Sk8 Through Another World

Chapter 27

Reki and Langa immediately felt like they stuck out.

The people around them wore blouses, boots, cloaks, and various other articles of clothing that wouldn't look out of place at a renaissance fair.

However, the two boys were dressed in their bright, modern attire that they'd brought over into this other world.

The buildings were all three or four stories tall and built of vibrantly colored plaster. Tiny flower gardens grew on small balconies, adding more splashes of color to the already colorful architecture of the city.

The streets were crowded with people going about their day. Market stalls lined the sides of streets selling trinkets and aromatic street food.

"I know it smells good, but we need to spend our money on an inn." Langa whispered.

Aurinem had given the boys some change to get by in the city, but they had advised the two to find a way to earn more.

Neither of them were certain how they would earn money, but surely they would have some means of doing so.

Right?

Nevertheless, the two were on the search for an inn, but many of the signs were in languages the two couldn't recognize. Either that, or the written language here was far different than it was back home.

Thankfully, some of the signs were written in a language that looked like English, which Langa was able to read.

However, the two boys ended up having to walk for a while before they found anything. They walked through neighborhoods where every building was built of jet black stone, parks brimming with glowing flowers, and over bridges crossing busy canals.

Finally, Langa found an inn that didn't look too expensive. But, the funds Aurinem had given could only purchase a room for two weeks, despite the event being further away than that. Langa purchased a room for a week, as they would probably need the rest for food and whatnot.

"We'll just have to earn money of some kind." Langa said. Reki's body slouched.

"How are we gonna do that?" Reki wondered.

"We can talk about it, but for now, we're perfectly fine on money." Langa replied.

Then, the two boys went up to their room. It was on the third of four floors, and it had a window that gave a view of the street. The walls of the room were yellow. It contained a bed, a nightstand, and a tiny bathroom with a toilet, sink, and bathtub.

"Thank goodness this world has running water!" Reki said. Langa nodded in agreement. With this world, many things had been very fortunate.

"So, you have like half of the money they gave us, right?" Reki clarified. Langa nodded.

"It should be plenty, considering this inn is pretty decent quality. But, as I said, we are gonna have to earn money." Langa said. Reki grumbled in response. Of course, he had a job back home, but it wasn't under the threat he would run out of money within a few weeks.

"I do have magic, I'm sure we could do something with that." Langa suggested.

"Sure, but do you know what?" Reki asked. Langa shook his head, then, his face lit up.

"Anyways, we have at least several days to think about it. But, do you know what I wanna do right now!" Langa said.

"What?" Reki wondered.

"We can totally go out to a restaurant here." Langa said. Reki's eyes glittered and he beamed. He leapt onto Langa and wrapped his arms around him.

"Yes! We should do that!" Reki agreed. Langa chuckled.

"Okay, okay, what do you feel like eating?" Langa asked.

After a brief discussion regarding what the boys wanted for dinner, they left the inn back out into the streets of Optia.

To Langa's relief, they had fried potatoes that closely resembled french fries in a street food stall.

"We just need to get cheese curds and gravy at some point, then we can have poutine." Langa said, his eyes practically watering.

"Why are you so emotional?!" Reki asked.

"You don't understand, I haven't had poutine in months!" Langa replied. Reki patted him on the shoulder.

"Well, maybe a restaurant will have something pretty similar to it." Reki proposed.

"I hope." Langa said.

Unfortunately, the boys couldn't find any poutine in Optia, at least from their limited exploration of it. On the other hand, the restaurant they did go to had buttery fried rice that practically melted in their mouths alongside the other meats and vegetables that had been stir fried in.

It took the two an hour of arguing directions to navigate back to the inn. In the past, navigating around had never been a problem, but in this dense city, anyone could get lost.

It was truly different than anything else this world had to offer.