After the large werewolf attack, the visit to Tantan was briefly postponed. After giving Sir Martin and his guards a proper funeral, a monument was constructed in the center of the market. It was a square stone monument of about three meters in height. The masons worked tirelessly to finish it as soon as possible. Lara was devastated for a while and even cried once again in front of the statue. She never really had parents. Well, she did, but her biological parents were useless. With Martin’s passing, Raem was appointed as the guard captain and was no longer a guard knight.
Now, in response to the attack, constructing walls around the town was discussed with masons. Sadly, it was not going to happen overnight. The labor requirement was too high. Therefore, log walls were chosen around the mine. In case of another attack, they’d retreat to the mine like before and hold their ground there. They’d be prepared better next time.
image [https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/4782/cg2k0k.jpg]
“...........”
Kamil stood before the monument. On one side, there were engraved words which said: The heroes of Laufeld led by Sir Martin. And then it went on to describe a short summary of the battle and then outcome. Lara was with him. Her shoulders were sagged, and she looked clearly depressed. She had always been positive and energetic. Therefore, it was rare to see her look visibly down like this.
“How are you holding up?”
“It’s okay,” She said, sounding uninterested. “What’s written on this?”
Huh?
“You don’t know how to read?”
“No.”
“But I thought…” He trailed off. He assumed that Karla taught her. But then he wasn’t even sure she was literate to begin with. With so many people around him literate, he automatically assumed that everyone around him could read and write.
“Do you want to learn how to read and write?”
“I suppose… it can’t hurt?”
“I will send Marat your way. She can help you, probably.”
She had recently been sort of promoted to a word keeper upon arrival of two additional maids from Lux. The Fenchel was more than willing to spare the maids since they had more than enough. She still wore the maid uniform, however. She told him that she had no other wardrobe. Unfortunately, no chef came, leaving Karla as the temporary chef still. Either way, the library was yet to be built. Only its foundation was complete at the moment.
There were several others who were paying their respect to the monument as well. While he was observing those who were paying respect to the statue, he felt a stare. Looking around, he spotted Esther looking right at him.
Does she want to talk?
Unsure of her intention, he casually waved at her. If she responded, he was going to talk to her. Reluctantly, she waved back. Thus, he approached her casually.
“How are you doing?” And asked casually.
“Uh…, fine,” She replied timidly.
Her stall had bread and vegetables just like usual. It wasn’t noon yet, meaning people weren’t flocking to it. She’d be free until lunch time came.
“Good day, ain’t it?” Then he looked up, only to find a cloudy sky.
Dang it, man.
“Err, I guess…”
“So…, what’s up?”
It was a pretty bad fallout between them but it had been years. Besides, a lot happened since. She looked at the monument and would stare at it for a while before speaking up.
“I overheard Julian talking about you looking for mages…”
He tilted his head. As far as he could recall, he made no such a request to him. He did ask him to get a pair of maids and a chef but not mages. There was a chance that Cezary had discreetly asked him. He was a smart cookie after all. Either way, he decided to play along because he indeed needed mages.
“Yes, I am specifically looking for a fire mage and a wind mage.”
“You know…” She showed mild hesitation and looked embarrassed even. “I am a … fire mage.”
Was she?
He did recall being told such by Elias. However, when she cast her spell for real, it was nothing more than an utter disappointment.
“Does Julian know about this? About you wanting to become a mage, I mean.”
“He … does not.”
She was over twelve years old and unmarried, meaning she had the authority to make decisions for herself. Still, Julian was her guardian. He had to ask for his opinion. Before breaking the news to him though, there was something he had to make sure.
“I will have my scholar come by and test your elemental affinity. Only if your affinity is over five, I will consider your request.”
He had doubts that she was a fire mage. The magic she demonstrated before, there was simply no way that she was a fire mage. At the same time, Elias wouldn’t have lied. Given how hard it had been to find mages, he was more than willing to bring back into the fold - if - she was a mage indeed. Thus, when Cezary tested her and found that her fire affinity was four, she was shocked. She was told that it was five by Elias. This was when Kamil was able to piece together that Elias lied in order to save her life. If she wasn’t a mage, she wouldn’t have had any value. It was important to remember that she failed to become a maid. If it wasn’t for her magical affinity, she would have become literally useless to Edmund who would have removed her in one way or another.
