After a short walk in the woods, the three arrived at the village of Sinestria, a small bustling village of 100; situated on top of a hill in a large picturesque Grassland. The village was dotted with a mixture of wooden and white brick-built houses with a large brick and marble town hall towering over the village. All of the buildings in the village were arranged in a circle around a central marble fountain that had a statue of the Goddess that the town was named after sitting on top of it. Sinestria, a goddess with long wavy brown hair wearing a large white gown that flowed down to the tip of her feet. floating above her head was a large golden hoop with 4 golden swords protruding out of it representing the 4 pillars of friendship Trust, Love, Empathy and Togetherness. She was known as the Goddess of courage and friendship.
"Here we are, this is our village!"
Aegio stepped out in front of Elizabeth and Caleb thrusting his arms out in front of him as if he was revealing some grand painting.
"It's…Beautiful!"
Caleb looked around in amazement at the glistening city. It really felt like he was living in a fairy tale. The medieval-style houses, the smell of fresh bread being baked in the village's many bakeries, the gentle clack of horse hooves hitting the stone-paved roads. All of it was exactly like he pictured it. It was breathtaking.
"Elizabeth! Elizabeth! Where have you been! I and your father were worried!... And who is that?"
Caleb turned to see a middle-aged with the same pink hair that Elizabeth had; running over to her and hugging her tightly like a mother bear who just found one of her lost cubs.
"Sorry Miss Formina, Elizabeth got lost again and I had to go find her…"
"Oh no dear, it should be me thanking you…tut-tut-tut Elizabeth what would you do if Aegio weren't here…Now, who is this boy?"
Elizabeth's mother turned to look at Caleb sizing him up, unsure what to think of the outsider that stood in front of her.
"Oh, Mother this is Caleb. He's from the Imperial City, but he says he woke up in the forest and he doesn't know how he got there... he's looking for his friend…Is it alright if he stays with us for now?"
Elizabeth looked directly at her mother as if staring right into her soul and tugging on her heartstrings. Begging and pleading to help the boy she had literally just met.
"If it's too much trouble I can sleep outside or in a tent I'm not bothered…"
Elizabeth's mother smiled and looked at Caleb with an empathetic gaze; the sort a mother would give her child after they've just hurt themselves.
"Don't be silly, dear, you'd get sick! You can stay at our house for as long as you need, we have a guest room so we don't mind! Come along I'll show you, our home! Elizabeth you make sure this boy feels at home!"
The three walked over to Elizabeth's house, a large 2 storey medieval white brick mansion with a large garden out front full of amazing flowers of all colours and complemented by a large pond that had an amazing array of colourful fish swimming around inside of it, on top of which, was a wooden bridge made of dark, exotic looking wooden logs.
"Woah! This is Elizabeth's house?!"
"Ha, I forgot to mention, Caleb. Elizabeth's father is a High-Ranking Swordmaster in a Guild!"
"Swordmaster? Guild?"
"Oh, right, apologies I forgot you were from the imperial city…see outside of the city we villages get attacked by bandits and monster tribes sometimes, so villages hire guilds to protect them from monsters…When I grow up I want to be just like Elizabeth's father…I want to be a Swordmaster and protect our village!"
("Didn't Grandma tell me the imperial army was supposed to protect villages outside of the city? So why do they have to hire people to do it for them?")
"Hold on isn't it the Imperial Army's job to protect villages?"
"It Used to be like that, yes. But Father says that ever since a few years ago there have been more and more monster attacks near the Imperial City so they couldn't afford to keep defending us otherwise the city might be in danger…"
("Shouldn't Caleb know about this? After all, he is from the Imperial city.")
"Caleb! You coming? It's Dinner Time!"
"Well looks like it's time for you to go! See you later, Caleb."
"Cya, Aegio"
Aegio and Caleb waved goodbye to each other as Elizabeth led Caleb into her enormous house and into a large dining room. The dining room was decorated with ornate lighting fixtures and gold statues which were placed on a marble and wood wall. Overlooking the dining table were paintings of what appeared to be Gods and Goddesses, as well as, other paintings of what appeared to be ancestors or friends of the family; one of them, in particular, seemed oddly familiar to Caleb but he couldn't place why.
"Please, take a seat young sir."
An older looking man with a long white but well-kept beard, who appeared to be a butler, pulled a seat out from the large oval-shaped wooden table in the centre of the room and motioned for Caleb to sit in it.
"Th-Thanks"
Caleb sat in the tall wooden chair and looked forward at the man who was sitting at the head of the table, a Bulky 50 something man with a white and grey beard and spiky white and grey hair. The man sat tall in his chair at the head of the table with a face as proud as a lion.
"So, you must be our new guest. I am Leonis Formina. Who might you be?"
Leonis spoke with a deep and regal tone as he stared at Caleb expectantly; patiently awaiting an answer still sitting in his proud pose at the head of the table.
"M-My name's Caleb, Caleb Aegis…I-I'm from the imperial city but I somehow ended up in the woods outside of this village and now I'm looking for my friend who was with me!"
The Butler's handed out what appeared to be a tea of some sort to everyone at the dinner table. Caleb took a sip of the green, tea-like drink as Leonis spoke once again.
"Interesting you share the same family name as a close friend I used to have…And the imperial city is far away but I have a feeling I know how you ended up here…But there is one question I must ask you…"
Leonis stared directly into Caleb's eyes with a dead-serious tone in his voice and a stern look on his face.
"…What are your intentions with my daughter?!"
The surprising comment made Caleb choke on his tea and he started coughing and sputtering, meanwhile, Elizabeth turned bright red, flustered by her father's comment.
"Father!! Don't say that!"
"Ahahah I'm just joking!"
As if by magic Leonis dropped his serious tone and slammed his fist on the table while producing a deep belly laugh. Caleb meanwhile was still trying to catch his breath after choking on his tea.
"Sorry about that, dear, my husband likes to…Ahem, make certain crude remarks…My name is Aumenta Formina but you can call me Miss Formina if you wish, over on the left is our eldest daughter Reina"
Miss Formina pointed to a tall black-haired girl with purple eyes wearing a white gown decorated with gold ornaments and a gold wreath on her head, sitting on the opposite side of the table. The girl gave a small wave before turning her head away.
"And beside you, as you know, is our youngest daughter Elizabeth."
Elizabeth refused to look at Caleb still traumatised by her father's comment, instead, just staring down at her tea mortified. Just as the mood began to relax again a man clad in shiny white armour holding a grey one-handed longsword rushed into the room his armour clinking and clanking as he stopped right beside Leonis.
"I'm sorry for the interruption sir, however, you are needed at the western outskirts of the village…the bandits have returned…"
"..."
"…Stay here."
Leonis followed the man outside and the two began walking to the edge of the village.