Of Kaiser and Glamour [Part 1]

“Bye, bye!”

“Thanks again for the carriage ride!”

“Okay Ryosuke, we’re going to have to walk this path through the forest the rest of the way, but it's not much further from this point.”

Valaquendë has a very charming personality. I don’t even think she realizes it. She talked to a complete stranger for ten minutes and was able to get them to give us a carriage ride for free. What surprised me the most is she didn’t even ask for a ride; they just offered one. That spritely energy that she radiates is infectious to other people, and I guess that makes others want to be helpful.

One more thing… The creature that was pulling the carriage was not a horse. Horse like, sure. It had four legs with hooves, similar size, and a long face. Yet, the simplest way I can detail the creature is that it looked like a wicked unicorn. One misshapen horn protruding out of a random spot on its head. I had already seen this creature before in the city when I first arrived, so I had already prepared myself if I had to interact with one. As well as made a note that there likely will be other unique creatures to this world. This one was an intense dark shade, and others can have a blinding white shade.

Like just on our stroll to the Guild. I’d been seeing a lot of odd creatures flying and making chirping sounds around the two of us. I know they're not birds, but they sure look and sound a lot like birds; there are insects too. That’s the best way I can describe them; whatever they are, they’re a lot more pleasant sounding than the persistent cicadas in Japan. The biggest takeaway from seeing all of these unique animals, and if this is a completely different world from my own. They are sufficient occurrences of convergent evolution when I compare the two worlds.

“Ryosuke look! We're almost there!”

Valaquendë grabbed my arm and pulled me to her point of view to show me our destination. Through the leafy branches of the trees, I could just barely see it. The place where Valaquendë and the Guild members live in an outright massively fancy mansion. I almost wanted to say ‘Lucky me’ out loud. It even had a large garden and lawn, the whole package. I didn’t know what to think at this point.

“Wow, it’s beautiful…” I mumbled.

“Isn’t it? I’m so fortunate to be part of this Guild!” Valaquendë smiled.

Hmm, interesting, if she says that she is fortunate to be in the Guild because of the mansion. I wonder how many other Guilds have mansions. I’m sure I’ll find out later. Anyhow, this is probably the longest I’ve ever been outdoors, or even a forest for that matter. The gentle flurry of air, waving my hair and grazing over my skin. I caught myself several times taking deep breaths of the new air of this world. With the scents willfully gifting my body with a rejuvenating sensation. Even closing my eyes, allowing the wind to guide me forward. At least until I veered off the path. I then had a somewhat important realization: I need to be sure that I can simply concentrate on my breathing when it feels natural. If I want to thrive in this new world: I need to be natural. Act in a way that will appear as if I’ve always lived in this land of the bizarre and violent.

“Enjoying the outdoors?” Valaquendë spoke up, likely because of my slightly unusual breathing patterns.

“Yeah, there’s a pretty nice breeze; nice to get out of the city.” I replied like a natural.

“Most definitely! Especially what we’ve been through the other day!” Valaquendë agreed with excitement.

“Yeah, that whole situation was wild, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah… but that’s kinda common in the Guilds… I have to remember to tell our Infernalior.”

Once again, she’s given me a lot to think about with only vocalizing a few words. Common? I better ask.

“So, I always heard that stuff like that happened, but I was never sure if it was true.”

“W-well just keep in mind that stuff to that extent isn’t very common...”

Valaquendë‘s voice sounded apprehensive to make that statement and gestures were exclusive. Is she lying to me about something?

“I, I hope that this kind of experience won’t change your mind about joining.” She then remarked, with a slight meekness.

I had the thought. Perhaps if I actually lived in this world, it would have, but as of right now I don’t have many options.

“No, of course not! I mean I came this far, right?”

“You're right, sorry for asking. It's just we haven’t had any new members in quite some time. So...”

“Don’t worry about it! I understand completely.”

She made that joyous yet reserved grin again. I don’t think she is lying about anything of importance. I think she is just trying to not discourage me from joining, and also trying to make a good impression.

This is just getting more unreal. Am I really lucky?

I’m not sure just yet…