Church

Mikael proceeded to walk along the main road, trying to sort out his mind. While walking, he remembered the words Sven said, about to switch up his path, making it more diverse.

'Why not begin to use that knowledge now?' he turned towards a wider alley, following other people who also went along there.

'Good opportunity to explore more of this village.'

The sight differed not all that much, apart the road being not as clean, the sides not paved with stone.

He saw some people sitting at the roadside, holding bowls and wearing torn clothes, much like he did when he arrived.

'So many beggars, plenty more than our hamlet had. Wonder why, this village seems so wealthy.'

He walked by, ignoring these persons, As many others also did.

There were no shops here, no merchants or adventurers walking down the road, only people that had their houses here, buying or selling stuff by the main road.

He saw a man walking towards his direction, seeming suspicious while pulling a cart made of wood and crude wheels.

As he passed Mikael, all he saw was a big blanket covering the content, but following his trail was also a foul stench that made one hold his breath.

'Is he transporting corpses?' Mikael concluded. This smell was sadly familiar for him, and he heard from his father that some lesser fortunate people took on odd jobs.

One of them was like he saw here a collector of the dead, taking them to either the gravejard or the local church, if there was one or the people had belongings that showed their faith.

Other examples are scrap collector, cleaner or coal miner.

'The road follows along a different path, I should get back towards the main road.'

He walked along another alley, this one more of a lane between houses he used as one.

'It has something ominous, even in broad daylight.'

Soon, he found himself back on the big, lively street, noises of barging and conversations made this far more comfortable to walk along.

Roàn workshop also was deployed again, the sound of metal hitting metal resounding in the air, and his shouting out orders drew in the eyes of the passerby.

He stood before the open workplace, silently watching Roàn work and his assistant, who was back and healthy, preparing leather at the rack.

'Seems to be busy, should I barge without announcement? Just saw him yesterday...?'

He watched the back of his bosses rising and sinking, in rhythm to his hammering.

Shaking his head, Mikael walked further along the road.

'Never really cared what comes after this.'

He saw many merchants, some having big stalls set up, other directly selling from their carriage.

Mikael saw so many things that interested him, wanting to ask for a price, but his light purse made him remember his dire need for coin.

'At least I learned something. It could have been worse.' he thought to himself, every time he saw something delicious being sold, foreign fruits he'd like to try or clothes that suited his taste.

He saw, as he walked farther, the stalls being replaced with clean shops, the dirty road even cleaner and even. Peoples attire more colorful and their demeanor changing. Woman turned into more pretty, their clothes turning into dresses and hair being orderly.

The mans bellies bigger, their clothes also cleaner and valuable decorations on their fingers and necks.

Also many guards were patrolling more often, looking at him as if he doesn't belong here.

'I don't fit in here.' he quickly noticed, as more and more eyes fell on him, judging his dirty attire and unkempt appearance.

"Hold! What does lead you here?" A guard came over, building himself up before Mikael as he stood there, looking at the differences between here and 5 minutes down the road.

"Aren't you aware other than the visit to the church, it isn't adviced to walk alone to this part of the village. Better you turn back now. It's for your own good."

The tone changed from an order to a advice, which he accepted gratefully.

'Don't want to draw in unnecessary trouble.'

"What way is the church?" he asked, wanting to take a look at one. He was raised to believe in Mother Earth, a entity that was responsible for the circle of life, harvests and balance between man, monster and nature.

In this region most people believed in the same, as many expression he heard also involved the goddess. But another deity had few roots here, it name being Marius.

Some hunters and adventurers said his name in the Guild, saying he would watch over their lifes and bless their weapons.

"I'm new here in Chrysalis, and wanted to explore this village a bit. Maybe I can visit the sacred place and leave a prayer."

The guard adjusted his helmet, thinking a bit before giving his direction.

Mikael just had to walk back a bit, then taking a turn along another street.

"Can't miss it, it towers over the other houses and has beautiful colored windows."

Following the directions, he quickly saw a big building, the bottom layer reinforced by bricks, to stabilize the floor above it and holding the weight of a visible bell in a tower that rang to specific times of the day.

Many people with different upcoming and attire walked in and out, leaving their thoughts, donations or sins behind.

He also walked in, and the interior was filled with wooden benches, at the front a podium where a priest could spread his words.

The walls were decorated by murals, showing pictures of nature and the changing seasons. The colors made the interior more comfortable, as if it was connected to nature. On wooden beams supporting the structure oil lamps hang down, used to light up the room

Right now no cleric was seen. A priest often acted as a representative, had to show up for events and important visits.

Some even had magic powers, so they used them to heal in the name of mother Earth, for a generous donation, injured people that belonged to their faith.

Mikael sat down on one of the benches, closing his eyes. There were no rules how to speak to their deity, but many did the same.

He prayed about his father, mother, Nina. The people in his village that got slayed.

After a while, he opened his eyes, feeling somewhat better after letting loose his thoughts to this quiet listener.

'May the souls return to the earth into your bosom, and their bodies nourish all your creations.'

He still bore sadness, anger and grief in his heart, but after residing in this place for some time, with the company of many good, and some less good, people, he grew to accept his past.

This prayer was just some kind of window with which he could let loose his thougths.

Light-heartened he walked out the church, returning towards the Inn.

As Beron's shift was still ongoing, he walked up to his room, wanting to have some time alone.

He sat on the bed, the sunlight barely lighting up his room, but enough to illuminate the words in his book.

'Maybe this will settle down my thoughts.'

He bend over the words, trying to make sense out of the written.

The pictures are still vivid, showing color, shapes and traits each herb has.

'If even one or two stick, it can help me out tremendously.'

The time flew by, and as he walked down, wanting to eat his meal, he saw Beron sitting at a table, alone and looking tired.

"Should we cancel our lesson tonight?" Mikael asked as he got his plate, sitting down opposite to him.

"No, no, we can't skip too many lessons. One can remember better by repetition, so if we don't do it regularly, it makes it harder.

I'm just need a short break. The whole day the envoy walked along the upper district, wanting to know something about nearly every puny detail. If he is one thing, it is curious."

He rubbed his tired eyes, biting off a chunk from his loaf of bread.

"And to be constantly vigilant is even more taxing. They even wanted to take a look at the slums to the south-west, how there are the conditions. Gotta say, they have ambitious ideas. Not really feasible, but still."

"And what do they think of this village? I suspect they came to see if there is anything of worth here, after all I can't think of another reason."

Mikael had previously considered why they would come over, but could not make a solid conclusion.

"About right, they quite like the location, with the forest in close proximity, the land fertile and they suspect in the woods some caves with important minerals could be located.

They will soon return, reporting our situation and possible worth. If it interests the lord, maybe we receive workers from him, funds to build out our village and create more jobs, reducing the slums by granting opportunities.

So making a good impression is quite important."

"Are they here tonight? I didn't see their carriage outside."

"No, they choose to reside in the chiefs house, as they want to talk with him. But enough of that, this doesn't really concerns you."

Mikael had finished his meal, as well as Beron, so their next action was tutoring.

He impressed his teacher by reading a lot more fluid, getting some praise. So after a short while and some corrections they went on to writing, something Mikael wasn't very good in.

At some point Emily came to them, and her progress and skill was far better than Mikael, but that did not discouraged him.

He knew of his deficit of practice, so he just concentrated as best as he could.

And after around an hour, they called it quits, and Mikael sunk tired, more mentally than physically, onto his bed.

'Tomorrow I may get my second mission. Wonder how that will turn out. At least I prepared to the best of my ability."