Haiza Kingdom, Axal Continent. 1838, Autumn.
I stood mesmerized staring at the shop window, seeing my reflection on a mannequin wearing a brown leather adventurer jacket. It was a bit large on me, but it had plenty of pockets to pack away all the second-hand hunting equipment needed to confront all kinds of beasts. I imagined how incredible it would to be a globetrotter, with total freedom to go where and when I wanted, hunting monsters and mythical beasts, earning a lot of money and becoming famous for all my achievements and feats, worthy of a legendary hero. A dream that no one could take away from me.
Max: 『 Shun! 』
Shun: 『 Huh? 』
Max: 『 Stop dreaming, we have to hurry! 』
As soon as I heard Max's voice, I returned to the real world, I had forgotten that we were in the middle of an assignment and were running out of time. We began to run through the streets of the capital, hurrying towards the castle, evading the pedestrians and peddlers on their way home before it began to get dark.
If we did not arrive on time, we would surely be deprived of leaving the castle again and we would be punished with arduous hours of work in the stable, although come to think of it, that is what we have done for all these years as employees, after all, it is our work area and no one else.
We are two boys who from an early age were put to take care of the horses of the castle, apprentices of an old breeder who before he passed away taught us all his tricks to understand everything about the equine care and the way we relate to them.
We had to be on time to deliver the artifact we were entrusted to buy. It was quite difficult to find it in the town as it was not such an extraordinary place. It was the only large town in the kingdom, barely exceeding the immense total area of the castle and the only thing that stood out about it was the extensive central avenue in shape of a ring, where market and barter stalls abounded along with small buildings, houses and workshops that also promoted their products.
It was simply a place of passage with mostly internal commerce, with no worries about threats from dangerous and uncontrollable beasts. A place avoided by adventurers looking for action. That's why there aren't many places to find artifacts as strange as this one Max carried in a small pouch that covered it.
Shun: 『 By the way, Max, what do you think they want that stone for? 』
Max: 『 How am I supposed to know? Besides, does that matter? We are employees, Shun. We just follow orders. 』
Shun: 『 Oh, yeah, it's true. All I know is why they sent to us. 』
The most probable reason that we were assigned for the job was they see us more as cannon fodder than safe and responsible employees. After all, like in every major town, crime was a daily occurrence. Not everyone chooses to make a fair and honest living, there are even those who reject the idea after having failed several times in trying to do so, when doors were closed to them. Robberies, thefts, looting, murders, all the product of the desperation of some and the abuse of others.
They always used us to run errands for things only available in the slums or strange establishments, and this was no exception. We had to come all the way to the edge of the neighborhood near the church to find a lonely little store selling weapons and wizardry gadgets, the only one in the town that had what we brought: an "aquastone."
These things are a kind of mineral that inside contain energized particles and chemical elements that make it easier for magicians to perform their spells. I'm not really sure how they work, I just know they're called catalysts and that they're really expensive. It's not my area of expertise. Only someone with an affinity for magic and the right education would know about it, not a simple horse breeder like me.
Even so, I was wondering why they wanted a "magic stone" in the castle, they should already have several. Being an aquastone, you would think it must be for watering crops or fires, however we are not in a drought stage, the sun is not strong enough to cause a fire in this season. It's autumn!
Max: 『 Shun, stop thinking and run faster! If the bell rings, we're toast! 』
Shun: 『 Yeah, I know 』
Max has always nagged me about everything: not to cut blackberries from the garden, not to overfeed the horses, to sweep well, not this, not that, et cetera, et cetera. Without a doubt he is a moody, bossy guy... Although… I understand the reason.
We never met our father, in fact we don't even know who he was, what his profession was or what his name is. Mom never wanted to talk about him with us, she only told us that one day he left and never came back. She seems to detest him very much and that is why she avoids mentioning him.
We don't reproach him for anything, well, maybe I do, because of my name; seriously, what kind of name is Shun, I have no idea what it means and I'm sure no one else in the world has it, besides it sounds very strange; but with mom it's another thing. What happened between the two of them in the past? And why did he abandon us?
That's why Max adopted the role of a father figure, or at least he tried, since neither of us know anything about being one. I would never see him as a father. He'll always be my big brother and only that.
Max: 『 Shun, this way. We're going to take a shortcut. 』
Max suddenly decided to take an alternate route to shorten the distance. Although taking the main avenue and the road to the castle might end up delaying us a little more, going through the streets and alleys of the neighborhoods was not very safe to do. Even if I emphasized this, he did not take much concern.
Shun: 『 Are you sure? Maybe that's not a good idea. 』
Max: 『 We have not more time. Besides, it's not like in every alley there's always a thug waiting for−. 』
Impromptu, Max bumped into a big, elastic belly that made him bounce. A huge man with a big body and muscular limbs, along with two shorter, lankier guys, appeared in the middle of the alley we had just taken, stopping us in our way and starting to "talk" to us.
