Chapter 9

As they were walking along in the woods together, Einar got to them all a little bit. He got to know the names of the knights, and the young lady. The knights were called Bernard and Bjorn, while the lady was called Mathilde.

He found out that they came from one of the big cities in the kingdom, which was called Sloross, which was located on the far east side of the kingdom. While the capital was in the middle of the kingdom.

They had also started out as a much bigger bunch than what they were now, but most of them had been killed. They had been attacked a lot on their journey, which had cost the life of 32 soldiers, a butler, and a maid. The only survivors were the people in front of Einar.

Mathilde was traveling to the capital, to talk to her father about some marriage arrangements. She was not happy with the guy that had been chosen for her, and she would rather be able to choose herself. The reason she had to travel to the capital for that, was that her father was there, doing some business with other noble houses.

It seemed like the guy she was meant to marry had heard of this, so he had sent a lot of people after her, so he could bring her back. The family he belonged to, was the second-biggest family in the city of Sloross. While the biggest family was the one Mathilde belonged to.

Mathilde's family name was Addison, while the man she was meant to marry, came from the family of Astor.

"So, Einar, would you like to tag along for the journey to the capital?" The big guy Bernard asked while looking at Einar with a smile.

"Sure, if you don't mind!" Einar gave a smile back, he had grown a little closer to these people.

He found that Bernard was very likable and an easy-going kind of guy. Bjorn was a much more serious kind of person, and he did not talk too much. As for Mathilde, she had been through a lot on this journey, so he did not get to talk too much with her.

"An extra pair of hands is always useful! HAHA," Bernard said as he laughed.

"Anyway, Einar, you know my story, why don't you tell us about you?" Mathilde chimed in. She did not feel like being sullen all day, so she chose to try and talk to Einar.

" ... I am not from around here, I grew up in a small village in the kingdom of Secos," Einar told a little when his face turned to one of grievance. "But my village was slaughtered by a demonic creature ... I would have died too if it wasn't for the spear I used to kill that monster!" Einar's face turned to one of determination at the end of the conversation.

"In the end, the monster almost killed me anyway! If my master had not come at the right time, I would have died with the rest of the village!" As he talked about his master, his face turned to one of happiness and respect.

"After that, I spend two months training under my master, and now we are here!" Einar done played last two months and he did not mention the name of his master.

"Y-You ... you saw your village get slaughtered?" Mathilde had tears in her eyes, and both Bjorn and Bernard had both saddened looks on their faces. Someone as young as Einar, should not have experienced that kind of tragedy.

"Don't worry abo...." Before Einar could say another word, Mathilde had gotten close to him, and given him a hug. She felt so sad for Einar, and she had no other way than to give him a hug for comfort.

Einar had no idea of what to do now, he did not know that Mathilde would move in to hug him. It felt nice though, Einar had not had a chance to vent his emotions. He had not really had a chance to cry. Ever since he woke up, he had been training to get stronger, and forgotten about what had happened to him.

As the hug kept going, Einar's emotions came out. He hugged her back tightly, while tears started falling from his eyes. He did not know where the emotions came from, but the hug Mathilde gave him, just dug them out of him.

After a few minutes in this position, Einar pulled out of the hug. Mathilde's shoulder was quite wet from all of the tears Einar had made, but this didn't matter. Mathilde was just happy, that Einar could get some of the grievances out of his system.

"Thank you!" Einar looked her in the eyes. He was truly happy that she did this, he needed it.

"No problem!" Mathilde smiled beautifully before she went back and stood beside her two knights. Einar stood back up, and gave the knights a wry smile, he had no idea of what to say to them.

"Let's get going!" Bjorn said while having a small smile. He did not feel like embarrassing Einar.

It was time to get moving towards the capital once again. They did not meet any trouble for the rest of the way there, since it was only one day's travel they had left.

As they arrived at the capital, Einar was amazed by the sheer size of the walls around the city. They were towering into the sky, standing around 50 meters tall. They blocked the view of most of the buildings in the capital, while the occasional tower would pop up from behind the wall.

There was an especially majestic building towering into the air. It was in the middle of the city, and it was probably the royal palace. Even from outside the walls, you could see the beautifully carved towers, with golden patterns.

It had banners hanging from two of its four towers, as far as Einar could see. These banners had the symbol of the royal family, but Einar did not recognize this, as he had minimal knowledge of the Mearth kingdom.

The road that they were walking on, led down to a huge gate into the city. It was open right now, so people could get into the city. There was a queue outside though since everyone had to pay to get into the city.

They joined the queue so that they could get into the city. The queue was not too long, so it did not take more than five minutes for them to get there.

"NEXT"

Einar heard a loud voice yell, as a soldier was looking at their group. They moved up to the gate to get through.

"ID please!" The guard said, looking at their group indifferently.

Mathilde took out the emblem of her family and showed it to the guard.

"Oh, Miss Addison, welcome to the capital!" The guard said as he let Mathilde walk through with her two knights. As Einar was walking through though, he was stopped.

"ID please" The guard looked at Einar.

"He is with us!" Mathilde said from behind the guard.

"Sorry miss, he is obviously not one of you!" The guard looked at Mathilde with a smile. "ID please!" The guard turned back to Einar, with the same indifference as before.

"I don't have any!" Einar looked at him with an indifferent attitude too.

"Then you have to pay one silver to get in," The guard told him.

"I don't have any money!" Einar had no money, so how was he supposed to pay the guard.

"Then leave!" The guard looked at Einar with annoyance now. He knew that this kid was a beggar, what else could he be?

"I will pay!" Mathilde said from behind the guard. She knew how Einar had saved their lives, so she could at least pay one silver to get Einar into the city.

She threw a silver coin at the guard. As he caught it, he said "Fine" His face went back to indifference.

Einar walked past him and went into the capital. It was finally time for him to join the royal academy.