I woke up in the middle of talking to Teresa. It was jarring due to how seamless it was. I had gotten carried away with my stories.

There was so much more I wanted to tell her about Earth and the way I lived, but I also realized how much of the terrible things I glossed over. I had no one else to speak to about this so I didn't want to put her off the topic.

I bathed and prepared myself to head to the city for my birthday present. This was the first time I had my father to accompany me to the city.

It wasn't rare anymore for me to be excited to go to the city, I had friends waiting for me there.

Julia and her brother Phil, the two siblings I had taught soccer to over a year ago.

There was also Francine, the mayor's daughter who tackled me in our first game. I remembered to give her the safer rules of playing the next time I played with her.

Unsurprisingly, we as a group of four had attracted the attention of others to play along. Other days I had even seen adults copying what us children had practiced a week or so ago. I definitely didn't invent soccer, or football in this world.

I hadn't yet decided what to call it anymore considering the only people who cared are an entire universe away.

Yeah I can't wait to have another match, this time Franny will probably make up for her last loss. I thought.

My mother stayed home with my younger sisters for today's trip. Incidentally, I got the rare scenario of being in the same space as my older siblings.

Normally, I would only see them on the far side of the table from me. I assumed Father wanted to turn this trip into a bit of a bonding between us; since I would now be joining them for future lessons.

"So you wanted a sword for you present?"

"Yes."

"Huh, not even Kraimer wanted something so violent on his 6th birthday."

"Really."

"Yes, really. Instead, he wanted-"

"Father I would rather you not mention it."

"Well, you seemed rather quiet on this ride. I thought you wouldn't mind."

"I do. If you just want to entertain Fred with something because he can't handle sitting in silence, talk about something else please."

"I just wanted him to know a bit more about his older brother."

"It's up to him if he wants to say something to me about himself, Father. I can handle a quiet ride if no one's in the mood to talk."

"You're too kind Fred."

It did end up being a quiet ride after that, but I suspected my older siblings saw me a bit differently because of my comment.

I already knew that forcing them to get comfortable with me wasn't going to work. There was no real way of knowing if I'd ever be accepted by them. I could only hope to gain their approval in the future and to not have them hate me at least. I was certain it'd work out either way.

We arrived to the guard checkpoint and disembarked, Barrett didn't hesitate to walk off towards the city without waiting for the rest of us.

"Do make certain that you return here when the time comes, young lady."

"Uh huh. You're only going to the smith's store and then having lunch at the market right?"

"Yes."

"I'll see you for lunch then Father."

Father gave an exhausted sigh. Barrett had arrogantly continued her pace when she answered Father. She seemed to be the most assertive of my older siblings.

"She's just like her mother, doesn't care to say where she's headed once she's made up her mind."

I took a mental note of that.

So, my stepmother might be a stubborn woman with concise speech. I thought.

"Aawuagh! We're here already?"

Darvy had fallen asleep on the carriage ride, I didn't notice because it looked like he was just staring out of the window of the carriage.

"We've been here long enough for Barrett to go on her own."

"Really, Kray? Guess I'll be going to, no offense Fred but I don't feel like going into the smith's shop, it's way too hot. Plus, I've got places to be."

"Darvy if you head off with a group of adventurer's again I will personally bury you in the courtyard overnight."

"Haha, uh, er. I promise I'll stay at the Hallowed Tree. I'm sorry about last time Father. The way they talked about taking out those fern spiders. It just sounded like it'd be a blast."

"I already warned you. Your mother gave me an earful last time, please let me trust you won't do it again."

Darvy bowed his head and went off to the Hallowed Tree. It was an inn that housed an office for the adventurer's guild. As corny as it sounded even this world didn't seem to stray too far from clichés I had long ago read about.

The three of us that remained made our way towards the smith's shop. There were several smiths in the city, but there was only one smith that my father trusted to make his armaments. I heard before from Logan that the smith used to be part of Father's old adventurer party.

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I was surprised to hear Father had ever been an adventurer. Some part of me believed Father had never been more than a well educated and expertly trained nobleman. One that had occasionally done battle in the name of the emperor.

To realize later on that my father was in the mud with fellow thrill seekers roaming about the lands, looking for their next exciting job to take part in, it was a shock.

The smith's shop wasn't some grand sculpted piece of artwork, but it certainly wasn't some shoddy shack either. The word I would use to describe the shop is industrial.

There were at least three chimneys, of the three, one of them reached so high into the air I wondered how I hadn't spotted it before we arrived.

The entrance to the shop was a marvel of ingenuity as a floating flame acted as the source of power that moved the gears around its mechanism. I knew that it could double as a night lantern once the sun set.

My father pulled on a hanging string by the door. The pipe the string was attached to released a burst of steam into the flame mechanism which elaborately spun to open the door.

I followed close behind my father, Kraimer trailed behind as well.

"Who is it? Cliff if that's you, I won't tell ya again. That blasted staff won't be finished until the supplies of Enjiwood get delivered. So get the vix out of my shop!"

"It's nice to see you as well old friend."

"Well. My apologies Saint Mylo. I had you mistaken for a recent nuisance I've had as of late."

"No need to be so formal, old friend. I'm not quite fond enough of that title to require it of you."

"Ol' breadsap, you just like to tease me."

"Now, now Dag. I never said it was ok to call me breadsap."

"Suit yourself Mylo, and apologies to the little crumb leaves for the outburst."

"That aside, I've come to make a request."

"I refuse."

My father was dumbstruck and his grin turned into a gape of confusion.

"Dah! Hahaha, you should see your face Mylo. Bwahaha. Come here little one look at his face. He's all furious now! He'd tear my limbs off if he didn't have to worry about the effect it'd have on you two."

