Raison city was the most populous city of Frey Kingdom. Raison was where royal family lived, so security wasn't lax here. City walls were high and thick for superior defence. There was one outer wall which was made up of rectangular blocks of stone which divided the invaders and defendants. Next there was a inner wall which divided residents of the city, the wealthy and poors. But most commoners were poor.
Next morning, after having breakfast at the inn, Leslie and Milo took Claude to sight see the city again.
In the heart of the city was Royal Palace where royal family resided. It was grand building made up with white marbles and ceiling made up of unknown stone which gave a blue hue, It was just like staring at sky. It gave king a sense of superiority and untouchability. Outskirts of city was where the slums were, where the poors spent their life. Every kind of sin was committed here for survival. Here the houses, if one could call them that, were just wooden logs propped in the ground. They had thatch roof over head and it would be a nuisance in the rainy season. Some slightly better off families had pukka house, so they were good during rainy season.
If one moved towards centre of the city, you would experience the disparity between citizens here. Buildings here were more refined. They were made up of red bricks and clay. They looked proper and elegant. Vendors and road side sellers started to decrease and began to be replaced by shops. As Claude moved forward more high rise buildings came into the view. Claude was very jubilant and curious about everything. He kept asking questions now and then. Leslie and Milo patiently answered his queries.
Soon a building caught his eye, it was building different from others, it had a gate in the front where four guards were standing. It also had a fence around it. Many young people were entering the gate and they had peculiar detail about them, all of them were wearing the same outfit.
Pointing his finger towards them, Claude asked " What's that master? "
Leslie saw where he was pointing and said " That's an academy. That's where young people go to learn."
Claude asked once again " Who are those people entering the gate? "
This time Milo replied " Those are students, they are going there to learn about magic, language, runes etc. "
" So they are like me, I am learning too" said Claude proudly.
"Yes, they are like you but you are way smarter than them. But you have to also enter the academy." replied Leslie while picking up Claude in her arms. They started walking again.
While being in her arms, Claude asked " Why I have to go there? I can learn at home from masters. "
At this Leslie laughed and said " You will go there to make friends. You can't always be with old people. "
When he heard word friends Claude was very happy, his only friend was Cerebrus. Truth be told, Claude was jealous of those students, when he saw them talking and laughing together he felt inferior to them. He too wanted to have friends. Now his master had said so, he was very happy.
" But before entering the academy, you have to learn properly from us. Understand?" told Milo to Claude.
" Yes" said Claude.
After roaming around for an hour, they took Claude in front of a building. That building wasn't ordinary, it exuded this energy which was hard to explain. All the people going in or coming out were filled with such grace and class that it wasn't difficult to know that this building was somewhat important. There was a person standing there in a fine clothing with sleek black hair, combed properly. He also had four guards around him in their shiny armors and wearing their stoic expression.
As they were approaching the building, Leslie said solemnly " Claude, today your magic training begins. "
Claude said with a serious expression which was unusual for a three year old " Yes master"
When they finally reached the building, the man greeted them,
" Hello, Good morning to you, sir, madam and "
He waited for a second when he looked at Claude, he had a surprised expression on his face after seeing Claude. While he was staring, Claude also stared back. The man began to lose himself in Claude's eyes.
Suddenly, Milo coughed slightly and the man pulled himself together.
He began to speak " Sorry for the unruly behaviour. I seek for you apology sir, madam and young master. "
Milo just nodded and took out a token and passed it to the man. This token had two swords crossed each other and it was made up of a strange crystal.
When the man saw the token, he was flustered. His voice began to quiver. He took token from the Milo and inspected it.
After the man finished the inspection, Milo talked to the man " I wish to go to sixth floor."
As Milo said this man began to think
( Who is this man? Who are these people? They should be someone extraordinary to be in possession of that token. I must report this to master immediately.)
After taking a quick look at the trio, he said
" Most certainly. I shall first introduce myself first. I'm called Jeremiah and I manage shop's day to day affairs. I'll call an attendant to lead you through the floors. "
As soon he said this, he turned around and called an attendant while this was happening Claude saw that the building had words engraved on it which said " Shelby Trading House"
When the trio finally entered the building, Claude was amazed by the extravagant decorations. There were carpets covering all of the floor. Exquisite items were showcased in glass boxes with people looking at them. People here were also different. All of them well dressed, men were prim and proper while women were wearing beautiful dresses. All in all this place had an air of elegance in it.
Soon after a young lady arrived in front of them and started speaking,
"Hello, sir and madam, I am Yelena and I've been assigned to aid you in your affairs at the shop."
She was a natural beauty with little makeup on. She had a put her beauty to a good use. She had become a saleswoman where she could use her beauty to the maximum.
After Yelena introduced herself, Leslie said nonchalantly
" Lead the way"
As Yelena led them to the highest floor, Claude noticed that people were decreasing as they moved to higher floors. There were only handful people left on the top floor against hundreds of people on the ground floor.
As they entered the main hall, all people present there noticed them, their sight was drawn by the young child having amber eyes. They were really beautiful as if the stars in the night skies. As they stared at Claude, they began to having a palpitating feeling in their heart, fear of death started gripping their heart. They were afraid and as they looked around they saw the couple with the boy looking at them coldly.
As soon as they removed their gaze from the child, that feeling also disappeared. All of them had one thought,
( Who are these guys? That couple is scary. Everyone here is a person with high standing, but I've never seen them here before. Anyways, i shouldn't do anything to offend them)
As this matter wrapped up, Leslie said to Yelena who was standing close to the exit as if to make a getaway should anything happen here.
"We want to buy magic crystals."
Yelena asked while shivering "Ho.. how how many?"
" Around 100 each of every element present" replied Leslie without any care.
Yelena eyes widened, she thought ( What are they going to do with so many crystals?)
When she didn't reply, Leslie asked with a cold tone
" Is there going to be a problem? "
Yelena could feel that if she didn't reply appropriately, she wouldn't be able to see tomorrow's sunrise. So she replied with a quivering voice
" No, I will see to that they are arranged as soon as possible."
Leslie simply nodded and looked at Claude, who was ready with his questions. She smiled and said to him,
" You can begin your questions. "
Milo also added
" Come on Claude ask your questions while seeing these items and if you like something, tell me I will buy it for you. "
As soon as Claude heard these words from Milo, he thought ( Today's going to be a good day.)