17.

Ashe read the same section of the tome over and over again. Trying to decipher the cast that had been written. She had been strolling through the city. They had left the inn early and had separated. She sighed as she couldn't decipher the text. She found her way to the centre of the town. Chapman's factory was unlike anything else in the town. It was the only building that was built directly on the Gwyn River. The building stood on a large circular stone platform. It had two bridges connected to it, presumably to be accessed from both sides of the town. The Gwyn River cut Isern in two halves. The halves had been connected via a series of bridges. Ashe had never seen architecture like this in her life. She had gone from wooden huts with the village of Diable to large stone buildings and large landscapes filled with mountains and deserts. This had been everything she wished for as a child. Priest Able would tell her stories of his journeys within the mainland but she hadn't expected to experience them herself.

"Impressive, isn't it?" A voice to her right startled her. An elderly man stood watching the factory alongside her.

She nodded. "It is unbelievable."

"Not from town, I see." "This one building is owned by King Godric himself." The old man said.

"King Godric...not Chapman?" She asked.

The old man chuckled. "Chapman just runs the damned thing. There are three of these buildings in all of Hominus. One on West Hominus and there are two others on East Hominus."

"What purpose do they serve?"

"They manufacture metal for the king."

"Why is manufacturing metal so important?"

The old man seemed surprised by her question. "Godric, the King of Metals."

Ashe was confused by the relevance of that statement. "Is there any way to access the factory?"

The old man shook his head. "They do not allow outsiders in. Only men of high nobility and blues are allowed within the factory."

"Blues?"

"The soldiers, my dear." The old man pointed at a few blue-robed soldiers that patrolled around the building. "They are probably getting a bit suspicious of us gawking at the building."

Ashe spotted a few soldiers that stared at her. She watched as the old man began walking away from the building. She followed him.

"Excuse me...um...sir. Do you perhaps know of a place where I can obtain some sentz?"

"That depends, dear. There are probably many stores around here that require an extra pair of hands but they wouldn't pay a lot I am afraid."

"Is there no way to earn sentz faster?" She asked.

"You should have mentioned you were desperate. When the light dissipates tonight, head to the northeast corner of town. You will find what you are looking for there." The man held a weird expression as he walked away.

There were still many hours until night came. She decided to continue strolling through the town, this time looking for any sign of Alaric.

Florian spent his time walking through the town aimlessly. His thoughts were a jumbled mess. He had to focus on earning sentz and getting information on Chapman, so why was he stuck thinking about Alaric's and his relationship? He felt angry and confused. He still hadn't forgiven Alaric for not telling them about the caster attack back in Diable. This jumbled up with the whole mess at Versus caused him to question his older brother. Is he even the person he claimed to be? Florian replayed the aftermath of the Diable attack over and over again within his mind. And some aspects never made any sense to him. Alaric claimed the villagers fought back but would they even stand a chance? When he fought Jugz, it was made clear to him that a single soldier is much stronger than a simple mysur. How had they fought back? There was another weird inconsistency. Every caster that died that day had one thing in common. A singular cut at their throats. Surely if a fight occurred there would be more than one type of injury. When he found Alaric, he had been covered in blood but had no visible wounds. Alas, Alaric held no weapon close to him. If he had asked Alaric himself, he was certain all he would receive would be lies. Florian had been struggling with this since they had left Versus. He couldn't trust Alaric until he had known the truth. He was ripped out of his head when he heard two voices call out to him.

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"Excuse me, sir!" The voices called.

Florian turned around, two young boys stood a distance from him. They waved at him. One of the boys had been taller than the other. They looked similar, almost like brothers. Florian walked over to them and knelt so that he had been on their level.

"How can I help?" He said with a smile.

"Grandpa is looking for some help." The younger one said. They dragged Florian by the wrists. They led him to a wooden house. The house had not been built completely. The roof consisted of only a few wooden planks. The brothers led him into the house. There he saw a younger woman watching over an elderly man who lay on a bed.

"Grandpa, we found some help!" The brother's yelled.

The woman turned around to look at Florian.

"Boys, I told you to stop bothering random people." The woman said.

The brother's let go of Florian. The woman walked over to him.

