Poison. Non-lethal, in a way.
Now that the effect of the sedative traveled through every part of Riley's body, his tongue was also starting to recognize the taste of the poison. And right there and then, Riley realized that Nutno and everything going around him is real.
Not because he recognized the taste, no—his mind could have made that up—but because he was poisoned in the first place. Paige had told him that the hallucinations will usually have a way of revealing themselves to be just that, hallucinations, and this was it.
Unlike Paige's, his hallucinations would never even attempt to kill him because there was no way to kill him in the first place. When Diana revealed was bringing him back to Earth, and he finally remembered having Paige's abilities, he once again attempted to end his existence.
He created a poison that would kill him once and for all, and all it did was let Nothing have the chance to laugh at him again.
"..."
Riley looked at the bottle for a few seconds, then toward Nutno, who seemed to already be sweating buckets from his face as he stared at Riley.
How could he not? The poison he just fed Riley was enough to tranquilize and paralyze even creatures that were the size of hills—
and yet Riley was just casually standing there and even puttering his lips, almost as if savoring the taste.
"...Hm," Riley just tilted his head to the side, before letting out a sigh and dropping to the ground. Of course, he also didn't forget to drop the antlered pig floating in the air.
"P...phew, I thought it didn't work."
It didn't, Riley was completely awake. If there was one thing he learned in life, it is that people like talking about someone when they know they can't hear them—the same should apply no matter what universe he is in.
"Still... these people really are weird. Was he lifting the anthog with some kind of apparatus?"
"..." Riley felt himself being carried over the shoulder by Nutno. And if there was one thing he said true, it was that there was a settlement nearby—a hamlet.
The level of technology in this place was something that Riley couldn't really determine. He was handed a universal translator chip earlier, but that could be from another prisoner that was captured by one of these people.
So, the norinlads... they weren't throwing people into a void, but rather a planet with living inhabitants on it.
If he wasn't pretending to be unconscious, then he would be sighing and shaking his head in disappointment by now. This is the thing the G.o.d of evaniels warned him about—monsters coming out of portals.
In this case, the monsters came in the form of prisoners from his universe... and now him.
"Nutno, don't tell me you're hunting people now!?"
"What...? No, it's a Traveler!"
"A... Traveler!? Again!?"
The people that were guarding the gate of the settlement raised their voices. And with their hamlet as small as it is, almost everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their heads toward the gate.
"Nutno, is that...?"
"Yes," Nutno's voice seemed as proud as it could ever be—Riley could hear the beating of his heart and the heaviness of his breaths as people started approaching and surrounding them,
"I'll... answer questions later, I have to meet with the chief first."
"O... of course. Is... is it asleep? His skin... it's so weird."
"Not weirder than the last one."
"..." Riley's eye could not help but twitch as several gray-skinned people started touching him as he hung over Nutno's shoulder. But he didn't do anything, not yet. The buildings and houses in the hamlet were small, made with wood and cement—the ground was also paved smoothly, letting Riley know a little more about what type of civilization these people had.
And soon, Riley was brought inside one of these houses.
"Chief."
"I heard. Is that... the Traveler?"
"Yes."
"Put it on the table so Lin can examine it."
"..." Riley had his eyes open, but for Nutno and the others, they looked like they were still closed. Including Nutno, there were two other people in the room—the man with a slightly wrinkled face was the chief, and there was a woman, Lin, who was holding some sort of stick.
"Fascinating."
And as soon as Nutno placed him on the table, Lin quickly approached him and started poking his body with the stick she was holding.
"Unlike the last one, this one looks just like us," Lin whispered as she lifted Riley's hair with her stick, "What do you think it is? Are you sure it's a Traveler?"
"Of course. Give me some credit here, Lin."
"Like how you drugged a tourist from Palit because you thought he was a foreigner?"
"To my defense, he looked like a creature from some other place."
"True, that man was as ugly as they could make him."
"Focus, you two. Lin, what do you think?"
"Hm..."
And as the three started letting out their breaths as they stared at his body, Riley could not help but think the situation was weird; Judging by how these people are acting, people like him weren't common, but they were not that rare either.
He had no idea how many prisoners his universe had thrown in this place, but there should be many... and since the norinlads made it for criminals that couldn't be contained in the first place, then that would mean the prisoners should be strong.
So, it was weird. These gray-skinned people don't seem particularly strong, so why do they seem calm? Were they that confident with the poison they fed him?
"Anything special we need to know about this one?" The Chief grumbled; his voice, a little hoa.r.s.e as he looked back and forth between Riley and Nutno.
"It... lifted an anthog in the air," Nutno breathed out, "I checked its body on the way here, but I didn't really see any magical device."
"It's good that you were able to get it to sleep."
"It... was very friendly," Nutno shook his head as he looked at Riley, "We've been told that the travelers are dangerous, but this one tried to help me."
"Don't be fooled, Nutno. It was one of them that destroyed Tironia—
if it was not for the Deity, then they would have destroyed more," the Chief let out a small scoff as he also shook his head, "Lin...?"
The Deity—is that the thing that keeps Riley from flying in the air? Was he right, then? Was it some sort of G.o.d?
"..."
"Soft skin, hair as white as the feathers of a Jubobu... not to mention he almost looks just like us. Hm..." Lin hummed as she poked Riley's face with her stick. But soon, a soft chuckle escaped her lips,
"...We should get enough to feed the entire town for a month."
"That... much!?" Nutno almost stuttered with his words as he looked at Riley, "But the one that Logi brought here seemed more useful!"
"I also don't see any magical device on him," Lin shook her head, "That would mean this one has some sort of ability—not to mention it doesn't look bad at all, then someone would surely offer a good price for it."
"How much do you think they are going to buy me?"
"At least for—!!!"
Lin quickly leaped back as soon as she realized that one she had been poking with a stick since earlier was now already looking at her.
"I... I thought you said you put it to sleep already!?"
"I did!" Nutno could not help but also back away as he saw Riley very casually sitting up from the table, "I... It even drank the entire bottle!"
"Everyone, calm down!" The only one that didn't back away was the chief. He even stepped closer to Riley, or more specifically, toward the weapon that was under the table he was lying on.
"..." Riley looked at the weapon for a few seconds, slightly tilting his head as he recognized the shape,
"That looks like a gun, Chief," Riley said as he got up from the table and started looking around the room, "I suppose this world has already been influenced by a more advanced civilization. I was hoping it would be similar to the world in my head, I would have liked to meet with people similar to the Leville party."
"Do not take another step!" The Chief pointed the gun at Riley, "Move, and you die here and now!"
"Just so we understand each other," a small smile then crawled on Riley's face as he looked at the Chief, "It was nice meeting you, Chief."
"Wh—Grah!"
And before the Chief could say anything else, his arm suddenly twisted—and before he could continue to scream...his entire body followed; crumpling into a ball as the sound of his bones breaking whispered and snapped in the air.
"W... what?" Both Lin and Nutno froze. Their eyes, having a hard time seeing anything as they trembled violently from what they had just witnessed.
"Well, then. It has been a very long time since I did this," Riley let out a small sigh as he picked up the gun from the ground and started examining it.
"The two of you, and all the people outside are going to die horribly and in so much pain," he then said; his eyes, not even looking at Nutno and Lin as he threatened them,
"But if you make me like you, I would consider the idea."
"...What?"
"So..." Riley once again sat on the table as he looked at Lin,
"...How much are you going to sell me again, Lin?"