When I was about to buy something to go back to as gifts for the guys at home, my clothes were suddenly grabbed by someone from behind.
Turning around, it turned out to be a very short girl with short hair.
This strange little girl was wearing a khaki coarse cloth shorts and shorts. She looked thin and small, but the expression on her face was full of vitality. Vigorous and agile, with light yellow shoulder-length short hair, and some shiny metal pieces hanging from the ends of the hair, this maverick dress is very different from the surrounding civilians, so I couldn't help but take a second look, But no matter how you look at it... of course I still don't know it.
"What's wrong? Do you want to help?" I felt that I would definitely not know the locals here, and I also dressed as much as possible in line with the local people, so there should be nothing special about it. Then the little girl in front of me Maybe just lost and looking for help
"Are you a foreigner?" The spirited little girl opened her mouth and spoke as crisply as popping beans. Her big shiny eyes shot back and forth at me a little bit recklessly, and she nodded her head and came to a conclusion. "Do you want a tour guide? My name is Elle, and I'm here... well, I'm a guide here! I'm here to lead the way for first-time adventurers! I'm familiar with this place. I know the location of all the taverns and grocery stores, and I also know the blacksmith. Where is the shop! Do you want a tour guide? It only costs 20 copper coins a day~”
"Tour guide?" I was stunned for a moment, and then I looked around in amazement: a small village built along the river, if it weren't for the surrounding walls, I would even think it was a Nomura, a small place with hundreds of households in total. Can it even develop a tourism industry
And this place doesn't look like a tourist attraction, look at the farmland outside the town, look at the ordinary local houses in the streets, look at the bare-bottomed kids running around beside the haystacks, and the The big forest that is obviously still in its original state... Well, the last one may be a bit worth seeing, but other than that, this place doesn't look like a tourist attraction, or the aesthetics and living habits of people on this planet It's a bit more maverick. Right now, this small town by the river, which is ordinary from the beginning, is considered a tourist attraction
The little girl who called herself Ai Lu seemed to see my confusion, and immediately jumped up: "It's not lively enough now, it will be lively here soon! You won't find a cheap tour guide like me by then! And adventurers If there are too many, the competition will be fierce. If you run around by yourself like this, you will definitely fall behind. Although I am not familiar with the depths of the forest... but the periphery is very familiar! I can take you to the forest , as long as you charge an extra 20 copper coins! In addition, I can arrange accommodation for you, my family runs a hotel... used to run a hotel! There are still many rooms, and only 20 copper coins a day are enough!"
The little girl chattered a lot on her own, and she made up a lot of ins and outs before I opened my mouth, but I don't care who she misunderstood me as, I'm just curious about one thing: Is it twenty copper plates?"
"The price is clearly marked, and the old man is not deceiving! Ai Lu has always done business with a fixed price!" The little girl explained with an excuse that seemed to have nothing to do with it, and then tugged at the corner of my clothes again, "Come on, come on, go first Tavern, then go to the grocery store, and finally go to the blacksmith shop... Isn’t this the order for you adventurers? You are a professional!”
Just when I was dumbfounded and didn't know how to resolve the misunderstanding, Sandora's voice suddenly sounded in my mind: "There is no goal anyway, why don't you follow this little girl and learn about the lives of the locals by the way."
"Okay, then I will ask you to lead the way." I smiled and patted the head of the little girl who called herself Ailu, and at the same time secretly made some local currency based on my previous observations, so that I could give the little girl a reward for leading the way. Speaking of it, this world with a relatively backward level of technology is easy to be fooled. At least the currency is relatively primitive. Copper plates are easier to manufacture than credit cards and anti-counterfeiting chips...
Ailu looked at me in surprise, as if she was a little surprised that someone actually asked her to lead the way. Immediately, I felt that I had been fooled, but soon the little girl put away the surprise in her eyes and was happy. He ran to the side: "Come here~! I'll take you to the tavern first! There are a lot of adventurers here, all gathered in the past few days, it's amazing!"
"I don't think she looks like a tour guide?" I couldn't help muttering in my spiritual connection, "Who would leave the guests behind and run forward happily."
"I don't think she looks like a tour guide," Sandora hovered next to my head incognito, "but it may be a child's heart."
There are still many doubts in my heart, such as how the little girl Ai Lu saw her identity as a foreigner, and how she made me into a so-called adventurer, why such a small town near the river has a "tour guide" What about this business, and what is going on with the "soon to be lively" mentioned by the other party? If I don't understand these problems in my advanced symptoms of systemic diffuse obsessive-compulsive disorder, I may have trouble sleeping and eating, so I quickly I caught up with the little "guide" who was jumping and running fast in front, and chatted with her as a newcomer: "By the way, how did you know that I am a foreigner? I am dressed like this." It should be the same as ordinary people here."
"Outsiders can tell at a glance!" the little girl Ai Lu said carelessly, "I know everyone in the town! So anyone I don't know must be outsiders."
Me: "..." It turned out to be such an identification method!
