Departure (Part - 1)

Looking mom's way, the knight's vertical golden eye suddenly spiked in intensity and turned back to normal.

A minute twitch in his eyebrows and an amused smile were the only reactions I got from him.

"Quite a few things, actually. And I will be paying great attention to them. Any other questions?" He answered.

"Indeed a couple. My son would not be available for the next week, so he would not be able to act on any mission you might give him. May it be postponed? And also, what would be the reward?"

Hearing mom talk about it this way, I realized what I was missing in the guy's monologue. I was being commissioned. And as the knights' mission here was Beast Culling deep into the forest, anything they could commission me for could not be anything near my ability to handle.

And the reward, for a moment I imagined the knight getting offended over getting talked back to.

"Why, of course!" He exclaimed with a clap and the same short grin. "First, serving the nation is a thing to be proud in and of itself. Second, field experience is the best reward you can get. Anything more and he will have to earn it himself. Alright, time is up. You will be seeing a formal letter before the day is out."

Before I could respond, he disappeared.

Again.

This is ridiculous.

"Alright, cheer up! Let us start packing your bag." Mom's enthusiastic voice entered my ears.

"I guess so..." I tried to ignore the entire ordeal, and failed spectacularly.

Over the next few hours, we packed my bag with a couple sets of clothing and a few essentials.

Sometime in between, a more formal behaving knight came up to our door and delivered an envelope with a stamp of two sword crossing each other and a towering shield underneath them.

The contents of the letter were somewhere along the lines of...

"This is to address the individual named Ryan of the Graham Village. The applicable individual is to appear before the Knight Captain, Kai Von Reinnik, before the dawn of the seventh day since the delivery of this letter."

And some formal jargon.

I was given seven days, which should be plenty for a round trip to Eristonia with some time to spare.

Time continued to pass by, and soon, a day passed.

Under the marigold sunshine dyeing everything orange, I brokered a deal with the conductor of the next caravan journeying to Eristonia city tomorrow.

It costed around one silver, including two meals and night accommodation.

The caravan would leave before daybreak the next day and journey through the sparse forest surrounding the village and make camp at night, then resume in the morning and reach the destination shortly after daybreak.

The departure timing was so early to avoid any unnecessary traffic at the gate and on the road, and it assured another departure from destination the very next day, with a one day stoppage.

Regardless, my contact with them was only till we reached the big city.

Over the course of the day, I just rested and passed time.

–

–

–

"Wake up, son!"

"Yeah… mum… just a minute longer…" I mumbled as I hugged the soft pillow a little tighter.

"You will be late for your journey! Get up this instant!" A silver haired woman said in an exasperated tone as she tried to pry her son from the bed.

In the next instant, I shot off the bed and checked the time. To my shock and annoyance, there were still two hours left for the caravan to leave the village.

When I moved my gaze around, I saw mum returning my gaze with a proud expression with her hands resting on her hips.

It's still dark outside, for goodness's sake!

Why did I agree to this…

"Haaa… Since I am up anyway, its better to just get ready." I sighed with a wry smile.

"Your breakfast is ready, your bag is packed, I put in two sets of spare clothes. Oh, and I also packed some food for your on-roa—"

"And since when are you awake, mum?" I asked with a curious stare.

"Since just a few minutes back, and besides that is not important! Get your lazy backside washed up and triple check everything. You should get to the Caravan at least half an hour ahead of schedule, getting the best spot is always of importance." Mum quipped while changing the topic so fluently that I almost forgot about it.

Almost.

I had my toasts and tea, and descended the stairs with mum. Before leaving, I took out the two magical pearls I had stashed away and hid them deep underneath the clothes in the bag.

If I were to ever use them, it would be right after my baptism.

"Any advice for me?"

"Don't talk to strangers, keep an eye on your stuff at all times, and do not forget to visit the library before your Baptism. And whatever you do, choose your Heart Engine with the utmost care."

With a traveler's bag hung on my back, I hugged her tightly and said, "I'll be back soon."

"Stay safe." She replied.

With that, I turned around and went straight to the village gates on the opposite side of the forest.

In the village of Graham, there were two main gates, one that directly pointed to the Forest of Nightmares, and the other that directly pointed in the direction of Eristonia City, also the closest Noble's capital.

As the Graham village came directly under the jurisdiction of Eristonia, just like many other off-shoot villages scattered around, many children around my age visited the city almost in a constant stream.

One of them being me.

Under the gentle caressing of the chilly winds, I located the person I talked to earlier yesterday. He was off at the back of the many four wheeled carriages with a paperboard, probably counting the goods to be loaded.

I approached him and paid the silver that we agreed on. He pointed me to a carriage near the back of queue.

The carriage allocated to me already housed a few crates in it and two other passengers. One of them was a woman in her thirties and looked quite fierce with a sword resting on her lap.

The other was a boy a little younger than me, looking quite unassuming in a simple cotton tunic and pants.

"Hello, I was also assigned this carriage, happy travelling with you both." I greeted them both as I climbed atop and claimed a spot near the edge.