Achoo!
I sneezed, wiping the snot on my hand, "Was someone thinking about me?" I muttered under my breath.
"Bless you." Mother replied to my sneeze.
My name is Gryne Notros-Farion, currently I'm eight and three quarters years old, the third child of the Notros branch of the Farion Noble house.
As the current situation seems, I guess I'm heading into the city… Next to me was mother, Von and Claire, behind us was the carriage which we sat in and where Evalyn resides at this moment. Now probably wasn't the best time to address it…
In front of us was a group of hounds, a real bizarre situation to be in according to the words of Von, there shouldn't really be any sort of monsters around here, though the Feris region was a relatively big area of land and is said to be the second least dangerous only under the Royal Capital with it's triple fortress structure of course.
The group of hounds weren't anything to huff at, they were named Death Hounds, gray canine-like creatures with red eyes and two fangs sticking out of their abnormally large mouth resembling a saber tooth tiger from my old world… These were monsters which were classified as intermediate tier.
One of these hounds stood out especially, it was a rather bigger one from the rest, its fur was white instead of gray like all the other ones…
Was that the alpha of the group? I wondered as I lifted my wand from my inner pocket.
"I'll take the big white one!" Von said with a burst of mana erupting from him before darting towards the hound at incredible speeds.
"So I guess I'll take on these ones." Claire said before darting away toward the small clusters of hounds on the left side of the carriage.
"Sigh—" Mother sighed as she got into her stance, her hand held up in front of her, "You kids really got to learn before you do anything stupid, you'll never know when a monster is way stronger than it seems, they do know how to hide their mana to some extent you know?" She said loudly, targeting Von and Claire.
Both of them twitched as they heard mother speak.
"Mother, I'll cover you while you do the incantation for your ensorcelling." I said as I blasted away a hound with a combination of fire and wind magic.
"Thanks Gryne."
She replied before beginning her chant, "May my ancestors of the past guide me, provide me strength to hold my ground against the assault of my enemy, use thy power of nature to bind and hold, with my body I shalt perform thy's judgement… Roots of the ground, I command— Bind… Shackles of the World tree—"
The ground began shaking, it was like an earthquake. I was used to this feeling after living in Japan for somewhat over thirty years… After a little while the shaking stopped, thick roots sprang up from the ground wrapping itself around the hounds' feet as they desperately tried to struggle against the strong grip.
As their movements got ensnared by the roots, Von and Claire's blades came down from above, slicing the hounds' heads clean off with one smooth swing.
//
"It was less of a fight than I anticipated," Von said as we continued our journey on the horse-drawn carriage.
"Has your magic fully recovered?" I asked.
"No… But that should be enough for now, these little doggos don't pose a threat." Mother replied, flexing her biceps.
By nightfall, we had already covered a large distance, the mountain ranges which seemed all so distant at the start were right next to us, I always wondered how it looked when I was right beneath it… This was the first time I got to 'explore' the rest of the world, and of course my desires would never let me miss out on this opportunity to sightsee. I was really interested in this world, after all I have never gone further than the nearby town.
Eventually we stopped, by now we were at the foot of the mountain ranges, according to mother we would get to the city the next day… Despite all that I wanted to do in this new area of map I discovered, I chose to sleep through the night.
We continued our journey the next day, arriving at the city gates by late afternoon…
As we went into the city through the gates, one thing caught my eye, the walls… They weren't anything fancy, tall brick walls about ten to thirteen meters tall made of stone slabs and elementary class supporting shield magic. No wonder they call the city one of the safest in the whole of Midgard.
//
The carriage quickly paddled across the street which was lined with merchant stalls and shops, I only got to get a quick glimpse as we went past quite quickly.
We got off our carriage in front of the lord's manor, to my knowledge every big city had this, it was where the lords of the lands lived… It was an incredible manor with tall stone architecture and shining marble tiles padded in the front stairs, it was much grander than the mansion which I never thought was possible until now.
The butlers of the manor opened the doors as soon as we approached, the scene was straight out of a movie. The entrance hall continued to have the marble flooring and the stone architectures, beautiful glass chandeliers dangled from the ceiling and in the far back was a grand set of stairs set with wooden railings and a long red carpet centered like a walkway.
I was amazed, my eyes were zooming around the place with each glance I got more and more impressed. As I continued to scan the newly unlocked area, my train of thought was interrupted by a voice.
"Allow me to guide you to your room, young sir…"
One of the older butlers said, his voice croaky and a little shaky… Was he scared?
He led me to my room, it was simplistic, there wasn't much to see, it was just a bedroom with a big bed and small desk in the corner.
Ahh— What did I expect? Yeah… Who did I think I was, I'm not a prince… I wasn't one who would get a whole section of the manor for himself…
//
The next day was one filled with surprises, well… I certainly didn't expect that to be the case, but I have noticed their reactions before so how have I not realized.
