Iya Continent: Card God

The year is 2332 in the new calendar.

The Kingdom of Modly, U-Contract.

On a muddy, undulating mountain road, several horse-drawn carriages moved along, the neighing of the horses mingling with the creaking of the carriages. Leading the way, the soldier in rusty armor wore a weathered face that showed reluctance and even some irritation.

Not only were the mountain paths difficult to traverse, but the overcast weather and gathering dark clouds caused the needle-like leaves of the pine trees to rustle in the wind.

It looks like it's going to rain soon. The next post station is still quite a distance away, which means we'll have to travel in the rain. Rest? We dare not rest; the famous "Silver Dog" will be waiting to meet the group at the next post station.

"These vermin are filthy and disgusting, making us suffer too. I hope the downpour will soak them to death!" a soldier cursed angrily, glancing contemptuously at the "prisoners" locked in cages behind him.

bed bugs?

Upon hearing this address, Linta couldn't help but ponder, even though her eyes were still closed.

It was indeed a bit smelly—the smell of sweat-soaked clothes, the smell of hair that hadn't been washed in years, and a fishy odor. These strange smells, mingled together, were constantly detected by Linta as he regained consciousness.

Linta felt his body being jostled and shaken in the carriage, and slowly opened his eyes.

The blurry vision gradually cleared, impacting my entire being. My mind kept asking myself, "What is this? What am I seeing? How did I get here? This must be a dream, it must be a dream!"

"This guy's finally awake! I knew it! Who could sleep on such a steep road? Haha!" a rough voice said cheerfully. From his tone, you could tell that even in dangerous and difficult circumstances, this was a guy who could find joy in his own company.

Linta stared wide-eyed at the person who spoke.

A dwarf wearing dark green trousers, a dusty and filthy brown linen robe, and a beard large enough to cover his face!

Dwarfs?! They really are dwarfs!

"Gurgle, clatter." Some comical and strange sounds came from the side.

Linta glanced at the source of the sound; he was also the main source of the fishy smell.

A fish-man with sky-blue skin, standing up, was no more than half his own height. He had red lips, sharp teeth, and spoke in an unintelligible fish-man language.

"What nonsense are you talking about? Shut up." A woman's voice rang out, cold and displeased.

Linta's gaze fell upon the woman, whose long, silvery-white hair, crescent-shaped eyebrows, leaf-like ears, and snow-white skin were striking.

Elves! These are elves!

The elven woman gave Linta a cold look, and Linta immediately felt a chill run down his spine, not daring to look any longer.

He thought to himself, "This seems a little different from the elves I know."

Her name was "Linta," and she was a transmigrator. She wasn't from this world. Elves, in her understanding, were sacred and noble, kind and hostile to evil. But the elf before her was like a sharp blade suddenly thrust out from the darkness, seemingly ready to slit her throat at any moment.

Wait! What's going on?

Linta then realized what was happening and looked at himself in astonishment at his current predicament.

When I transmigrated here, it wasn't here, I remember...

But now, he was bound by thick ropes, imprisoned in a horse-drawn carriage cage with dwarves, elves, mermen... a bear-man and a man.

The second human besides himself was a rather unkempt man with a black beard. His eyes held a steely resolve, and he showed no resentment or bitterness at being imprisoned, nor any carefree attitude towards his suffering. He simply leaned quietly against the cage bars, remaining silent.

In contrast to his silence, the bear-man with a somewhat ferocious appearance greeted Linta very warmly.

"I am a bear-man from the Bino Great Forest. Everyone calls me Pinecone. What about you?"

Linta paused for a moment, "My name is Linta, and I... come from a very far place."

"Haha! You're the only one here. Answer him about his origins!" the bearded dwarf said with a loud laugh.

Linta was momentarily dazed; it seemed that the bear-man Pinecone had asked everyone in the prison van.

However, these guys didn't answer his name.

"Gaga gaga!" The blue-skinned merman made a strange sound.

It looks like a protest.

Pinecone, the bear-man, smiled kindly and said, "Linta, not only did you tell me your name, but Guagua also told him your name."

"Huh?" Linta frowned, looking puzzled and surprised.

"Gagaga"—that's... the name of this fishman?

"You understand what he's saying?" Linta asked curiously.

Anyway, I can't understand it.

The bearded dwarf laughed, "He wouldn't understand a thing!"

Pinecone, the bear-man, said with a friendly smile, "I don't understand, but I can feel it."

Linta froze slightly, so this was a case of self-righteousness.

Linta shook his head violently, regaining his senses, but then went off on a tangent again.

"Why am I here?"

Linta asked curiously. The doubt in her eyes didn't seem feigned.

The dwarf laughed even louder, a laugh that was utterly ridiculous. "Haha, what are you doing here? That's a really funny question. Don't you know how you got caught? Stop pretending, kid. What did you do? Looking at your skinny arms and legs, you're not a thief, are you?"

“I’m not, I…” Linta was speechless.

I began to recall what I had been thinking.

Just a short while ago, I was in my own world, about to go home, when the key opened the door with a "click" sound. After stepping inside, my whole body fell down.

Afterwards, when I woke up, I found myself in a strange place.

The surrounding area was all stone, some of which shimmered with runes, glowing softly. It seemed to be a cave or mountain cave.

He called out many times, but there was no response. Left with no other choice, he could only move forward, searching for an exit.

As they walked, strange noises came from the cave, and bizarre creatures appeared, including stone golems that attacked them.

In a panic, all I could do was run, run desperately, until I was panting and drenched in sweat.

Unfortunately, he simply couldn't outrun those monsters.

Just as he was about to lose his life.

She appeared.

A stunningly beautiful woman in a black robe, who calls herself "Lilith".

"Lilith? The witch Lilith!" The female elf suddenly spoke as Linta recounted the story, her eyes sharp and piercing.

Linta noticed that the atmosphere in the cell was somewhat strange.

Everyone present looked at them with strange, surprised and curious eyes.

“She really is like a witch,” Linta repeated.

“Lilith is the most notorious person on the continent of Iya.” The middle-aged man who had been calm and silent all along finally spoke up.

Linta didn't know who Lilith was, she only knew that Lilith had saved her.

then……

“She asked me to do her a favor, to help her walk the path ahead. After that, I don’t remember anything. When I woke up, I was here,” Linta replied.

"Hahaha!" the dwarf laughed, a mocking laugh. "You were in a tomb! You were tricked by that witch, bewitched, and sent into the tomb to trigger a trap. It's normal that you don't remember; that witch Lilith is best at erasing memories."

Everyone present shared the same thought regarding Linta's earlier statement about waking up in a cave and everything that had happened since then.

Linta was likely the person Lilith lured into the tomb to steal treasure for her. After stealing the treasure, due to the urgency of the situation, Lilith only erased some of her memories and escaped, leaving Linta to fend for herself. Linta was discovered by the guards, captured, and handed over to soldiers of the Duchy's army.

Linta disagreed with everyone's opinions and ideas.

Although I concealed my identity as a time traveler when telling them the story, it didn't affect the narrative. I remembered almost everything from the time travel to the present, except for the parts where I fainted. Was this truly memory erasure?

If the other party has erased their memories, why...?

Shouldn't I erase that "card" in my heart as well?

In Lin Ta's heart, a "7 of Hearts" is spinning and drifting.