A wooden carriage drawn by a lone horse moved slowly along the bumpy dirt road. Not exactly built with comfort in mind, those who rode on the carriage could feel ever single bump and pebble on the road as the carriage moved.
Sitting at the front and holding the reins to the horse was a tall and muscular man with tanned skin and defined facial features. Only the lower half of his face was visible under his wide brimmed straw hat.
Sitting next to him was a young man with a similar build and facial features. Behind them, the carriage was loaded with a large pile of wheat that shone with a golden luster under the burning sun. Sprawling on the pile leisurely were two young blonde haired girls.
Harvest season was always a joyous period when farmers could finally reap the fruits of their hard work, Zulie's family, as wheat farmers were no exception to this.
After a few days of hard work, the field was harvested and after storing the amount of wheat needed for their own consumption they hauled the rest onto a carriage and carried it to the city to sell.
Rarely having the opportunity to see the city, Zulie's siblings begged their father to take them along to the city.
After some discussion it was decided that Alwyn would stay behind with Amira at home while the rest would accompany their father Erwyn.
Zulie wasn't interested in going to the city as there was nothing of interest there for her but was forced to tag along with them.
As the carriage moved along it wasn't long before they saw the towering walls of the city, Bellchan city was a medium sized city that fell under the rule of Gram kingdom.
'This city should be currently ruled by Viscount Lavaly, that son of his should be around seven years old now. Should I pay him a visit?' the image of a black haired youth appeared in Zulie's mind.
Markus Lavaly, fifth son of Viscount Lavaly was a person who although not born with a favourable position to inherit his father's position or exceptional intelligence was still the only one of Viscount Lavaly's children to show enough talent to be picked to become a wizard apprentice in the selection that would take place eleven years in the future.
He, Markus Lavaly, along with Zulie would be the only individuals picked in this city and if one were to assume that they would have a good relationship considering their shared origins that person would be correct.
Markus Lavaly was a good person, kind, generous, forgiving and most importantly extremely handsome.
Although Zulie had no romantic interest in him that didn't stop other female apprentices from seeing her as an eyesore and so it wasn't long before Zulie was schemed against and kicked out from the magic tower she joined.
Zulie toyed with the idea of killing Markus to avoid any trouble in the future but decided against it, if things went as she planned, her and Markus's paths would most likely never cross.
Moving through the cobbled city streets, Zulie's siblings looked around at everything around them like the country bumpkins that they were while Zulie merely closed her eyes in disinterest after looking around for a bit.
To her who had seen sprawling grand cities and luxurious castles such a small backwater like this held nothing that could interest her.
Arriving at a market area, Erwyn stopped the carriage, digging into his pocket he handed ten copper coins to Elwyn and spoke, "Go buy something for you and your sisters while I go and sell this, make sure nothing bad happens to them."
Elwyn listened carefully before he nodded and said, "You can count on me, father."
Getting off the carriage Erwyn drove away leaving Zulie and her two siblings at the market. Elwyn Grabbed Zulie and sat her on his shoulders before offering his hand to Julie who held it tightly as she stood at his side.
Elwyn took charge as they wandered around the market place and looked through the stalls.
All sorts of products could be bought, warm food, new clothes, fine silks, beautiful jewellery and even deadly weapons.
Buying three steamed buns for three copper coins they stood inside a small crowd of passerbys who were watching a street performer.
The fat and short street performer smiled with a comical appearance as he shouted drawing the attention of even more curious passerbys as he stood behind a small table with three flipped cups placed upon it.
"Come one come all! Double your money with a single game! If you can guess under which cup I will hide this ball I promise to double any bet!" The man said as he grabbed a small ball and raised it in the air.
No one moved at first but soon a young man came forward and placed five copper pieces on the table and the performer laughed before placing the ball under one of the cups and shuffling them around only once.
The young man who expected the performer to shuffle them around at least a dozen times laughed before confidently pointing at the right cup.
With the same smile still on his face the performer raised the cup to reveal that it was empty to many people's astonishment.
Gasps of shock and exclamation sounded from the crowd but Zulie only shook her head silently, although these people didn't notice, how could she, with her powerful spirit and sharp senses not notice.
The performer's movements were fluid and well practiced which allowed him to fool the crowd by discretely swiping the ball from under the cup and placing it inside his sleeve without anyone noticing.
The young man who was at first confident was shocked before turning dejected as he turned around and left while the performer took the money and placed it in his pocket.
"This guy is too good, I've been watching since morning and no one has won against him." A man standing next to them said while stroking his beard.
'Why not spend your morning doing something useful instead of just wasting time?' Zulie thought in response to the man's remark.
Unexpectedly Elwyn moved to the front of the crowd as he approached the table.
"Elwyn?" Julie called out in puzzlement.
Elwyn didn't respond and instead just placed the remaining seven copper coins on the table.
Seeing the money, the performer smiled as he spoke, "Pay close attention." And placed the ball under one of the cups.
Shuffling them only once he then spoke with a smile, "Take your pick."
Elwyn reached out his hand and everyone watched with wrapped attention that turned to bewilderement then soon rage as his hand went past the cups and suddenly grabbed inside the performer's sleeve and took the ball.
Suddenly exposed, the performer's face turned white with fright as the crowd erupted in anger.
Soon, the performer was surrounded by the angry crowd, Elwyn took back his money and grabbed his sisters as he slipped out of the crowd.
Things turned sour for the performer and he was soon beaten black and blue by the crowd and had all his belongings thrashed and his money stolen before being left lying on the street.
"Elwyn that was so cool!" Julie said with stars in her eyes as she looked up at her brother.
Elwyn scratched his neck in embarrassment before replying, "It wasn't much."
Julie looked up at him with even more admiration while Zulie looked down at them coldly.
If she were in Elwyn's shoes she wouldn't have exposed the performer so openly she would do as she did this time and just watch from the side.
If people were stupid enough to fall for such tricks and be lured by their greed then they deserved to be scammed.
Alternatively she would threaten and extort the performer later using his secret or just simply rob him.
She would never rush out infront of the crowd and expose him like a hero, all that would serve would be to gain her a new enemy. That performer would surely remember Elwyn's face and would definitely take revenge if he had the opportunity.