Restful sleep

The next morning, I wake up without having had any nightmares. Quite the contrary, I had a wonderful dream about seeing Mia again. It is so refreshing.

The weather was a lot better now. Ryul’s whole family came to see him off and the sister of his that suggested me to fool around with her even told me that if my girlfriend dumped me, I could always come back to pay her a visit. All I could do was laugh awkwardly.

With Ryul around, the trip easily became a lot less boring. We conversed quite a bit, fantasizing about what we thought Riledo would look like. When the topic of my mom came up, I let slip she used to be with the Dark dragons. That easily had him ask a whole lot more questions.

Finally, on the day the ceremony was being held, we exited the forest and Riledo in the distance. I had always thought 5 times the size of my village would be a good estimate. But Riledo is easily more than 20 times my village’s size. And there is a wall all around the city. Or well, since Riledo is right next to a big river, the wall reaches from one side of the river to another. Then there is also a moat in front of that wall, filled with water, meaning the only way to enter the city is across one of the bridges. And in between the city and ourselves, there is nothing but farmland. To feed everyone in the city, I guess.

Sadly, when we reach the bridge, we have to wait in line. There are a lot of people trying to enter the city and the guards seem intent on checking everything, in addition to charging an entrance fee. When our turn came, Ryul and I each had to pay 50 copper coins. But after that we were let past the gate. Or should I say into the gatehouse? Because we entered what seemed like a large stone house with two wooden gates. It also looked like a metal grate was hidden inside the gate walls on either side, ready to block our passage if the guards felt it necessary. I am amazed how well defended the city is.

When Ryul and I exit the carriage, I ask the driver if he knows where the awakening ceremony is being held.

“That’s up in the castle.” He says. “Just follow the main road and you’ll get there. Better hurry though. It’s quite a walk to get there. It would be a shame for you to arrive at the castle only to hear them say the ceremony is over.”

I think the man and Ryul and are on our way.

Though after only a few steps, when we come across another carriage from our same caravan, I notice a girl asking someone for directions to the awakening ceremony as well. Ordinarily there would not be anything unusual about that, but this girl seemed to have cat ears. She must be a beast-kind. Just like I have never seen an elf like Ryul before, I had also never seen a beast-kind like this girl.

But after the cat-girl asked for directions, the guy she’s asked them from tells her, “You wanna become an adventurer? Well, you turn back around and walk straight back out that gate and disappear into the forest. That’s where your kind belongs.”

Damn. I heard that some humans weren’t all that friendly to the beast-kind, but this is way worse than I expected. The cat-girl of course ignored the guy’s words and walked further into the city. Probably to ask someone else for directions.

I hurried my pace a bit and approached the girl from the side.

“Hey there.” I tell her. “I just heard from one of the drivers that the ceremony is being held in the castle. Apparently, all we have to do is follow the main road and we’ll get there.”

The cat-girl looks at me as if she is assessing me, then she says, “Thanks.” And continues walking.

“So, you’re going to become an adventurer as well?” I ask the cat-girl. “My friend, Ryul, and I are going as well. How about we walk there together.”

The girl shrugs and says, “Sure.”

Even the rest of the way she wasn’t very talkative, but if she has a lot of bad experiences with humans, like with that guy, I can understand if she’s not quick to trust me. At least she allows Ryul and me to walk with her.

I cannot believe just how many people there are in just this street. Ryul too has difficulty believing this huge an amount of people can live in one place. Then again, it is a big place.

After about an hour walk, we finally reach the castle. Even though the city walls already protect it, it still has an extra layer of protective walls around it. Unlike the grey walls around the city, these walls are white. From behind those walls, we can see a large white building rise higher than any tower I have seen. That must be the Donjon, where the queen and the princess live. It resembles one huge square building in the center with smaller squares placed next to it. On each edge is a round tower with only one tower on the center being the highest.

After having taken in th view, we head towards the front gate, where we see another couple of people similar to us, as well as some soldiers around them. Those must be the royal guard. Gosh, they look so cool.

In between us and the castle gate is another group of people. At first, I thought they were just some people. But then one of them turns to face me and when I recognize who it is, I can’t help from groaning. What the hell is Kase doing here?

“Darx! How are you, old buddy?” Kase says with a big smile as he walks up to me. “How have you been? It feels like it’s been years.”

I immediately look at him with suspicion. Kase? Friendly? With me? What’s going on?

“This is the first time in your life that you have ever acted friendly with me. What’s going on, Kase?” I say.

“Dude.” Ryul saying shock. “That’s Kase? You know an S rank?”

“He trained with my mother in our village. But we were never on good terms.” I explain to Ryul. “What are you doing here Kase?”

The smile on Kase’s face disappears and makes way for concern. “Look, I get that we didn’t part on good terms. But it’s been half a year since then. I’ve had a lot of time to think about what I’ve done and I honestly feel bad about how I’ve been. I’ve been wanting to make up for some time, but I knew you were coming here for your awakening ceremony. So, I figured, why not hang around until you come over here. Come on, I’ll show you around the city, buy you a few drinks, I can even hook you up with a nice girl if you like.”

Hmmm. If Kase is being honest about making up, I guess it is alright. But why now of all times? It’s almost time for the awakening to end. Could he really not have picked a better time? Like tomorrow or something?