Vol.1 Ch.18 - Ren

Primis is our last destination before we make it to the Kingdom of Carmen.It’s to the northwest side of Trivis Numerica, and is also the smallest of thethree countries. That being said, Ren is still a sizeable city on par with theother two capitals.Making it to the plaza, we went to grab a bite in a seemingly popularrestaurant. It was a small family establishment, it gave off a cozy feeling,something akin to the Arthur’s branch in Station Arfa. Seeing the young spiffywaiter reminded me of Carl in a way. Awkwardly enough, we once againgarnered some judgmental stares from surrounding onlookers, seeing as Edwas the one that was feeding me with a spoon. If you recall, my arms are stillbandaged up thanks to me purposefully dislocating them during the finalexam. Then again, we didn't really care, as it’s not like I had a choice.Finishing our meal, we had the headed out to an inn to drop off our stuff andpromptly went sightseeing. Since we already explored the plaza, we thought,let’s go to the tourist district. The tourist district is a just that, a section ofthe city where locals would sell all sorts of souvenirs and street food totourists from afar. Sure, the prices were a bit higher than if we were to justgo to a restaurant or shop, but we had some extra spending money so wedecided to splurge a bit.The first thing Ed bought was a magnetic badge with Ren painted on it. Thisis something I didn’t notice before, but apparently Ed was collecting thesebadges as sort of proof that we were in all of the places we visited. He hadbadges of Whitehood, Springwood, Station Arfa and Leins. The reason hedidn’t have a Wheats badge was because the village wasn’t a tourist spot, sothere wasn’t anyone selling it. Still, I'm sure you can have it custom-made ifyou order it. After buying the badge, we decided on buying some accessoriesfor ourselves. I got a green cap, but Ed said it didn’t really suit me.Searching around the district a bit more, we stumbled upon an interestingvendor. They sold custom bracelets and necklaces and even allowed you towrite whatever you wanted on them. Since we wanted to remember them forall they’ve done for us, we had “Anna” etched on Ed's bracelet, and “Arthur”etched on mine. Heh, just seeing him stare at her name with a smile on hisface gave away his intentions all too quickly, but I don't mind.After that, Ed wanted to have our portraits taken at a local painter’s shop, butI didn’t really see the appeal in standing around for half an hour to an hourjust to get a little piece of paper with our likeness painted on it. Knowing me,I’d probably lose it somewhere, and with how much we’ll be traveling, Idoubt it’ll make it to the end of our journey. Finally, seeing as we werenearing the bottom of our self-allowance pouch, we decided to head back tothe inn and rest.***It’s been a week since then and my arms are still banged up. We startedgetting worried about just leaving it to heal up on it’s own, so we thought tomake an appointment with the local doctor.Making it to the hospital was quite the endeavor. You see, unlike inSpringwood where Harper’s clinic was literally around the corner, thishospital was a good half an hour stroll away. It was just as large though. Thelast time I visited the hospital, I came as a visitor, but this time I’m thepatient. With such a thought looming over my head I started getting cold feetas we entered. What if they tell me the state of my arms is critical? What ifthey have to amputate? Just kidding, amputation is a bit much, isn't it?Still, these scary what-if scenarios weren’t something I thought about up untilnow, but looking back it would make sense if the doctor had to conduct asurgery. The actual checkup was pretty normal, though. The doctor ran sometests, jotted some things down on his clipboard and essentially told me I wasbeing too reckless with my body. He gave me some prescription pills andsome stretching exercises I was told to do every morning after getting out ofbed. No amputation for ol' Lune, booyah!We thanked him and went back home. The pills were a godsend for me, andthe exercises proved helpful in getting the strength in my arms back. Within aweek, I was out of my bandages and could actually eat on my own semicomfortably. We went to visit the doctor again for another checkup, this timewith gifts in tow.He seemed pleased with the presents and my results thus far, making a jokeabout my eyes shining a bright emerald green. The punchline was hidden inthe context that the more someone’s eyes shone a certain color, the more theybelieved in that philosophy, leading to the perks associated with the colorbeing more noticeable. Like I said before, this is nothing more than asuperstition, but hey, I can say from experience that it seems to be holding uppretty well so far.Before leaving the doctor’s office, I asked him if writing was consideredokay. Ed suddenly turned my way, chuckling as the doctor said it should befine, so long as I don't overdo it. On our way back to the inn, we stopped by avendor who sold empty diaries.