Leonard opened the door to his room and headed straight for the stairs.
The old wood creaked softly beneath his steps, but he didn't stop.
A few seconds later, he reached the ground floor.
The front door stood before him, tightly shut.
He opened it.
Warmer morning air greeted him outside.
He still didn't know whether he would go to Blackthorn Road today.
From the window of his room earlier, the city had looked ordinary.
Quiet. Almost boring.
But now, standing on the street, the city felt like a fragment of the past that was still breathing.
Leonard slowly closed the door behind him.
On the side of the main road, a city worker stood beneath a tall black iron pole. In his hand was a long rod with a small metal hook at the end. He slowly raised it and touched the base of a gas lamp that was still glowing faintly.
The small flame inside the glass flickered.
Then it went out.
The worker stepped toward the next lamp post.
Repeating the same motion.
One after another.
Leonard paused for a moment to watch.
"Hm…"
The action felt… manual. Completely dependent on someone walking by and doing it.
In Nexra, street lights turned off automatically when the sunlight was bright enough. No one needed to walk through the streets just to extinguish them.
Everything was automated.
Efficient.
But here, the light was extinguished by human hands.
Leonard watched the worker for a few seconds longer.
This world had magic.
Yet for something as simple as turning off street lamps, they still relied on a stick and a person walking down the road.
"Or maybe…" he murmured quietly,
"magic isn't meant for small things."
Leonard looked away from the extinguished lamp.
This city still held far too many things he didn't understand.
Leonard began walking along the stone road without any clear destination.
His steps were unhurried. He simply followed the direction of the street stretching ahead of him.
A few people were already moving about. A man pushed a wooden cart filled with vegetables, its wheels creaking whenever they rolled over the gaps between the stones. On the other side, an elderly woman carried a wicker basket covered with cloth.
The sounds of the city slowly began to awaken.
Not too crowded.
But enough to make the place feel alive.
A horse carriage passed at the end of the street. The old brown horse moved at a slow pace, pulling a simple wooden carriage. Its iron wheels produced a rattling sound against the stone road.
Leonard turned slightly to watch it.
"A horse carriage…"
he muttered softly, almost speaking to himself.
In Nexra, vehicles like that had long disappeared from the main streets, replaced by machines and automated systems that made almost no noise.
But here, everything felt slower.
More… real.
He continued walking.
Stone buildings stood closely along the sides of the street. Some shops had begun opening their wooden windows. A man hung a wooden sign with the shop's name in front of his door.
From a small bakery, the warm scent of freshly baked bread spread into the street.
Leonard unconsciously glanced in that direction.
His stomach reacted slightly.
Only then did he realize that since arriving in this world, he had barely thought about something as simple as eating.
Leonard's steps slowed.
The warm aroma of bread became clearer now. A large man stood behind the bakery window, moving several trays onto a wooden rack in front of the shop. The bread still released thin streams of steam.
Leonard stopped a few steps away.
His stomach responded again.
He stared at the bread longer than he should have.
Then a thought appeared.
Leonard slipped his hand into the pocket of his coat.
Empty.
He checked the other pocket.
Nothing.
No coins.
No wallet.
Nothing that could be called money.
Leonard stood there for a moment.
"Right…" he muttered quietly.
Back in Nexra, he had rarely needed to think about money directly. Most things operated through digital systems and personal identity verification. Buying something took only seconds.
But here…
He glanced back toward the bakery.
The man inside was serving a customer. A small metal coin changed hands before the bread was passed over.
Leonard watched the flash of metal briefly.
Coins.
Which meant the currency system in this world was probably still simple.
And he…
had nothing.
Leonard let out a slow breath.
"Great," he muttered flatly.
"Just arrived, and I'm already broke."
A few minutes later, the street he was walking on began to widen.
The buildings around him changed. The distance between them became larger, and the stone road beneath his feet opened into a broader space.
Something stood at its center—something impossible to miss.
A large stone statue towered above a circular pedestal, far taller than the people walking around it.
Leonard stopped.
The statue depicted a man wearing a long coat that seemed to flutter in the wind. One hand gripped a sword planted firmly into the ground, while the other was slightly raised, as if pointing toward the sky.
His expression was firm. His gaze looked far ahead.
As if he was still watching over the city even after turning into stone.
Leonard tilted his head slightly.
"A city hero…?"
He didn't know who the man was.
But the sheer size of the statue alone was enough to tell him that this person must have once been very important to this place.
