As I pass inside, I see a spacious room that seems to serve as a dining room, kitchen and living room all at the same time. Next to the fire there is a woman who looks to be in her 20s I suppose, with red hair and brown eyes. She looks at us strangely when we enter.
"Julia, please take this boy to the attic and bring him some food, also prepare something where he can sleep. He is going to stay with us for a few days. Joaquín and I are going to talk about some things while he eats something, if you want you can join us when you're done "says Ragnar.
"ok" says the woman to Ragnar and then looking at me "come please, I am Julia the daughter of Ragnar, what is your name?"
"Xelean" I reply as she leads me up the stairs.
"Please try not to make too much noise when you are in the attic, my daughter is sleeping" she says quietly as we pass through a hallway with three doors on the second floor to the folding ladder that leads to the attic. "The first two doors are my and my daughter's room, and Ragnar's room, the third is a bathroom. Remember, the bathroom is the first door from your room" she says pulling the hatch at the end of the hallway that unfolds a staircase to the loft.
We go up and when I turn on the magic light I see that inside there are furniture, clothes and boxes stacked without much order, all covered in a layer of dust. Julia throws a worn mattress on the floor, which raises a cloud of dust that makes us cough a little, takes some blankets and a pillow from one of the furniture and puts them on the mattress. "This solves the problem of preparing something for you to sleep. Wait here while I bring you some food, if you need to go to the bathroom you know where it is" she says and goes down the stairs.
I begin to arrange the blankets on the mattress. When I finish, looking at what will be my new room, I see that there is a window with the curtains open and thinking that it will wake me up early in the morning, and wishing a good night's sleep, I draw the curtains, since I have been getting up for days at dawn.
I hear Julia coming back and I see her appearing through the hatch with a tray on which there is a bowl with a stew, a piece of bread and a glass of water. "You can eat it without hurry. When you finish, leave it on a piece of furniture, you can lower the tray to the sink tomorrow. I didn't bring you more water because if you need more you can go down to the bathroom," she says, leaving the tray next to the mattress.
"Yes, thank you very much... for everything" I say, noticing how hungry I am when I smell the stew.
"You're welcome" she says as she goes down the stairs "good night."
I eat the stew and the bread avidly with a few tears in my eyes, since it reminds me of the food at home. When I finish, I put the tray on a piece of furniture and go to sleep.
****
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I wake up late, more or less it must be noon judging by the position of the sun. When I remember what happened yesterday, the fight with Victor… and the message I saw at the end comes to mind. Looking at my status I see the class "Warrior", its description says [Improves the user's vitality and stats related to close combat]. When I finish looking at the interface I go out through the hatch and down the stairs.
As I go down, I see Julia talking to a little girl, blonde and green-eyed, next to the kitchen. When she saw me going down the stairs, the girl ran out, passed me at full speed and went up the stairs, out of sight.
"That's my daughter, Mia, she's 6 years old and she's a bit shy because she doesn't go out much, due to her eye and hair color..." says Julia with a smile, as she calls me to the table.
"What's wrong with her hair and eye color?" I ask puzzled as I sit at the table, it's the first time I've heard that something as trivial as hair color can be a problem.
"Nothing, it's just that it's the distinctive color of the Estella family... that leads people to think things that don't interest us, that's why when she leaves the house she has to change her color with an enchanted necklace" she says as she brings me some toast with jam and a cup of tea.
"I still don't see the problem, is it bad to be from the Estella family? I thought it was one of the main families of the kingdom" I say while I eat the toast.
"It's not a bad thing to be from the Estella family, it's... It's a long story... And it's not a good story to start the day" she says, looking at me and I see that she doesn't want to talk about it, "but speaking of stories, Joaquín told us yesterday how he met you, and why did he bring you to the capital and what happened when you arrived. I'm sorry you couldn't join the military academy because of that vermin... What I'm trying to say is… Joaquín told us you want to go to the labyrinth, but it's a dangerous place and you're very young, wouldn't you want to rethink it? "
"No, my parents died because of the labyrinth that fell in my town, while I was unconscious without being able to do anything... I need to strengthen myself and know that if I find myself in that situation again I will be able to do something" I say with all the firmness that I can gather as I remember the ruined tavern.
"From what Joaquín told us, what had happened in your town is not something that anyone could have avoided... there are times when things cannot be prevented from happening, we just have to adapt..." she says and I see sadness in his eyes.
"Anyway, I want to learn to defend myself" I say stubbornly. I am not going to change my mind, I refuse to feel as helpless again as I felt against the wolves, if it had not been for that dragon I would also be dead.
Julia sighs and says "if you are so convinced it is better that you learn to fight in a safe environment before, otherwise you would only be looking for your death... Joaquín told us about your test practice, you only have won because your opponent was confident. In the labyrinth the monsters do not hesitate or have mercy, and they go in groups sometimes"
"I know, Ragnar is supposed to teach me... but he left without me, so I'll have to wait for him to come back" I say annoyed at the prospect of doing nothing, while I finish my toast and tea.
"Dad had to go to work and he won't be back until the afternoon. Anyway, I'm the one who is going to teach you, at least how to use the sword... However, you still have to wait for dad to come back to learn magic. If you have finished eating, follow me "she says with a smile and guides me to a door that leads to some descending stairs.
Going downstairs I see a large basement in which there is nothing but wooden mannequins, reinforced with metal plates and supports on the walls. In the supports there are swords… many swords of various shapes and sizes, both real and made of wood. Julia takes two wooden swords from the brackets on the wall and throws one at me.