Sudah beberapa jam sejak mereka berangkat, dan meski sesekali memperlambat langkah untuk mengumpulkan biji atau akar beberapa tanaman yang menurut Lex punya kegunaan menarik, keduanya tetap mencapai kemajuan yang cukup baik. Lex berjalan dengan jogging ringan agar staminanya tak cepat habis, tapi kecepatan perjalanan mereka tetap bertambah. Bahkan, sebuah kota sudah terlihat di kejauhan, tempat di mana Lex bisa membeli sepeda. Soal pembayaran... Lex malu mengaku bahwa ia harus meminjam uang dari Tiffany, karena ia sama sekali tak tahu mata uang apa yang berlaku di dunia ini. Untungnya, gadis kecil itu sudah memastikan bahwa ia bisa membelinya.
Kota itu sangat berbeda dari dugaan Lex. Yang paling mencolok, kota itu sangat bersih—suatu pencapaian luar biasa mengingat teknologi mereka yang terbatas. Bahkan banyak bagian Manhattan pun tak sebersih kota ini kelihatannya. Tak ada sampah di mana pun di tanah, jalan-jalan dibuat dari batu, dan bangunan-bangunannya dari bata yang tampak sangat besar. Tapi meski kawasan itu tampak terurbanisasi, alam tetap mendominasi, dengan pohon buah setiap belasan meter dan taman yang rapi dan terpangkas tepat di sisi jalan. Orang-orang semuanya mengenakan tunik dan gaun katun, dan berjalan menjalankan urusan masing-masing. Andai Lex tak melihat sesekali Beast raksasa berjalan santai di jalan, ia nyaris mengira ini Bumi.
Meski menarik, Lex tak mau membuang waktu untuk mengagumi kota itu. Mereka berdua menemukan pasar dan membeli sepeda. Saat pembayaran, alih-alih membayar, Tiffany mengeluarkan medali bertuliskan Kuil Timur. Pria itu sangat terkejut dan gembira saat melihat medali tersebut, lalu mengganti sepeda pilihan Lex dengan yang terbaik yang ia jual, tanpa biaya sama sekali. Lex ingin langsung berangkat, tapi Tiffany bersikeras mereka mampir makan dulu. Lex mencoba menolak, tapi siapa yang bisa memenangkan argumen melawan seseorang semuda itu?
Mereka masuk ke restoran yang bisa dikatakan mewah dan memesan sup sayur serta beberapa buah. Dari pengamatan Lex, semua orang makan sayur atau buah, dan tak ada daging terlihat di mana pun. Masuk akal—tanpa domestikasi, sumber daging yang stabil akan sangat sulit ditemukan. Mereka makan sambil mengobrol, mengabaikan tatapan aneh yang ditujukan pada pakaian Lex, seperti yang sudah mereka duga.
"Jadi, apakah token dari kuil itu membuatmu bisa membeli apa saja?"
"Tentu saja! Kuil menjalankan kehendak Pelindung Agung, dan semua yang ada di Bangsa Merah secara alami milik Pelindung Agung. Jadi bukannya aku tak membayar mereka, melainkan mereka hanya mengembalikan kepadaku harta milik Pelindung Agung. Tapi tentu saja, aku tak bisa memakai token ini untuk mengambil apa pun sesuka hatiku. Lagipula, itu bahkan bukan milikku, melainkan milik Pastor Henry."
Tiffany tampak sama sekali tak masalah membicarakan pendeta Pastor Henry, dan itu menurut Lex agak janggal. Pria itulah yang membesarkan Tiffany dan kini diculik orang-orang tak dikenal—bukankah ia seharusnya lebih cemas?
"Oh iya, soal Pastor Henry, kau tahu kenapa orang-orang itu memburunya? Bahkan andai mereka ingin menyakiti Pelindung Agung, aku tak bisa membayangkan segelintir manusia mampu menyakitinya."
"Aku tidak tahu," jawabnya sambil menggigit sesuatu yang tampak seperti apel ungu. "Tapi mereka pasti bekerja untuk Beast lain. Meski begitu, mereka tak bisa menyakiti Pastor Henry. Dia sudah ditandai oleh Pelindung Agung; kalau dia mati, Pelindung Agung akan langsung mengetahuinya."
