His blue gaze caught the glass. As the sun hit his face, he squinted, his lashes flickering against the brightness.
"Look! The Stigma! Blessings of Venitas upon you!"
"Another batch of recruits... they look younger every year, don't they?"
William rested his chin on his hand, staring out at the bustling Venezia streets.
The capital was exactly as the novel described.
The street was a disaster of noise. Vendors shouted about overripe tomatoes, the price of grain, gossip of nobles, and the coming rain nearly drowning out the carriage's relentless clack-clack.
As the carriage came into view, the atmosphere shifted instantly. He couldn't help but let out a small, wry laugh at the sight of everyone suddenly standing so tall.
He wasn't under any illusions; the roar of the crowd wasn't for him.
In fact, if he stepped out now, they'd probably tell him to move so they could get a better view.
All that wild-eyed fervor was directed strictly at the Stigma emblazoned on the door of the carriage. It was a reverence born of habit.
To the citizens, the carriage was a vessel for the Empire's glory and the legendary Hero, Venitas.
As for the guy actually peeking out from behind the curtains? Nobody really cared. To them, the passengers are simply insignificant in the face of such a towering legacy.
"Man, this place really is something else."
William let out a long sigh as he peered out at Venezia. He'd seen plenty of cities, but this one was so different, it made him truly realize how different this world was from his own. The buildings had that familiar Victorian charm, but the details were all wrong.
'Two Piece…' He thought, looking at the weird, glowing fruits in the market stalls. And there are literal monsters casually sharing the sidewalk with the locals. It was definitely a different world.
"Pip, sit down already," came a tired warning from the back. With only thirty minutes left until they reached the Temple, William leaned back, halfheartedly listening to the excited chatter of the boys beside him.
"Whoa! Look at that!" Pip exclaimed, his nose squished against the glass. William wondered for a second if he'd looked just as ridiculous when he was staring earlier.
'No way. I'm definitely…' He glanced at his own reflection, checking his expression to make sure he hadn't been 'ogling' quite that obviously. But seeing the handsome face, he dismissed the thought with smile.
Still, watching Pip's pure excitement was kind of entertaining. He was the textbook definition of a 'country bumpkin.'
'Come to think of it,' he was exactly like the 'Protagonist' of this world was described.
'Talk about a cliché.'
"I've never seen so many people. There are more people on this one street than in our whole harvest festival." With a wide, toothy grin, Pip started waving at the passing crowds like a local celebrity and shouted.
"Oi! Look at me! I'm going to the Temple."
William recoiled from the window as if he'd been burned, burying his face in his hand. The last thing he wanted was to be lumped in with the 'Country Bumpkins' by the locals watching from the sidewalk.
Down on the street, some kids waved back, looking puzzled.
William shot a glance at the boy, his brow furrowed in genuine concern.
'Is he for real right now?'
"Sit down, Pip, you idiot," his friend groaned, yanking him back into his seat by his tunic, he looked at others with an apologetic expression.
"You're getting spit all over the window. And get over yourself, they aren't waving at you."
"Eh?" Pip blinked, his face falling into a look of total bewilderment. He started mumbling something under his breath, but the words were lost to the rattle of the carriage wheels. William didn't bother with him; he was just relieved the shouting had stopped.
That's when the girl decided to jump into the conversation.
"Hey, do you really think the Temple is as big as they say?" she asked, sneaking a hopeful glance in William's direction.
'Oh, it's huge. Honestly, it's like a small city on its own,' William thought. But he wasn't in the mood to play tour guide.
He stayed silent, staring out the window and letting his own thoughts about the Temple's scale take over while hearing from others.
"It's way bigger!" Pip replied proudly, his chest swelling as if he'd built it himself.
"My uncle is a mason, you know? He told me you could wander for three days and never find the same hallway!"
The girl's eyes widened.
"Seriously? I heard it has its own shops and a whole inner city! With shops and everything?"
William nodded in his mind.
"Aye. They say once you enter as a student, you don't even need to leave for a year. Everything you could ever want is right there inside the white stone walls."
Out of the corner of his eye, William noticed a pair of students whispering about him.
"Is he an Elite? He has to be, right?"
"Shh! He'll hear you. But look at his clothes... that's high-quality wool."
William checked his sleeves, the realization finally hitting him.
'Are they seriously staring at my clothes,' He'd figured 'Old William' was just some fashion-obsessed spendthrift, but even if the locals thought this was luxury, the overall quality felt like a major step down from his original world.
It was kind of a tragedy, he was really broke because of a wardrobe that, in his opinion, wasn't even that comfortable to wear.
"He looks so bored. Is he actually asleep or just faking?"
'Alright, that's it. I'm officially done,' William thought. He had reached a point where the kids' chatter was just background noise, and he didn't have the energy to listen anymore.
He adjusted his position against the seat, closed his eyes, and let the rhythmic swaying of the carriage lull him into a much-needed nap.
It wasn't long before the carriage slowed to a stop at their destination.
'Seriously, teenagers are the worst,' William thought, suppressing a groan. His plan for a nap had been a total failure thanks to the human megaphones sitting next to him.
Every time he'd stirred, they'd tried to pull him back into their conversation but since he lacked even the most basic knowledge about their history or where they were from, he'd been forced to keep his eyes clamped shut and play dead.
The sound of the latch turning was the best thing he'd heard all day.
He exited the coach with a speed that bordered on rude, desperate to put some distance between himself and any further talk of rural traditions.