Chapter 7
And this is the first time he could sleep on something that really soft, not a log that quite hard where he lives before. And the most important part is, no one disturbs his sleep at all. No bird that pecking on his head, nor deer that lick his face.
He then stands up, stretches his body, and then says, "Good morning, World! Today everything will be great as usual!"
Usually, the other animal will answer his daily routine. But this time, no one answers him. He looked around him and only see an empty room with a little furniture inside it. He then laughs a little bit and starts to open the window at the room.
From there, he could see that the city already start their activity. A lot of people walking in the street talking to each other. The merchants are promoting their goods at the street. Some traveler seems taking a little stroll around the city. Meanwhile, some of the knights are patrolling around the city in order to maintain the order the city.
When Volya looks closely at the street, it is dominated by some man that brings a fire lamp, helmet, and pickaxes on their shoulder. All of them laughs at each other and help to lift their spirit for today work at the mine.
Volya then takes a deep breath and looked in front of him. A building that created from brick, that's something rare for Volya that usually visit the village around Azalea, where they use wood for creating their house.
He then smiles a little bit and says, "So, this is the life in the city. Really noisy, but also really lively. Not like in the forest that quiet most of the time."
After saying that, he going to the bathroom to take a bath. Right now, Volya staying in a city called Ironforge. That city one of three biggest cities in the Haegia Kingdom that located in the Snowmarsh Mountains.
The Haegia Kingdom is a unique kingdom as they create their two major cities inside the mountain. They dig the mountain and create the city inside it. Meanwhile, the capital cities are built at the top of the highest peak of Snowmarsh Mountains. They build it at the cliff where it has several levels there.
Ironforge is the first city that most traveler will pa.s.s in order to go to the capital. It is located in the mountains and gives a different experience for most of them as they are greeted with a beautiful ceiling created by natural rocks.
And because of the location of the city, most of the people working as a miner, just like the one that Volya just saw before. But, there also people who work as a merchant, chef, and many other.
The main commodity for that kingdom is ore that could sell highly outside of the kingdom. And most of the time, they trade it with other goods such as food and water that quite scarce around the mountain. Because of their good demeanor in trading, they
Volya already finished take a bath and looking at the item on his desk. A knife that he just bought from one of the blacksmiths at the city at the district called as Strongbourne where most of the blacksmith gathers there to sell their goods.
He takes out the knife and observes it a little it. He then plays it a little bit and says, "If I have this, of course, I don't need to make that stone knife anymore. Fufufufufu... I'm quite lucky to get this knife cheaply."
Right now he already stays for four days at Ironforge as he gets the gift from Paulo Estrudiantes, the King of Haegia after he helped his wife from the bandit at the forest back then. And he accepts that gift after Albert press him a little bit.
Volya then puts his knife back and looks at the mirror at the other side of the room. He walks there and looks at his face that reflected from there. He then says, "Thanks to this item, I could see my reflection clearly. Not like the ice that I usually use at the forest. Hmmm... Should I buy one of these things? Naaaahhh... I believe this thing will be broken really fast thanks to those G.o.dd.a.m.n squirrels."
Volya then takes his cape and leave the room to continue strolling around the town. He remembers that Albert asks him to the Capital after staying for one week at Ironforge. And while he is at Ironforge, he could see everyone looks really happy even when they didn't see the clear blue sky as much as the other see.
And today, he will go to one place where the most merchant, traveler, and adventurer gather at Ironforge. The tavern called as Belcrest. Belcrest is the biggest building at the Ironforge as it is used by many people to share information, takes some mission, and drinking with their mates. And most of the people could see it from afar because of the building have a sharp roof and differentiate it with other building.
The reason why he going to Belcrest, it is because he will open his fortune-telling stall there. He already promised Aubert, Clement, and Albert for that.
He walking towards Belcrest together with the people of Ironforge. Some of them greet him and he greets them back. He could see some children that interested in him and some woman that seems tease him a little bit. He only smiles at them as he continues to walks towards the building. While he walking there, he could hear how lively the town is.
"Come in! You could see our newest addition of armor! We promise you that you will not find it in another kingdom!"
"Our sword is really st.u.r.dy! Go try it at our shop, you will not regret it when monster come!"
"O dear sweet lady, care to see some fabric? I believe this fabric is suitable for you."
Volya smiles at them and could see most of the people that gather there are a traveler, knight in training, and adventurer that want to start their journey. He then whistles and says, "Maybe I could stay here forever... Eh... Wait... If I stay here, who will protect the forest?"
He continues to think what he should do next until he reaches the intersection. From there he could see one knight with an armor that really familiar to him. That knight is the one who walks with him for the past four days in silence.
Volya stops for a while and tried to blend with the people around him. He hopes that the knight will not notice him because he isn't comfortable with him. But, his effort is futile as the knight notice him immediately. He started to walk to him and says,
"Sir Volya, where are you going without my supervision?"
Volya doesn't care about that and start to walk faster. But, the knight could walk faster than him even with his armor and called him several times. That accident makes everyone looking at him that already stopped because he feels really uncomfortable with the situation. He then looks at the knight and asks him,
"Do you really need to follow me everywhere in this town?"
"Of course I do. That's the order given by My King and Queen to me." answer the knight.
"And do you need to always stay silent when with me?"
"That's the protocol that given to me by Sir Villias. If you didn't ask me, then I will stay silent about it."
Volya really hates that kind of answer, but he can't do anything about it. Volya then takes a glance around him and could hear a lot of people talking about him. In the end, he says,
"Alright, follow me now. I am going to Belcrest today to fulfill my promise to Sir Albert."
"Sir, Yes Sir!" answered the knight.
"And please do something about this crowd. I don't want to make misunderstanding with the people around me."
The knight nods at Volya and then walks at the crowds. He then explained to them about Volya as the one who helped their queen on her quest fighting against the bandit. From there, Volya could hear a lot of compliment from the knight and also the crowd. He feels really uncomfortable with that and thinks, "I want to go now... Please finish it quickly."
Not long after that, the crowd already disperse and continue with their activity. Volya only could sigh and then says,
"Alright... Let's go now. I believe Sir Albert and Sir Clement are waiting for me there."
"Sir, Yes Sir!"
Both of them then starts to walk towards Belcrest where Volya will do some work there.