Chapter 5: The Market Town

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Dorothy walked along the river valley in the rain. Her journey with the corpse servants wasn't smooth. The light rain from the sky and the complicated and slippery road conditions were both obstacles. An old-fashioned gas lamp had limited lighting ability in the dim environment, and Dorothy encountered a lot of trouble along the way.

The biggest trouble was attempting to climb the steep slope from the muddy path back to the carriage lane. Due to the steep and slippery slope of the path and limited visibility, Dorothy almost tumbled down several times when attempting to climb the slope.

Fortunately, Dorothy found the bandit she had pushed into the river and drowned earlier by the river. Relying on the ability of the Corpse Manipulation Ring, Dorothy summoned a second corpse. With the help of the two corpse puppets, Dorothy finally got back on the right track. And during this process, she also learned that the upper limit of the number of corpses the Corpse Manipulation Ring could control was two.

Once on the lane, the journey became much easier. Dorothy walked along the lane with her "servants" for about an hour. Just when she was almost exhausted, she finally saw clusters of lights in the distance in the darkness.

Dorothy knew that she had finally reached her temporary destination, Wokan Town...

After controlling the two corpse puppets to hide well on the outskirts of the town, Dorothy put on her headscarf, held an umbrella, and entered the town, stepping onto the streets of Wokan.

Because it was night and it was raining, there were not many people on the street at all. The houses on both sides of the street were two or three-story wooden buildings with simple decorations. Although it was night, only a few windows had flickering lights. There were street lamps on the street, but there was one only at a great distance, and the lights were flickering. The muddy road was full of footprints and ruts, and from time to time, a carriage would drive from one side of the street to the other.

'It's a bit desolate...'

After sighing a little, Dorothy quickened her pace. She needed to find a place to stay and rest quickly. Finally, at an intersection near the town center church, she found a seemingly nice inn.

Dorothy entered the inn. When the short and plump landlady behind the counter was about to send away this dirty little beggar brat who seemed to come from nowhere, the few coins Dorothy slapped on the counter immediately made the bored expression turn into a kind smile. Then she asked the waiter to lead Dorothy to the best room in the inn. During this process, she didn't ask Dorothy for any identification.

Dorothy found about five Prit Pounds in cash on Edric. According to the original memory of Dorothy, the common currency in the Prit Kingdom (Prit Kingdom: a fictional kingdom in the story) was the Prit Pound. One Prit Pound was equivalent to one gold coin and also corresponded to one hundred iron pennies. In Dorothy's impression, Aunt Hannah, who made a living by farming in the village, could earn about nine Prit Pounds a year. The money Dorothy herself usually had in her hand would not exceed five coins.

That is to say, the cash Edric carried was more than the income of an ordinary farmer in half a year. For the cash Dorothy had in her hand now, this room fee was simply a piece of cake.

Dorothy's room was on the upper floor of the inn. It had decent decorations such as a table lamp, a carpet, and hanging paintings. Most importantly, it was clean and had a separate bathroom with a bathtub for bathing.

When she closed the room door, Dorothy relaxed so much that she almost collapsed onto the carpet. After resting for a while, she immediately got up, took off all her clothes, and took a relaxing bath.

Since it was the first time she was facing her young body, Dorothy had a hard time bathing. During the bath, shyness and curiosity welled up in her heart. In the bathtub, she seemed both shy and bold, often splashing the water.

Driven by her curiosity, Dorothy spent quite a long time taking her bath. When she finished, her face was completely red.

After taking a bath, Dorothy went straight to bed, turned off the light, and was about to sleep. Just as the room became completely dark, she noticed something odd.

In the darkness, Dorothy saw a faint silver glow emitting from her finger. At first, she thought the Corpse Puppet Ring might have a glow - in - the - dark feature, but after a closer look, she found that wasn't the case.

The glowing thing was also a ring. Unlike the Corpse Puppet Ring, this ring had been on Dorothy's left index finger from the very beginning.

