"Thank you," said Arya as he hesitantly removed his Ryen pelt. In the months he had spent in the forest that Ryen pelt had protected him from a great deal of attacks. Since it was so strong, it nullified most attacks from lesser magical beasts.
Arya was also hesitant to stand bare in front of another human. After the betrayal that Silver-fox had suffered to Geld, he had zero trust for anyone -whether they claimed to be righteous or otherwise-.
After thinking it through and realizing there was no way out of it without looking weird he took off all his clothes but decided to keep his magic at the ready in case things got dicey. As he was pulling down his pants the journal he had picked up in the shed fell out. He quickly picked it up and put it under his Ryen pelt that he had placed on one of the beds.
"It's my father's, it's the only thing I have left to remember him by." lied Arya through his teeth afraid that the old man might find interest in his book and try to steal it. "I understand it must be painful and that I have no right telling you this but trust me it gets better." said the old man with a somber look on his face.
"Anyways the bath is ready, also I left out a few old clothes that my son used to wear. You might want to change into them since it seems like your clothes have... reached their useful life. Also I have some leftover food if you are hungry afterward." said the old man. "Yes please," replied Arya, his stomach grumbling at the offer of free food.
"I have to get out of here before they take me to the village council. Without any parents, I'm sure their idea of help will be to send me to another orphanage.
Though it wouldn't hurt to eat and rest a bit before I make my escape. Plus he might be able to give me more information about the kingdom, after all, I need a place to master my magic and get stronger quickly." thought Arya as he sat in the warm bath.
"Aahh, even back home they didn't have warm baths like this." thought Arya, the memory of the past stinging his heart a little. "I wonder, if mom and dad were so powerful how come we lived in such a sorry place. Now that I've seen a little more of what this world has to offer I realize that we were living lives akin to that of beggars. I'd think mages were highly sought after. I wonder if maybe I'm wrong and they all survived, I wonder." thought Arya, knowing that his dream was but the rambling of a heartbroken soul.
"Thank you for the bath." said Arya as he came into the living room. The old man was sitting on a chair preparing Arya some food. "Oh, so a handsome young man was hiding underneath all that filth?" gasped the old man as he saw Arya entering the living area.
Arya's hair was so long it touched his shoulders, and its once snow-white color had returned giving him a pristine ambiance. His facial features were somewhat attractive for someone his age and since he burned most of the fat off his body -due to the strenuous activities he had done during his days in the forest- his high cheekbones were more pronounced.
Arya was visibly surprised by the old man's words prompting him to quickly add on, "Oh I didn't mean to be rude. I just didn't expect you to look so..." replied the old man a little shy because of what he had said.
"I apologize for my earlier rudeness as well. You helped me with so much yet I didn't even have the courtesy to ask for your name," replied Arya as he tied his hair back in a bun.
"My name is Rende and don't worry about it, I'm surprised you managed to walk here all by yourself at all. Though I have to ask, how old are you exactly? The way you speak is a bit odd for a child," said Rende a bit surprised by the way Arya worded his sentence.
"Damn it! I forgot there is a certain way children are supposed to speak and act. I'll make sure to fix that in the future." thought Arya as he gave his reply.
"Oh my age? I quite forgot that actually, I think I'm 4 or 5. My parents never really cared about my age, my father just cared about when I would be big enough to hold a bow and help him hunt." replied Arya mixing in a few lies to make his story more believable.
"I see, I didn't mean to bring him up." said the old man with a pitying voice. "Please, sit down. You must be hungry." continued the old man as he handed Arya a bowl of food. "Thank you," replied Arya.
"Say, can you tell me a bit about the kingdom? My father never really spoke much about it, and now that I'm all alone I want to learn as much as possible," asked Arya in between mouthfuls as he dug into his food like a feral animal.
"Oh what a smart child, already thinking about your survival. I'm sure that even if your father didn't say much he must've told you that the capital of the kingdom is Grandeir and the king's name is Solomon. The lord of this county is Lord-" said the old man before Arya stopped him.
"I'm sorry I don't mean to be rude, but could you tell me about magic and magical institutions?" asked Arya. He had no interest in who the lords were or where the capital was. Of course, this was valuable information but he inferred that he would need to learn magic first before he could worry about trivial things like who the lord of the land was.
"Magic? Why would you want to know about that? Look I know you are grieving the loss of your parents but please don't set any unattainable goals. The chances of a mage surfacing from a non-magical bloodline are close to non-existent, it's better if you get that thought out of your head before you hurt yourself." shouted Rende as if someone had insulted his dead wife.