章 17: [17]
The next morning, it was still relatively early when Asirpa dragged Dante further into the village where most of it's inhabitants resided, unlike the area that she lived in. It was rather cold as well, but he just had to fight against it for now since there was only so much his new clothes could do.
The main road was somewhat populated when they made it, and Dante couldn't help but don a look of surprise when he noticed the amount of stalls that were made for selling things, which he figured was either set up by traveling merchants or just people that lived in the village who were trying to make some money. He was still incredibly unfamiliar with everything, so all of this felt extremely foreign to him.
Honestly, it was a bit too much to take in at times, but he was gradually figuring it out.
Asirpa eventually veered off towards one of the stalls, planning to sell some of the extra Jackaleo meat she had brought along with them in an attempt to get a good deal on it, and while that was happening, Dante ended up accidently bumping into the back of an individual when he zoned out for a moment, falling on his ass. The man he had bumped into, who quietly grunted at the impact that didn't even seem to make him budge from his position, slowly turned around and stared down at the boy with a sense of curiosity written across his face.
"You alright, kid?" The man asked, offering a hand. "Took quite a fall there."
Dante nodded, as he quickly accepted the help and rose back up. "Yeah, uh, sorry about that, man. I really didn't mean to bump into you. I was just distracted."
For a moment, everything was silent. The man's eyes were locked onto him like an apex predator, which genuinely unsettled him, and even some of the other people standing around them was looking towards him with varying degrees of negativity. It didn't last very long, however, as the white-haired man eventually broke out into laughter. Dante's eyes immediately widened, not having expected it at all.
"...Well, it seems we've got a jokester on ours hands, eh?" Said a bit more youthful voice off to the side, and when Dante glanced in their direction, his eyes met with a stall worker. Was it supposed to be a restaurant? The boy wasn't really sure.
He was mostly just confused. What the hell was so funny?
After finally regaining his composure, the man he bumped into settled for a smile full of amusement. "It's obvious you're not exactly from this village." He chuckled, effortlessly shifting the subject of the conversation and surrounding atmosphere as he waved farewell towards the individual working in the stall and gestured for him to follow. "So, the question is, where do you hail from, kid? I'm Toshizou Hijikata, by the way."
Shaking his hand, he nodded. "Dante Luca."
The boy kept quiet for a short period, debating on what he should reply with after that, or if he should even engage with this person at all in the first place. Not only that, but he continuously glanced at the man every once in a while, noticing more and more subtle details about him every time.
First off, the guy was old as fuck. With hair as white as his was, it was clear to see. It did look really good, though. Second, he was comically short. Even Dante was taller than him, and he was sixteen.
Third, the man was armed with an old-looking gun and an actual sword. It was a bit strange to see, at least from his perspective considering where he was truly from, but it also made him a little cautious and paranoid.
Eventually, Dante let out a breath, his mind briefly lingering on where he was actually born and grew up. "Uh... I'm from the south. I don't really remember much, though, for whatever reason. At some point, I just woke up around this region and I was eventually found by a girl that lives within this village."
Raising an eyebrow at his explanation, Toshizou turned towards him. "You just woke up here? What do you mean by that?"
"Exactly what I just said. I woke up at some point, and shortly after I opened my eyes, only to realize that I was surrounded by snow, a danger beast showed up and tried to rip me apart. The only reason I'm even alive right now is because of who found me just in the nick of time."
With a slow nod, Toshizou set his sights back onto the path ahead of them as they continued to aimlessly walk past random stalls throughout the village. "I see..."
Before Dante planned on separating from the man in order to reunite with Asirpa, he felt the urge to ask a specific question. "So, uh... what was so funny back there? Did I have a weird look on my face or something?"
Once again, the white-haired guy broke out into laughter, and he couldn't help but just stare at him in confusion, trying his hardest to process what might've been the cause. Fortunately, he received his answer just a few seconds later. It still puzzled him, however.
He decided not to keep pushing the subject though.
"You just reminded me of myself back when I was younger, that's all." He chuckled, before their eyes met again. "Here, kid. Before I go..."
With that, Toshizou reached into his dark green coat and pulled out what looked like an oversized pendant before placing it in his hands. "This is yours now." He said, turning away and continuing down the dirt path. "I don't really care what you do with it, honestly. Take care."
Dante stood frozen, glancing between the strange object in his hands and the man currently walking away from him in bewilderment. Shaking his head, the boy discreetly stowed it away in his inventory. "Uh, alright then..."
Turning back, he eventually found Asirpa at a different stall, gazing at a diverse selection of jewelry. Not only that, but he could practically sense the desire that was in her eyes, but instead of pointing it out, he just tapped her on the shoulder, and when she looked back at him, he smiled.
"You ready to head back?"
----------
Over the span of just a few days, it was clear to both Dante and Asirpa that he had further improved with his artificial talent at archery. It was something that had seemingly left her at a loss for words, and it always got a laugh out of him, especially with the look on her face at times.
However, even with the flawless coordination ability, there were still certain techniques and tricks that he wasn't aware of, which is what this time had been used for. As a result, he had eventually been deemed prepared enough to hunt for their next meal outside of the village, with her acting as his backup if things ended up going wrong.
While he was definitely a bit nervous, all things considered, the boy also couldn't help but feel at least a little excited. The fact that he would be out in the wilderness attempting to hunt down a beast, with the potential of finding a danger beast, was still crazy though. All of this just felt so foreign to him, but nevertheless, he was enjoying most of it quite a bit.
----------
When Dante activated the dungeon function for the first time since arriving within this new world, it was immediately obvious to him that certain things seemed to have changed.
Preparing himself for what was to come, he stood with a knife in his grip. The blade was a bit jagged, and that was about all he had at his disposal currently. While he most likely could've grabbed Asirpa's bow, he didn't want to risk fucking it up in some type of way or losing any of her arrows. In the end, he snuck one of the knifes in the kitchen out and just decided to use that instead, all while knowing the potential consequences of entering a dungeon with such a notable lack of readiness.
He watched the world around him appear to quickly develop a certain level of darkness, or gloom if you will, as the sky turned into the color of blood. With that, Dante nearly flinched back when he spotted a group of shadow-like entities seemingly form out of nothing.
"What the..." He muttered under his breath, clutching the handle of his knife as a sense of anxiety washed over him.
They didn't speak, nor did they hesitate to begin marching towards him.
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