Chapter 18 - Goodbye Fauxe Village

Well, it's been almost two months since Cecil and Silver arrived to this world and lived with Lucia's family at Faux Village.

He was thought that it was about time for them to go on the journey to find his family. Since he was transported here, there was a chance that his family may have also been transported into this world.

"Uhm, Lucia, Mrs. Anna and Mr. Zaki. I think it's been sometime since I've stayed here and I feel that I've been imposing on you…"

"Eh? Cel? What are you saying?"

"I believe that it's time for me and Silver to continue our journey."

"Eh?"

Hearing Cecil, Lucia was confused at what he was saying. Only Mr. Zaki and Mrs. Anna responded.

"Well, it's only been a matter of time, you've already studied the common sense and general knowledge of this world, so it should be about time, I guess?"

"Yes."

"Ara~ well, looks like we should prepare for your departure. When are you going?"

"Tomorrow morning."

Hearing that, Lucia wanted to say something, but was immediately interrupted by her father.

"Wai-"

"Okay, then tomorrow it is then. Make sure you say your goodbyes to everyone in the village today."

"Okay…"

Cecil walked around the village after breakfast alongside Silver and a very quiet Lucia. It was pretty rare because Lucia's always been loud even in the morning.

Cecil guessed that she was saddened with him announcing his leave.

'I should cheer her up, but I feel that it would be insensitive of me, since we've been really close to each other ever since I arrived at the village.'

It was also because of Lucia that Cecil had a place to stay right when he came to Alterna. He owed her a lot and with him announcing his departure so suddenly was really insensitive of him.

'I should have a talk with her about it later.'

Cecil didn't like seeing such a Lucia, so he tried to speak up.

"Uhm, Lulu?"

"…Yeah?"

"Are you mad?"

"Eh? No, I'm not mad at all."

She said that while turning her head away.

"Well, you should hurry up and tell everyone that you're leaving..."

"Okay then. Later, I'll spend the rest of the day with you, alright?"

"… Okay."

'Wow that sounded weird for some reason.'

Weird thoughts aside, this was bound to happen anyway. There was no way Cecil could continue imposing in on Lucia's family's hospitality. He also needed to look for his own family.

Even if the chances of them being teleported to this world being miniscule, he wanted to believe that because he's here, then maybe, just maybe, his family and everyone who was enveloped in that white light would have been teleported here too.

'It was like that with me and Silver. I really hope that this is true, if not, then it's just another wild goose chase.'

Cecil set his gaze towards the sky while thinking this.

'I hope that somewhere in this world, my family is also looking up at the exact same sky.'

There was no way he could search the entire world for them so he had set himself an objective.

He would first have to get to Midgard, the human continent. He heard the merchants that came to the village talk about rumors saying how people just suddenly appeared abruptly all over the central area of the Midgard continent.

Hearing the rumors, Cecil thought that maybe his family was also over there. Since then, he started planning his journey to the Midgard continent.

Lucia wasn't there when the merchants talked about it, so she couldn't have figured anything out.

Cecil and Lucia walked towards the village's blacksmith shop. The forge was outside and they could see a bulky small statured person manning the forge with a small child nearby.

This person was the blacksmith of the village, and unexpectedly he wasn't of the kitsune race, but instead he was a dwarf.

The reason why he was living here in the village was because, surprisingly, his wife was a kitsune. When Cecil first heard about their love story, it made him respect this man deeply.

For his wife, he abandoned his everything and eloped with his wife. Many problems occurred because of this, but eventually after going through thick and thin, the couple finally arrived here.

The dwarf's name was Argon and his wife's name was Felice.

They met only because Argon's family shop was in an adventurer city which Felice had frequented. Felice was of course an adventurer at that time. It's been 10 years since then and they now live a stable and happy life in Faux Village.

"Hey, Gramps!"

"Eh? Kid, so it's you, and stop calling me gramps! I ain't that old yet!"

"Haha! Well, anyway, I came here to say my goodbyes."

"Eh? So it's time huh?"

"Yup, is all my stuff ready yet?"

"Well, everything's finished. The leather armor you asked for is still having its finishing touches being done by my wife, so later you–"

"Cecil! So you're here! Well, your armor is finally finished!"

"Never mind."

Argon and Felice didn't just run a blacksmith, but also a leather workshop together.

Cecil had given all the materials from the Blade Bear fight to them 2 weeks ago to process into armor and weapons.

Today was finally the day they would be finished and Cecil had planned to leave the day after the equipment were finished.

"Darling~ is everything ready?"

"More or less. Leather armor ready, swords and knives finished, gauntlets also… hmm what else? Oh yeah, that cloak did you finish it, hon?"

"That was the first thing I finished you know?"

"Okay, then everything's settled. The cost… well we'll waive that since you've been helping us procure materials for free."

It's not like Cecil couldn't pay for it. He was able to sell the materials from the monsters and animals that they hunted in the forest to the merchants that occasionally come to the village, if the villagers didn't need them.

So he had some money on him.

"Really? Thanks Gramps!"

"Like I said, I'M NO GRAMPS! I'm still young despite looking like this! And do you even SEE my smoking hot YOUNG wife next to me!??"

Argona made sure to emphasize on the 'young' part. Cecil didn't play dumb and replied,

"Well, of course I can see that. I call Felice big sis anyway. Since she looks like she's just a little bit older than my elder sister."

"Ara ara~"

"Then why am I gramps then?!"

"Well… you got the beard, the grumpiness and… well... I thought it suited you haha!"

"Why you!!"

Just as Argon was about to blow his top, his wife came in to pacify him.

"Darling~"

"Kuh, yes?"

