1.18: 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 the three countries. That being said, Ren is still a sizeable city on par with the other two capitals.

Making it to the plaza, we went to grab a bite in a seemingly popular restaurant. 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 spiffy waiter reminded me of Carl.

We once again garnered some stares from surrounding onlookers, since Ed was the one feeding me with a spoon (remember, my arms are bandaged and hurt like hell). We didn’t really care, it’s not like I had a choice.

Finishing our meal we headed out to an inn to leave our stuff and 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 district of the city where locals would sell all sorts of souvenirs and street food to tourists from afar. Sure, the prices were a bit higher than if we were to just go to a restaurant or shop, but we had some extra spending money so we decided to splurge a bit.

The first thing Ed bought was a badge with Ren painted on it. This is something I didn’t notice, but apparently Ed was collecting these badges as sort of proof that we were in all of the places we visited. He had badges of Whitehood, Springwood, Station Arfa and Leins. The reason he didn’t have a Wheats badge was because the village wasn’t a tourist spot, so there wasn’t anyone selling it.

After buying the badge, we decided on buying some accessories for 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 interesting vendor. They sold custom bracelets and necklaces and even allowed you to write whatever you wanted on them. Since we wanted to remember them for all they’ve done for us, we had the words “Anna” etched in the front of the bracelet, with “Arthur” etched in the back.

After that Ed wanted to have our portraits taken at a local painter’s shop, but I didn’t really see the appeal in standing around for half an hour to an hour just 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 travelling I doubt it’ll make it to the end of our journey.

Seeing as we were nearing our last coins in our pouch, we decided to head back to the inn and rest.

***

It’s been a week since then and my arms are still banged up. We were getting worried about just leaving it to heal up on it’s own, so we made an appointment with the local doctor.

Making it to the hospital was quite the endeavor. You see, unlike in Springwood where Harper’s clinic was literally around the corner, this hospital was a good half an hour stroll away. It was just as large though.

The last time I visited the hospital, I came as a visitor, but this time I’m the patient. With such a thought looming over my head I started getting cold feet as we entered. What if they tell me the state of my arms is critical? What if they have to amputate?

These scary what-if scenarios weren’t something I thought about up until now, but looking back it would make sense if the doctor had to conduct a surgery.

The actual checkup was pretty normal. The doctor ran some tests, jotted some things down on his clipboard and essentially told me I was being too reckless with my body. He gave me some prescription pills and some stretching exercises I was told to do every morning after getting out of bed.

We thanked him and went back home. The pills were a godsend for me, and the exercises proved helpful in getting the strength in my arms back. Within a week, I was out of my bandages and could actually eat on my own semi comfortably. We went to visit the doctor again for another checkup, this time with gifts in tow.

He seemed pleased with the presents and my results thus far, making a joke about my eyes shining a bright emerald green. The punchline was hidden in the context that the more someone’s eyes shone a certain color the more they believed in that philosophy, leading to the perks associated with the color being more noticeable. Like I said before, this is nothing more than a superstition, but it has some plausible evidence to back it up.

Before leaving the doctor’s office, I asked him if writing was considered okay. Ed suddenly turned my way as the doctor said it should be fine, but to not overdo it.

On our way back to the inn, we stopped by a vendor who sold empty diaries.

***

The book project started off well enough. Originally I thought to spice it up and 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 my time in Whitehood made me a bit melancholic, but after making it to the Springwood part of the book, I noticed I had already used up a sizeable amount of pages. This was because I wrote in a dialogue based style and had a lot of line breaks. I made sure to change my way of writing to a more space efficient 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 in the 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 went above and beyond just to join us around TN, without her the journey wouldn’t be half as fun. Harper, who saved Ed’s life and helped him get out of 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 in Secundis. Uncle Ridge, who gave us a bit of reprieve from all the business talk to just act like kids again. Mr. Graal, who had arranged for our tests to be taken years before we were technically allowed to.

All these people did so much for us, and yet after we leave TN, we probably won’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 the book “Lune Grimheart” and aptly went to sleep. I know the doctor said not to overdo it, but every time I’d start writing I’d just forget about everything else and before I know it, it’d be the middle of the night.

***

With the book now finished, I went to a printer’s to get enough copies of the book to send to all of our friends. While I was making my way through the plaza, I stood mouth agape as I saw a building being painted bright red with a familiar face standing in front of it. His hair has become noticeably grayer since the last time we met, but his butler’s outfit gave him away almost immediately.

“Arthur?”

“Hmm? Oh, Lune!”

I’ve never sprinted so fast in my life, hugging him as hard as I could. Tears welling up in my eyes, never in my wildest dreams would I expect to see him again, much less here of all places.

“What are you doing here, Lune? Annie said you two were headed to Carmen. Was there a change of plans?” he asked question after question, barely taking enough time to pause and breathe in between words.

“No, were still going there, we just decided to stay a bit and wind down. But never mind us, look at you! You guys are spreading the brand at shocking speeds!”

The genuine appraisal was met with nothing but gratitude on his part.

“Lune,” he went to kneel to face me eye-to-eye before realizing there’s no need for him to do so anymore, “You’ve grown, I’m proud. I want you to know that we couldn’t have done this without you two.”

His eyes seemed serious, what he said was something he believed in wholeheartedly. Seriously, we didn’t do anything worthy of note. We got the ball rolling, but he did all the heavy investments.

“Oh, speaking of you two,” he added, “where’s Edward?”

“He’s at the inn, after I finish my errand would you like to come with Anna and visit us before we go?”

He nodded, indicating he was all for it, but he also wore a disappointed look.

“Annie’s in Springwood holding the fort while I’m here taking care of this branch.”

This disappointed me as well. I really wanted the four of us to sit around the table again, but Arthur caught me looking depressed and went to reassure me.

“She’s a sweet girl, but mentally frail. I do believe I told you not to worry her, didn’t I?” he said as he looked at my arms filled with scars.

“About that, I apologize. Annie probably told you, but I fell unconscious from injuries sustained during the ITA exam. I didn’t even get to say goodbye to her, and it’s the one thing I regret in this journey.”

Upon hearing those words, he chuckled to himself a bit, murmuring something I couldn’t hear under his breath.

“Lune, you’ve already made me proud by helping me with my dream thus far. Now it’s time for you to make Annie proud by fulfilling yours.”

With those parting words, I went to get a handful of copies of the book and spent our final days in TN with Arthur. We told him about our stories thus far, while he told us Annie’s childhood stories. The days passed and we got a call from the printer’s stating they wrote the copies. We sent the books through mail to all of our friends, but gave Arthur the original to bring back home. With that, we had packed our things and headed out.

***

In the wagon heading to the central capital, Carmen City, Ed and I spent our time talking about where we’ll go after acquiring the funds for travel.

“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, we should head there. But one thing’s for certain,” I added, “We’re definitely not going to Sulfury.”

“No shit, that place is a literal battle-ground, I don’t think going there at all would be a good idea…” Ed added on to my joke.

“Well, if we run out of places to go, then we’ll have to visit it eventually.”

The Sun was starting to set, somehow the transport wagon makes us extremely sleepy in these times. The last thing we heard before heading to bed was the driver talking to border police.

“I’ve got two kids heading to KoC. Requesting access.”

“Access granted. Welcome to Carmen…”