[Chapter 2 A Passing Archaeologist]

“Do you know English?”

“It seems like you suddenly know it…” David was also wondering. He tried to think about it and found that he could easily use English knowledge, almost the same as when he thought in his native language.

This was definitely not his previous English level, but more like he suddenly acquired English knowledge.

It seemed incredible, but David, as a time traveler, didn’t think it was strange. He had experienced all kinds of brain-opening bombardments in his previous life, and he immediately understood what was going on: the gold finger arrived!

Looking at Crawford who suddenly appeared in front of him, he had already guessed what his gold finger was.

Although the gold finger came a little late and made him wait for so many years, it was better than nothing!

But why did it appear at this time? Have you changed much recently?

Did you wait until you were eighteen to open it? David joined the pioneering team at the age of sixteen and stayed in this remote place for two years. He just turned eighteen this year.

In addition, the biggest change is his identity – from an ordinary person to the village chief.

In connection with the sudden appearance of Crawford and the ability of “British English” that should have been obtained from Crawford, he tends to the latter possibility.

Time travel! Although it was someone else who traveled through time to find him, this was not unusual.

In his previous life, he had seen many people who opened shops, hotels, and clinics attract the imagination of all kinds of travelers. So, since he became the village chief, it was not unusual for travelers to appear in his territory.

It was not difficult to judge whether his guess was correct. He could see if there would be any “familiar people” who would suddenly appear.

“In this case, I have to keep doing my job as the village chief!”

David thought to himself and looked at Crawford again. The other person’s face was full of doubt.

This was normal. No one would believe what the other person said “suddenly it happened” immediately. Moreover, Crawford had just experienced a shipwreck, was knocked unconscious, kidnapped, and hung in a cave. He would definitely be wary of strangers.

“Although it sounds incredible, what I said is true.” David could only use a serious expression to emphasize that he was not lying.

Crawford looked at David seriously, and was finally convinced by David’s overflowing sense of justice, and decided to believe his lies: “Okay… Then, can you tell me where this is? Who are you?” After

treating her wounds, Crawford felt much more comfortable. Although she was still a little weak, she was no longer as uncomfortable as before.

Until this time, she had the mind to pay attention to other questions: Where is this place? How did she get here? How can she meet up with her companions?

When she was talking to David just now, she looked carefully at the surrounding environment.

No matter how you look at it, this is a plain. How did she run from the mountain to here in the blink of an eye? And the huge changes in the climate made her very confused.

“This is the pioneer camp located in the northwest of the northern plains of the Iron Tree Forest. I am David, the village chief here.”

“Hello, David, I am Crawford, an archaeologist. I was separated from my companions in a shipwreck and accidentally came here.” Crawford thought this was a very common place name, and the northern plains were even more common: “Where is the Iron Tree Forest?”

“The Iron Tree Forest is located northwest of the Iron Tree Castle, and the Iron Tree Castle is the most important town in the north of the Kingdom of Tilan.”

“Iron Tree Castle? The Kingdom of Tilan? Where is the Kingdom of Tilan?”

David looked at Crawford who was full of doubts and continued to tell him what he knew: The Kingdom of Tilan is a human kingdom located in the north of the continent.

The place where they are now is a plain area further north than the Iron Tree Castle, an important town in the north of the Kingdom of Tilan. Because of the obstruction of the Tilan Mountains and the elves living in the Iron Tree Forest and having a very bad relationship with the humans of the Kingdom of Tilan, the Kingdom of Tilan has not been able to occupy this vast plain area until the pioneer team formed two years ago came here.

David is one of the three newly established pioneer camps that want to cultivate this land. If everything goes well, it should develop into a new village and incorporate this land into the territory of the Kingdom of Tiran.

“???”

As David told the story, Crawford’s head was filled with question marks, as if she was about to be completely drowned, but she always resisted the urge to interrupt David’s story until David finished telling the general situation and then said, “You were actually telling a story just now, right?”

“No.” David spread his hands and put on a serious face, indicating that what he said was true.

“How is this possible?”

If David’s description is true, it means that Crawford has come to another world in a daze. Although David’s description is very rough, from the distance that the pioneer team walked after leaving Iron Tree Castle in David’s words, it can be known that this is definitely not a small island.

