With everything finished in Clavel city, I took my horse and left to the city capital of the country of Rivers, Riviera.

Riviera was about 10 days' ride on horseback from Clavel city, if you walked without rest, but since that is not possible, it would take me about 15 days, also on the way you have to go through several towns and a city of the same size that Clavel city, called Lacos.

Lacos, is a city 3 million inhabitants approximately and it is a commercial crossing, so it is very prosperous, in fact it would be even bigger and prosperous if it weren't close to the goblin country.

Lacos was a city designed for commercial development, since it was between the capital and the border, so everything that went to the border had to pass through the city, which would move the economy.

Unfortunately, it was not far from the border with the goblin country, before there were a number of fortresses on the border that prevented the goblin invasion, however, 5 years ago the goblins managed to destroy them and move the borders of their country closer to town.

Since then, Lacos, went from being a commercial city to a border city, so it is heavily militarized and walled, as it is now the fortress that prevents the invasion of goblins.

However, being so close, goblins sometimes cross the border in small groups and as bandits they attack travelers, merchant caravans and towns near the city, therefore my trip to the capital may not be the most uneventful. .

Rivers, is a country with serious problems in terms of international matters, it has four borders with different countries, of which one is the country of goblins and the other is the country of orcs, which are hostile and powerful.

The goblins as a unit are not very strong, but the goblins are a race of rapid reproduction even more than humans, they are lustful and each female goblin can give up to 3 children at a time, adding to this their ability to live in reduced spaces is very proactive with wars.

On the other hand, orcs, although not as numerous as goblins, are strong warriors and they like to show that strength, although they are not as proactive with wars, they are hostile to most races except goblins, so if they see opportunities they will take them.

As for the other two countries bordering Rivers, they are Terra and Gabul which are not hostile, but also not allies, which leaves the country isolated and without allies to help, therefore, Rivers has a strong military policy and in effect They are strong, the fact that they can survive so long in this situation is the proof.

A few days after leaving Clavel, while riding, through a small mountainous forest, I felt that I was being watched, in fact my sense of danger was skyrocketing, so I advanced cautiously.

The forest was not very lush, in fact, it was more of a dense grove, than a forest, but it was a mandatory step from Clavel to Lacos, perfect for a bandit hideout, was what I thought.

While I was thinking about that, I saw in the distance a small barricade of abundant dry branches in front, on them there was someone standing, but because it was a bit far away I still couldn't see it well.

I kept getting closer and when I got to the barricade I realized that the person I saw was a boy of about 12 years old, somewhat thin, black hair, eyes of the same color, with ragged clothes and no shoes.

- Leave valuables and food if you don't want to suffer, (Child)

I watched the boy carefully, his only weapon was a carved stick in the shape of a spear or staff, his gaze told me that he was nervous, I slowly turned my head to the surroundings and I could realize that there were 2 other children of the same age hidden.

A boy a little taller than the one in front of me and a girl a little smaller, although they had bows and arrows, they were somewhat rustic, they seemed made by themselves, this situation seemed strange to me, they did not look formidable, they were more like abandoned children.

- Boy, do you know that I can get to you before your two companions shoot their arrows? (Evan)

By asking these questions I wanted to scare the boy and let him understand that I knew how many there were, how they were armed and that I was stronger than them, I did not want to harm children, even though I was mentalized by the cruelty of this world, I had not yet gotten rid of of my humanity.

The boy was very intelligent, he realized the implications of my words and he was anguished and afraid, not of losing his life, but that his companions would be injured, but I did not know that and before the boy said something I went back to talk.

- How about this? I invite you to eat something and to talk, I don't have anything delicious, just some portions of dried meat, but it's better than nothing, what do you say? (Evan)

The boy thought for a while and nodded, calling his friends to come out, he knew they couldn't win, that it was better to become my friend than my enemy or they would suffer, so they accepted the proposal.

The two boys hiding, came out, a boy a little taller than the boy I faced, with blond hair and white skin with ragged clothes just like the previous one without shoes and a smaller girl who looked a lot like the blond boy, her hair was blond too and although she was dirty and with damaged clothes, it did not overshadow the fact of being a little beauty

I got off my horse, tied it to a tree and sat on the side of the road, with my hand I made a gesture for them to come over and sit down and with caution the three of them approached, but they did not sit down, I just smiled wryly and I took out a few servings of dried meat and held them up while stuffing one in my mouth.

