Chapter 21 - Eastern Bastion

When the ship arrived in the harbor of the great city, Ralom, no one notified Arnest. It was still too early and after the battle with the Mamalark, everyone thought it would be best to let the young lord rest. Arnest eventually woke up on his own, stretching out his arms and legs as far as he could, then leapt out of bed.

He felt that the boat no longer violently rocked as it did in the deep ocean but now gently swayed. Arnest opened his door and the bright sunlight blinded him. Raising his hands to block out the suns, his vision went from white to vibrant reds and browns.

Towards the city, every building was made out of dark woods, stone walls and red clay tilled roofing. The wood was used as beams and the stone filled in the gaps. The tiles on the roofs were slightly curved so it created waved grooves that directed rainwater down and into the streets. The ground was paved in tiny pebbles that looked like they were just randomly poured into place rather than carefully arranged in patterns.

Directly next to the harbor was a giant oval well. A large crowd was formed around the well. There were some who had jars tied securely to a pole that they would carry over their shoulders. Others came for a drink or some conversation. Even ragged looking children that had grime all over their bodies were allowed to clean themselves using the well water. There were many buckets tied to a wooden beam that was in the same oval shape and ran across the perimeter of the well.

It's quite normal to be parched after waking up so Arnest went towards the well, intending to sate his thirst. The Ralomans noticed the newcomer nearing them and their watering hole. One of the men blocked Arnest's path and said "This is a Raloman well."

"Well, of course it is. We are in Ralom after all." Arnest started to move around the man but another man came to block him.

"This well is for Ralomans only. Ingras can use that well." the new man blocking him pointed towards the far side of the harbor.

Arnest squinted and saw a few people gathered around the wall. He didn't know what an 'Ingras' was but knew that the Ralomans were telling him that only they could use this well. Arnest nodded, not wanting to start a fight over some water, and walked towards where the man pointed.

When he arrived at the well, the first thing he noticed was the difference in size. The well's diameter was a little smaller than the distance of Arnest stretching his arms out in opposite directions. There was also only one bucket and the people gathered here were lined up, waiting for the person ahead of them to gather their water. Also the water was significantly murkier compared to the water at the other well.

All the people using this well seemed to be poorer than the other Ralomans too. Some were missing articles of clothing like a shoe or a pants legging. An older woman who was waiting on line yelled "Hurry it up! You're hogging the well!"

A little boy was in front and he was trying to fill a giant jar, twice the size of himself. The jar was about three quarters filled but he was still trying to fill the jar with the tiny bucket. He would quickly drop the bucket but have to pull up the ten pound filled bucket up about twenty feet each time. There were blisters on his hands and he was sweating all over, severely out of breath.

Arnest walked to the front and the people in line started to get agitated. "Hey, you! I've been waiting in line for the past hour. Get in line and wait your turn, like the rest of us." a man yelled.

He ignored the yelling and stares and grabbed the rope from the little boy. Arnest started to pull the bucket up and empty it into the jar. The little boy looked up at Arnest and also pulled. Working together, they were able to fill the jar within a few minutes.

Once done, the little boy took the rope straps attached to the jar and lifted it onto his back. He started to slowly waddle away like an obese penguin but suddenly felt the weight significantly decrease. The little boy glanced back and saw Arnest holding up the jar from the back, which relieved a lot of the load for him.

The two of them started to walk on the road along the perimeter of the western side of the city. And the further away they got away from the  harbor, the more dilapidated the houses became. Houses closer to the harbor only had some chipped stone walls or a bit overgrown grass but it soon became houses that had rotting beams or entire chunks of the walls missing, forming holes and broken homes.

"Thanks.. for helping... me." the little boy said, with some difficulty due to the heavy load he was carrying.

"Don't worry about it. Anyways, what do you need all this water for?"

"It's.... for me... and my... brother."

"Why do you need so much water?"

"Sorry...can't talk...too heavy." the little boy back slumped a bit, the jar falling but he quickly mustered his strength, lifting the heavy jar of water again.

They continued to walk without talking and eventually arrived at a row of houses, all bunched up so that the sides of their walls touched. The house that the little boy walked towards was three floors and looked like an tenement complex. Luckily his home was on the first floor. Arnest helped the little boy carry the jar into a one room tenement towards the back of the building.

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Arnest and the little boy lowered the jar of water and it made a thud on the stone floor. The little boy wiped the sweat off his brow and smiled, happy with himself. He then started to pull out two chairs that were lined against a wall and offered one of them to Arnest.

