Skeleton Knight in Another World Vol. 5

by Ennki Hakari

  I looked at the shrine ahead of us. “So, will we be teleporting to Landfrea, then? I’ve never been in one of these shrines before. It’s kind of exciting.”

  Lalatoya’s shrine was built into a massive tree at the center of the village. A gentle stream running from north to south cut through the land behind it, reflecting the rays of the early morning sun. I could hear the sounds of burbling water and chirping birds flapping about as they searched for their morning meal. The massive foliage high above cast a dark shadow on the idyllic scene.

  A simple wooden fence encircled the tree, though it looked like it had been placed there to mark the edge of the shrine rather than provide any sort of protection. Much like the village elder’s home, the shrine almost looked as if it were being consumed by the tree surrounding it.

  Two elves stood watch at the entrance, armed with swords that hung from their waists. They focused their gaze on me as I approached.

  Ariane introduced herself and spoke with them briefly. The two elves stepped to the side to make way for us, apparently already aware of our journey, and ushered us inside. Ariane bowed slightly and entered the shrine, followed by Chiyome, Goemon, myself, and the ever-present Ponta atop my head.

  What the shrine lacked in diameter, compared to the village elder’s house, it made up for in sheer vertical height. Thick pillars twisted up along the inner wall, creating a wide, open space inside.

  At the center of the room was a raised circular platform illuminated by several crystal lamps. Complex magical runes had been engraved into its surface, the light emanating from them reflecting off the shrine’s walls. It looked like a scene out of a work of fantasy.

  While Chiyome and I were fixated on the teleportation pad, Ariane was busy speaking to a small elven man who’d come over to greet her. After they finished speaking, she made her way onto the glowing platform.

  “Arc, Goemon…you, too, Chiyome. C’mon, it’s time to go. Get up onto the teleportation pad.”

  We all nodded and quickly followed her up.

  I couldn’t help but feel like there was a slight difference in the way she’d called out to Goemon and me. While I mulled this over, we were engulfed in a bright flash of white light. I averted my eyes, suddenly feeling like I was floating. A moment later, the light faded. Once my eyes readjusted, I could see that our surroundings had changed.

  The short elven man from earlier was nowhere to be seen. Instead, three elves stood in front of us along the outer perimeter of the room we now found ourselves in. It looked similar to the one we’d just left, albeit slightly larger.

  A woman dressed in traditional elven robes offered a gentle smile to our party of four (five, counting Ponta). She looked almost like a secretary. Standing on either side of her were two men who appeared to be guards, their weapons at the ready.

  “We’ve been awaiting your arrival. I take it you’re Ariane, from Lalatoya?”

  Ariane nodded. “Yes, that is correct.”

  “I will take you to the elder,” the woman responded in a quiet, curt tone of voice. She turned and began to lead the way.

  The two guards gaped in amazement at my gleaming silver armor and massive sword, before turning their dumbfounded gaze to the muscle-bound Goemon. Their reaction was appropriate, all things considered. I was actually quite impressed that the secretary woman’s ears had merely perked slightly when she first caught sight of me.

  Once we’d followed the woman out of the shrine, it was clear that we were no longer in the pastoral plains of Lalatoya. Several large trees stood in a long row, all apparently serving as residences. We walked along a shadow-dappled path paved with bricks, passing many other elves. Here and there I also caught sight of other mountain people similar to Chiyome and Goemon.

  I mumbled to myself. “This village is rather lively, isn’t it?”

  Ariane glanced back at me. “Landfrea serves as the gateway to Fobnach, and is one of the largest villages in Canada.”

  Our guide led us to a building. Or, more specifically, to a gate leading into a small complex consisting of several large trees. Construction in Lalatoya generally consisted of trees and buildings coming together in various amalgamations, but what I saw in front of me now was entirely different. These were much shorter than the other trees we’d seen in the village. The foundations of the buildings were made of solid, thick trunks intertwined and compressed together, almost like a fresco.

