Hello guys, I hope you are all enjoying the story so far.

First of all, I would like to apologize that the first two chapters have been badly formatted, this is my first story, and I don't know how to fix them, but from now on I intend to keep to the Chapter 03 format.

Chapter 04

Almost an hour later we arrived in the city. By my last world’s standard, it would be something a little over a small city, all but the main streets were just dirt, the houses were mainly wooden ones, and around it all that could be seen were farms. The city reeked of cow shit, but this cannot be avoided, and is actually part of its essence as a rural city.

-This city is ugly! - Sister cried, at the beginning she thought this view was the outer city, before getting to the good part, but when she realized it was actually the whole city and she would live the rest of her life here, she wanted to go back home.

-Little Vayja, this city is not that bad… You have just been used to the capital, where things are a bit different, I bet that once you live here you will like it a lot! This is a very important city, you know? - Mother tried to convince her, then she whispered something in her ear, I heard the word fiance, and Vayja turned really red before letting out a: - Mom?!

Soon we reached the lord’s castle… Well, castle by name, I could say it was the lord’s house, perhaps a mansion if taken into consideration that normal houses were made of wooden and poorly built, while this one was quite large, made with stones and quality wood, with a well maintained garden in front of it.

-See? You will be living is this amazing place, even better than our house! - Father tried to cheer her up.

In a moment’s notice we were flooded by servants who came to help us with the arrival, and greeted by the city lords.

-Lord Housh Rambery, have you lost weight? - My father asked. His smile suggested they were friends for a long time.

-Indeed I have, all that dead weight was getting troublesome when I went for a hunt! - He laughed at his situation - why don’t you come inside and I show you the last trophy I've got? - he was still overweight, so I had a hard time imagining the man running after a prey.

While we followed the man inside mother has started a conversation with Lady Sata Rambery. I’ve briefly introduced myself, but as soon as Yule Rambery, my sister’s future husband, arrived I was forgotten and almost all the conversation was about them.

Yule was 19 years old, and has just graduated from the Academy of the West Continent, Alignus Academy. From what I could tell, that was the best Academy in the whole world, it did not only teach magic, but Crafts and Trades as well. As a man who had no intention of joining the military and with enough money to study abroad, this was the best option. Right now he was telling mother and sister about the other races he met there, as it peeked my interest, I started listening.

-As I was saying, humans do good with magic, but the best ones with it are with no doubt the elves, demons are also good with it, but only when it comes to body enhancing… - Yule talked with great charisma, he also seemed to be smart, his looks were not something one would brag about, but were above average, I think sister will be ok with him. Thinking back, in my old world it would be strange for a person her age to be marrying him, in some cultures it would be acceptable, but in others it would be a crime.

The fact that I thought of it as normal just made it even more clear that my old life was becoming more and more far away as the time passes. If I missed it? Oh I did! Electrical energy, machines that do things for you, cars to take you around, foods and resources that even a king in this world would envy! But I got used to this world, enough to not think of it as a strange place where I ended up in, but a place where I now belong.

-Vokier, won’t you answer him? - My mother’s words brought me back to reality.

-Sorry mom, I think I spaced out thinking about all the wonderful things Mr. Yule told us about, what did you ask again? - I tried to make up for my act.

-I think that answers the question - Yule answered with a smile and calm aura, the girls giggled - I asked about what you did think about my stories.

-How is the relationship between the races, Mr. Yule? - I took the opportunity to learn more about this world, if there is something I learned through my old life is that knowledge is never enough, and may be worth more than money.

-There is some hostility, of course, but ever since the last great war in which almost every race was annihilated and the gods had to intervene, no kingdom dares enter in another war… Of course there are still fights and slavery, but that is normal.

After hearing that I made a mental note to research about the last great war in the future, I would not behave like an annoying brat and start raining questions over them.

Father and Lord Housh were speaking about his second son, who was currently studying in the west continent. They were talking about their agreement, about when the boy would come back and how big the new land claimed should be.

When we were invited to diner I finally saw the difference about how rich the families were. While we had a good life style, they made so that we seemed poor. The plates were all of great quality, with drawings made of gold by the border, the food was plenty, wine of the best quality was served like water, and so far I've counted 14 servants. Even though there was light magic, candles with an unrecognizable but pleasant fragrance were used to light the place.

-So, how is our king? - Lord Housh asked father, reminding me that father sees the king of this country almost every day.

