5 Arrogance

Do you have everything you need? You do?! Good! LET'S GO.

"This one's, really fresh. Ooh! This one is too! I'll take this, this, and... that!" Kuoka was staring down at a bunch of freshly harvested vegetables. "I'll just hippity hoppity my way down to this market! And now this one! Ooh! I'm everywhere at the same time!"

"The effects should wear off soon. At least a day or two before he reaches the capital."

'Are you sure? I just wanted his wish to come true... is that bad?'

"It's not bad, it wasn't your fault."

'You're his mother I guess... you should know the most.'

"And you don't? Don't lie to me, I can tell. You've been watching him for a while now weren't you."

"Could I have a carriage ride from here to the capital?" A tall and burly man stood infront of him. "Sure kid!" Kuoka's face turned angry, "who said you could call me kid, you mere slave." The man's face was clearly disturbed by Kuoka's words. "Uh... sure."

'Isn't this kid younger than me? Is he a noble's kid? Why's he so...' The man was at a loss for words. He'd never been spoken to, that way before. "That'll cost you some money, you know..."

"It'll cost me? Sure! Oh sorry... I mean it'll cost you." A large swing of an axe, hit a tree and it fell to the floor! ... Hard.

Kuoka took a single horse, and rode for the capital. "Hurray, Regalia!" He yelled, with his fist in the air.

After a day, he reached the outside of the capital. The effects hadn't worn off. "Finally, I'm here at the capital! Look at all these hopeless, useless bums. At my command, they won't have to worry about a thi-" A bird hit the back of his head, causing the sky to change colors again: green, magenta, crimson, white, black. But it didn't go back to normal?

"I... can't see anything." He frantically touched the place where his eyes should've been. 'I can feel them, but I can't see anything.' He slowly climbed off the horse, 'carefully' when he was on the ground, he hit his head as hard as he could; using his right hand. And everything became normal again. "Thank you... voice?"

'Why's there a voice in my head... ouch, that hurt...' he looked up and there it was - completely different from the village, it was astounding how strange it felt, 'is this still Regalia?' Kuoka's jaw dropped at the sudden change in his location. He fiddled with his hair whilst mumbling, "I was at the village just a moment ago... so how am I her-" He was interrupted when another teenager, the same age and gender as him. Rode up and spoke.

"Good to see I'm not the youngest." He sighed and rode deeper into the capital, on his horse. "Oh right, conscription. Must be why I'm here." Kuoka jumped onto his horse and followed the other boy that talked to him.

He soon reached the boy. "Your horse is fast... what breed is it?" The boy asked, "uh... standardbred?" The boy patted Kuoka's horse on the head, "I see."

"My name's Saburou, pleased to meet you; fellow newcomer."

"I'm Kuoka, nice to meet you too... are you here because of conscription as well?"

"Yeah, I have quite a few of my friends here with me; but I left them behind, because they're quite slow, when compared to my horse at least."

"You seem quite proud of your horse, any reason for that?" Kuoka asked, while not looking infront of him; and he nearly hit a wall. "My horse has been bred for long journeys."

"Your name is kind of long... do you mind if I call you Sabu?"

"I don't mind."

The walls of the capital were built much higher than the buildings within it. There was only one structure within the walls that could rival it, in terms of beauty. The castle that was put upon a large hill.

The round gate of the stone wall had blue flags waving from side to side infront; and 2 more on the other side. There were also noticeable arrow slits, at specific intervals on every side.

The castle was not in the open, but under a large cliff. "That's not a good place to put it... who thought of putting it there?"

"Doesn't it look great though?" Perhaps Kuoka's mind had changed so much, that all those around him seemed to be idiots. "It looks great but-"

"HEY!!!" A loud yell came from behind the two. There were several people following Saburou, "your friends that you mentioned earlier?" Kuoka counted them, '1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 ,9'

"I'll be heading off into the castle now, see you later." Saburou, along with the other 9 people; rode away, leaving Kuoka by himself. And then someone tapped his shoulder, "Naomi? What are you doing here?"

"Shhh! Don't tell anyone, but I'm trying to disguise my gender until I can become a tactician." She whispered into his ear, "try not to get caught then..."

'If Naomi is here, and there's Saburou, along with his 9 other friends... then I already have enough for a decent team.'

Naomi and Kuoka both proceed towards the castle, together. There was a bakery; packed to the brim with customers, like an angry mob, fighting over food. Stores that sold vegetables and meat lined along the street, made the pathway, smell as if Kuoka was back home; they also sold foreign items: unique bracelets and necklaces.

Vegetables, that were being freshly put into the market. Were often drenched in water, so people along the sidewalk would get hit by cold sprays of water every now and then.

After what felt like an hour, they reached the castle. "I hope we aren't too late..." they see the gate to the castle. Large blue flags flowed in the wind, they had a yellow symbol in the center of the blue.

Inside the largest hall of the castle, was a room filled with: adults, teenagers, and even children. The crowd was still largely populated by males; that smelled of: dirt, sweat, blood and... is that salt?

The king seemed graceful in his attire. A long white and red robe. A Shining gold crown rested upon his head; making for a grand first impression, on all those who entered and could see the king, on the throne.

Naomi stared in amazement; but Kuoka had a different idea. "Hey king! I'm going to take over your throne one day!" He yelled. 'Why did I do that?!' He shrieked in his head; it was like someone took over his body, and used it for whatever they wanted. "This'll make for a good story." Kuoka smiled and pointed at the king, using his index finger.

A guard tried to take down Kuoka, but was stopped by the king. "Speak your name. You who dare say such a thing infront of the king." Kuoka smiled even wider. "My name's Kuoka! And I'm going to be your king one day! You'll all be my servants!"

"Your arrogance astounds me." The king rubbed his chin. "Very well, I shall test your mettle."