Chapter 8.

"Is that true Master Lucas? How could merchants become a threat to the nobility? And why did you say that a bigger problem might arise at any moment? I didn't know any of this." 

"There's no one talking about this issue in the city, even your father doesn't mention anything about this." Sandra hurriedly asked behind my back.

I immediately turned around and found Michael looking at me with pure shock written on his face.

I can understand the expression on his face as a knight of the Beaufort family.

His main goal is to ensure the safety of me and my father, second is to know the possible threat against us and eliminate it as soon as possible.

Hearing that merchants could threaten the nobility definitely caught his attention.

"It's impossible for a merchant to threaten a nobility by sheer force. They don't have the right to keep their own army and at the same time they don't have the power and influence to do all of that." Michael replied with a firm voice.

"Because you're not an aristocrat that's why most of you are not affected by it. While most of the nobility have experienced the greatest card that a merchant has, and that is money. No matter what the nobles do, merchants seem like they will never run out of it." I said before pausing for a moment.

"With all the wealth they have, they can buy anything, even the voice of normal people. They can also set a price on everything they sell. They can control the lifeblood of a city or kingdom. Their power can even fan the flames that might start a war against the aristocracy." I said in a carefree tone, but in my mind, I know that this peace we have won't last long, maybe a few years perhaps. Before, troubles knocked on our door.

Both of them have bewildered looks on their faces as they listened to what I said.

"Well, both of you don't have to worry about that yet. Since they still don't have enough power to do all of it. What I told you earlier are just the possibilities that they could do, if aristocrats would just let them grow. As of right now, those people are still dependent on us." I said in a relaxed manner.

"So they wouldn't dare to do any move." I said calmly.

They both looked at me with relief evident on their faces.

A short moment passed by and we finally arrive at our destination I'm now looking at the available establishments we have here in the city.

Most of the buildings are made out of a mixture between wood and bricks. Some of them have chimneys while others don't. Glass windows can also be found in a few houses, while wooden windows are still the most common.

The most common buildings that I can see around the city often have 2 floors and the roads are paved with chiseled stones. Canals and ditches are also available. That's why the city doesn't have a stinky smell.

It seems like my ancestors had planned everything carefully at the very start when they built the city.

We even have a lot of water wells spread around as it was the main source of our water.

That's why plazas are built widely to cater to various wells, and since a small part of our population is illiterate, they use drawings and text on their signboards so that people would know the purpose of each building.

"Young Master, do you want to buy something?"

"Nope, I'm good. I'm just looking at those stalls to see what they offer." I said nonchalantly.

As I continued to observe the crowd of people. I noticed that most of them are elderly and young adults, while children are really scarce to the point that I could barely see any of them.

"This is not a good sign," It only means that the population is aging, and the city is dying. Without the presence of new blood to continue our legacy.

It seems like I need to promote the idea of childbirth, and immigration to make sure that this city will have a bright future. But this is a cruel era to live in. As everything needs to be produced by hand, and there's always a limit to how far a human can do.

There's no computer or machinery that can alleviate their situation and productivity is so low that it's not even enough to sustain the people.

Despite all the problems they face, they can still put a smile on their faces. Because when you compared the situation of our city to others. I can say that ours is still much better.

A city with a small population is much easier to manage and run, but not all nobles are like my father, who is compassionate in their job.

Others are cruel and brutal. Father is loved by the people since the day he took over the position as the city lord.

Everything become much better for ordinary people. He doesn't use his authority or power to abuse the people, unlike the other lords.

Just thinking about the tradition that the other nobles have started makes me nauseous.

Some low-ranking nobles use their status and power to force women to sleep with them before their marriage to their husbands and even the church of Agatha doesn't find this wrong. I think this is the reason why there are a few cases of "creeping death" from the common people because they did not get pregnant by their husbands they were impregnated by some of this nobility spreading this genetic disease. 

Although it is not common it is still a fact that this kind of thing happens in some parts of this continent.

With this thought in my mind, shivers suddenly ran throughout my body, as I found myself facing the giant wall that surrounds the city.

It excludes a solemn atmosphere as it protected our people for hundreds of years.

As we exited the wall, a huge area of flatlands appeared and most of them are farmland for the basic crops but this is only the situation near the city wall because as you go farther everything becomes barren.

It's been a while since we traveled alongside this dirt road when a wide expansion of grassland and flower fields has suddenly shown up that broke the monotonous view outside.

This is the neutral zone, the last place where we considered it safe to go around without the presence of knights.

With, a breathtaking view in front of me, anyone would mistake this place as a paradise but the truth is danger still lingers around this land.

Don't let your eyes fool you with the wonderful scenery in front.

It might take away your breath with its beauty, but make sure to always be alert, as no one knows if a big snake or wolf might appear all of a sudden, as for the magic beast they rarely go into this place as they can't stand the constant buzzing sounds of bees and the pollen that many of this flower produces as it irritates their senses.

This place is full of blooming Florentia flowers and other exotic plants, a lot of big butterflies and bees also wonders around this area which makes this place looks peaceful and serene.

We pass by this place without stopping, as there's really nothing important in this place aside from its view.

Upon reaching the entrance of the enchanted forest, I could say that everything here seems normal. It just looks the same as any other forest except that the trees in this place are gigantic, like 3-4 times bigger than the earth.

