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Rounding a puddle that had frozen into ice, Durin exhaled a breath of white mist, finding the early winter in Lublin just as cold as the twelve years he had seen before.
Having regained a young body for a full twelve years, he had long grown accustomed to living as one of the Different Races. Now, Durin was a Grassland Elf, a cute little thing with curly silver hair, blue eyes, and slender arms and legs — the average height of Grassland Elves was below one meter forty.
Although such a cute appearance and small stature were not always ideal in daily life, for instance, he needed a chair to stand on to reach for things that were too high.
But Durin had nothing to complain about — after all, to live another life was an opportunity many powerful, influential, and rich individuals from his previous life could never achieve.
They pleaded with fate, but fate granted humans the ultimate equality — death.
Walking along the stone-paved streets into the town, Durin arrived at the agreed-upon location, exhaling a breath that turned into mist. The Lublin region in late autumn and early winter was never a place where one could feel comfortable.
Standing at the edge of the street, looking at the town constructed from ancient buildings, with ivy crawling over the exteriors of many structures, the colors vibrant from the season, and the day after the harvest festival, the whole town was bustling, and stalls along the street were managed by shopkeepers of various races.
Among them were Criten with various horns on their heads. Seeing Durin, one smiled and doffed his hat, "Master Ailish, good afternoon."
"Good afternoon," replied Durin, who had no hat to remove, but that didn't prevent him from returning the smile.
The Criten, humans with various horns, had once been persecuted in the Human World because of these horns.
In fact, they were physically superior to the traditional humans, but they rarely had the Talent for magic, and they could not channel Arcane pathways, making them a race of mortals with raw strength. Most of them now lived in the southern regions of the Human World and the Eastern Elven Territory, because there was no prejudice there like in other places. They could sell their strength if they were strong, or engage in commerce if they were smart, and not suffer the exploitation found elsewhere.
There were also cats of various sizes — these Cat People were generally referred to as the Xiate beastfolk. Seeing Durin arrive, a black and white leopard lady greeted him, "Master, good afternoon. I just saw Miss Aye from the Aye family, she's under the big tree."
"I know, how's business, ma'am?" asked Durin.
"All thanks to the Duke's blessings," replied the lady with a carefree laugh.
Of course, such good days also featured human, Dwarf, and Grassland Elf merchants.
This was a bizarre world, a bizarre era, and it was filled with bizarre lives.
This was a truth that Durin deeply understood after arriving here.
You see, in this world there were humans, Elves, Dwarves, beastfolk, and even races that had previously only existed in the storybooks of Durin's old world, but now they were vividly alive before him.
With this in mind, Durin, who was on his way to a meeting, took out the pocket watch from his vest pocket. It was a birthday gift from his grandfather, purportedly a precision timepiece made by a Great Craftsman of the Grassland Elves, powered by Arcane Energy. It would keep running if charged once a week until one day it succumbed to mechanical failure.
To be honest, it was quite punctual, just like the girl he was walking towards.
She was a girl with long silver hair that tumbled down her back and gathered at the waist with a cloth sack tied tight.
She wore a gray, thick-fur-trimmed dress, and the owner of the golden eyes carried a small basket, walking towards Durin with small steps, "I saw you from a distance. Are you hungry?"
This was Antanya Aye. Durin could call her by her nickname Anta. She smiled, waiting for the standard answer.
Durin nodded, "Hungry. I haven't eaten this morning in anticipation of your meat pies."
It was now noon, and Durin's stomach was wailing, cramping, and rolling. But for the sake of this delicious bite, both it and its owner faced the ordeal without a peep.
This clearly pleased the girl immensely. She happily opened the basket, "You're still the same. What's so good about my meat pies?"
Durin smiled, "Because it's your meat pies."
The words "you made" and "meat pies," strung together into an ordinary sentence, made the girl's face show bashfulness. She was somewhat embarrassed, but she also interrupted Durin's reach and attempt, "Don't hurry, let's go buy some honey water first."
Anta quickly found a stall run by a Halfling gentleman with a girth of four feet. He was skilled at making pancakes and was somewhat of a celebrity in the town.
