Group Outing

During breakfast the following day, Dawn nudged me. Her meaning was really clear, ask for money since we are here already. 'You bastard, I told you it's not that easy…', I thought. "What plans do you have today?", my grandpa asked instead. "Oh, we'll tour the city. Grab something to eat, check out a few shops. Perhaps we'll get to see something good as well", I replied while subtly hinting about money.

"Do you need anything from grandpa?". I wasn't sure whether he asked that genuinely, or just wanted me to ask for money directly. "... Umm… Some money?", the question came out a bit weird, especially with my friends around.

"Hehe, you are right. Don't worry, grandpa has a lot, so here, this is for you", he replied while handing me a small coin pouch. I didn't check the content right in front of him. I'd burn from shame sooner than do that. "Thank you, I'm sure this will be enough for us", "Hehe, don't worry. If you need more, come over. Hehe, your mother used to extort so much money from me, I'm actually happy you are so different", he replied with a laugh.

'No wonder she hoards money like there's no tomorrow', "Do you need anything, grandpa? We can get it for you in the city", I asked. "Hehe, no, I don't need anything… Although, you could get me these". He took out some sort of round bar of something. "What's that?", "Here, try it out", he handed me the thing.

I knew my grandpa wouldn't poison me or anything, so I bit into that round bar. "Huh? It's sweet, and kind of… I'm not sure how to describe it. Wanna try?", I asked Dawn. She took a bite as well, and really liked it. Tara and Teri had a go as well. They liked it a lot, but we didn't know what that thing was. I could see some sort of seeds in there, honey was there as well. Everything held up thanks to honey after all.

"This is a kind of speciality here in Ortava. We use wheat, sesame seeds, honey and milk to produce such bars. It's sweet and great as a snack. I'm running low on them, so you can buy a few dozens for me", grandpa explained. Tara immediately smelled some profit in selling that in the North, or perhaps to other people elsewhere. "Sure grandpa, we'll buy that for you", I replied while disregarding Tara's gaze.

After the breakfast, we headed straight towards the Academy's gate. Before we left though, a group of students stopped us. Within that group, a familiar person was present. "Hello, Anna. I see you changed into your casual clothes, they look great on you. Anyway, are you guys going out to the city?", Henry asked. "... Yes, we'll check a few places out today", I replied.

Of course they decided to tag along, but that didn't matter much. Their knowledge of the city would be much more useful in that case, compared to the previous time. Henry introduced his friends, who were also the First Class students. "This is Mila Frogmore, and her brother Mike. This is Peet Limelock, and next to him is John Handroot", Henry introduced.

All of us introduced ourselves, and they were surprised to hear Dawn's family name. "Hehe, Dawn's a bit shy. She's a quiet sister, so don't mind her", I covered for her. With the introductions off our heads, we left the Academy to explore the city.

They proposed a few things, that included the Falcon. I didn't want to spoil the surprise for my friends, and therefore asked them to say nothing. They agreed, and decided to instead show us a certain building. A sort of hall of fame for historic figures who helped build Ortava. Though Tara wasn't interested much, me and Dawn decided it wasn't a bad idea. Henry and others took us deeper into the city, until a small plaza with a large building greeted us.

The building was different from those surrounding it. The biggest difference had to be stones used to build it. They were grey, not white, or processed to be white. Moreover, the design was different too. The front looked like a piece of defensive wall, that usually surrounded the cities or towns. There were no windows at the ground floor, and only a single gate at the very front acted as an access point.

"This building is one of the oldest buildings here in Ortava. The city and the owner decided to keep it as original as possible, since that is the history of our city. To be precise, this place used to be the soldiers' quarters. That's why the windows are so small, and only one gate is at the front. This place was fortified against attacks, and back in the days, attacks weren't as scarce as today", John explained.

I was a bit surprised he knew all that, after all, he was a student of Formations, not history. Nonetheless, the entry fee was rather small, and we didn't have to pay anything once the First Class students showed their feathers. 'Hehe, seems the benefits ain't small at all', I figured.

The place was well lit with torches, and a lot of historic figures, items and portraits were displayed. The famous figures ranged from professions such as stone masons, carpenters, tailors or smith, to those of soldiers, hunters and even village, town or city chiefs. They weren't called city chiefs anymore, they were called governors. They governed over the city, hence the name.

Other than these everyday people, there was a whole section dedicated to Formation masters and experts. We saw a few similar portraits or figures, which were displayed in the Academy's library, though that place had more of them. There were loads of experts especially, a lot of which weren't mentioned in the Academy.

Then, I found something peculiar. An actual Formation master who created a new water based Formation, was displayed inside that hall of fame or whatever building, but wasn't at the Academy. "Lauren Quicklash, I haven't seen her portrait at the Academy. She seems to have achieved quite a lot", I commented.

"Ah, that Lauren. Apparently, there were some discrepancies about her achievements, and the validity of her claims to have found new Formations. The Academy's officials found her to be not worthy of the display at our Academy, hence she's not there", John replied.

'Discrepancies? Why would they mention her here? That doesn't make sense', "Why does this place display her portrait, and achievements?", I asked. "We have no control over the Hall of Founders. They are free to display whoever they wish. Whether that someone was genuine or fake", Henry replied that time. That would be the case, if not for a few other people who seemingly achieved a lot, but weren't mentioned at the Academy. Their answer was pretty much the same, 'discrepancies'. That word began annoying me, especially from their mouths.

'I'm not buying their explanation. They're doing this on purpose, but why? Why hate historical figures. They never met, and never will', I couldn't figure that out, so left it in the back of my mind. Besides the awkwardness with a few figures of the past, the trip around the building proceeded smoothly.

To my surprise, even Tara and Teri enjoyed themselves. They were impressed by people who used spears for combat, or their bare hands for various tasks. Dawn played the role of my quiet sister, and didn't speak much with the group of students. Nonetheless, we enjoyed ourselves.

"Where would you like to go next? Somewhere with more excitement, or perhaps visit some shops and check our Ortava's specialties?", Henry asked. Tara of course shouted shops, while me and Dawn looked at each other and giggled lightly. "Sure, let's go visit some shops. Besides, we need to buy something for grandpa", I agreed.