Brothers in Arms: Journey Through the Unknown [ONHOLD]

Chapter 11: Truth

When they found themselves inside the city's wall, Mason's group were on their own with no supervision or whatsoever. Not before they left to their own devices, he took charge and asked for directions to get to the restaurant where Marie's relative owned. The guards' answer was rather blunt but at least he got to know the location. Turns out, the place was pretty famous and one of the most favourite spots for the locals to dine, and it was located near the main plaza if they kept their course to the middle of the city.

With enough information and some proper guidance, the group began their journey through Arsinia City.

Most of them were excited since this would be the first time they were exposed to this world culture. These people language, clothing, foods, social interaction, architects, and many more were all gathered in one place. A huge pile of collection of data that would bring joy to any researcher back in their own world. Even under the calm and vigilant mask, Mason's heart did not stop beating like he just ran a ten miles run.

Despite him looking forward to some out-of-this-world and fantasy looking building, the mood and the infrastructure did not bring much joy to his expectation. Most of the stuff was pretty mundane and similar to the European Medieval design. The carved stones roads were rather fitting for their time and the technology these people possessed. Houses were no more than two-story high and they were all connected into one long row, both sides of the road looked the same until they reached an intersection. Looking closely, most of them appeared to be made out of clay-looking materials with wooden structure acting as supports for the house and at least a decent roof made out of strong timber. There were very few brick houses, and if there were one, these houses were seperate with a nice yard between all the clusters of buildings surrounding them.

And it was really a cluster of buildings. From residence houses to various kinds of shops, they were mixed among the road and there was no clear indication their group was either in a residency area or a shopping district. Other than the shops inside some buildings, there were tons of small market stands set up on the streets with people screaming out their products like a flea market. Only a fair bit of customers stopped upon hearing an intriguing deal though. At one point, they suddenly encountered a barn out of nowhere and there were actually cattles and horses inside of them. The place was pretty lively for a small city.

Soon enough, their own presence started catching up with the locals walking around them. He first noticed the distance that these people were trying to stay away from his group as far as possible. When he managed to catch a pair of women looking in his direction, they immediately directed their gaze away from him and hurriedly scurry down the street without looking back. Every time they appeared in a new block, he felt every conversation around him was directed at his group.

Not really a huge problem since these people were obviously curious about the new faces in town and the completely different attire from what they used to wear. Same goes for Mason. He would be the one questioning these people's choice of outfit since they were different from what he thought. Most women and men wear almost the same style and color clothes that rarely stood out from the crowd. Almost the same as their own past culture. Maybe these people were commoners and he could only find the extravagant style from the noble or royal people.

"Oh, jeez, what is that smell?! Wow, now this is not what I imagine coming from a city," Roger complained when he began to notice the unbearable scent lingering in the air. "I barely whiffed it and it's like garbage collection day out on the street."

"Really? Out of the thing to relate, you have to pick that?" Orchid commented.

"Don't worry, my guy. Your dirty laundry is even worse on my list so this kind of smell is like room freshener."