Chapter 25

We get going. This has been one hell of an experience right now. All in one night? Yeah it was all in one night right?

*Right*

"Wow"

"What is it sir?" He asks. 

Oh shoot. I must have spoken out loud again.

*Why do you keep doing this?* 

It just happens, okay?!

"Aa.. nothing, nothing." I say trying to deny it. 

With a slight 'hmmm' he turns to face forward again. 

I wonder how much time it will take for people to think that I am weird or suspicious.

We go downstairs, and grab something to eat. I do not drink beer at this time, first of all I do not drink beer in morning and second the beer here is too strong but soo good.

Anyway, I got a little sidetracked there. We eat our breakfast and wasting no time we get going fast to introduce me to this new job of mine.

I let the kid show me to the place after we walk through the front door of the lodge. 

We keep walking for a while, a distance that should have felt like an eternity to reach was covered in an instant. Is it that normal here to cover such distances?

I look at the kid and he seems to be somewhat out of breath but he is holding himself up. He might have gotten a little used to this type of walks by now.

We reach the forge that his grandfather has been working in.

"Let us go in, shall we?" He asks while turning to face me.

"Yeah, we came all the way. Can't turn back now." Well it was a long journey.

The two doors that is there at the entrance of the forge are pretty huge, and it opened with a creaking sound as the kid pushed both of them open.

There seems to be work going on, I can hear sounds of hammering and furnaces. There are quite some people and they all look at us as we were some kind of an alien, probably because the door has a loud noise when opened.

One of the people comes upto Laraye, "Laraye, what brings you here?" 

"Aaa nothing much, I was here to show this mister this place so that he could work." He points towards me as he said that. I bow slightly to the person, he bows back.

"Are you the new blacksmith?" He asks.

"Yes, and you guys are the blacksmiths that work here right?" It seems obvious.

"No no. We are not." He says.

"What?"

"We are just workers and we are somewhat new to this job, you see. Mr. Hono was supposed to teach us the job but it has to wait because of his illness." He says.

I look around and see couple of young faces here and there.

"I will see what I can do."

"Thank you." The man bows and takes his leave and gets back to work.

I put my suitcase down and follow Laraye to the entrance.

"I should be leaving now."

"Adventure time?" I ask.

"Yeah. Have some new quests today. I will be taking tomorrow off, so got to do what I can today." He says as he stretches his arms.

"Well then, go on. Break a leg." 

"Why would I break my leg or do you mean someone else's?" He seems to be confused by that phrase.

"It is a phrase, okay? It means to do your best."

"Oooh. Okay, I will do my best. I will come to check in evening. If you are hungry, there are some shop nearby." He waves and runs off.

What a good kid. 

*Yeah*

Now let us get to work Ryo!

*What will I do?*

Nothing.

*Perfect*

I get inside the forge and close the doors behind me. I ask one of the workers to show me to where I shall work and he leads me to there. He leaves to do his job after getting me to there.

I take off my coat, and put it on a chair. Putting the suitcase on the table, I open it. There are tools in this suitcase for some reason, and it seems just the right situation to be using it.

I take the tools and get to work. The sound of the metal getting hammered and people working intensely is kinda really nostalgic. 

I noticed something weird too, when the metals are getting hammered they respond faster than that on the earth. If I take two hours of work to finish something on earth is just takes about twenty minutes here. And that is why I am getting the job done faster than what I even had in mind.

I should be done with all of this by two days including this one, I guess.

A couple of hours go by and it is noon by the looks of it. I tell the other workers that I am taking a break and go outside. It is not that hot today, it seems that it is only too cold at night here. 

The kid mentioned a shop nearby, I think it was this direction. I walk while carrying some of my coins with me in my wallet. I do not know how much this lunch is going to cost me but got to eat right? 

The walk is barely half a mile to walk but I do not feel tired whatsoever. I see the place he mentioned and there seem to be a chain of shops and restaurants there, it seems to a town.

I quickly walk towards there.

By reaching there I realize that the kid had mentioned this yesterday that I was at the village near to town, this might be the town that he was talking about.

"Sir, take these. Fresh fruits from the capital!" A shopkeeper shouts towards me. I wave to deny buying from there.

"Sir would you like to buy weapons and elements?!" Another one chimes in. Elements.. the thing that is used to power up the weapons right? I might as check them out.

But I am really hungry now and I had taken only a few of the coins with me. I will try to buy them next time.

I look for a restaurant that seems to be appealing, and the place did not disappoint. I found a pretty good country restaurant.

I walk in to the restaurant and there seem to be less people here. I go and take a seat. The seat is next to the counter itself so that the chef can take your order and give it to you directly, it seems. It is like ramen shops I guess. 

Taking a seat, the chef notices me.

"Hey there. What can I get you?" He asks me.

The man is of an average height, has no beard and seems and talks really friendly.

"Mmm I do not know…." Should I ask for the menu again? Let us change it up for a bit.

"I will have your recommended dish, please." 

"Ooooh!" He seems surprised, "You got it!"

He has been filled with energy for some reason.

The place is really quiet, I feel like I could read a book here and finish it without, getting interrupted. The chef seems to be in a full on concentration mode.

"Aaaaa" the food is only being prepared and it already smells really great, "It smells really great, wow." My mouth is watering.

"Haha, you have a pretty good sense of smell, sir. This is koyaku ramen and rinchin and this is my own recipe. This is the best dish that you can have to fill your body with energy again." He says with excitement.

"Ramen?" 

"Yes. But not just any ramen, it is mine, Koyaku ramen."

I am surprised to see that this world also has ramen. Will it be better than normal earth ramen? 

Time goes by fast and the ramen is ready with the side dish rinchin. And it looks even better that I had imagined. I pray and thank for the food before me.

I dig right in.

It is soo good. The texture and feeling is just splendid. This must be the best ramen I have ever had. 

A few minutes later…. 

*Sigh* phew it is finished. 

"Wow, you are that pretty fast." The shopkeeper says.

"Well good food makes it easier to eat."

"Hahaha! You are spot on!" He laughs loudly with both of his hands on his hip.

"Say are you new here? I have not seen you here before." 

"Yes, I am new here. Just decided to stay at Ciciona village for a couple of days."

"Oooh is that so? No wonder I could not recognise you. So what are you here for?"

What should I say to him?

"mm.. just travelling."

"Oooh you are a traveller?"

"Indeed I am" I nod in agreement.