The children still doubted, but they still ate them, they were hungry, so they finished them pretty quickly so I took out more and threw them and they finished them again quickly.

- So who are you and why are you here acting like bandits? (Evan)

-I'm Cristopher, he is Jonathan and his little sister Alice. (Boy on the barricade)

- Well, I'm Evan, what are you doing here? (Evan)

- We were from a small nearby village that was attacked by goblins a few days ago, they burned, looted and killed everyone in the village, we were the only ones who could escape, but with no food, no money, we could only stay here and try our luck trying to steal some lonely traveler. (Christopher)

- It is very smart of you not to attack a group because you could not win, however, your plan has a flaw, if there is a traveler who dares to go through here alone, it is because has confidence in his strength, so you should be thankful that it was me and not someone else or maybe you would not be alive. (Evan)

- It is better to die than to live this way. (Christopher)

- Well, if you really want to die I can help you, but I really don't want to kill some children, it may also be difficult to live, but if you do nothing to improve you will certainly die and I assure you after death there is nothing. (Evan)

- Even so, we have no food, no money, no family, what is the point of living in these conditions? (Christopher)

- Certainly I will not deny that it is a difficult situation, what if you tell me a little about you and maybe I will help you, how old are you? Do they have any skills or something? (Evan)

- I'm 12 years old, as well as jobs, skills or titles, I don't have any, but I'm good at learning things, I can read and write and I know a little math. (Christopher)

- I am also 12 years old, without work, titles or skills, I know how to use the bow a little. (Jonathan)

- A… Alice, 11 years old, without jobs, titles or skills, I can cook and a little sewing and housework. (Alice)

Cristopher, he is like the leader and he is studied, so is good at communicating, Jonathan is more of a boy of action than of words and his sister Alice is a bit shy, but she would be a good wife when she grows up, were my thoughts.

Although it is not the best time to have children with me because I am not that strong, I cannot leave them to their fate, also if I train them in a few years they could be my trusted companions, in this world it is difficult to find someone trustworthy, greed and power in this world are abundant, the example is Alan's uncles.

Although currently they were a disadvantage, looking ahead they can be treated as an investment, maybe my sentimentality influenced, but still I decided.

- Okay, this is what I propose to you, you will be my apprentices and will travel with me, I will teach you, for now, to read, write and mathematics, I will teach you to defend yourself too, however, you must promise to follow my instructions, this is a dangerous world, I can't be protecting you if you don't obey. (Evan)

The three boys looked at each other and then they looked at me suspiciously, well I must admit, I am a stranger who suddenly offers them such a good deal it is normal for them to be suspicious.

- Don't look at me like that, I know I sound suspicious, I am going to explain, I just don't want to leave you here to your fate, I also do it as an investment for the future, if you study and learn well in a few years you may be able to help me with something, so I don't just do it out of sympathy. (Evan)

Hearing that I was also seeking a benefit by helping them, the children lowered their guard a bit, however, they were still forewarned, it's not like they were going to trust me right off the bat.

- What's your plan for Alice? (Jonathan)

That question took me by surprise, does he think I'm interested in her as a woman? I have to admit, that thought made my skin crawl, although she is a pretty girl, she is still a kid, although in a couple of years she would be a beauty, but surely by that time I would already see her as a little sister after living with her for several years, not as a woman.

- Don't worry, I won't take your sister if that's what you have in mind, maybe I'll marry her to Cristopher. (Evan)

Without much intention my joke hit the spot, apparently Cristopher and Alice like each other so they blushed, they looked very cute, two children in love, I really smiled wryly, at such a young age and already with those feelings, but then I remembered, in this world the age of majority was 15 years.

In fact, currently I am also 15 years old, only that in my previous life I was already 28 therefore my mentality is more mature I suppose, sometimes it is difficult for me to adapt to the common sense of this world.

After that we talked about some common issues, such as the village they lived in and how many people there were, also how the attack was and how many goblins there were, it was a bit traumatic for the children to tell me, but it was valuable information, since the road to Lacos was still long and the chance of meeting goblins was very high.