***The book project started off well enough. Originally I thought to spice it upand write it in the style of a novel, but there would be no exaggerations(again, this is a story of our journey first and foremost). Writing about mytime in Whitehood made me a bit melancholic, but after making it to theSpringwood part of the book, I noticed I had already used up a sizeableamount of pages. This was because I wrote in a dialogue based style and hada lot of line breaks. I made sure to change my way of writing to a more spaceefficient one, but I didn’t really feel like rewriting everything all over again,so I guess we’ll consider it proof of my growth as an author.Springwood was a beautiful town, it was the closest place to home, both inthe literal and metaphorical sense. We had met so many people there: Arthur,who helped us get on our feet when no one else wanted to. Anna, who wentabove and beyond just to join us around TN, without her the journeywouldn’t be half as fun. Harper, who saved Ed’s life and helped him get outof his shell a bit, she was a woman who we’re both eternally grateful for.Carl, our first business partner, without whom we’d probably still be stuck inSecundis. Mister Ridge, who gave us a bit of reprieve from all the businesstalk to just act like kids again. Graal, who had arranged for our tests to betaken years before we were technically allowed to.All these people did so much for us, and yet after we leave TN, we probablywon’t meet again. This is the reason I’m writing this book in the first place,as I’ll be sending all the volumes to them regularly.After having finally finished writing about my doctor’s visit, I signed thebook “Lune Grimheart” and aptly went to sleep. I know the doctor said not tooverdo it, but every time I’d start writing, I’d just forget about everythingelse and before I knew it, it’d be the middle of the night. Heh, writer's spirit,I guess!***With the book now finished, I went to a printer’s to get enough copies of thebook to send to all of our friends. While I was waiting for them to print themout, I couldn't help but wander about a bit more while I was given some timeaway from Ed. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy his company like no other, butthere's just nothing like wandering the streets of an unfamiliar place all byyourself."Ren has grown on me pretty nicely as well." I commented, "I wonder, justhow many more places will I be able to call "home" in the future?"As this thought occupied my mind, I had somehow found myself wanderingthe nearby town park. Filled with trees and other similar domesticatedcritters, such as squirrels, cats and dogs, I could practically feel the beauty ofthis Vast World flowing right through me. Realizing I was once again makinga fool out of myself as the passerby citizens were staring at me hugging trees,I decided to hastily continue on my short walk."Hey, these flowers are quite nice." I couldn't help but pick one, "A redflower. Ugh, I was never that good with botany, so I forget the name of thisone..."Really, the only experience I have with flowers is that they can be mixedwith some other materials to make hair dye. Ed and I used to play aroundwith making our hair all sorts of crazy colors back in Whitehood this way,but we soon realized our mistake when we noticed the dye just wasn't gonnacome off as easily. We got a nasty earful by our mothers for that one, heh..."Still, it really is pretty." I said as I put it in my pocket, "Oh, there's a pinkone too."Before I had realized it, I had spent the entire day just taking in the sights ofthe city one last time. It had gotten to be quite melancholic, but this time Ididn't really mind. Hm, could the reason for this be because we haven't gottenattached to anyone here? If it's like that, then I kinda feel bad for not doing so.Still, the people we've met have all been there for us for a reason. Withoutthem, we couldn't have made it here at all. Not one bit.Returning to the inn right as dusk was kicking in, the first thing that Ed hadasked me upon entering was: "Hey, did you get the books?""...Crap! I totally forgot to pick them up!" I facepalmed as I went to put myshoes back on."Dumbass." He rolled his Eyes, "Alright, I'm coming with. I got real bored ofwasting away in the inn.""Huh? Oh, sure. Hurry though, they're gonna close any minute now, and we'llbe leaving this place tomorrow." I said, making him panic."You damned idiot!"Thus, we had somehow barely managed to get all the books in time and havesent them to everyone at the local post office here. Though right as we wereabout to hand them in, I had asked the postal worker at the booth for a quill. Ijust had to write a special note to one of the copies of the books."Mother, father. Thank you for giving birth to me, and for letting meexperience the world as it is. I'm having fun, meeting all sorts of newpeople and seeing even more interesting things with Ed. Please don't worryabout me. Take care. -L"And with that, the books were handed in and sent, and the two of us wentback to our inn to pass out on our beds after yet another successful andfulfilling day.***In the wagon heading to the central capital, Carmen City, Ed and I decided topass the time by talking about where we’ll go after acquiring the adequatetravel funds. Remember, right now our primary goal was to ask the King ofCarmen for a loan.“It's gotta be Cardina! It houses the World’s safest place, for Gods’ sakes!”Ed protested.“But Great Hiana is the most culturally distinct! If we want novelty, weshould head there. Oh, but one thing’s for certain,” I added, “we’re definitelynot going to Sulfury.”“No duh, that place is a literal battleground, I don’t think going there at allwould be a good idea.” He added onto my observation.“Well, if we run out of places to go, then we’ll have to visit it eventually.” Ifigured.We talked until dusk had completely fallen, not even realizing we wereaccidentally lulling each other to sleep with this meaningless banter. The Sunwas starting to set, somehow the transport wagon always makes us extremelysleepy in these times. The last thing we heard before conking out was thedriver talking to border police.“I’ve got two kids heading to KoC. Requesting access.”“Access granted. Welcome to Carmen…”