The Second Kingdom : Aetas

That night Orano went to the room that he booked for the ship. But this time he had company with him. And since he couldn't do anything about her situation, he had nothing to do but company her for the night.

One of the authorized people on the board guided them to their room. And after walking for a while, they then stopped at one of the room's doors and he said,

"Here, sir, this is your room."

"Thank you."

Orano settled in and put his stuff near the bed. He was ready to go to bed, but then he realized that Caitrin was sitting near the window of the ship looking at the moon.

He said,

"Is anything wrong?"

She seemed like she was lost in her thoughts, but as soon as Orano called out to her, she regained focus and answered.

"Oh! Sorry. I am okay. I was just... I was just thinking."

"You seem very concerned about it."

She sighed and said,

"It's just about me. I am just worried."

"What are you worried about?"

"It's like you said. I got out of my village and I am prepared about doing it, but I am still worried about succeeding on it. It's just, whatever..."

"I do understand."

She got surprised and said,

"You do?"

"Yes, I do. Maybe you are blaming yourself for acting all of a sudden, but you must remember you are feeling regret for a reason. And if you are feeling that for a reason, that means you felt the need of doing something for a reason too. If you don't try, you can lose the chance of "trying", but if you try, the only thing you will be losing is going to be your "Effort". And remember that if you try, you will "Achieve" things along the way."

She was very amazed by his speech and she smiled and said,

"Wow, I wasn't actually expecting to hear these from a stranger like you. Thank you, Tatsumi."

He then said,

"Oh, by the way, I forgot to ask you."

"What?"

"You said you are from the village named "Kamachya", but I don't remember going to a place like that before, even though I live in Ravaryn."

She sighed and said,

"It is normal for you to not know about us since nobody does."

"What do you mean?"

"Since our village got poor, we couldn't be able to pay the creature hunters. And since we couldn't pay them, we tried to find a way of protecting our village from any danger. We decided to have our own hunters, travelers, and traders in case of hunting, trading and exploring. And we didn't let anyone enter our village, since they didn't get any permission to enter."

*Having their own hunters and traders? I understand that must have helped them protecting the village from thieves and such.*

Then she yawned and said,

"It has been a long day. Let's continue to talk since it has been very late."

She then laid down on the bed that was near her.

Then Orano went to the window of the ship and started thinking too. And yet, he was lost in his thought too.

That night he couldn't sleep, neither she did.

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"Tatsumi. Tatsumi. Tatsumi."

"This voice?"

Orano woke up to the sound of Caitrin, calling out to him.

"Tatsumi! Hey, Tatsumi! We are here! Come on wake up!"

He then got to himself and said,

"Okay, let's go."

When he was picking up his stuff, he said to himself,

*So it wasn't her again, huh?*

They were slowly walking out, while a lot of people got out of the ship.

Caitrin was so excited and happy to get out of the ship. She couldn't hold herself and she was looking right and left with curiosity.

Orano said,

"Why are you so excited about it?"

She then turned to him smiled and said,

"Oh! Sorry. Since this is my first ride on a ship, I really can't hold myself back."

After the people moved out of the way, they got out of the ship.

And there it was, the beautiful view of the capital city of Aetas, "Gamano".  This time of year, since it became hard to work. People would usually either work in thick clothes to keep themselves warm or would leave town until the winter end.

Caitrin was spinning and looking around herself with smiling and amazement. The city was covered in snow, and it had a beautiful view. While Caitrin was looking around, the snow falling from the sky slowly caressed her skin.

Orano said,

"Hey don't lose yourself about it. We have to go."

"But, we just got here!"

"Didn't I said that we were going to move according to my plan?"

She got angry and said,

"Okay, okay, I am coming."

When she caught up to him, she said,

"So, what are we going to do now?"

"First of all, I have to ask something to the local town."

"Oh yeah! You never told me why you were going to the second kingdom. What are you going to ask them?"

"I don't know how many magical books you read but, do you know the magical rift that occurs very rarely?"

"Yeah, I know that. People say that it's just a legend, but some say that it's real. What happened to it?"

"Apparently it wasn't a myth. It is somewhere around the second kingdom."

She got very surprised and said,

"Are you serious? But how?"

"We have to search for it first. I'll make the explanation later."

They were walking and looking around for a place to ask. While looking around they came across a "Magical Potions and Gadgets" shop.

Orano said,

"Come on, follow me."

While looking around Caitrine turned to him and said,

"Ok, wait for me!"

They entered the shop and started looking around. There was a nice and comfortable atmosphere inside. But there was no one to be seen.

Caitrin said,

"I guess no one is here."

After she said that, someone from the back of the shop quickly approached them. It was a boy, who had orange short hair and wore a purple magician outfit. He had a magician hat and the sleeve of his dress was pulled up to his elbow.

He approached them and said with a smile on his face,

"Sorry for the wait dear sir. What would you like to buy?"

"I am not here to buy anything. I just want to ask something."

"Ask something?"

"While my friend was here for a trip, he mentioned somewhere "snowy", do you know where that might be?"

"Somewhere snowy? Hmm. Ah! You are talking about the "Dioner" mountain! It is not that far away from here if you walk. But I must warn you, there is a huge monster that lives in there, so I don't suggest for you to go there."

Caitrin got scared and said,

"A monster! Really?"

"I understand. Thank you for the information, have a good day."

"Hey wait for a second!"

After that, they leave the shop and started walking again in the crowd.

"Hey wait, what did he mean by a "huge monster"? We are not going to fight that aren't we?"

"We are exactly going to do that. So you might want to get yourself ready for it."

"What do you mean we are going to fight that?"

He said,

"Do you know how to use a sword?"

"Yes I have been training for a long time with my father, but I didn't use my skills on a real fight yet."

"That is enough for us. Also before going to the mountain, we have to buy you armor and a sword. Since the monster is "huge" and "dangerous" we can't risk it for sure."

She then sighed and said,

"I guess I have no choice. You are the boss lead the way."

"Great, let's go we have no time to lose."