“…” Crawford opened her mouth, completely unsure of how to describe the current situation, and was silent for a long time, until the hunger in her stomach brought her back to her senses: “This is really… hard to believe.”

She asked more about the local customs and learned some of the cultural customs of this world. She also learned that this world existed mysterious powers and races like those in fantasy stories. Then she began to accept the fact that she had really come to another world.

At this point, Crawford suddenly thought of another question: “Don’t the questions I asked make you feel strange?”

“No.” David had enough time to think of a suitable explanation: “The way you appeared made me realize that your origin must be very special.”

After describing Crawford’s strange state when she appeared, Crawford now understood why David was so calm, because the other party did not regard her as an “ordinary person” from the beginning.

“So that’s how it is.”

Crawford, who had solved all the doubts, felt a slight headache: Can she go back? Although this world is magical and makes her full of interest in adventure. But

now is not a good time for adventure. She is very worried about her companions. They just encountered a shipwreck. She doesn’t know what everyone is like at the moment? Can they escape the disaster safely?

Crawford was full of worries and didn’t notice that David cooked broth for Crawford’s dinner during her silence. She didn’t come to her senses until the steaming broth was handed to her.

“Thank you!” Looking at the bowl of fragrant broth in his hand, Crawford sincerely thanked David: “Fortunately I met you.”

“You’re welcome.”

David gave Crawford a bright smile in return. He was in a good mood now. After all, Crawford’s appearance meant that he had a golden finger and the motivation to continue working hard in this place.

What’s more, Crawford herself was a beautiful woman with both good looks and good figure – how could a normal person not want to look at a beautiful woman?

Crawford, who quickly finished a bowl of broth, noticed that David next to her was just standing by and watching her, and suddenly felt a little embarrassed: “Aren’t you going to eat?”

After asking, she remembered that David had introduced the situation of this camp before: David was the only one, and supplies were scarce: “Is there not enough food?”

“No, I just finished eating before you came.” David explained: “I was lucky. I hunted a deer during the day.”

“That’s good.” After making sure that she didn’t eat the other party’s limited food, Crawford’s worries were relieved a little, and then she asked about the environment around the village.

She wanted to confirm whether there was anything special near the village, otherwise how could she suddenly come here? Maybe if he finds the source of that mysterious power, he can go back.

David guessed what Crawford was thinking, but he didn’t tell him that the so-called mysterious power might be himself. Instead, he introduced the surrounding environment directly: to the west of the village is a vast river, and its source should be the mountain that can be vaguely seen to the north.

The river flows from north to south, and then turns west to the west of their village. At the same time, there is another river that flows from south to north and is much narrower.

The reason why this place was chosen as the camp was that it was the turning point and intersection of the river. There was enough fresh water here, and there were a lot of fish, shrimp and other aquatic products in the river.

The forest in the north was another reason. It could provide a lot of high-quality wood. In addition, the terrain was flat, and the east and south directions were basically plains, which was very suitable for reclaiming farmland.

No matter how you look at it, this is a good choice, but what I didn’t expect was that the subsequent progress was far from what I expected.

Listening to David’s description, Crawford couldn’t hear anything magical or special: “Haven’t you encountered anything special in the past two years?”

“The most special thing is your appearance.”

Crawford felt very helpless after hearing David’s answer. It seemed that she had to think in a different direction.

“Have a good rest! Even if you want to do something, you have to wait until tomorrow morning.” As they chatted, the sky had turned dim, and David needed to prepare for the coming night.

Except for the wooden house used as a warehouse and kitchen, the other three wooden houses have the same structure and layout: a large house with a place to make a fire in the middle, and simple beds are placed around the fire. David spent the winter in such a simple environment for the past two years.

According to the pioneers’ plan, this simple wooden house is only a temporary residence, but it has never been possible to reclaim farmland, so no one is in the mood to build their own wooden house. As a result, there are only a few temporary wooden houses here.

Such wooden houses have poor insulation. If you want to spend the night safely, you need to make a fire. David is now moving the firewood he needs into it.

Crawford was also helping, but when the two were carrying firewood, they almost simultaneously noticed a vague shadow appearing in an open space not far from the village.

“Is this… another one?”

(End of this chapter)