Around the statue, several people walked through the small square without paying it much attention. For them, this view was probably far too ordinary.
Leonard stood at the edge of the square for a moment.
The stone statue loomed silently in the open space, as if it had stood there for decades—perhaps even centuries.
The morning wind drifted gently across the plaza.
The stone coat on the statue looked as if it were truly fluttering.
Leonard narrowed his eyes slightly.
The details… were too refined for a simple city decoration.
He stepped closer.
At the base of the statue, old letters were carved into the circular stone pedestal. But most of them had been worn down by time. Thin moss clung to the grooves of the carving.
Leonard bent down slightly.
Trying to read what remained.
Some letters were still visible.
Others had almost disappeared.
"…ren… Vare…"
Leonard frowned.
The beginning of the name was gone. Years of wind and rain seemed to have erased most of the inscription.
He remained there for a few seconds longer.
The worn letters made it impossible to know the full name of the person immortalized in the statue.
The wind drifted through the square again.
Leonard straightened.
His eyes moved from the base of the statue up toward the cold, unmoving face above.
"Hm…"
He let out a quiet breath.
"Looks like this world will be… interesting."
It wasn't a complaint.
More like a conclusion.
Leonard turned around and left the small square.
His steps were relaxed.
Unhurried.
He simply followed the stone road that stretched away from the statue.
People continued moving around the plaza, talking with one another or going about their business.
No one really paid attention to Leonard.
At least—
that's what it looked like.
Leonard took a few more steps.
Five steps.
Ten steps.
Then—
his pace slowed slightly.
Without turning around, his eyes shifted toward the corner of the street ahead.
A faint reflection appeared in the glass window of a shop that had not fully opened yet.
Two figures.
They were walking not too far behind him.
At first, Leonard thought it might just be coincidence.
But after a few seconds—
their distance didn't change.
Their steps also stopped whenever Leonard slowed down.
Leonard continued walking, his face calm.
As if he had noticed nothing.
But his mind was already working.
"Two people…"
he murmured inwardly.
Their shadows still appeared faintly in the windows he passed.
One was a thin man wearing a dark coat.
The other was taller, with broader shoulders.
Leonard didn't recognize either of them.
And he was fairly certain they weren't simply people heading in the same direction.
His steps remained steady.
Yet the corner of his lips moved slightly.
A faint smile.
"Interesting," he whispered.
Leonard kept walking without looking back.
His pace remained relaxed, just like before.
As if he truly had no destination.
But his eyes continued observing every reflection he passed.
The two shadows were still there.
The distance remained the same.
"So it's true…" he thought.
Leonard looked toward the road ahead.
A few meters away, the main street began to grow busier. People gathered around several small stalls—vegetable sellers, cloth merchants, and wooden carts lined the sides of the road.
The sound of conversations began to mix together.
A small crowd.
Leonard immediately headed toward it.
The moment he entered the crowded area, his movement changed slightly.
Not too obvious.
But he began walking in a zigzag pattern.
Sometimes moving left past a man carrying a basket.
A few steps later he shifted right, passing a woman bargaining over vegetables.
Then back to the left again.
His steps remained calm.
As if he were simply navigating through the crowd.
But the pattern was clear.
Not straight.
Left.
Right.
Left again.
Leonard passed a fruit cart.
Then he cut in front of two men who were in the middle of a conversation.
A few steps later he returned to the edge of the street.
The crowd made visibility difficult.
Anyone trying to follow him from afar would need to constantly adjust their direction.
Leonard continued this pattern for several seconds.
Then—
a small voice suddenly rang out from the side of the street.
"Oi! Watch out!"
A child had been running too fast and nearly crashed into a bucket of water placed in front of a shop.
The bucket tipped over.
Water spilled across the stone road.
Several people instinctively moved aside.
A small commotion formed.
Leonard saw the opportunity instantly.
Without hesitation, he sharply turned left.
A narrow alley lay between two stone buildings.
He stepped into it.
Two steps.
Three steps.
Then he moved quickly to the side wall.
Leonard stopped right behind the corner of the alley, hidden from the main street.
He stood perfectly still.
His breathing calm.
A few seconds later, the sounds of footsteps on the main road returned to normal.
The crowd settled again.
Leonard didn't move.
His eyes remained fixed on the corner of the alley.
Waiting.
If those two men were truly following him—
they would appear soon.
Several seconds passed.
Leonard remained still against the cold stone wall.
Footsteps finally approached.
Two people.
Their shoes struck the stone road quickly—as if they had just sped up.
