Another Stupid Isekai

It was a bright morning when we reached the city gate, catching few groups of hunters in the woods. They helped with pulling heavy carts, which gave us a little boost to speed. Even more, people engaged with us helping and bombarding us with questions. They had to wait for the answers just like me.

I’m not gonna lie, by that moment I was pretty annoyed, but Aisha stayed adamant, and others, no matter how funny they found that whole situation, respected her will.

I believe every single citizen was in the city center, as we reached the destination. There was a bit of cheering, but mainly questions.

Blue jumped on his cart.

– Please! Please give us a moment to catch our breaths! Then we will talk, and share everything we found out! So please! Please calm yourself, and give us the necessary space! – He yelled on top of his lungs, so the message would make it thru the cacophony of voices.

It worked, at least somehow. The rest was done by Hatta and his soldiers that emerged from the crowd to get the orders from their leader, moving people further away like bodyguards on the guerilla concert of some famous people.

After a bit of shopping, quick eating, and drinking. Some maneuvering was done, to put people on one side, and the rest in front. Wuxia provided some chairs and tables for exhausted travelers, as well as dealt with the whole process of moving people.

I found a spot for myself on the side, standing alone, ignored by Hatta’s people. Close enough to listen without any problems, but also out of the picture.

Finally sitting comfortably, with full stomachs, however still exhausted, the talking started. Aisha stood up, and spoke loudly, so as many people as possible could hear her.

– We made it to the settlement of creatures called Uhm’s. They do exist, and everything that was said before was proven to be true! But that’s just the tip of the iceberg of problems I have to bring up. First of all, we are living under a dome of some kind!

Whispers just exploded within the crowd. It was surprising news, but nobody really knew what it meant in the end.

– This dome is created by the device and shows the border between the real world out there, and this influenced by the device. Ou there is life. A true life. Not the fake one we have here. There are creatures, bugs, birds, animals of every kind. There is weather and seasons. Everything we do not have there. A real landscape. This here is fake. Under the control of that levitating ball.

That information made everything slightly worse. People started to scream their questions at her, but with the overall noise of so many of them, the sense was lost, and she simply ignored those. Wuxia stepped in, calling for silence. Eventually, those calls were answered, and Aisha could talk again.

– Uhm’s, as you know, have a settlement of their own! Spared from the influence of the sapling. They live in peace growing plants, and rising animals. They are a peaceful race, and we do not have to worry about them. Although their feet will never set in the city, because they hate the device, as it was the solemn reason for the past horrors and hardships they had to experience! All they wish is to leave in peace.

There was a bit of nodding here and there, but also another bunch of questions.

– How far they are?!

– What if they change their minds?!

And many others, just as not important as those I mentioned. Aisha ignored them once again and proceeded to continue.

– They warned us to stop using the device, as for them it only leads to violence and corruption. They do not wish for conflict though, but I’ve been warned that they will not let us enslave them, and they would rather die than let that happen again. We’ve been asked to leave them alone, or abandon the city, and leave with them in peace, far away from the corruption. We assured them that we do not mean any harm, but as for the invitation to live together, every individual should decide for themselves. We will discuss this matter later in more detail.

[0)ᴠʟ – Why would we leave?!

– Why would we agree to peace?!

– Yeah, fuck them!

– Fuck you! Let them leave in peace!

Those were few among many responses from the crowd, that yet again turned to yelling. It took a solid couple of minutes before they finally shut their mouths, and allowed her to continue.

– Now other matters, maybe even more important. We have been old, that this city, as well as the sapling, was not here before. According to the elder Naalaa there is only the one being that could possess sapling and would be able to plant it. The Great One. A shadow figure we know almost nothing about. And that’s only considering any of the Xuvi or Bahumdabar’s did not survive the massacre. This leads to two things. The possibility of our device being corrupted by whatever was done in the past, and led to mass madness can be crossed out. Also for sure, there is something going on here, involving us, but we do not know what.

This led to an explosion of noise from the crowd. Everybody, and I mean everybody, had something to say. This led to rapidly increased loudness. Conversations turned straight into shouting and yelling at each other. People talked among themselves, screaming on top of their lungs questions at the returned expedition. Nobody could understand anything, but that didn’t stop them, and only led to even more of this ridiculousness.

As you can probably guess, the next step was violence. A proper brawl just started with everybody hitting everybody. Nobody pulled their punches, no matter what. People collapsed on the cobblestone, but that didn’t stop them. I saw groups of people entangled in a fistfight. Others rolling, trying to wrestle. It was a mess.

Wuxia tried to help, but the effect was even worse than before. They were pulled into the brawl. As funny as it was to me at first, now it turned into a very serious matter. I started to think about how to end this mess, but somebody was slightly ahead of me.

That person was Blue. He stood up and slammed his hand on the table so hard it broke in half stirring up clouds of dust. The sound reminded me of a gunshot.

– Hey! – he yelled so hard it must have hurt his throat. – Stop this right now!

Surprisingly it was enough for people to turn on their thinking and stop the violent outburst. This window was enough for Wuxia to regain its position of authority and bring up order. Still, few assholes had to be pulled out to the side and dealt with separately. Eventually, everything calmed down, and Aisha could continue her monolog.

– We will have meetings in smaller groups, so everybody will be able to speak their mind on this subject. Every single one of you will have to decide if you want to stay here, or respond to Uhm’s invitation, and attempt to find a home among them. This is the condensed essence of what we found out. More details will be discussed further in the groups mentioned before. On top of that, you will have an opportunity to find the answers to the questions you all probably have right now. With this, I would like to ent this gathering. We all are exhausted to the point of collapsing, so let us rest first, before we proceed any further.

With this silence fell upon the gathering. Few people tried to broke it but were stopped by others. The recent outburst of violence was enough to keep people calm, as well as the presence of Wuxia’s soldiers.

Expedition split into smaller groups, seeking rest. They were escorted by fellow members of their associations. I waited patiently for Will and Hatta. The first one came to me pretty quick but kept his silence. For the second one, I had to wait a bit longer since he had to talk with his men first, and also deal with the splitting of the crystals they brought on the carts.

A solid couple of minutes later, he walked by us, and just gestured to follow him. We did, asking no questions. He led us to his office, then lighted up every single olive lamp and candle in the room with his class skill.

Next poured himself a glass of something that smelled like rice wine. Still, silently he proposed us the same drink offering glasses. Will agreed with a nod. From the mood around I gathered that I might also need some alcohol, so I answered in the same manner.

After that, we sat around the table on the left, but the silence was not broken yet. They had to enjoy their alcohol first. Starting with a good sniff of the smell. This all led me to the conclusion that what I was about to hear, was not a good information.