Since they were just buying water, after paying, one could simply take a cup. Anta handed a cup of honey water to Durin and took another for herself.
Under the shade of a huge oak tree in the center of the square, Durin and Anta found a stone bench to sit together.
She lifted the lid of the basket, and Durin reached in to take one, then bit into it with delight.
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The meat pie, mainly composed of Salar beast meat, was augmented with the Grassland Elves' favorite shredded meat and honey. In Durin's previous life, this sort of thing was scientifically named meat-filled pie, with a more sophisticated name known as the Caloric Effect Amplifier, and colloquially referred to as an Automatic Weight Gainer.
However, Grassland Elves had efficient brains and, due to their small stomachs, got hungry quickly; they needed to eat four, even five meals a day to fully support their brains and organs. Their bodies had an efficiency in fat conversion that humans found hard to comprehend; gaining or losing three to five pounds in a day was common for them.
Therefore, high-calorie foods were the favorites of Grassland Elves, like sugar and honey—they turned into fat, which could then maintain the body's energy when they were hungry, much like fuel.
Moreover, Grassland Elves didn't seem to have any issues with diabetes—at least Durin had never seen a Grassland Elf with such an ailment in all these years.
Being born with such a metabolism really is a skillful feat, right?
"Durin, you're amazing, what an appetite."
Anta chewed her pie slowly, and after watching Durin perform the feat of swallowing two meat pies whole, she looked at the pie in her hand with one corner left and exclaimed.
"You're amazing too. To be a Sixth Ring mage, yet possess such excellent cooking skills," Durin complimented the girl in front of him as he sipped honey water.
Anta laughed happily, seeming quite pleased with Durin's remark.
"Where shall we go now?" Durin pulled out his pocket watch to check the time. With a full four hours and forty-one minutes left until seventeen o'clock, the beginning of the night was lengthy without short videos, mobile games, or any kind of chaotic virtual entertainment. In this world where the greatest amusement for children was to race down the mountains until their offspring died, finding sophisticated entertainment was truly difficult.
"Have you forgotten what I told you yesterday? A group from the Human World has come to show movies. I heard the movie they showed yesterday was very interesting, and it only costs three silver Corners from the Eastern Territory for two tickets," Anta said excitedly, pulling out two tickets from her pocket, "Look, I'm already prepared."
Durin exclaimed with surprise—honestly, the word "movie" was something he had not heard in a long time. In his previous life, Durin's greatest regret was not becoming a film director, and after arriving in this world, due to cultural differences and the setting of the era, he had long given up the idea of making movies.
But now, his best ally and the girl who might very well accompany him for life suddenly invited him to see a movie. How does the saying go?
Ah, that's right.
I have a cute girl by my side and we're going to see a movie together later; doubling the joy of two happy events brings boundless delight.
"So, what do you say, Durin?" Anta was waiting for Durin's answer.
In response, Durin stood up, extended his hand, and made the kind of invitation a gentleman ought to make.
No words were needed, for actions are an answer in themselves.
The maiden laughed joyously, reaching out her hand, and then stood up with each other's help.
"Let's go." She laughed as she said this while looping her arm into his.
"By the way, did you read the book I recommended to you last time?" the girl asked with a mix of curiosity and interrogation in her eyes.
"Of course, I know it by heart," claimed Durin.
"I don't believe it," her eyes sparkled with light and disbelief.
The resigned Durin sighed, "Watson, you've uncovered a blind spot."
The book is my creation; I sent the manuscript to the royal library of the Northern Kingdom, and with the royalty I bought you a hair clip styled from the Eastern Land, which you're currently wearing in your hair.
I said I knew it by heart; why don't you believe me?
The girl, still holding Durin's arm, exclaimed, "You actually read it, didn't you?"
"I told you I did, and you didn't believe me," Durin said, playfully flicking the girl's nose.
Amidst their laughter, Durin spotted the mobile movie theater made up of massive tents.
"We've arrived," the girl by his side said with a smile as she explained.
Yes, we've arrived.