As soon as he heard the Elder's words, Rei's eyes widened and he immediately looked in the direction of his father. He saw that he didn't say anything in disapproval, evidently they had already decided that Rada could stay.
"Elder are you serious?!" Cody and Rei were so happy that they even caught Rada by surprise.
"I never tell lies my boys," replied the old man smiling.
The two siblings were over the moon with joy, their motives may have seemed different for a moment, but they seemed genuinely happy to have Rada around the village.
However the latter still didn't seem entirely convinced, he looked in Logar's direction and asked, "Do you also agree sir?".
The boy's unusual reaction gave the gruff Logar pause. He didn't know if he was asking for his opinion, or deliberately challenging.
"The Village Elder's word is of equal value to mine, if he has decided that you can stay that way so be it, however, if i notice strange attitudes on your part I will not hesitate to kick you," the boys father said in a threatening tone.
"Dad!"
Rei protested at her father's behavior, who ignored her while continuing to eat with an irritated expression.
(Strange attitudes???) wondered Rada.
He had no idea that those words were saying, "Stay away from my daughter!".
"If that's the case, I gladly accept your hospitality."
Rada bowed her head slightly in the direction of the Elder as a sign of respect and ignoring Logar for a moment.
"This kid!"
Logar cast a furious glare at him, but continued to say nothing.
"Well, it's settled then, you can stay at my place, I live there alone and having a young fit to help me shouldn't be a problem. Ah now that I think about it, Cody and you too Rei, why don't you show Rada the village?" said the old man, dispelling the tense air circulating at the table.
The two brothers nodded to the Elder's request and hurried to finish their breakfast.
So, Rei and Cody accompanied Rada outside, they had plenty of time before heading to the Elder's house, so they decided to show him what the village had to offer.
On the other hand, Rada was curious about how the village would look in his eyes.
Would it be like in the movies? Or in the books he read so much? He couldn't wait any longer.
As soon as he stepped outside the porch, Rada could see the small village in all its glory.
"Wow!" he sighed, his eyes lighting up.
The brilliant rays of sunlight stretched across the village, making it look even more beautiful, the scenery before his looked like a painting. The houses were not very tall, they had a quite simple style, but there was an attention to detail that was nothing short of maniacal.
Houses, streets, gates, trees, flowerbeds, it was a mixture of western and eastern culture of his world, but everything was clean beyond measure. There was not the slightest trace of disorder or dirt, the air was fresh and clean, it almost felt like a drug for the lungs.
It was like being in a diorama!
Rada had never witnessed such a beautiful village, neither on movies nor in books, he stood there and watched spellbound.
"Big brother?"
Rada reacted to Cody's call with a moment's delay.
He turned to him, "Tell me!"
"Is everything okay? Is something wrong?" the two boys stood looking at him, intrigued by his behavior.
"Everything's fine, it's just that I've never seen such a beautiful village before!" said Rada enraptured by the sight.
"Oh yeah?" the two boys look at each other's faces doubtfully. After all it was just a simple village to them, what could be so incredible?
"Sis since big brother likes our village so much let's take it to the square!" Cody quickly expounded his idea to his sister.
"Good idea!" nodded Rei willingly.
The trio headed exactly in the direction of the center of the village, where the heart of the village was.
Between merchants and the comings and goings of people from different places, the small village of Bran was quite well known in the surrounding area.
"Unbelievable..." sighed Rada again.
Together with the two siblings, he lingered at the entrance of a square, it was circular in shape, it wasn't overly large however it had enough space for merchants to open their stores.
He could hear life in that square, voices of merchants shouting about their wares.
"Hurry up gentle customers, first-rate goods!" a merchant near the boys decried of his own wares.
"Hardened steel blades of the finest quality!" others of the quality of their weapons.
Rada stood still for a few minutes admiring the spectacle before him like a child, but before he could move on his eyes landed on something very peculiar.
"What about that?" it was a statue.
The statue was exactly in the center of the square, it depicted a man, about two meters tall, he had a huge sword behind him.
The man depicted had his arms folded and his gaze although he gave off a threatening aura, he had a proud look at the same time.
"That's the founder of our village, big brother," Cody said, you could feel the pride in his words.
"Alderan Tal Bran," Rei continued.
"It is said that he was a warrior of indomitable courage and to this day has several mysteries surrounding him, unknown even to the members of his lineage."
"Your founder must have been an exceptional person, just admiring his statue makes my heart pound!"
The two brothers nodded contentedly at Rada's enthusiastic words.
The trio prepared to observe what the merchants had to sell, shortly after arriving at a small store selling various goods.
"But what? What language is...?" Rada found himself completely unable to read what appeared to be the merchandise signs.
"Big brother can't you read??" asked Cody in amazement.
"WHAT?! What a question, of course I can read, it's just that I've never seen this language that's all" he replied annoyed.
"But how is that possible? This is the language used in all the kingdoms" said Rei doubtful and surprised. She looked at the boy with a strange expression, how was it possible that he couldn't read? Could it be that they didn't even teach the basics at home?
"Huh?" Rada looked at Rei with wide eyes.
Before he could think of a possible answer, people came up and interrupted his line of thought, making him more than a little disturbed. While Rei and Cody next to him, they didn't hide their hostile looks.
There seemed to be resentment in their eyes.
"Well look who we have here, if it isn't the two Bran siblings" Rada wrinkled his nose at the words and derisive tone of the person who spoke.