"Feel like heading to town tomorrow?"
We'd just handed off the herbs from the day's gathering to Mic, the compounding shop owner, and Teok said it out of nowhere on the walk back.
"Town?"
"We've been picking grass in the forest for ages. A change would do us good."
Town meant Marten — the closest settlement to Asteno. Out through the village's east gate, follow the road, and it was about a day and a half on foot.
I'd been curious about Marten since I first heard of it.
"Marten's worth seeing. It's lively — lots of people. The food's better, there's more of everything. And there are some real beauties there too, not that the village doesn't have its charms, but they're a bit youn—"
"Ah—"
"Hm? What is it, Yohei?"
"My, that sounds like an interesting conversation."
"—!?"
Teok spun around. Melanie was standing there, smiling pleasantly.
"Elder — no, wait, this isn't what it sounds like! You're incredibly beautiful, Elder, and—"
Melanie let Teok's frantic backpedaling wash over her without acknowledgment and turned to me instead.
"Going to town sounds like a good idea, though. You've only ever seen this village, haven't you, Yohei?"
"I have, yes."
"Marten has things you won't find here. Seeing them might give you something — some new perspective, some idea. It's worth the trip."
She held my gaze as she said it, then glanced briefly at Teok.
"Do you go to town yourself, Elder?"
I'd asked before thinking — then realized the answer was obvious. Of course she did. Melanie nodded.
"I do. I go mainly for small goods, books, scrolls. The other villagers go too, for work and for pleasure. It's quite normal."
Framed that way, there wasn't much reason not to go. Teok had invited me, and the opportunity was there.
"I didn't know that. In that case — I'll go."
Melanie smiled at the answer.
"Good. Enjoy yourselves."
Then she turned to Teok, who was still looking like he'd rather be somewhere else.
"And Teok — please try not to lead Yohei astray."
"Come on, Elder, that's not fair — I'm the one looking after him—"
"You have the look of someone who's been avoiding honest labor," Melanie said pleasantly. "When you're back from Marten, I'd appreciate your help repairing the orchard fence and pulling weeds. It's important village property, after all."
She finished with a cheerful smile.
Teok let out a sound of protest. Melanie laughed with quiet enjoyment. Watching them, I made a firm, private resolution never to get on the village elder's bad side.
---
The next morning. I changed into the Adventurer's Clothes, buckled on my knife, packed water and a day's worth of preserved food and my money, and waited for Teok to finish getting ready.
Teok had his water and food sorted too, along with a medium-sized burlap sack.
"What's in that?"
"Herbs, spices, nuts. There are shops in town that pay decent rates."
Piuri had left the village a few days earlier and headed back to town, so everything in the sack was from gathering since then. Depending on the shop, Teok explained, he might get better prices in Marten than from Piuri — so if he was going anyway, he might as well sell there.
"The road gets magic beasts sometimes, but it's rare. Don't worry about it. Let's go."
We set off toward Marten.
---
We followed the road west out of the village — the same path I'd walked when we went to the Great Tree Springs. This time we kept straight instead of turning onto the narrow track.
The sun had climbed a little past its midpoint when Teok spoke.
"We're almost through Kusteri Forest."
Not long after, the trees began to thin, and daylight showed ahead.
"Forest ends here. Stay on the road — straight through."
While Teok was still saying it, the last of the trees fell away.
The world opened.
" — "
I squinted against the light.
A vast plain stretched out in front of us, running all the way to the horizon. The sky with nothing to interrupt it was impossibly tall. The grass rolled in the wind like a green sea. Shallow pools caught the sunlight and threw it back like mirrors. In the distance, low hills traced a gentle line where earth met sky.
"…Incredible."
It came out half under my breath, half just air.
Maybe it was the weeks of moving through the forest's dim green shade. But whatever the reason — no view I'd ever seen back home had anything like this sense of endlessness.
If I stopped and listened, I could hear the wind moving through the grass, and the grass answering it. Dry and open — entirely different from the forest's damp quiet. A sound that felt, somehow, like freedom.
One step out into this, I thought, and you could go anywhere in the world.
There was no basis for the feeling. That didn't stop it from rising.
"We'll walk to the waystation from here and spend the night. Push on to Marten in the morning."
Teok explained: no plans to walk through the night — fatigue aside, magic beasts were a risk after dark. There was a waystation roughly halfway between Kusteri Forest and Marten, and that was where we'd stop.
We reached it without incident, just as the evening light was fading.
Three inns made up the waystation, two of which doubled as taverns. A handful of houses clustered nearby, functioning as a small village of its own. Being near a road junction that branched toward destinations other than Marten, it apparently drew travelers headed in various directions.
We took a room at one of the inn-taverns, kept the preserved food for emergencies, and had dinner at the bar.
The next morning we left the waystation.
By mid-morning, the landscape had started to change.
"Houses and fields — we're getting close to Marten."
A cluster of buildings had become visible at the end of the road. It grew as we walked, until an hour or so later it was right in front of us.
"This is Marten. Let's find the inn first."
I followed Teok into the town.