Silence…
The calm of the wind was as loud as ever, which made Luke question if he was actually traveling. The horse carriage made no noise whatsoever as it rapidly moved from a narrow path in the woods.
As he looked out of the carriage window with his face resting on his knuckles, he admired the beauty of the slowly darkening forest– indicating the advent of the night that was soon to befall.
His left hand inadvertently moved towards his mouth, covering it as he yawned loudly. The whole day had been as boring as it could get, and although he had spent most of it reading books, he was still getting bored out of his wits.
There were a total of three carriages breezing through the forest, the most lavish one being the carriage that Luke was boarded in, the other two were the carriages for his ‘Escort Knights’, assigned for his safety by Viscount Garhan.
An hour went by, and now the sky was completely dark, with the two moons and millions of stars lighting up the night sky.
“Sir, we have reached the free city of Windel. We’d be resting here for the night,” the coachman’s voice entered Luke’s ears as the latter finally shook his drowsiness off and peered out of the window.
What greeted him was the silhouette of a beautiful city illuminated by the modest moonlight and the twinkling of countless lanterns. The city walls, although not towering, looked sturdy and as the carriage got closer and closer, one could make out the guards stationed around every corner of the wall.
As the carriage finally stopped by the bronze city gate, it was approached by guards. After a few simple exchanges with the coachman, the guards let the carriage pass through.
The dirt road was now replaced with a well-made cobblestone road, and shops and houses lined up the sides with the road intersecting and branching off at many places. The loud chattering of people finally broke Luke out of his boredom as he looked around from inside his carriage.
It was the first time he had seen so many people and a city since he came to this world, so he looked around with curious eyes. From the shouting of the vendors to the banter of the customers, from couples walking hand in hand to kids running around in the market as their parents chased after them.
No matter the world, the people are the same. As soon as he saw that, his vision was blocked for a split second by something that looked like a pomeranian’s tail.
Unconsciously, his eyes followed this distraction and what greeted him was amazement and surprise. He already knew the types of people that existed in this world, and he was well aware that it was a norm here, but as someone from Earth, he couldn’t help but be surprised as he saw a dog-like man with furry ears and tails walk away as he chatted with a fellow dog-like man.
Although scarce, there were still quite a few people of the same kind walking around in the city, even some of the vendors were of the same species.
Canthros! The name for these Eldorian dog species that was amicable and lived like any other humans. There were also Kobolds that were classified as a ‘monster’ species instead of an Eldorian species but belonged to the same dog-species subcategory.
It truly is a different world. No matter how many times Luke got a reality check, he kept getting surprised at seeing things that were not possible on Earth.
Although all the buildings in the city were mostly one or two storeys tall, there was a fairly large figure that would be noticeable from throughout the city. It was a clock tower as big as a twenty-storey-tall building.
Luke’s carriage moved towards that exact tower and stopped right below it. On the opposite side of the tower was a three-storey tall building that looked lavish and well-lit, and on its gate was a signboard that said Lily Inn.
[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1090176937688825956/1146843339346432000/zenferox_a_three-storey_tall_inn_that_looked_lavish_and_well-li_0e09b18f-adf7-4ca9-903e-85d44f9a8d64.png]
It was the most famous inn of Windel and was owned by the governor of Windel itself. A faint scent of lilies assaulted Luke’s nose even while he was still in his carriage.
“Sir, you’ll be resting here for the night,” one of the escort knights came in front of Luke’s window and informed politely, the latter just nodded his head and got off the carriage, entering the grand lounge of the Lily Inn.
Just as soon as one would enter, they’d be able to see the beautiful receptionist, and towards the right was a wide bar area. On the left was a beautifully decorated staircase that led to the upper floor.
“Welcome dear guests, do you want me to arrange a table for you or would you like to register for a stay?” As soon as Luke and the knights entered, a waiter hurriedly came to them.
The guy kept fidgeting as if wondering what was going on.
Ah, he is looking at the carp-insignia on their vests! Luke noticed and couldn’t help but respect Garhan a bit more, it seemed like the Virendale household was pretty famous.
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“Don’t be on edge, we are here to get a room for Sir Luke, he is the candidate of Sir Garhan this year,” the knight said in a powerful voice as he moved towards the reception. The blue-haired beautiful girl at the counter immediately gave her greetings.
“I’ll arrange one of the VIP rooms for Sir Luke then, just give me a moment,” the receptionist immediately called for the room service using a crystal and told them to clean up a room on the third floor.
“How much is the price per night’s stay?” Luke asked politely. He wanted to gauge the value of ‘Sils’, this world's currency, and compare just how well off he was. Since he was ‘sponsored’ for 85,000 Sils a year, he currently had a bank account under his name that had around 80,000 Sils in it, the other 5,000 was sort of a security hold by the Academy and would be returned to the student if he graduates, otherwise it’d be kept with the academy.