-He is mad that the demons didn’t accept an alliance to solve the issue in the north, which makes his goal to conquer more territory harder. - I was annoyed that he answered with such mystery, I wanted to ask what they were talking about, but I knew better than that.

-How bad is it? - Lord Housh asked, he seemed worry, something I could understand as he had interest in the north.

-Scouts have reported that a few miles north from the border there is a Kalazol village, which explains why they numbers just go up the more we advance.

Silence fell over the environment as Lord Housh understood the meaning of those words, he took a goblet of whine and stared at it for some time before he drank it. The others sited by the table knew it was a bad idea to talk at this tense moment.

Lord Housh’s face begun to turn red. Any bystander that was not paying attention to the conversation would think that the wine was the reason, but if said bystander knew about Kalazols, and what a village of such beasts by the border meant to Lord Housh, he would know the real reason the man was red.

The man opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again, he then took a deep breath before opening his mouth again. - We can discuss it later, lets enjoy this lovely dinner in celebration to the union of our families! - He raised his goblet and so did we.

-Are you excited for tomorrow? - He then asked my sister.

-Yes I am, Lord Housh - my sister has always been a little shy, but she overcame it ans said those words in a very natural way, as my mother taught her to.

-Oh please, Housh is ok, no formalities for you.

The conversation followed like this, in a pleasant manner with everyone talking with everyone, the questions were mostly directed towards the fiancees, but the time came when mother found the opportunity to tell how smart I was, and the questions started to be directed to me. I was impressed that it took her so long to brag about me, not that she did it.

-So, can he already use magic like his older brother? - Yule asked with new interest in his voice, it seemed my brother was well known for his early development.

-Unfortunately I still can’t, mother believes i’m smarter than other kids, that’s all - I stated before mother could get the chance to do so, she would take way longer to explain that, would add unnecessary details and would embarrass me.

Yule started to question me about basic history and geography, at the beginning I thought of it as just a guy having a healthy conversation, but as the questions started to rise in difficulty and he made a big deal out of any detail I left behind I begun to realize that he was an attention seeker: Charismatic to attract people’s attention, treats people well so that he is liked, but if someone else if getting attention he wants to destroy it. As a problem solver in my past life, the diplomat inside me arose to keep the conversation from getting out of hand, if I backed off I knew my mother would be upset and I would have no peace at home for the following weeks, but if I let him push me much further, the peaceful meeting between both families could be damaged.

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-Your questions are so amazing, Yule! I hope I could hear about all these things you know for all night long, but i’m afraid I am getting a little sleepy, so perhaps we continue tomorrow? - I yawned, I've been yawning for a while now predicting this development, so I was very believable. I was hoping he would forget about it tomorrow.

Fortunately the next day left no openings for people to talk freely to me. The Rambery family has been organizing this event for the past days, but it doesn’t mean that there was nothing to do today, everyone was in a rush. A normal child my age would be stressed by that, I just enjoyed the opportunity to walk around and see how things were going.

The party begun early, and everyone in the city was invited. A musical group was playing songs at the central plaza, but just by the second half of the afternoon the wedding would be celebrated. I asked mom if I could go to the central plaza, but I was denied as there was no free servant to walk me there, and I was not allowed to go alone. I went anyways, not that she could keep an eye on me as she was taking care of my sister.

The streets were not that crowded by now, but I could see that as it approached noon, more and more commoners were filling the streets. All of the 40 guards that escorted our family in the way here were patrolling the streets with the local police to keep things in order.

-Who are you? - I heard a children’s voice behind me. Turning myself to face the person, I saw a boy around 8 years old, his cloths were not that bad, so I would say he is the son of a good merchant.

-Vokier, and you?

-I’m Loqi, do you…

-Why don’t you show me around, Loqi? Is there any nice place worth knowing around? - He got confused by me speaking in the middle of his sentence.

-Well, there are the game tents, is that what you want? - The kid was really easy to talk to, well, probably he noticing that I am noble helped a little, as he seems a little nervous after seeing the insignia in my cloths.

I nod and he starts walking in a certain direction, I follow him. Some guards look my way as they recognize who I am, but as I walk naturally and they have no idea that I was forbidden from coming out here, none of them do a thing.

When we get to the gaming tents I noticed what looks like a mini casino, a lot of card games, dices, and betting places. While I walk over them Loqi starts talking to me, but I ignore him, I noticed that they have poker here! The name is Zenjoyt though. All the chips are made out of Paretta, a green metal that glows red when in contact with magic, this way it is impossible to use magic to cheat on a game that uses this material. Its a very common and cheap metal.

