52 – Realization

Once I managed to shift my focus away from the countless blood scents, I realized they’d covered up the rest of the smell.

Not like I was really surprised that a medieval town would smell bad, but I hadn’t considered the impact of my enhanced nose. It wasn’t unbearable, but I felt a bit like I’d been kicked in the face.

That’s mildly concerning, actually. If someone throws a rotten egg or something at me, will I just be disabled for an indefinite amount of time?

Luckily, my new body afforded me a solution to this same problem. I didn’t need nearly as much air as a normal human. Not that I wanted to go entirely without breathing, my sense of smell was important for navigation. Also, I wasn’t really sure how long I could hold my breath.

When I was sated like right now anyway. If I starved, my bodily functions might be nothing more than a suggestion. The memory of when I’d nearly eaten Mia still lingered.

For now, I took a breath every few minutes. I quickly found that if I focused more on the delicious scent of blood, the rest was easily overpowered. Not entirely absent, but barely more than a hint in the background. This method just had the downside of making me salivate.

My self-control was good enough to handle it. If I ever did come to town while hungry, I would have to be much more careful.

Olfactory issues dealt with, I skulked through the dark streets and alleys. To the best of my knowledge, the town hadn’t been planned in any coherent way. Buildings had just been put up where there was space early on, followed by more around that later.

Most common building material by was – as I’d expected – that same dark wood making up the palisade. Some buildings were part brick, usually the relatively richer ones, but I’d estimate at least ninety percent wood over all. A little bit concerning to consider fire safety.

Approximately in a central position stood the temple. If I didn’t have prior knowledge from Kalin’s memories, I might not have recognized it as such at first glance.

It wasn’t all too tall or imposing, at least compared to most of the churches I’d seen on Earth. Only about two stories tall, with the highest point a small bell tower. Some things apparently transcended religions. The main distinguishing feature – and also main difference to any religious building I was familiar with – was just how colorful it was.

From afar, the building was a blob of various colors. When I focused my eyes on it properly though, I could make out the details. The whole building was covered in countless painted decorations. The more I looked, the more coherent the image appeared.

Various objects, creatures and scenes rendered in many colors. Though they were definitely each separate, they also seemed to fit together flawlessly. Trees framed a field of golden grain, watched over by a silver moon that I could swear was smiling at me. Fires raged, sowing death. Life sprang up in their wake.

All manner of beasts went about their life in woods and fields, even under the ground. Predators hunted, prey fled or fought back. Each was represented with a mixture of grace, beauty and deadly prowess.

People were also present, everything from a humble farmer or industrious blacksmith to a regal knight in shining armor. It was mesmerizing. Every time I turned my eyes, the images shifted to reveal new aspects previously hidden from view.

Hunters bringing down a mighty beast. A pristine mountain stream burbling its way down snowy slopes. Powerful wings carrying a raptor-like bird of prey through the open sky, piercing eyes ever watchful. A crimson-gold sunrise– Ugh!

I clutched my eyes in pain. Even though it was still just as dark as before, my retinas burned like I’d actually stared directly into the sun. When the pain faded a minute later, I risked another glance.

The temple was decorated with countless paintings, as before. But I recognized them as mere paint rather than whatever that just now was. An effect of divine influence maybe? Though it reminded me strongly of the strikingly similar experience I had in the manor’s entrance hall. These decorative scenes had felt just as real as the stag back then.

Different in some undefinable way though. I shook my head to clear it.

At least I hadn’t spent long stuck in that trance. My bat familiar didn’t even notice. This implied it had been at most a few seconds to a minute or so. It certainly felt longer than that. Some weird perception effect probably.

I was secretly glad that sunrise had snapped me out of it. If that image was enough to blind me even in this darkness, I dared not imagine what effect a proper midday sun would have had.

Luckily, the temple wasn’t my goal. I had just seen it from afar and checked it out, since it was a central location. And because I was curious, to be honest. Kalin’s memories didn’t live up to the real thing in the slightest. Which made me wonder why he hadn’t seen this mirage, or whatever it should be called.

