Chapter 153: Once You Go In, There Is No Way Out (1/2)

Calvin saw the eerie dilapidated sign and its strange foreground. He swept his gaze around him and discovered that he had been lying in some tall grasses and wheat. He crouched down, checked the area for any signs of Heisenberg, Ricardo, or the other passengers of the wagon but discovered nothing.

No one was around him.

He was alone.

The overcast skies gave everything a gloomy vibe to it. Something wasn't right about this place, Calvin could feel it, yet he couldn't point it out.

He didn't head for the Village of Tulog.

He turned around and started walking.

With a notebook in his hand, he started scribbling down. But it wasn't words, instead, he was drawing out a map. Every time he took a step forward, he would draw a small line. Eventually, he reached the location where he first started and the notebook now had a circle on its page.

'So the village is in the form of a circle? That's odd... The architectural ways of the Joselian Kingdom don't permit the creation of Villages in the form of a circle, since the cultural values of the Kingdom promote camaraderie...'

'If a Village is formed in a circle surrounded by those huge wooden fences that would make everyone feel as if the village was closing itself away from civilization and also pushing others away, thus harming its tourism...'

'Well, I can also give the village the benefit of the doubt by saying that they have broken the rules, but it wouldn't make sense for them to harm their own tourism... It's because the Village of Tulog has an incredibly attractive tourist attraction. The island within a lake. Such a wonder of nature had always attracted the eyes of nobles, wanderers, and faith believers alike...'

'This is why it doesn't make sense why the village seems to be in a circle and surrounded by these huge wooden fences...'

Calvin thought.

He looked down and the ground was muddy. He seemed to be on a plantation. The ground had marks of farming tools being used, but not a soul was around him. Furthermore, the farmland, despite having marks of farming tools being used was overgrown with grass. The grass was so tall that it was almost at the same height as Calvin.

The light from the overcast skies appeared amidst the grasses as Calvin swayed them around to move.

Calvin continued to move away from the farmland, he wanted to take a good look at the surroundings first to see if there was anything or anyone around him. It would be pretty bad if he moved directly into the village without scouring the area since there might be survivors from any of the passengers from the wagon that needed his help.

Calvin continued to move and he soon heard the sound of humming.

The humming had no rhyme or rhythm to it whatsoever, it was arranged haphazardly as if the person didn't care about how it sounded.

'Who is that?'

Calvin took the golden quill which was his Aspect that had been tucked in his chest pocket the whole time. He bent his knees as he approached the source of the sound. In the distance, an old woman could be seen sitting on a tree stump. The old woman had a fishing rod in her hand, and she seemed to be fishing in the pond in front of her.

Now, this wasn't a scene that would normally cause any alarm from Calvin.

If not for the fact that the pond was nothing but a pool of muddy water that couldn't possibly host any aquatic life.

Calvin furrowed his eyebrows.

He didn't announce himself nor make a sound as he continued to approach the old woman from behind.

She had a halo of white hair on her head, and her hands were callused. This was a sign that she had been working in the farmlands since she was young, yet why was she out here fishing instead of tending to the plantation? Calvin moved diagonally and he was finally able to see the old woman's face.

It was blank.

The old woman seemed to have lost all of her emotions a long time ago.

Remarkably, above her hollowed cheeks was a pair of eyes devoid of life.

Beneath those eyes were heavy and distinct eyebags which indicated that she hadn't slept for a long time.

Calvin revealed a humorless smile, 'Oh, just a typical old lady in the province, I guess...?'