Chapter 13: Loneliness
The next few weeks went by quickly as Astrid settled into her new routine of going out to the forest to do quests. The late summer month made for an optimal time of year to harvest all sorts of plants, and she had taken advantage of that by stocking up on the most important ones.
The problem now was that the number of quests available was rapidly diminishing. She completed the old quest much faster than new ones appeared. Either she would have to find new work soon or accept that her income would be low for a while. She had made good money clearing out the quest board in the job hall, so she would be able to manage for a while.
Astrid entered the job hall like she did every day.
“Good morning, Lennard,” she greeted the job hall manager. “Any new quests today?”
“I’m afraid not. You’ll have to try again later.”
“Alright, I’ll do that then.” She couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed as she left the job hall again. Yesterday, there had only been one quest that she had completed before noon. The rest of the day had been spent walking aimlessly through the streets. She resigned herself to another day of boredom.
It was in these idle times that her loneliness bubbled to the surface. Sure, she talked to people, but most of the conversations were just polite remarks or work-related. They were all several years older than her, and they also believed her to be an adult. She wanted to make real friends. But how could she with the secret she had? No one would want anything to do with her if they found out.
The lack of work also made it hard to keep thoughts of her family at bay. Without the dangers of monsters, the memories plagued her mind. Her father’s smiles, her mother’s hugs, and her sister’s teasing were always followed by screams, blood, and monsters. It made it impossible to keep her spirit from dipping dangerously low.
She arrived at the worship square, where all the temples were located. She had been here plenty of times whenever she delivered plants to the temple of Medicine. People were lined up in front of the building, waiting for their turn to see a healer.
Other temples were also frequented by people. At the temple of Love, the first marriage of the day had just begun, attracting a large crowd to the celebration.
A priest watered plants outside the temple of Nature and a group of teens made offerings at the temple of Education.
The temple of Deception was deserted. There was no one who entered or left, not that she had expected anyone to. If she ever had to go in there, she would make sure no one saw her doing it. The temple was by far the smallest. Maybe twice the size of her room at the inn. It was barely big enough to hold the altar and a bed or two. There were no windows and no decorations. the black paint pealed exposing the rotting wood underneath. This was a stark contrast to the mansion-like temple she had stumbled across in the forest, making it clear the city only built this because they had to. The law required all cities to have a temple dedicated to each god.
Astrid turned her gaze away from the desolate building before anyone could notice her staring. Instead, her eyes fell upon the temple of Death. Like Sham, the goddess of death was considered a dark deity you didn’t want to be associated with. However, she held a legitimate role in society, arranging funeral rights and comforting those going through loss and grief. It was customary for people who had lost someone to visit the temple and pay their respects.
At some point, Astrid would have to do it for her own family, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. The thought of her old life still brought tears to her eyes, so she avoided thinking about it as much as possible. If she gave into the grief, she wasn’t sure she would be able to go on.
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She shook her head, forcing the memories to retreat to the back of her mind. She needed to find something useful to spend her time on soon. All this extra leisure time did her no good.
While walking through the city, she explored streets she hadn’t seen before. Some streets were so narrow that two people couldn’t pass by each other. Those mostly served as shortcuts leading from one part of the city to another, and she found that they made traveling a lot faster.
Other streets were large. Those were crowded with people and wagons from sunrise to sunset. Astrid avoided those as much as possible. She just couldn’t get used to having so many people around her at one time. She would constantly be bumped into or told to get out of the way. It made her deeply uncomfortable.
She entered a street that was wide but mostly free of traffic. Letting out a sigh of relief, she took in her surroundings. The buildings here were bigger and fancier than anything else she had seen in the city so far. A quick glance through some windows told her these weren’t shops but homes. She had a hard time believing that anyone could live in houses this big.
A group of children around her age caught her attention as they walked down the street talking and laughing. Astrid felt a pang of longing at the sight. Since she had nothing better to do, she followed them to see what they were up to.
Trailing after them was easy enough, and soon she found herself in front of another building. The group had just entered, so she did the same.
“Who are you and what are you doing here?” a man said, blocking her path. He was big and muscular, with a stern face. Astid almost fled at the sight, not wanting to get in trouble with this guy.
“My name is Astrid. I’m just wondering what this place is.”
“This is a private academy. Only students and teachers are allowed in.”
“How do you become a student here?”
“I think you’re a bit too old for that,” he said. At first, Astrid was unsure of what he meant. The kids she had seen enter were her age, after all. Then she remembered that she was still disguised as an adult after her visit to the job hall earlier.
“It’s for my sister. She fourteen.” Lying had become uncomfortably easy over the past few weeks. She wished she could stop, but she had no idea how. She had considered staying as her adult persona permanently as she wouldn’t get to rent a room or take quests as a child, but if she ever forgot to disguise herself, the charade would fall apart.
"Well, I guess I can take you to the office, and then you can talk with the principal about enrollment. Follow me.”
Astrid followed the man down the marble hallway. Doors stood evenly spaced on both sides of the hallway, but the man walked past them all until he reached the end. He knocked on the door and stepped back, allowing Astrid to enter.
“Welcome,” the principal said. She sat behind a large desk covered in stacks of paper. Her black hair was gathered in a neat bun, but the wrinkles on her face made Astrid question if it was natural. “Please take a seat. What brings you here today?”
Astrid sat on the chair to which she had been appointed and repeated what she had told the man earlier.
“So, you want to enroll your sister in this academy? Where has she previously gone to school?”
“She has been homeschooled, as we lived on a small farm before coming here.” It was hard not to let her nervousness show.
“Well, we have high standards for the students we take in here, but I’m willing to give her a chance if you are able to pay the fee.”
“How much does it cost?” Astrid asked, hoping it was a price she could afford.
“A large copper a day, and you must pay for at least five days at a time. The school supplies books, but your sister needs to bring other supplies herself.”
It was a lot of money, but Astrid really wanted to attend this school, if for no other reason than to be around people her own age. It would be fine to pay the fee for the first five days just to see what this school was about. She could always drop out if the price became a problem or if it turned out school wasn’t worth the price.
"Alright, I can pay for that. When can she start?”
“She can begin tomorrow if it works for you.”
“Sound good.” She handed over the five coins.
"Okay. Then I’ll see your sister here tomorrow morning. Classes start at eight in the morning every day.”
Astrid left the building, heading out to find a store where she could get the school supplies she needed. A few sheets of paper and a cheap pen would do for now. If she needed more than that, she would get it later.
After buying the supplies, Astrid once again found herself with nothing to do, and it wasn’t even lunchtime yet. She sighed and walked back to the job hall. Maybe someone had set a new quest up since she was last there two hours ago.