“Sir, you do not have to pay—” Luke cut the words of the knight who was trying to stop him from paying with a subtle squinting of his eyes and gestured for the girl to speak.
“It’d be two Sils a night including the dinner and breakfast, of course, we’ll also be providing a guest room for your escorts in the same amount,” the receptionist said in a polite tone.
“I see,” Luke replied quietly, but he was bubbling inside with the revelation. I am fucking rich. He thought after a quick calculation that this hotel could easily be compared to a five-star hotel in a 2nd world country, and hence a quick calculation made him realize that 2 Sils was roughly worth around $1000 on Earth.
I’ll receive 85,000 Sils every year? Just how rich is Garhan? Now, Luke’s resolve to get better and prove himself to Garhan was at an all-time high. Luke slowly walked towards a sofa placed in the lounge of the reception and sat down, making the knight and receptionist look at him with questioning eyes.
“What? I’m tired so I'm resting here. Arrange the room as soon as you can,” Luke said as he closed his eyes, pretending to rest.
The knight who thought that he’d be saving some money from the travel expenses since Luke was apparently going to pay for the stay, couldn’t help but feel bitterness swell up in his heart as he handed over 2 Sils to the still bewildered receptionist.
Do you guys really think just because I am rich I’d be wasting my money? Luke couldn’t help but snort inwardly as he kept his eyes closed in an attempt to not meet eyes with the knight.
Just then, he heard loud footsteps and couldn’t help but slightly open one of his eyes as he looked toward the source of the commotion. A young man who looked to be around the same age as Luke entered the building along with a knight. The man had purple hair and black eyes, and his black clothing looked noble as he walked with his knight.
Both the knight and the young man had an eagle insignia imprinted on their vests, indicating that they belonged to some noble household.
“Hey, scoot over,” the young man said in a commanding tone as he walked towards Luke, his face carrying a taunting smile as he looked down at Luke.
Luke finally opened both of his eyes properly and looked at the young brat with a deadpan expression before he shifted to one side of the sofa.
The purple-haired guy looked at him with confusion, as if bewildered why he listened to it without retaliating. His surprise wasn’t baseless as there were three more empty sofas placed around the lounge, yet he came to Luke and asked him to scoot over, which was basically a declaration of dominance.
“You really don’t have a backbone, huh? The rumors must be true then,” Luke’s ears perked up as soon as he heard the word ‘rumors’ and he couldn’t help but feel a sudden realization.
Everyone that was present back then had seen his trashy stats, not to mention the people during the class selection had the chance to witness an even trashier side of him. It was almost guaranteed that rumors about a trash candidate that was sponsored 85,000 Sils a year must have spread to anyone keeping an eye on the summoning situation.
Hah, my life just keeps getting more difficult. He couldn’t help but sigh inwardly as he mentally prepared himself for more ‘young master’ moments.
But this one definitely isn’t a young master's moment. Luke looked at the purple-haired guy with the same deadpan look as before. In the past seven days, he had learned and felt more about his ‘Instincts of the Weak’, and apart from being able to see the status screens of others, it had a lot more underlying effects such as being able to sense a person's intentions, albeit vaguely.
He’s trying to rile me up on purpose to see my reaction. He wasn’t trying to act out just because he wanted to. He was ‘sizing up’ Luke in a way, that’s what his ‘instincts’ were telling him.
“Refrain from acting out young lord Lucas,” Garhan’s knights immediately came out and stood before Luke, making Lucas’s knight stop him from being brazen.
“Tch, you guys are no fun,” Lucas clicked his tongue mischievously as he gave a final wink to Luke and went towards the reception with both his hands behind his head.
Yikes, I don’t want that to happen again. Getting winked at by that guy felt worse than transmigrating to another world. Luke couldn’t help but maintain his deadpan face while swallowing his disgust.
“Your room has been prepared sir,” the receptionist came as she handed him his ‘keys’, it was a card similar to hotel cards from modern Earth. I guess she doesn’t want the scene to escalate. The receptionist had drops of sweat forming on her head as she urged him to get escorted to his room.
Well, I have no interest in mindlessly fighting anyone either. Luke just followed behind an escort from the hotel and a knight from Garhan as he reached his room on the third floor.
There were a total of four rooms on the third floor, and all these rooms were well separated in the large corridor. Luke’s room was on the left side of the stairs.
Entering the room, he bid farewell to the knight as both the knight and escort walked off, leaving behind a Luke admiring his ‘room’ which would easily qualify as a suite on Earth.
The large room was dimly lit, and the interior looked posh and appealing. The design was subtle, yet it gave off a ‘noble’ air. There was a king-sized bed placed in a corner of the room, and even though the room had much to offer, Luke just took out a few books and started turning pages on his bed instead of admiring the room that was still a cut below the room that he had in Virendale.
In the large yet quiet room, only the sound of Luke’s page-turning resounded.