“Four isn’t too bad though,” Cezary pointed out. “She could become a backup mage of that sort.”
“No, that’s it. I am not employing her.” Kamil rejected the idea outright. “I saw her cast magic. It was pitiful.”
He didn’t know why her magic was so weak. Regardless, she wasn’t going to be useful, and that was that. She sagged her shoulders upon hearing that. She couldn’t argue back, either, since it was in fact the truth. Perhaps he should have said it in a roundabout way, but lives were on the line. It needed to be made clear.
“I am sorry, but this conversation never happened. Are we clear?”
She nodded weakly. With a pout, she started to rearrange stuff on her stall as Kamil and Cezary turned around and walked away.
On the next day, masons suggested something interesting. They claimed that the idea came not long after the battle. They debated the matter by themselves for a while before finally lodging the idea to Kamil.
“You want to build the manor … inside of the mountain?” He had to raise his voice a little. He could see why they were hesitant to bring the idea to the table. It was something he had never heard of. The man who stood before him was the leader of the masons, named Gerrid. He looked like a hulk, presumably due to having to carry literal boulders everyday. He also was bald and featured a very rugged look as if he had been to countless battles.
“Yes, the main advantage for this would be that you will be able to move in quickly since we can progressively construct rooms as needed. Additionally, your manor will be able to act as a defensive structure.”
Kamil looked over to Cezary for advice.
“I’ve been thinking of a whole new concept of an establishment where we dig into a mountain to build a place to live.”
What is he even saying?
Kamil narrowed his eyes. He had a feeling that masons and Cezary had a long talk before this. Cezary pulled out a scroll out of his sleeve and opened it on the desk, revealing a rough drawing of New Laufeld.
“I say we build half of the city outside and the other inside the mountain,” He declared. He went on to list pros and cons. The most obvious advantage was ease of defending. In an emergency, people would evacuate into the mountain, leaving guards to defend only several choke points. This also would render walls largely redundant. Now, the most obvious disadvantage was that it was different. People would essentially be living in caves. Nobody knew what it would be like and how it’d work out.
“I say we test with the manor first before making the final decision,” Cezary suggested.
Well, whatever, why not.
Shrugging mentally, Kamil agreed. He personally didn’t care either way. However, there was something he needed to let them know.
“When the Macomaco farmer relocates to New Laufeld, I want you to build log walls around the field and put a pair of guards at its gate all the time.”
“They are a really good source of income for us. I don’t see why not,” Cezary agreed.
“I want the walls to be built on priority. Am I making myself clear?”
“Understood.”
He did not want to see any sort of misfortune falling onto his family under any circumstances. He was going to do whatever in his powers to ensure that Grent and Vilma would live as peacefully as possible. He would do anything to ensure their safety, anything.
Then the day to depart for Tantan came. An airship was ready on the platform, and Nestor was checking things to ensure a safe travel for the last time. Luggages were hauled in by workers, and Cezary was overseeing the whole operation.
“I did send a letter indicating your late arrival some time ago. I didn’t receive a reply but do not foresee any issues with that,” He told Kamil who had just arrived at the platform. Flora and Avina were behind him. Lara was also coming as a guard knight. There should have been at least one more guard knight, but they had been very short handed.
“Alright, here we go.”
It was going to be a somewhat long journey. Even with an airship, it was going to take days. The journey would have been excruciating with older versions of airships with no rooms under its deck. It took approximately three days during which they were able to stay rather comfortably below the deck. Avina lodged a complaint that her lady was unable to take a bath, but Kamil duly ignored her whining. It wasn’t as if there was anything he could have done.
“So, that is the town…”
From the bow of the airship, Kamil clenched his eyes as he looked down at Tantan, the elusive port town of the kingdom. The town was sandwiched between a mountain and a cliff. It appeared that they had built a long series of stairs to get down to the bottom of the cliff and built a dock on bottom. While the cliff wasn’t prohibitively tall, it couldn’t have been easy for the town to have built such a structure. It could have easily taken years. Additionally, the architecture looked quite different from what he had seen. He did not see any wooden structures. Everything appeared to have been constructed with stones which was easy to see why: There were barely any trees around. It looked like woods were used for fishing ships exclusively due to its rarity. Another aspect that stood out was their green roofs. Every house had green roofs.
