CHAPTER 81: CHAPTER 81 - ARRIVAL AT THE CAPITAL

"These walls are huge!"

They are the biggest city walls I’ve seen in the travel from Amapytu. This is East Rising, the capital of Wesgoth.

It’s kind of funny that the kingdom of West has a capital that is called East. Humans have some weird naming conventions no matter the world they live in, it seems.

"Of course they are. This is the capital of the kingdom."

Mom sounds very proud when she says that, but I can see the reason why.

The city lies atop a hill, rising gently from west to east and then ending abruptly in a steep cliff that faces the east.

We approached it from the north, so the cliff was visible for a couple of hours. It is tall enough to dwarf any human-made city walls.

But the northern road doesn’t lead to the city directly. Instead, it leads to the western road, converging all roads into a single huge entrance to the city

Which isn’t a good urbanistic decision at all. The traffic jam of people coming in and out of the city is nasty.

On the other hand, I can see why the decision was made.

The view of the city from the west is astonishing. The way it rises in the eastern direction gives a layered cityscape that begins in the merchant’s quarter and goes up, ending in the royal palace.

And at the very top, there is a tower made by the Church. That tower is topped by a sphere of colored glass.

I bet that looking at the city from the west early in the morning, with the sphere in between the viewer and the rising sun, those colors would be astonishing to see.

Now I understand the name of the city. East Rising seems most appropriate indeed. It is what it is.

:::

After two hours waiting in lines, we manage to enter the capital. The ’coming from the west’ thing is impressive visually, but it’s horrible for the people coming and going.

It was made by a king more keen on impressing the people than on managing an efficient country. Probably.

"Mom, why aren’t there roads and gates on the south and north? Why does everyone have to come through here?"

"Because of the Church. I voiced my disagreement a couple of times, but they won’t listen. They said that the light coming through the Holy Globe is a blessing from the goddess and that everyone should just be happy to be receiving it."

Oh, okay. It wasn’t a king thing but a religious thing.

"And what makes me angrier is that there are gates on the north and south, but they are for the exclusive use of the Church."

"What? So they simply skip all of this while putting it on the shoulders of everyone else?"

"Exactly."

Ugh. The more I learn about that church, the more I hate it. They seem worse than some of the worst from Earth.

"Pepper in another person’s eye is refreshment, I guess."

"What?"

Sometimes there’s nothing that better describes a situation than an idiom from your original homeland.

"It means that there are people who take pleasure in seeing other people suffer. So, for them, another person having pepper in their eyes is a refreshing thing."

"Oh, right. You could just say that they are cruel."

"It doesn’t have the same punch, Lovelace. In any case, Mom, now that we’re here, what do we do?"

"Look for an inn, obviously. It’s been ten years since I last strolled through these streets, but I heard from travelers that some of the faces I knew are still around."

"Let’s go, then. And hope that we find vacancies. This city is way too crowded."

"Speaking of which, Hold mine and Lovelace’s hand. It’s too easy to get lost in this crowd."

Always the overprotective mother... But I guess that I would do the same to any ten-year-old girl. Which reminds me that I haven’t had that conversation with her yet.

Damn, I’m such a coward. I keep stalling it because I’m too afraid she will leave me if she knows the truth. Yet, I’m too conscious that she deserves to know the truth.

She is smart. She probably suspects something is amiss. And is also probably too afraid to voice her concerns.

If I were alone, I would just go jumping over the roofs of the houses to reach wherever I wanted to go. Well, it would demand that I knew where the place I wanted to go was.

So, yeah, I kinda get it. Kinda.

:::

The crowd gets less dense as soon as we leave the surroundings of the gate. There are still a lot of people around, but fewer than before.

We walk up some streets, then turn left on an alley until we reach a street at the other end of the alley, right in front of a plaza.

In the plaza, Mom guides us to a building. It looks simple yet dignified. It isn’t an inn for rich people; that’s obvious. But it’s a well-maintained and pristinely clean building.

We get inside right as the sun begins to set.

There is a young man at the counter, with glasses and the overall demeanor of a book nerd.

"Good evening. I would like a room for three."

"A room for three. I see. Just a moment."

He takes a thick book from the counter and starts going through it when we hear a voice.

"Lily???"

A woman is in a doorway behind the desk, eyeing Lillian with a gaped mouth.

Mom simply puts a finger on her mouth and winks. The woman recomposes herself very quickly.

"Oh, I’m sorry. Your voice is too similar to the one of a friend of mine I haven’t seen in years. I’m Linde, the owner of this inn."

"No problems... I’m Rose. Pleased to meet you. Have you been the owner here for long? It’s been a decade since I last visited, and I remember the owner being an old scrawny man."

"Oh, yes. Four years ago I managed to buy it from him. He wanted to retire and didn’t have an heir, so I bought it."

"It seems that it was a good business for both of you, then. I wish you the best with your enterprise."

"Miss Rose, here are the keys for room 23. Second floor."

The boy interrupted the meeting of the old friends, oblivious to the exchange.

"Perfect. Thank you. May I bother you with sending our dinner to our room later?"

"No problem at all, Miss Rose."

We then go to our room.

Man... to be busted so soon after arriving, even with the wigs and the freckles. I need to ask mom who that woman is.

But if the woman picked up on the hint, she will be the one personally delivering the dinner for us.