In the morning I woke up, staring up at the mini chandelier on top of me… What would happen if that fell down I wondered to myself…
Now really isn't the time to think of this stuff, is it? I have a whole city to explore…
I walked down the grand staircase down to the manors first living quarters, the quarter was decked with comfy looking one person couches and long sofas, another chandelier dangled from the top. Man, the guy who built this place must really love chandeliers…
I saw a father who sat on one of the couches, his legs crossed and a small parchment in his hands, it seemed to be a letter of some sort.
"Good morning father," I said from across the room, "It's been a while since I last saw you, hasn't it…"
"Oh yes, good morning Gryne…" He replied, never looking up at me, his eyes continued to go through the parchment's contents.
"If there isn't anything I need to do, I thought I might just go out and explore the city."
"... Sure… Wait," He looked up at me, "You said you want to explore the city?" he asked hesitantly.
"Yes, father, I would want to look around the city and explore. It is the first time I have been here, I would like to scout around."
"... I'll have to discuss it with your mother before… Agh— Fuck it… I'll just tell you about it… You should be old enough by now." He muttered rather loudly
Hmm? Was this something about the city or what? I remembered that when I first asked to go out by myself, gramps gave me a long lecture about what to do and what not to do, it was all the common stuff, no doing drugs, no getting in gangs, blah blah blah… "About what, father?" I asked.
"We'll talk in my office upstairs, this isn't something that everyone in the manor should hear."
As we arrived in his office which had sofas and a large semi circle desk in the back, right in front of the tall folded glass doors which led to the balcony outside.
The atmosphere was tense, father had his normal serious expression on, there was no change to that… The silence in the room pierced my ears, every breath, every squeak… It all just made it more uneasy.
After he shut the doors and the tall windows leading to the balcony, he finally began speaking, breaking the anxious silence… "So… Uhh… How do I start?"
"Just say it father, even if it's the worst…"
My first thought was that he was about to tell me that I was adopted into the family and has to live a normal life now, but I was quickly proven wrong with his second sentence…
"So… Gryne, uhh… This might be a little too early to tell you, but since you are in the city you ought to know… You know, your eye… In the past, the high priest of the holy church made a prophecy, one which talked about a foreseen calamity, of that would be caused by a child of god as he named, he also stated two key features of this child of god, red hair and misty rainbow eyes, just like yours…"
That certainly wasn't what I expected, a prophecy about a calamity, what's this? That kid from India who predicted the pandemic in 2019?
I jokingly thought to myself, I chuckled a little…
"… Gryne… Aren't you bothered? Aren't you worried about how they look at you? People are scared, no matter if it's true or not…"
I may look on the outside to be cheery and seemingly take this pretty well… Well, that's just false, this new uncovered information bothered me, quite a lot at that… Now I finally understand why when me and Rias play in the fields and see the other kids, they would call us names like "The Devil and his pet" or "The cat and the Warlock."
And of course Rias defended me, but I would just look away, their opinion mattered little to me, but now if the situation is really as severe as father stated where everyone had their own opinion on this whole "Child of God" thing, this might actually be pretty bad. There might be a chance that I get attacked once I arrive in the central area of the city just because they think of me as a calamity to humanity… But on the other hand they might also just worship me as a god, but that's just wishful thinking, the first option was way more viable…
I left the office wearing a false cheerful expression on my face… There wasn't really an option for me, I could try to build up a good reputation in the city by helping people out, but the first thing was to get people to not be scared of me… I wondered what Rena did when she faced these situations, maybe she cried to her parents or maybe she took it head on, who knows? I could only guess.
Sigh— I let out a long sigh as I stumbled back into bed, I mumbled, "What can I do now? Should I try to help myself? Should I just accept it?"
I couldn't decide on what to do, my choices were both not ideal, one was to become that shut-in bum I once was and the other was to face the judgemental eyes of the people of the city.
"Sigh— Whatever gotta try it, I don't want to end up like that guy I was in my old life." I muttered as I sat back up.
A burning determination inside me boiled, desperate for the acceptance of the people… Greedy for popularity…
Okay, so then my image improvement campaign has officially begun.
//
After the talk with father, later that night I also told Von and mother about my plans, they basically had the exact same reaction, but theirs' were a little less blunt, it was pretty clear that they were still hiding something, probably the fact about the prophecy which I learned from father.
Mother told me to wear a pair of shades, she didn't state the reason behind it, but I could've guessed. Then when I talked to Von about it, he offered to take me on a tour of the city so I'd know the key landmarks and could explore the city myself in the future.
He was just being an overprotective older brother, man… I could relate to the feeling also now. I really appreciated Von giving me a private tour even with the tight schedule and preparation he has to do for the Head's Gathering event.
So the next morning I suited up in a long leather robe and the shades mother handed me, looking at myself in the mirror, I thought, there are some real mission impossible vibes going on here, isn't there?
