After the old man confirmed Ester's citizenship he dismissed us and just like that we enter the city of Varnis.

And to my utter dismay, Jin began to talk

" You know, Varnis is the largest trade and port city in the Lorinand Continent. Brother 

 This city had the largest amount of shrines dedicated to many pantheons of deities, earning the city the moniker: The City of Shrines.

 Do you know brother that this city is the third-largest? 

.............................."

good gracious gods shut up for goodness sake!

this is ridiculous!" 

don't get me wrong I love the little monster like a sister, but if you gave her half a chance she would eat your ear off 

at first, she spoke whatever history she learned from whoever it was that taught her.

then she went to the parade on about things like

"Brother, what is that? why is that? and when can she do that?" 

Oh lord sometimes for very brief moments I felt like I should just burn my ears off to escape this torture 

and unfortunately, I couldn't pawn her off to Anabella as she was caring for Jack who was still very much not himself from the day's previous events. 

after I learned that he was being whipped just because he was arrested by a corrupted sheriff's constable who took his money to let jack go, I even got angrier at Faust.

this was outrageous 

it all just went too far

even worse I was stuck with Jin 

who had gone into a monologue with herself about the ranking of her favourite foods 

good lord help me 

*             *                  * 

Jack was distributed as he was dazedly was dragged around by madam Anabella, who pulled him along 

 with such haste and anger that Jack struggled to keep up

He soon realised that Madam Anabella was angry.

Why was madam angry? Because of what he had done? 

Jack's mind was a little groggy as he followed behind madam Anabella like a drunk puppy being led by its leash.

Jack looked around to clear his mind only to discover more confusing facts.

there were walking down a stone road of a busy street filled with people on either side of the road there large three, four-storey buildings, made of stone and 

 wood and more.

Jack squinted his eyes and tried to see if he could make sense of what he was looking at.

The noise of the street  blurred into a soothing lullaby, it was a sound he was very familiar with 

"We are in Varnis," he thought with great  certainty 

 and more he listened the more he relaxed and he found himself drifting off as he watched the people pass him by,

a tourist couple carrying their luggage; two shirtless men holding hands and smiling happily as they made their way toward the centre of the city, while a young girl dressed in an outfit that must have cost a fortune passed them giggling loudly as she twirled around, a big bag strapped to her waist, an elven woman with long braided golden marched pass them with a deep frown on her face, a  young woman in a blue dress and a man in brown with an eye patch walked past them laughing together.

The scene was quite peaceful. Jack had forgotten how nice peace sounded.

Jack felt great happiness pulsate through him as he looked around more.

they were in Varnis the largest trade and port city in the Lorinand Continent also known as  The city is shrines.

this was his home, he remembered all the random facts he had picked up as a child,

This was the most populated city on the Lorinand continent; it had a population that numbered almost nine hundred thousand. 

In this city, businesses flourished and people came and go. 

The amount of gold coins circulating in the daily economy of the city usually amounts to millions. 

there were Countless mercenaries, swordsmen, adventurers, artisans, peddlers as well as slaves each with their own dreams and aspirations all working about in the city.

 The bards often sang about how this city was a favoured land of the gods, a land rich with wealth and prosperity…

not to mention the Mage society and the seven great Knight academies that called this city home.

The second largest river in the Dracian empire, the Flaik  River, silently nourished the Varin Plains and entered the seas from the west part of the city, giving rise to a bay filled with hidden treasures and a great maritime armada.

 The vast and rich fertile lands of Varin Plains, thanks to the abundant sunlight, produced various crops, produce and goods including spiritual honey that allowed the city to support and hire various magical amenities not to mention it was able to feed its large populace.

All of these people lived here, all were citizens of Varnis.

They lived in luxury, with luxuries that the average citizen of the empire could not even dream of having.

This city is the capital of the free region of the Dracian empire.

"There it is" Jack heard Madam Ester exclaim and turned around to see what had caused her to gasp in surprise, she was pointing towards the west, he followed her finger with his attention.

What he saw, caused his jaw to drop and his heart to jump.

Before they stretched a large plain with numerous houses scattered on it in all directions, it was surrounded on all sides by lush greenery and was full of colour, there was not a cloud in the sky and it wonderfully glistened under the sun.

Jack was speechless; there was nothing he wanted more than to take this moment and capture it forever in his memories, 

"The Varin plain," he thought that meant they were in the noble district 

Jack felt a chill climb on his back as a dose of fear filled his heart.

common folk were not allowed here under the punishment of death, if the guards caught them they would kill them and hang their corpses at their district entrance.

This area was a dangerous place for the common folk who trespassed the boundaries of it were punished as the penalty for breaking their ban.

It was an unforgiving territory and no one dared to trespass it, but here they were standing in right in the middle of it.

Jack felt a little panic as he tried to look around for an escape, but the iron grip of madam Anabella hindered his attempts.

left with no other choice Jack followed along all the while he prayed to the human gods to bless them a shift death if they were caught.

