Penelope’s eyes widened as they finally settled upon the town of Ceralde.

Yule had suggested she wear the blanket they had as a sort of cloak before entering town. She had asked why and was simply told that there were dangerous types who’d pluck up a little girl like her and sell her off as her eyes were a kind of rarity that would interest buyers of slaves, even if she was weird.

He didn’t have to add that last part in, she thought sulkily, but she did as she was told.

It was a bit shocking to her that slavery existed in this world and when she voiced her concern, Yule explained that it was very much illegal in Birain, but some foreign lands still partook of such barbaric practices, especially of non-human races. That last part caught her curiosity and rather than explaining, Yule just advised her to stay polite and alert as they entered Ceralde.

Ceralde was a town by the sea. The closer they got to Ceralde, the more salt Penelope could smell in the air. She’d never seen the sea before (a fact she wisely kept to herself, in case she made Yule more suspicious of her cover story) and hearing the waves gently lapping up the nearby shore and the salty breeze tickling her nose made her feel unreasonably happy.

“We are going to the beach, Kasumi. Don’t forget to finish all the chores while we’re gone.”

This was something said to her very often since she was very young. Not just the beach, but a variety of other fun places that her sister got to go to with the rest of their family. It was always reasoned that someone needed to stay home. Who would look after the house? Who was going to keep up the cleanliness of the house? Dad was the patriarch of the family, so it was not up to him. Mom worked hard already, so she deserved to have time off. And her sister was a child.

Penelope wondered what they were all doing now. Were they all having fun without her? What happened to her original body? Was it buried respectfully by now?

Don’t think about it too hard. That’s your old life...

There was a soft, sad joy in seeing and being in a new place. You are not where you once were, yet you will come to know and learn of someplace new and exciting. Honestly, now that she was truly here, with plenty of people milling about instead of empty night streets or the seemingly endless stretch of road, Penelope felt a little overstimulated. Everything was so new and she silently thanked Yule for keeping hold of her hand since she kept getting distracted by everything.

There were several stalls open, selling all kinds of food and wares. Penelope was delighted to be able to recognize some of the fruits on display. Peaches and apples! It was both a disappointment and a relief – wasn’t this supposed to be a whole other world? The thought was wry, but the feeling in her chest at finding such familiar things was reassuring, though this did bring up a certain problem she hadn’t thought about for a little while…as nice as it would be to have these items, they didn’t have money. While Penelope knew she could just draw the fruit into existence, she felt like using her mana on making pieces of fruit may be something of a waste, at least until she got stronger. She was a baby level 1 and there were 99 other levels she could ascend to, right?

At the very least, the people were different. That is, there were more races around than just humans, hammering the fact she had truly landed in another world. People with the heads of beasts, some with avian wings, and people tremendously tall and seriously small. The little girl could not pinpoint who or what these beings reminded her of, but they certainly added to the other world atmosphere for her.

“Yule, I’ve never seen a person with wings before!”

“That’s a Sylph,” Yule explained, continuing to lead them both somewhere through the crowds out in the market.

“And that person with a dog’s head?”

“That’s a Cyno, a subrace of Beastmen.”

“Ooh!”

“Really, what kind of country did you come from, exactly? Let’s hurry along.”

“But I want to keep looking.”

“Later, Penelope.”

It was probably a bit rude to be gawking, but this kind of thing was only seen in movies on Earth. Penelope thought she would have accepted it easily enough, but she still wound up acting like a slack-jawed tourist. Hopefully no one was offended by how amazed she was to see such people in person. At least she kept her hands to herself and didn’t reach out to brush up against the wing of a passing Sylph, as strong as the urge was.

Right now, she turned her gaze towards the buildings and possible landmarks. Many were made out of brick and mortar, no higher than two stories, for the most part, with many wooden windows with simple glass panes. The town was what Penelope would say was rustic in nature, but definitely busy. There were only a handful of buildings taller than most of the shops and homes along the main street and the girl could only guess at their importance.

It was around this point that she had a realization: while she could understand and respond in the same language as Yule (and, by assumed extension, everyone else in this world), Penelope couldn’t read anything on the signs that she saw. Oh, that wasn’t good. Literacy was an important skill. She couldn’t even figure out what each character or symbol happened to be. Would Yule be willing to teach her a few characters, if she asked? It would keep her out of future trouble from walking into the wrong establishment, if she could read the signs.

