Kedra was awoken from her deep slumber by loud knocks on her bedroom door, along with shouting.
"My lady, it's time!" She recognized Maria's voice from beyond the door.
"Time for whuh? Oh right!" Kedra leapt out of bed and quickly changed into the first thing she found, pocketing the three engraved circuits that were laying on her desk next to a small dried bloodstain.
Opening the door, Kedra saw Maria dressed in common garb, holding a large cloak.
"Quickly put this on, my lady; we will be waiting at the entrance."
The girl complied, quickly putting on the cloak and pulling up the hood, trying her best to push her thick hair into the back of the cowl to better conceal it.
Heading to the main hall, she first passed by the head maid's office and grabbed a small pouch of coins that she hid deep in her clothes. She then continued on her way until she saw Maria and Mona waiting by the main doorway with baskets in their hands.
"This is perfect, my lady! As long as that hood stays up, no one will be able to tell who you are."
'Don't jinx me, Maria!'
"A-are you ready to go, m-my lady?" Mona addressed Kedra nervously; despite her best efforts, she still felt nervous around her, though she found that Kedra's treatment of her got progressively kinder as she continued to serve her correctly. Slowly but surely, Mona was beginning to get used to her new master.
"And what's Lucie going to do while we're away?" Kedra looked around but saw no sign of the brown-haired servant.
"Well, we needed someone to watch the house. I've asked her to clean up the old storage room in the meantime; perhaps she will find something of use."
"Anyways, we should get going, my lady." Maria held out her hand, inviting Kedra to grab hold.
The girl hesitated but saw no harm in going along with her servant's whims, grabbing her hand tightly.
As the three exited the residence and passed through the gate, Kedra felt a sense of freedom wash over her, though she was unsure from where. It felt as if a large burden was lifted off of her shoulders, as if she had been trapped for years.
'I only stepped out the gate, so why do I feel so... relieved? It feels as if these feelings don't belong to me. No matter, I should just enjoy the outing for now; I'm sure I'll figure this out later.
The trio continued down a stone-paved road; it took a while for them to reach town as the residence was relatively isolated; perhaps that was why Kedra had been placed there.
After around fifteen minutes of walking, the three began catching glimpses of the town's buildings. Kedra took note of the architecture; each structure was built from cemented stone with tiled roofs. The most shocking element was the presence of glass windows on most houses, with the exception of those that looked particularly old.
'From what I can see, their architecture is comparable to the early 1700s back in my world, and considering the fact that they've managed to create things like stovetops and sewers with magic, I should probably assume that they've already reached a level comparable to the Victorian era.'
Entering the town, the two maids pressed on, already used to the sight. Kedra, however, was completely engrossed; her train of thought was disrupted when she finally realized that she was standing in the middle of an actual medieval-era street, surrounded by people dressed in clothes from that very era.
Her eyes were darting everywhere; she found everything fascinating, from the children merrily playing knights to the many peasants that occupied the streets, either heading to work or already in the process of working.
The streets of the town were busy, and they only got busier as the trio headed deeper into town, reaching a main street filled to the brim with merchant stalls. A cacophony of sounds rang through Kedra's head, each merchant desperately trying to attract customers with advantageous prices and fresh produce.
Mona separated from the group, heading towards a vegetable salesman. Maria kept leading Kedra confidently before spotting a blacksmith.
"My lady, let us go fetch that sword you wanted."
"Ah, right, let's go." Kedra concentrated, looking at the smithy. Through a large glass window, she spotted various weapons ranging from simple shortswords to halberds and rapiers. The sight of such was immediately enough to call forth Kedra's weapon-fanatic self.
Letting go of Maria's hand, the girl bolted towards the smithy, shuffling through the crowd at great speeds before pushing open the shop's door and ringing a small bell placed above the doorway.
Inside, she spotted entire rows of weaponry, along with farming equipment and basic tools. Looking past the shelves, she saw a well-built, mustached man with graying hair; he appeared to be in his forties.
'He's old for someone of this era; actually, thanks to magic, medicine might have advanced far past what was possible back in my world's dark ages; I should keep that possibility open.'
As the man noticed Kedra's gawking, a frown grew on his brow.
"This isn't a place for children; where're yer parents, girlie?" He spoke with a thick accent, straining Kedra's understanding of the language.
"My guardian is on her way, and I'm a customer, not a child!"
"Right, sure. Well, as long as ye have the coins fer it, I dun mind."
'Damn, this guy is hard to understand. I sure hope this kind of accent isn't common.'
Maria entered the shop soon after, panting from fatigue; it seemed as if she had sprinted there.
"My la—I mean, dear sister, you can't just go running off like that."
'So she's going with the sister card as a disguise, huh? Alright, I'll play along.'
"Sorry, sister, I just got so excited at seeing real swords! Anyway, I'll take a look around; I won't be long, I promise."
Kedra began strolling around the smithy, examining each weapon intently.
'Alright, I need to choose a good weapon for my current physique. Of course I'd love to get a greatsword since that's what I used the most back on earth, but...' Kedra took a look at her thin arms. Despite her best efforts, a ten-year-old girl's body had its limitations. She was certainly far stronger than an average child of her age; however, strength superior to that of a ten-year-old's did not amount to much.
'I'll need something light and easy to swing, so probably one of the swords used in fencing. Since rapiers aren't really my style, I suppose it leaves me with this:
As Kedra finished her round, she stopped in front of a simple dueling sword with a curved blade that closely resembled a French sabre.
Kedra looked back at the blacksmith while pointing to the sword.
"Excuse me, sir, can I test the grip of this sabre?"
"Eh, sure, but if ye damage it, ye buy it!"
Grabbing onto the sword's hilt, Kedra swung it a few times, sticking to basic fencing motions, bringing the sabre up into a guard after each swing. The sabre was of decent quality; its grade was not especially compelling, but there were no obvious flaws in its make.
The sabre felt balanced and swung easily as she flourished the blade. Kedra was filled with jubilation at the idea of finally swinging a real sword after all this time. She moved up towards the counter and looked at the burly man.
"How much for this one?"
"Two golds."
'Right, this world's coins are called golds, silvers, and coppers. Wait, aren't two golds a hell of a lot of money? Considering each gold piece is twenty silvers and each silver piece is around twelve coppers... Argh, whatever, I have enough money anyway.'
Kedra reached into her coin pouch and pulled out two golds along with a silver piece.
"Here, and a little extra to pretend you never saw us."
Trying to hide his bewilderment at how the girl had procured such funds, the blacksmith simply picked up the coins and shrugged, placing the sabre's scabbard onto the counter.
"Well, git out already then; I've not a clue who you are."
"I'm glad we could reach an agreement so easily."
Kedra picked up the scabbard and placed her new sword inside, keeping it in her hand.
The blacksmith stared at the backs of the two ladies as they left, staring at the coins in his hand.
'Who the hell were those two? No peasant casually parts with two golds like that.'
Exiting the smithy, they saw Mona heading towards them, both arms carrying full baskets of fresh goods.
"Ah, Mona, let me help you with those." Maria rushed over, taking one of the baskets from the poor maid.
Having completed their business, the three began making their way through the busy streets and back to the residence.