Capítulo 46: Chapter 46 : Exploration
Vega and Dion found themselves staring at each other after they finished reading the scroll.
All the descriptions pointed out that the Raven's Order was an old organization to protect the holder of soul elements. Several more descriptions of light, dark, sound, gravity, and space elements. It also listed some of the known members, including Professor Addilyn and Professor Kairos. The list went on and one until several names made them frown. A title of some sort, En'saya Alayna, Datvrok Manuka, and Mersipol Katrina. The words were written with different characters, but luckily they had the common language under them.
"A little abrupt and strange. Apparently, the guild is not the only one who's in charge of The Islands," Dion said it first while handing his scroll over to his friend to keep.
"Agreed. Why don't we actually find a place to find an empty place where we can go back to being normal," sighed Vega. With a wave of his hand, both scrolls disappeared from their sight. "But nothing ever will," he whispered as quietly as possible. He remembered his first time reaching The Islands, hoping he would lead a normal life.
While the capital was a little complicated, street signs listed the name of each street. Turning left and passing a street cat who meowed at them. After following them around, the cat got bored, jumped over a barrel, and landed gracefully on the roof. Shouting followed, accompanied by items flying around chasing the cat. Finally, after the interesting sight, they both reached a building with a sign hung from a bracket. The chains creaked when a gust of wind blew it, making it swing.
"Is that the place?" Vega pointed at the sign.
Dion nodded. "It seems like it. The apprentice didn't tell us exactly the name but only a description of the symbol. It matches... I think."
The facade of the inn was better than the dark rocky building where they just left. The door looked taken care of. The stones still showed their original grey color even though unreachable places had webs in the corner. Two colorful windows made the guests find the inn easily. The glassworks were quite high-quality depicting a similar symbol with the sign. Flowers, plants, and trees. All had reddish colors in different shades. The Pink Garden.
Unlike their expectation about a building called The Pink Garden, the interior was actually pretty mundane. Several tables, complete with chairs decorated the first floor. One long counter was guarded by an intermediate-level apprentice wearing a tiny white hat. The other servers wore similar signature hat perching on their different hairstyles.
"I'm sorry," said Dion curtly when a lady bumped into them. Without saying anything, the lady just scanned them, squinted her eyes, scoffed, and left the building in a hurry.
"What's all that about?" Vega was too shocked before he had the chance to blurt any retort he had in mind.
"That's the capital for you." His friend still wore his signature smile. "Probably she tried to steal something but my pouch is actually empty." He chuckled. They exchanged glances and both understood the implication making Vega smile.
The process to register for a room was pretty simple. The inn didn't require a blood contract, only exchanged a key and took the money.
"Two sets of meals and deliver them to the room. Oh and the best bottle of mead."
Hearing that, the innkeeper nodded with a smile and treated them better. Bowing several times, he ordered the staff to make the order quickly. Grateful, Vega put another bronze coin on the desk and nodded. Heading toward the first door, they were lucky enough to get a room just behind the counter. Even though the innkeeper kept giving them an odd look, he unlocked the door and pushed Dion inside.
"I'm sorry to keep you from having your own room, Vega. We don't have enough money, and hopefully, the guild won't ask for any payments for their entrance fee."
"No worries." Vega felt a little glad to share a room with his friend. Being in a different environment, it wasn't safe to be alone. At least with two of them, they could kill any trespasser who dared to target them.
Sitting on the bed after he helped Dion to sit on his side, he took out a note from his paper and showed it to Dion. "It's from the chancellor."
"What does it say? The writing is a little bit small. But the dates seem promising, right?"
Vega shrugged and read the note.
--Of course, I give you this map of the academy. Some of the important dates:
The guild's entrance: 15th
An auction (you need the money--sell whatever you don't need): 13th
I expect you to report back to me: 31st.
P.S. Visit the Library. IMPORTANT.--
"My mentor told me the higher your level, the crazier you get. This note is one of the proof." Vega kept the note.
"Surely, the dates are all mixed up. But at least we knew what we're going to do in the capital. Does it say anymore about our mission?"
Flipped the notes back, but he didn't find any more information. "Probably our mission is just that. To report the guild's behavior was already too suspicious. I just hope that nothing will happen."
With a slight pinch, the fire ate the note and turned it into ash. Vega took another scroll showing a whole map of the capital. Unlike the map the academy gave them, this one had better drawings and lines showing a whole capital. The size of the land seemed smaller than that of the academy. The capital took a whole island by itself with four sections surrounded by a white building that stood in the middle of the island. Two lines, clearer and bolder compared to the lines describing where the sections are, showed connecting bridges from the guild to the city's western and eastern areas. Apparently, Oase del Mare was a little island surrounded by two larger islands on the other two sides. This probably explained why the capital kept its title as the most prosperous city, with two whole islands that can be used to hunt creatures for their income.
"That's the guild, right?"
Dion nodded. "I wonder what the other islands are for."
"I thought the nobles and the crown live there? That's actually similar to how the nobles live in the outerland. But somehow, the capital won't revolve around the guild. I don't believe they have that sort of power to keep people together, right?"