“I’ve never been to Tantan before,” Flora remarked, elegantly walking toward the bow of the airship while waving her sparkling golden hair. Under the current angle, she was literally shining.
Man…, what’s with her lately?
There had been moments as of late where he had to look away from her because it was getting somewhat embarrassing. It wasn’t that she had done anything wrong; It was just that she looked too pretty from time to time. Blinking his eyes and shaking his head discreetly, his attention moved back down to the town.
The town was also built in layers due to being built on a slope with the lord’s manor being on the top layer.
“Interesting, they do have a landing platform,” He remarked. This would be the first time outside of Laufeld where a landing platform was seen. Of course, it was built with stones instead of wood.
“We are going to land, please get off the edge!” The pilot shouted from the back. Upon noticing the airship, several workers gathered around the platform. As soon as they realized that it wasn’t one of theirs, one of them dashed toward the manor, presumably to inform Aaron.
“Those people look different…,” Kamil whispered to himself.
He was talking about ethnicity. The people of the kingdom had the distinct appearance of europeans: Pale skin, colorful eyes and hair, and slender builds in general. Those workers he was looking at, they were clearly different. They had light brown skin and everyone had black hair. With the recent influx of refugees, there were occasional pale skinned people.
Once the airship landed, they waited aboard, waiting for maids to greet them. Instead, Aaron himself came to greet them, flanked by two young men. Both of them wore noble attire. Kamil got down from the airship in a rush.
“Lord Weber!” He said while showing his respect with a bow.
“I realize that you were expecting maids. But we have only three maids who are quite busy at the moment,” He explained the unusual situation after clearing his throat. “These are my sons. Lads, this is Lord Fenchel of Laufeld.”
“Your reputation precedes you. My name is Aloise Weber.”
Aloise looked very much identical to Aaron. He had well combed black hair just like his father. He looked really like a younger version of Aaron himself.
“My name is Alban Weber. I’ve heard a great deal about you, sir.”
Alban looked quite nothing like his father. In fact, he looked more like one of the locals. He had light brown skin and unkempt black hair. Basically, Aloise looked like a gentleman like his dad, and Alban looked like a brute.
Flora, who had just descended from the airship, also bowed with a palm on her chest. Since she wasn’t wearing a dress, there was no need for her to courtesy. Both young men looked quite surprised to see a noble lady in a blouse and a pair of pants. Aaron wasn’t an exception, either, but his reaction was far more subtle.
“My name is Flora Fenchel,” She softly declared.
“Welcome, Lady Fenchel,” Aaron replied with a soft voice. “It seems you two are meant for each other.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“You two continue to shake the norm.”
He wasn’t wrong. Kamil had broken more norms that he could recall, and Flora had also done her part in refusing to wear dresses although her being able to wear regular clothes was entirely on Kamil who permitted it in the first place. Nevertheless, it didn’t alter the image that this couple was out to break norms.
“I assure you - It isn’t our intention,” Kamil interjected to which Aaron laughed pleasantly.
“We are not blaming you. If it wasn’t for the airship you invented, this town may have been dead.”
“Father, we shouldn’t keep our guests waiting,” Aloise suggested discreetly.
“Yes, yes, we shall. Please, this way.”
As the Weber family led Kamil, Flora, Avina, and Lara to their manor, he had a better chance to have a good look around the town. People were curiously looking at them as if it wasn’t every day that guests arrived. They didn’t look as depressed as he expected. From what he was told back at the royal party, the situation felt dire. For the time being, he kept his mouth shut. The Weber manor was a large bungalow style house. Its walls were stones and its roof was, again, green.
“I’ve never seen such a color for a roof,” Kamil remarked.
It was hard to make out what it was made of. It looked like some sort of a plate? He wasn’t really sure.
“Those are copper plates,” Aloise answered.
