Staring at the pool of water below me, I saw my reflection, causing me to shiver as some shbacks emerged in my head.


    Regaining myposure, I looked towards the side of the pool of water and saw the same vige my crow had been watching earlier.


    Maybe this weird vige had some clues...?


    De-manifesting the tentacles, I narrowly avoided the water by using a dash-mid air andnding on the edge of the pool.


    Picking myself off the ground, I walked towards the vige, which had a fence surrounding it and only one entrance, arge gate.


    Seeing children run out of the gate withrge wooden buckets and approach the pool of water, I considered asking for directions before continuing.


    They probably wouldn''t know much, so it would be better to ask one of the adults.


    ...And it would also be suspicious and weird if some guy randomly showed up in your vige in the middle of a forest and started asking your children for directions.


    Passing by the children, who either didn''t see me or ignored me, I neared the vige gate and stopped for a second.


    Peering through the gate, I saw that beside the huts, there were also some trees that had been remodeled to create tree-house-like structures.


    Seeing them using fire to cook the dead animals and squish berries using their hands, I could easily tell that they weren''t very... advanced.


    With a stove and knives, they could do all of that in less than a minute!


    Then, again, there was probably a reason they chose to live in the middle of some forest instead of some urban town.


    Awkwardly waiting by the gate, I waited by the gate for an adult toe out, but after a couple of minutes, only kids continueding back out.


    Peering back through the gate but still not entering, I saw the adults still cooking the animals and slicing the berries.


    "damn... can they hurry up already?"


    As I considered just going through the gate and walking up to one of them, another batch of kids left through the gate with the same wooden buckets in their hands.


    "...how much water do they need???"


    Well... I guess I can just ask one of the children to fetch an adult at this point.


    Watching the children gather the water in their buckets and carefully lug the bucket back to the gate, I leaned against the fence and attempted to put on my friendliest expression.


    As the children approached the gate, I leaned down a bit and waited.


    Seeing one of the children about to walk right past me and into the town, I crouched down to his height and said.


    "Could you please fetch one of the adults inside? I need to talk with one of them as soon as possible."


    "..."


    However, the childpletely ignored my words, walking right through the care without even acknowledging my existence.


    Tempted to look at my expression through my reflection in the pool of water, I sighed.


    "Was I really that unfriendly that a kid hates me...?"


    Well, there''s always a next time.


    Making me smile slightly wider, I waited for the next child to approach the gate before again leaning down and asking.


    "Hello! Can you, by any chance, ask one of the elders toe out and help me?"


    "..."


    Completely ignoring me, the child walked straight past and through the gate before setting down his bucket of water.


    ...no, this isn''t my fault!


    They must have good parents who told their children, "Don''t talk to strangers! Stranger, Danger!"


    They must have really good parents to be ignoring me, a stranger, so intently and confidently!


    Finally deciding to enter the vige, I stepped forward and in front of the gate, but at that moment, another batch of children appeared.


    Surely, they can''t ignore me if I''m right in front of them, right...?


    Standing in front of them, I was about to ask the same question when I paused mid-sentence.


    The two children who had ignored me from earlier were back with another bucket...?


    Then, before I could say anything, the children simply walked forward, forcing me to step out of their way.


    Like robots, the children walked down to the pool of water, filled up their buckets, and then immediately returned.


    This time, I simply watched them and carefully memorized the faces of all of them for next time.


    Then, a momentter, another batch of children emerged... but they were all the same children as thest batch.


    Peering inside the vige through the gate after the batch of children left, I noticed that the adults were still cooking their meat and slicing the berries.


    Something was wrong...


    As the batch of children entered the town with their buckets, I stepped right in front of the gate.


    A momentter, the same children reappeared, but this time, I didn''t move out of the way and continued blocking the gate.


    The leader of the children hesitated and looked at me for a moment before stepping to the front and asking.


    "Who are you, and what do you need?"


    "I am an adventurer; I require one of the adults to speak to."


    Staring at me for a second, the leader stepped back and gestured for the rest of the children to follow.


    Still standing in front of the gate, I watched the children walk into a nearby hut with the same empty buckets in their hands.


    But... then a moment, the same children reappeared in front of me with the same empty buckets and no adult.


    The hut door hadn''t opened...had they gone out the backdoor or something?


    And why hadn''t they brought one of the adults like I asked?


    Blocking their way once again, I looked at the group of children with a confused expression and raised my hand.


    Staring at me with the same expression asst time, the children''s leader stepped up and asked.


    "Who are you, and what do you need?"