"I was looking for herbs and got lost," I said.
I said that because the place where I came from—yeah, the cave not far from here—had many kinds of herbs, mushrooms, and plants. It was the best excuse I could think of on the spot. So I took my chances with it.
To my relief, they bought it.
The group exchanged glances but didn't question me further. I let out a silent breath. That was close.
The one who seemed to be the leader, a large bald man, nodded. "You shouldn't wander near the Legacy Grave alone," he said. "Even if it's for herbs."
His voice was deep, like gravel rubbing against a wall. I looked at him again—big, bald, built like a boulder. He looked like a large sperm without the clothes. I don't even know why my brain makes these comparisons, but there it was. I didn't say it out loud, of course. I enjoy not being flattened.
So I nodded along, playing the role of the clueless herb collector.except i don't have herbs on me so i constantly have to worry about,what if they asked me to show them the herbs ,which i highly doubt because thats not exactly their business,
Eventually, I joined the group. They were a band of explorers, I guessed. They had bags, tools, and worn gear. No one seemed overly friendly, but no one shoved me away either, so that was a win in my book.
As we walked the dirt path toward town, I stayed a few steps behind them, listening.
But the big sperm started introducing himself to me , Hi im Dares the leader of this exploration group ti which Eiden replied nice to meet you ,same wise Dares said in a low but manly tone ,Taking this conversation as a chamce Eiden asked him ," what were you guys exploring anyway ? Dares looked at him straight in the eye and said " the Legacy grave,to which Eiden thought," why the eye contact though? and what is this legacy grave ,But he didn't asked him what it was nor did he seemed ignorant as not to arouse suspicions just incase the Legacy grave was a common sense here ,so he had to rely on his years of Anime,mang and novel experience to figure out what this legacy grave is .
Hmm ... Eiden started thinking about his own ideas for the Legacy grave ," i think its some kind of grave for a great person or being ,where he or she made to leave behind their legacy to whoever finds it with some kinds of traps or monster to let only the worthy claim it or so i think .when Eiden was in deep thought the Big sperm man Dares asked him what his name was ? To whicb Eiden said im ... Suddenly they got interrupted by a female shouting."My emblem," she said, suddenly halting. "I think I left it back at the Legacy Grave."
The group stopped.
"You what?" Dares—the bald leader—turned, his voice low and sharp.
"I… I set it down while we were resting. I must have forgotten it…"
There was silence. Heavy, awkward silence.
"Do you even understand how dangerous that place is?" Dares said, his eyes narrowing. "You could've doomed yourself."
The woman looked down, ashamed. The others whispered, clearly irritated. The emblem seemed important. Maybe a badge of membership or ID?
"She can go back later," one of the others muttered.
"No," Dares said firmly. "We deal with it when we're back, Besides the emblem won't go anywhere and almost no one visits that place due to traps and fallens there , To Eiden's ear twitched thinking " Fallen ? Hmmm seems to be somekind of unwanted word or term use to describe something or someone bad nad doesn't seem to be an object nore place because only a leaving being can fall , he thought of many theories regarding that particular word ,but he gave up and didn't bother to ask about it because Dares said the word fallen too easily,which made if seemd to be a common knowledge and just kept the question in his mind .Tension lingered, but the group moved on. So did I, head down, heart thumping.
That's when it hit me—ID. I had none. No documents. No identity in this world. How was I going to get into town? Was there a checkpoint? Would they ask questions?
I started sweating. Literally.
The thought of being stopped, questioned, and thrown into jail as some suspicious drifter started gnawing at my nerves.
What do I say? What do I do?
I could already imagine it:
"Name?"
"Uhh… Earth? Eiden Forth?"
"Nice try. Into the dungeon with you."
But I kept walking. I couldn't turn back now. If I broke away from the group, that would look even more suspicious. My only shot was to blend in, act like I belonged, and hope for some kind of divine intervention—or at least a miracle-level misunderstanding.
As we drew closer to the town, I finally saw it—walls built from stone and wood, sturdy-looking with a rustic charm. Towers at the corners, probably watch points, and a wooden gate that looked just strong enough to keep out bandits. A couple of guards stood there in light armor, with short swords at their hips and spears resting against the gateposts.
The group ahead of me passed without issue. A couple of nods, a few words exchanged. It all looked casual.
Then one of the guards turned to me.
I braced myself.
When the gaurd suddenly spoke :
" Aidren You know you shouldn't worry your sister, she has been looking for you because you haven't came back home for 4 days straight ,yoou should have atleast told her where you were going .
I blinked. "What?"
Anyways go back and apologized to her and don't make her worry again,bring her a gift or something for making that poor girl went through all that worrying and make it up to her .
After hearing that only one thing poped in Eidren's mind . "Adren… who??
To be continued....