“Copper plates? Isn't the color dark yellow?”
He made an amused expression. “You’ve seen copper?”
“Yes, sir. Am I right to assume that you have a copper vein in Tantan?”
“This whole town is literally sitting on a giant file of copper,” Aaron replied. “We have a lot, but no one wants it.”
“How does copper turn green like that?”
Aloise replied, “It’s like how iron turns dark reddish when exposed to elements except that copper turns such a shade of green.”
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
Aaron added, “We have too much copper but no actual use for it. We figured we could flatten it and use it as a roofing material instead. It’s far more durable than anything else. In fact, no house has ever swapped out roofing.”
It turned out that copper had a usage after all. Kamil informed them that it can also be used in place of iron for the airship design.
“The air pipes, huh…” Aaron stoked his chin. “I can see how. Anyway, let us enter my manor. You can hardly call it a manor, but it is what it is.”
He could see why lord Weber had only three maids. For such a small-sized manor, three would be enough. Once they entered the manor, what welcomed them was modest furniture. It could hardly be called a noble’s manor really. The whole interior was largely unpolished, leaving wooden texture as is. It felt more like a cabin. Considering the size of Tantan, perhaps this should have been expected. Lord Weber would not have the income level to sustain anything better. The fund to build two airships must have come from his years of meager savings.
There was a large living room as soon as they entered where a maid was preparing tea cups. The rectangular table was large enough for about ten people to sit down: Four on its longer sides and one on its shorter sides. Now, there was something interesting. There was no chair. The table wasn’t tall enough for chairs. In fact, they’d have to sit down on the floor. There were some wooden mats positioned around the table as if they were meant to sit on it.
“I wager you’ve never seen bamboo mats,” Aaron said with a smile.
“Bamboo?” Kamil wondered aloud.
“Yes, it’s a very unique tree-like plant with equally unique properties. We will show you later. Please sit down.”
Kamil sat down with no problem with his legs crossed. Flora, however, looked troubled. She had never sat down on the floor in her whole life and wasn’t sure of proper etiquette. A nearby maid noticed her dilemma.
“Milady,” She called her softly and demonstrated. She sat down folding her legs underneath thighs. Nodding along, Flora sat down exactly like so next to Kamil. As soon as she sat down, he took out a large linen pouch, containing Macomaco tea.
“Ohhhh!” Alban exclaimed joyfully as if he knew what it was containing.
“Lord Weber, a gift for you, sir. It’s Macomaco tea.”
“We will gladly accept it. The pouch you gave me the last time, it didn’t last a day.” He looked around his sons. “Foolish boys. Show some restraint.”
Alban protested, “Father, it wasn’t just us. Our mothers and sisters all -”
Aloise cleared his throat to shut him up, and he did, looking awfully embarrassed. After some casual chatters, Kamil eventually inquired about fort Nanlon and the order to dismantle it.
Aaron let out a laugh and said, “We are not fazed about it. In fact, I’d say good riddance.”
His statement was certainly confusing, and he realized that.
“Allow me to explain,” He said. “Tantan wasn’t originally a part of the kingdom. You could tell that the local people around here are clearly not from the kingdom.”
Kamil nodded and said, “Yes, I can see that.”
“To understand why the fortress existed in the first place, I will need to tell you how this town began. This could get long.”
Aaron made a short pause and took a sip. Others did the same.
He continued, “I believe the legend about Florent Mazet to be true. He did slay a legendary dragon that was terrorizing where the Siwen is. I believe the legend about the Holy queen Maco to be true as well. However, the claim that all humans originated from Staidone is false. If records from Estana are to be believed, they also have a similar legend of a dragon slayer. They call it ‘the age of darkness’ where monsters were far stronger than they are right now.”
He claimed that, after piecing together two legends from the Kingdom of Egra and Estana, he came to a conclusion that, during the age of darkness, several legendary groups set out to defeat dragons. Each dragon appeared to have their own territories. Florent Mazet defeated the northern dragon to claim the Siwen mountain and its surrounding areas. Likewise, another legendary figure did exactly the same and established Estana.
