Chapter 5: The Capital

It took an entirely a day in carriage from the town I was born in to the capital of Astelan. The capital was named after the first king, Bristol. It would've been faster with teleportation magic but I guessed Lord Feene didn't want to waste such expensive portal on a dirty orphan like me. Ugh, this world without magic was actually boring. At least in my previous world there were Internet, smartphones and video games. I spent the whole day in the carriage staring at nothing. I even counted the lines on the seat. There were 207 lines on the seat. Pip was sleeping in my pocket the entire time. He was snappy when I tried to wake him up so that I could talk to him. It was best to leave him alone.

I would want to practice magic but I didn't want to risk it. I wasn't truly alone after all. The coachman was right at the front and the knight, sir Kyle was escorting outside. As a high ranking Knight, it was possible that he would be able to detect the use of magic in close vicinity. I wouldn't know how to explain it if I was caught.

"Owens, we have arrived in the capital." Sir Kyle told me when he opened the door. The carriage was stopping in front of a huge building.

"Y-yes.." I uttered, avoiding his piercing gaze. I just realised how limited my interaction with people. I've only ever talk with Sister Jane the most and probably Pip was the second. It must be awkward later.

He helped me to step down from the carriage. It was night time but I could still admired my surroundings. The magical lamps on every streets helped us to see clearly. It was a beautiful city. Reminded me of European style late 70s buildings in my previous world. There was a really big difference between Bristol and the town I came from. I guessed, this was how the rich enjoyed the luxurious life here.

"Let's get you clean up first and we'll meet Lord Feene." He spoke as he led me inside the building.

This building was like those old mansion house in the movies. The mansion that was abandoned by crazy rich people because it was somehow haunted. Yes, this place was giving me that vibe. It felt classy and somehow screamed privilege. There were several maids stood along the hallway, waiting for our arrival.

"Take him and have him prepare." Sir Kyle told them. He took Pip from me and putting him into a small cage. Pip looked at me pitifully from the cage. I wanted to get him back but sir Kyle stared at me sharply. "You'll get it back after this."

The maids ushered me into another hall. This place was massive. I could get lost easily. They brought me into the big bathroom. They elegantly stripped me off of my shabby clothes. Of course, as someone with a grown up mind, this was very very shameful. I was blushing furiously but none of these maids even reacting. They were like a bunch of stoic robots.

I tried to wash my body on my own but with zero strength, I couldn't fight off these maids. I closed my eyes the whole time as they cleaned me up. I kept on chanting that this was a dream in my mind. This was really embarrassing. They even trimmed my messy hair and then dressed me up in a fancy fit. This was awkward.

"Remember, young master, you'd have to watch your words on front of the lord." One of the maids told me. I could only nodded.

I was soon led back to the lounge where sir Kyle was waiting. He smiled warmly as soon as he saw me. I let out a stiff smile at him. Then, he brought me to the stairs. The stairs looked like it made out of gold. It was shining under the light. How rich was this count? I thought count was a low ranking noble? Or was this the poorest noble standard in this kingdom?

We walked along the long hallway until a big wooden door was seen at the end of it. Sir Kyle knocked on the door with a straight posture. A voice sounded from inside, commanding him to come in. He opened the door with ease and gestured me to walk in first. I did. The study was huge. Shelves, books and stack of papers all around the hall. They were neatly arranged. Sir Kyle greeted him politely and gave me a look.

"I-I g-greet L-Lord Feene." I stuttered. The man was tall and in his mid 40s. He looked at me coldly.

"So, this is the Enhancer?" He wasn't impressed to see me. I couldn't blame him. I wasn't even in a great shape.

"Yes, my lord. I've seen his ability with my own eyes." Sir Kyle confirmed. My eyes slightly widened and I turned to look at the knight.

'What?' He saw me using my power?

"Is that so?" Lord Feene was slightly interested.

"I saw him turning a Fang Rabbit into a regular rabbit. It's just like the report stated, he has Diminution as his unique ability alongside enhancement." He added.

'This is not good.' I was panicking. How would I save this situation?

"Ah, that's wonderful. This kid is definitely the one stated in the prophecy. This is great!" Lord Feene was grinning pleasantly. His face softened at me. It wasn't even genuine. "What's your name, boy?"

"Owens,m-my l-lord." I said.

"How old are you?"

"I.. I'm 12." I looked away from his intense gaze. This guy gave me the creep. He approached me with a slow pace. It took all of me not to run away from him. He put a hand on my head.

"From now on, your name is Owens Feene. You are my second son." He declared. There was a brief glow on his palm. He wasn't saying empty words but that words held power. I could feel it in my very soul. That name carved into me. Owens Feene, that was my name now. I blinked in bewilderment.

"My son, you're going to live here from now on. This is your home and I'm your family." He told me with not so kind tone. There was no warmness in his voice. I didn't feel happy hearing those words.

"Ye-yes.. My lord." I replied. He smirked and went back to his desk.

"Bring him to his room. Get some rest. There are a lot to do tomorrow." He dismissed us. We lowered our heads at him before exiting the study.

"Lord Feene is a kind man. Just give him some times to warm up to you, okay?" Sir Kyle told me. I just nodded.

My room was in a separated building altogether. I didn't mind. It was better this way anyway. I was amazed by the size of the room I was given. This room alone covered my whole small apartment back at my previous world. This was too luxurious. I was used being poor. Pip was already there. He squeaked happily when I walked in.

"Pip!" I called and ran to him. I opened the cage and he jumped at me, rubbing his head on my cheek.

"Young master, please keep your lizard in the cage most of the time." The butler told me. I frowned.

"W-why?" I asked.

"It's not sanitary to have it roams around." He replied, scrunching his nose at Pip.

