With the girl safely in tow, Astra made his way to the village proper. It wasn't a particularly large village, consisting of only a few buildings built of cobblestone and wood. It was clear that this was a poorer village than he initially realized, left without so much as a fence. The dirt paths leading throughout the village painted a picture of at least some semblance of order, even if the idea of monsters attacking did unsettle Astra a bit. It'd be easy for such creatures to rip these structures apart.

  "Notice," Athena chimed, "while higher ranking monsters could destroy this settlement, the local monster population consists primarily of goblins and direwolves, neither of which is strong enough to destroy the cobblestone housing."

  "That's reassuring," Astra thought in response. "At least if they stay inside, they should be relatively safe. Still, a fence would benefit them greatly. I'll bring it up with the village leader."

  As the girl guided Astra to her home, Astra waited outside for a proper invitation. Her father was a local farmer, one who also happened to be the very leader Astra was hoping to meet. "Please, come in. I don't know what I would have done if my daughter were hurt, or worse."

  The man was an older gentleman with a bushy beard and dark hair. He was certainly a sturdy looking man, Astra being able to tell that he'd been a farmer all his life. Graciously accepting the invitation, Astra stepped inside, and found himself seated at the table with what he assumed was some kind of tea in the cup in front of him. "I can't thank you enough for the rescue, miss," the man said, "I owe you a debt of gratitude."

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  "Again with the assumptions," Astra thought, though said nothing of it. "It was no problem," he said to the man, "not even an inconvenience. But I am curious. Why is it this village lacks basic defenses?"

  This question made the man seem somewhat solemn. "The truth is that we simply can't afford it. We're just farmers, so our village holds little value to the nobles." Astra seemed somewhat saddened by this information, and instead asked for a map. If nothing else, he'd have liked to have an idea of where he was. The map he got was, quite frankly, poorly drawn at best, but he could read it at least. From what he could glean from the parchment in front of him, Astra had found himself in a village called Canare, in the northern part of Franlief County.

  The capital of the kingdom, from the sound of things, was further south still. "This definitely isn't the world of Mystic Reverie," Astra thought to himself, "but a lot of the basic components of the game are still in effect. For instance, I recognized the dagger that the bandit used as a Cinquedea, a type of blade you'd usually have found on certain NPC's like guards or soldiers. Not really something a bandit would carry."

  "Notice," Athena chimed, "it can be surmised that the weapon was stolen. Returning the blade may fetch a reward."

  "Miss," the man called, "I'm afraid I've been rather rude. I never introduced myself. My name is Gregor, and this is my daughter, Maria." Looking up from the map, Astra was happy to see that Maria, the girl he rescued, was well and dressed. "A pleasure," he chimed, "my name is Astra. I'm afraid I don't know much about this area, being a hermit."

  Astra wasn't about to tell them he'd come from another world. That would have made them suspicious, if they weren't already. As Maria offered to return the cape Astra had given her, Astra simply declined, saying that it was a gift. While Gregor and Maria seemed a bit confused, they certainly didn't argue beyond noting that the quality was much too fine for humble village folk. Fortunately, Astra looked just out of place enough that his story about being a hermit was believable and they ultimately accepted the gift.

  What Astra didn't know at the time was that this was hardly the last he'd see of that cloak.