Only a few houses away from the building, I could extend my heart sense to confirm priest Tristan was sleeping peacefully. I immediately regretted doing that. The experience was even worse than what had assaulted my nose earlier.

There were hundreds of people around me, not to mention animals. While the normal range of my heart sense might cover a few buildings in each direction at most – less here in the center, where the more affluent people had larger houses – extending the range through focus sounded like I was in the middle of a continuous thunderstorm. Or stuck my head into a raging waterfall.

Massaging the bridge of my nose to try and lessen the sudden headache, I closed myself off as much as I possibly could.

Wandering around semi-randomly was relaxing. The air was already pretty cool, even though winter was still at least a two months off. Combined with a light breeze, I felt refreshed.

Even at night, the town wasn’t entirely quiet. Especially to my ears. Every once in a while I’d pass a house holding a particularly loud snorer for example. Not everyone was asleep either. Quite a few people were awake, usually answering the call of nature.

I even passed the occasional guard patrol, though they were even sparser than at the manor. With only twelve to fifteen men in charge of this whole town at any given time, they mostly had their hands full with manning the watchtowers.

Checking on those towers, there was only a single person in each. Some were even empty, though the lanterns were on anyway. I assumed it was intended to imply more activity than there actually was to an outside observer. Probably a smart idea, though I wondered how well that would work against beasts.

With the array of unfair advantages I had, it wasn’t hard to avoid notice.

A few times I was enticed by an easy opportunity. Anyone alone in their home would be such low effort to feed on. Likewise with whoever was walking around on their own. For the former, it wouldn’t be difficult to break in. I could use the chance to test how well the anesthetic in my saliva worked on sleeping targets. And the latter was a simple influence away from being a meal.

Still, I held myself back. I wasn’t nearly so desperate that I needed to prey on innocent civilians. It would be counter to my resolution not to turn into a monster.

It didn’t take too long to get a basic overview. Near the temple was a large open area I assumed was used as a market square during the day.

Another important location near the center was the guard building. This was the only building I saw whose construction was nearly entirely devoid of wood. The only wood used was for the door and first and second floor window shutters, though even those were further reinforced with metal. No windows were present on the ground floor.

Assessing the rather cube-like building, I got the impression it could also serve as a final holdout in case the town was overrun. Not that there was nearly enough space to house everyone, even though it was definitely too big for the normal garrison size.

I was a bit surprised to learn there were only two people in the entire building. On further reflection, that made a lot of sense. There were only so many guards here in the first place, and these two would probably also be out and about if that wouldn’t leave the building unattended.

There might be a need to beef up my armed forces. Though training proper soldiers will take a while. Maybe I can create an official militia? Hold some weapon drills.

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Ideas like that would have to wait. With winter nearing, every hand was needed to prepare sufficient supplies. Little agriculture was possible, due to the town being penned in on three sides by untamed forest. Still, what arable land there was between here and there – plus some more to the south – was utilized fully.

A considerable part of it was meadows for rearing livestock, but that also needed lots of labor once slaughter came. Hunters were also heading out to bag some more game before it became too risky.

And that was just counting food.

In addition, there was requirements for sufficient firewood, warm clothes and who knew what else.

Pulling able-bodied people away from all these preparation efforts would at best be poorly received and at worst cause people to starve. A problem I could theoretically solve with enough money, but it would be a waste of resources. Not to mention the possibility of merchants being snowed out of coming here, or just refusing due to the danger.

For now, I postponed ideas about a possible militia for early winter. When all the work was done, I’m sure the reception for a paid job would be much better. Especially if it contributed to the safety of everyone’s neighbors and loved ones.

I hoped that by winter I’d be combat-capable enough to help defend the town if necessary, but more backup plans were never a bad thing. If everything went well, I’d just waste some money on making the town slightly safer. But in the event of an emergency, those militia members – even with only a bit of training – might be the difference preventing countless deaths.

Content that I’d grasped the lay of the land, I stopped my random wandering and started my secondary goal for this trip. Finding rats.