A People Town Viewed Through a Person’s Eyes

I am but a cloud, trying to be a person.

And I’m currently having trouble scratching the itch behind my ear.

A giant slab of metal bound my arms in front of me. It wasn’t particularly heavy, but it did restrict my movement quite a bit. The tips of my fingers could just barely touch the helix of my right ear – nowhere close to the source of that aggravating sensation.

I could use a bit of mana, but these cuffs were supposed to prevent me from doing so. Did they actually? Not at all. However, it probably wouldn’t be the best idea to show off at the moment. Back to using a nearby tree.

“What are you doing… actually, what is your name anyway?” one of the soldiers asked, his expression half exasperated and half curious. He was the one who questioned me earlier, or at least I thought he was. It was difficult to tell with all of them wearing the same clothing.

“Scatch my eir. Also, name?” My pronunciations were improving by the minute, though they still left a lot to be desired.

The soldier sighed, taking a step behind me. Then, he lightly scratched exactly where my ear hurt. My body relaxed as that nagging feeling disappeared. “Yeah, a name. Mine is Kryos Zoran by the way. Also, what are you, a dog?”

“No?” I tilted my head in confusion; I was obviously a person. But a name, huh? I didn’t have one – I was a cloud, after all. All people apparently had one though… Should I just use someone else’s? There is that one girl: the Rain Saintess. I believe her name is…

“Melora Remuno.” That wasn’t right. I meant to say ‘Ellora Mizuno’, but my mouth wasn’t up to it yet. Well, whatever. It was only a name.

“Melora, then. Nice to meet you, although under strange circumstances. And thank you for getting rid of the golem.”

Not knowing how to respond, I gave a nod. Or was I supposed to blush and flounder? Who knew. At least I could answer questions.

Nothing much happened for the rest of the day and the beginning of the next. Most of the guards remained silent and kept a look out for nonexistent beasts. Kryos occasionally conversed with me, but it was nothing more than a few queries. My speaking ability was definitely the limiting factor.

“We’re here.” Sometime around midday, we arrived at a small clearing within the forest. Familiar looking walls jutted out of the ground, likely the ones that surrounded the town I spotted in the distance. However, viewing it from down here really emphasized how large they were. I could understand why people built them: barring an aerial attack, they were rather effective at deterring beasts.

The soldiers showed signs of relief as Kryos approached the blocked entrance. “This is Kryos Zoran of the city guard, reporting in! I would like to speak to the commander!” he yelled to the stern-faced guards atop the gate.

A few moments of silent signal passing later, the gates partially opened, letting a single man through, likely the commander. While the rest of the guard’s uniforms were green, the commander’s was red. Kryos approached the man and spoke in a whisper, not that it would stop me from listening in with a bit of wind magic.

“Glad to see you’ve made it back in one piece. We saw the golem disappear, so we assumed that something happened.” the commander spoke.

“Yes, sir. We were unable to find the caster of the golem, but Melora Remuno over there managed to get rid of it,” Kryos said, pointing towards me.

“The redhead with your coat? She dispatched the golem?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And you’re sure about that? You’re describing a near impossible feat.”

“I’m aware, sir. But I witnessed it with my own eyes, along with the rest of the guards. Feel free to confirm.”

The commander stared silently at me before continuing. “Then, who is she? Her features are similar to the Crimson Devastation, but the name doesn’t match.”

“I’m not sure, sir. She claims to have woken up there. Jackson confirms that she’s telling the truth, so amnesia is unlikely. We have her bound though, just in case.”

“And she’s not likely to have any proof given her current state…” The commander thought for a moment, scratching his chin. “Bring her to the Adventurer’s Guild. The guard doesn’t have the resources to keep track of a blank slate. Plus, if worst comes to worst, they should be able to hold their own.” Adventurer’s Guild? That was a new term – probably a group of some kind. I wondered if that person who tried slicing me with a sword was part of them. Or maybe that chairman. Regardless, it sounded rather interesting.

“Yes, sir!” With that exchange, Kryos motioned for the other guards and I to follow. Walking towards the wall, the looming gate seemed even larger. It had to be at least ten times my height. As a cloud, there was rarely anything that reached my altitude. But with this body, I couldn’t just fly over anything. I had to observe it from up close and experience the scale for myself. It was… astounding.

“Melora, don’t fall behind!” Kryos yelled back. Whoops, I had stopped for a bit too long admiring the gate, so I refocused my attention. It would be my first time actually within a proper people town. I had to be ready. So with a quiet ‘Hmph!’, I stepped through the gates.

And I was not disappointed.

Seeing a town from the sky versus the ground had two completely different presences. From above, the buildings looked like little organized dots separated by different color pathways snaking around. There wasn’t really a sense of depth as it was basically an intricately drawn map. Even when I approached closer, I never hovered too low, pretending to be a normal cloud.

However, down here, I could see the intricacies. The paved path was smooth and comfortable to walk across. Buildings flagged the path on both sides, looming over the street. Most of them looked like houses – rectangular buildings with wooden, triangular roofs. A few were storefronts, each with enticing signs to draw people in. They seemed to make heavy use of glass to show off their wares. Interspersed were a few trees and plants, giving the town a rather pleasant aura. I couldn’t help but get distracted.

The thing that surprised me the most was the lack of people. Underneath the afternoon sun, I expected people to be wandering around and conversing, giving a more lively appearance, but there was no one in sight. I asked Kryos why, and apparently it was an emergency measure to keep the citizens safe. The buildings were rather sturdy, so besides evacuating, it was the best place to be when a golem came walking in. It was a bit sad that I couldn’t wander around that much because of it, but there was always another time. I planned on sticking around for a while, after all.

Strolling down the paths, with a few purposeful detours, we arrived at a rather large building. Well, it was comparatively small to most other buildings I’d seen, but here it was one of the largest. It was about the size of a large two-story storefront with architecture somewhere between a mansion and a cathedral. The building had an unusual gradient of dirtiness: the top was clean while the bottom seemed well-worn and dusty. This must be the Adventurer’s Guild.

The soldiers led me into the building, where we were greeted by a woman wearing a simple green blouse with a brown skirt affixed with suspenders.

“Welcome to the Adventurer’s Guild. I received your message from–” At first, the woman had a rather casual grin, but as soon as she saw me, her smile deepened. With echoing footsteps forward she approached Kryos.

“U-um, Lisa–” Kyros stammered, but he was quickly interrupted.

“You absolute idiot!” she yelled out before kicking Kryos straight between his legs. He let out a pathetic sound before collapsing to the floor. A rather interesting technique.

The woman, who I assumed was Lisa, quickly faced me with a smile.

“Sorry about them, let’s get you cleaned up, shall we?”