Their shadows appeared first at the alley entrance.
Then the two figures themselves.
The taller man stopped near the mouth of the alley and looked left and right.
"Where did he go?" he muttered irritably.
The thinner man scanned the crowd.
His brows tightened.
"Damn," he said quietly.
"We lost him."
The tall man exhaled sharply.
His gaze swept across the street, searching for someone suspicious.
But all he saw were ordinary people.
Merchants.
Buyers.
Children still laughing after the earlier commotion.
No sign of Leonard.
The tall man shook his head.
"He must've turned into one of the side streets."
The thin man glanced at the nearby alleys, then shrugged.
"The crowd was too dense. Hard to track someone if he's trying to disappear."
For a few seconds they stood there.
Finally, the tall man sighed again.
"Forget it. Let's go back."
The thin man nodded.
Without another word, they turned and walked away from the alley.
Their footsteps slowly faded.
Silence returned.
Leonard still didn't move.
One second.
Two seconds.
Ten seconds.
Only when he was completely certain they were gone did he slowly exhale.
A faint smile appeared again.
"So they were following me after all."
He stepped away from the wall and carefully peeked toward the street.
The two men were gone.
The crowd had returned to normal.
Leonard leaned his head lightly against the wall.
"Interesting…"
Only a few hours had passed since he arrived in this world—
and someone was already watching him.
Leonard eventually pushed himself away from the wall.
He stepped out of the alley.
People were still moving along the street as before. No one seemed to pay him any attention.
As if what had just happened was nothing more than a small ripple in the middle of the city's daily life.
Leonard stood at the edge of the road for a moment.
His eyes calmly scanned the surroundings.
Several horse-drawn carriages could be seen in the distance. Some were parked along the roadside, while others moved slowly through the street carrying passengers or goods.
One of them passed right in front of him.
Its iron wheels rattled against the stone road.
The brown horse pulling it walked at a steady pace, occasionally flicking its tail to chase away flies.
Leonard let out a quiet breath.
"Hmm…"
he murmured.
"I still don't know anything about this world… not even the name of this city."
His eyes followed the carriage that had just passed.
A few seconds later, he spoke again softly, as if reaching a conclusion for himself.
"Looks like… I should hire a carriage."
"At least to get to the address Marcus gave me."
That name surfaced again in his thoughts.
The address on Blackthorn Road.
The only clue he had since arriving in this world.
Leonard lifted his gaze toward the wider street ahead.
Several carriages were waiting along the roadside, likely available for people who needed transportation within the city.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"Alright," he murmured.
"First step."
Leonard walked toward the row of carriages waiting by the street.
Some of the drivers were sitting lazily on the front seats of their carriages. Others stood beside them, chatting casually with nearby vendors.
Leonard slowed his pace.
His eyes moved from one carriage to another.
He had just started approaching one of them when—
"Leonard."
The voice came from inside a carriage not far from him.
Leonard turned his head.
The curtain of the carriage had been pulled slightly aside, and someone leaned out.
Julian.
He looked at Leonard with a relaxed expression, as if he had been waiting for quite some time.
Leonard raised an eyebrow slightly.
"…Julian?"
Julian gave a small smile.
"Good. I was starting to worry I might miss you."
Leonard walked a few steps closer to the carriage.
"You were looking for me?"
Julian nodded.
"Marcus sent me."
Leonard paused briefly.
That name immediately caught his attention.
Julian leaned casually against the carriage door before continuing.
"Apparently, he forgot to explain something to you yesterday."
"The address he gave you was a bit too… general."
Leonard recalled Marcus's words.
Blackthorn Road.
That was all.
Julian shrugged lightly.
"Marcus realized it after you left."
He tapped the side of the carriage with his fingers.
"So he asked me to find you before you got too lost in this city."
Leonard looked at him for a few seconds.
Then he let out a short breath.
"…Makes sense."
Julian pushed the carriage door open a little wider.
"In that case," he said casually,
"care to join me? We can head straight to Marcus."
Leonard glanced briefly into the carriage.
Then, without saying much, he stepped inside.
The door closed again.
Julian lightly knocked on the wooden wall of the carriage.
"We're moving," he said to the driver outside.
From the front came the sound of the reins being pulled.
"Yes, sir."
The horse began to move, slowly pulling the carriage away from the roadside.
Julian leaned back comfortably in his seat before adding in a clearer voice,
"Blackthorn Road. Northern district."
"Yes, sir."