"This is the best food we could offer."
The waitress said as she placed the food on the table.
A loaf of bread mixed with a small amount of sweet along with a bowl of soup full of meat.
The hooded boy replied, his voice soft as he picked up the spoon.
He wore a mask that covered his upper face, hiding his identity.
Just when he tasted a spoonful of soup, his eyes widened in surprise.
'It's surprisingly good.'
Akamir thought as he felt a rich flavour in the food.
He wasn't sure what made it so good, but he quite liked it.
Just when the waitress turned to move, Akamir called her.
She turned. "Do you need something else?"
"Mind joining me?" Akamir asked, sliding a coin towards her.
The young woman's eyes widened as she looked at the silver coin.
Her reaction was so dramatic that Akamir started doubting himself.
'Is one silver really that big of an amount?'
He wondered while the lady sat down, hiding the coin in her bosom.
"What do you want to know, sir?"
She asked, her eyes gleamed with happiness.
Akamir looked out of the window, only to find an old run-down town.
"Why is the town's condition so bad?" He asked, glancing back at her.
Even though it was the middle of the day, there weren't many people inside the inn.
"How can you not guess?" The lady scoffed, leaning back on her chair. "This is the last town before the cursed place. How can it be in good condition?"
'It's because of Eldergrove, huh?'
Akamir thought while eating his food in silence.
Even though he had gathered most of the information before coming here,
He still wanted to know more from the locals.
"Honestly, we wouldn't be here if the Church of Goddess Morana wasn't so helpful." The lady continued, catching his attention.
"If not for them, this entire area would have been burned."
"Is the church providing something?" Akamir asked, looking at the lady.
"Security." She replied with a light smile. "They are keeping us safe from the witch."
"Hmmm?" Akamir tilted his head in response. "By witch you mean Nayomi—?"
"Shhhh." The lady placed her fingers on her lips. "Don't take her name or she will hunt you down."
Akamir stared at the girl.
The terror in her eyes was something that was deeply rooted.
'They really do hate her.'
One of the otherworlders summoned a thousand years ago.
She was the one who betrayed the otherworlders.
In the end, she fought against every otherworlder, but she was killed.
'...And this is the very place she died.'
Eldergrove got the name after her death.
'But how much of it is true?'
Akamir wasn't sure if what is told is really the truth or not.
After all, some things don't change no matter what world.
'History is nothing but a script.'
A lie that the powerful write.
The weak accept it and the fool defends it.
The powerful don't tell you the past, they hide what they deem against them.
"Do people not try to search the things left behind by that woman?" Akamir asked, looking back at the lady.
"I heard she was one of the few in history who could make a grade 0 Artifact."
The lady let out a small chuckle.
"Thousands tried to find it." She replied. "But none came back out of the forest."
Akamir nodded as he had almost finished his food.
'...The dark forest of Eldergrove.'
Something that only has monsters and nothing else.
A perfect place to make a hideout without any fear of getting caught.
Akamir was sure he could turn the place to his advantage.
There was almost nothing in that place that could be a threat except the beasts.
He wanted to know if the ghost of the Witch of End was really true or not.
The lady stood up as soon as Akamir finished his food.
"If you are going to Eldergrove." She said, turning around. "Make sure to reach in four hours."
"You will find something entertaining if you do."
With that, she returned back to her work.
Akamir sat at the table for a while before he stood up.
Walking out, he started moving towards the carriage that was parked on the outskirts of the town.
He quickly arrived as he took off his mask.
Zia paced outside the carriage endlessly.
A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she noticed him walking towards them.
"Did you really have to eat in an inn?" She asked, folding her hands. "Is my food really that bad?"
"I just wanted to try something new." Akamir shrugged, looking to the side. "Did something happen?"
"Nothing noteworthy." She replied, shaking her head. "Except two carriages that were heading towards Eldergrove."
"...I see." Akamir mumbled, nodding his head. "Where are the knights?"
Zia pointed under the shade of a tree. "There."
Akamir nodded as he walked towards them.
They quickly noticed his presence but didn't move a bit.
Jade, with his black hair that was dyed gold, rubbed his temples and said in a rather mellow voice, "Shall we move, young master?"
"Get up first." Akamir replied, looking down at them.
Walls, who had short, grayish, curly hair, nudged his glasses and said, "Aye, aye, young master."
Danzo, the oldest of them all with greyish hair said, "We should reach the cursed place in five hours."
"Make it three." Akamir ordered, his voice firm.
Danzo frowned. "Pardon?"
"I said make it three." Akamir replied, turning around. "And be sure to take proper rest after that. You lot will be my training dummies from tomorrow."
Leaving them stunned in their place, Akamir climbed up in the carriage.
But he halted as a handkerchief was laying on the seat.
Akamir picked the beautiful silk handkerchief. "What's this doing here?"
As he opened it, Akamir noticed the words written on the handkerchief.
They were written in blood, an anonymous message.
Death awaits you in Eldergrove.
Akamir chuckled softly, folding the handkerchief.
'Another threat, huh?'
From the day he had arrived in this world, there had been a lot of people trying to kill him.
Zia walked inside, making him look at her.
"Did someone enter when I wasn't present?" Akamir asked.
Zia blinked. "I don't think so."
Akamir just nodded while keeping the handkerchief in his pocket.
"Don't disturb me from now on."
He ordered, and Zia nodded seriously.
Taking in a deep breath, he closed his eyes.
Since the day he arrived in this world, Akamir had been trying to do something he was expert in.
To sense chi in this world.
'If mana is present, then maybe chi is also in the environment.'
It was a far-fetched thought, but Akamir still tried to sense it.
'If I can sense chi, then it can work as an extra layer of power.'
A mana core and chi channel was something that Akamir planned to incorporate together.
No matter how much he tried, Akamir couldn't get a hang of it.
'Is this body unable to use chi or does this world not have it?'
He let out a sigh as he opened his eyes.
Zia looked at him curiously but didn't say anything.
Rubbing his temples, Akamir opened his status panel.
Only to be surprised the very next instant.