According to Bria’s lessons, Lureschka’s territory wasn’t entirely run by demons. Due to the strength of humans and other races, there were a couple settlements in their border. Of course, Lureschka’s influence still kept them at bay. They could only pitch a small village at most. The nearest one from the Hatchery was a farming village called Castel, which was also our next destination.

Although Castel technically was the nearest village, it was still a few miles away from our house in the Hatchery. To quickly reach it, Bria used a teleportation spell to bring us to the city outskirts. In a fairly well attempt -- if I must say -- to blend in, I changed my anycloth’s appearance to give a duller, less attention grabbing light brown and gray color. Bria also casted Phantasm to change her silvery skin into a more human skin tone. The Phantasm also changed Shiki’s jet black samurai armor into a silver plated cuirass and tassets, and a silver helm covered his headless eyes. Rihoku was also glamored into a less demonic gray wolf.

“Run it to me again, Shiki. Why are we heading into the enemy's grounds again?” I asked, dubious about the purpose of this operation.

“To push you beyond your limits and make you experience this world firsthand, my liege.” Despite his more non-suspicious appearance, Shiki’s tone of voice didn’t change one bit.

I sighed, steeled my resolve, and took the first step from the sandy dunes to the stoned pavement. Castel, here we go.

Castel was almost entirely composed of familiar rustic houses similar to our house in the Hatchery. A quick scan gave me the impression that there were around ten to fifteen residential houses. The other structures seemed to be for commercial purposes like a pub, store, smithy, and hall.

I gave Shiki a doubtful look and said, “Okay, we’re here. What do we do now?”

“Anything you want to do, my liege,” Shiki replied reassuringly, his now silver armor shining as sun rays hit its surface.

“We’re here to expand your views of this world, to gain practical experience. Simply put, just take it as a vacation,” Bria added, looking completely normal if not for her lush silver locks of hair.

“Great!” I said with obviously fake enthusiasm.

I had and would probably always hate going to new places. For me, new people simply meant new judgments. Yes, some might be better than the others, but judgments nonetheless. More so, I had only traveled with my parents given that I had zero friends, and they weren’t the best companies. They would often leave at hotels as they finished their appointments. If they had the option to just leave me at home, I was certain they would.

I sighed, ending my musings. Even though I was unfamiliar with this world, I still had my knowledge from my previous one. No matter how minute it was, I figured that it should still be put into use. Thinking hard, I tried to recall what youbuters would usually do in their vlogs. I wasn’t a big fan, but I used to watch senseless videos like that to kill time. Should I sightsee? Look for some souvenirs? People watch? Oh, I get it!

“Let’s go eat some food,” I said, my mouth already drooling.

Back in the Hatchery, Bria handled all the cooking. She would cook whatever we had hunted or she herself somehow procured. Her cooking was great, but having some variety could never be bad. After all, some youbuter once advised trying local delicacies when traveling.

“That sounds appealing,” Shiki said, obviously mocking despite the lack of inflections.

“Haha.” Shiki’s remark caught me off guard. I didn't think he could actually joke. He didn’t seem that kind of per-- err, monster. “Don’t be like that, Shiki. We should at least try their food.”

“Of course, my liege. I was merely jesting,” Shiki replied.

“Alright, then. Shall we?” Bria interrupted, taking the lead.

I nodded, and we entered the village. As we walked, Bria further explained a few things about Castel. According to her, Castel was the forefront human village in the south’s territory. It acted as a landmark to note the humans’ advancement in its conquest of the south. Of course, hordes and groups of demons and monsters frequented the village, so a lot of strong warriors were stationed in it.

True enough, most of the people we had encountered were wearing different kinds of armors. However, it caught my attention that some were wearing garments made of cloth, which I was certain offered no defensive capabilities.

“Are there also civilians here?” I looked at Bria, but found her smiling in delight.

“I’m not so sure, Kaito, but it seems that way.” Her eyes were brimming with excitement. “We didn’t imagine the humans to be so complacent, or perhaps, have they become strong enough to feel at ease?” she seemed to ask herself.

“You guys haven’t been here?” I looked at them, confused. “You literally can just walk into here. Plus, Bria can cast Phantasm. How come you’ve never been here?”

“Because there’s no reason for us to do so, my liege,” Shiki replied in his usual monotone.

“Also, this place had only been here for more than a year. Before that, it was a goblin village,” Bria added.

“Oh, is that so.” I decided not to ask further, assuming that they must have had their reasons. Plus, I didn’t really want Bria’s lecture to ruin the mood. “Anyway, let’s go look for a restaurant or something.”

Shiki took the lead again. We walked around, browsing the signs. We had more than a couple strange stares, which I hoped wasn’t conniving.

A few minutes in, I saw a sign with what looked like a knife and some sort of meat. “There!” I pointed to Shiki and Bria. “We’ve found it.”

The restaurant, or at least what I thought was a restaurant, was no different than the other houses. It was just that it was one and a half bigger than the other houses and had a sign dangling in front. I pushed the swinging door open -- it was similar to the old western pub in movies -- and gave the place a quick scan. The room was bustling with activity. Waiters and waitresses were bringing plattered food to tables, where scruffy looking adventurers and civilians alike were seated. At the very front was a board that listed words I was barely familiar with, which I assumed was the day’s menu. Scanning the list, the items were priced with “Shlings,” which I presumed was this world’s human currency.

