"Welcome back."
Izochi got a warm greeting at the club. The morning was already over. And the sun was slowly getting over the head. The greeting delivered to Izochi was from Marco. He was sitting there in the ground floor.
The color of the ground floor changed once again. Now it has turned to Red.
Izochi's eyes were open, but his face looked tired. His vision was a little unclear. It was the result for staying awake for entire night. There were a number of scars visible on his face. Those scars didn't fade.
"Why are you here?"
Izochi asked with an unhappy tone. As if he hates Marco for not accompanying him on Raygin.
But Marco didn't answer that. He made a new greeting,
"We will go to Balkan."
"Right now? If so, I'm not available."
Izochi clearly denied.
"No, we will go tomorrow."
An apology from Marco. But seemed Izochi was not listening. He looked to fall asleep on the sofa, sitting beside Marco.
"That's a too much for you, I see."
Izochi slept almost the entire day there on the sofa.
Balkan is one of the major cities of Forth Land. And it is also from the most unadvanced cities of Forth Land. It is a city in the middle of desert. Also has almost no constructed road to connect it with other cities. The city is divided into three parts; called as Northern part, Southern part and Middle part.
The houses were made of mud, bricks and stones. All of the houses were made of these. And also was three sky touching tours, one in each part.
Though the city looked almost disconnected from other cities, it was actually not. It had a large trading network with other districts. The main trading was of dates and animals.
About thirty percent of Forth Land's demand for meat is fulfilled from this district. And about ninety percent of demand for dates and grapes. Meaning, despite being having no road connection, Balkan is very important for the region.
Izochi was set to go to Balkan with Marco. They had everything prepared by the club.
"At first, you will go to Sino by train. Then you will have to get a cottage to Balkan. Because Sino is the closest to Balkan."
Angela explained everything to Marco and Izochi.
"The train's cost?"
Marco had no intention to touch his pocket for club's official mission.
"Here,"
She gave him two tickets of the train to Sino.
"And your cottage will also be prepared by the Sino branch of the club. You will get everything ready there."
She raised her finger to Izochi.
"And your weapon also."
Izochi looked at Angela with an unknown expression not listed yet by humankind. His eyes still looked sleepy.
"Why can't I even take that beautiful sword with me?"
Sudden depression landed on Izochi.
"I knew you were listening. But the problem here is you are using a public transport."
"Then why don't you prepare a private transport only for the club?"
"Huh!"
Her face looked annoyed and questioned.
"Who are you to have a private transport?"
Obviously, who is gonna give a private transport to them?
Izochi and Marco started their journey at afternoon. It was supposed to be morning when they reach Sino. Meaning it is a very much long way to go.
The entire journey was too much boring for them. As someone needs to continue the useless conversation. But Izochi was exhausted too much to even stay awake. And Marco was bored as usual.
"So, this is Sino."
Izochi was amused by the world in front of him. But it was also ridicules. Because the air was not in the state of inhaling. It was totally polluted by the black fumes emitted by the big factories. But the city was not totally same.
Two part, Sino was divided into two parts, by the river Sealis. Though Sealis is a great river going through multiple regions, it became narrowed in Sino. And the reason was simple.
Marco led Izochi to their destined place as that was not far from the station. They started to use their bare foots.
"How many days will it take?"
Izochi asked a single question.
"Guess I don't know either."
"Can't we take a day off? My body is not ready for another journey."
Marco listened, but didn't answer anything. He was just carrying a suitcase, and same goes for Izochi.
"This the club's branch's building."
Just when entering the club, Izochi got even more depressed than before. Literally, there was nothing special in the club building. Compared to the capital's one, this is more like a ghosted house.
Izochi and Marco were shown their room. Fortunately or unfortunately, they had to share a single room.
"You guys can't even manage two rooms."
"This is not a hotel."
It seemed to be an unfortunate for Izochi to not having a room to stay alone. But after all, he got a room to stay.
He decided to sit on the window on the left side of the room. It had already become night. Though they were supposed to reach Sino at day, they didn't.
The outside sky was not clearly visible because of the polluted air.
"One...two...three...four..."
Izochi started to count the stars in the sky. Though counting the number or stars seems impossible, he could do it because only a few stars were visible.
"There are twenty three in total."
He finished his counting.
"What's the meaning of counting stars?"
"You will not get the opportunity to count stars always, so use the opportunity when it comes."
The boy replied with a bright smile.
"Well, it's time for my sleep. Go ahead on your counting."
Marco started to politely arrange his bed and threw his body on it.
But the boy was still looking at the polluted sky. The moon was not looking as its original. Even the moon looked polluted. And so did the stars and sky and the city. But Izochi was still observing the beauty of it.
"How do people even live here?"