Life in the Kingdom (1)

Link reluctantly returned to the camp, he did not speak to anybody and just sat down with his mother and sisters. Rao's body was frozen to slow down it's decomposition as they made their way towards the Kingdom. Giving him a proper burial was the least they could do.

Still unable to figure out why healing magic is useless, many people suffered on the trip as they couldn't handle the constant pain, some even lost too much blood and had the same fate as Rao's.

The camp was a mixture of peasants from different villages. The unrest and constant panic and death all around them turned them aggressive. Fights and brawls would constantly start for the simplest of things.

Since his father's death, Link has not spoken a single word. He would go around camp helping with whatever he could, but that was all. He would spend the night in his family's tent while in the day people sometimes saw him sitting with Samuel, talking about god knows what.

The trip was bumpy, but eventually, people started to see the giant walls, the sky high castles located all around the city. It looked like a medieval-ish city with some hints of technology and modern designs here and there, giving the place a certain feeling.

Rumors about the attack on the villages circulated amongst the people, with some questioning the King's decision of bringing them to the Kingdom. Many sent letters asking why they were not dropped off in a City on the way, but none of them received a response.

The King was a man known for his intelligence, which was why many people questioned, but not complained. They knew that whatever he was doing would be of benefit and the best choice made for whatever plan he had.

The villagers were finally at the Gate, they marveled at the beautiful sight. Link looked at the walls and couldn't help but be reminded of an anime he used to watch back in his old world where cannibalistic titans roamed and with giant walls being the only defense between them and the humans.

Walking in, the villagers were escorted by the Royal Guards in an empty street. Link could see people peeking. Some had disgust and demeaning gazes while others were just looking with interest.

"Even the commoners look down on the peasants?" Link thought, looking around. He knew that they were not in where nobility lived. As good as the buildings looked, Link knew that these people were nothing but citizens and commoners that lived in the outskirts, but their gazes were too prideful for some reason. "We're gonna face some trouble in this place" Link thought.

As they were walking, Link saw the Royal Guards escort the injured somewhere else. "At Least they have good intentions" Link muttered to himself and continued to follow the group. He stuck near his mother and sisters while Samuel walked with him. An hour passed as they were led into an empty area where the houses, streets and the whole feeling of the place screamed abandoned.

"This area once belonged to the refugees" A Royal Guard stood in front and spoke "After everything was settled, they moved and the place remained empty for years now" The guard stopped talking for a second, gesturing around him "Unlike common cities and villages, our Kingdom follows a certain set of rules.

I'm not sure if you have noticed or not, but we have divided our Kingdom into areas, where level of development depends on the people living in them.

If you wish for an upgrade on a house, a store, the streets, adding other commodities and so on, you will need to pay a certain amount for it.

The refugees could not handle such rules, as most of them wished to beg for coins and refused to work, which resulted in disputes and punishments to be delivered.

Our King has decided to give you refuge in our Kingdom, an opportunity that I wish you all know the importance of and understand the benefits. Due to the area's poor condition, we have decided to provide you with a 50% discount on all upgrade prices for a certain amount of time.

The houses might look unlivable, but with some cleaning you shall manage for now.

I know some of you are nothing but farmers and farm hands, but i also know that there are barbers, shop keepers, hunters and so on, So we will hang a board with all the jobs that are available, be it inside the walls or outside, and with the money you earn you can hire us to fix and upgrade your homes and hopefully find comfort with us here.

I hope everyone understands and I hope you will not make us regret bringing you here." After finishing the guard walked away with the other royal guards, leaving the villagers by themselves.

Link moved quickly and stood in front of the biggest house he could find. He called his mother, sisters and Samuel to join him. That was when people figured out what was happening and each moved to claim a place. The competitiveness of the situation caused other fights and issues. "They sure made it look like they did us a favor by allowing us to live here, but they need us as much as we need them." Samuel said, watching the scene unfold in front of him. "Doesn't matter" Link said "This is the safest place in the whole Kingdom, at least now we won't be worried about our people's safety"

"Hey, we'll take this house, go find someplace else" A group of men approached Link and Samuel. Anny, Lisa and Rena were inside the house checking it out.

"What? We've claimed this place first" Said Samuel

"Listen kid, i've had a rough week and i'm not going to explain shit" The man leading took a step forward, with the other 2 behind him. Link recognized them from the camp, they were always together, causing problems for others. Back then, Link asked the Guard about them and he explained that their whole village was wiped out, with the Royal Guards getting there too late, these three were unfortunately the only ones that they managed to save.

"You're not the only ones who had a rough week old man" Samuel said, running Mana into his fingertips and generating nails made of earth. They spun around, aimed directly at them.

"That's magic? Where did a kid like you learn something like that?" The man said, taking back the step forward he took.

"Just leave, none of us are in a good mood and i won't stop him if he attacks" Link said "We're from Toula Village, if we see you messing with anyone from there we won't be nice"

The confrontation ended. Link and Samuel didn't really care about the men, neither did they hold any grudges. Since that dreadful day, everyone was angry and with their inability to do anything to the enemy, they needed a to let out their anger somewhere, so they started turning on each other. "The stay here is going to be annoying" Link thought.

After settling in their new house, Link and Samuel used some water magic to clean it up. It didn't take long for it to sparkle. Link told his family not to tell others that they could do that, afraid of being guilted into cleaning other people's houses too.

Not long after, some people came into the villagers's new area and set up a board where there were a lot of potential jobs. Link had no issue with Money and that applied to Samuel as well. He let his family check the board but told them that they had no need to work for now.

Anny used to be a seamstress and she was good at it. Looking at the board, she found a handful of jobs that suited her set of skills well.

Lisa and Rena had learned how to read and write from their mother, and in Link's absence, they hung out with Rei, the village healer a lot, learning a couple of useful healing spells that earned them the right to work at one of the Kingdom's hospitals as nurse assistants.

When everyone was reading and picking which job they preferred, Link saw some people that put a smile on his face.

"Nana, Nina" Link waved, looking at the two girls with clear happiness.

"Link!" Nana yelled, running towards him with Nina.

They hugged and talked, Link understood that he did not see them in the camp in the beginning because they were injured, staying in their tent not moving or going anywhere.

Fortunately, their whole family was fine, managing to survive the disaster with small injuries. Link looked at them, finding no traces of their previous injuries anywhere. "How did they heal you guys?" He asked.

"I don't know, they kept casting area spells and did something, then the next thing I knew we were fine" Nana said.

"I heard them speak of souls" Nina spoke, looking at Link.

"Souls?" Link asked.

"Yes, they said that the injuries were not only physical but astral as well. I heard an old man say that the soul had the same injuries as the physical body, which led to the inability to heal unless the soul was repaired as well" Nina explained.

"Damn it!" Link muttered, remembering his father. "Why haven't i thought of this?"

<Even if you did, soul repairing skills are unavailable for you in the Shop at the moment, your Level is too low>

Link sighed. Nina seeing Link's change in behavior, understood. When they were in the tent, they would often hear people talk, and the Rao's death was something all of them knew of.

"There there!" Nina said, patting Link's head. She stretched her body just to properly do it. Link grew in height a lot due to the Story of Genes and he now was way too tall for someone his age. Reaching 6 foot.

Link smiled, doing the same to her as well, "Thank you" He said with a small laugh.

Nina's face reddened a bit, as Nana started teasing them. "Alright love birds, we get it" She said with a giggle.

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