Chiyo gazed upon the large courtyard in front of him, inside was a huge, tumbledown and timbered building. In front of the structure was a bare lawn on which a dozen children were running around playing tag. A smaller group was hustling about the three swings along the boundary walls to the left of the gate. Gazing at the dilapidated house and its tainted window panes, Chiyo felt it was about to crash down anytime. "Do you like it here?", Weiss inquired.
Chiyo looked up to him wondering if he made a mistake following the handsome uncle, the place he brought him to looked shady at best. But as he recalled the beautiful archery and tasty venison he began reconsidering his judgement, finally he decided that he would stay in this place as long as he got to eat tasty food while waiting for his father to come pick him up. Looking at Chiyo"s pondering serious face brought confusion to Weiss, he couldn"t understand what the little brat was thinking about.
By this time they had attracted the attention of the kids running about. The little ones crowded around Weiss looking at Chiyo curiously and started clamouring among themselves. Weiss heard them laughing and snickering while discussion things along the lines of, "Look at that shameless boy, he"s showing his pee-pee."
"Eww so dirty, he must be playing in the dust. Let old woman Camilla find him, he"ll surely get spanked."
"What"s his name? I never saw him before."
Chiyo looked at the children who were pointing at him and causing a din. Though he understood nothing from their discussion, the jeering and mocking faces gave him a good idea that he was their topic of discussion and it was nothing good. He felt embarra.s.sed and hurried to cover his little brother and bottom with his hands. But the laughing increased following his act to cover up, realising that his hands were not sufficient protection he proceeded to hide behind Weiss.
One of the young girls in the group who was rather bold and a.s.sumed a leading position, walked up to Weiss, glancing at Chiyo she asked, "Big brother Weiss, who is this dirty fellow following you? He"s not even wearing clothes, shall I call Camilla and get him punished? He must be bothering you."
"Hehe little Aria leave this fellow alone, why don"t you help me call sister Sandra?"
"Ok, let me call sister Sandra for you.", saying this much the little boss ran inside the building shouting for nurse Sandra. The other little fellows followed her inside leaving only a bunch of older fellows who were occupying the swings. But they did not dare come up in front of Weiss even though they wanted to tease the naked fellow.
Motioning for Chiyo to follow him, Weiss crossed the lawn and walked inside the building. Chiyo glanced at the kids ogling him from the swings before he hurried to follow inside. He sensed danger from the glare shot at him by the big fellows.
As Weiss walked inside he came upon an old lady walking out from one of the rooms, looking at him she gave bright smile and said, "Your lordship Weiss, I thought you went hunting with the bunch of ruffians did you leave early?"
"Camilla, forgo with the formalities. I return early because I met a lost child in the forest, please help me clean him up a bit lest he catches some disease."
Looking at the hurrying Chiyo the lady exclaimed, "Oh my! Why was such a little brat roaming in the forest? He"s lucky to have met you and survived, lord. But this fellow is as dirty as a wild mutt, come here let me give you a thorough wash before you spread dirt all over my floors."
"He is unable to speak Kapro," Weiss explained.
Camilla frowned upon hearing that, "A foreigner? This will be difficult."
She walked up to Chiyo and reached for his hand.
Looking at her frown Chiyo was scared, he hurried back towards Weiss and escaped Camilla"s hold. Seeing his act Camilla"s frown deepened, she found disobedient kids the most irritating part of her life.
Upon seeing Chiyo"s reaction Weiss patted his head, gave him a rea.s.suring smile and told him, "Go along little fellow, she will get you cleaned and bring you back to me."
Chiyo didn"t know what Weiss was saying but he understood what he meant with his wide smile. So he looked at Camilla and held his hand up to her, looking at his performance Camilla was pleased and her expression eased into a delightful smile.
"Good, even without understanding words he knows what to do. What an intelligent and obedient child." Camilla praised Chiyo then held his hands to bring him to the bathhouse.
Weiss followed them with his gaze and gave a smile when Chiyo glanced back at him while being dragged along by the strong old woman. A young and vibrant lady walked out from one of the doors on the opposite side and glanced at the retreating figure of old and young. Turning towards Weiss she gave a polite smile, "Mr Weiss, did you call for me?"
"Ah! Sandra, you look as beautiful as ever, looking at you refreshes me like I just drank a Spirit upgrade potion. How I wish.."
With a constant polite smile on her face, the young lady was not fl.u.s.tered by the fancy praise and calmly interrupted Weiss. "Mr Weiss if you are looking for Paul, he is upstairs in his office."
"Did he not go to Edgehedge today?"
"No, he probably has to deal with some things today so he cancelled his trip to Edgehedge town."
"That works fine for me, I have somethings to discuss with him and you. Let us go upstairs and I"ll tell you all the details of how I saved that little fellow from a couple of drakes in the forest."
"Ok let us go up, I"m sure your act was very heroic and exciting."
As the two of them reached the stairs which stood right in front of the entrance, Weiss politely gestured to the lady saying, "Ladies first."
As they began ascending, Aria and the kids walking out of the kitchen each with a slice of bread in hand could hear Weiss"s fading voice, "Haha it was a tough situation, let me tell you these were the biggest drakes I have ever seen in Elder forest. But I was not scared at all, first I nocked an arrow..."
Aria had a worshipping look on her face as she gazed towards the stairs and said, "Big brother Weiss is really strong, he can hunt drakes and rock bears. Even old woman Camilla is respectful when speaking to him."
One of the girls following along responded matter-of-factly, "Of course, Camilla is so scary that even wyverns will surely run away. Big brother Weiss is super strong and that"s why Camilla is scared of him."