Itu menjelaskan kenapa gadis itu begitu santai.
"Sudahlah. Kau tahu jalannya ke ibu kota? Atau butuh berapa lama sampai ke sana? Kita perlu merencanakan waktu perjalanan dengan tepat."
"Sebenarnya, kita tidak perlu sampai ke ibu kota. Itu butuh hampir sebulan, bahkan lebih! Kita hanya perlu pergi ke Kota Power, yang hanya beberapa hari dari sini. Dari sana kita bisa menyuruh surat itu dikirim langsung ke Kuil di ibu kota."
"Dan kau tahu jalannya ke Kota Power?"
"Tentu, aku tahu segalanya!" katanya dengan wajah penuh kebanggaan. Kalau saja tak ada sisa buah menempel tepat di atas bibirnya, itu mungkin terlihat mengesankan.
"Kalau begitu, jangan buang waktu lagi," kata Lex sambil berdiri. "Semakin lama kita menunda, semakin besar kemungkinan terjadi masalah. Kita harus bergegas."
Tiffany si pelahap kecil tampak enggan meninggalkan restoran, tapi akhirnya mengikuti Lex. Lex naik ke sepeda dan Tiffany memanjat ke kursi kecil tambahan di belakang, dan akhirnya mereka berangkat. Jalan di luar kota kembali menjadi jalan tanah, tapi Lex terkesan karena jalan itu rata dan seragam sepanjang lintasannya, tanpa gundukan ataupun lubang. Ia bertanya-tanya siapa yang merawat jalan-jalan itu, tapi itu cuma pikiran sekilas. Tak ada papan penunjuk di mana pun, tapi Tiffany memberinya arahan kapan pun dibutuhkan, dan sungguh tampak tahu ke mana mereka menuju.
Lex menjaga kecepatan stabil agar tak lelah, tapi mereka sudah jauh lebih cepat daripada saat ia jogging. Setelah beberapa jam, lahan pertanian tak lagi terlihat dan pemandangan dipenuhi perbukitan hijau yang perlahan tampak semakin kecil. Di kejauhan, Lex bisa melihat hutan yang membentang sampai cakrawala. Tempat ini benar-benar kaya vegetasi, dan itu membuatnya semakin yakin dengan dugaannya bahwa Alpha Binatang negeri ini sebenarnya bukan Beast, melainkan tumbuhan roh. Ia bertanya-tanya, bisakah ia mendapatkan biji atau steknya...
Tiba-tiba Lex merasakan bulu kuduknya berdiri di sekujur tubuh dan tubuhnya menegang, seolah merasakan bahaya. Ia melihat sekeliling mencari sumber kegelisahannya, tapi tak perlu menunggu lama. Beberapa jarak di
It had been a few hours since they left and despite slowing down occasionally to collect seeds or roots of some plants Lex thought had interesting uses, the duo had made good progress. Lex was traveling at a light jog so as to not exhaust his stamina, but speed up their journey. In fact, they were already in sight of a town from where Lex would be able to purchase a bicycle. As for how to make the payment…Lex was embarrassed to admit that he would have to borrow money from Tiffany, as he had no idea what kind of currency worked in this world. Fortunately the little girl had already assured him that she would be able to buy it.
The town was very different from what Lex was expecting. Most noticeably, it was extremely clean which was a great feat considering their limited technology. Even a lot of Manhattan wasn’t as clean as this town appeared to be. There was no trash anywhere on the ground, the roads and streets were made of stone and the buildings made out of what looked like extremely large bricks. But despite the apparent urbanization of the area, nature was also dominant in the city, with fruit trees every dozen or so feet and neat, trimmed gardens right beside the roads. The people were all dressed in cotton tunics and dresses, and moved about their way normally. If Lex didn’t see the occasional giant Beast strolling the streets he could practically mistake it for Earth.