“This is where it gets pretty interesting,” He noted. “According to records from Estana, the land where our kingdom stands used to be the land of undead. It was not under any dragon’s control.”
The land of undead…?
Kamil recalled how Lyatan became a cursed land that began to spawn undead.
“It was the Holy queen Maco’s life magic that was able to repel the undead from this land and make it suitable for humans to live. This is where this town, Tantan, comes in. The town was here before the kingdom was established. The undead did not come here, and the folks here lived peaceful lives.”
Kamil asked, “Are you implying that the fortress was built by the kingdom to combat Tantan?”
He nodded and said, “Yes. At that time, Tantan was an unknown entity, and the kingdom feared it. They thought it might have been an undead town of some sort.”
As years passed on, the kingdom and Tantan eventually established communications, and the town eventually accepted to be a part of the kingdom decades later.
“The folks of Tantan had no language and were culturally as well as technologically very inferior. Even so, they knew that it was either submission or war. Wisely, they chose the former. Since then, the fortress had been more or less abandoned. It’s basically a ruin at the moment. Thus, the king’s order to dismantle it doesn’t really change anything for us.”
Aloise added, “We did have about ten guards there just to keep the face. We’ve recalled them. It’s hardly a fortress at this point. Nature will reclaim it soon.”
Alban chuckled. “True, brother.”
Kamil questioned, “What do you know about the Holy queen Maco as well as life magic?”
“Like every legendary figure, little is known about her. But she is a far younger figure than someone like Florent Mazet. So, there are some surviving written records. In fact, we do have a stone tablet that has some lines about her. It was apparently written by an elder in Tantan eons ago.”
Aaron gave a nod to a maid nearby, and she walked out of the living room.
“She shall bring it here.”
“Uh…, can I even read it?”
“Yes, the elder who wrote it was educated in our language. It looks like it was written when it was decided that the town would join the kingdom. Someone had to know the language to communicate.”
The maid came back with a stone tablet in her arms on her chest. The stone tablet looked indeed ancient. It wasn’t fancy-looking or anything. In fact, it was just an ordinary stone tablet you could find anywhere but did look really old. She placed it very carefully on the table for everyone to see. Kamil and Flora leaned closer to read.
It said: A fairy queen arrived, loved by all four fairies and blessed by the light. She repelled the darkness that had shrouded our land for as long as we could remember. We knelt before her and swore our allegiance. No one could deny her holiness.
A fairy queen arrived, loved by all four fairies and blessed by the light?
He repeated what he read in his head once more.
It’s basically saying that she had omni-affinity to all elementals and was capable of life magic, right? Why does it sound like having omni-affinity is a prerequisite for being able to use life magic? What about death magic? Does it even exist? It sounds like it does.
He stroked his chin slowly.
“Is it saying that the queen had affinity to all elements?” Flora asked. “Is that even possible?”
“If this tablet is to be believed, it looks like it used to be possible,” Aaron replied with a bitter smile. “It is my understanding that we, humans, used to be a lot closer to elementals than we do now.”
“People tend to have a hard time believing in something they cannot see,” Aloise chimed in.
A maid entered and bowed while declaring that the meal was ready.
“Take the tablet away,” Aaron ordered and rubbed his hands in anticipation. “Please, enjoy our seafood. I am sure it is your first time eating it.”
What Kamil and Flora were served with, neither of them had seen them before. There was a large dish of boiled shrimp and roasted oysters. When he tasted it, it was really nothing like he had eaten before. The taste was very different, yet breathtakingly good.
Holy shit.
“This is … very good, Lord Weber!” He uttered in awe. He couldn’t explain the taste. Having always consumed rather bland dishes, he really didn’t have any vocabulary to adequately progress the sophisticated taste.
Aloise explained with a broad smile, “We have a lot more than shrimp and oyster, but those two are the main delicacies around here.”
“These are the seafood Tantan can offer,” Aaron declared proudly. “These have been cooked with spices from Estana.”
“Ah, the spices. I’ve imported some from them. Sadly, I do not have a chef,” Kamil said regrettably.
Alban chimed in, “If you’d like, I can recommend you a chef. He’s young and is eager to get out of here.”
