Primis is our last destination before we make it to the Kingdom of Carmen. It’s to the northwest side of Trivis Numerica, and is also the smallest of the three countries. That being said, Ren is still a sizeable city on par with the other two capitals.
Making it to the plaza, we went to grab a bite in a seemingly popular restaurant. It was a small family establishment, it gave off a cozy feeling, something akin to the Arthur’s branch in Station Arfa. Seeing the young spiffy waiter reminded me of Carl in a way. Awkwardly enough, we once again garnered some judgmental stares from surrounding onlookers, seeing as Ed was the one that was feeding me with a spoon. If you recall, my arms are still bandaged up thanks to me purposefully dislocating them during the final exam. Then again, we didn't really care, as it’s not like I had a choice.
Finishing our meal, we had the headed out to an inn to drop off our stuff and promptly went sightseeing. Since we already explored the plaza, we thought, let’s go to the tourist district. The tourist district is a just that, a section of the city where locals would sell all sorts of souvenirs and street food to tourists from afar. Sure, the prices were a bit higher than if we were to just go to a restaurant or shop, but we had some extra spending money so we decided to splurge a bit.
The first thing Ed bought was a magnetic badge with Ren painted on it. This is something I didn’t notice before, but apparently Ed was collecting these badges as sort of proof that we were in all of the places we visited. He had badges of Whitehood, Springwood, Station Arfa and Leins. The reason he didn’t have a Wheats badge was because the village wasn’t a tourist spot, so there wasn’t anyone selling it. Still, I'm sure you can have it custom-made if you order it. After buying the badge, we decided on buying some accessories for ourselves. I got a green cap, but Ed said it didn’t really suit me. Searching around the district a bit more, we stumbled upon an interesting vendor. They sold custom bracelets and necklaces and even allowed you to write whatever you wanted on them. Since we wanted to remember them for all they’ve done for us, we had “Anna” etched on Ed's bracelet, and “Arthur” etched on mine. Heh, just seeing him stare at her name with a smile on his face gave away his intentions all too quickly, but I don't mind.
After that, Ed wanted to have our portraits taken at a local painter’s shop, but I didn’t really see the appeal in standing around for half an hour to an hour just to get a little piece of paper with our likeness painted on it. Knowing me, I’d probably lose it somewhere, and with how much we’ll be traveling, I doubt it’ll make it to the end of our journey. Finally, seeing as we were nearing the bottom of our self-allowance pouch, we decided to head back to the inn and rest.
***
It’s been a week since then and my arms are still banged up. We started getting worried about just leaving it to heal up on it’s own, so we thought to make an appointment with the local doctor.
Making it to the hospital was quite the endeavor. You see, unlike in Springwood where Harper’s clinic was literally around the corner, this hospital was a good half an hour stroll away. It was just as large though. The last time I visited the hospital, I came as a visitor, but this time I’m the patient. With such a thought looming over my head I started getting cold feet as we entered. What if they tell me the state of my arms is critical? What if they have to amputate? Just kidding, amputation is a bit much, isn't it?
Still, these scary what-if scenarios weren’t something I thought about up until now, but looking back it would make sense if the doctor had to conduct a surgery. The actual checkup was pretty normal, though. The doctor ran some tests, jotted some things down on his clipboard and essentially told me I was being too reckless with my body. He gave me some prescription pills and some stretching exercises I was told to do every morning after getting out of bed. No amputation for ol' Lune, booyah!
We thanked him and went back home. The pills were a godsend for me, and the exercises proved helpful in getting the strength in my arms back. Within a week, I was out of my bandages and could actually eat on my own semi-comfortably. We went to visit the doctor again for another checkup, this time with gifts in tow.
He seemed pleased with the presents and my results thus far, making a joke about my eyes shining a bright emerald green. The punchline was hidden in the context that the more someone’s eyes shone a certain color, the more they believed in that philosophy, leading to the perks associated with the color being more noticeable. Like I said before, this is nothing more than a superstition, but hey, I can say from experience that it seems to be holding up pretty well so far.
Before leaving the doctor’s office, I asked him if writing was considered okay. Ed suddenly turned my way, chuckling as the doctor said it should be fine, so long as I don't overdo it. On our way back to the inn, we stopped by a vendor who sold empty diaries.
***
The book project started off well enough. Originally I thought to spice it up and write it in the style of a novel, but there would be no exaggerations (again, this is a story of our journey first and foremost). Writing about my time in Whitehood made me a bit melancholic, but after making it to the Springwood part of the book, I noticed I had already used up a sizeable amount of pages. This was because I wrote in a dialogue based style and had a lot of line breaks. I made sure to change my way of writing to a more space efficient one, but I didn’t really feel like rewriting everything all over again, so I guess we’ll consider it proof of my growth as an author.