*                          *                          * 

“There it is, the Wander's Rest,” Ester smiled when a three-story building came into view.

 “We stay here tonight. Tomorrow, we will search for a  suitable place to live,” she said to me in a rather firm tone of voice.

I just simply nodded.

I was still shocked the trio wanted me to live with them, even I did not understand why these three were caring for me but as long as I did not sense any malice I would continue to stay.

It was great fully that we could finally stop walking around, the city was great but it was no New York.

 It was an odd city with a fusion of late medical structure and early Victorian-era architecture, after some time, I got used to the scene and the city lost its novelty.

The only thing that marvelled and astonished me was how clean the city was, there was no smell, no rubbish to be found in every crevice, everything seemed spotless and there wasn't single grime on the ground.

This wasn't normal and something about a clean happy city bothered me.

 

Another thing that intrigued me was the technology level

as we walked down the busy street I found, people pushing floating carts, auto moving carriages,  lamps, light bulbs, air conditioners, water pumps and many more things that surprised 

all of them were powered by mana 

I had seen it before but the fact it was so advanced, the technology levels were too high surprised me,

And not to mention the people flying around on brooms, carpets, beasts and swords.

Even with all the fascinating sights, I was still glad to step into an inn, especially since I would receive a break from Jin, who was still talking.

As we entered the Wander's Rest, my eyes widened as I took in the interior of the establishment.

The place gleamed, with lanterns hanging  from chains above the room, their bright light illuminating everything inside clearly, decorative paintings of duelling knights, sleeping dragons, pretty floats  hanging at each 

 corner and even an ornate staircase leading up to a magnificent ceiling filled with colourful tiles. 

Everything inside, even the tables and chairs and chairs and even the floors were all decorated in the luxurious silvery fabric that shined under the bright lights of the room; the furniture too was covered by silky white silks.

the entire floor was covered in the same cloth covering all of the tables and chairs; I never knew silk would look so luxurious.

I held my breath as I took in the place even Jin became Quiet,  I noticed she looked slightly puzzled and even more fascinated by the beautiful scenery.

 Anabella smiled as she watched the expressions of both me and Jin change.

A plump matronly woman stood behind a counter, as she seemed at us with such enthusiasm that it made me suspicious of her actions.

but all 

I could see was kindness, kindness was etched on her smile and her features which 

were soft, kind and friendly.

she was tall, plump and fair.

her hair was long and black and fell freely around her shoulders.

"May the sun bless your day Travellers, welcome to Wanders's Rest how may I be of service?" the woman  asked politely, 

the woman spoke softly with a melodic accent and a gentle and welcoming demeanour, it was pleasant to listen to.

Ester too smiles at the woman and approached the counter as she fetched out the silver medallion from thin air.

"Hello, may the light shine your life, I would like to rent a residence for 9 nine days and 8 nights with you," Ester said as she place the silver medallion on the counter 

"Certainly citizen, My name is Yana, and is this your entire entourage?" Yana asked her smile somehow got even brighter.

 Ester gave sift nod 

"excellent that would be 30 gold crowns, citizen" Yana without missing a beat 

"wow" I whistles mentally that was a steep price 

according to my understanding, this world ran on the metal currency of copper, bronze, silver gold, and white.

as far as I understood One bronze coin was equal to a dollar and 10 copper made one bronze, 100 bronze made one silver, 100 silver made one gold and 10,000 gold made one white crown which was imbued with mana.

that meant it would cost us three hundred thousand dollars to stay  here for 8 days 

37,500 $ a day, hell I was only paid 18 gold crowns for any 6 years of services by the Troupe master.

I half expected Ester to shout and scold the woman for such high unrealistic prices and then storm out.

But ester didn't even blink as he pulled a coin pouch from thin air and threw it onto the counter 

"Excellent right this way" 

Yana then scuffled from behind the counter and then she began to lead us up spiral stairways 

after climbing for five minutes we reached the top floor as Yana led us to a corridor with a single door at the corner.

as she reached the door she fished out a pendant of a bird and placed it on the wall next to the door.

as soon as she finished placing the pendent, the glowed with intricate patterns and the door opened then 

she stepped back to let us enter first then and once we did she just turned around and left.

I was left shell shocked as I entered the room did I thought the downstairs was amazing this was something else.

this room was an entire house with  a big garden attached to the back, I could see a small pond with fish swimming underneath the trees and flowers blooming

and it had also an open kitchen and dining room with lots of windows and a balcony with wooden railings.

I could see a huge bathroom that must have been twice as big as the wagons.

and there were rooms with doors that lead to bedrooms, each with a bed, a wardrobe, a chest and bathtub,

a small dressing table and mirror, a window looking on the courtyard and a huge closet.

All these rooms were beautifully painted, everything glowed under the sunlight that streamed through the window.

"Wow," Jin exclaimed out loud 

Wow indeed