as Van,” Haley said. “Are you really okay with that? Won’t Nina get mad that me and Van get most of the proceedings?”
“You guys don’t understand,” Aidan gestured with a wave of his hand. “Nina doesn’t care about the money. She only cares about the results, which we already have. Besides, if you guys remember, I’m basically a walking money-maker.”
He knew money would get him ahead in this world, but his broken abilities made it clear that the last thing he would be worried about is money. More than anything, he wanted the people who actually helped him in the dungeon and provided him good company to get rewarded instead.
Aidan pulled up the bag and handed it over to Van. He explained that he didn’t know how to trade in materials gained from monster corpses and that Van should keep the bag to do the trading himself. Seeing the bag, Van looked at it for a while longer before eventually nodding.
“You… you’re a decent guy, Aidan,” Van said, letting out a small smile. “I just hope you don’t think of me taking advantage of your kindness.”
“You forget that it was me that caused you to freak out over your sister,” Aidan had to say, or else he would feel like a manipulator otherwise. “I want nothing more than to just live a good life here, and that includes giving Haley a good life too. I know the circumstances aren’t that great, especially with how it started… but I hope you know I don’t mean to harm anyone.”
“Honestly, I kinda figured you to not be the type of guy that hurts others,” Van revealed. Haley kept quiet as the two men talked. “But it’s been rough on us. As you know, it’s only been me and Haley for as long as we can remember. Our parents aren’t… really decent people, and things got hard for us for a while until we eventually fled to Forontia. We knew a lot of sketchy people then, so I picked up a few things. You’re just… not that sketchy. At least, I think you’re not.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Aidan said. “And sorry about that. I guess it wasn’t easy living anywhere without enough power to back it up.”
“The kingdom makes it like it runs on a meritocracy, but nobles always like to play and fiddle with the laws. No matter how high you get in levels, people with backing are always in charge. It makes folks like us who can barely reach level 10 easy fodder.”
Haley said, and it was after that when a barmaid came over to offer them ale while they waited for their food. They gladly took some, and while Aidan hesitated on drinking it, being his first time, he saw the siblings gladly chugging down the pitcher-sized mugs with gusto. Not wishing to stay out of the loop, Aidan took a sip, liked the taste, and drank it down along with the two.
Licking away the fizz clouding his lips, Aidan asked. “So that kingdom… Ghalea Kingdom, right? They reward people who get levels?”
“Not exactly,” Van said. He had a discontent look on his face as he explained. “It all depends on who you know. At least for folks like us with low levels. Those who get higher in levels run the risk of being forced into cliques or groups, or else they’ll suddenly find themselves without any dungeons, or even any monsters to get some income, without getting blocked by someone who just so happened to be there doing the same job as you are. Let’s just forget that they’re over 20 levels higher than you and got more people in their team than necessary.”
“If you were there, you’ll instantly make heads spin.” Haley beamed. “Would’ve been nice to have you around by then.”
“Then we’d watch him get taken away by the parties with more money than sense,” Van replied. “No reason to hang around with us when he can make it big with some properly established adventurer parties and small clans.”
“You guys are taking it too seriously,” Aidan said. “So they didn’t have a problem with you guys leaving or anything, right? It’s not a country that stops others from leaving?”
“Not like they’d bother with lower-level people like us,” Haley said, shrugging. “Though higher-level people would have a hard time leaving no matter the class. The kingdom pays them pretty well, and that’s why it’s considered a pretty decent place if you know who to look for as your backing.”
“But… and don’t take this the wrong way–wouldn’t it be better for you guys if you told someone about her certain ‘skills’?”
He deliberately made sure to point out what he was referring to, and both Haley and Van understood immediately with frowns on their faces.
“I don’t trust them,” Van said simply, leaving it at that. Thankfully Haley continued.
“Umm, so people with talents are considered highly sought after. While yes, we would’ve had a decent living if I told them about what I can do… we were worried that they might separate us and leave my brother to the dust if we did.”
“Ah,” Aidan nodded in agreement. “And that wasn’t worth it. I get it.”
“And they’re not exactly holding back if the talent holders are girls,” Van growled. “All sorts of scandals went out, and it’s said that girls with talents could potentially leave behind children with their own talents. No way in hell I’m forcing my sister through that.”
That certainly got Aidan to nod fiercely to Van’s assessment. Haley looked like she didn’t want to continue this topic any longer, so when Aidan’s senses picked up the barmaid coming towards them, he told them that the food was ready and were pleasantly surprised when they met up with the busty maid once more, carrying several trays with ease and presenting them with a flourish and a bubbly attitude.
They didn’t hold themselves back on ordering a plethora of food to eat, considering that they basically made out like bandits thanks to their unique skills and good luck. While they ate, they continued making merry conversation that matched with the light-hearted atmosphere of the tavern, all while watching from the sidelines the other tavern-goers partying up, making their own merriment that could rival some serious raves from his old world.
Once they finished eating, they left the tavern, completely satisfied. Haley looked ready to keel over, so Van took her home with him for once while Aidan set off for his own house.
Returning to the house brought back a sense of familiarity over him that made him pause. He’s been living here for a while now, and he grew to like the home he was staying in since his arrival to this world.
But hearing Van and Haley talk about the kingdom, their old home, made him recall memories of his old life back on Earth. Even after all this time, it still didn’t feel real to him that his world was destroyed. He wondered what everyone else from his world was doing, perhaps living here in the same world he was.
He was never notified of what happened to his fellow earthlings, only knowing that he was the one sent to this planet, completely naked and having nothing but his talent to rely on.
He walked over to the counter he always stayed behind, rubbing the surface across as his mind wandered. He had never even said goodbye to his family before everything went to shit.
“I wonder if they’re alright. Somewhere out there.”
Hanging out with Van and Haley made him think that he was hanging out with his family again. They weren’t that close, yet he felt that kinship thanks to sensing their souls throughout the entire day. They were good people, and they didn’t deserve to have such a rough life and being forced under contract due to bad luck.
Perhaps that’s why he wanted to look out for them. Knowing them now, he treated them like family, because he had nobody else.
It gave him hope, and he also hoped that perhaps, someday, Nina might be included in there.
She isn’t exactly friendly, but he swore that she was kinder than she looked under all that steely surface of hers. Somehow, her spirit told him so. Though convincing Haley of that might be close to impossible.
“Hah, I’m getting sentimental. Time to sleep.”
He had a busy day tomorrow opening up the store, and he still had various plans regarding making some crafts for his later dungeon dive. There was also the matter of preparing a report to Nina when she would come back as well. Lots to do, and so little energy to bother thinking of them all tonight.