Atiya had finished his breakfast. It was another luxurious meal, and though he preferred simpler ones, he didn't mind.
Back home, he had usually skipped breakfast, or more accurately, breakfast was something foreign to him. He did have three meals a day and cooked for himself most of the time, but breakfast was usually replaced by lunch. In the evening, he would just eat the leftovers.
He looked at the woman near him and said:
"Can I sightsee the village?"
He knew he might earn the suspicion of others, but he wanted to grasp the basic structure of the village to help plan his escape.
The black-haired woman replied in a polite voice.
"Then I shall be accompanying you."
Contrary to what Atiya expected, the village was quite advanced. It was not advanced technologically, but in terms of Yaicraft.
By infusing Yai into the air, the atmosphere was warmed enough for Atiya to take off two of his coats.
'Although it is a bit cold here, I can manage well.'
Almost all the houses and structures were coated by Yai, protecting and preserving them. The houses built there were mainly sloping roof houses and wooden cabins, which was quite appropriate for snowy regions.
"Is there not any kind of place that sells street food?" Atiya asked as they walked silently.
"It is quite unfortunate for you to come during this time of year, esteemed guest," the black-haired woman replied in a sympathetic tone.
"So there are times where they do sell," Atiya clarified, thinking how disappointed Zelaine would be to not see any street shops.
'What is their source of food? If they cannot get outside the barrier, what is providing them rations?'
Well, when they walked further, Atiya got the answer to his question.
At the outskirts, there were multiple large, enclosed farms cultivated via Yai means. It was puzzling to see their reliance on Yai to this extent without having developed much technology.
Yai users are not elementally or magically blessed people. Utilising Yai is about understanding the working principle of the Yaicraft itself. Similar to Atiya, who was a space Yaicraft user, he had to understand space and the logic behind it. Simply visualizing it was not nearly enough to get even a basic foundation.
Basically, Yai users are scientists or researchers in a sense.
'So why is the village not developed in a technological sense when they are able to manipulate the humidity, pressure, and soil inside the farms?'
He kept thinking about it. After taking a detour and checking some other things, they came back.
They stood at an intersection of the snowy road. Just two more intersections and he would be back at his temporary shelter.
However, as Atiya looked at the large altar visible about 200 meters away, he flinched. There was a large bronze statue of a demon in the middle of the village. More accurately, it was a naked demoness with five arms, including one stretching from her back, and she held a sword in each hand.
'Is that the sculpture?'
Atiya was mesmerized by the beauty of the demoness. She wore a lustful smile that reminded him of someone.
"That's beautiful," Atiya muttered.
"Oh my! So you like nude women."
This time, the woman's voice was mischievous. She seemed to think the esteemed guest had great taste in women.
'I do, but I am not so bold as to announce it.'
"Anyway, let's go."
As he turned to move, he saw a three-meter-tall iron pillar behind the statue. The top of the pillar ended in an iron bowl, but the contents inside were not visible to him.
'Today was quite productive.'
Atiya kept that thought to himself and went back inside his room.
Meanwhile, inside a room, Fredo took a sip of the lukewarm tea and warned the little girl in front of him.
"Don't even think about telling him about the ritual."
The little girl, of course, was enjoying the desserts prepared for her.
Nom. Nom.
"Don't worry. We don't want to upset our sacrifice, do we? Otherwise, the ritual will be meaningless."
The girl stared at the glass that was being filled by an attendant.
Chhhhh.
"Is he a Yai user?"
"No, he is not."
The girl lied again and took a big gulp once the glass was full.
"Ahhhh."
A satisfying smile finally appeared on her face.
"Now then, I shall take my leave. I believe I have reported everything about him to you."
She stood up and headed toward the exit. However, the doubt inside the priest only grew.
For the past twelve years, the girl had been luring sacrifices into the village, and there had never been a moment of insubordination on her part. The problem was not the girl. She was bound by an Ascension 3 skill; there was no way she, someone who had not even awakened Yai, could go against it.
The problem was the sacrifice this time. Atiya.
Others are usually confused when they first arrive. Seeing the hospitality of the villagers, they soften. The village always makes excuses about bad weather to keep them from leaving, and in truth, even the weather is manipulated by them.
Eventually, those guests grow suspicious, but in the end, they always end up being offered.
However, this guest was different. He was brought in unconscious for two days, and after awakening, he was abnormally calm. He was composed, like someone who had just found a place to settle.
While such a sentiment usually works in their favor, there was a possibility that he was aware and plotting something.
Fredo had to look out for that.
Back at the shelter, Atiya summoned his Yai circuit, the same old concentric glyph, and began to check things there.
'I have not added a single code to it in a while. I cannot waste my time here. I need to code.'
Earlier, he had asked for some paper and a pen. The paper and pen were not for the mathematics of his skill, though he needed to calculate numerous numericals and add many formulas to his Yai circuit. He had asked for the pen and paper for something else instead.