After understanding the situation, take out the map that I had bought and check if there was a town or city nearby where we could go, because now with 3 children on board I had to take precautions, also I could not go with them looking so raggedy.

Fortunately, less than half a day on horseback, there was a small city of 10,000 inhabitants called Arca, it is the largest human settlement in the area and the commercial center of all the surrounding towns, the children's town generally used it to buy and sell goods they needed, even though it was a bit far.

Having decided that we marched towards Arca, I mounted the three children on the horse, while I held the reins and walked with them, as they were small, they fit right on the horse, besides, none of them knew how to ride so I had to guide them on the way .

On the other hand, the only thing they had eaten in days were the rations that I gave them, so they were weak, they could not walk, Arca was a few hours from the forest where we met, but at the speed we were going, took twice as long time, it was past noon when we made out the city.

Despite only having 10,000 inhabitants, because the infrastructure was medieval, the city was large, there were not many buildings, the city was surrounded by a high wall of more than 30 meters, most of the cities in the area were like this , due to the threat of the goblins.

When we got to the door a soldier stopped us and with a strange look on his face when he looked at the children on the horse.

- Are they slaves? (Soldier)

- They are not, they are my apprentice brothers, I sent them to do a task and they failed ridiculously, so I had to pick them up in this state. (Evan)

Quickly make up a story, I knew that slavery exists in this world, but even in the modern era there is slavery, only, under another name, in fact, despite my values ​​I did not feel any problem with slavery, I do not know why is that, I assume what I have always done, my mentality must have adapted to this world the moment I transmigrated, so I did not give it much importance.

- If they are not slaves, the entrance tax is 3 copper coins per child and 5 per adult. (Soldier)

In this world or at least in the Arrow subcontinent, the tax for entering a city is normal, depending on the country and the city it can be more expensive, unless you have an ID like the one you had from the merchants guild in Clavel city Without preamble I paid the 14 copper coins and they let us in.

Before entering, I passed a silver coin to the guard without anyone noticing and asked him about an inn in the city that had large rooms and about movements in the area.

The guard kept the coin and gave me the addresses and told me that more than two weeks ago movements of groups of goblin bandits have been reported in the area between Arca and Lacos, so there are few travelers, that several towns have been attacked.

I thanked the guard, we followed his directions and soon arrived at the inn that he had recommended to us, it was an inn the size of Sleeping Flower in Clavel, however, for the Arca city this was the best inn in the city.

Upon entering there was a reception where a well-dressed elderly man was, he was not that old, but his bald head showed the opposite, I approached him, the boys were outside taking care of the horse.

- Hello sir, How can I help you? (Bald man)

- Hi, I would like an integrated room for 4. (Evan)

- Our best rooms have a living room, two double rooms and a main room that has an integrated bathroom and a common bathroom, both bathrooms with 20 minutes of hot water a day for 1 silver coin per day, room service, night services and laundry are independent. (Bald man)

- What about the horse? (Evan)

-1 copper coin a day for the care and feeding of him. (Bald man)

The services were similar to Sleeping Flower, but being a small town it was more expensive, but I'm not complaining, this is normal, the rabbit village inn was more expensive and of poorer quality, so i took out a gold coin.

- I'll stay a week, this should cover the fee for the stay, the meals and the horse, right? (Evan)

The bald man smiled right away, he must have thought I was a wealthy young man visiting, so he assisted with his head and trying to lick my boots and guided me to the room, however, I told him that my horse and companions were outside, so I called an employee to take the horse to the stable and take care of it, then he led me and the children to the room.

Upon reaching the room, the bald man opened the door and we entered, then he began to show us the apartment, he included everything he had said, at the end he handed me the key and before leaving I threw him a silver coin, so he left charmed.

- Master, do you have any money left over? Why do you give the money to everyone? (Christopher)

- Hahaha, I don't have any money to left over, but I do it to earn their favor, in the case of an emergency I have someone who can help me, it is always better to prevent and expect the unexpected, also do not call me "Master", I am not much older than you and you are not my servants or slaves, call me Evan or big brother. (Evan)

- Well we'll go with big brother for now. (Christopher)

The boys began to see the apartment, the boys would sleep in a room, Alice being the only girl was given a room for herself and I will sleep in the main room, after I explained to them how the bathrooms worked, about  hot water  and the timer.

