Chapter 52: Where Crafters Are Kings

The hours of travel continued the next day, the sun that once greeted us in the east was now ruling over the top of the sky, but it was never giving us deadly heat. It seemed like the weather calmed down at this time of day, but that didn't reassure it will be the same the next time.

As we passed through the dusty plains, not showing any sign of green grass, the heat slowly increased and the air grew thinner. But after minutes of stomps on the ground, and noises of the wheels, we finally had a sight of our destination.

"Look over there!" I heard Dalary yelled as she advanced forward, stretching her arm.

I tried to take a peek and witnessed the tall wall that had been surrounding by several houses outside. But there was something inside that was taller than the wall, as it reached higher to the sky.

"The Astraen Kingdom!"

At last, we made it towards one of the human kingdoms, Astraen. They were known to be the home of the blacksmiths, who were carving weapons and tools at their finest.

Other than that, they were also famous for their monthly celebrations and tournaments. Among all of the kingdoms, Astraen was the most festive.

The structures were almost similar to Deravon since some of the builders learned from the other kingdom itself. They might be full of weapon experts, but there was no one to deal with the architecture. Thus, the two kingdoms formed an alliance to fulfill both rulers' needs.

We made it to the guardhouse and unlike those in Deravon, they only required inspections which wasn't much of a big deal. After short minutes, they finally let us enter the grand capital.

The road of dust and pebbles were wide and welcoming, could fit four different carriages that were traveling at the same time. Both of the ends were framed by the stone bricks, continued further into the homes and buildings, giving spaces for the pedestrians to walk to the side. The houses have similar designs as the Deravon but now with the riches embracing the roof slate palette of fire and brick red.

As we walked further, we could finally make it to the center of the capital. One would expect that it would be a square with a fountain or a statue standing in the middle, but it wasn't.

In front of us, taller than the walls was a coliseum of a perfect circle. Most of the walls, from top to bottom, were stone bricks plastered with lime. It was known as the Astrid Arena, where several tournaments held. It was also used by the Deravon for their knight examinations.

But the gigantic dome wasn't the one we were after inside the kingdom. I got too distracted at the fact that I could finally see these buildings in real life that I almost forgot the current mission. We must find Heron.

"Uhh… guys?"

Our comfortable travel was interrupted by Cainne's voice, causing the wagon to stop on its tracks. We turned around to look at him, now jumping off of the vehicle without permission.

"I've got something to do over there." He explained, pointing at one of the paths surrounding the dome. The street was narrower and full of busy crowds. No vehicles could be able to pass through it, thus some just waited outside.

His face indeed plastered an apologetic smile, but I could see that he was pretending. Even until now, the burden he was feeling these past few days was still lurking in his heart.

"Don't worry, I'll be right back."

He was about to walk away, leaving us with no information about what he was gonna do when I saw a glimpse of Dalary stepping in front of me. I couldn't help but be worried about what was gonna happen right now.

"Hey, dead face!" She yelled, with both of her arms crossed in her chest. My friend at the bottom didn't have a choice but to stop in his tracks and turn around once more. Their eyes fixed with each other, competing on whoever's gonna have the most intimidation.

"Do you think you can go away just like that?" She added with brows furrowed. Both of their eyes were glowing, even more, showing their hidden anger and irritation. "We're coming with you."

Cainne didn't give his answer yet, as he squinted more.

"I told you, you don't have to worry." He said. His voice was bitterer than before. It seemed like he doesn't want us to come along. But it seemed unfair that he traveled with us freely and right now, he will separate from us.

"Then you don't have to worry about going with you." Dalary fought back, couldn't be able to accept his decision. If I had the courage, I would also do the same, but he is also a friend to me. I just couldn't treat him like a freeloader.

After a long exchange of glances between the two, Cainne released a deep sigh. He reached for his forehead and placed his palm.

"Fine."

Although he accepted our interruption of his own personal mission, his voice showed his dissatisfaction over the situation. It seemed like he just wanted to do something in private, but here we are, walking with him.

Unfortunately, we had to leave Dino along with the left carriages since the whole vehicle didn't fit on the narrow streets. We finally made our way in, bumping with the other crowds as we walked further.

Sounds of clanging swords and boiling hot liquid can be heard from left to right, as both sides of the streets revealed open stalls and shops of blacksmiths. Their walls were made of clay bricks or cobblestones, with little to no wood present.

One can clearly see the weapons hanging in front of the stalls, with blades shining under the sun. It's a surprise no one attempted to steal it from the owners.

After a short time of walking, Cainne stopped in his tracks, standing in front of a building, the biggest and most grand among others in the district. It has two storeys, with walls made of cobblestone bricks framed by timbers, similar to the Deravon houses. Numerous chimneys popped out of the slate roofs, emitting smoke.

This must be a blacksmith's shop.