“Are you implying Gojar?” Aloise asked.
“Gojar? Hmm, yes. I suppose he could…,” Aaron trailed off.
“Who is Gojar?” Kamil asked.
Aaron explained, “He is the second son of our own chef. He has been vocal about leaving here since his elder brother is going to inherit their father’s position. He is a fine cook but surplus.”
Alban added, “He wasn’t vocal before, but the airship changed the situation.”
Because men were in very short supply in Tantan, he wasn’t allowed to leave. However, leaving for Laufeld as a chief chef was something Aaron would allow. It was simply too big of an opportunity to deny a young man’s career.
“I’d like to meet him if possible.”
“Certainly.” Then Aaron clicked his fingers. “Bring Gojar here.”
A maid bowed and exited the living room promptly. It didn’t take long for the man to arrive. He looked like one of the locals, black hair and dark skin. He looked young, late teen or early twenty at the most. He promptly sat down once entered.
“I’ve answered your summon, Lord Weber.”
“Gojar, this is Lord Fenchel of Laufeld. He is seeking a chef, and I’ve recommended you.”
His eyes lit up as if he finally found light at the end of a dark tunnel.
“I shall join Lord Fenchel if he permits,” He declared at once.
Kamil looked up and down on him. Since Lord Weber vouched for him, he didn’t have anything against him.
“Very well, Gojar. You are hired.”
Gojar lowered his upper body in the seated position. “I thank you. I shall pack my belongings.”
Once he left, they proceeded to finish the wonderful seafood.
“I thank you for the wonderful meal,” Kamil said and Flora nodded.
“You’ve given us Macomaco tea. It’s only just that we treat you equally,” Aaron said with a smile. “Now, I’d like you to introduce my family to you. You’ve met my two sons but have yet to meet my two wives and daughters.”
Nodding, Kamil stood up and expected Flora to do the same naturally.
“I … can’t stand up,” She said, her face slowly turning pale.
“What’s wrong?” Kamil asked.
“My legs … hurt, really bad. It feels like thousands of needles are poking them.”
Aaron laughed. “We should have warned you about that. It does take some training to get used to it.”
He was twelve. She was sixteen. Now, he wasn’t a physically strong boy, thus he knew he wouldn’t be able to carry her. He could have tried but was confident that he would only embarrass himself.
Can I carry her? I really want to. Hear me, elementals? Grant me powers to lift this woman in my arms.
Although very faint, it started to glow in green between his wrist and elbow. Then he grabbed her and began carrying her princess-style.
“W, wha-” Naturally, Flora panicked.
“Fear not, Flora. I shall carry you.”
It was a somewhat awkward sight to see because Kamil was shorter and overall smaller than Flora. Still, the boy carried her like a man would.
Alban whistled gleefully while Aaron and Aloise smiled. He carried her outside where the locals looked at them with bemused eyes.
“Lord Fenchel, my family is inside of the manor…,” Aaron corrected him with a low voice, almost a whisper.
Crap.
“Please, for the love of God, let me down,” Flora begged, her face deep red.
“Sorry,” He whispered to her meekly and let her down carefully. This was when Aaron and Aloise noticed Kamil’s faintly glowing arms. The former narrowed his eyes slightly as if trying to understand how Kamil was able to cast magic without uttering a word.
Once back into the manor again, Alosie led Kamil and Flora deeper into the place. There was apparently another living room which was meant for the Weber family members only. Aaron had a first wife and a mistress. The first wife was clearly someone from the mainland; She featured brown hair and blue eyes along with pale skin. His mistress, on the other hand, looked to be someone local, featuring dark skin, black hair, and brown eyes. The two women seemed to get along fine. At least, Kamil did not sense any bad blood between them. The lack of any bad blood between them was further evidenced by how Alosie and Alban got along. The two half-brothers were quite friendly to each other. Then the daughters were introduced. There were three of them, all of them were birthed by the mistress. With a family this large, he could see how the small pouch of Macomaco tea lasted only a day. It was good for only ten servings after all. Once the introduction was all done and dusted, Alosie led them outside and showed them a small patch of bamboo trees behind the manor.
