Chapter 14:
Arrival In Roa
The Fittoa Region's Citadel of Roa was the biggest city in the whole region. That paints a picture of a giant sprawling city, but this wasn't Japan. It was still smaller than the entirety of the land that made up Buena Village. Despite that, it was still pretty big. The walls themselves were 7 or 8 meters tall. It was more or less the type of city you'd expect from an average fantasy novel.
I thought about all of this while we were headed inside of the city. The first thing I saw was what looked to be an inn, and a horse stable filled to the brim. We crossed building after building, riding our carriage through the busy streets filled with average folk and people with heavy armor alike.
We crossed a street, and the whole feel of the place changed. There were tons of buildings aimed at people who regularly did tasks for the city, called adventurers. Weapon smithies, armor smithies, overall just a real commercial district. I felt like someone was watching me, but that was probably to be expected. We stood out in this carriage, after all.
We made our way around the city plaza, and we entered deeper into the city. The buildings were progressively getting more expensive looking, and the people crossing the streets were dressed more fashionably. Our first destination was the lord's mansion. This was going to be the first time I saw any of my extended family, so I was pretty nervous.
"Woah…" Sylphie said, in awe of the homes and shops we passed. They looked to be selling some seriously interesting stuff, so I made a mental note to check them out later.
"That's the old man's manor," Paul said, pointing at the large castle. Huh? Manor? This place had to have some serious history for that castle to be just called a manor.
As I was thinking that, the coachman nodded towards the gatekeeper of the mansion. We crossed into the terrace of the manor, and the carriage rode to a stop.
We entered the manor. Lilia and the toddlers were directed to another room, and the rest of us were guided to what looked to be a reception room. The six of us were directed to two sofas lined up with each other.
"Everyone, please have a seat there," A butler said, bowing.
I looked around the room. There were several women with… animal characteristics. They must be Beastfolk, that race I had read about before. Nothing aside from them stood in particular, but I did notice how lavish this place looked. Certainly suited whoever was living here.
"The Young Master should be arriving here shortly. Be patient and wait until he does, please," The butler said. He then poured what looked to be tea into a few cups and distributed it to us. Hah, I'd never thought I'd be served tea by a butler, but here I am.
"Where is he?!" A loud voice boomed from the other side of the door we came from, followed by boisterous footsteps.
"In here, you say?!"
The doors burst open to reveal a buff, tall man who looked about fifty. And he looked to be in tip top shape, despite it. His face showed nothing but irritation.
"Ah, old man. It's been a while, hasn't it?" My father said, standing up.
"I see you haven't changed a bit, Paul. You still don't know how to greet an elder!" He said, staring at my father dead in the eyes. My father stood his ground and stayed silent.
"Well?! What did you come here for?!" The man said, stamping on the floor with the cane.
"Cool it, I'm just here to deliver some news to Philip about the increasing monster rates. Plus, my family wanted to visit." Paul explained calmly. Seemed like he had some experience dealing with this guy. Speaking of, who was he anyways?
"Alright then. But you should stay out of my sight and go running back to that village of yours as soon as possible!" He said, and turned on his heel. He strode out of the room, without a word.
"He looked scary, didn't he?" Sylphie whispered, tugging at my arm.
"Putting that aside, who even was he?" I asked.
"He is the liege lord of the Fittoa Region, Sauros Boreas Greyrat. He is also Master Paul's uncle," said the butler. Oh, so he was the one I'd heard about. If he's my father's uncle… that'd make him my great uncle, right? Was he really the liege lord? I had a feeling he wouldn't get along very well with his people with that attitude.
A few minutes later, someone appeared in the doorway
"Thomas? Did they arrive? Father seemed to be in a foul mood." The voice belonged to a thin, skinny looking man with brown hair. He had called the liege lord father, so that probably meant he was my father's cousin. I decided not to think anymore about the family tree, since it would probably just fry my brain.
"Ah, I see. Hello again, Paul. It seems you've been doing well lately. Is that your daughter there?" He asked, with a cheerful expression.
"Yeah, I am doing well. This is indeed my daughter."
I got up, and curtsied, which was a noble greeting. I gave a silent thanks to Lilia for teaching me etiquette. "My name is Lumina Greyrat. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Well, you're certainly a polite girl. Nothing like your father, thankfully." He said, sighing. "H-hey!" Paul said in protest.
"I see you brought guests. Thomas, please escort them to the guest rooms. Paul and I have something to discuss."
The butler walked over to us. "If I may." Everyone except for Paul stood up.
"You guys go along. Once I'm finished, we can go around Roa for the day." Paul said, and waved us off.
"See you, father." I said, and then I turned to follow the butler.
Paul
"Alright, Paul. What do you have to report?" Philip said.
"Right. The monsters have really been acting up lately. They won't let up. I had to hire a dozen warriors from the Adventurer's Guild just to be able to come here to report it." I said, scratching at my head.
"That forest has always been a pain. You say they've been acting up? According to some of our adventurers, so have the monsters near the forests around these parts. It's strange. It's like they all know that something is going to happen. Could it be…" He trailed off.
"What?" I asked.
"None of your concern, Paul. We've already decided not to do anything about it."
I sighed. He was the same as ever. Four years had passed since I had last seen him and he was still this stuck up.
"Now that your report's out of the way, I wanted to discuss something else." Philip said, with a smile.
"And that is?" I asked.
"Your daughter. You said she was tutoring another child at her age? That's impressive."
