Ari

Chapter 61: Canan Village

There are three main continents in the beastman world; South continent, Mid continent and the North continent.

The South continent is technically a place where the sun never rises, making it a place where most of the nocturnal beastmen reside. It was also the place where the goddess Ayla used to be imprisoned. However, we have no idea how she got free from her restriction.

The Mid continent is where most of the normal beastmen like us reside. It is the biggest continent since it occupies more than half of this world.

Lastly, the North continent is a place where ancient races live since it is the place where the sun never rests. There was no regular beastman in the North because there is a barrier that separates the North continent from the Mid. There are only a few ancient race beastman who can pass through the barrier, since the higher their power is, the harder it is to pass through.

Each race usually forms a tribe in their territory, but there are groups of beastmen who built villages and towns that welcome different races as long as they follow the head of their community. Several commodities are traded in every village and town since their locations are mostly situated in barren lands.

The village that we are heading to is named Canan. According to Lowell, It is the place where my 'collar' was traded.

It took us a week to arrive at the said village.

"Ari, we will have to transform into our passive forms before we enter the village to prevent any misunderstandings. It is an open village so they will allow us to enter without any questioning as long as we say that we will be trading some product. Just stay beside Tora and Gurion." My brother instructed as he placed me down from his back to transform into his passive form.

I nodded lightly and ran towards Tora and Gurion obediently. The others also transformed to their passive form except Gurion.

We entered the village without a problem. The security outside was quite lax. I am not even sure how safe it is in the village.

It was a very quiet day because most of the male villagers are out to hunt. The traders who visit the village most often arrive at noon time, but we arrived before lunchtime since we were already just a few kilometers away when we camped outside last night.

"Let's head over to the Central Hall first. Let's check the ancient stones displayed there." Lowell suggested.

We followed his lead and went straight to the Central Hall.

There were guards, but they didn't pay much attention to us because there was no restriction on viewing the said encrypted stone. Rather, it became a highlight of the village that attracts visitors.

I couldn't read it at first glance. However, I suddenly had an urge to remove my gloves to touch it so I did so and followed my instinct. Upon touching the stone, a glow of light emerged from my hand, transforming each character into letters and forming words that only I can understand. It is an unfamiliar language, but I instinctively understood its meaning.

I can sense the weird gazes behind me, but I still proceeded with reading a few lines.

However, I wasn't able to finish reading because the village chief suddenly arrived after hearing the report about the commotion in the central hall.

He has short light brown hair, long curving horn, thick beard and black eyes. He has a lean body that is smaller than Lowell and Blake.

"Ari, he is the Village Chief, Jael. The collar that you are wearing was owned by him. He initially didn't want to trade it with us because he was collecting the ancient items as a hobby. Many traders visit the village to trade rare tools of an ancient race and items to him." Lowell whispered in a low voice.

The village chief is a goat beastman named Jael. He is of the same age as my father and has a spouse named Aja.

Lowell said that he traded the collar with the fine dress I made a year ago. I intentionally made it bigger than my size because I was supposed to use it when I came of age. However, I decided to hand it over to the males to trade since I won't be needing it anytime soon. Also, my body hasn't grown much like a normal beastman does, causing me to ask myself sometimes if I really am just a normal beastman.

The fabric production of the lion tribe stopped a month after my father disappeared. Most of the machines we made got broken and no one in the tribe has the ability to fix it, making the silk dresses become rare.

He said that the wife of the village chief fell in love with the dress and urged her spouse to trade it with the collar. It was such a relief that my skill in sewing clothes improved so much. It still cannot compare to the works of the professional seamstresses in the modern era of my previous life, but it still looks more decent and fashionable than any dresses available in this world.

"Greetings visitors. Welcome to Canan. I think I can see a familiar face. However, may I ask what you were doing with the ancient stone? What kind of sorcery did you use to make the stone glow?" He asked with suspicion.

I was trembling and light headed at that time because the guards were surrounding us with hostility so the others tried to shield me.

"Pardon us for causing a commotion. It's me, Lowell. We went back here to ask an audience with you due to some circumstances but we were curious about the ancient stone you have mentioned before so we went straight here upon our arrival to your village." Lowell politely responded.

"I see... However, may I ask you all to leave your belongings to my subordinate including your hoods and mask?" He said while pointing out to me.

Lowell glanced at me in hesitation, but I nodded while lightly smiling despite trembling. Tora helped me remove my cloak and mask and handed it over to Jael's subordinate.