After bidding farewell to the woodcutting uncle, Liens walked in the direction he had previously indicated.

Soon, he arrived at a path where the snow had been cleared.

Then, a blurry scene of intertwined houses appeared in his vision.

Under the midday sun, from a distance, it looked as if it was bathed in a faint glow.

Following the path, Liens didn't take long to reach the vicinity of Hughes Town, and at the same time, the number of pedestrians around him increased.

However, when they saw Liens' appearance, they all chose to keep their distance.

This made him too embarrassed to go up and ask about the situation.

As for forcing information with a sword?

He had only just returned to the civilized world and didn't want to become a "savage" again because of such a minor matter.

However, not everyone avoided Liens.

"This... traveler? May I ask what brings you to Hughes Town?"

A man holding a long spear, who looked like a guard, walked up to Liens and asked about his purpose.

Although his gaze was a little wary, there was no hostility.

It was more a sense of caution that arose from Liens' identity as a stranger.

"I am an Adventurer who got lost in the Monster Forest, and after coming out, I met a friendly uncle."

"I wanted to know the location of this place, so that uncle guided me to the town to inquire."

Liens smiled as he answered the man's question.

"An Adventurer, you say... I apologize, but because Hughes Town is quite remote, few people come here, and at this time, very few people choose to travel."

"So, everyone might be a bit wary."

"I hope our behavior doesn't give you a bad impression."

"I am a militia brother of the town. As an apology, if there's anything you want to know, I will do my best to answer you."

"Whether it's about the town's situation or information from outside, I know a bit about both and should be able to answer some simple questions for you."

The militia brother apologized to Liens, hoping Liens wouldn't mind the other villagers' rejection.

"It's fine, no need to be polite, I understand."

Liens immediately went through the "quality three-step" routine, then continued to ask:

"I'd like to know which country this Hughes Town is located in, which territory it belongs to, and what major cities are nearby?"

It was a simple question, so the militia brother answered without much thought:

"We here belong to Neil Kingdom."

"And although Hughes Town is a bit geographically remote, it still falls under the jurisdiction of Dominie Royal Capital."

"As for nearby places that can be considered a major city, there's probably only Colbert."

"I wonder if these answers can resolve your confusion?"

"Neil Kingdom, huh?"

"Thank you for your response... I wonder if I can make some adjustments here?"

Liens pondered for a moment, then said to the militia brother.

Neil Kingdom is a neighboring country of Hartwin Kingdom.

So, after nearly a month of traveling through the Monster Forest, Liens had finally left his original country.

Now, he should be out of the Glenbagen Family's sphere of influence, right?

"Naturally, Hughes Town welcomes any friendly traveler."

The militia brother responded with a smile.

After speaking, he led Liens into the town.

"Hmm? Trouble..."

Liens muttered to himself.

The moment he stepped into the town, he immediately frowned and looked around, observing the surroundings.

"What's wrong?"

The militia brother saw Liens stop and frown, so he asked him curiously.

"Nothing... I just suddenly felt a bit unwell."

"Perhaps I stayed in the Monster Forest for too long and picked up a minor ailment."

Liens relaxed his furrowed brow, revealing a faint smile as he explained to the militia brother.

"There's a doctor in town. Do you need to see him?"

Upon hearing this, the militia brother suggested to Liens.

"No, it's a small problem, it's already better."

Liens shook his head and refused.

Seeing Liens' firm attitude, the militia brother didn't press the matter further.

He and Liens were not related; it was just a suggestion, and if Liens didn't listen, he couldn't say much more.

Subsequently, the militia brother led Liens to the only inn in the town.

According to the militia brother's introduction, this inn was mainly used to host merchant caravans that only came once every quarter, and usually had no business.

His stay added a bit of life to this usually empty inn.

Therefore, there was no need to pay; it was a free stay, as long as he didn't mess up the inn.

However, this was just a place to stay, and some basic services that an inn should have were impossible to provide.

For example, for water, Liens could only find a way to solve it himself.

After seeing off the militia brother, Liens found some ice cubes outside the house, boiled them to melt into water, used it to wash his body, and then lay on the bed and entered the Instance .

...

The scene shifted.

Liens returned to the moment he first stepped into the town.

Stopping, Liens looked around, completely ignoring the militia brother's call, and carefully observed the surrounding situation.

In normal vision, Hughes Town was nothing special.

The houses were low, mostly one or two stories, unlike Kara City, where three or four stories were common.

Even the Inner City had houses that were seven or eight stories high, over twenty meters tall, and also occupied a large area.

However, that was a restaurant, and dining there was very expensive. Th%is% c*op@y co@m-e*s fr%o&m co&nt$e%n#t on **.-

Even if Liens exchanged all the contribution points he earned from "working" for the Glenbagen Family into coins,

It might not be enough to dine there once.

So, he only passed by there at most and never ate inside.

Of course, not having eaten there didn't mean he hadn't been in and out of that restaurant.

Out of curiosity once, he had raided it in an Instance .

To be honest, the impression it left on him was quite deep.

Whether it was the luxurious decoration or the Misses dressed in unusually revealing clothes, they all left a profound impression on him.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have given Barton's Slave Exchange the evaluation of being decorated like a "high-end club."

Because that evaluation was based on that restaurant.

He never had the chance to enter similar places in his previous life.

Back to the main topic.

Although Hughes Town had no problems in normal vision, in elemental vision, the problems were significant.

The moment he stepped in, Liens noticed the abnormal distribution of elements within the town.

They were distributed too regularly; the vast majority of elements in each area were the same element.

This did not conform to the normal distribution of elements at all.

Under normal circumstances, they are all mixed together; there's no such clear distinction.

Therefore, Liens almost immediately noticed that something was wrong.

Moreover, the crucial point was that he hadn't noticed this abnormality at all before walking in.

From the outside, it looked like a normal elemental distribution.

Based on the current situation, he estimated that he had probably fallen into some kind of magical ritual.

And it was a large-scale ritual, town-sized.

Knowledge related to "magical rituals" was also recorded in Lucrezia's notebook.

'Thanks again, Lucrezia, for making me no longer "illiterate" in the supernatural realm.'