"The sin of killing someone cannot be atoned for; all you can do is carry the burden until the end." This phrase came to mind after I recalled what happened in Craud City.
I am now sitting on the floor of the carriage with Chris by my side, waiting to arrive in the capital. We've already traveled for 3 days, and we're supposed to reach the capital by now because Father said earlier that we're only half a day away from it. While I was thinking about that, Father suddenly called us.
"Will, Chris, I can see the capital from here; take a look," said Father, calling us
After that, Chris and I stand up, go to Father's back, and look at the distance, where we can see a gigantic wall circling the huge city. I have read in the past that the capital city was huge, but what I saw was outside my expectations.
The capital city was the biggest city in all of the Crescent Kingdom. The city was circle-shaped, and the other half was the crescent-shaped land that contained the royal palace, the Deities Basilica, the adventurer's guild headquarters, the merchant's guild headquarters, noble and commoner's houses, and the biggest market in the whole crescent kingdom. The other half of the capital city is covered with water because it is a part of the Dutrain Sea—the sea that borders the Crescent kingdom and the Factom kingdom. On the other side, there is no wall, but the security was so heavy, and in there, there are 13 islands that were connected by a road made of huge rocks, which was made by the ancestors of this kingdom. On three of those islands, three academy buildings were located. The first one was the Eins Academy, which is the academy for soldiers who come back from the battlefield after being sent there once to learn more about magic and swordsmanship skills for three years. The second was the Zwei Academy, which is the academy for nobles. Every young noble was taught tactics, leadership, swordsmanship skills, magic spells, and decision-making because they would become the commander on the battlefield when they graduated. The last academy was the Drei Academy, which is the academy for us, the commoners. In there, we are going to be taught about magic spells and swordsmanship skills to get us ready before we are sent to the battlefield.
While I'm reminiscing about what I have read in the past, we finally reach the capital. At the gate, we were ordered to stop by the guards, and they inspected our carriage. They also talked to Father for about ten minutes, and after that, we were finally allowed to enter the capital city.
When the carriage finally entered the city, my eyes went wild, and I started to look at everything that looked new to me. The buildings were like those in the medieval period, which were made of stone and wood. The houses were like those in Craud, but an improved version of those. In the streets, I can see many people walking and happily talking to their companions. I can also see beastkins and humans interacting with each other as if they don't mind what race they come from.
Father continued to drive the carriage and stopped at the building that has the sign "White Boar." Father ordered Chris and I to get off the carriage so he could get Pride and the carriage to the stable. After Father came back, we finally entered the building that has the White Boar sign, which is an inn. The innkeeper greets us with a formal attitude, not like the innkeeper in Craud, who greets us as if we're just her neighbors. From there, I could already see that this inn was trustworthy. After Father talks to the innkeeper, we finally head to our room. Father rented a three-person room, which is why Chris and I are finally in the same room as Father.
After a while, someone knocks on our door and opens it before we can answer.
"Your order was here; I'll put it on the table,"
said a man who seemed very trained to do his job.
"Thanks," Father replied, and after that, he tossed one copper coin towards the man.
The man caught it as if he already saw it coming, then headed towards the door to leave, but before he left, he bowed his head.
"Thank you for the tip," he said, then finally closed the door.
After that, the three of us ate the lunch that the man delivered.
When we finished eating our lunch, Father gave Chris and me one silver coin each.
"Have fun today; tomorrow we're going to the House Quarter because I need to introduce you to them," Father said.
"Huh? Why?" I asked"To measure if you're qualified to be one of their subordinates," he answered."Huh? I'm going to serve them too?" I was surprised at what I heard."No, I'll do my best to plead so you will not become one," he answered seriously."Let's talk about that tomorrow; for now, enjoy your time with Chris," he added."I understand," I replied.
After that, Chris and I left the inn and just walked around without any destination in mind. Sometimes Chris sees some stalls, and we buy food that we've never seen before.
"This is delicious!" said Chris while eating something like a barbecue in my old world.
"Yeah, it really is," I said after taking a bite too, and to my surprise, it really tasted like barbecue.
"I want more!" Chris said with shining eyes
"Okay, but just one more; we will run out of money if we buy more," I said.
"Okay," Chris said.
After that, I asked for one more barbecue, and while waiting for it to be finished, I looked around. While looking around, I saw the sign "Adventurer's Guild." I was surprised because I just noticed it at this moment. I was still looking at it when suddenly the door got slammed by one bulky man that seemed like an adventurer; he seemed really pissed about something, and suddenly that man started to head in our direction.
"Give me ten of those!" shouted the bulky adventurer to the vendor.
"Oka—ah, there's only three left in here, sorry," said the vendor.
"Huh?" "Do you think just three of those would fill me?" He asked as if pissed.
"I'm really sorry, sir!" The vendor said
"Tsk!" He said then that he suddenly noticed that I was looking at him.
"What are you looking for?" "Huh!" He said he was trying to intimidate me.
Chris got scared and hid behind me, maybe because this man's voice was so loud and scary and his psyche was so bulky that she got scared. Well, everyone will really get scared when suddenly someone becomes hostile to them.
"No, nothing," I replied while removing my gaze from him.
"No, it seems like you wanted to say something to me just earlier," he said, closing his face to mine.
"No, I don't have anything to say," I answered.
"Tsk!" He said that, then spit on my clothes.
I got pissed by it, but to avoid unnecessary conflicts, I just kept it to myself, but suddenly Chris started to chant.
"I call it a pleasant burbling stream here and now." "Let the tremendous protection of water be at the location you seek.""Water ball!" Shouted by Chris, suddenly a ball of water appeared and headed towards the adventurer
."Don't you dare do that to Will!" Chris shouted
The adventurer didn't expect it, so the water ball hit his face.
"You little brat!" He then unsheathed his sword, which was on his side.
He looks more pissed than ever before, and it looks like he can kill in a minute. I started to get into my stance when suddenly the sword that was on the adventurer's hand flew away and a brown-haired man who seemed to be in his adolescence appeared in front of us.
"It's not good to point your swords at the children," the brown-haired man said to the adventurer.
"Who are you?" The adventurer asked
"I'm just a passing pedestrian who can't overlook what you're doing," he answered.
"Tsk! All of you are pissing me off!" The adventurer said that and then started to leave.
When the adventurer wasn't in our sight anymore, I looked towards the brown-haired man.
"Thank you for your help," I said gratefully from my heart.
"No, it's nothing; I only did what anyone would do," he said, then patted my shoulder with his two hands.
"Thank you," Chris said, hiding behind me."It's okay now, little miss; you don't need to be scared anymore," he said.
"Um, can I ask your name?" I asked
"I'm Hans, just a normal student, haha, then I'll take my leave," Hans said, then walked away.
After that, the vendor gave us our order for free, so Chris ate it. After Chris finished eating the barbecue, we continued to look around, but suddenly I noticed that the one silver coin and two copper coins in my pocket had disappeared. That's when I remembered Hans holding my shoulder. When he talks to Chris, I don't notice it, but it seems like he took my money. That guy just stole my money, but surprisingly, I'm not that angry, maybe because he helped us and the money would just serve as compensation.
Because we now don't have any money left, Chris and I started to head towards the inn with a disappointed face because we didn't get to enjoy the day.
When we got to the inn, Father was there sleeping; maybe he's tired because he's always driven the carriage day and night until we got here. That's why Chris and I decided to not wake him up and just take a nap with him.