Eleutheria Capital City

I’m a couple of months away from entering the academy. My parents are getting everything ready for Marcus and me to join the Academy. Albus will be coming with me as my servant. He will be staying in the same room as me, and we will attend classes together. The only difference is that his knowledge will not be graded. He can only take the classes I’m taking. And he cannot talk or ask questions in class. He will only be spectating the class. However, it appears to be an excellent opportunity for an enslaved person to attend the Academy. Going to the Academy as a servant will immediately change his slave bracelet to one made of iron. That’s like eight years ahead of a slave his age. I also feel a lot safer having Albus with me. He grew significantly during our last journey.

Since Eugina is part of the family, and Mr. Damian is working with Dad to make all these custom weapons out of Adamantium, our lives have been upgraded. We now own our house and Eugina's, which is next to ours, so we have united the land. We will use Eugina’s house as a storage for materials and housing for the slaves. Elecita and Crise are living there right now, and soon Albina and Albus will have their room there.

Eugina is taking care of our clothes for the academy. I need three training gears, two casual uniforms for classes, and one formal wear, and Albus does not need the formal wear. Since Paulus and Marcus are firstborn, they receive everything provided by the kingdom. Still, our family has to cover the expenses if anyone else in the family wishes to attend the Academy.

“Cato, your size is kinda… big for your age, you know. You should take better care of your calories.” Aunt Eugina said, who was taking my measures.

“What’s her size?”

“32C”

“No way. I’m 32B”

“I’m 32C, but I'm older and taller than her.”

“Maybe it’s the clothes, just take all your clothes off, Cato.”

“Mom, I don’t want to.”

People in this world often lack personal space and shame. My Dad is the only decent person who actually wears clothes properly, not like Mom and Aunt Eugina. They go around the house in their underwear all the time or wearing revealing pajamas. I’m never going to get used to it. Also, everyone kisses the cheeks as a greeting in this world, or hugs. Can we shake hands instead? Better yet, wave or bow six ft. away from me. And now I'm getting bullied by my two mothers because I have a bigger chest than they do!

“Eugina, help me.”

They both attacked me, getting all my clothes off. I was about to cry.

“Still 32C. Well, nothing we can do here, but…”

“Honey, you are going to the Academy, if you don’t take care of yourself, no one will look at you!”

Mom showed me my body in the mirror. I was ripped. This body, compared to my old one, is a whole world of difference, literally. And I'm growing, so I'm not even at my peak yet. I kept looking at the mirror, making poses to show my abs, thighs, arms, and back. Solid work, I must say.

“What do you mean, Mom? Look at me! I have trained hard.”

“Yes, honey, and that's perfect, but I need to get you a husband. Strength is the most important, but it is also important that you look strong. Strong people look like me. That’s what a good husband will want.”

Mom took all her clothes off, too. She is just a doll. She is around her early thirties, but she looks in her early twenties. Her body is toned too, with delicate skin like milk.

“You are beautiful, Mom.”

“Look closer.”

“What do you mean?”

“Honey, your Mom is trying to say that you need to take care of other things aside from your muscles and weight. Look how your mother does her hair, nails, makeup, and look at the other parts of her body too.”

“Ooh. I see what you mean now.” Now I get it. That’s something I never thought back in my old life. My little sister would always tell me to take better care of myself, but I didn’t have the money or time to do so. Mom and Aunt Eugina are dolls, not only because of their size, but also because they put effort into looking outstanding.

“You will soon start your young adulthood, and people are not always nice to people who look like your father. Here at home, you can be whatever you want. However, at the academy, others are going to be looking at you and will judge you by it. You need to think more about that. Not everyone will be nice at the Academy.”

“I know, I know. There will be jerks like Sappho in the Academy.”

“That's right, like Paul’s friends.”

“Okay, teach me then,” I said with resignation.

“We will.”

…

Today we are heading to the Capital for the weekend. It’s the Week of the Heroes, and people all over the world gather in Eleutheria to celebrate. Since Paulus is graduating, he will be participating in the event. We will also visit my dad’s family and probably meet my grandparents. I’m a bit excited about this trip.

“Dad, how long is it going to take us to get to the Capital?”

“About six hours, it’s not far from here. The problem is that once we are inside the city. If you think Dale is full of people on the Week of the Heroes, wait to get to the Capital.”

The Whole family is heading to the Capital except for the slaves. I was also able to convince Hoshi to stay. This will be a lovely family reunion, and we will celebrate Paulus's graduation from the Academy.

When we arrived at Eleutheria Capital City, the streets were teeming with people. I have never seen anything like this before. People of all races from all over the world were moving in carts, on beasts, or walking all over the city. But what left me more surprised was the city itself.

The city of Eleutheria was unlike any other city I had visited before. There were massive city Walls surrounding the entrance. I imagine they go all around the city. However, after the first set of walls, there is a vast plain to enter another set of walls. After the second Wall, we find the constructions of houses and stores, along with all the standard features a city would have. However, the difference is that everything is built with the same aesthetic and material, regardless of whether one is poor or rich, a slave or a free person. The streets were huge, too. It was as if everything had been built with this thought in mind: this is the center of the world. And the closer we got to the center, the bigger all the buildings were. And little by little, I could see the palace growing bigger at the end of the city next to the mountains.

“Dad, the sun is going down already. Are we there yet?”

“We are almost there, princess. We will cross the wall, Maria, and it will be around 30 minutes from there.”

“Your family lives pretty close to the palace, Paul. Are they rich? Are we going to have issues because of our arrangement?”

“Don’t worry, Eugine, my parents follow the rules, and you are beautiful, educated, and a businesswoman. Mom will especially like you.” Said Dad, blushing.

“Thank you,” said Eugina, also blushing.

“Mrs. Perpetua, maybe this time she will talk to me.”

“She is gonna have to. You have managed our family affairs really well somehow.”

“Ha ha ha ha. It’s because I have you two!” Said Mom, hugging Eugina and Dad.

“Good thing you admitted it, Mom.”

“Be quiet, Cato. Are you happy to meet your family?”

“Yes! This is exciting.” In my old world, I never met any other family member. Dad and Mom kept us away from them because they thought they could be a bad influence. I wonder how my family is in this world.

“Alright! Here we are. We arrived.”