9 Chapter 9: Goblins! (1/2)
The beautiful woman stared blankly at Wilhelm's extended hand for a few moments before grasping it with her own and shaking it. Although she didn't fully trust him, she didn't feel that he had any ill intentions, thus, a friendship would be in both of their interests.
Seeing that her reaction was as he expected, a small smile formed on his lips, ”your name, is?” he asked a with a tilt of his head. He disliked speaking to people that he didn't know the name of, especially so for women.
”My name is Anastasia, however, please refer to me as Anna,” she said politely and gently pulled her hand away from Wilhelm. Contrary to her looks, her name wasn't of Asian origins, perhaps, she was born in America, Wilhelm quickly deduced and also pulled his hand back.
After they exchanged a few more formalities, Anna surveyed their surroundings, ”is your group nearby? Or perhaps, have they fallen to the beasts of this world?” she asked curiously. According to her knowledge, humans were transported in relatively large groups.
”Unfortunately, the fairy must have a slip of hand when transporting me. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been transported alone” Wilhelm said with a chuckle as he gazed at the large moon in the sky. He was quite happy that he had finally found some people that he could converse with.
Not knowing of his inner thoughts, Anna simply nodded whilst looking at him incredulously, ”I won't ask of you anything personal, as that would be overreaching my bounds as a friend. However, I am quite curious as to how you have survived alone until now.”
Her words trailed off as her group of five allies, or friends approached. They carried expressions of scorn and disgust as they observed Wilhelm's filthy clothes and beard. They felt as though someone of his caliber was not worthy of shaking hands with their esteemed Anna.
Seeing this, Wilhelm merely chuckled and didn't bother to answer Anna's previous question, ”is your group of people in possession of water? If so, I would gladly join you” he said monotonously without sparing a glance to the group of five rude folks.
Anna was first taken aback, but soon seized ahold of herself and nodded her head energetically, like a woodpecker, ”Someone of your expertise would be greatly appreciated, please follow me!” she said quickly and led the way back to her encampment, to which Wilhelm followed silently.
He walked shoulder to shoulder with her and the other five could only grind their teeth angrily as they followed behind them. This caused Wilhelm to snicker, ”Anna, what type of monsters have you come across thus far” he initiated small talk as they walked, but he was also intrigued as to what other monsters were present.
Anna didn't mind his abrupt question and answered without much thought, ”we've only been released to the wild for about a day or so, however, we've come across tribal races such goblins and strange feathered creatures that walk on two legs,” she explained.
Her words caused Wilhelm to stroke his scraggly beard, ”I've come across an assortment of beasts myself, such as oversized rabbits, flame monkeys, giant spiders, colossal wolves, and a cyclops,” he spoke whilst tapping his chin as if trying to recollect his memories.
Before she could even respond, he chuckled, ”it would appear that just like earth, there are many different creatures dependant on the environment… Perhaps, the more intelligent creatures reside in this savannah,” he muttered and patted Anna on the back.
Anna nodded her head at Wilhelms words and they continued on their way to her encampment. They didn't talk much more whilst walking, but he could certainly hear the gnashing of teeth from behind him.
This was something to be expected as he was most definitely considered an outsider, however, he was in dire need of water and other necessary supplies. Besides, even if they detested him, they would not be able to deny his special set of skills.
However, he was quite intrigued as to why their reaction to him murdering someone was so monotone. He figured that they had been through their fair share of dangerous events on the holy land, alas, that was not enough to become so apathetic toward human death.
Thinking to here, both he and the company arrived at the encampment. Large tents were already set and a crude looking fence surrounded them. Many weak looking guards holding robust sticks stood there as guardians for their pitiful looking village.
Such a sight nearly caused Wilhelm to burst out in laughter, but he held himself back with much effort. Instead, he praised the encampment whilst Anna led him through the guards. They looked at him with curiosity, but it would appear as though Anna was quite respected in the small village, thus, they didn't pay him much mind other than a simple glance.
The group of five closely followed in tow as Anna led Wilhelm through the village, their actions were excessive and even an outsider would feel that they were abnormally obsessive. However, as if their current actions didn't bother Anna in the slightest, she continued showing Wilhelm around.
They passed by a ragged looking shack where they stored the food, a white and open tent where they treated the injured, and, of course, the residential tents which varied in size. They appeared to have been pitched by someone well-versed in survival skills.
Surprisingly, however, there weren't many people roaming the encampment, instead, they seemed to be resting in their tents or guarding outside. Thus, their little sight-seeing trip ended without any mishaps and they soon arrived in front of the middle-most tent in the encampment.
Two muscular guards stood in front of the entrance and glared at Wilhelm as he approached. In response, Anna simply waved her hands and the both of them fearfully gulped down a mouthful of saliva and looked elsewhere.