Chapter 3: Where's your head at?

"A week has passed since I got reincarnated here. I've learned a lot of aspects of this world that don't exactly apply to other Fantasy worlds."

"Magic for example is way different. no chanting, no incantations, just a simple thought of what you want to do, you're only limited by your mana reserves, and how something about your soul and mana being attached.. X-Haria mentioned something about most languages from earth being used here as well, I don't know which ones though besides English. She didn't give me much to work off."

Randy finished writing in his journal that X-Haria gave him, he looked to the side as Mother Nature stopped moving, the sun rising.

"Daytime already huh?"

|X-Haria told me that Mother Nature moves for two weeks and stops for one.. I was reincarnated on the second week which is why Mother Nature stopped moving.. X-Haria barely told me anything about this world, she claims it's better for me to experience it, I'm sure if I keep pestering her...|

"X-Haria?"

Randy called as X-Haria appeared out of nowhere, no flashy effects, no floating down, she just appeared sitting in front of him.

"What's on your mind?"

"Is there a demon king?"

She vanished.

"Guess it won't be that easy."

Randy rubbed his temple, standing up to get off Mother Nature. He looked at the ground and the bugs that walked on it then looked at Mother Nature's head as he made eye contact with her large beady eyes. She stared at him and just grumbled, most likely not thinking much of him.

"Thanks for the one week ride."

Mother Nature's neck stretched and her head turned to Randy, only to push him to a tree as she stuffed her head back into her shell as if she was telling him to run along. Randy got back up, rubbing the back of his head. He chuckled and started to walk off down a path.

"Hey, X-Haria."

X-Haria appeared out of thin air once more and started to walk alongside him. Randy looked a bit up to meet her gaze whilst walking. She's only a bit taller.

"What's on your mind?"

"This path, where does it lead?"

"The closest kingdom is called Vasity Chunk. This path leads us there."

"Oh can't wait to see it. How long does it take to get there on foot?"

X-Haria thought for a second, her head tilting.

"A day without sleep, two days with sleep."

"Sounds easy."

"Yeah."

It was a long silence after X-Haria said that. Randy turned to her with a frown.

"I was being sarcastic. I'm not walking for an entire day without breaks, and I'd rather not sleep in the middle of the forest where I can be inspected without my consent by living barnacles!"

"Well we could always catch a carriage. This kingdom is always exporting goods so we can hitch a ride."

"I hope you're right, for your sake."

X-Haria rolled her eyes, as if Randy could do something to someone like her.

|We kept walking for about thirty minutes. X-Haria told me a bit about our surroundings. The flowers around the forest were blue, red, and green indicating that this place is monitored by a Dryad. We kept walking before the sound of wheels moving on dirt caught our ears.|

"Could it be?"

Randy and X-Haria looked at each other and then at the nice looking carriage that was slowly making its way toward the two. It had one singular guard on what seemed like a giant cassowary. The guard had medium length, neat, and slightly layered green hair that was greener than the grass in this forest. The back and sides of his hair were trimmed neatly. He wore what seemed like a knight's ceremonial uniform. It was all white with a gold emblem that resembled an upside-down ankh.

"A carriage for me?"

"US. You mean us."

Randy corrected his sentence, laughing nervously.

"Yeah, us. Right. Me and you."

He added.

He was about to call out to the guard but jumped back as a slime bounced out of the nearby bushes. It looked a bit angry, an angry blue slime. The slime jumped at Randy, not attacking him but just jumping around him angrily as if it was complaining. Randy, who was still jumping back every time it jumped, kicked it causing the slime to explode, its slime splattering everywhere, including the carriage that was now one foot away from Randy and X-Haria.

Randy wiped his face, and X-Haria waved her fingers around herself and the slime on her vanished.

"They just explode from one touch?"

"That was far from a touch, kind soul."

Randy looked up at the green-haired guard hearing his words. The carriage had come to a stop when the slime exploded.