Since there was only 20 minutes of hot water a day in each bathroom, we were left to use 10 minutes each, the boys in the common bathroom and for Alice and me in the main room.

I told the boys to take a bath, as they were dirty, while I went downstairs and asked the bald man at the reception of some store with children's clothes, preferably cheap but durable and the bald man gave me directions energetically trying to please me.

The bald man did not give me the address of luxury stores, rather it was the popular market of the city, there were shelves and places of food, clothes, shoes and others, soon I found a store that looked good and entered it.

A plump lady attended me, I told her that I needed 3 sets of pants, shirts and underwear and I described the 3 children so that she could choose the sizes, since one was a girl the lady wanted to offer me a dress, but I refused, since we still had to travel and it was more comfortable and practical to wear pants instead of a dress.

I took my purchases and went to a lingerie store, since men's underwear is simple even for children and you can buy it in any clothing store, but women's and girls' is different, just like in the modern era, women's lingerie is different and expensive.

When I entered the store I was attended by a well dressed and pretty young woman, when she saw me she had an expression of disgust, I suppose she thought she was a womanizer buying lingerie for her lovers, so I quickly had to improvise a story.

-Good, excuse me, my little sister had an accident on the trip and lost her wardrobe and I need underwear for her, since she only has one change and does not want to go out to buy out of trouble, can you help me? (Evan)

I must have very good acting skills, since the girl relaxed and treated me cordially, although my story was doubtful, I explained Alice's physique and age and she chose me some pantyhose for her, since she was a girl, they were not nothing fancy, they were very simple and one color.

When I left the store I went to a shoe store and bought three pairs of simple and durable shoes, in total I spent a gold coin and with that finished I went to the inn, the sun was already going down when I arrived.

While I was shopping the kids bathed and got dressed again, sat in the living room of the bedroom and started arguing about what to do.

- Cris, what do you think of Evan? (Jonathan)

- Honestly, I still don't know, he really makes a good impression on me, but I don't know if we should trust him 100%. (Christopher)

-I think he's a good person. (Alice)

- Why? He could easily be earning our trust and then selling us into slavery. (Jonathan)

-At first I thought the same, but if he wanted that, he could easily capture us and take us directly to the slave trader, he had no need to treat us well. (Christopher)

-Well, you have a point there, but why would he help us? (Jonathan)

-Because he's a good person. (Alice)

- Alice, you are too naive, even Evan himself told us to expect the unexpected, if you are so inocent you may regret it later. (Christopher)

-Even so, I think he's a good person. (Alice)

Alice pouted while Cristopher and Jonathan smiled wryly, they knew Alice well, she was stubborn, when something got into her head it was difficult to change her, so they resigned themselves to her.

When I arrived, asked to have the food delivered to the room and went upstairs, entered the room and there were the three children sitting talking in the living room with their dirty clothes on them. I put the bags on the desk and went to them.

- Well, I see that they did not run away, that's fine, in the bags there are clothes and shoes for you, change, you can't be ragged all the time. (Evan)

Alice quickly got up and ran to the bags, took her clothes and ran into the room, she may be shy and a child, but like every woman, she did not want to look badly dressed, the boys and I smiled wryly when we saw her .

The boys also took their things and went to change, after a few minutes, they left their rooms, changed, they looked like decent boys, like ordinary children to be more exact, only Alice was with a resentful look.

- What's up Alice? (Evan)

- Big brother, you know I'm a girl right? Why did you buy me pants and boy's clothes? (Alice)

- Hahaha, we will only stay here for a week and travel to Lacos, it is not practical to dress as a young lady, we do not know what dangers we will encounter, those clothes are easier to move. When we get to Lacos I will buy you a dress, do not be angry. (Evan)

Alice immediately smiled and made me promise, with no other options I promised her, we just met today and she was already acting like she was my spoiled little sister, I have to admit that I got carried away, I don't dislike having a little sister like her.

As we talked, they knocked on the door and Jonathan got up to open it, it was dinner, the girl came in with a cart and put the food on the table and left after giving me a smile, the three children looked at me as if to say What was that ? But I ignored them and we started eating.