“These are bamboo trees. They are found only around here and alongside the mountain range,” He said.
Kamil and Flora approached them with curious eyes. It wasn’t exactly a tree. It didn’t look like one. He knocked it and sounded hollow inside.
“Very interesting. I am not even sure that this is a tree to begin with,” He remarked to which Flora agreed.
She added, “The trunk is green. No tree I know is green. It’s brown and has barks.”
“True,” Alosie agreed. “But what else would you call it? The locals call it a bamboo tree. It may not look like a tree but sure acts like one. It’s more lightweight than regular wood. I am not sure whether it’s stronger though. Our fishing ships as well as airships use these.”
“Very interesting,” Kamil repeated.
“I would like to show you the docks. We will call it a day after that.”
The cliff facing the sea was about twenty meters tall. It was pretty much a vertical drop from the edge of the cliff. Apparently, they dug out a portion of the cliff and laid down stone stairs diagonally. Walking down carefully, Kamil inquired Alosie.
“Do you know how long it has taken to build this?”
“I have no clue. It was there for God knows how many centuries.”
The stairs were wide enough for two people to walk up and down simultaneously. The edges of the stones were heavily corroded, indicating that these stairs had been here for many, many, years. Once down to the bottom, there were three piers built with stones. Several basic, rudimentary, fishing ships were secured by ropes. There was currently no one around.
“We don’t fish everyday,” Alosie noted. “And, even if we do, some don’t use boats at all.”
“So, they just fish at the pier?” Flora asked curiously.
“No, the oysters you ate earlier are harvested by divers. They don’t need boats for that. They just dive from the piers.”
Meanwhile, Kamil simply stared at the waving sea. It was his first time seeing the sea from this close.
It’s so full of water. There is so much water that I see no end to it.
There was also this sound of waves as well. It felt strangely soothing whenever a wave hit the piers. This whole place was peaceful, and he liked it because it reminded him of Bronn, another rather isolated village. The closest settlement from Tantan was Altzell which was, on foot, more than fifteen days away. This vast distance meant that there was hardly any traveling merchant coming here, if at all. The risk versus reward simply wasn’t there. The isolation forced the locals to be self-sufficient and ensured that whatever culture they developed would remain unaltered. With the airships in service, however, it was probably going to change.
Once the tour was done, Kamil and Flora were introduced to a small house near the cliff. The Weber manor had no place for guests. In fact, if Alosie’s words were to be believed, they were the first guests from outside in his whole life. Therefore, perhaps rightfully so, the Weber family never bothered having guest rooms.
Oh, boy, this … really reminds me of my life back in Bronn.
The interior of the house was, again, modest at the best. This house used to belong to a family probably. With one third of the population gone, there were bound to be empty houses here and there. It was clear that they upgraded the furniture. Even so, it was clearly not meant for a noble couple to stay in by the Fenchel standards. Of course, Kamil couldn’t care less about this. He was fine sleeping on a straw bed even. But there was an issue he could not ignore: There was only one bed. And Flora’s eyes were fixed on the bed. Avina and Lara were taking luggages in and noticed this as well.
“Nice~” Lara snickered while Avina frowned.
They were betrothed, and everyone spoke to them as if they were married already. The reality with a noble marriage was that the moment they shared a bed together, it was considered a marriage because, under normal circumstances, they’d be sharing a bed at proper ages. Flora here was at a proper age. Kamil was a bit on the younger side but capable.
Well, sooner or later, this was bound to happen, yeah? Why not.
He took it easy. However, Avina was clearly against this.
“Milord and Milady, we should petition lord Weber to have a second bed or a separate -”
“No,” Flora interjected. “I cannot run away from reality. We are to be married. We will share the bed.”
“Nice~” Lara snickered once more, and Avina shooed her away angrily.
Raem, your future wife is quite an unhinged lady. Good luck, dude.
“If you say so, Milady…” Avina conceded. There wasn’t really anything wrong for them to share the same bed at this point. Both were of age, and they were to wed contractually also. If anything, Avina was being over protective of her lady. Regardless, very reluctantly, she let them be and left the house for the night.