  As soon as we stepped inside one of the buildings, I was again impressed by how completely different it looked from Ariane’s home back in Lalatoya. Intricate symbols were carved all along the floor in an exquisite display of carpentry. The largely unadorned pillars, walls, and ceiling, along with the selection of decorative accessories that covered the room, reminded me more of the homes of human nobility than those of elves.

  I assumed that we were now in the home of the village elder of Landfrea. Judging by the way Ariane was glancing around with the same look of wonder as Chiyome and myself, I figured this was her first time here. Goemon, on the other hand, simply stood by silently, looking straight ahead, uninterested in our surroundings.

  Noticing our reaction, the secretary offered an explanation as she started up the stairs toward the second floor.

  “In addition to Fobnach down to the south, we also deal in items from Saskatoon, which has a trade relationship with Limbult. There are probably a great deal of items you haven’t seen before here in this village.”

  “Aaah, I see.” I nodded along with her explanation as I continued to glance around the room.

  The Grand Duchy of Limbult was located along the Rhoden Kingdom’s border, and it was the only human country the elves of the Great Canada Forest traded with. This was the first time I’d heard the name Saskatoon. I assumed it was the name of a village that served as a point of trade with Limbult. Considering the sheer number of human items I saw around me, I could only imagine that there must be other means of shipping goods than just the teleportation pad here in Landfrea. Since this village served as a port for intercontinental trade, my first guess was that they were transporting goods by ship, but that would require Saskatoon also be located on the coast and have a port of its own.

  I was starting to think the teleportation pads weren’t a very efficient way of transporting large quantities of cargo. If they were, it would have made inter-village trade ridiculously simple, and human goods would undoubtedly be available in other villages. However, I hadn’t seen anything like that in the days I’d spent walking around Lalatoya. Either the cost of teleportation was too high, or there were restrictions on its use.

  The woman’s voice interrupted my thoughts as she asked us to wait before disappearing into a nearby room. We found ourselves in a waiting room of sorts, though it was nowhere near as ornately decorated as the room we’d seen on the first floor. It was actually rather simple, consisting of a few round tables and several delicately carved chairs.

  I set my bag down on one of the tables and pulled out my leather waterskin. This caught Ariane’s attention, and she fixed me with a suspicious look.

  “Wait a minute, why are you taking a drink now, of all times?”

  “Well, I was thinking that if I’m meeting a village elder, it would be rude for me to keep my helmet on.” I took a straw out of my bag and stuck it into the waterskin’s opening.

  Ariane shook her head. “Ah, right. I forgot. I guess I’ve just gotten used to it. You’re not going to suddenly change back in the middle of our meeting again, right?”

  I slid the straw through the gap in my helmet and slowly began to drink. “I’m thankful that you’ve been so kind and accepting of my appearance, Ariane. But I collected this water fresh from the spring this morning, so its effect should last throughout the meeting.”

  I was impressed with my own cleverness, though the look on Ariane’s face suggested she was unconvinced. Chiyome was also looking at me from the corner of the room, her translucent azure eyes visible through her narrowed lids. She seemed t
o be in agreement with Ariane.

  Apparently, I hadn’t really won them over.

  I glanced toward Goemon in the hopes of finding an ally, but he was standing dead still in another corner, arms crossed and eyes closed, looking like a statue.

  “Kyiii!”

  Ponta dropped from the top of my head onto my shoulder and mewed, in an attempt to cheer me up. Feeling slightly better about myself, I gave it a pet.

  A moment later, the secretary from earlier stuck her head around the corner and called out to us. “Elder Noran will see you now. Please, step inside.”

  We followed her through the doorway and into the room. As soon as we stepped across the threshold, I heard an elven man speak up.

  “Please accept my apologies for calling you all the way here.”