"...Right. I assume you have the preparations ready, then?" I asked.
"But of course, Paul. But… I was wondering if you were willing to have her work directly under me. If she's as talented as you said she was in your letter, perhaps she would be a valuable asset to have. I could have her tutor Ghislaine as a pretext." He said.
"I appreciate the offer, but I have no intentions of letting her leave the house until she's at the very least twelve years old." I said.
Lumi had told me she wanted to stay away from political marriage at all costs, and leaving her here with these people would just be asking for it.
"That's a shame." He paused. "Well, everything is set for that night. The gift was a little costly, but I suppose that's nothing in the face of what I owe you. I hope you all have a great time. Oh, but I must tell you this."
"What is it?" I asked.
"One of my sons is in the city. He's being guarded by a North Emperor. It seems they've come alone, but I must warn you to make sure to give them a wide berth. Who knows what they could pull if they know that you or your daughter are here." Philip said, in a hushed voice.
"Your son, you say? Weren't they all in the capital?" I questioned.
"That damned James sent me a letter detailing that my boy was here to express that Roa should be expanding and raking in more income." He said, somewhat losing his cool
"He visited us, and didn't refer to any of us as his parents. Hilda is still distraught over it, too." Philip said.
"I see then. I'll keep a look out then. What was this kid's name again?" I asked.
"Ares."
Lumina
We were led to a hallway with a couple rooms on the side.
"As guests, this is where you will sleep during your visit in Roa. I do hope you find the living quarters suitable." The butler said, and walked off.
I walked inside of a room. "This is mine now, by the way. I've claimed it." I said, looking into the room. There was a candleholder, sitting with one of its candles flickering. It was sat on a desk, with a singular chair to accompany it. There was a spacious bed, which was around twice as big as the one I had back in Buena Village.
I sat down on it, and decided to take a short rest. Why not, you know? I shut my eyes, and rolled to the other side of the bed. But, I bumped into something. No, someone. I opened my eyes to see the face of Sylphie, just inches away from mine.
"Huh?" I drew back. "What are you doing here, Phi?"
"W-well, my mom and dad take up the bed, so I asked if I could come stay here with you." She said, innocently.
"Really? I…are you sure?" I stammered out.
"Would you…not like it?" She said the thing! Talk about a clique!
"No, of course I wouldn't mind. I was just…" I was cut off by the door swinging open.
"Hey, you asle–" Paul began, and saw us together on the bed. "Lumi…don't be hasty. Plus, this isn't your home." He said, in a scolding tone.
"Stop making assumptions!" I said, flustered.
"Haha. Just kidding. Anyways, we're heading out now. So you should probably come on with. Unless you'd rather stay here and–" Paul began, beginning to grin.
"I'll go!" I said, throwing a pillow at him.
Roa was an extravagant place. I was currently at the city's library.
"Woah…" I said, looking at all of the books. This place was filled with them. Truly deserving of the title "Library." I browsed for a few minutes, and then came to a stop when I saw a book about the Demon God language. The book was sealed shut, presumably to come off after purchase. Sadly, I couldn't see its contents. But it did remind me of something.
Had Roxas really not replied to my letter? Maybe he just didn't see the letter or something. That aside, I remember reading that he may have left the Royal palace by the time any letter got to him, so maybe it was that instead. I pondered that as I went to check the price tag.
"Eh?! Seven gold pieces?" I exclaimed. The shop owner gave me a nasty look, so I hastily apologized. I knew books were expensive, but not that expensive! I had just barely managed to save up just a single one after four years of tutoring and working at the clinic!
I sighed. Looks like this library was seriously out of my budget range. I walked out of the shop, defeated.
"Hey, find what you were lookin' for?" my father asked.
"I couldn't afford one of those books even if I worked for twenty more years!" I exclaimed.
"Well… I knew that, but I just didn't want to pop your bubble. You looked so excited. Surely you couldn't blame me for that." He said, grinning.
Moving on. Sylphie and I were walking together, a little ways off of the rest of the group. "This city seriously reminds me of a fantasy setting. I could write a little about this, you know?" I said, completely engrossed in the sights.
"…?" Sylphie looked at me with a confused look.
"Err…F-fantastic! I meant it looked fantastic." I hurriedly stammered out. Sylphie raised her eyebrows.
"Y'know, Lumi. You say all sorts of weird stuff whenever you're not paying attention. I couldn't understand a word of what you just said. It's like you spoke in a different language."
"I…" Had I seriously been speaking in Japanese out loud?
"Didya learn that language while you were tutoring me?" She questioned.
"Ah… yeah! I did." I said.
"Could you teach me, Lumi?" Sylphie said, catching me off guard. Well, I couldn't do that. That would just create a headache further down the line.
Just then, a red haired boy appeared, and was walking the opposite direction as us. I didn't pay him any mind, though.
As I turned to respond to Sylphie, he whispered, "You're being tailed. Please watch yourself." I turned around, and he was walking away.
"W-wait! What do you mean by that!" I exclaimed, calling after him.
I tried to run after him, but then someone grabbed me, and covered my head.
Author's Note:
Thanks for reading. Decided to make this chapter extra long, but still didn't manage to fit everything I wanted into it. It would be dumb not to split the chapter content, so I decided to do so. Anyways, stay tuned for the next few chapters.
Special thanks to Monsoon, and everyone who leaves reviews and tells me their thoughts on my work. Really motivates me.