Chapter 13 So Pretty Outside World

Stairs went down from the hill I was on. Long, shabby stairs, carved on the earth, so that people could go up and down as they please. I was among the people who would put said stairs to use, but unfortunately, stairs were tricky. During my first time climbing down stairs, I fell more than once. I was okay though. Now, the heart of the city opened itself to me.

"It's so wide, the city."

In that vast entirety, which extended from North to South, as well as East to West, there were so many things. So much pleasant, intriguing, regular, and wacky stuff to see. So many things, truly. And they could all fit in that piece of land that was the village of Sville. A piece of land surrounded by walls, demarcating the area of the city, and containing all of the village's treasures within.

Be it beautiful sights, buildings of all sorts, and people of many races; all of these fit right into the city's square. And so much more was added to that, you have no idea. I had seen it from above, back at Fresh Pasta & Associate, from that elevated plateau where their restaurant was held. From up there, I could already tell how huge and immense the village was. Going about walking and traveling down here, I was with the others. The other parts of the 'outside' of the restaurant. Where the people, buildings, and everything lay at. And so, from down below, it felt even wider. I can tell you that much. Upon exploration lies an even more impactful experience.

Wide and gigantic. That was a city. To complete my understanding of what a city is, I could say that it wasn't empty, unlike the vast scope of the white and blue sky. The city was full of so many different things, and though I possessed knowledge about most things in the world, I got to truly experience the Outside World for the first time. Squinting my eyes at every little object I stumbled upon, I was delighted to be alive.

I first learned about rivers, pontoons, bridges, the limitless flowing current of water, and so many things. People could wash both themselves and their clothes within the river. I observed all that with careful attention in order to learn from them. They could even drink from it. Really, I could go on and on describing how impressive a river was to me as I first discovered it and 'tried it out.'

By the bridges or pontoons, people also fished. "Whoa~"

What they used were called 'fishing-rods'. "Oooh~"

Fish, to man, was just like man to me. Fish is food. Fish is prey. "I see, I see~"

Food, yes. I properly learned what food was, too. You see, people earn food. Food was their right to continue on living. The more food a person possessed, the richer they were.

And the people! Not everyone wanted to kill me, you know. Obviously not as they didn't know I was… what they called a unique monster-type creature. Hence why I wasn't fought or chased away, presently. But people anyway, they had their own business to attend to. Rather than antagonize me, some people would wake up early at dawn, take their horses and chariot and then head out to work.

Oh, and did I mention what a chariot was? Massive wooden box. Or even horses? Subdued vehicle creatures. Horses were docile and agreed to transport everyone's loads and gears everywhere around the town in exchange for a little food. Yes, I mention food again: Food was what ruled over the whole world.

"The world truly is enormous~" I sang in a sing-song voice.

There were still so many things to mention and marvel at, among the people, for example. Humans mostly, dwarves, elves, rare reptilians, and beastmen were even rarer. They occupied the city. Like myself, they wandered around the city, only they had a purpose that I didn't have.

Strolling along the road, I'd gone by several places. Sometimes jumping around in excitement, some other times just observing passively. Within that frame of time, I saw all of the World. All of life. All of the city's things fit in there, except for me.

The sun had time to drop by a wide margin by the time I was finished visiting. As a result, my feet hurt. All of my body, actually. I was sweaty, too. A lot. And as time went on, I felt weaker and weaker. This stroll of mine sure fatigued me a lot, huh. Or was it the stroll alone?

Present-me didn't know I had been poisoned.

"Aaah," I sighed, "and it's too hot. Way too hot." The sun really wasn't kind to me. That black dot, and now so much sweat. All the presents I received I hated.

Suddenly, my stomach growled. "Oh. You again?" I wasn't surprised like that time when I sneezed Achoo for the first time. It wasn't the first time it growled, the stomach. Because I hadn't only grown familiar with the city and the sun, today, no. There was that stomach too. My stomach. "So you want to eat that too, huh."

I glanced around, following where my nose would guide me, and stumbled on a particular stand. Not Dio's The World, no. A food stand is what I mean. I was by the middle of the road, and that food stand was more by the sidewalk. This was the marketplace of men. Sitting and lining up with that food stand, many others were here. Accompanied by his fellows, the stout, bald man who was holding it selling his food, many other people were there. In the marketplace, people held their ground and sold many foods, ingredients, and spices alike. Or clothes, even, for some people. I wouldn't notice the clothes, though. My stomach wouldn't. It was still hungry. Still, I wouldn't eat.

"I already stuffed you with so much grass and leaves from the trees, stomach," I explained. "You need to bear with it for now. We're still not done visiting!" Awkward looks were given to me, as it growled again. "Shut the hell up!"

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"Kyah! Help me, mama!" "D-Don't look at him, love."

"It's not even been three hours, and you want food again?!" I pointed out to my stomach. "Shall I call you a motherless bastard with no manners again?! Well? No? All right then, be quiet."