บท 5: The Escapee
From dawn to dusk, Arthur explored the forest and tried to find some sort of a road. Unfortunately, there was no such a thing, he only stumbled upon a small river, from which he drank from, and some animals.
The interesting thing was the animals, or better call them beasts. They were not dangerous as all of them scurried away when they heard or saw him. More or less, they were the same as the one usually found on Earth, in forests…
Deers, wild boars, birds, and some strange-looking lizards. The deers were identical to the ones on Earth, in appearance and behavior. They hastily fled when they heard a barely audible sound from a distance away, hopping soundlessly and soon disappearing from the parasite's sight. The wild boars, on the other hand, were much burlier than normal and had a purple horn protruding from the top of their heads. Unlike the deers, they didn't run immediately, most would stare at the old man for a couple of seconds before squeaking unpleasantly then slowly leaving whence they came.
The birds were also a fascinating new experience for Arthur. They were less fearful and some even had multi-colored feathers, but the most mystifying thing was their melodious voice, which was almost entrancing.
Last but not least were the unfamiliar lizards, smaller than a fully grown alligator and equipped with dark brown scales. They lived relatively close to the small river and, at the sight of a human, were more scared than even the deers.
Thus, while aimlessly wandering around and trying not to go in a circle, Arthur marched non-stop. He had hoped to encounter other humans or at least something that could show him the way, like a signpost, for example. However, when the canopy was darkening, his hopes had a drastic change. He wanted to find something to eat as his stomach started growling and drinking water wasn't cutting it. Fortunately, he had found the river or else he would be both hungry and thirsty by now.
'It's the full moon.'
Arthur stuck close to the river and kept walking, he raised his head and stared at the bright moon. The old body of Latif was uncomfortable and even after possessing it for half a day and walking a considerable distance, he still couldn't get used to it. He was sweating and smelled horrible but the most troublesome thing was Latif's bent back.
Arthur didn't forget the skills that would become available in the full moon. After thoroughly their description, he used [Bat Form] which- literally- transformed him into a small black bat. For the first couple of seconds, he couldn't stabilize himself and fell on the ground, clearly not used to controlling a non-humanoid body.
Fortunately, he did not have to learn from scratch and was capable of flight after a couple of seconds. He spread his small bat wings and flew into the air, finally getting a good view of the whole forest. A couple of kilometers North-East, he spotted a luminous settlement.
"Catch her! Don't let her get away! Damnit!"
A group of hired mercenaries, all wielding sharp weapons, were chasing after someone. The darkness looming around the forest made it even more difficult to navigate and track her.
There were four of them and the leader, a burly balding man, had a charred shoulder and looked furious, to say the least. Not long ago, one of the slaves, after using magic - which shouldn't be possible due to the restrictive magic cuffs- fled from Wilsden Town and into Greenbell Forest.
Deeper into the forest, South-West of Wilden Town, a silver-haired woman wearing nothing but a shredded and dirty white piece of cloth was madly running without even looking back. She was bleeding from her arm and panting heavily as she stepped on the dirt and mustered all of her strength to get as far as she possibly could.
She didn't take into account that Greenbell Forest, despite being relatively peaceful, still had a few dangerous predators, like Grizzly Horned Bears and Silver Wolves. Tonight, especially, with the full moon, would be even riskier. Nonetheless, the slave woman, a half-demon named Lucy, desperately and hastily ran. Half an hour ago, the opportunity she had been waiting for had finally arrived so, without any hesitation, she used Fire Magic and escaped from the town. If she had remained, her fate would have been worse than death.
Only recently did she become a slave and it was done secretly. It was a widely known fact that the Holy Church was hunting for demons and eradicating them from the Human Continent. Fortunately, due to being only a half-demon, the apparent characteristics of the Demon Race were evident on her. The only striking thing was the glistening silver hair, but even that wasn't uncommon amongst Demons.
Lucy had to stop running as a river had blocked her path. After a momentary hesitation, she started to cross it, this time repeatedly looking behind her, afraid that the mercenary had caught up. She was far too weakened to use magic again and though the idiots chasing after her are no mages, they are strong enough- physically- to subdue her and bring her back in one piece.
She managed to cross the narrow river in half a minute but was stopped again. Lucy lifted her head and gazed at one particular tree, precisely at a bat silently standing on a branch and looking back at her. The bat had two crimson eyes gleaming in the darkness.
She only stared at it for two seconds before she continued on.
Arthur too, didn't pay attention to the woman. He was slightly relieved to finally see another human being but didn't go out of his way to transform into his human form or talk… not like he could in the bat form, though.
A few minutes later, he heard loud shouting coming from the other side of the river. He spread his wings again and circled around, soon spotting four silhouettes stopping at the side of the river and looking around.
Like Lucy, they also noticed the strange bat but didn't pay it much heed. They split up, two crossing the river and the rest going alongside it, trying to find the escapee.
'Swords and maces… I guessed as much.'
After seeing Latif's lair and the dumb zombie, Arthur had a hunch. This magical world was surely different from Earth, and in more than one way. This hunch was confirmed when he saw the animals but those mercenaries were the last bit of proof. Astria was not as advanced as Earth but, with his current limited knowledge, it was difficult to judge the technological and scientific scope of this foreign world. Nonetheless, he finally located his destination and wasted no time in reaching it.
Flying, of course, was faster and easier than walking in the dark forest. In just a few minutes' time, Arthur- still in Bat Form- arrived at Wilsden Town. Now that he was close enough and looking at the settlement from a bird's view, it was much bigger than he had anticipated.
As a bat, the best he got was a few cursory glances and that was all, so he was able to fly around undetected and uninterrupted. He enjoyed the light and refreshing breeze as he flew around Wilsden town and thoroughly inspected it before landing in an empty and cramped alley, finally returning to Latif's body.
Latif, the old man who dissected the vampire, may be a criminal, so Arthur pulled a hood over his balding head and exited the alleyway.
Wilsden town was bustling with people, mostly humans, though. There were stalls and shops wherever he looked. Armored guards dutifully patrolling the roads and families enjoying themselves, chatting happily.
Thanks to the [Universal Human Language], Arthur was able to read the signs, thus easily finding a tavern. Before leaving Latif's dirty lair, Arthur managed to find gold and silver coins. As he had suspected, they were indeed the currency used in this world. When he walked to the woman behind the counter, looking all suspicious and whatnot, she smiled at him and waited for him to order, which he did, after a moment of pondering.
He was starving and only wanted to fill his stomach before he started a thorough investigation. First, he needed to know about the world and where exactly he was, then he'll try to find a replacement for Latif's body, which was ugly, dirty, and distasteful. If he could, he'd have used his real human body but, as a parasite, it didn't seem to be possible.
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