  The man had long, green-tinged blond hair tied back in twin braids, one draped loosely over each shoulder. He was dressed in a traditional elven tunic. Though he wore a gentle smile on his face, the look in his eyes—which were the same shade of green characteristic to all elves—bore a startling similarity to Carcy, whom we’d met back in Branbayna. It was easy to imagine that the two were brothers.

  “I never imagined this would be how I’d learn of the whereabouts of my long-lost brother, whom I haven’t heard from since he left the village, all those years ago. The world truly is connected in mysterious ways.”

  The secretary cleared her throat, prompting the man—whom I presumed to be the village elder—out of his nostalgic ramblings and back to his newly introduced guests.

  “Ah, yes, my apologies. I am the elder of this village, Noran Held Landfrea, the younger brother of Carcy, whom I believe you met in that human town. I’m pleased to make your acquaintance.”

  Noran gestured us toward a corner of the room where he had a space for receiving guests. The conversation quickly turned back to his older brother. Chiyome and Goemon had never actually met Carcy, so they simply sipped at their tea while Ariane and I discussed our encounter with him.

  When Ariane reached the part of the story where we helped Carcy in his monster research by helping him capture a sandworm, Noran rolled his eyes and muttered to himself, though his smile was unmistakable.

  “Sounds like Carcy…”

  In this world, with its lack of communication devices, I could only imagine how hard it would be to keep in touch with people. Once you said your goodbyes, you might never see each other again. Noran must have been quite relieved to hear about the recent escapades of his long-lost brother.

  After listening to our story, Noran stood and offered his thanks.

  “Thank you for coming all the way out here. I’m glad to hear of my brother’s whereabouts, and that he’s doing well. We still might not be able to get in touch with him, given where he is, but this will certainly be good news for my father and mother.”

  Noran bowed his head before turning the conversation back to the purpose of our visit.

  “We plan to have all of the cargo loaded today, so your ship should be ready to depart first thing tomorrow morning. I’ve already prepared a place for you to stay here. Please make yourselves at home.”

  My shoulders slumped at the news. “Ah, I see… so, we’re not leaving today.”

  Ariane pointed out the flaw in my logic. “You don’t just come to the port on the day you’re supposed to leave. You never know when plans will change.”

  “I guess you’re right…” I wasn’t completely convinced, but nodded in agreement anyway.

  Thinking back on it, it must have been quite an immense undertaking just to get all the various methods of transportation running like clockwork back in my own world. It would have been a challenge even for the massive companies that ran everything in Japan, but it would be another story altogether out here, where sailboats and the like were so easily affected by the weather.

  I supposed it made sense then, in this world, to arrive with several days to spare before departing on a journey. Since I usually traveled using my teleportation magic, I hadn’t thought about this fact.

  After leaving the elder’s chambers, we followed the secretary woman to a series of rooms. Once I was alone in mine, I set down my bags and gazed out the window next to the wood-framed bed. The sun was still high in the sky, and I could see large groups of people milling about outside.

  I figured it’d be a waste to have all this free time and just sit around doing nothing, so I laid down my sword and removed my leather money pouch from my bag. Stepping into the hall, I ran into Ariane and Chiyome, who were also leaving their room.

  Ariane looked me over. “Going for a walk, Arc?”

  “It’s still early, and I was hoping to get a look at the boat we’ll be boarding tomorrow. I thought maybe I’d find something interesting near the port.”

  Ariane shot me a skeptical look. “In that case, we’ll join you. I don’t like leaving you to your own devices.”

  She was looking at me as if I invited trouble wherever I went. I had no idea where she’d gotten that idea. No idea at all.

  In all seriousness, it really would be convenient to have Ariane along, considering that she actually knew Landfrea. It’d do me no good to just wander around on my own. I agreed to her suggestion, and the four of us—Goemon decided to join as well—notified the house servant of our plans before making our way to the port.

  ***

  Ariane led the way to Landfrea’s port. Chiyome, Goemon, and I followed along behind her, taking in the sights. To a local, the three of us must have looked like a group of country bumpkins impressed at how developed Landfrea was.