-How much money do you have on you? - I ask the boy, I start grinning while I remember the time I used to spend on casinos in my last world.

-Ah, umm, fo-four silver - he almost refuses to say that as he notices what I have in mind. Four silver is a very good amount of money. Worth 400 cooper, it’s money that a normal commoner takes almost three months to gather, There are five tables, with people playing, and half of them don’t have this amount bet

.

-Give it to me, I will play it. If I loose, I talk to my father later and he can give you back five silver, if I win you earn the money back plus a part of my winnings - I stretch my left hand in front of him, my right is holding his shoulder.

Loqi is nervous, but he hands me the money in the end.

-Sir, I would like to buy 400 worth of chips - I put the money in front of the tent keeper.

The man looks at me, then he seems to recognize the insignia of my family.

-Little Lord, don’t you think you are a little too young to be betting money? - He hesitates and seems confused in what to do, clearly not prepared to face such a situation.

-My father allowed, will you let me play or do I need to call a guard and explain the situation? - I bluff, and it seems to work as he get’s the money and gives me chips.

-You know the rules? - He asks, I just nod and go near a table where there is a vacant seat.

Loqi follows me and looks at the table as well, he looks at the chips with concern, and asks me if I am not going to play, with renewed hopes to receive back his money.

-I just want to know their styles before I play, it gives some advantage - I answer, having already seen some signs of bluff. Four rounds later I take a seat.

The dealer looks at me and then at his boss, who gives a nod approving. The men are a little confused by me sitting there, but no one complains, in their eyes i’m just a spoiled brat who has money to spend, who has money for them to take, so they start smiling.

My first game are a 4 and a 12, as the cards here seem to go from 1 to 13, no aces. Not that much of a change as there are still 52 cards in the end. As a 4 turns at the table I cheer, I also accidentally let them see my cards, it just contributes to the image of a little child that has no idea how to play.

I keep it that way until I see signs that two of them are bluffing and I have a full house, so I keep their bets, as they raise between them. They don’t even see me as an opponent, and raise the bets in order to try to shake the other one off, in the last round one of them goes all in, so does the other, and obviously, me.

Both of them had a pair, so I had an easy win, going up to 1035 chips. The other men see it as a lucky go, and soon after I get another win, going to 1320 chips, I then leave the table. I could win more but I fear that if I spend too much time here, eventually my mother will notice that I am gone and come looking for me.

-Hey kid, you already leaving? - An old man asked me clearly annoyed, I have taken some chips out of him and he wanted to take it back.

-Yeah, got a problem with that? - I am a little annoyed by his tone.

He gets up and walks to me.

-Why don’t you leave these chips here? - The other men were also pissed to have lost to a kid, but at least they have the prudence not to talk like that to a noble.

Unfortunately this is a day I don't want to spoil by dealing with guys like this, o notice one of my father’s guards walking close by, and call him.

-Mr. Guard, could you please come here? - I smile, the man gets pissed.

-Hey kid, no need to call the guards - he puts a hand over my mouth. Now, that annoys me.

-Take your filthy hands off me! - I kick him in the balls, no matter how strong a man is, that weakness will always be there. As he falls to his knees with his hands covering his balls I punch one of his eyes, which should keep him from moving for now, piercing would be unreasonable.

The guard unsheathes his sword and points it to the man noticing who I am and that he was being hostile.

-What happened? - Asks the guard.

-This man was being hostile towards me for no legitimate reason, I think the gentlemen in this table would agree - I look at them, no one says a word, the guards seems to take that as an agreement.

-Do what you want with him, I am going back to the castle for now - I say and turn to exchange my chips for money. With a 10% fee I earn 11 silver and 88 cooper, looking at Loqi that has been 30 feet away since the beginning of the confusion, I call him and give the boy 6 silver.

-Here you are, thanks for lending me the money - I give him a good smile. He sighs relieved to have his money back and in a hurry puts it in his pocket.

I then notice that a small crowd has formed around looking at the commotion. Few who have been seing it before the man fell to his knees were commenting in an audible sound about the noble kid that so easily took down a man. Of course I took him by surprise, but it was still a big deal for a kid my age to act like that with no fear or hesitation at all that could give away his plans.

I came to the castle just in time as my mother was beginning to ask around for me, I got to her before anyone could report that I was outside.