Fortunately, the little girl still has the following text: "In addition, your behavior looks like a foreigner. You are not familiar with the roads here, and you are interested in the common things in the market. When you buy things, you hesitate for a long time and don't know what to choose. This time It looks like they are from other places. I am a professional guide, and I can spot foreigners in need of help from the crowd at a glance. It is the most basic survival skill. By the way, do you want a map here? The map of the town and its surroundings is only 20 A copper plate!"
The little girl spoke clearly and logically before, but she revealed her true nature again later: Did she only know one number in her life
I nodded, and then I saw Ailu take out a bunch of crumpled yellow straw paper from the front pocket of her blouse: "Here, twenty copper coins! Pay with one hand and deliver with one hand!"
Although I felt like I was going to be cheated, I still counted out twenty copper plates and stuffed them into the little girl's hand, and then took the crumpled paper ball. After unfolding it, I found that it was really cheated: it was a one-foot square and it hadn't been cut yet. Neatly cut straw paper, on which a map like a stick figure is outlined with a thick black brush. Look at the childlike tree icon, look at the childlike dog logo, look at the childlike Grandpa Sun... I also drew this thing before the second grade of elementary school, and Little Bubble at home is still drawing similar things, and in all fairness, Little Bubble's paintings are neater than this.
This is a map of twenty copper plates, one can tell at a glance that it was drawn by Ai Lu herself, and more importantly...
I reached out and wiped it on the map, and immediately I should wash my hands: this thing fades! She drew it with charcoal!
"Just based on this map, I can be sure that we must have been tricked," I chatted with Sandora in the spiritual connection, "No matter how unreliable a tour guide is, it is impossible to sell this thing for money. "
"You were cheated, I didn't let you buy anything just now," Sandora said while floating on top of the little girl Ailu, of course the latter didn't know anything about it, "keep following her, see if this child is still alive What kind of tricks are there?"
At this time, Ai Lu had already put away the handful of copper coins with a look of surprise, all signs showed that she never thought that she could really earn money, and this made me more and more sure that she was actually a foolish brat, but I have rich experience in getting along with children, and more importantly, I have a strong tolerance, so I have the right to relax with children. After the other party put away the copper coins, I patted her hair: "Speaking of... why do you say that this place will be lively soon?"
"Don't you know?" Ai Lu shook her head and said that she is not a child who needs to be touched, and then looked over in surprise, "Aren't you an adventurer? Are you just passing by?"
There was a look of disappointment visible to the naked eye on the face of the other party, as if she would turn around and leave as long as she was sure that the person in front of her was not an "adventurer". Although I didn't know what was going on, I decided to continue the misunderstanding at this time. So I integrated the deceptive experience I had cultivated over the years, and made up the lie as much as possible: "Of course I am an adventurer, but you have also seen that I came out alone, and the intelligence is not very effective... Well, I didn't expect there to be so many people." When people came here, I thought I was the only one who was attracted here. Aren’t you a tour guide, tell me what you know.”
"Oh, so that's how it is." Ai Lu didn't think too much about my vague explanation, and when he talked about a certain topic, his face showed an inexplicable look of excitement, "Of course it's because of the forest. The ruins of the ancient tower, which was discovered recently, have been passed to the capital of the kingdom, and the priest of the church issued a decree to allow exploration, and as a result, many adventurers came here at once! Isn’t it said in the novel, silently A mysterious ancient relic suddenly appeared next to an unnamed small village, and many powerful adventurers came to destroy the monsters in the relic. The earlier the adventurer, the easier it is to become a hero. The local children who led the heroic adventurers back then later I have also become a well-known scholar on the continent... Elu will soon meet a lot of powerful adventurers! Then I will become famous too!"
I immediately knew what was going on with this little girl... I said that children should study hard and don't read too many extracurricular books!
However, after removing Ai Lu’s middle school fantasy part, the remaining information is still very useful: it seems that this seemingly ordinary town near the river is indeed about to become lively, and the reason for the excitement is that it is in the big forest next to it. Discovered a so-called "Ancient Tower"? Will this ancient tower have something to do with the dating of civilization
Sandora and I decided on the spot that we would take some time to go to the forest after taking a tour with Ailu to get a general understanding of the town, maybe we would find something very interesting.
And the little girl Ai Lu, who is full of thoughts of "meeting adventurers, making myself as powerful as in the novel, and finally traveling to the mainland to become a famous scholar", quickly took us to the first destination. The tavern is not much bigger than the ramen restaurants that can be seen everywhere on the streets of the earth. It is really lively to hear the movement inside.
"This is it!" Ai Lu said loudly at the door of the tavern, "This is the home of adventurers! The starting point of your journey!"
As soon as Ai Lu finished speaking, a dwarf aunt with a length-to-width ratio of almost one to one ran out of the tavern, tugging at Ai Lu's ears and roaring from the river east: "Little girl is here to make trouble again, come to make trouble again! Go home and live your dreams! This is the River Valley Tavern! Last year it was called the Forest Tavern! The year before that it was called the Pork Bone Soup Tavern! ... Hey, I'm sorry I didn't see any guests at the door, are you here for dinner?"