"Pip i-is not d-dirty. I cl-clean him e-everyday." I protested.

"Still, it unheard of to have a lizard as a pet." This butler was so annoying.

"Th-there's a-always the f-first t-time." I huffed. "Y-you c-can leave. G-goodnight."

He was obviously discontent but obeyed me nonetheless. He lowered his head and exit the room, closing the door behind him. I let out a relief sigh when I was finally alone.

"Y-you have t-to e-endure this f-for a while, Pip." I spoke to him. Pip let out a weak squeak.

'Hm, maybe I can evolve him into something more impressive.' I thought. If Pip was an amazing creature, they won't even look down on him. I grinned widely when a brilliant idea popped up in my mind.

" Y-you're g-going to be a-amazing, Pip." I said to the clueless animal.

~~

In the year I turned 13 years old, I would be sent to the Astelan Academy. I would meet the main characters and then would be sent to the war. Oh joy. It had been 2 weeks since I arrived in Bristol. I was forced into various classes. To prepare me as a noble. So that I didn't embarrass my adoptive father when I went to the academy.

I had an ethic class in the early morning, those boring school subjects class around afternoon, sword training class and magic class during the evening. Most of the teachers didn't really expect much out of me. My stats was low to even produce impressive performance in classes. I wanted to keep it that way. Maybe if I was this incompetent, they would send me back to the orphanage. Hopefully.

I took a stroll around the city when I had my rare free time from classes. Pip was happily resting on my head as I walked. He'd been caged all the time when I was in my classes. I felt bad for him but they didn't allow him to come with me in classes. This was probably the only time he was out of the cage.

"W-what do y-you want t-to eat, Pip?" I asked. We walked by the vendors selling some snacks. They looked delicious. He squeaked excitedly. Well, he ate almost anything I gave him anyway.

"E-excuse me, c-can I h-have one?" I requested toward a man selling baked potatoes. He looked down at me and grinned widely.

"Sure thing, kid. Only 2 silver coins!" He told me as he prepared a plate for me. I scooped out silver coins from my pocket and stood on my tiptoes to put the coins in the basket. He gave me the food. It was still warm. "Thank you for buying!"

Bristol was peaceful. The city folks dressed in fancy outfits and spent their days going in and out from expensive stores. All of their conversation consisted about their wealth and achievements. It was almost as if there wasn't a war with the demonkin at all. They were so wrapped up in the protection given by the Magic Union and the royalty that they were too lax in this situation.

I remembered something from the novel, Bristol would be destroyed when the demon army made their advancement and attacked Astelan. A lot of these nobles and rich people perished because they had zero preparation. This peacefulness and safety won't be forever and they'd only realised it when it was too late.

I sat down on an empty bench outside the clothing store. Pip was indulging himself eating the baked potatoes on my lap. I bought myself a stick jelly and munching on it as I observed these high and mighty people.

"Hey, there's a lizard on your lap." A girl who was probably the same age as me said. She came out of nowhere.

"Yeah, the l-lizard is Pip. M-my f-friend." I told her casually. She looked at me weirdly.

"Your friend is a lizard?" She wasn't mocking me but that was genuine curiosity. I nodded firmly. "That's weird."

Despite that, she sat down beside me and continued staring at Pip like he was some kind of fascinating toy. Pip beamed at her, probably enjoying the attention he got from the girl.

'She kinda familiar.' I wondered as I look at her. She had long black hair, light brown eyes that were soft to look at. This girl would definitely be pretty when she grew up. Somehow, something was telling me that this girl was familiar.

"W-what's y-your n-name?" I asked.

"My name is Flo." She answered. "You?"

"Owens." I picked up Pip carefully and put him on my hand. "D-do y-you w-want to t-touch him?"

"Ah, can I?" She was hesitant. Maybe she thought that Pip would bite her finger or something. That would be funny if Pip bit her though.

"Y-yes. Pip d-don't bite." I smirked.

"Okay." She exhaled and cautiously raised her hand to touch his head.

As soon as she touched his head, she pulled away quickly, surprised. Pip was patiently waiting though. What a good lizard he was. She gained enough confidence and tried again. This was amusing. She was treating Pip like he was some kind of a bomb. I held back my snicker. She was probably a city kid that never saw a lizard before. After a few attempts, she finally brave enough to give Pip the pat on the head. He looked so spoiled.

"He's so cute." She praised, cooing at the big headed lizard.

"I-I a-agree." I nodded. She looked at me and I knew immediately she had a question for me.

"Why do you talk like that? It's so weird." Kid can be brutally honest sometimes. Ugh, it had been a while since anyone pointed out my stuttering. I already got over the comments from the people in Feene household and I had to entertain this random kid I met on street too.

"It-it's j-just my w-way of t-talking." I said with a shrug.

"Are you sure you're not faking it?" She looked at me sceptically. This girl was going to places in the future.

"N-no.. I-I just s-speak like t-this."

"I see."

Then a man and a woman came toward us. They were frantic. Flo saw them and immediately frowned. The man and the woman didn't look like her parents. They were too young to be her parents. Besides, they were more like a maid and a guard. It wouldn't be a surprise if this girl was a noble. I mean, most of the residents in Bristol were nobles.

"Ah, I have to go. Let's meet again, Owens. Thank you for letting me pet your friend." She stood up from the bench.

"Y-yeah.." I muttered. She gave me a half smile and walked away with them. My curiosity got the best of me and switched on my passive skill;

Class: Saintess

Mana: 400

Stamina: 60

Strength: 33

Endurance: 167

Dexterity: 89

Intelligence: 104

Luck: 100

Unique Ability:

-Purification

-Heal

-Blessing

-Protection

'What the hell? That was the princess!?' I was flabbergasted.