Just as they were about to sit down, a painful groan sounded out. It came from outside, its sound traveling through the small open window. "Brother!" the little boy said, running out into the hallway and out the back door. Arnest followed him, to figure out what was going on.

In the back was a small yard with sprinkled patches of grass but mostly it was small pebbles, the same that are used as pavements in the streets. On the ground was an older boy who looked like he was around sixteen. His face was extremely similar to the little boy's. There were stone cinder blocks lined up next to him, starting from a small five pound block upwards to blocks weighing about fifty pounds.

"Brother, what are you doing? You have to rest otherwise your body won't heal." the little boy said as he tried to lift up his brother.

"Maarav, you don't have to worry about me. I'm already healed. I need to start practicing for the exam." but as the brother said this, he started to cough.

"At least come back to the room, I brought us some water."

The brother started to frown when he heard this. "Did you carry the big jar?"

"Yes...But I was able to bring it back here!"

"I told you not to carry that one by yourself. You should've at least waited for me!" the brother was now angry and worried. Angry that his little brother was doing chores because he thought he wasn't strong enough and worried that his little brother might've hurt himself.

"I didn't carry it by myself! He helped me." Maarav pointed towards Arnest who was just watching by the gate entrance to the yard.

The brother looked towards Arnest and noticed his attire. Arnest was currently wearing noble clothes that he usually wore while leisurely walking around. It was had clean cuts and was quite flashy, even when he wore it in Zanabo. This brother, native to Ralom, knew from a glance that Arnest was an Ingras or foreigner.

"My name is Lajos. Thank you for helping my little brother. I hope he didn’t bother you."

“I’m Arnest, it wasn’t trouble at all.”

“We can’t offer you much but if you want, you can come drink some water with us. You must be tired after carrying that jar.” Lajos said while getting up with Maarav’s help.

“Sounds good.”

Lajos then led Maarav, by the hand, and Arnest back to the room. There was only two seats so Maarav stood while Lajos and Arnest sat down. Maarav grabbed two wooden cups and scooped water out of the large jar for the two of them.

“So what are you training for, Lajos?” Arnest said as he took a cup from Maarav.

“There’s an exam coming up for Ingras to become soldiers and citizens of Ralom.”

“I’ve heard this term, ‘Ingras’, before. What is it?” The both of them took a sip. Arnest almost spat out the water but he held it in his mouth, swallowed, and put down the cup on the floor.

“Ingras is the lowest class and rank in Ralom. People like you who just come to the city are all Ingras. They’re considered outsiders and can only live here on the western outskirts of the city.”

“What are the other ranks?”

“After Ingras are Ralomans who are the citizen soldiers. Next would be Lieutenant who lead a group of nine Ralomans, making an unit. Captains lead ten squads, which would make a company. And finally Generals lead ten captains, forming a squadron. Also only those ranked Lieutenant and higher can live in the central city. Even other Ralomans can only live in the western commercial area while enlisted Ralomans have to live in the barracks on the eastern side.” Lajos said while pausing a lot in between to drink some water.

“This might sound rude, but why would you want to be a Raloman?” Arnest crossed his arms like he was a boss interviewing a prospective employee.

“I want to be like my father, who fought for Ralom, and protect my brother.” Lajos answered bluntly and honestly.

“Your father was a Raloman?”

Lajos and Maarav’s faces turned cold sober. “Yes, he was.” they both said.

Arnest realized he shouldn’t have asked and tried to change the subject. “You’ve probably already realized but I’m new here to Ralom. I like to travel to places and learn about the places I visit. Recently I visited Zanabo for a while. If you could tell me anything else interesting about Ralom, I’ll be sure to repay you.” he said, taking out his coin purse.

“I’ve lived here all my life. I can tell you a few things.” Lajos’s mind shifted and his mood became slightly better.

“Since you’ve been to Zanabo, you should already know that it’s famed for being the “Pearl of Lanex”. But Ralom is not famous for it’s money like Zanabo, nor famed for religion like Crul. We are the “Eastern Bastion”, the protectors of Lanex.”

“Eastern Bastion? Protectors?”

“We protect the west from the monsters that roam in the east. There are even some of our bases further east that help protect those who live beyond the safety of Ralom.”

“That’s pretty interesting.”

Lajos kept telling Arnest about Ralom, teaching him some local customs and the rules of the great city. Maarav sometimes interjected with his own wisdoms he learned from the locals, since he was more social than his older brother. The three of them kept talking until the late afternoon and the water jar was half empty.