This is one of the reasons why this place is named enchanted forest as the trees that grow here are much bigger than normal.

"Seems like there's still a lot of things we didn't know about the enchanted forest," I said to Michael and Sandra as we went inside the forest.

Michael leads the way as he clears up our path with his sword skills, making sure that there's plenty of space for us to walk through and that no creature can hide from our sight.

It's just that every time he wielded his sword, a flash of light would appear on its blade smoothly flowing through the air and slicing everything in its path.

"Hoo! Haa!" he said each time he brandished his sword, the same thing he did during his training.

For him, the edge of this forest is just a testing site for his skills.

That's why I have the confidence to go into this forest. Besides, I also know how to defend myself.

The original Lucas is already an apprentice knight a little more and I'll be a Junior knight.

As we make our way inside the forest, I suddenly notice a giant plant that bears some kind of fruit.

Most of them are still green while a few are already ripe based on their color showing up in a bright red color.

I decided to pick one of the fruits to confirm my suspicion, I decided to jump and brandished my sword to cut one of it from its branch.

I thought that it would be easy, but then, my sword was stuck in the middle part of the branch while I was left hanging on the tree.

So I used my other hand to grab a branch as a support while I put more force on my sword until it broke off, causing me to lose my balance, and as I fell down a pair of arms suddenly caught me.

I could feel the cold metal touch my skin as I heard him breathe with a huge sigh of relief.

"Are you okay Master Lucas? " Michael said as he put me down.

I stand and immediately pick up the fruit from the ground as my face heats up due to shame.

"Yes, of course, I'm fine ahahahaha no worries," I said with dismissal.

"That was dangerous, Master Lucas. Don't ever do that again just look at what happened to your sword. It sinks into the ground just a few spaces from the location of your fall. What if it impales you? I don't know how I could explain that to your Father."  Sandra said as she suddenly appeared and quickly sermoned me in a loud voice.

"I know, I know my mistake. I thought that my sword skill would be enough to slice this up from its branch." I said as I showed them the fruit I got.

"Look at this, it's so big," I said as I held the fruit with my hands.

"That's just a water sack, one of the wild fruits here in the enchanted forest. It's edible, but it mostly contains water that has a sour taste, and it has a lot of seeds in it. People often grow them to consume during summer but it doesn't have a lot of pulp and takes a huge space, that's why it wasn't a popular crop." Michael said as he pulled my sword from the ground and handed it to me.

Using the sword in my hands, I decided to cut it into two, and upon opening this melon-sized fruit it confirmed my suspicion.

It's a giant version of the tomato. A huge smile showed up on my face as I think about a particular food on earth and my main goal for this trip which is pizza.

Yup, you heard me right, Pizza. I want to remake it.

Bread, cheese, and tomato, together with using this ingredient and some toppings, I can make the iconic pizza.

I can't stop my happiness from spreading.

Thinking that I can finally eat some normal and familiar food.

With an excited mind, I accidentally hugged Michael with one of my arms without thinking.

Thankfully, Lucas often gives Michael a friendly hug. That's why this is just normal for him.

"Finally, some normal food, Michael. I swear that today is the day you'll be able to taste one of the most delicious foods ever in your life." I said with a voice full of happiness as I pat his shoulder when Sandra, who is behind us, suddenly ran away while covering her ears.

Wondering what happen to her Michael and I both looked at each other with puzzled faces.

"What's wrong with her?" I asked.

"I don't know, young Master, but her face is so red. Maybe she is sick?" he said in a baffled tone.

"Then let's go back and help her. At the same time, I'm excited about the final outcome of this." I said to him as I picked up the slice pair of water sack.

"Are you sure, Young Master, that by just using this tasteless fruit we can make something delicious?" he said with a scrutinizing tone as he pointed his fingers at the water sack which I now plan to rename as a tomato.

"Yes, absolutely. You can trust me with this one. It would be delicious. Now, before we go, help me pick up more ripe fruits as I have more plans for them." I said while picking up more of this giant fruit.

A few moments later, as we walked back to my carriage, I found Sandra waiting inside it with some remaining blush on her face.

"What happened to you earlier, are you okay? Your face is so red." I worriedly ask as Sandra is important personnel to my father, and she's been working for us for a decade now, which is why I know that thing that happened earlier was very unusual for her.

"Ah! No, no I'm okay. I'm not just used to the environment here in the enchanted forest." She said as she shook her head left and right, while I only stares at her this whole time.

Wondering if she might have an allergy to something inside the forest.

I mean who knows, magic might be a thing here, but we're still human.

"You should have told me earlier so that you can just stay here inside the carriage," I said as her face became redder.

"Nope, I'm really fine. There's nothing you have to be worried about me, Master Lucas." She said with a little laugh while giving Michael a shy look.

An absorbed idea suddenly appeared in my mind.

Is she perhaps in love with Michael?

Is that the reason for her blushing?

But why now? is it because she saw his heroic act earlier?

I mean, yeah, she's a little bit older by a decade, but she still looks stunning.

Thoughts like this quickly ran through my mind as we made our way back into the city while my gaze remains focused on the big tomato on my lap for the entire journey.

When we finally made our way back home, all those distracting thoughts immediately disappeared as the only thing that remained on my mind is to quickly make and eat a pizza.