"Do NOT speak with these vagrants, Ispulgasa!"

|So the guard's name is Ispulgasa.. interesting, and that other voice..|

The guard made a "zip it" gesture with his hands and mouth as his lips formed a smile. He turned his head to the entrance of the carriage and out stepped someone dressed in a pure white royal gold dress that touched the ground and made it seem like she had no legs. She was tall like a tower, her hair was short and silver and it flowed through the wind. She had a large crown that went around her head and covered her eyes like a blindfold. She had a neck bracelet with decals.

|X-Haria said that the kingdom exports goods, and I don't think someone like her is considered goods.|

X-Haria and Randy watched as the woman stared at the slime residue on the carriage. She then stared at Randy as if he just said a derogatory term.

"You."

Her voice was surprisingly calm and soft, but you could feel her entitlement underneath that tone.

"Were you the one who killed that slime, and caused its guts to splatter on my carriage?"

Randy looked to his side, his mind making white outlines to where X-Haria was meant to be, but she made herself scarce as soon as that woman got out of the carriage. Randy then looked back at the woman and pointed to himself, his voice was shaky.

"Who? Little old me?"

He responded.

The woman took a step forward toward Randy, a visible frown on her face.

"I don't see anyone else here, seeing how that girl who I assume is a helper left you to fend for yourself."

Randy opened his mouth, but had nothing to say.

"Do you realize the consequences of your recklessness?"

She asked, crouching down to inspect the slime-stained side of the carriage, pouting.

"This isn't even my vehicle. If I had not witnessed this incident myself, I would have waltzed back into the kingdom looking like a complete commoner. Do you know what my... ... .... Do you know what that would do to my reputation?"

Randy tilted his head.

"Wait, so you're pissed because it would look like you're a commoner?"

She stood up and turned her head to Randy.

"No, I'm angry because I think it would make me look like a commoner."

Ispulgasa, the knight that was accompanying her, spoke.

"Miss Harinezumi, I believe that's the same thing as what this kind soul said."

|The woman's name is Harinezumi. What's with this world and long names.. More importantly, he called her Miss. Is she royalty or something? I thought royalty had fleets of guards. It's either she isn't royalty or a low level, or maybe this Ispulgasa guy is really strong.|

Harinezumi looked at Ispulgasa, her very own knight with such a frown that not even Randy could describe. Ispulgasa gulped.

"Ispulgasa."

She said in a hushed tone.

"This is your fault."

Her voice was calm yet laced with about fifty layers of anger.

Ispulgasa chuckled awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head.

"I find this hardly my fault, Mistress." Said Ispulgasa

Randy scratched his neck a bit and spoke.

"Look, you don't wanna look poor in front of the kingdom, but think about it."

Randy stepped forward looking up at Harinezumi and Harinezumi looking down at Randy. She was about 211 centimeters, leagues taller than Randy.

"If I never kicked the slime, your steroid-abusing feathery friend would've run through five of them, and each of the five would have exploded and made your entire carriage a sticky mess. So if you really think about it, I prevented a disaster."

A long silence came after Randy's words. Harinezumi looked at Ispulgasa for his input, and he nodded. She looked back at Randy and sighed.

"It may seem like I surrendered under no pressure, but I assure you, your persuasive abilities amuse me, so much so that I ask you to accompany me and my knight back to Vasity Chunk."

Randy's face lit up with excitement.

"I accept your offer."

"Good, I didn't feel like using my fist today."

Randy disregarded her words as he watched her enter the cabin-sized carriage. Ispulgasa nodded to Randy and Randy nodded back. He walked into the carriage.

|This place looks like a two-roomed cabin. To the back is her room, guessing she doesn't want to be anywhere near the front which is where the storage is, and where I'll be at. Guess I can sit down for now.|

Randy walked toward one of the seats and sat as X-Haria, who had been gone since the altercation started, reappeared and whispered in Randy's ears casually as if she was here the entire time.

"That was a close one."

She whispered as Randy slowly turned to her with a frown.

"Shut it."

He whispered his retort into her ears. As the carriage started to move, the giant cassowary's feet made loud thumps. The wind blew inside the carriage, as Randy and X-Haria started their venture to Vasity Chunk!