Colt continued bringing the group around the capital, introducing them to the places they needed to know. As Colt led the way, the group followed behind frantically, their faces filled with exhaustion.

They had all thought it was going to be relaxing, a quick and simple tour around where they would be living. Yet, the capital had much more than they ever thought. With the various places they had to remember, the mental strain was slowly building up as they moved from one place to another.

The capital was far larger than their tribe, with much less insecurity among the population without the constant threat of being wiped out by wolves. Hence, there was much more development in the capital, especially when it came to recreation.

Faced with the many new facilities they had to remember, many of them were complaining inwardly as they followed behind Colt. Life back in the tribe used to be simpler, with much fewer things they had to remember.

However, this did not come with merit, as it allowed the reality to sink deep into their heads. This short orientation allowed them to recognise that they were now in the capital, away from their old lives back in the tribe.

"The skies are getting dark, let's continue tomorrow." Colt looked up to the sky and said, after bringing the group around the southern district for several hours. Maya had also left at some point during this time, returning back to her home.

"There's still more!?" someone from the group said as he looked towards Colt an exhausted look while holding the sides of his head in his hands.

Colt turned to face the group, replying, "We've pretty much been to everywhere you need to know, and you can learn about the rest during your stay, but there is one more place I need to bring you to."

He then turned to look at a direction and continued, "It is quite a walk from here, so it'd be better if you all get some rest first. Oh, and only the fighters will need to follow me tomorrow, someone else will be bringing the rest of you around."

Most of the group were relieved at learning that there was only one more place they needed to go, having already been overwhelmed by the many locations they went to earlier.

"What is that place?" Alz suddenly asked with concern in his voice.

While the others were struggling in trying to remember all the new locations they were brought to, Alz was leisurely sightseeing and looking for a good place to build his new home.

After all, this level of memory work was nothing compared to the intense mental load he had been under the past five years and naturally didn't stump him in the slightest. Hence, he noticed it, the change in Colt's expression when he mentioned the last location earlier.

Colt's face briefly distorted earlier, but it only lasted an instant and escaped the notice of the other exhausted elves, but not Alz. Having caught sight of it, a bad premonition started to form within him, so he asked.

As he heard Alz's question, his eyes first widened slightly. He turned over to Alz with a bitter look as Alz's astuteness, realising that he had picked up on his subconscious change earlier.

Colt let out a sigh and said, "You'll see tomorrow... but prepare yourselves, it's not we can easily accept."

His tone was heavy, and his eyes contained pain as he memories from the time his tribe just arrived and were introduced to that place began to surface in his mind.

Some of the elves still showed confusion, but most of them fell silent at this, having deduced the identity of the last location.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Alz was especially shaken by this, his eyes reddening rapidly. His nails began to dig into his palms as a deep-seated resentment burned in the depths of his heart. Those who were standing around him also sent worried looks at him at his change but did not approach him.

Colt sighed again as he looked at Alz's drastic change but also remained silent. He knew that this was a sensitive issue for all them who came from the South, and it was doubly so for Alz with what he had been through in the past.

"Let's return to the bunks for today." Colt abruptly changed the subject, leading the way back to the southern guardhouse.

Alz took several deep breaths and followed behind, quelling his emotions. This was something he had already known before, and something he knew he had to accept no matter how strongly he felt against it.

The rest of the group also moved behind Colt, heading back to their lodgings. The lodgings here were split by tribe and not by gender, so the group didn't need to split. Colt had already assigned several rooms to them when they went by earlier as well.

The combatants had also collected their new uniforms from the equipment stores and would have to wear them for their subsequent duties. They were all guards now, placed under the command of the southern guardhouse, their new roles here in the capital.

Alz was following the group because he was also staying together with them for the night. He had been persuaded earlier when they were assigned the dorms, to which he accepted since he was also tired from the journey here.

Besides, it also worked for him as he was still agonising about where to build his new place. He had found several locations along the way which would work, but none of them really appealed to him too much.

Colt had also checked for him and assured him that it would be fine as long as he built it within the barrier, so he was planning on scouting alone tomorrow to search for a better place, unwilling to make a hasty decision.

The group soon arrived at their designated rooms at the right wing while Colt returned to his tribe. Before he left, Colt had told the group to meet at the dining hall for a meal before they set off for the last location.

The timekeeping here was more elaborate here, with a day being split into twelve equal segments. The days were also being marked in intervals of five, with a term for each of the days.

There were also various instruments to tell time, with the most common of them using sand and liquid. Within the southern guardhouse, the liquid devices were very common, and the elves were issued with one for each room assigned to them.

The liquid clock worked using a viscous tree sap that could be extracted from many of the trees in the area, placing it into a funnel with a small, calibrated opening below.

There was a wooden container placed below the funnel that was split into five different divisions used to separate the days. Within each division, there were twelve markings used to indicate the current time of the day.

The funnel was placed over the rightmost division, used to mark the start of the week. Once the division was filled, the sap would overflow into the next division beside it, marking the start of a new day.

Colt told them that they only needed to empty the container at the first light once every five days, and they could collect more sap from the stores should they need any.

There were also communal clocks located at various places within the capital, with the closest one being the one found in the dining hall, so they could adjust their clocks accordingly if they needed to.

When they were brought around the southern district earlier, they had also seen a massive sand clock at the center of the southern square, where many of the facilities were located around, which was the clock those living in the area calibrated to.

Naturally, there would still be problems with adjustments and synchronicity, but it was much more sophisticated than the timekeeping system back in the tribe where it was only the duty of the librarians to keep track of the passing days, and days were only split into four rough divides.

This was a fresh system to many of them, causing many of them to be fascinated by the new, advanced timekeeping system and instruments. Alz while not shock, was also greatly intrigued by this, not knowing of it before they arrived.

That said, just because it was more advanced, this did not mean it was better. Rather, this was more showing of the differences between the cultures that existed in the capital and the south.

The system they used in the south was simple, using only drums to notify them of the time of the day, but it sufficed for all their purposes and did not require complex instruments like those found here, allowing the village to focus more on their survival.

The group was given four rooms, each containing fifteen beds. After a round of discussion, they decided to split the rooms between the genders, giving two rooms each to the males and females.

Despite this, Alz was not spared from his fate that was decided on the journey. He was quickly kidnapped into one of the female bunks after this discussion, escorted by many eyes that burned with envy, off to fulfil his sacred duty as a hugging pillow for the final time.