After another burst of hearty laughter, the bespectacled bearded man composed himself. Kraimer remained dead silent throughout the entire exchange.

"It was just a jest Mylo. What is it you need, I'll put it at the top of my priorities."

"A sword, I'd like another one. The same material and design."

"Could I ask why? Did you break the last one, if there's something wrong with it you know I can fix it without having to break it down. Unlike some of those other hacks."

"No, you misunderstand it's not for me, the blade you made for me was perfect. It's Fred, my son he turned six just a couple days back. He asked me for one."

"For this little red fellow. Hmm, I could make another just like yours, but I don't think he'd manage to swing it let alone carry it around."

"I'm fine with a size smaller that I can use for now. If you could, make the handle big enough that I can use it when I'm older."

"Well, is that reasonable for you Dag?"

"It would be my pleasure. A man that values function over vanity, that's the best kind of man I can hope to wield my creations."

"What's the cost?"

"For little Frederick? You can consider this a gift from our friendship."

"There's no need for that kind of special treatment Dag. Come on what's it going to cost?"

"Mylo, just let me be a fool and spoil the boy. Besides I owe you anyway."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet Freddy boy. I still have to get it done and delivered to your hands."

The smith patted me on the head.

"He does look just like ol' Fred doesn't he friend?"

"You're telling me."

I wasn't sure what to make of smith's last words. My father, Kraimer, and I headed to the market to grab some food.

It was far more crowded than I'd ever seen it before. It looked like the crowd was there to observe us. That's when I realized they were indeed there to admire.

My father was approached by many with their heads bowed down and received a curt formal greeting from each. This went on for some time until we selected a vendor and then sat at a bench.

I wondered if the bench was empty from the moment we arrived at the market, or if the denizens were too considerate or fearful to find out what would happen if there wasn't a single space empty.

I found it strange that Kraimer throughout this spectacle didn't utter a single word.

"It's a bit much isn't it?"

"The crowd?"

"Yes."

"It does seem that way."

"Fred, do you know why these people change their mood around me?"

"Because you're the Duke Dreadtree, this land is under your protection. Father, Frederick was taught about this before."

Kraimer finally broke his silence. I could only guess that it was Logan himself that was keeping tabs on me and telling Kraimer about even our small talks.

"Oh Kraimer, it's not just that I am the Duke, it's about the reason that I am the Duke and how I also became a saint. Fred, my brother..."

My father was suddenly lost in thought. His eyes looked tired.

"I-uh, forget I said that Fred. You're still too young for that topic, but sometimes I think you're a lot more mature than you let on."

Kraimer seemed as disturbed as I was in that moment. I had no idea what my father was going to say in that moment, but I thought it was for the best that he held off on finishing what he was saying.

A raven-haired girl broke through the crowd of people.

"Freddy, want to play?"

"Sure, I'm up for a game. Is it fine if I go play with Franny, Father?"

"Yes, go on, I won't stop you. Go have fun. Haha."

Franny ignored all the people who were standing around afraid and pulled me by the hand to the small field. Julia and Phil were waiting there for me along with another six kids.

The small field had some changes made to it over the past year. Instead of being entirely a flat empty space with grass, two goals were created on either side with a net on the back. It was an idea I had described to Francine, and she later told her mother about it which led to the new installations.

Once the goals were added and more kids joined in on our skillful game, dedicated goalies were selected.

When it came to deciding teams, I allowed Franny to pick whomever she wanted to be on her side. It didn't matter to me, I was still the one that taught most of them to maneuver the ball. The goalies on the other hand happened to be the kids who liked breaking the hand on ball rule a little too much. They preferred playing the goalies after the fact.

The other kids acted as the semi-referees of course they defaulted on whether or not I agreed with their call. I could cheat if I wanted to, but it wasn't necessary. If anything, had I cheated, this game wouldn't have been any fun anymore.

The game was now starting. From the get go I took the ball from the center and started making a drive for the goal. Franny was hot on my trail, she nearly slipped her foot right between my legs to kick the ball away. Before she could achieve her objective, I sent the ball over to Julia. She wasn't a strong forward but her maneuvering skills were good enough for stalling.

Phil began pressing in on his sister, but I had planned for Julia to pass to someone else. I simply bided my time with Franny still marking me.

"My team's going to win this time."

"Hah, in your dreams. If all you do is block me the whole game can you really say you won?"

"That doesn't matter, without you my team can easily make a goal on you."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Absolutely!"

"Then why is my teammate already next to your goal?"

"What!?"

Franny flew towards the ball. I didn't even bother trying to chase after her. I knew she would throw the ball out, these kids still weren't coordinated enough to do a counterattack.

As I had guessed, the kid who received the ball from Julia managed to juke the goalie and right as he went to kick the ball, Franny arrived. She sent the ball all the way to the big field with the older kids and adults.

It went spiraling with such force that it knocked down one of the kids in the other field.

I burst out laughing and so did the rest of the kids on the small field, including Francine. That was until, Bertram himself got up and took the ball personally back to the small field.

"Who kicked this?"

"It was Francine."

I didn't bother lying, but Franny was mortified when I didn't even attempt to cover the fact.

"Francine? Is that right?"

"Y-yes."

"That was a pretty good kick, why'd you send it so far?"

"They were about to score and I just couldn't hold back and then the ball came and it- I-"

"Hmmph, I think I'll join in for a moment."

I was worried for a second, I knew Bertram was quite athletic from the matches he played of rope ball. However, even if he didn't know how to play football, it wasn't like him being the oldest player on the field wouldn't be an absolute advantage in spite of that.

My fear was quelled when a hand was placed on my shoulder. It was Kraimer's.

"If you're tapping in Bertram, I can't stand by and just watch."