Chapter 2: Hochfeld

POV David

POV David

April 8th 913 (2016)

Rebecca dragged the two of us a distance away from the manor before she let go, then she just opened up.

"God could they be anymore stuck up?" She moaned. Smith grunted but refrained from commenting further.

"To be fair we aren't used to their customs and traditions. This is a medieval level of society…" I replied diplomatically.

"I don't care! It's manners this, manners that. That isn't how one should act… it's driving me insane!" She groaned.

"Tell me about it…" Smith grumbled. These two…

"Alright, let's just put this behind us for now. You said we were going shopping?" I asked my sister.

"We'll yes, but there's a bunch of stupid shit Sera wants me to do… I guess we'll start with the smith's guild and get it out of the way." She mumbled as she produced a sealed letter.

"Smith's guild?" I asked with a raised brow.

"Yeah, like blacksmiths." Rebecca replied flippantly.

"Why would she send you to a blacksmith?" I asked.

"Armor and weapons duh… can't join the adventures's guild without that…" she replied bitterly.

"The hell is she making you enroll in that?" I asked while Smith furrowed his brows and started scratching his chin.

"It's 'mandatory' for nobles." She sneered with a glance back at the manor.

I sighed and continued walking towards Hochfeld. My siblings followed begrudgingly and our walk was mostly uneventful but for the few farmers that were heading to the town to repair broken equipment or buy seed. We meandered through the town, Rebecca occasionally chatted with a passerby while Smith and I watched.

Women carried on with their business while we rarely saw any men, what few we did were doing small household chores like washing clothes, or cleaning their homes. We walked passed a house under construction and didn't see a single male.

Smith and I shared a look but it seemed Rebecca hadn't noticed yet. Similar themes played out everywhere we went until we stumbled across a forge atop the town's small hill.

"Apparently the blacksmith is some woman named Vir…" Rebecca muttered as we stood outside the open air forge. No Smith was working as far as I could tell, the forge looked cold too, as if it hasn't been used today.

"Aye, you're not wrong." A gruff voice replied. We turned to see a woman barely shorter than I was setting down a crate. Her arms rippled with muscles, she had about as much muscle as a bodybuilder.

"You're Vir…?" I asked.

"Unless there's another cutie." She replied with a wink

I glanced at my siblings before clearing my throat. "We came to purchase arms and armor."

"Hmmm, you got the ability to pay youngster?" She asked with a wry grin.

"Of course." I replied as Rebecca silently handed me the money. I handed the sealed letter to her as well.

She cracked it and read though it and shrugged. "I'll get you all some armors and weapons, so what are you looking for?"

"What would you recommend?" I asked.

"Full plate. But it'll take months for me to make three sets, so if you want something immediately I'd recommend a leather set, or maybe some gambision or chain mail." She replied.

"Helmet, breastplate, greaves, gauntlets, and gambision. For all three of us." Smith quietly interjected.

"Knows what he wants eh?" She smiled as she scratched her chin.

"It's doable, but are you sure you want to let your men have sets of armors?" She asked Rebecca. Smith narrowed his eyes at the blatant disrespect.

"Yes, we want three sets." I insisted firmly.

"Alright lad, I understand. You two wear the skirts." She chuckled as she hefted her crate and walked into the forge, gesturing for us to follow.

Smith and I shared another look as we entered the forge. Vir had set her crate down and was rummaging through a pile of gear. "These should do…"

She came over with a pair of greaves, she put them down on a table then gently grabbed our hands. With a nod she then disappeared back into another area of the forge and came back with three gambison shirts and added those to the pile. "This is all the gear I have that won't require modification to fit you."

I nodded and opened my mouth to inquire about the breastplates when Smith appeared from behind Vir and set three swords, a hatchet, and four daggers on the table. He glanced up at the blacksmith. "We'll need these as well."

Vir raised a brow questionably but shrugged. Smith pointed at a corner of the room, "those sets are scrap yes? We'll take what we need from them."

Rebecca rolled her eyes. "He's always like this in gun stores… maybe a bit less talkative though."

I chuckled as Smith dragged the protesting Vir back into the corner of the forge, where he 'liberated' what we needed with the attitude of a soldier trying to nab every spare bullet from the armory. He'd piled everything we 'needed' on the table.

I paid for our gear and apologized to the now grumpy Vir. We donned our equipment and left. Smith took the hatchet and added it to his belt and tucked the spare dagger into his boot, much to Rebbeca's annoyance.

"What else did we have to do?" I asked Rebecca.

"Register at the adventurers guild." She replied glumly. I nodded and scanned the town from our vantage atop the hill. There were a few likely candidates, so I set off with my siblings to finish our last chore of the day.