  The vast majority of its citizens lived in large tree apartments that stretched seven or even eight stories up into the air, one lined up after the next. These buildings looked just like stands of large trees from a distance, and it was only once you got close that you could tell that they were dwellings. Suspended walkways stretched between the trees, and people used them to travel back and forth.

  Ponta sat atop my head and gazed straight up, taken by the whole scene around us, its tail swishing back and forth along the back of my helmet like a dust cloth.

  “There sure are a lot of people. How many elves live in Landfrea?” There was a sense of wonder in Chiyome’s voice.

  Ariane glanced back and tilted her head to the side. “I’m not exactly sure. Maybe around thirty or forty thousand? There are always a lot of people coming and going here, so it might be higher.”

  Chiyome’s eyes went wide. “I thought Lalatoya was pretty big, but this is something else entirely! I can’t believe your people built a city this size right in the middle of the woods.” She let out a sigh of amazement.

  Chiyome’s hideaway back in the Calcut mountain range was home to around a thousand people—nearly a thirtieth of the population that lived in this village. The capital of the Rhoden Kingdom was probably the only place I’d been to so far that was bigger than Landfrea.

  After making our way past the cluster of apartment trees, we started seeing some of the familiar mushroom-shaped wooden houses that were common in Lalatoya. They were packed close together, and the area seemed full of life. Each of the buildings had goods laid out in front of it, suggesting they were all shops. Merchants stood nearby, hawking their wares to the throngs of people wandering past.

  The whole area had the vibe of a busy downtown shopping district. In addition to the exciting items for sale (which were probably imported from the south), the likes of which I’d never seen in human towns, the whole street was filled with the fragrance of sweet spices, carried along on the ocean breeze.

  “Mmm, something sure smells good. They must use a lot of herbs and spices here!”

  “Kyii!”

  The overwhelming, almost biting scents tingled the senses and sent Ponta and me looking for the source.

  Ariane explained. “A great deal of spices are imported through Fobnach, so the whole city has a rather unique scent to it.”

  Her explanation brought to mind the taste of
the well-seasoned hamburger steak I’d eaten back in Lalatoya. I swallowed hard, and my mouth watered. I could feel Ponta shifting atop my helmet. The two of us were drawing so much attention to ourselves that an elven shop owner called out to us as we walked by.

  “Hey there, sir! You, in the armor, with the two pretty girls! You wouldn’t be hankering fer a fresh tomato, wouldya? Came in just the other day from down south.”

  The man looked young, like all elves did, and had the characteristic long ears and green-tinged blond hair, though he wore it cut short. I was a bit put off by an elf speaking like a salesman, but the sight of the fruit in his hand drew me in.

  He held a ripe, red tomato. His shop had a whole pile of them.

  “They’re selling fresh tomatoes here near the port, too?” Before I could think, my feet had taken me straight to the elven merchant and his juicy wares. Back in Lalatoya, all they had were dried tomatoes, so I’d assumed that only processed goods made their way from the southern continent here to the Great Canada Forest. Unlike the large, round tomatoes I was used to back in my world, the fruit the elven merchant held was more oblong, and a bit on the small side.

  Ariane peeked around me at the tomato seller. “If you can buy them here in Landfrea, then you don’t really need to go all the way to Fobnach, right?”

  I shook my head firmly in response. “I’ve come this far. It’d be a total waste to give up here. Besides, I was hoping to show Chiyome the country built by her fellow mountain people.”

  Behind me, Chiyome and Goemon nodded in agreement. Ariane looked around and shrugged her shoulders.

  I turned back to the tomato seller. “Excuse me, sir. I’d like to buy one of your tomatoes, to see how it tastes.”

  “Huh? You want to…buy one? To taste it?”

  The elven merchant eyed me suspiciously and repeated back my request. I couldn’t decipher the expression on the man’s face and cocked my head to the side in confusion. Ariane spoke up, seemingly having just remembered something.