章 18: Professor Gemstone the bookworm? part 4 (18)
The city was a bright thing.
It turned out, the big town that was the capital fared down the road from the castle, just about half a mile away. It was very bright, because of the white marbled paved paths as well as the shiny bridges that linked the two parts of the city through the river. It was very impressive to see the torchs that lit up the whole town – it must be a wonderful sight during the night, Ezera thought as he glanced all around.
Not only was it bright, but it was welcoming. The citizens were loud in their businesses, and the perfume of fresh bread easily floated to Ezera and Ming, from several directions at once. It was quite green as well not only on the outskirts but in the parks and the houses too!
Ezera felt a cat skirt against his legs and almost yelped, but he knew the feeling... He had had a cat at home, once, a very cuddling thing. At least when it came to him. Ezera remembered it biting a colleague's head off. Now that he paid attention, the city was full of animal cries. Horses were the most prominent, as the animal of the agricultor by excellence.
Ezera liked that he could see the wide fields of cultivated cereals all around the town- oh! Were these green apples hanging from the trees in that field! Of course, it was the season of apples... Ezera loved apples!
It was bright. It was loud, and at the same time, it was peaceful. Ezera laughed when Ming and another running kid buckled into each other and spent the next half minute apologizing in turn to each other, before he swipped his boy away to follow Dereck.
Dereck's home was just next to the river, in the middle of the town. It was quite cosy, and very warm breeze passed continuously between the houses. It was very tranquil.
"Just to be clear," Dereck warned awkwardly, "I actually live in my home with a friend and his wife. They're both at work right now, but still..." He ended up huffing. "Don't pay attention to the uncleanliness, it's all just my friend."
With that, they entered. Whatever Dereck had wanted for them to believe, it wasn't actually a disaster. Apart from two blankets on the ground in front of the hearth, where the couch was near the middle of the room. Even though there was no fire lit, it was still unusually warm for a house without access to modern warming. It felt welcoming, a feeling that was strengthened by the earthly tones of the structure and furniture. Ezera noticed a large window-door which opened to a garden outside, it added light to the inside.
Ezera hummed. It was homey.
"Why is it so warm inside?" He wondered aloud after they closed the door behind them.
"We use a common array to keep the air from cooling when we're not there. Do you want to have dinner first or would you rather look through our library?"
It was considerate of him to ask them. Ezera looked down at Ming, who wasn't yet finished observing and sniffing their new environnment.
"What do you think, Ming?"
Ming took his time to finish his sensorial investigation before humming and nodding.
"Food first," he told them quietly.
"Alright boy," Dereck aquiesced before heading for what must have been the kitchen. "I have hot rice and carrots, and bread lying around. What do you think?"
Ezera shared a glance.
"That's perfect. Thank you!"
And that was how they all found themselves at the table, with fuming plates of hot carrots in slices and a great quantity of rice. And bread.
"I would have proposed some meat if I hadn't noticed what exactly the both of you like eating."
"It's fine. Meat makes Ming sick anyway. Right, kiddo? Say thanks."
"Thank you for the meal."
Dereck laughed.
"It's nothing, boy. It's the least I can do. I'm sorry I can't help you in your training... I would try to find you a dragon to help you understand how it works, if only they hadn't all left the country already."
Ezera ate some of his rice, internally commenting on its nice taste as not to think too hard on the fact that dragons exist, and that Ming might have to meet dragons in the future.
"Why did they leave?" He questioned between two bites.
"Old story. I think the late king tried to hunt them for their magical scales, I was quite young. He left quite a mess for his daughter to wipe once he passed."
"What kind of scale?"
"Usually it helps to harmonise with the suns. Other times it had fantastic healing powers. Other time, one scale can provoke a massive explosion and villages upon villages end up in flames. I think you'll understand why he coveted it."
"Did he use to fight often?"
Dereck raised his head.
"Do you mean war or skirmishes? I did hear that he invaded a few territories in the past, but he stopped eventually. I don't know why. But the hunt of dragons continued until his death."
"I see."
That was curious, but Ezera would think well on it at some other time. The three of them finished their plates in the midst of amicable conversations and friendly jokes. Then, Dereck insisted on washing the dishes himself later, even though Ezera volunteered.
No sooner had they finished their lunch- ... Apologies, their dinner, Dereck invited the both of them in the study.
"This is my friend's study," he explained as they walked in, "and it's literally the only place in the house he cares to keep organized and clean. We put all our books in those shelves and left it at that, mostly they remain forgotten after we read them. I think we might have a few that could appeal to you."
He pulled some out as he added:
"Personally, I was just a farmer boy until I started excelling at sword arts, I didn't have that much of an education, but my friend did have one. You wouldn't know, but he's a holy knight."
Ezera nodded along to everything he said, listening carefully. Ming was looking at the books with rapt attention.
Was Ming a hungry reader? Ezera couldn't remember, yet he might have catched a glimpse of the boy reading whatever on his lonely bench during free time back during school.
"Anyway, I'll give you six. I don't think you'll read them all at once, it's a lot. You can keep them for now, he wouldn't mind."
Ezera took the package he was handed gratefully.
"Thank you a lot, sir Dowmrish," but Dereck shook his head, gesturing the title away.
"Call me Dereck, it's fine. Might as well be friends."
Ezera smiled, genuine.
"Then you can call me Ezera."
Dereck stared at him pointedly with the hint of a smile, then raised an eyebrow playfully.
"Yeah... But I think I like calling you Professor. Is it find, Prof?"
Ezera bit his lip to stop himself from laughing.
"Sure. It's fine because I'm the best professor I ever met anyway, so there's no confusion."
They laughed together.
As they left, he offered them some apple pie, which Ezera literally squealed over. No judgement, Ezera liked apples. A lot.
As they were on their way back, Ezera looked down at Ming who walked close but not touching.
"What do you think of Dereck?" He asked him quietly. "Do you like him?"
Ming didn't say anything, mulling his words over for a dozen of seconds. Then, he turned his head the other way.
"A bit," Ezera almost didn't hear him.
Ezera smiled, satisfied. He was reassured on Dereck's character, which he had been worried upon when they first met. But Dereck had never lied to him, or Ezera who was very instinctive, would have known, and Ming who had strong instincts with who to trust and who not to trust, would have likely told him otherwise.
Dereck was trustworthy, he decided contentedly. And he was a good friend.
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