บท 8: Goodbyes
"Young Master, Lord Garth has asked for you to appear in the main hall!" A voice shouted from outside of Solen's door. Meanwhile, Solen who was previously sitting in meditation quickly stood up due to this shout.
"What does father need?" Solen questioned in curiosity. His father never before has his father sent servants to relay a message to him. He would usually send Solen's younger siblings or go himself.
"Lord Garth said that he was traveling to the Inner City to meet with the City Lord. He wanted to speak to Young Masters' and Young Lady before he left." The servant outside the door quickly responded with a muffled voice.
"Alright, I'll go right away!" Solen shouted out as he ran toward the door. It has already been a day since he started cultivating and his body was transforming at a rapid pace. His skin quickly became much more resilient while his strength already long surpassed that of an ordinary peasant. It amazed him to no end that his physical strength could increase so quickly.
After speaking to the servant, Solen rushed out of his room and went straight to the main hall. Since his father was going to the Inner City, he might as well request him to buy some books. His father's study was severely lacking in books. From battle techniques to maps, the family was lacking in knowledge and information. Therefore, Solen was going to go out on a limb and ask his father to sacrifice some gold coins to satisfy his desire.
The monetary system in this world was rather simple, with three different coin materials. The first was the copper coin, next was the silver coin, and lastly, the gold coin. One hundred copper coins were equal to a single silver coin while a hundred silver coins were equal to a single gold coin.
"Little Sol, you're finally here! I was about ready to leave if you weren't going to be here within the next minute!" Garth laughed when he saw Solen hurrying inside the main hall. Solen's hair was disheveled and his clothes were no longer tidy from his rushing to the main hall.
"Garth, stop kidding around! Your going to the Inner City is going to take weeks, if not months!" Alice reprimanded Garth's joking. They weren't going to see Garth for a while after he leaves. The family fief was located near the border of the Outer City which was very far from the Inner City, it would most definitely take more than a week to travel to the Inner City.
"Father, while you're at the Inner City, could you buy some books?" Solen skipped pleasantries and immediately asked. He wanted to take care of the severe lack of knowledge this manor holds.
"Sure thing Little Sol, what kinds of books do you want?" Garth unhesitatingly accepted without any thought. He didn't think about the consequences would be if Solen came up with a large number of books he wanted. This decision would make him want to puke blood later.
"Umm… if you could… I wish for all kinds of books. Such as Battle Techniques and encyclopedias of animals and herbs. I want all kinds of books since they could help the family." Solen pulled out a rolled up beast skin and handed it to his father. This beast skin held an extensive list of various kinds of books Solen wanted.
"This is going to be a bit expensive… and you're sure that you want all these books?" Garth felt his heart bleed when he looked at the list. The cost of all the books he had to buy put together would be equal to the semi-annual taxes of the fief. While it wasn't a frightening amount since the fief was inhabited by various villages, hamlets, and settlements, it was still a large amount in the family's eyes.
"Yes, I am sure." Solen nodded in confirmation at his father's pained question. He wanted as many books as he could get, he wanted to know as much about the known world as he could.
"How much is it going to cost?" Essa suddenly asked in curiosity. Seeing the pained look on Garth's face made her giggle a small bit. Garth didn't make this expression all that often and it was a rare occasion to see it.
"Um… about half a year's worth of taxes." Garth replied through gritted teeth. One could tell that it pained him greatly just saying it out loud.
"By the Gods! Solen, just what are you asking him to buy!" Alice was the one to respond at this time. Both Alice and Essa were shocked by the amount it would cost. The family was constantly spending money and now they had to spend half a year's worth of taxes in a single trip.
"Ah, I did say that I was asking for all kinds of books…" Solen replied with a sheepish smile. He knew that this was probably going to temporarily burn a hole in his parent's pockets, but it was a necessary hole.
"Sol, why do you want so many books?" Aloysius was curious and couldn't quite understand why their parents were so shocked. He didn't have much, if any, education in money yet so he really couldn't understand.
"I ran out of things to read and felt that the study was lacking in books. Not even a single shelf is full of books while there are many others to fill." Solen responded with a semi-truth. It was true that he read all the books in the study and the study was lacking in the books. But also, Solen wanted to get more books to up the education level of the family. He wanted himself and his family members to be smart in this world than be ignorant.
"Okay. I guess the study does need more books." Aloysius accepted Solen's words while he didn't read many books, he had seen the few books in the study.
"It's fine, I already accepted so there is no taking it back now." His father's pained look was suddenly replaced by an evil smile. Solen was afraid of what his father was thinking about now. He could only wait and see what kind of 'punishment' he would have to face in the future.
"Alright, now that I have said my goodbyes, I will set off now! I hope to see you again in a few weeks!" Garth stated as he began to walk outside of the room. Alexander and Fera attempted to pull him back but failed in tears.
"Daddy! Come back!" "Papa! Don't leave!" The two children shouted out as their father left them in the dust. He was moving far quicker than them and the two didn't have a chance to catch up to him.
"Father, make sure not to forget taking the money with you!" Solen shouted with a mischievous grin. Garth nearly tripped hearing Solen's shout. He was still torn up by having to spend so much and now Solen rubbed salt into the wound.
"Just you wait, Sol! I'm going to make your training far more difficult!" Garth swore to himself as he left at a brisk pace. Solen's training will be far harsher than what it was going to be initially.
After Garth left, the family of six stood silently in the manor main hall. It would be a while until they saw Garth again and so they watched his back slowly disappear. Alexander and Fera cried a lot on this day.
Not long later, the family returned to their daily work. Solen returned to his bedroom to continue his cultivation. His core was slowly being constructed under the sparse amounts of fire particles. It was a slow and painful process that he continuously experienced, but he stubbornly continued.
"I think I'm going to go out of the house tomorrow. I've been cooped up in this house for far too long and want to go exploring." Solen sighed to himself after defeating the bombardment of the harsh energy. His room felt like a furnace after cultivating for two days straight, but his temperature threshold went up after constantly battling the harsh fire energy.
"Although I'm not allowed to leave the borders of the territory, I'm able to explore the territory itself. I'm not in a hurry to travel so far anyway. Just a cursory glance at the territory..." Solen couldn't help but think about the territory. His family was placed in charge of this land and the people living on it, so he wanted to see the situation.
"I just hope that it's not that bad… having no sewers is already bad enough. The smell of crap and piss always made me gag so much in my past life." Solen thought back to his previous experiences. In his past life, he had a dog and a cat and thus, he had to clean up after them.
"Anyways, it's time to stop thinking about it. This is my life now, the past should be mostly disregarded for now." Solen sighed to himself as he entered his cultivation once again.
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