Still, as fascinating as it was, Lex didn’t want to waste time admiring the town. The two found their way to the market and bought themselves a cycle. When it was time for payment, instead of paying Tiffany took out a medallion with the words Eastern Temple written on it. The man was incomparably excited when he saw the medallion, and replaced the cycle Lex had gotten with the best one he sold for no cost at all. Lex wanted to depart immediately but Tiffany insisted that they stop to eat. Lex tried to insist but who could win an argument against someone so young?
They entered what could be considered a lavish restaurant and ordered a vegetable soup and some fruit. Based on what Lex saw everyone was eating vegetables or fruit, with no meat to be seen anywhere. It made sense, with no domestication a stable meat source would be incredibly difficult to find. The two ate while chatting, ignoring all the strange looks Lex’s attire was attracting as they had anticipated it. .
“So does the token from the temple let you buy whatever you want?”
“Of course! The temple enacts the will of the Lord Protector, and everything in Red Nation naturally belongs to the Lord Protector. So it is not that I am not paying them, but rather they are just returning to me the property of the Lord Protector. But of course, I can’t use the token to just take whatever I want. In the first place, it’s not even mine, it’s Father Henrys.”
Tiffany seemed completely fine talking about the priest Father Henry, which Lex thought was slightly unusual. He was the man that raised Tiffany and had been captured by unknown people, shouldn’t she be more concerned?
“Speaking of Father Henry, do you know why those people went after him? Even if they want to hurt the Lord Protector, I can’t imagine some humans being able to hurt him.”
“I don’t know,” she said, taking a bite out of what looked like a purple apple. “But they must be working for some other Beast. But even so, they can’t hurt Father Henry. He’s been marked by the Lord Protector, if he dies then the Lord Protector will know immediately.”
That explained why she was so relaxed.
“Anyway, do you know the way to the Capital? Or how long it will take to get there? We need to plan our travel time accordingly.”
“Actually, we don’t really need to go all the way to the capital. That would take almost a month, or even more! We just need to travel to the Power city, which is just a few days away. From there we can have the letter sent to the Temple in the capital directly.”
“And do you know the way to Power city?”
“Naturally, I know everything!” she said, with pride painted on her face. If she didn’t have bits of fruit stuck right above her lips it might have even seemed impressive.
“Then let’s stop wasting time,” Lex said getting up. “The longer we delay, the greater there is a chance of something going wrong. We should hurry up.”
Tiffany, the little glutton, seemed reluctant to leave the restaurant but ultimately followed Lex. Lex got on the cycle and Tiffany climbed on the small, extra seat attached behind and they finally departed. The road once outside the town was once again a dirt road, but Lex was impressed by the fact that it was leveled and uniform all the way, with no bumps or potholes. He wondered who maintained the roads, but it was just a passing thought. There were no signs anywhere but Tiffany gave him directions whenever they were needed, and truly did seem to know where they were going.
Lex maintained an even pace so that he would not get tired, but they were already much faster than when he was jogging. After a few hours they stopped encountering farms and the scenery was filled with verdant hills that were slowly becoming smaller. In the distance Lex could see a forest that seemed to reach out into the horizon. This place really did have a lot of vegetation, which made him more sure of his conjecture that the Beast Alpha of this country was not actually a Beast but a Spirit Plant. He wondered if he could get a seed or a cutting…
Suddenly Lex felt goosebumps all over his body and his body stiffened, as if sensing danger. He looked around to locate the source of his unease, but did not need to look for long. Some distance behind them Lex saw a lone, brown colored wolf standing in the middle or the road staring at them. The distance made it hard to tell but Lex felt like the wolf was at least five feet in height, which would make it the largest canine he had ever seen.
Tiffany noticed him staring at the wolf and tried to reassure him, “don’t worry. As long as we’re on the road no beast will attack humans, not to mention I have the token of the Temple. It will be able to sense the aura of the Lord Protector on it and…” before Tiffany could finish the wolf looked up into the sky and let out a loud, savage howl. A tide of wolves emerged from the trees behind it and surged towards the duo.
“Hold on!” Lex roared, and started cycling at full speed. Tiffany was extremely frightened and was hugging his back tightly. Lex also felt fear, but he also felt excitement and exhilaration. Last time with the zombies he was caught unprepared, but this time he was ready for trouble.
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