Shiao Yi began to feel more and more uneasy. Back then, when he'd jumped to escape, it had been a desperate move—he hadn't had time to set a destination. On top of that, the gravitational wave had distorted space around him. Everything had been unstable, abnormal.
Where exactly was he now?
Breaking a mental taboo, he extended his telepathic reach outward, letting his awareness brush across the thoughts of others inside the building. Their minds spilled into his, chaotic and unfiltered.
A sharp headache bloomed behind his eyes as he tried to sort through it all.
—Dashtadem Fortress. Magical beast attack. Castle. Defense.
Among the mess of thoughts—booze, women, homesickness, pain—he managed to piece together a few fragments of meaningful information.
Magical beasts?
Then other words surfaced—Segoy the mage, Captain Dominic's magic ...
Magic?
Shiao Yi froze. That wasn't a word from the real world. He'd never heard it used outside of fiction.
So... this was the "Dashtadem Fortress"? There were magical beasts? And mages and knights fought them off?
No… this can't be real.
His head throbbed painfully.
What kind of twisted joke is this?
Now that he thought about it, Shiao Yi hadn't seen a single electrical device.
No machines of any kind.
Maybe this place was just really remote, somewhere electricity hadn't reached yet.
There's no way… there's no electricity here? Right?
The only light came from candles.
As night fell and the room grew darker, a man dressed in a soldier's uniform came in while holding a tall candle stand.
He brought a bowl of simple soup that was filled with bits of meat and beans.
The flavor was basic, but not bad.
This was the first time Shiao Yi had ever eaten something completely free of artificial flavoring or chemical additives.
He was also given a shirt made of rough and stiff fabric. It was clearly made from natural fibers.
It was supposed to be for outerwear, but it was way too big.
The sleeves had to be folded several times just to reveal his hands.
And apparently, this was their smallest size.
How big are the people here?
That must be why they thought he was a child.
Thankfully, they hadn't taken his pants.
In one of the pockets was a half-eaten portable compressed ration bar.
Compared to the soup, it tasted like cardboard.
He wondered how he had managed to live on that stuff before.
Still, it was his last bit of food, so he had held onto it carefully.
After putting the bar back in his pocket, he reached to his belt and took out a small palm-sized needle gun. It was sleek and built for precision.
He was surprised they hadn't taken it from him. Maybe they didn't recognize it as a weapon.
He checked the device for damage, thinking it might've been affected by the gravitational wave. The energy level was still at 80%. Just one spare magazine left. It was highly unlikely he'd find more here. He'd have to use it sparingly.