For the moment Penelope played a mental game of image association. After all, words were another type of artform and she was a lover of all art, so she should study the shapes of each character for the moment and link them to anything she saw.

For instance, she saw a series of foreign characters over a shop whose wares she could see from the window. Colorful fabrics inside, next to display of clothes. So, she thought, this might be a clothing store or even a tailor’s shop. Yes, yes, she could easily deduce things like this, if she remained observant. No need to bother Yule just yet with prying questions as he was preoccupied taking them somewhere in town. Seemed as if he wasn’t sure the location of where he needed to meet his contact was within Ceralde and he did not seem inclined to ask around. The older boy even looked around with great suspicion on his face, frowning heavily. A good amount of people moved out of the way of the glare he gave off as he walked hand-in-hand with her.

You know, if I were them and Yule wasn’t making such a sourpuss face, the moment I saw two kids walking around I’d help them out.

            “Say, Yule, where are you trying to go?” Penelope asked, still looking at the hanging signs and the shops associated with them to figure out what they might be.

“I’m looking for a shop,” he replied, eyes roving around intensely. “There I will meet who I’m supposed to and we can get you looked after, too.”

Looked after? Yule considered what would happened to her? That was a nice gesture of him. Penelope had been wondering what she would do and had considered sleeping outside of town again, in her tent, but if she could have a proper place to rest, it could only benefit her.

“What are they like?” she asked.

“Weird…not as weird as you, but weird.”

Kid really likes using that word, huh?

Another shop passed beside them; a person was cutting hair inside, trimming quickly and expertly. Above the door a sign hung and Penelope quickly memorized it, guessing at the exact wording that could have been used; would it be a salon or a barber shop?

“Well, weird how? Do they like to eat little kids or something?”

Yule’s hand tensed around her and she couldn’t help, but to balk, her mind spiraling with all kinds of conspiracy theories.

What the hell?! Say something, dummy! Don’t leave me hanging, thinking I might walk into a child eating monster’s den!

Trying to keep her calm, Penelope said, “Oh, that can’t be it, right?”

Silence.

“Right?”

He said nothing.

“Riiiiiiiight?”

Yule pointedly chose not to look her in the eye, which did nothing to assuage her worries. Memories of when she first spotted him at night by the olive tree and the variety of theories she had about his presence came to mind. Though he was cleaned up now, he was still pretty raggedy in appearance, compared to her. Had he been fooling her this whole time? Garnering her sympathy just so he could take her to some dastardly person ready to grab her and sell her off?

Whatever she was thinking must have been obvious on her face as Yule’s own expression turned perplexed.

“Whatever you’re thinking, it’s definitely not that.”

“How would you know?”

“You’re so weird,” Yule breathed out in exasperation, suddenly letting go of her hand. Being bereft of his firm, but gentle grasp left Penelope reeling for a few loops until she realized he let go of her because she felt uncomfortable. Guilt and confusion sprung up to replace the paranoia. Yule pointed at a sign she did not recognize, to a building just at the end of the market street. “Here it is. Try not to act so suspicious, all right?”

On second thought, Penelope decided to throw guilt out the proverbial window.

Penelope looked up at the sign, then at the window display. The inside of the store was dim, with a huge selection of books that she could see nearest the window. Was this a book store of some kind? She entered after Yule did, eyes peeled and on high alert.

A little bell rang as they opened the door. Penelope looked up briefly, seeing the bell held afloat, not by a string or metal or anything. It simply floated gently in the air, waiting to be struck by some unseen thing whenever someone entered the store. She wondered if some kind of magic was doing this. She could smell a spicy scent; it reminded her of cinnamon. The walls had shelves upon shelves of books. A few tables were in the middle of the main shop room, with odd and strange contraptions and knickknacks. At the very back was a desk and an empty high backed chair.

“What is this place?”

“This is a magic shop, my dear,” spoke an older, female voice.

Yule had no surprise as a woman in deep green robes came to greet them, appearing as if from thin air. Penelope was startled, yelping in surprise.

The woman, with dark hair drawn back into a bun and curious brown eyes looking at the two of them behind wire-rimmed glasses, tipped her head in a small greeting.

“My, my, my,” she began, voice filled with intrigue. She came out from behind the chair and moved forward to inspect both of the children. Penelope felt extremely nervous under her intent stare.

“What do we have here?” the woman breathed with a curious smile.