Chapter 8: Town & Weirdness
"Haaaa! Finally made it!"
Exclaimed Lorien happily as he looked at the town in front of him, after an hour of walking he had finally reached civilization
The reason he is so happy is that he can finally start experimenting with his dream ability and is finally able to grow stronger
As stated before the only way he can grow stronger without antagonizing the world itself is by absorbing dreams
So, staying in a crowded place is his best and most optimal option, even though a city would have been better but a town would do for now
Meanwhile, a beautiful young girl wearing a red kimono stood there next to Lorien, she had a petite build, long black hair tied into a ponytail, and scarlet eyes
She just stood there silently looking at the exited Lorien with confusion
She wasn't able to understand what he just said as it was spoken in English but she could clearly feel his happiness and excitement, so she smiled slightly in reaction
This is not her being fake, she was genuinely happy for him even though she didn't know the reason for his excitement
If Lorien were to notice her reaction he would probably exclaim at the effectiveness of the good old 'save the damsel in distress' trick
All of this actually happened in just a moment, so after exclaiming happily Lorien directly walked into town with Saigai in tow following him closely
From what he observed this town appears to be a mid-sized one
After talking to Saigai on the road earlier he was able to collect some information about this world
First of all the era, It's the Taisho period, meaning it's the 19s, this period isn't the best to be alive in as there is a very huge difference between cities and rural areas in this period
He also got some weird information about demons and how they hunt in the night which is the weirdest information he got from her, he didn't know if it was real or not
Personally, he felt that it wasn't true, as demons are high-level creatures and the environment of this world shouldn't allow them to survive unless it's some mutant monsters being called demons
Of course, even with this point of view, he wouldn't simply ignore such information as he took note just in case, after all being careful never hurts
The first thing they did after they got into the town was to ask for information about if there is an inn...etc
Then it was to get some money, it was pretty easy as all they had to do was find a shop and sell some things
Well...the one who did the talking and negotiation was Saigai while Lorien just provided the goods
Why didn't he just create money and be done with it? that's because he doesn't know what the currency and money here looks like, so even if he wanted to realize it, it would require much more energy than usual, and I mean MUCH more, and that's because he would be realizing something with no reference
But now that he has an example on his hands he can basically turn into a money-printing machine
Walking out of the shop and towards their next destination Lorien couldn't help but feel a headache
'Money, a pain the ass wherever I go...'
But then just as they were walking towards an inn that some passerby pointed to, something unexpected happened which caused Lorien to instantly react
Looking at Saigain who's walking silently next to him he could see some faint blood-red aura dispersing from her body in all directions, but it appears that she was unconscious of it, she probably didn't know that it even existed
And as Lorien was standing the nearest to her most of this aura got stuck into him, but even after seeing this he didn't try using his ability to remove it, he wanted to see what would happen out of curiosity
Anyway nothing would happen to him as the Barrier around him is still there for now, the only reason this aura was able to touch him was because he allowed it
-
Meanwhile in a house tens of meters in front of Lorien and Saigai, Two couples were fighting next to an open window
Their voices could be heard very far away but it appears that the town people are used to it as they just looked in the direction of the noise for a couple of seconds and then shook their heads
"Again today?"
"They will make up later as usual, don't bother"
But then, just as Lorien and Saigai were passing in front of the house, the fight seems to have reached its peak as one of the participants, more precisely the female got soo angry she became dizzy
This caused her to stumble towards the window, she tried to hold her balance trying to hold on to anything next to her
The first thing she impacted was a huge green colored plant pot that was next to the window, putting all of her weight it enabled her to finally stabilize herself for a second before finally falling safely on the ground, seeing this her husband quickly reacted and ran towards her in panic as to help her
Thankfully the pot was there and stopped her from falling from the window which would have been disastrous otherwise, the positioning of this pot just saved her life
But it wasn't over yet as the weight of the woman caused this pot to tumble down and roll then fall from the window on the passing pedestrians, and by chance the one directly under it was Lorien
-
Meanwhile, Lorien was focused on observing this red aura pondering on what it does
Just then a large amount of this aura that was 'stuck' on his body instantly disappeared on its own as if it had completed its mission
And without waiting for Lorien to think about the reason he suddenly felt danger from above, after awakening, his senses became much stronger making him much more sensitive to danger, even minor ones like this one
Raising his head he could see a huge pot hurling at him, but without waiting for him to do anything it directly impacted the barrier
Lorien was waiting for a crashing noise and debris but none of that happened, as soon as the pot hit the barrier it instantly disappeared as if it was never there
Moreover weirdly enough none of the other passers-by or Saigai who was next to him noticed anything, as if everything was an illusion, seeing this Lorien couldn't help but marvel at the barrier a bit
'Tsk Tsk Tsk... Truly a high-level thing, did the pot get deleted from the source? Moreover, no one noticed anything, this barrier is also invisible to everyone else other than me, so convenient'
After marveling at it for a couple more moments, he quickly turned his attention to Saigai who's walking next to him with her head lowered, probably a problem with self-esteem
But that wasn't the point, he now knew why she said she doesn't want to hurt him, she's truly a walking disaster, he now wonders how exactly did her parents and the town she used to live in survive for so long
What Lorien didn't know was that because of her usual malnourished state the aura she usually releases isn't much and there is no such danger, moreover, she is usually isolated from everyone else, but now with Lorien restoring her to full health the aura released is much higher
'But What is this power exactly? it's very similar to Final Destination'
Thinking of this he couldn't help but frown as he looked at the remaining red aura on his body
'I am currently safe because of the barrier around me, I'll try to remove this aura using my own ability if it works then everything is okay, but If it doesn't then...'
Thinking of this he looked at Saigai next to him for a while before his eyes turned decisive, he admits that she is a very beautiful girl and that's probably the main reason he took her with him
But if she were to put him in danger he will decisively abandon her, after all, currently, he has no tight bonds with her and their relationship isn't that deep yet and he wouldn't risk his life for a stranger, there is a limit to kindness
If they had a deep relationship Lorien wouldn't even think about abandoning her, after all, he is someone who values such things as emotions and relationships
'This is a different world, I cant take a walking disaster bringer with me everywhere I go, it will be too much of a problem...of course, I can't just throw her away like that, I'll give her some money so that she can start a new life...'
Just as his thoughts were jumping widely he quickly focused again shaking his head vigorously, throwing all distractions away
'Let's not jump to conclusions, for now, I'll try and remove it on my own first...'
So, after making a decision he quickened his pace towards the inn's direction as to get there as fast as possible
As for Saigai who was next to him she just looked at Lorien with confusion tilting her head slightly
'Why did his facial expressions change so many times...and why is he looking at me like that, did I do something wrong?'
But even when her mind kept wandering, she still followed him quickly keeping the same pace