Hefty thug: 『 Hey, kids, where are you going in such a hurry? Have anything important in that bag? Mind if we take a look? 』
Lean thug: 『 Don't worry, big guy. Of course they'll sssshow us, right? 』
The big guy was spitting and pointing at the bag Max was holding, while another took a few steps towards us, speaking in a prissy tone with a strange dyslalia and trying to grab the bag. Max pushed the guy away with his shoulder to keep moving forward until his other partner stepped in front of him.
Max: 『 I'm not in the mood for this. Get out of the way. 』
Lean thug: 『 Hey, take it eassssy my friend, we were jusssst curioussss. 』
Bothersome thug: 『 Yeah, you don't have to get upset. 』
At that moment, those two took out of some blades from their pockets of about 30 centimeters, which seemed to be poisoned, a single cut from those daggers and we could be immobilized or intoxicated with some lethal agent that led us to a slow and suffocating death.
Shun: 『 Forget it, Max, these guys aren't going to let us through. All they want is that rock. 』
Bothersome thug: 『 Oh, I see you understand the situation very well. How kind of you to cooperate with us. 』
Shun: 『 What are you talking about? Even if we gave this to you, you won't have enough brain to understand what it is. 』
Bothersome thug: 『 Huh!!? 』
Lean thug: 『 What did you ssssay!? 』
I hurled a hurtful comment at the thugs that triggered their disgust and anger. The huge guy cracked his knuckles and made a face that showed how upset he had got. He approached me slowly, saying: 『 Hey! That was too impolite! 』He pulled back his arm with a closed fist, preparing it to give me a good punch.
Shun: 『 I'll distract the big one, you take those two. 』
Max: 『 ¡Hey, wait! 』
Hefty thug: 『 I'LL BREAK YOU TO PIECES!! 』
I avoided the punch before he could impulse his arm all the way. Because of how high up I was, I propelled myself with my hands from the floor and kicked his face with both feet, knocking quite a bit of his gross saliva and some blood out of his nose.
His partners were distracted as they watched their friend fall after the blow. They lost focus on Max, who took advantage to attack them, grabbing the guy with a strange pronunciation's wrist and charging his weight against him to take him to the ground and hit him in the head. As soon as the third thug noticed, Max had already kicked him in the stomach that ended up slamming him against the wall, knocking him and putting out of action.
Shun: 『 I see you're not so rusty. 』
Max: 『 With so much work we have, not yet… Behind you! 』
Hafty thug: 『 I'm not done with you yet!! 』
The thug I knocked down got up again and, once more, tried to hit me. He continued to insist even when he didn't land a single blow, throwing punches all over the place in desperation, even hitting against the walls, breaking part of them until he gathered a bunch of stones that blocked the way out of the alley.
Max: 『 Perfect! He blocked the way. If you weren't so stubborn, this wouldn't have happened. 』
Shun: 『 I doubt it; I don't think they would have let us go nicely 』
Hefty thug: 『 DON'T IGNORE MEEEE!! 』
The thug kept attacking without discretion, damaging the place and shouting in total anger for not being able to hit us, without any effort we avoided him completely, but because of his large size it was difficult to pass him.
Max: 『 And how do we get out of this now ? 』
Shun: 『 … Mmm?... Max, follow me! 』
I noticed some crates lying around, big enough for us to climb on them and reach the roofs of the houses in the alley. When a space opened up, we managed to pass the giant, who because of his slowness stayed standing there, watching the fleeting way we climbed onto the roofs and left him in the distance as he shouted in fury: 『 HEY! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?! COME BACK HERE, YOU BASTARDS! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! 』
And so, we escaped from the situation in a bit of a hurry. We ran and jumped onto the roofs of the different houses in the neighborhood. Thanks to our experience since we were children, it was easy for us to do so without worrying about falling, after a while, it was like a regular habit for us.
Max: 『 Seriously, you are a… I can't believe you're making me climb on the roofs again. 』
Shun: 『 Oh, come on! You have to admit; it feels good to do it again. Doesn't it make you nostalgic? 』
Max: 『 The only thing it reminds me of is that bad memory when we were punished for inciting Lidia to try climbing the Oak. 』
Shun: 『 Oh, yeah, that. Mom gave us a beating that time. 』
Max: 『 Yes, and it wasn't nice. Better stop talking, we have to get down and hurry. 』
Shun: 『 Yeah, yeah. whatever. 』
I remembered it too, that moment of our childhood when we played in our free time, climbing a huge tree on the banks of the large garden of the castle, always followed by a delicate girl with fair skin, indigo eyes, brown hair and always dressed in fine clothes with wide, long skirts. Three children who grew up in the same ambience, but in very distinct conditions, with people who raised them in different ways and with different approaches; two completely different worlds in the same place.