As I walked down to the ground floor standing behind the front door, I was nervous, I didn't know what to expect, how would the people react…
Von awaited me behind the gates of the manor, where a small carriage sat… It was a fancy one, one I'd never imagine myself getting into, but sure enough I was hopping on.
The horses pulling the fancy carriage trotted across the City of Feris as I looked around, the city was a vibrant place, people roamed the streets, a lot of them human, with some that were Beastmen and a tiny population of Elves, by tiny I mean like I saw two during the whole trip. As we passed by those of Non-human races, what people here like to call Demi-humans, I noticed that they would get stared at.
There wasn't any aggression behind the stares, just slight judgement, like how local Japanese people would stare at foreigners when they tour around the places, no aggression just judgement like how they don't belong there.
After turning the corner onto another street, the atmosphere was completely different. The street was a wider one, not as wide as the main street but still wider than most. Merchants with carts lined the sides selling all kinds of interesting goods, mostly weapons, maps, scrolls, monster parts… Behind the carts of the merchants there's limestone buildings on the side, mostly inns and motels, between each building were side alleys which were filled with residential homes for the locals.
As the carriage paced, I noticed more and more armor shops or armor related shops. There was a line of blacksmiths and armory which all had many customers flooding the front door. The customers were of all kinds of different races, to what I could see there were a few Elves, a few Demons, and a group of Beastmen mixed in the swarm of humans, they looked to be adventurers how they wrestled and shoved each other to get into the front spots of the swarm.
"Von, who are those people?"
I asked, of course my first thought was that they are adventurers, by the looks they were more of the savage type, I bet these are all tanks and DPSs.
"Oh those guys? They are probably adventurers," Von peered out of the curtains taking a look, "Yeah, they are, after all this is Devert Road where the adventurer guild is."
Hmm so they are actually adventurers, they fit the picture that I imagined as a no-life reading light novels, big muscular strong men with cheap leather or minimal metal armor protecting the vitals. There seems that there aren't many mages or magic users around here, normally if my speculations are correct, mages are mostly dressed well and wore robes which enhances their magic, but I don't see any one of them here on the street, maybe there's a different street that sells magic related items.
The carriage continued to wheel forward…
At the far back of the street was a rather out of place looking building, it was like a fortress, built from red bricks and having multi colored flags decorated along the outer walls… It was a grand building and stands out from the rest in the area.
"Von what's that?"
"Oh that?" He replied, peering outside again.
"That's the Adventurer's guild, an organisation that monitors and lets adventurers earn a living through quests and helping the locals around."
So adventurer guilds do exist in this world, I wasn't able to find one in the town near the mansion, I guess some places that are more rural just don't get them. Judging by the guildhouse's appearance, it seems that the guilds are actually pretty well off, having a rather grander building.
I observed that the city was built is a weird way, there was about nine roads at the central roundabout like fountain, one led to the gates, another led to the manor, and this one leading to the adventurer's guild, it seems that there was a rather important structure at the far back of every large road.
After some more sightseeing, we left the city through the front gate, looking back the city was still as big as ever, even though it's quite the stronghold, with its tall walls and fortress-like structure… It's said that during the Great War, the City of Feris was one of the main frontline defences against the forces of the Demon Continent. But even after those noble beginnings, it was only seen as a piece of wasteland to discard the useless and a bay area for cross continent travel.
The horse dragged the cart around the backside of the city slowly drifting from the fortress, I gazed out, in front of us were pillars and what looked to be buildings…
"Where are we going?" I asked Von, till this point I had no idea where I'm headed, I had full trust in Von, I'm sure that he would be protecting me if the situation really becomes so dire.
"Didn't I tell you that we would be visiting the iconic landmarks around the city?"
He replied as he pointed a finger out of the window, the aim? Right at the pillars and town like structure in front.
"That's Velvir Ruins, the cannon watch tower from the time of the Great War."
He explained as he got off the carriage.
I followed suit.
We walked into the demolished town, on the floor was hardened ashes of war from hundreds or even thousands of years prior.
"Hey Gryne, be on the lookout, okay? This place is abandoned and rarely monitored, you won't be able to know if there are monsters roaming around here, rather be safe than sorry." He warned as we walked deeper into the ashy ruins.
"What is there to do here?" I asked, curious about what Von was planning to do, this young chap always has the craziest ideas in situations like this.
"These are ancient ruins, you know what that means right?"
"..."
"Treasure."
He said as he winked at me before continuing to carefully scan every nook and corner of the surrounding area.
Despite all the strength he has and all his responsibilities, Von was still just a kid on the inside.
We walked around the deserted ruins a few more times, but by the end of it we had no luck, there wasn't any treasure nor were there any monsters. I was really hoping to find at least one of the two, if we did get one of them it would make the day substantially more interesting, and maybe it would become a fun part of my dad lore when I tell my kids the stories.