- Big brother, on the desk there is a table with photos of women, what is that? (Alice)

I almost choked on food when hearing that question, apparently Cristopher and Jonathan were also curious to know, so I entered a dilemma whether to tell them the truth or not, I was never a father or a brother, so I did not know how to act, but I decided to be honest, maybe it is not the best thing to say this to the children, but I thought that it is better that they know the reality of things and have their feet on the ground about the world we live in.

- Well, since I have taken you as my little brothers, I will tell you this, I have never been a father or older brother to anyone, so been honest with you, I want you to learn that we live in a world that is not fantasy. (Evan)

- We already know that since our village was attacked by goblins. (Christopher)

- It is true that you know the cruelty of goblins, but we humans are not better, we are greedy, licentious and equally cruel. (Evan)

- You too? (Jonathan)

- Well, I have my limits, try to be the best person I can, as long as they are friends I will treat them well and if they are enemies, well, without mercy to them, the moment you relax your guard you will be betrayed, that's why I take you as my younger siblings. (Evan)

- What do you mean by that? (Christopher)

- Well, you have been friends with each other since you were little, you trust each other and you are young, so if you are my family, you will not betray me, there is nothing stronger than having trusted allies. (Evan)

- How do you know that we will not betray you in the future? (Christopher)

- I do not know, that is what trust is about, it is true that you must be forewarned, but if by mistrust you drive everyone away, then you will be alone all your life, that is a life that I do not want, if I am betrayed by someone in the I confided then was my fault for not being able to see a false friend or relative. (Evan)

- If the big brother treats us well, we will be good younger brothers. (Jonathan)

- Hahaha, don't worry, I know you still distrust me, but I promise that I have no bad intentions, just like you, I am a person without friends or family, so I sincerely consider you my little brothers. (Evan)

- I told you the big brother is a good person. (Alice)

- Hahaha, Alice, that may be the case, but don't blindly trust everyone, there are specialists in cheating in this world. (Evan)

- The big brother is strange. (Christopher)

- IWhat do you mean? (Evan)

- Well, the normal thing is to want to gain our trust, but all the advice you give us is to keep us on our guard. Don't you think you contradict yourself? (Christopher)

- As I said before, I will be honest and as my little brothers I must prepare them so that you are intelligent and do not enter the wolf's mouth recklessly, I will gain your trust with actions not with words, that is why I do not worry that you are on guard. (Evan)

- I know that the big brother is a good person, I have no doubts, but you strayed. What is the desk? (Alice)

-Well, that is a magical artifact, in it are photos of all the girls who work in the inn, it allows you to choose the girl you like among them and paying the value of her you can have a night of pleasure with them. (Evan)

- WWWW… What? Is this a brothel? (Alice)

- Hahaha, no, it is an inn, you may not know it, but it is very common for inns to provide this type of service, as a business model I think it is very profitable, in terms of morality I cannot say the same, but this It's the world we live in (Evan)

- Has the big brother used these services? (Alice)

- Although with a specific purpose, I have used them. (Evan)

At the end of my sentence Alice got up from the table and yelling angrily "Pervert" she ran into her room and locked herself slamming the door in disgust.

- For what purpose? (Christopher)

- With a purpose that you are too young to understand yet, so do not think about using it, especially your Cris or Alice will be angry with you, if she does not kill you. (Evan)

The boys lowered their heads flushed, they were really curious, but I was strict with them, they were really too young for that, so we cleared the plates from the table and went to our rooms to rest.

The next morning I woke up, but the boys were still sleeping, they had had heavy days so I assumed they needed the rest, so I went downstairs and went out to buy reading and writing materials, I would start teaching them from today.

After an hour and a silver coin spent, I returned to the inn with a large amount of materials in my storage ring, ordered breakfast upon entering and went up to the room, the three children were already in the living room sitting talking .

Seeing me, Alice turned her gaze to the other side pouting, I guess she was still angry, but I didn't pay attention and sat with them, they looked more relaxed and cheerful, I imagine they found some peace after a good night of sleep.