Our companion entered the establishment without hesitation, while we followed. Even at this time, I still didn't have any idea what was his motive in coming here. Come to think of it, I didn't know much about him. Who was he really?

The interior greeted us with great heat, but due to the open glass windows, letting the air enter, it reduced from time to time. Stone walls were covered by black banners in silver trims, weapons of different sizes, and unusual giant candleholders.

"Vison?" He called for someone's name, walking towards the counter at the end of the room with great stealth. He was stretching his neck, tried to take a peek. Out of curiosity, I also did the same thing.

"Are you still alive?"

He didn't receive any response to anyone inside the room in a few minutes, no matter how loud he yelled. Until an unknown figure showed up at the inner side of the counter.

It was a man in his mid-30s but his furrowed face of nothing but intimidation made him look more mature. He had ruby hair from the head down to his beard, matching his green olive eyes.

I never felt his presence earlier so I jumped when he revealed himself. If my assumption is correct, this must be Vison.

"Huh, took you too long to come here." He said with his voice that was younger than his face. I was expecting him to be so deep but the pitch made him less scary than before.

"Well, it's… a long story…" Cainne excused as he rubbed the back of his head, smiling even though it's obvious it was fake. "But at least I brought you what you wanted. Now, we're even."

Hearing this made Vison release a deep sigh.

But the way they talked seemed like they were very close with each other, despite Cainne being an encantor. In the middle of the dark, there will be light. And among the race that despised the other, there will be people who will break the stereotype.

"Where is it?" The redhead asked with his arms resting at the wooden desk of the counter.

Without hesitation, Cainne raised his hand, showing his palm, and a small portal with gold and silver particles showed up in front of him. It was glowing than any other candles inside the shop.

Then, he stretched his hand inside the portal, causing it to disappear in our eyes. I've read about this magic in the books and other nobles using it. It was called an inventory ring, where it was luggage that you can fit in your hand.

Almost all of the encantors used this ring but the humans managed to trade some of it from them as well. Even though one hated each other, the business side had never been affected.

Once he pulled his hand back, he was already carrying a large bag full of something that couldn't be shown. He put it at the desk, giving a sound like marbles had been clinging with each other. Vison pulled one of them out and revealed what's inside.

An orb of beauty glowed inside the room, along with its clear gold color. It was like the other magic orbs, but there's something in it that made it different from the others. Until I recognized the sphere.

"Is that… blood orbs?" I asked him, even though we never interacted before. I only saw them in the books, so I wasn't sure if this is what I was talking about and it was known to be very rare to have.

Blood orbs are the kind of orbs that accepted ownership through dripping one's blood on it. Once it will recognize whose blood it is, the magic inside the orb will only activate if it will hear the owner's voice.

I caught his attention and my question put a smirk on his face, which I wasn't sure if it was good or not. He had never smiled this whole time until now.

"You know your stuff, lady." He said. I don't know if it was supposed to be a compliment, but I decided to smile, even I failed to make it sincere.

"They are blood orbs. Few of these were available, so it's hard to get them legally." He explained, now playing with the orb he had in his hand. Indeed, there weren't available orbs in the shops and usually, it was the nobles who will get it first. Then, he pointed his finger to Cainne. "But I have this guy, so no problem."

After the discussion with the blood orbs, we introduced ourselves to each other. He was the owner of the shop and also a master blacksmith. He had been accepting apprentices and teaching them the way to make weapons.

"Anyway, did you finish what I just requested you to do?" Cainne asked.

Another smirk came from Vison's mouth. It seemed like it was normal for him to smile, it's just that he doesn't have energy earlier.

"That's not much big of a deal to work on," He replied with both of his arms crossed on his chest. Then, he turned his head to a door beside the counter.

"Nilo, time to let go of the beast!" He yelled inside the shop as loud as he can.

As soon as I heard what he said, especially the name he mentioned, I couldn't help but to let my eyes widen out of disbelief. I knew that he was staying here in Astraen, but I never thought that I will encounter him that fast.

"Okay! Okay!" A voice of both familiarity and not can be heard from the door. Then, it opened and came out a man of the same age as me. He had mauve purple hair and black eyes that showed nothing but innocence.

In his hands was somewhat a long sword wrapped in a brown thin cloth, causing us to not see further at the weapon.

"Hold on! I've got it, S–"

His sentence was interrupted as soon as our eyes were locked at each other, both of us stared with disbelief. None of us called each other's names. He was still the same as before, but bigger and more mature.

I could feel his whole body shaking, as I was also the same. His jaw dropped and hanged on his mouth. It was a miracle that he didn't drop the sword he was carrying.

"N-Nilo?" Finally, I said his name, after years of guilt over the thing that I did.

The memory was still fresh in my mind, and it will forever be, as I couldn't be able to remove it even though I wanted to.

"Meria…?"