Today was a new day, a new beginning. From this day forward, the people of Mariana no longer had to serve anyone. They were heading out to their own work now. Morning had come, and the sun was pouring its light directly over the city — as if the sun itself wanted to say, "Wake up. Morning's here. Get to what's yours."
Adventurers were heading out to complete their quests. Some people were going to the fields. Merchants stood at the city gate. People were walking freely out of the city — no longer needing to pay a hundred gold coins to leave.
This evening, the king had arranged a celebration, and preparations had already begun. Some people were helping the guards set things up. Luccos was there himself.
"Put that table over here — yes, this is better. And have the merchants arrived yet?" he said to one of the guards.
"Yes, Your Majesty, they should be arriving with the wine any moment now," the guard said.
"Make sure there's no shortage of food or wine. Tonight, we drink properly." Luccos said.
"Yes, Your Majesty." The guard lit up too. Everyone liked a good drink.
Just then, Luccos spotted the merchants arriving with wine in tow.
The gold mine had been shut down for the time being. Only Luccos knew exactly why — perhaps because going back there would bring people nothing but bad memories.
Nain sat by the window of her room, watching all of it — the preparations for the evening's celebration.
"I don't like any of this. It's all pointless to me."
Celebrations and festivities meant nothing to her.
"These slaves were fine the way they were. Now they're going to start talking about me again. They'll think I'm arrogant." Old memories started surfacing in her mind.
No matter how hard a person tries to forget, bad memories don't leave the mind. Bad memories are like fear — once they settle in, they can't be invited out.
Meanwhile, Jhed and Shine were out walking through the city.
If you're wondering how Jhed was walking around outside when he was always afraid — here's the thing. He hadn't wanted to come at all. But Shine had grabbed his hand and dragged him along. They say that as people grow older, their sense of embarrassment grows with them.
"Honestly, it's starting to feel like I'm not his master — he's mine," Jhed thought, glancing over at Shine.
They kept walking.
The swords at their sides swayed as they moved.
"By the way, Jhed — do you actually know how to use a sword?"
"No."
"Then why do you carry one around if you can't use it?" Shine asked.
"I don't know what magic powers I have. That's why I keep a sword with me, just in case."
"Fair enough. I'll make a proper swordsman out of you in two months. And since you're not going to die anyway, you'll learn even faster." Shine smiled in the most unnerving way possible.
Jhed smiled too — because for the first time, someone was actually going to teach him something.
They were heading toward the royal palace to help with the evening's celebration. Jhed knew very little about any of this — he didn't even know the names of half the things around him. Because of that, he made plenty of mistakes. But the people nearby always helped him through them.
Today, he learned many new words.
Everyone was looking forward to the night. Everyone was waiting for the celebration.