- I already ordered breakfast, at the end we will start the lessons, but before that wanted to ask you something. (Evan)

- what it would be? (Jonathan)

- It's simple, I would like to know how much you know about jobs, skills and titles, also if you have any in mind that they want to be. (Evan)

- I know that the jobs are obtained from the gods according to the actions that a person performs, the skills will be granted by the gods as you level up and the titles are blessings from the gods for completing some missions. (Christopher)

- Well, you are not wrong, but not completly correct, the titles are not awarded for missions done, but for feats, for example, if you defeat a pack of wolves you may be awarded the title of wolf hunter or something like that. (Evan)

- I see, according to what we do, the gods grant us blessings. (Christopher)

- Yes, that's more or less the idea, now, do you have a job that you want to acquire? (Evan)

-I would like to be an archer, my father was a good hunter archer, he taught me to use the bow and I would like to be like him. (Jonathan)

- I would like to be a chef, I have always liked cooking and I think it would be great to prepare delicious meals. (Alice)

- Oh, you finally spoke, I thought you would have me with the ice law for a lifetime. (Evan)

- I haven't forgiven you yet, perverted big brother. (Alice)

- Hahaha, ok, ok, what about you Cris? (Evan)

- I would like to be a scribe, I read about them a while ago, so I did my best to learn to read and write. (Christopher)

- Scribe work is highly respected and difficult to obtain, that is a good goal. (Evan)

- Does the older brother think it is impossible to obtain for me? (Christopher)

- Not at all, there are no impossibilities in this world, as long as you don't give up you can do it, I'm just saying that it is difficult, you must make an effort and not give up. (Evan)

- I'll do my best. (Christopher)

- Well with that of course, I will tell you our plan, initially I was going to the capital, however, traveling there with you can be dangerous, therefore, we will go to Lacos and settle there for a while, once there I will look for the However, they will only be able to do it after learning to read, write and mathematics, in this Cris has an advantage over them, so you will have to help them. (Evan)

- I understand that Cris needs it, but to learn the bow I don't need that. (Jonathan)

- That's true, but they are useful, tell me. If you learn the bow and go to the mercenaries' guild, how will you take missions if you can't read? (Evan)

- I'll ask someone to read for me. (Jonathan)

- It is true that this is an option, but you will have to pay, that is, you will always spend money, when you can do it yourself. (Evan)

- Maybe it's not a lot of money, right? I can live with that. (Jonathan)

- What would happen if the one who read to you lies to you about what was written? They can lead you to a trap or to your death. (Evan)

- … That's bad. (Jonathan)

- It is true that you can live without those skills, but having them or not having them makes a difference, for example, do you know any person with money, status or power who does not have them? (Evan)

- Well, we don't know anyone with those characteristics. (Christopher)

- I do and I will tell you, there are none, even thieves who make wealth outside the law have them, because those skills open many paths for you, that is why they must learn, and until they learn them I will not help them to have the skills. jobs they want. (Evan)

With that said, Jonathan was the most aggrieved, but still I accept, shortly after breakfast arrived, we ate, we cleared the dishes and took out the materials and we started the classes, Cris already knew how to read and write, so I focused on his mathematics.

After studies we had lunch and went out for a walk in the city, we only toured the main square and some food shelves, we just had a little fun and returned to the inn at dinner time, but as we ate a lot of things during our outing we skip dinner.

The following days, they passed in calm, we were practically only in the room studying, Cris was quick to learn mathematics, in a few days he had already mastered them, I had to admit that he may be a genius.

Alice and Jonathan had problems at first, but little by little they began to understand how to read and write, mathematics was still difficult for them, but with Cris helping they were on the right track.

Time passed and it was time to leave for Lacos, I had collected information about the activities on the way there, some attacks had still been reported, but they were no longer so frequent, since the Lacos guard had intensified their presence in the ways.

Since, we were going to travel, during the week, while the boys were studying, I learned to drive a two-horse cart, we could not all travel on one horse, also the children did not know how to ride, so I bought a cart and an additional horse and I learned to drive.

I did not feel it was complicated, also the cart was not that big, just enough so that the four of us could sleep comfortably, it had a leather cover to protect us from the rain and the sun.

Including food for the horses, as well as food for us and other miscellaneous supplies that might be needed, spend 200 gold coins, it was expensive, because the city was small and everything was higher, I also bought a good amount of food, as well as kitchen utensils, I couldn't eat dried meat rations all the time, especially with the kids on board.

Also, buy a small bow with arrows, although I did not intend to let the children fight, buy it so that they could defend themselves in some eventuality. With everything organized, we left for Lacos.