Iberia, outside the Sea Breeze Village.
A dilapidated fishing village, rarely visited by rchants due to the ban on seafaring, found itself hosting two foreign visitors today.
More precisely—two Ægir.
Perhaps it had been too long since the villagers had seen outsiders, but the arrival of these two brought a breath of fresh air to the otherwise decayed and ruined settlent. Before long, a small crowd of over a dozen villagers had gathered to spectate.
The visitors, of course, were none other than Steven, carrying Gladiia, who had spent half the day searching for signs of civilization along the shoreline.
"Uh... Can you all stop staring? Is there a place where we can rest? My friend is injured."
Steven felt uncomfortable under the curious yet slightly fearful gazes of the villagers and decided to break the eerie silence.
Honestly, compared to himself, these villagers—with their strange animal ears and tails—were the real oddities here.
Cat ears? Dog ears?—Sure, those were cute when attached to a pretty girl.
But seeing an elderly man, halfway into his grave, still sporting animal features?
Steven had no idea how to react.
What kind of furry-loving admin created this world?
"Outsiders are not welco here."
A hoarse, elderly voice erged from the crowd.
Supported by a few younger, sturdier villagers, a frail-looking old man stepped forward, imdiately rejecting Steven.
Judging by the respectful yet fearful glances from the other villagers, it was clear that this old man held high status in the village.
However, the bird-feather-like headdress atop his head nearly made Steven burst out laughing.
What was this? So kind of Native Arican tribe?
"Not even if I pay? I just need a place to rest—nothing more."
Steven didn't mind spending the night in the wilderness, but with Gladiia unconscious, he preferred to stay in the village if possible.
After defeating the Seaborn Elite, Gladiia had fallen into a deep coma.
With no dical supplies on him, Steven could only hope to buy so provisions in the village.
As for money...
He reached into his pocket—or at least pretended to—while actually opening his inventory and retrieving a gold ingot, then breaking it down into gold nuggets.
Then, Steven pulled out one gold nugget, roughly the size of a pigeon egg, radiating a brilliant golden glow.
Even if this was another world, gold should still hold so value, right?
Steven wasn't entirely sure which ga or fantasy setting this world was based on, but he trusted that no one would refuse gold.
And sure enough—
The old man's eyes flashed with greed the mont he saw the gold nugget.
Steven recognized that look.
It was the sa expression Minecraft villagers gave him when he waved eralds in front of them.
"Guest, this isn't about money—"
"Three pieces."
"Karl! Clear out the village chief's room! Prepare it for our most esteed guest!"
Grabbing the pigeon-egg-sized gold nugget from Steven's hand, the old man felt its heavy weight, confirming that it was indeed the precious tal loved by nobles.
His withered, bark-like face stretched into a sycophantic smile.
With just three pieces of this gold, they could trade for enough grain to sustain the entire village for months.
For Sea Breeze Village, struggling without a stable source of inco, this was nothing short of a lifesaving fortune.
As for the fact that both of these outsiders belonged to the troubleso Ægir race, well—compared to the gold in hand, that was hardly a concern.
The tense, standoff-like atmosphere dissolved instantly.
Steven had to admit—money really could solve most problems. It wasn't all-powerful, but damn, was it useful.
Of course, that was only true as long as you were the one holding the money.
Noticing the undisguised greed in the eyes of so villagers scattered among the crowd, Steven casually rested his hand on the Netherite Sword at his waist and chuckled softly.
Hopefully, this blade, crafted specifically for dealing with corrupt rchants and troublemakers, wouldn't have to see any use.
Under the elder's guidance, Steven carried the still-unconscious Gladiia through the village.
The village was in a state of severe disrepair.
Most of the villagers were emaciated, standing weakly in their doorways, gazing lifelessly at the sky.
To Steven, this didn't feel like a village.
It felt like a slum suffering from famine.
Even the poorest villages he'd seen before had never been this bad. Here, every single person seed to be shrouded in a sense of impending death.
Not in so magical, necromantic way.
But in a way that happens when people lose all hope, when they no longer have any reason to keep living.
"Elder?"
"You may call Chief Pande."
Hearing Steven call out, the old man, who had been leading the way with his cane, turned back with a polite smile.
"Do you require any assistance? I will ask the villagers to help however they can."
"Not really. I was just wondering… It's the middle of the day. Doesn't anyone here have work to do?"
Steven wasn't trying to sound like a capitalist overlord.
But from the mont he entered, he had only seen a village full of idle, lifeless people.
They didn't even seem human anymore.
More like a gathering of corpses just waiting for death to claim them.
No matter how poor a village was, it shouldn't be this bad.
Steven was growing more and more curious about what kind of world he had traveled into.
The ocean was filled with grotesque monsters.
The villagers were as good as dead inside.
From the very start, this world felt dood.
Did he end up in Bloodborne?
"Work?"
The elder paused for a mont before letting out a bitter chuckle.
"Guest, you are not from Iberia, are you? Otherwise, you wouldn't ask such a naive question."
To work, they would first need a reason to work.
But after that disaster, Sea Breeze Village could no longer harvest anything from the sea.
So, what was there left to do?
Over the years, so had tried to change things, but in the end…
All they could do was watch their village wither away, bit by bit.
The fact that Sea Breeze Village still even existed today had already co at a heavy cost.
"In any case, this will be your lodging for now."
The elder led Steven to a relatively clean guesthouse.
Without explaining any further, he simply gave a solemn warning:
"If you need anything, call for . But I strongly advise you—avoid walking around the village too much. And do not… try to learn too much."
Leaving those cryptic words, the elder turned and walked away.
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