The dwarf aunt looked up and saw that I was standing three meters away with a face full of embarrassment, and she couldn't hold her face. With that kind of kindness and shrewdness, he smiled at me and greeted me: "You can't be deceived by this child, Ai Lu, right? She just has big dreams all day long, don't mind... isn't she a local?"
Me: "..." Has my camouflage technique regressed over the years? How can anyone find out that I am not familiar with this place? And it's the first time I've spotted it!
However, the dwarf aunt's words have completely exposed the true face of Ai Lu. It turns out that she is really a brash brat, but this girl doesn't seem to be aware of being exposed at all, and she doesn't even have an embarrassing expression on her face. , just grinned at the dwarf aunt for a long time, and then pulled me into the tavern: "The tavern lady, Pasali, a woman with a bad temper and a loud voice, hum, wait and see, when the time comes, the tavern It will definitely become a meeting place for adventurers, Aunt Pasali, you will be responsible for distributing tasks to adventurers sooner or later! Come, let me familiarize you with the atmosphere here... "
The dwarf proprietress of the tavern gave Ai Lu a hard look, but it seemed that the latter was so mischievous that no one could discipline her, so the proprietress could only stare at her, and then she smiled and explained to me: "Don't mind, this child is a well-known 'character' in our town, and she always fantasizes about wild things. Recently, there are more and more adventurers in the town, and she is becoming more and more unruly. Anyway, don't worry about it. Don't take anything she says seriously, I will report to her family later."
Ai Lu jumped up and down behind: "Aunt Pasali, you are biased! I am working hard to help the family earn money!"
In exchange for another stare.
I smiled indifferently: "It's okay, I just came from another place, and I'm not familiar with the place, this little girl really took me around a lot. Speaking of which... you found a ruin near here, right?"
I try my best to speak out with the information I already have, in case it seems weird to say too much. As for the bear boy Ailu cheating out of twenty copper coins with a hand-painted map... Hehe, can we not mention this? Besides, let's play with the kids.
Pasali beamed: "Relics, a lot of people have been attracted by this recently, but it's also a good thing. Our business has improved a lot. In the past, only people who were looking for elves to buy things would pass by this place. It's lively like something."
I turned my face to look at the street not far away. It was indeed very lively. When I was looking at the scenery of the town outside, I just thought it was a thriving population. Now that I know about the ruins, I look carefully. Like civilians... These should all be foreigners.
Probably because so many foreigners came here, the residents in the town were well prepared for unfamiliar faces, so Ailu and Pasali could guess that I was also from a foreign country—after all, in a small town like this, the residents There are more or less impressions between them, and even those who have never met can tell at a glance whether the other party has the "taste" of a local.
No matter where you go, outsiders are very eye-catching in this kind of small town where neighbors know each other like chickens and dogs.
The furnishings in the tavern are simple, and there is nothing special about the structure, but there are quite a lot of customers. Ailu dragged me around but couldn't find an empty table. Finally, I could only find an empty seat near the wall. Two diners who seemed to have been there for a while shared a table. I didn't think of one thing until the moment I sat down: I didn't seem to say that I wanted to drink and eat, did I
Why was she dragged in by this weird little girl! ? Isn't it just sightseeing and not consumption
"This shows that this little girl is indeed born with the foundation to be a tour guide." Sandora ball landed on the table in front of me with a hidden body, rolling around and talking sarcasticly, "It doesn't matter if you are interested or not, just go around. It doesn't matter if you want to buy it or not, but I suggest you don't stay here for too long...I watch others eat it, and it's easy to become manic."
Me: "..." I realized that Sandora might become manic for a long time these days.
But now that I have already sat in, it is a bit inappropriate to turn around and leave at this time (mainly because it is a bit frightening to see the dwarf lady whose length is equal to the width blocking the door), so I still raised my hand to greet those who were sitting at the table. The little waitress who was busy running around in the middle of the day served a few side dishes and drinks casually. Because I don't know what's going on in this world, I let her look at it, and it's like making a real visitor from afar, and Ai Lu sat down next to me at this time, and began to tell me about this little story in a serious manner. The stories of the town and the ferocious monsters in the forest are vividly told, from the pioneers who bravely fought against the savages in the early days of the town, to the dangerous and terrifying ancient giants in the nearby forest, and then to those who come outside the town every now and then The Royal Knights against the foreign invaders on the plains, each story is so colorful and vivid, I roughly sorted out her stories, and finally came to the conclusion: if half of her stories are true, then the little girl at the moment The town covers an area of at least 2,000 square kilometers, and there are already three kingdom knights of the army lying in the big forest next to it, and more than a dozen princes peeked at the local girls taking a bath by the river at the west end of the village. —Those girls ended up becoming queens of neighboring countries side by side.
... How many knight novels does this kid usually read!
When I was shocked by Ailu's increasingly unreliable description, a middle-aged man who looked like a stranger sitting across from me suddenly said: "Are you also looking for the ruins?" RS