It was morning and we were studying at the library. It had been two hours already but everyone"s concentration was still on the books. The library was silent, even though there were six of us in the library.Only a week was left before we start our journey to the city so we were working extra hard.
In the city, we will give the entrance test for the magic knight academy. For magicians, 30% was covered by the magic knowledge part which was judged based on written tests. For Knights, it was only 10 percent but the tests are going to be tough so those 10 percent made a big difference.
Arica stood up from her chair and yawned saying "I am done for today" which couldn"t be heard clearly but we all understood what she meant. Right after Arica, Sistina stood up as if she was waiting for Arica to stand.
"Okay then, let"s go to Andrew"s house since we need to discuss about our journey to the city," said Ronald while still sitting.
"Yes, let"s do that," Nina said in agreement
It looked like Marina was trying to say something so we all looked towards her. She is mostly shy so we always encouraged her to speak her mind.
"Marina," I said softly touching back of her head to encourage her. She started speaking in a low voice:
"Am... um.. I am not sure how we are going to stay there so I think we should ask that too."
She made a good point so I added, "Yeah, we haven"t discussed how we are going to stay during our test. I think Andrew has already thought about this so let"s ask him that too."
After that conversation at the library, we decided to go to Andrew"s house. It"s was a sunny day with very pleasant weather. When we reached there Martha was hanging clothes outside in the sun to dry them up.
"Hi Martha, is Andrew home?" I asked.
"What brings you kids here today? You rarely come to our house, you should do it more often. He is inside having lunch. He had a busy morning so he is having lunch a bit late than usual," said Martha smilingly.
"We are just here to ask about our journey to the city. It"s good to see you doing well," I replied.
After that, we went inside. Andrew was having lunch when we got in so we decided to wait in the sitting room. After finis.h.i.+ng dinner, Andrew came in.
"h.e.l.lo everyone. How are you all doing?" He sitting on a chair.
We were sitting around in chairs too. I haven"t seen any sofa since I came to this world, they probably don"t exist here.
"We are fine. How was your morning? Martha told us that you were busy," said Ronald.
"Yeah, I was a little busy this morning but I am free now," Andrew replied.
"You said you will be taking us to the city in a carriage next week so we wanted to know more about the journey and our stay there," I replied summarising what we wanted to ask.
"Ah, so that"s why you all came here together today", After saying that Andrew took a long break and started explaining, "We will leave in the morning next week. It takes 3 days to reach there so we will camp during the night and start moving early the next morning. Jabal and I will be taking you all since we also have some work in the city too. We will stay at an inn where I usually stay in the city. It is cheap and also has good food."
"If we pa.s.s the test we will be living in the city. I know they will take care of the stay and necessities of the student but do we have to pay anything to the Academy?" I asked since the educational inst.i.tute used to charge a lot to their students in my previous world.
Everyone looked at me with surprise. I guess I understand what this means, this common sense doesn"t apply to this world.
"Students don"t have to pay for anything instead they will be given monthly allowances and a place to stay. Knights and Magicians protect the nation so it is the duty of a nation to raise them properly," Andrew explained things to me.
"Man things are so different here, I remember my hard college life where I had to save money for my studies." I thought
"We still haven"t prepared things for our journey. I think we should start our preparations soon," said Nina.
"Yeah, we will be staying there if we pa.s.s so we have to be thoroughly prepared," Sistina added while standing up.
"Um... I-I haven"t gone outside the village but with everyone, I think I will be fine," Marina said making a relieved face.
"Yeah, all of us are with you so don"t worry about it," I said to comfort her.
After that conversation at Andrew"s house we left. Andrew also had some work in the village so he had to leave as soon as we finished.
Note: The part after this is not from Nara"s point of view.
★★★--In the Royal Palace of Elven Kingdom--★★★
"Father, do you think that was the right choice?"
A man wearing a golden robe who had blonde long hair and long pointed ear asked a man who was also wearing a golden robe with a green pattern and a crown. They both had similar physical features and looked more like brothers than father and son. They both had so much similar appearance that people would easily mistake them as twins.
"Hmm... Icarus, what other choice do we have? We have been isolated from this world for a very long time. The movement of spirits is telling me that something very big is going to happen soon and I don"t think we will be able to handle it by ourselves. We need to ally ourselves with another nation to deal with this calamity." The Elven King replied.
"But father, even though Eliane is only a half-elf she knows about our secret. Will it be wise to do this?" Prince Ikarus asked.
"I can"t think of anyone better. She shares our gift but not our curse. She is a good child so I think she will do well. We are not sending her to the capital directly, instead, we will send her to study at the Singha city. After finis.h.i.+ng her studies and learning about the human culture she will move to the capital. I have already informed the king there about us sending her." The Elven King replied.
"Do you think the king of Fiore will agree with us? We have never had any sorts of relations.h.i.+p with them before," Icarus asked while still looking unsure about his father"s action.
"King of Fiore is a very wise man, he will understand our situation and deal with it without taking advantage of us." The Elven King replied.
"Okay father, I won"t question your decision anymore. Your wise decisions are the reasons for the prosperity of this nation so it was rude of me to question them in the first place. I love my sister too which is why I wasn"t sure if it was wise to send her alone, that"s all."
"Hmm... Okay, take care of things outside the place for me Icarus. We should prepare ourselves for an uncertain future."
"Yes, father."
After replying that Icarus left the room and the elf king stayed there alone thinking of ways to tackle the changing time.
Next Chapter: Leaving the village