This layout…, it really feels like my home back in Bronn…
There was a simple round wooden table by the only window of the house with a pair of stools. Sitting on it, he leaned his body against the stone wall and looked out vacantly, fully immersing himself into the wonderful view outside.
So peaceful. So peaceful …
The impression he got from the Weber family was that it was a big ball of happiness. He did not sense any hostility at all from every family member. All of them seemed to be happy and content regarding where they were in their lives. If he were to have a family, he’d want his family to be exactly like them. Momentarily entering a trance state, he casually spoke.
“Elementals, show me some entertainment, yeah?”
As soon as he spoke the words, a green translucent butterfly and an orange translucent salamander appeared on the table. The salamander and the butterfly were playing catch with the former trying to catch the butterfly with its flexible tongue. The pair were running on the wall in the house like a pair of toddler siblings chasing each other for fun. Flora’s eyes went wide while they tracked the pair of elementals playing with each other.
“You speak to elementals?”
He couldn’t care less whether she found out about it. She already knew that he had dual affinity to elements anyway.
“Yes, can you not?”
“I cannot. I’ve tried.”
She tried to catch the elementals and she did manage to grab them, but the elementals simply went through her delicate fingers.
He said, “Stay on the table. Say hello to the lady, folks.”
The elementals did exactly that. They stayed on the table and faced Flora who carefully approached and poked the salamander. Again, her finger went through it.
“How can you speak to elementals?”
He shrugged. “Who knows.”
“And you have dual affinity.”
“Yep, somehow.”
She was in thoughts before telling him, “You know, about the Holy queen Maco. She had omni-affinity. What’s your opinion on that?”
“She was a person from, what, a thousand years ago or so right? Who knows what the world could have been back then. For all we know, common folks may have been able to see elementals. You heard what Lord Weber told us; People and elements were closer back then.”
“True…,” She trailed off.
He had thought about how he was able to earn the second affinity. His only clue was Ludwig. The night he sacrificed himself, there was a lone salamander watching him in the castle. He did not know what was going through in Ludwig’s mind in his last moments, but whatever he thought must have triggered the fire elemental to follow him. Either way, at this point, the sun was coming down. The twilight sky made the scene outside even more breathtaking.
“Come on, Flora. Sit down here. The view outside is nice. You shouldn’t miss this.”
Dropping the question, she sat down on the stool and looked through the window. It was pretty undeniable; The view was indeed breathtaking. Soon, she noticed Kamil’s hand tapping discreetly on the table, next to the elementals. It was as if he was signaling her to touch or grab his hand. Without thinking much, she complied by placing her hand on top of his at which point, he gently grabbed her hand while looking outside still.
“Your hand is so soft,” He remarked.
That would have been obvious. She had never done any labor in her entire life after all. Meanwhile, her eyes were fixed at his hand, holding her hand. She came to realize that there had been hints here and there where he was trying to approach her. The way he approached her back in the carriage where he sat his head on her thighs and then the way he carried her earlier. From those, she should have seen this coming.
“Wouldn’t you want to retire to a place like this? Where you could enjoy your life in peace everyday.”
She had to laugh weakly. “Pardon my manners, but you are in your early teens, you know. Why do you speak as if you’ve seen everything this world has to offer?”
Because I’ve seen everything this world has to offer. If I could retire right now, I would… Not until I get rid of that king though…
He smiled back at her and changed the subject.
“Milady, you are as charming as ever. I’d like to kiss you on your lips if you permit.”
She looked somewhat shocked to hear his sudden proposal, but her face soon smoothed out. She knew, sooner or later, this day would arrive. While she didn’t exactly love him, she didn’t hate him, either. Essentially, it could have been worse for her. Her mother had repeatedly told her that noble marriages were rarely out of love but for convenience. As long as she didn’t hate her spouse, she should consider it as a success, she was told.
“Of course, my good sir. You are my husband.”
With their eyes locked at each other’s, their faces slowly became closer, and their lips touched each other’s. It wasn’t quite the romantic kiss either expected. However, for both of them, it was their first time, and it was good enough. They grinned at each other after the soft kiss, feeling somewhat foolish. They went back to watching the twilight sky without saying a word to each other.