It was to mislead them. He drew some obscene drawings depicting sex. Atiya realized he had acted too nonchalantly on his first encounter with the priest, and it likely led to suspicion.
'I can just say it was a matter of personality, but that is not a very strong excuse. Or is it?'
He scribbled mathematical concepts onto his bare hand instead and continued doing it for a few hours.
'Ugh, my wrist hurts.'
At last, he stopped and entered a few correct results out of dozens into the Yai circuit. There was no space left on his hand.
'I need to wash it.'
He thought and gave the Yai circuit a final look. Something took him by surprise. There was something extra about it.
'What the hell.'
On the side near the disconnect skill icon, another new icon of a sickle-like weapon was there. He read the description.
"Shajibu."
"What is a great weapon doing in my inventory? How?"
Then he remembered it. To stop Nongban, he had shoved his hand inside a portal connecting to Shajibu while Nongban held it.
'If I am remembering right, everything after that is hella confusing.'
He should have lost his hand there, but by some unexpected turn of events, he was still intact.
"So is it mine now? That great weapon!"
He touched the icon instantly and read about it.
Recognized as Shajibu. One of the twelve great weapons of the Twelve Month series of the ancient language. Shajibu, Kalen, Ee-nga, Ee-ngen, Thouwaan, Laang-ban, Meraa, Hee-yang-gei, Poinu, Waak-ching, Phai-rel, and Lam-taa.
It is a weapon that cleaves and carves space.
Only a few skills of Shajibu are accessible to you at the moment because of your low ascension. As your ascension and the number of your skills increase, the accessible skills of Shajibu will increase too.
That was what was written on the interface.
Well, there were other parts that talked about the currently accessible skills, but he wanted to check the weapon first.
He followed the instructions written on the interface to summon Shajibu. First, he checked to see if he had closed all the doors and windows properly.
"Open. Shajibu."
A mini portal appeared and the weapon automatically slid out.
It was a staff of a peculiar design. The shaft was a long, slender white pole with a textured, spiraled surface. The head of the staff was an asymmetrical crescent that one might mistake for a scythe-like hook. Wrapped around the head of the staff was a glowing, jagged magenta Yai.
Atiya pulled it out.
"Fuck! Holy shit. I fucking have an OP weapon!" Atiya shouted with joy.
So much for trying to compose himself. Just then, a girl's voice interrupted, shocking him.
"Wow! That is so pretty! Can I see it?"
"Ahh! How did you get in here?"
He was damn sure that he had not heard anyone opening the door, but there she was.
"So did you finally decide to use the method I proposed? Will you kill everyone with that!"
She jumped all around while she said that, over-excitedly. Atiya grabbed her hand and then shoved a handkerchief into her mouth.
"Don't shout. They will hear us."
"Mmmmmm."
The girl took out the handkerchief and tilted her head to peek at the staff.
"Wow! It is so fucking cool. I will take you up on your offer. Let's plot together and dethrone the demon king!"
Atiya sighed and spoke.
"Close."
Shajibu dematerialized, turning into gold dust. The girl was a little disappointed and pressed on further.
"What do you say?"
"First of all, I am not planning on dealing with any demons. Secondly, there is no way for me to kill the villagers. They are many times more powerful than me. And lastly, I appreciate your offer. Let's escape from here."
God knows what she was planning. Atiya only knew about Shajibu because Correl had told him. There was very little chance of the girl knowing about Shajibu itself.
She must have thought of it as just a cool weapon and mistaken Atiya for a powerful Yai user.
"Is it a deal?" Atiya asked.
"Yes, yes! It is so freaking cool!"
'Right. This girl is not right in her head.'
****
"Do you want some more?"
Ellamell asked, holding a pot full of pork curry.
"Yes, please. Five more servings."
Zelaine was enjoying the meal too much as the plates piled up.
It had been three days since she had manipulated the family's memories and started living with them.
Though she planned to stay as long as possible because it was a place far from surveillance, she still felt guilty about many things.
But then again, she was giving them her handcrafted crystals, which were quite expensive, as payment.
"Sis, do you even chew or just gulp it down like water? How can you be real! We are going to go broke at this rate!"
Mavine, the current, fake younger sister, asked with an amused and scared face.
"Probably... not," she said.
After the meal, she went back to her temporary room. She then took out some crystals from a mini portal.
"Ten left, huh. I can only leech off them for ten days more."
Mind manipulation was not her expertise, nor was it related to her yaicraft. The reason she could manipulate them into thinking she was part of their family was because of the crystals she held in her hand.
One crystal, one day of mind control.
Frankly, she had needed an immediate shelter and a source of knowledge about Ellejort, so she chose to use the family to fulfill her needs. And she had found out a great deal about the basic structure of life inside Ellejort for normal civilians.
"One week. I will leave in one week and venture outside to search for a way to get out of here."