All the kids ran outside to continue their game after vowing to grow as strong as Weiss and scaring Camilla.
....
Sandra walked up to a cla.s.sic looking Ape-wood door and knocked on it.
"Come in." a raspy voice sounded from inside.
Sandra pushed the door open and entered the room followed by Weiss who proceeded to greet the middle-aged man writing seriously, seated on a simple desk surrounded by five chairs near the window, "Good Morning Paul, I see that you are quite busy."
Paul Frei is a 59-year-old man but as a seasoned hunter who kept himself fit and free of any bad habits, he looked like a mature middle-aged man still in his prime. His 178cm tall body was rather muscular and along with his black hair and brown eyes, it was the most common face in the kingdom of Mirakor.
Notwithstanding his common appearance, he was a respectable figure in both Backlog and Edgehedge town, as he was the owner and chairman of Hunter"s orphanage. Which was just an orphanage but special because it had trained many excellent hunters who were active in this part of the kingdom. Paul"s altruistic personality and good leadership also helped him maintain a good relationship with all past residents of the orphanage.
Looking up from the paper, Paul smiled and replied, "I got a letter this morning, the year-end examinations will be held earlier. It is time for the next batch of young hunters to finish schooling and return. So I have to contact the old fellows and come up with a list of teachers earlier. I don"t want the young ones idling about after returning from school."
"Well, you work hard every day to set so many lives on the correct path. Which is commendable and the reason I like to visit you and this orphanage." Weiss chatted idly as he sat on a chair in front of Paul.
"To have you set foot in this building is a blessing for the young hunters and me."
"There is no need for all this pleasantry, I have something to discuss with you."
Paul sat up straight and kept his writing brush aside, glancing once at Sandra he asked, "Is it related to Elder forest?"
"Not anything serious, it"s just that I met a strange brat who speaks strange language...."
After listening to Weiss"s experience and realising that the subject falls under his expertise, Paul was a lot more relaxed, "It is alright, I can arrange a place for him here and if anybody comes searching for him I"ll manage the situation appropriately."
"Hmm I trust your expertise, but I"m sure no one is coming to search for him."
Paul was confused, "Why do you say that?"
"Well as I said, it"s nothing serious but let"s just say it is somewhat related to Elder forest."
Paul looked concerned after hearing that, "Where did you find him exactly?"
"Near Old city."
Paul"s concern soared as he was reminded of many legends his father had told him but he relaxed shortly after remembering that Weiss had said it"s nothing serious twice.
"Alright then, do you want to arrange anything special for him?"
"Yes, I want nurse Sandra here to teach him Kapro and Eldarin."
Both men looked at Sandra who looked shocked for some time, looking at their inquiring gazes Sandra looked troubled.
Losing her casual att.i.tude, Sandra slightly bowed towards Weiss and said, "Your lordship, It is not a problem for me to work as required by you. But I am only a Nurse I don"t have the authority to teach Eldarin to others. Please forgive me."
Weiss remained silent for a while as he looked at Sandra"s sincere gaze, he finally smiled and said, "Don"t worry. I úva lyello ainima tarastië an alyë."[1]
Sandra was shocked to hear the language she hasn"t conversed in for so long coming out of Weiss"s tongue. Weiss kept his smile as he somewhat proudly said, "See, I am proficient in Eldarin myself it"s just that I won"t be able to stay here for much longer as I have other things to attend to. Otherwise, I would do the teaching myself. You would be teaching him in my stead so it won"t cause you trouble. I"ll even pay you handsomely so that even if the Golden tips apothecary guild decides to press charges against you, the fine amount will only be peanuts compared to your salary."
This declaration of huge rewards gave Sandra another shock. As her surprise wore off, she began to seriously consider the proposal. The two men only glanced at each other without hurrying her to make a decision. After some deliberation her eyes became firm and determined, she lifted her head to say, "Your lordship, I"ll act as per your arrangement but I don"t want any money."
Pausing to take a deep breath, she continued after bowing slightly, "My only wish is that you grant me a chance to learn High Eldarin."
As a hunter, Weiss did not need to learn common Eldarin because it"s sole use was in casting healing spells and making lesser potions. But High Eldarin is different, it is a legendary language that is said to be capable of a mult.i.tude of feats like spell casting and artifact manufacturing. A hunter has no use of the common variety but given the legends surrounding High Eldarin, it is more likely to be used by all kinds of professions at higher levels. This led Sandra to believe that Weiss at the very least knew basics of High Eldarin.
The office turned silent after Sandra made her request. Paul appeared ill at ease, he had some idea about the scary background of the man sitting opposite him. He did not want Weiss to be upset with the orphanage due to Sandra"s request.
He knew that High Eldarin is way more mysterious and hard to encounter than common Eldarin, if a person mastered High Eldarin it won"t take him long to advance into the ranks of Master apothecary. A person who masters common Eldarin is given the rank of a Nurse in the apothecary guilds, while someone with even a bit of knowledge of High Eldarin will be given the rank of a junior apothecary. That rank is way more precious than any amount of gold, Sandra"s request exceeds the value Weiss offered by hundreds of times.
Paul wanted to persuade Sandra because as a Nurse she may think that High Eldarin will allow her to advance to next level but he was sure that she had no actual knowledge about the far-reaching impact and value of the language. After all even he would have no idea about the actual value of High Eldarin if not for a certain incident.
"Sandra ...." as Paul began to try and make the still bowing girl understand the situation.
Weiss interrupted him, "Wait for a minute, Paul."
....
[1] Eldarin for - "I will not invite any trouble for you."
The words kinda reference an already existing fantasy language but they are also half made up. Anyway, we won"t be using it in the story again. All languages will be written in English after the first introduction.