"Your statement could still be correct. Even though my father didn't tell me much, it's not possible for our bloodlines to reach only ten members. Somehow, this is where the original houses live, and when some of the members didn't show enough talent, they will transfer them toward the commoner's area. I heard even the crown family only had Princess Vin pass the test. Her brothers and sisters didn't manage to pass any tests and stayed there. It meant that our bloodlines had thinned, making only some of the nobles pass."
"Is that true? I find it hard to believe. Why bother having two different representatives for the adepts and the kingdoms?"
Those questions wouldn't be in their mind much longer. Vega and Dion took a shower before changing into a more appropriate outfit before exploring the capital.
Dion chose his darkest green tunic embroidered with intricate patterns across the hems. It draped elegantly over his seated form with a wide sleeve covering the armrests.
Vega, on the other hand, wore two sets of clothing. One was his regular white tunic but covered with a simple cloak made of the finest material. Both of the clothing complimented his already long black hair, and he tied it into a bun. Somehow, his eyes looked soft and without any of his usual hair covering his face, he looked beautiful instead of handsome. 'No wonder the nobles in my city chose me rather than having the other kids', he thought. He sighed and opened the door.
The couple looked weird. Aside from Dion's bright orange hair, they gained a lot of weird looks from people around them. When they emit the pressure of high-level apprentices, people finally leave them alone and keep a little distance.
The capital looked different compared to when they explored the street at night. More and more people threaded the stone path with their colorful clothing and several different colors, marking them as visitors from different islands. The only thing that was missing was the signature look of Western people similar to his mentor.
The buildings were beautiful, even with only grays. They looked sturdier compared with the wooden huts in the academy. Even from their place, the white wall from the guild's citadel stood tall on top of a lone mountain overlooking the whole capital. The late-night lanterns had turned off, replaced with the light from the clear blue sky even when some of the taller buildings covered their view.
Instead of stalls, several buildings opened their door to display items waiting for people to come and spend their money. One shop, in particular, had a huge window displaying a row of shelves with different potions. By the door, a clear symbol of the pioneering guild is carved into the hanging sign.
After asking around, Vega left the store holding four silver coins after selling his last batch of health potion.
"We finally have money to buy something." Vega offered the coins to Dion, who tucked them away in the pouch hidden inside his tunic.
"It's a lucrative business, but without the guild's approval, I'm afraid you can't make any more potions during our stay in the capital."
"Who knew they have a special guild dedicated only to potion masters. I don't really want to waste my time taking more tests only to buy even the cheapest ingredients." It was comfortable that he could get most of the potion ingredients easily.
"Probably because they must import all the plants from the other islands here?"
"Make sense, or it's the way the guild kept the prices of the potions similar."
But besides the potion store, a tailor had various designs shown on their windows displaying several different styles. Of course, the proper papers were needed to show that both of them were not outsiders.
"No wonder my mentor doesn't like them. Their monopoly in all the various stores made the capital to be the richest city in all the islands."
"There's some myth that the Oase was the birthplace of Mernoralin."
"But I didn't see his statue anywhere."
"Probably because they have his statue in the guild itself."
Both of them stared at the majestic towers. Even after walking so long, the tower seemed to get further and further.
They finally spotted a group of guys wearing a uniform. With their blade strapped on their waist, the people drew the attention of many onlookers. The leather cuirass looked conspicuous enough, and the swords were a rare sight around the adepts.
"Knights," whispered Dion.
Vega felt the pain in his friend's voice and put his hand on the noble's shoulder. "We're going to fix it."
Dion nodded. "I wonder where they are headed? The guild's symbol on their cuirass meant they belonged to the nobles. Should we follow them?"
Vega nodded. He hoped the whole thing was weird. He thought the guards had their staves complete with an instant sigil for casting an entrapment spell. But knights were totally different. He trained in the way of a knight with Dion and felt the dedication needed when holding a sword.
They followed the group quietly. After going through an alleyway and arriving at the different districts, a huge park separates the districts from one another. The trees were designed to resemble a forest, but instead of being naturally grown trees, they lined up neatly surrounded by some flowers and bushes. Some of the butterflies flapped their wings and landed on Vega's shoulder. The pollens flew around, and Vega sneezed.
Dion laughed. "Is this your first time having butterflies around you?"
With red and watery eyes, Vega nodded.
After passing by through the bridge over the moat with colorful red fishes swimming in the clear water, they finally arrived at a different part of the capital. The upper districts located around in the west area with some bigger buildings complete with their personal gardens stood further from one another. A tower stood in the middle of the square with a huge mechanical clock. Even the pavements had some street lamps emitting a slight vibration of mana from the poles.
They finally saw the bridge wide enough to fit three carts. Guards posted on the foot of the bridge, with most of them chatting. But when the knight passed by them, they stood straighter and saluted the group. Going deeper into the district, they needed to show their papers, but Dion's name caught their attention, and after their formality toward him, the guards allowed them to come in.
"The nobles' quarter." Vega heard his friend whisper.
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