“Bria, how many shlings do we have?” I asked Bria, who was trying her best to contain her excitement.

“Shlings? What’s that?” she replied, completely oblivious of what I was talking about.

I internally facepalmed, then looked at Shiki. “Shiki?”

“Yes, my-- Kaito?” The bustle masking the huskiness of his voice.

“Do we have any shlings?”

“Is that some sort of skill?”

“Alright…” I took a deep breath and turned around. Even though the place was bustling, I somehow felt that I was the center of attention. The anxiety was enough to make me sweat buckets. After all, what if someone came and asked for our orders?

“Hello. Do you need a table?” The heavens must have heard me, and a waitress asked me while smiling brightly.

“Ah, uhmm…” I smiled awkwardly, beads of sweat painting my forehead.

“Can you get us a table for three?” Bria interrupted me.

My eyes shot wide open. I shot her a serious glare, but she only stared at me in confusion. I didn’t bother with Bria anymore and turned towards the waitress, who was about to lead us somewhere. In a panic, I half-shouted, “Wait, no, stop!”

The nearby tables stared at us, curiosity reflected on their eyes. I could feel myself blushing, but forced myself to continue in a whisper, “We-- we don’t have shlings. Do you know where we can earn some?”

Some gruff adventurers erupted in laughter, while the others continued eating their meals. The waitress scowled at us, probably annoyed at us for wasting her time during such a busy day. “We’re not hiring. Go check the monster hit list to earn something,” she said as she hurriedly went back to her duties.

“Th- thank you,” I replied, though she probably didn’t hear it. I grabbed Shiki and Bria’s wrists and dragged them out. Even outside, I could still feel the heat on my cheeks and ears.

“Why did you drag us out?” Bria looked at me in bemusement.

“Cause--” I heaved. “--we don’t have shlings.”

“Why do we need those shlings?”

“Because that’s their currency. They use that to buy and sell goods.”

“You need something to buy?” Her face was a mixture of shock and realization.

“Of course! How exactly do you guys obtain your resources?” This time, I was the one who looked at them in puzzlement.

“We just take them,” Bria answered matter of factly.

Then, it hit me. There were times that I forget that they were demons and the societal expectations and morality from my previous world, perhaps even this world, didn’t necessarily apply to them. I sighed at the realization. “Anyway, let’s go look for that monster hit list. We need to earn some shlings.”

We went our way. This time, I took the lead. I was convinced that Bria and Shiki knew little, if they even knew anything, about mingling with humans, and I didn’t want another scene like that. Using what I had learnt during my short while playing RPG’s, I hypothesized that the monster hit list should either be near the hall or some sort of guild.

True enough, a wooden board as tall as Shiki was set up near what seemed to be the adventurer’s guild. Written in scruffy calligraphy at the top was ‘Monster Hit List.’

“Jackpot,” I said.

Hearing that, Bria and Shiki hurried beside me. I gave the list a quick scan. There were around ten monsters listed down. Beside it were numbers, which I assumed was the reward per monster. I recognized a few monsters, since Rihoku and I had hunted those back in the Hatchery. There were goblins, Nighthowls, and even Spiked Firebear. The Spiked Firebear was at the top of the list with a reward of 30 shlings. Compared to the goblins, which was at the bottom, the reward was ten times more. However, the difficulty was definitely worth the reward. If Rihoku and I were to hunt one Spiked Firebear, then we’d have a 60 percent chance of defeating it with light injuries. However, Spiked Firebears moved in a group of four or six, which was definitely beyond our skills.

Thinking about the risks and rewards, I quietly pondered.

“Are you new here?” a low, old voice said behind us. “I don’t recognize you people.”

My heart raced. Have we been caught? I thought.

Almost at the same time, we all looked back. Shiki and Bria were tense. I could see a hint of blue aura already forming around Bria’s fingertips. On the other hand, the tip of Shiki’s gauntlets were also starting to blacken. If worse came to worst, I knew we wouldn’t die. However, that worry was unnecessary. What greeted us was an old woman around her sixties, greeting us with a bright expression. I just hoped that her vision was bad, so she wouldn’t notice Bria and Shiki’s preparation.

“Uhmmm… Yeah. We are from, uhmm, the nearby town,” I explained in as calm as I could, trying to secretly tell Shiki and Bria to stand down.

“Oh! Are you from Turg? Welcome to Castel!” she merrily greeted.

“Ah, well, yeah,” I replied, forcing an awkward smile.

“Are you planning on doing some hunting?” she asked again, but she didn’t wait for me to reply and continued, “If you are, please hunt some goblins. Their numbers are increasing nowadays. The villagers are worrying of a goblin horde forming. The last time they did...” Her voice trailed, as her head lowered.

I looked at Bria, hoping for some kind of affirmation. Bria’s expression softened. I could see that she was trying to process what was happening. When she finally collected her thoughts, she looked at me and nodded.

“Very well, then,” I said. “But, I have a question. How do we submit the goblins we’ve hunted?”

“Oh, you don’t know?” she asked, confusion painted on her face. “Ah, nevermind. You just have to surrender their ears. That way, you don’t have to bring their entire corpses. We don’t have a big enough place to store them anyway.”

“Is that so. Thank you very much.”

“No, thank you for your hard work. Well, then, I’ll leave you to work.” The old lady turned around and walked towards the restaurant.

I looked at Bria and Shiki. “Let’s go hunt some goblins.”