"Cecil's here to say goodbye you know? Come here Maxie."

Maxie, the child who was quietly observing Cecil's exchange from the side, walked up next to Mrs. Felice. This boy was their child.

He had the characteristics of both his parents, sporting a small stout body with small pointed ears on top of his head and a tail. His hair was orange red like his father, but he didn't have the beard.

Maxie was somewhat introverted, but he still goes and plays with the other children of the village.

The boy especially looks up to Cecil. The same goes for all the other boys in Fauxe Village. Ever since they saw Cecil single-handedly take down a Tusk Boar pack that accidently wandered out of the forest and attacked the village, they've looked up to Cecil as their role model.

After the attack, the village had an abundant amount of meat for the following week or two.

Cecil takes all the finished equipment from the two. The couple also graciously gave him a sturdy knapsack made from the excess leather from the Blade Bear.

He totally forgot about making one, but thankfully Mrs. Felice was kind enough to make one without him asking.

"I guess this is it, although I'll be leaving tomorrow, I thought it would be appropriate for me to say so instead of leaving unaware."

"Well, it was a good thing to have you around, boy."

"Hehe, thanks Gramps."

"You do good out there okay, kid?"

"Okay, Mr. Argon."

"Heh, so you can actually call me something other than gramps."

"Mrs. Felice, thanks for the stuff."

"No problem, Cecil, just make sure to look out for yourself."

"Will do. Goodbye everyone."

"Bye big brother Cecil!"

With little Maxie bidding him farewell, Cecil walked away from the blacksmith/leatherwork shop and headed over to the grocery-c.u.m-butcher shop.

What greets him as he enters the building was an old fox lady with glasses.

"Hi Granny!"

"Granny May."

"Why hello there, Lucia and Cecil…"

Lucia greets Granny May with a spirited shout while Cecil politely greets her. Cecil looks over at Lucia, relieved that she's no longer sulking.

'Lucia's more spirited now compared to earlier. It's a good thing. I don't like seeing Lucia like that.

Lucia walks around the store while Cecil begins talking with Granny May.

"Granny May, I wanna buy some seasonings, dried meat and also a water bottle and some containers."

"Okay… so are you preparing to set off?"

"Eh? Yes, I am Granny."

"When do you plan to leave?"

As they were conversing, Cecil was busy grabbing all the stuff that he needed. He piled up a couple of stuff on the counter.

"I plan on leaving early tomorrow."

"Hrmm… I suppose a parting gift is due."

While saying that Granny May heads to the back of the store. A bit later, Granny May comes out with a box.

"If you're going on an adventure, then this is what you will need."

"Hm?"

She hands Cecil the box. Inside were tinder, a rock, bandages, a cutting knife, some herbs, and other miscellaneous things.

"Woah! Thanks Granny!"

"It's something that we prepare for any youngster that leaves the village and goes on a journey."

"Thank you Granny. I'll make sure to use them well."

"That's good to hear, the other stuff is on me, go ahead and take them. Honestly, this amount is nothing compared to the meat and herbs that you give to my store."

"Hehe, okay Granny, thanks again."

"You take care of yourself alright?"

"Okay!"

"Bye Granny!"

Cecil walks out of the store with Lucia and Silver in tow. Now that all his preparations are complete, all he has to do now was let the rest of the villagers know he was leaving.

Cecil and co. walk towards the field where the kids of the village normally play at.

When they arrived, Cecil saw that a lot of the friends he made during his stay at the village had gathered there playing something close to volleyball, except that the ball they used was a ball of fire.

They tossed it up into the air and passed it around each other using their hands, feet, and tails coated with a thin layer of mana without letting the fireball touch the ground.

The children immediately notice the group right when they arrive. The children immediately start running over, putting a stop to their little sport.

""Lucia! Cecil!""

"Hi everyone."

"Hey, guys!"

The two greet them and tell them about Cecil's departure tomorrow.

"Eeehhh? Cecil, you're leaving??? But what about Lu–"

Lucia charged towards the girl that was talking and immediately covers her mouth with her hands.

"Huh? What's wrong Lulu?"

"I, it's nothing… hahaha~"

The girl whose mouth was covered was close in age with Lucia and Cecil. Her name was Frieda and she had long blue hair and a blue tail. Unlike Lucia, she only had 1 tail.

In soft voice that only they could here, Lucia starts whispering to Frieda.

"Hey, don't spill the beans okay? He doesn't know."

"Eh? You didn't tell him yet? He's going to leave tomorrow you know! You won't get your chance after he leaves!"

"I know, but it's not like…"

Curious, a boy standing close to them raises his voice.

"Uhm, what're you guys whispering about?"

"Shut up! Poka!"

The one who interrupted the two who were whispering to each other, was a kitsune boy called Poka.

He was someone who was always curious about things so he had the tendency to listen in on someone when they were talking, whether it was secretly or not.

"It's nothing! So go away Poka!"

"Ehhh, but I heard something about not being ab–"

With inhumane speed Lucia and Frieda slammed their palms to cover Poka's mouth, but the force behind the two's palms were a bit excessive and instead of shutting Poka up, they launched him flying away from where he was standing.

"Eh?! You two?!"

Cecil was totally surprised at seeing one of his friends fly away into the air.

"Ignore him Cel."

"Exactly, ignore him. No one saw Poka flying or anything."

They said it with a pressure so fierce that even Cecil was forced to drop it.

"O, okay…"

After going through the ups and downs of his abrupt farewell, Cecil was finally able to end the day on a good note.

Now all that's left is to wait for tomorrow morning, when he would finally embark on his first adventure in the world of Alterna.