"I am sorry about them. They just wanted to help their grandpa." She apologised.

"It is not a problem. Maybe I can help." Florian said.

The woman was stunned.

"I mean, as long as you don't mind me." He said.

"Let the boy help. We need all the help we can get." The old man groaned.

The woman chuckled.

"What do you need me to do?" Florian asked.

"Before that, I am Jinny. The old man is my husband's father, Tybalt. And they are my two sons, the older one is Jasper, the younger one is Jeph." The woman said.

"Who are you calling an old man!" Tybalt yelled, causing Florian to chuckle.

"I am Florian, it is nice to meet you."

Jinny led him to an area where long wooden planks were placed.

"We need someone to finish the roof. The old man, unfortunately, hurt his back while he was working." Jinny said, glancing at the wooden skeleton that was their roof.

"What happened to your husband?"

"Oh, he is a soldier. He works at the factory. He only returns late at night. We can't possibly ask him to do this for us."

"I am certainly not an expert in roof building but I will see what I can do."

Jinny went on to explain the specifics of what he had to do.

This was how Florian found himself balancing precariously on top of a house. Hammering away at the wooden planks. He watched the two brothers play, fight and make up all in a few hours of the day. It reminded him of his fights with Alaric when they had been younger. They had always fought over everything but would stop once Ashe began to cry. The thought brought a slight smile. The evening arrived and Florian had been mostly done with the roof. He climbed down the roof. Jinny was waiting for him as he climbed. She thanked him for his work and handed him five pieces of sentz. Which he hesitantly accepted.

"How about you join us for dinner?" Jinny asked.

"I couldn't possibly do that."

"What are you saying, you helped us it is only right we treat you. I am certain the boys are excited for you to join us."

Florian could not refuse and found himself eating alongside the family. The food was the best he has ever tasted. The brother's got into another argument which was stopped via a reprimand from their mother. Florian smiled.

"Do you have any siblings?" Jinny asked suddenly.

Florian nodded. "An older brother and a younger sister."

"Do you get along with them?"

"With my sister, yes. My brother...well."

Jinny chuckled. "That is usually how it goes with siblings."

"Do you have siblings, Miss Jinny?"

"Why yes, I have five sisters and we fight all the time."

Florian looked down.

"Is something wrong?" Jinny asked.

"It is nothing."

Jinny looked unconvinced.

Florian sighed. "It is just that...my brother. We were not exactly in the best of circumstances when he left."

"Did your brother pass on?" She asked solemnly.

Florian shook his head. "I am not certain."

Jinny smiled softly at him. "He is out there. And when you reunite, give him a big smile."

Florian chuckled. "Maybe."

After the meal, he headed back to the inn and booked himself a room. He did not see Thorin or Ashe. He assumed they had already been asleep since it had already been late. He went to sleep.

Thorin found herself serving drinks and meals at a tavern. She had been lucky that the particular barmaid had fallen sick. She begged the owners to allow her to help. They were sceptical since she had been a mysur. She had since spent half the day working at the tavern. The tavern was large, much larger than her grandmother's. The tavern had been incredibly busy since early light. She wondered how these people could drink so casually while there had been mysurs suffering daily. Half of the reason she sought out this job was so that she could gain information. She thought that working within a tavern would allow her to overhear some useful gossip. This was where her luck ran out, unfortunately. She had overheard nothing useful. Recently though, the most interesting topic that most people were talking about was that a few soldiers got attacked. No one had the specifics, they all just stated that a mysterious man attacked a soldier who was named Jugz. As night was slowly approaching, a group of soldiers entered the tavern. Thorin had been a bit hesitant to serve them but followed through regardless. The evening went smoothly until one soldier went to speak to the owners of the tavern. The tavern suddenly went quiet. Nobody spoke and if they did they whispered. Thorin looked around but did not notice anything strange. The soldier returned after the meeting with the owners. He nodded at the other soldiers who got up from their seats. They were headed directly towards her. Thorin reached for her blade but was quickly interrupted as a soldier from behind began to choke her. She was screaming and struggling as they dragged her out. She watched as the people within the tavern just watched on whispering amongst one another.