Chapter 4: The town of Cornelia

"Welcome to Cornelia, the city of dreams!"

After a brief chat, the villager in the green robe, whose name I soon learned was Jonathan, led me to a big, hustling town that was built at the foot of the mountain side I had surfaced from. 'That cave system spanned from one side of the mountain to the other?! No wonder it felt like I was down there for days!'

Brushing off that thought, it came to my attention that Cornelia was primarily composed of small, one storey wooden houses, not too different from mine.

A few buildings, however, had more special architecture. Some that caught my eye was a tall tower made of cobblestone, a wide cobblestone building that had a couple of furnaces and cauldrons adorning its porch, a wooden, two storey building with a balcony and finally, a large, cobblestone building with a wooden, V-shaped roof.

In all, it seemed like a well maintained and somewhat cozy town, despite its large size.

"What do you think, Sir Steve? You seem a little spaced out."

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Sorry, It's just that, I've never seen anything like this before."

"Natural! After all, Cornelia is the biggest city in an area of more than five thousand blocks!

'Does that mean that here are other cities?'

Before I could voice my question, Jonathan asked me to follow him to a downtown restaurant, so that he could introduce me to the locals.

I didn't really know what to make of all this. This Jonathan fellow sounded friendly and all, but suddenly meeting someone I could actually talk with was quite the sudden shift from fending off the undead. I guess this made me feel a bit on edge.

We soon reached that two storey building I had noticed earlier. Turns out, it was an inn with a well-lit tavern on the first floor. It had an open, breezy atmosphere. Inside, a bunch of townsfolk were dining and having a chat with eachother, until Jonathan called out to them.

"Greetings, folks! Look at what I stumbled upon!"

Upon hearing his voice, the townsfolk turned their gaze towards us. To my surprise, outfits aside, they all looked identical to eachother and Johnathan! And they were all looking at me, too! As we were walking towards a table for two near the center of the tavern, a few people began voicing their thoughts.

"Hmm, Johnathan! I can't believe we found another adventurer!", one of them said gleefully. They were wearing a straw hat.

"Hmm, don't tell me that he's gonna stay here, too?", another asked in a distrustful tone. They were wearing a black apron.

" Hmm, can you fend off the bad guys?", a smaller villager in brown clothes asked me.

"Guys, maybe we should give him some space first.", Johnathan chimed in, noticing the discomfort painted in my face. I wasn't used to getting this much attention, and by this many strangers no less...

"This man is named Steve, and as you correcty guessed, he's an adventurer! He can craft, mine and fight!"

A few 'woah's' resonated from the 'audience'. I guess that was the criteria for being classified as an adventurer?

After a while, someone who I could only assume was a waiter, walked up to us. Johnathan insisted on treating me with some rabbit stew and two pieces of bread, while he settled for some beetroot stew. It was the first time I had eaten rabbit stew, and it was delicious. All the while, the tavern was buzzing. After I thanked him for the treat and finished my meal, he turned to me.

"So...", he began.

"Do you have anywhere you need to be right now, Sir Steve? If you don't mind me asking, of course."

" Why?"

" Well, I was just thinking that, maybe you could stay in Cornelia for a few days. You traveled quite a distance from your home, after all. You can sleep here, at the inn!"

The tavern fell silent.

I had to admit, the idea was intriguing. It was about mid-day, so going back home at that moment was a bit risky. I'd probably not make it in time before the night would fall. However...

"I don't know, I have to go back home and store my loot. And besides, I don't even know what I did to deserve such hospitality."

"Perhaps I wasn't being transparent enough...

The truth is, we need someone to protect the village now that our protectors are gone. You are an adventurer! You are the only person who can protect our town from hostile mobs! You are the only one who can craft and wield weapons!"

"..."

"Please, sir Steve. If you protect us, even for a short while, we'll be eternally grateful. We'll even let you stay for free for as long as it takes."

Before I could respond, a villager in a white cloak cut me off.

"Hmm, excuse me Johnathan, but are you sure it's a wise idea to accept a stranger in our town? He may be an adventurer, but just because the previous one had good inttentions, that doesn't mean that he has too."

"I know that,", Johnathan replied sternly. "but we don't have a choice! Miss Rana still hasn't returned and we can't contruct iron guardians! Sir Steve is our best possible option if we want to survive the zombies!" The villager in white remained silent.

I felt overwhelmed with all that information. However, the desperation in Johnathan's voice and the worried look in the people's eyes, told me that they were in quite the dillema. And besides, this was the first time in this world where I was with people I could converse with. And most of them were pretty welcoming to strangers, too. Taking all that into account, I started talking.

" Alright. I'll stay for a few days. I can't really tell for how many, but if you guys need someone to keep the village safe from monsters, then I can help out for a bit."

"You'd really do that for us?"

"Yes."

"Sir Steve, thank you so much. Our inkeeper will provide you a spare room, so that you may rest for as long as you plan on staying. Since today is your first day in Cornelia, your duties as a protector won't start until tomorrow night. You'll be given the details then."

"Thank you."

After wrapping up, a room was booked for me. The inkeeper gave me a stone button, explaing that placing it near the iron door that led to my room, would open it. After following their instructions, I was greeted by the sight of what would be my room for the forseeable future. It was quite a bit more cramped than the room back in my house, but still had just enough space for a bed with orange, wooly covers, a chest and a crafting table.

It was getting late. As I layed down in my bed, the exhaustion I had built up, rushed through me. As today's events replayed in my mind, I began second guessing. 'Will I really be able to protect this town? How long will I be doing this for? Will there be a point were my life will be at risk again? Sure, it wouldn't be the first time, but how many times will I be able to escape death's narrow grasp for?'

'...'

'It's fine. At least I'll be able to gain more levels this way. And, maybe I'll have the opportunity to put my crafting and building skills into good use! And more importantly...

At least I'm not alone in this world anymore.'

With that thought, I felt comforted and soon, I drifted into unconciousness.