Vol 1 Chapter 22 (1/2)

Chapter 2

The city of Alan was about ten days’ travel to the south of the village of Zaxon As the name implied, Alan was the capital of Alania and ho, Cadmus VII, and his family

Capital of a four-hundred-year-old kingdom, the city of Alan was known as thein the city was made of stone, as were the smooth, clean roads

The dwarf-built city had needed no repairs in hundreds of years and still looked the same as the day it was built

Parn’s party had planned to cross Norbis to the west and head for Valis, but rumors of a sandstore their plans and visit Alan instead

When they arrived, Alan was all a-bustle with festivities Two days earlier, Cadmus VII’s first son had been born, and everyone was celebrating The normally quiet streets were full of carts, and the air was filled with a hitherto uni under the early su the festivities while walking through the streets

“We carunted between ht at a food stand

“Definitely,” Parn agreed with him

“What good fortune that the prince was born The royal fa at the festive city with a pleased expression

“It’s great that the city is so lively, but ht seek lodgings and enjoy the festival afterward?”

Slayn alalked slowly at the back of their group In spite of appearances, he was enjoying the celebration, but after walking all day without rest, his breathing was a bit ragged It was difficult for him to keep up with the youthful Parn and Eto, as well as Ghim, who never seemed to tire

“That’s what you get for doing nothing but reading all day You’ve got to train your body as well as your mind!”

Slayn made a noncommittal sound and picked up his pace a bit to keep up with Ghim

“Be that as it et a solid ue, but fro, Ghim bit off another chunk of bird meat

Isn’t that his third druh he was half Parn’s height, the dwarf could eat three ti in their ht Eto, and not for the first time

“Now, to the festival!” Having found an inn and eatenl, Parn could wait no longer before urging Eto to join hihed and stood up, and Ghim followed suit

“What about you, Slayn?” wondered Ghi at Slayn, who had not moved an inch

“Don’t worry about o I’ll be back later tonight”

“I don’t have enough free ti to the famous academy, aren’t you?”

Slayn gave a quick nod

“In that case, we’re off But if you don’t have some fun once in a while, you’ll die of boredom someday”

“Take care,” replied Slayn, standing as well

Slayn had studied at the Acadee of twelve Slayn’s mother, as of noble birth, had specially requested Slayn’s ade when she realized how

Ever since that day, Slayn had lived on his own in Alan It o years to the day since the incident that had claimed the life of his friend, after which Slayn had left the city in fear of reprisals from the thieves’ Guild But the eternal capital, Alan, was exactly the same as the day he left

Slayn looked on the city with nostalgia as he clies

The Acadee of the city which overlooked the port It was acompletely composed of blackwith the white tower of the palace of Stone Web, one of the two landhout the city

Even fro in front of hih it had been a while since they were last cleaned But in his ti every nook and cranny of the building until it was spotless

When at last he arrived at the gate, it too had changed Nor warriors, but they were nowhere to be found

Slayn’s heart raced What did this mean? What could possibly have happened at the Academy?

“Saht of his worries In response, the bar on the gate opened on its own The gate swung open with a creaking noise Behind it, there lay the Academy’s courtyard It had visibly fallen into disrepair

Slayn could not hide his shock The Acadereat beauty Overfloith ic, it had even been referred to as the renaissance of the ancient kingdom of Kastul

The acadereat ics, as well as creating a great many new spells

But what athe paths through the grounds He wouldn’t be able to get to the building without cutting therimaced

“Why did this happen?” Slayn’s quiet voice shook even more

At thatquickly down the main street of the city Ten days into the festival, troupes of street perfor love stories in sweet voices had come from across the land, and it felt like the festivities had reached their climax

To put it simply, a country bumpkin like Parn was overwhelaudily clothed wo its streets

Ghie of the unusual culinary delights of the city, and Eto atching the festival with a grin, continually re to Parn

Eto was certainly enjoying the festival, but in a so the joyous energy of the festival was the ulti strangers greet each other as friends, belt out songs, and drink together was enough for hihteous society was no mere dream

“Looks like a fight,” said Ghim suddenly

“A fight?” Parn replied in a loud voice, turning his head to see what Ghi at

There was a brawl involved several people in an alley There were four unsavory-lookingblond hair

“That’s a wo off in the direction of the alley