Having been arrested by the guards for no apparent reason, Raz was enraged. Throughout the procedure Raz kept hurling insults at the guards. While not being profane in nature, they were certainly wounding. Eventually, one of the guards got fed up and knocked Raz out.
When Raz came to, he was on the floor of a room lit by a small, barred window that was a few inches from the ceiling. Raz inspected his surroundings. The room was five feet by five feet and was fourteen feet tall. The walls were dirty, clearly not having been properly cleaned for years; the floor had several different stains all over. The door to the room was directly opposite the window. In the far-right corner (when entering the room) was a bucket and was completely covered in stains. Raz decided that it was best to stay as far away from that corner as possible.
After what felt like an eternity, the door was opened, and a man stepped inside.
"C'mon, get up."
Raz did as he was told, though he was a bit slow in his reaction speed.
"Follow me."
The guard led Raz through hallways that were lit by torches and had solitary cells on either side. Eventually, they went up some stairs and out to a courtyard. There, in the center, some chairs had been set up for an impromptu meeting. Shinsusa and Reina sat with a vacant seat opposite a couple of guards whose outfits were more dignified than those of the guards who were standing guard. They wore a blue button-up shirt with black pants. One of them had three stars pinned to his shirt over his left pectoral whereas the other had one star pinned in the same spot. Raz immediately realized that they must be officers.
He knew not what awaited him, but since they were in this position, he assumed that there was to be discourse. As such, it was in his best interest not to give unnecessary information away. Raz sat in the open seat and looked at the officers expectantly.
"You must be Razmuth," said one of the officers. "I am officer Josiah; this is officer Javier."
"Indeed I am. To what do I owe the pleasure of making your acquaintance?"
"We were hoping you could answer a few of our questions."
Razmuth took great care with his and the officers' words. He said: "Certainly. But before we may begin may I ask why we were arrested?"
The officers seemed a bit surprised.
"Are you not aware? It is illegal for Ertistanis to freely roam within Walinda. Each and every visitor from Ertistan requires a pass which details the areas that they may visit. Failure to provide a pass is a punishable offence with the maximum penalty of death."
Raz, who had never heard of this before, was shocked. "That doesn't sound very… free," he remarked.
The officer let out a slightly defeated sigh. "But of course, you're still young. Though, considering that Lord Lanna himself vouched for you, I was expecting more from you…"
Raz's interest was aroused upon hearing that Lord Lanna had apparently vouched for him, but he made sure to not let it show so as to not give away the upper hand in this chess match of information.
"Anyway," the officer continued, "we discovered their travel pass upon searching their belongings. We also discovered a letter pre-emptively written by Lord Lanna should these travelers find themselves in a situation such as this. In the letter, Lord Lanna disclosed that these travelers cannot speak the common tongue and that they and their guide, that's you, have access to all cities of Walinda, which matches their travel pass, and legal immunity for the most part, not too dissimilar to diplomatic immunity."
The officer paused to study Raz's expression, which showed the slightest hint of surprise.
"I just wished to know why you three would have such privileges, so please entertain me."
Raz thought for a moment before speaking, "Since we have immunity, we would like to leave. I assume that's not a problem."
The officers were surprised and allowed them to leave though Raz could sense some bitterness in their tone.
Raz and co. were now well and truly in the city. Scores of people roamed the streets, pedestrians moved out of the way of horseback riders, stalls were less common than shops, and the smell of filth violated Raz's nose which caused him to wear a handkerchief as mask.
"Lord Lanna has prepared lodging for us. We simply need to get to his property within the city. It should be about a hundred and fifty meters west of the court of nobility," Reina announced.
Raz asked the nearest shopkeeper, "Good day sir! May you tell us where the court of nobility is?"
The shopkeeper pointed at a brilliantly white dome and spoke, "There 'tis."
Raz thanked the shopkeeper and bought a map of the city from him upon Shinsusa's direction and the three began to move towards the court of nobility.
They arrived at their destination relatively quickly. Lord Lanna's residence within the city was grand compared to the other homes, however it was still far smaller than his residence in his own domain. Raz guessed that it was the size of Lanna's guests' lodging from his domain. The mansion was three stories tall with a large terrace and pristine white walls. The mansion itself was surrounded by beautifully green lawns and a gravel road that led to the front door of the mansion from the front gate of the walls surrounding the estate.
At the front gate, Raz and his company had been halted momentarily by Lanna's personal guard to ascertain the purpose of their visit when Reina provided them with a letter, and they were escorted inside. At the front door of the mansion, they were met by a well-dressed butler.
"Would you kindly give me your letter from our Lord?"
Raz translated the sentence to Reina and she handed over the letter.
"Spectacular. Follow me please," said the butler as he entered the mansion and took the company to their rooms.
Raz's room, which was on the second floor, was quite large; it was large enough to house four people comfortably. The room had two large windows looking over the surrounding estate to the opposite of the door and a king-sized bed was against the wall to the right of the windows. The walls had been painted a welcoming shade of blue and the curtains were a vibrant but not discomforting yellow. On the wall across from the bed was a large bookshelf, cupboard, and a large chest. There was also a small dining table that had four chairs around it and a few potted plants in the corners on that side. Underneath both windows was a writing table and chair each. On both tables, there was high-grade stationery and inkpots with fantastic quills.
Raz made himself comfortable in his newly allocated room before sitting down at the writing table closest to the bed. He began penning his letter:
"Dear mother, father,
I have safely reached the reached the capital and am now writing to you from the comfort of the room that Lord Lanna's has so graciously allowed for me to use.
The capital is different from Roboro, by a wide margin. It's big, grand, and all sorts of items are available to trade here. The buildings here are massive, but at the same time, it's much more congested. It seems that you cannot walk five paces without bumping into someone. And the smell! It is atrocious! I have not smelled anything as foul as this city, even horse manure smells better! Still, it seems that the city holds many opportunities for success.
Shinsusa and Reina are well as well. We did unfortunately encounter some trouble on our way over but do not worry for we got out of it without so much as a scratch on our bodies or belongings! I expect my training to start from the coming day and it cannot be a moment too soon!
Anyway, do tell me how things are going back home! I may not have gone for long yet but I still long to meet you again, mother, father. I hope to hear from you two soon and hope you are in great health. I shall raise a toast and say a prayer for your good health.
Love,
Razmuth"
As soon as he was done with the letter, he put it in an envelope, sealed it shut with wax, and handed it over to one of the maids for it to be mailed. He estimated that he should receive a response within five days.
Razmuth later joined Shinsusa and Reina for dinner, raised a toast for the good health of Shinsusa, Reina, his parents, and Lord Lanna; before retiring to his room. He said a prayer for the good health of his parents, and finally retired for the night.