Every son and daughter of noble households was allowed some pocket money that they could spend however they like through servants. Alex was no exception to this. After all, he was not a peasant. But the amount that he monthly received was nowhere near his brothers. The three brothers who were now in the academy received ten times more than the fourth brother. But compared to his fourth brother, his was even one-forth. Slightly more than the maid's salary. Even sister Lilia got more pocket money than his. But from Alex's perspective, this was just enough for what he was about to do.
Alex had begun his preparations two months before. To avoid suspicions he took his time between each of the things that her personal maid Sipi was asked to bring. Although nobody cared how a noble's son or daughter spent his or her money, it was always safe to be cautious.
The items Sipi had brought included a small size traveling bag-pack, a water-pouch, a lunch-box an iron dagger, which was perhaps the most expensive of these all. The technological advancement of the Riya kingdom could be compared to the late 18th century of the earth with a few exceptions. Although plastic was not available, the craftsmanship and quality of goods were on per, even in some places, somewhat better. There was no electricity. But magic crystals had made people's lives much comfortable. Although goods made of magic crystals were not that affordable for the peasants, the simple goods were not out of reach for better than average people. These included magic lamps and lights, weight-reducing carts, memory artifacts, which were a kind of device that could store small holograms or audios, magic scrolls, different kinds of potions, etc. Naya was after all a true world of fantasy.
Alex first wanted to buy some ordinary clothes, but his mother coming from a humble background sometimes used to buy Alex clothes that could be considered good-looking from ordinary people's perspective. Thus Alex Packed up some clothes, dry food, and everything needed for a short journey and mentally prepared himself to flee from the castle and reach Twinleaf town.
That day everything went as usual. Night fell and except for a few guards, everyone went to sleep one after another. When it was the night's end Alex rose up from the bed and changed into ordinary clothes. He pulled out the backpack from under the bed and flung it to his back. Then from under the bed mattress took out the sheathed dagger and fastened it to his belt. He waited for a few minutes and tried to hear the surrounding noises to assess the situation outside. He carefully opened the glass panes of a window and stood on the edge of the first floor outside the building. Then trying to keep himself on the protruding edge kept moving until he reached the hind side of the building, where no guards could be seen. He then jumped to the ground and hid in the darkness once again.
After inspecting the surroundings once again he kept sneaking behind the trees and statues until he was near the castle walls. No way, he could pass by the gate unnoticed. So considering everything and according to the plan, he hid the goods in one of the horse-drawn carts that were to be sent to the town this morning.
The content was basically the county's grains that were to be sent for business. And so the carts were prepared in these few days and were already inspected last day to be sent with the early light of dawn. And soon the carts started their journey through the forest. Alex was active the whole time but there were guards protecting the carts from beast attack. So trying to escape on the way was really not that good of a solution. Alex kept weighting.
The cart crossed the few villages and entered the forest path. Although it was a rough experience on the way with all the bumps and movement, due to his improved physic it was endurable. Alex really hoped for a beast or bandit attack so he could use this chance to escape the group but was unable.
Finally, in the afternoon the carts stopped moving. Alex peeped outside. From his memories, he understood that the carts were halted at the town gates for inspection before entering the city. This was his time to run away. After ensuring that no one was watching he got down from the carefully making no noise. To avoid being noticed he kept crawling under the carts and then finding an opening rushed behind a nearby boulder and kept waiting.
When the carts were finally gone inside the town Alex finally came out and approached the guards at the gate. He had rubbed some darts on his face and a bit on the clothes to look like an ordinary person. Child labor and workers were natural in this world. While noble's interests were protected by the law and the powerful people like strong awakeners could do whatever they want, there was no protection to a common man's life.
"Sir, can I get into the town", Alex Asked one of the guards.
After sizing up Alex with his gaze the guard nonchalantly replied, "Whatever kid, ya need to pay two copper coins to enter the city."
Alex was already prepared for this and took all the money he had with him while fleeing. Thus he had money worth more than 15 silver coins with him. In Risa the basis of the economy were coins, and there were no printed notes. As there were no foreign exchange services, the materials provided the value of the coins. Thus as long as it was a silver, copper, or gold coin from any kingdom or era it was acceptable. It was really easy to check the authenticity of the material using a magic device. The coin system was pretty straightforward. 100 copper coins made one silver coin. 100 silver coins made one gold coin. One could buy 1 sack of wheat with 4 copper coins.
"Here you go.", Alex took out two copper coins from his bag and gave the guard. Although it was a little bit of extortion due to him being a kid, he had to endure this for now. One copper coin should have been enough according to his knowledge.
Thus Alex Finally entered the Twinleaf town.