"Speaking of which, Mystogan, are those floating things in the sky unique to your world? Floating islands? Do people live on them?"
Led by the crows, Marco and Mystogan finally emerged from the dense jungle that had almost blocked out the sky.
Although there were still many oddly shaped plants ahead, at least they no longer completely obscured the view, offering some different scenery.
Marco looked up at the sky and saw numerous small islands floating in the air—floating islands.
"And is that a river flowing in the sky?"
Marco's expression turned strange.
Although he had already seen many plants and animals different from those in Earth Land while in the forest, none were as shocking as what lay before him.
Floating islands and what seemed like rivers flowing in the sky—seriously, are you sure you want to vigorously develop science in such a world? Where the hell is this scientific?!
Speaking of which, the world of Edolas was vastly different from Earth Land.
The bizarre plants and animals clearly defied common sense, at least according to Marco's understanding.
If he had to describe Earth Land, many things aligned with his perception—trees were trees, grass was grass.
Though this description might sound a bit abstract, compared to the world of Edolas, it was the most normal way to put it.
The world of Edolas was like a surreal oil painting.
The "trees" in the forest grew in bizarre shapes—some like giant mushrooms, others like umbrellas, and all in vibrant colors. In short, none of the plants resembled proper trees.
As for the animals, none of them looked like proper animals either.
There were giant fish running on the ground and strange flying fish with wings and feet. They were even weirder than the magical beasts of Earth Land.
"Well, it is indeed quite different from Earth Land."
Looking at all this, Mystogan's expression held a touch of nostalgia.
This scenery, so different from Earth Land, was the world he was familiar with—the world he had always longed to change.
"It's not just a little different." Marco couldn't help but complain. "One could only say that this bore no resemblance to a "parallel world"—it was a complete "different world."
"This forest is really quite large. Well, let's call it a forest for now. Do you... refer to it that way here too?"
Marco sighed.
They had only just left the densest part of the forest, where they had encountered all sorts of strange animals and not a single person along the way. He hoped they would come across some people further ahead—they desperately needed a local guide.
"Yes, that's what we call it."
Mystogan wiped a cold sweat from his brow.
Although the "trees" looked quite different, this was indeed a forest.
"Caw! Caw!"
As Marco and Mystogan spoke, several crows continued flying ahead, constantly searching for signs of human activity.
"They actually found people."
The crows' cawing conveyed a lot of information to Marco, and the most useful was that they had finally spotted humans.
"Great, now we should be able to head to the royal capital." Mystogan breathed a sigh of relief.
After going to the royal capital, he wouldn't be as lost as he was now—he knew the royal capital well.
At this moment, Mystogan thought he really should have scouted the path alone first.
That way, at least he wouldn't be in such a sorry state.
"Follow me."
Marco didn't say much more and rushed out directly, quickly arriving at the crow's location.
Mystogan closely followed Marco.
"Hello."
Looking at the middle-aged man staring at them in shock, Marco greeted him.
Their languages should be the same.
This was beyond doubt, since Mystogan could communicate with them, so there was no reason other Edolas residents wouldn't understand him.
"H-hello..."
The middle-aged man responded to him while swallowing hard.
His gaze at Marco seemed full of fear, as if looking at some kind of monster, which made Marco frown in thought.
"Are you afraid of me?" Marco asked directly.
This middle-aged man seemed to recognize him.
"Gulp, n-no..."
The middle-aged man took two steps back, clearly terrified, but he still shook his head in denial, though his retreating steps never stopped.
Marco narrowed his eyes, his mind racing, already considering a certain possibility.
"AhHHHHHH!!!"
Seeing this, the middle-aged man, who had been slowly backing away to create distance, fled without hesitation, letting out terrified screams as he ran.
"Caw!!!"
Marco didn't move but instead had the crow fly over and carry the struggling, screaming middle-aged man back.
"Thud."
The middle-aged man was thrown to the ground by the crow, landing in a heap before Marco.
"Mystogan, is my reputation here particularly bad?"
Marco didn't ask the middle-aged man but instead questioned Mystogan.
"I don't know, I haven't heard anything about you."
Mystogan shook his head blankly; he genuinely hadn't heard anything.
At least when Mystogan was still here in "Edolas," he hadn't heard of Marco's reputation at all.
Thinking about it, that made sense—Marco was probably still quite young at that time.
Marco only became truly famous in the Earth Land world in recent years, and his reputation grew rapidly because of how quickly he rose to prominence.
"Spare me! Please spare me! I have elderly parents and young children to care for!"
After being carried back by the crow, the middle-aged man immediately began kneeling and begging for mercy, pleading incessantly with tears and snot streaming down his face.
"..."
Marco looked speechless.
Now he could confirm that there was another version of him in this world, and it seemed like he was a villain—and one with a particularly bad reputation at that.
Mystogan was also quite surprised, seemingly completely unaware that such a thing could happen.
What had occurred during the years he was away?
"Get up. Answer my questions honestly, and I'll spare your life."
Marco's expression turned serious as he issued the command directly.
Since he had a villainous reputation, he might as well make good use of it.
"Yes! Ask away! I'll tell you everything I know!"
The middle-aged man immediately stood up, clearly showing that Marco's "fearsome reputation" was indeed highly intimidating.
"What kind of person is Marco?"
Marco thought for a moment, deciding to satisfy his curiosity first.
He genuinely wanted to know what kind of person this world's Marco was.
"You... you..."
Marco's question completely stumped the middle-aged man, leaving him stammering and utterly at a loss for how to respond.
"How would he dare to answer you like that?" Mystogan muttered from behind.
Without knowing Marco's true intentions, how could this man dare to speak carelessly?
What if he said the wrong thing and ended up dead?
Even if the Marco from "Edolas" was truly a villain, would this guy really dare to reveal all the bad deeds Marco had committed?