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
Springwood was a beautiful town, it was the closest place to home, both in the literal and metaphorical sense. We had met so many people there: Arthur, who helped us get on our feet when no one else wanted to. Anna, who went above and beyond just to join us around TN, without her the journey wouldn’t be half as fun. Harper, who saved Ed’s life and helped him get out of his shell a bit, she was a woman who we’re both eternally grateful for. Carl, our first business partner, without whom we’d probably still be stuck in Secundis. Mister Ridge, who gave us a bit of reprieve from all the business talk to just act like kids again. Graal, who had arranged for our tests to be taken years before we were technically allowed to.
All these people did so much for us, and yet after we leave TN, we probably won’t meet again. This is the reason I’m writing this book in the first place, as I’ll be sending all the volumes to them regularly.
After having finally finished writing about my doctor’s visit, I signed the book “Lune Grimheart” and aptly went to sleep. I know the doctor said not to overdo it, but every time I’d start writing, I’d just forget about everything else and before I knew it, it’d be the middle of the night. Heh, writer's spirit, I guess!
***
With the book now finished, I went to a printer’s to get enough copies of the book to send to all of our friends. While I was waiting for them to print them out, I couldn't help but wander about a bit more while I was given some time away from Ed. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy his company like no other, but there's just nothing like wandering the streets of an unfamiliar place all by yourself.
"Ren has grown on me pretty nicely as well." I commented, "I wonder, just how many more places will I be able to call "home" in the future?"
As this thought occupied my mind, I had somehow found myself wandering the nearby town park. Filled with trees and other similar domesticated critters, such as squirrels, cats and dogs, I could practically feel the beauty of this Vast World flowing right through me. Realizing I was once again making a fool out of myself as the passerby citizens were staring at me hugging trees, I decided to hastily continue on my short walk.
"Hey, these flowers are quite nice." I couldn't help but pick one, "A red flower. Ugh, I was never that good with botany, so I forget the name of this one..."
Really, the only experience I have with flowers is that they can be mixed with some other materials to make hair dye. Ed and I used to play around with making our hair all sorts of crazy colors back in Whitehood this way, but we soon realized our mistake when we noticed the dye just wasn't gonna come off as easily. We got a nasty earful by our mothers for that one, heh...
"Still, it really is pretty." I said as I put it in my pocket, "Oh, there's a pink one too."
Before I had realized it, I had spent the entire day just taking in the sights of the city one last time. It had gotten to be quite melancholic, but this time I didn't really mind. Hm, could the reason for this be because we haven't gotten attached to anyone here? If it's like that, then I kinda feel bad for not doing so. Still, the people we've met have all been there for us for a reason. Without them, we couldn't have made it here at all. Not one bit.
Returning to the inn right as dusk was kicking in, the first thing that Ed had asked me upon entering was: "Hey, did you get the books?"
"...Crap! I totally forgot to pick them up!" I facepalmed as I went to put my shoes back on.
"Dumbass." He rolled his Eyes, "Alright, I'm coming with. I got real bored of wasting away in the inn."
"Huh? Oh, sure. Hurry though, they're gonna close any minute now, and we'll be leaving this place tomorrow." I said, making him panic.
"You damned idiot!"
Thus, we had somehow barely managed to get all the books in time and have sent them to everyone at the local post office here. Though right as we were about to hand them in, I had asked the postal worker at the booth for a quill. I just had to write a special note to one of the copies of the books.
"Mother, father. Thank you for giving birth to me, and for letting me experience the world as it is. I'm having fun, meeting all sorts of new people and seeing even more interesting things with Ed. Please don't worry about me. Take care. -L"
And with that, the books were handed in and sent, and the two of us went back to our inn to pass out on our beds after yet another successful and fulfilling day.
***
In the wagon heading to the central capital, Carmen City, Ed and I decided to pass the time by talking about where we’ll go after acquiring the adequate travel funds. Remember, right now our primary goal was to ask the King of Carmen for a loan.
“It's gotta be Cardina! It houses the World’s safest place, for Gods’ sakes!” Ed protested.
“But Great Hiana is the most culturally distinct! If we want novelty, we should head there. Oh, but one thing’s for certain,” I added, “we’re definitely not going to Sulfury.”
“No duh, that place is a literal battleground, I don’t think going there at all would be a good idea.” He added onto my observation.
“Well, if we run out of places to go, then we’ll have to visit it eventually.” I figured.
We talked until dusk had completely fallen, not even realizing we were accidentally lulling each other to sleep with this meaningless banter. The Sun was starting to set, somehow the transport wagon always makes us extremely sleepy in these times. The last thing we heard before conking out was the driver talking to border police.
“I’ve got two kids heading to KoC. Requesting access.”
“Access granted. Welcome to Carmen…”