It was a simple ring with a simple crescent pattern on top. In the pitch - black environment, it emitted specks of silver light.

Dorothy was not unfamiliar with this ring. In her memory, she had worn it since she was very young.

As Aunt Hannah said, this was the only possession left by her mother who had heartlessly abandoned Dorothy and her brother. Originally, Dorothy had always kept it with her since she received it.

"What a poor child..."

Looking at the silver ring on her hand, Dorothy didn't think much about it. After sighing, she simply lay down and fell asleep.

She had a night without dreams.

When Dorothy yawned and rubbed her eyes as she sat up in bed, she saw the sunlight shining through the curtain gap.

After yawning widely, Dorothy quickly got up to freshen up. Then, wearing slightly damp clothes, she went downstairs. After having the bread and milk provided by the inn as breakfast, she went straight out.

In the morning, Wokan Town was much livelier than when Dorothy arrived at night. The rain had stopped, but the ground was still not completely dry. Countless people were bustling about on the street. There were even more carriages on the street. Many ragged beggars could be seen begging on the street side. In the distance, chimneys belching black smoke into the sky could be seen sporadically.

The bustling scene of Wokan Town came as a bit of a surprise to Dorothy, especially the large number of carriages carrying goods and passengers.

In Dorothy's recollection, the coachman who had once given her a lift and was now dead at the bottom of the valley had said that despite its small size, Wokan was an important transportation hub. Many convoys traveling from the kingdom's west coast to Ygwynte had to pass through here. And Ygwynte was an important city in the southwestern part of the Prit Kingdom and also the place where Dorothy's brother was.

Now, Dorothy only needed to casually catch a ride on a carriage here to get to Ygwynte and continue Dorothy's original journey, but she didn't do so.

Because the contents of the two letters found on Edric last night were still swirling in her mind.

'Beneath the seemingly ordinary surface of this world... there exist extraordinary secrets... and in that hidden world, someone has already set their sights on me. Although I don't know the reason, I can't just sit back and wait...'

Dorothy mused to herself as she walked along the bustling street. After last night's events, she couldn't just take a car and leave nonchalantly, turning a blind eye to the mysterious threat she was facing, like an ostrich burying its head in the sand.

If she couldn't find out what that mysterious organization targeting her was, Dorothy felt she wouldn't be able to sleep soundly in the future.

' I can't wait passively for those guys to come to me again. I have to think of some ways...'

Dorothy understood that being passive was tantamount to being at a disadvantage. Although she didn't know how those guys obtained information regarding her itinerary, if they could get it once, they might get it a second time. She didn't know what the consequences would be if they found her again. The original Dorothy had lost her life to this, and she didn't want to die again.

So, rather than waiting for them to come to her at an unknown time, it's better to take the initiative. At least she should glean some information about them. It's better than knowing nothing now.

Coincidentally, according to the letters found on Edric, some of those guys were currently in Wokan Town. For Dorothy, this was indeed an opportunity.

'But how can I be proactive now? I'm just a thirteen - year - old girl...'

Dorothy thought with distress. A mysterious criminal organization that might wield some extraordinary powers definitely wasn't something a thirteen - year - old girl like her could confront. Even if she knew how to use The Roar of the Dragon, it wouldn't be enough.

Clearly, a direct confrontation was impossible. As the target of the other side, it would be extremely dangerous for Dorothy to even come into contact with those guys, let alone collect information.

"Humph... I can't just go to the police, right? Can ordinary police handle such things? If the other side really has some extraordinary abilities, the police might even get themselves in trouble..."

Walking on the road, Dorothy began to think about how to deal with that mysterious organization. Due to the huge gap in strength, she couldn't come up with any good ideas.

Just as Dorothy was considering whether to give up this opportunity and take a car to run away, her eyes suddenly caught sight of a storefront on the street. Then, her eyes lit up involuntarily.

That storefront had a glass window, and there were various black and white photos pasted on the window. Looking up, she saw several words written on the store's signboard.

Henry's Photo Studio.