Chapter 5: Noble gathering (part 1)

Soon after Theo and Lucia boarded the carriage, it began moving. The carriage itself was ordinary-looking, and guardian knights were dressed as bodyguards of merchants or traveling nobles. So, they didn't attract any unwanted attention.

Freinos city was a medium-sized city with a population of around 300 hundred thousand people. The city was divided into several parts. The first part was called the outer city. It was composed of simple people living in residential areas near the edges of the city. Most of them were ordinary citizens with different backgrounds, around 160 hundred thousand people. These people mostly had weak magic and ordinary battle energy talent, and most of them were workers in the other parts of the city. Slum districts were also in this area where all shadow and crime elements prospered. The second part was called the inner city. It was composed of trade districts, artisan shops, guild quarters, restaurants, red districts, and auction houses. They made it of better resources and looked more beautiful than the outer city. Inner-city was occupying bigger territory than the outer city and was surrounding the center. All six noble households lived in this area with their retainers. There were also several residential areas, which only rich citizens, merchants, artisans, and others with resources or influence could afford. All intellectual elements, the city academy, banks, philosophy schools were also here. The access to the river, port docks, Lord's manor city administration unit was also there. The overall population was around 100 thousand people. Though the outer and inner cities differed, it was still obvious that they are part of the bigger system; they had many similar traits, like architecture, road sizes, and other municipal structures. The last zone was called the heart of the city, Freinos part, or Freinos inner domain that was on the high ground in the center, surrounded by buildings from the inner part. The taller and sturdier walls divided that territory. There were taller walls, more towers, more block posts, elite patrol units, and a stronger magic shield than it was on the outer walls. All knights and retainers loyal to Freinos family, and that served Freinos family for generations lived there. Besides, there were own crop fields, own blacksmiths, and other structures, so it was a totally separate space with only Freinos family influence in there. The overall population was around 40 thousand people.

The city seethed with life, thousands of people were moving around, merchant caravans were constantly entering the city and moving through the main road to the trade districts, adventurer groups were especially active near guild quarters, there were even groups of sailors from trade caravans that sailed on river Blue to Dwarf kingdom.

Among all these elements groups of knights and mages with Freinos family insignia patrolled the streets.

While the carriage moved through the main road, Theo was busy looking at the city while Lucia was immersed in reading a book with animal and monster pictures she got from Taming pavilion.

A picture of several floored buildings made of stone, marble, and other materials was appearing before him. Each building looked different, but none of them violated the atmosphere and each looked naturally to the street.

'Ahh, what a pleasant time to live. The last time I saw such prosperity was the last years before the war. When the war started, caravans, adventurer groups, and citizen activity slowly disappeared after the first defeats. Merchants - the symbol of the Trade union was the first to run. Elite adventurers chose other places not affected by war and those adventurers who couldn't escape were conscripted into the army together with many citizens. It was a harsh time, especially for Trade union vassals. Many of them felt as if Union threw them towards death with no support and help just to buy itself some time.'

Soon, Theo's group reached the entrance gates of Freinos zone. One of the guardian knights showed the emblem to guards and soon they were let to pass.

Passing through the gates, the carriage continued, moving with an escort of horse riders. Passing through the garrison structures, Theo saw farmers working on the crop fields, recruits training on the training grounds, and saw the shape of his family castle in the distance.

The atmosphere here differed from the outside. There were much more signs of citizens' activity: metallic sounds were constantly coming from the blacksmiths, active trade was happening on the trade streets, they could see horse messengers returning from time to time.

The territory around the castle was occupied by manors, gardens, other structures to the city, created for the Freinos family. Though there was a road connecting it to the city, only a few could easily enter and leave from there.

It was already evening when Theo and Lucia arrived back home. Servants rushed to his carriage while guardian knights moved horses to the stables.

When Theo and Lucia left the carriage, two servants n a unique way intercepted their attention.

"Young master" shouted a boy, bowing in process.

"Young lady," said a girl, giving a curtsey to Theo and Lucia.

This boy and girl were personal servants that were totally loyal to the Freinos family, passed many trials, were educated, were younger than their masters, had battle energy or magic talent, specialized in several spheres, and were attached to them as their personal aides. Becoming a personal aide was very honorable for families of chosen children and many strived for that position. There were even families that specialized in nurturing such children.

While they were looking at their servants, an old man in a similar outfit appeared before them. He was his father's personal servant.

"Young master, young lady, Lord ordered to remind you about incoming noble gathering tonight, take your time and prepare for that."

Theo nodded, recalling such events from his previous life.

"How much time we have?" asked Lucia, with a book in her hands.

"Several hours." said the old servant before looking at the boy and girl behind him.

"Madame has already decided what to give you to wear for today's event. It will be soon delivered. Arthur, Diana, serve the young master and the young lady well." said the old servant with a serious expression on his face.

Both servants nodded and bowed to the old servant.

Soon, Theo stroked his little sister's head and left with Arthur to his personal manor. Though Lucia was already 9-years old, she was pretty short for her age and was even shorter than her parents, siblings were at her age, so she didn't like when anyone stroked her head because she felt as if they were showing her height. The grumpy Lucia looked at Theo's back and left with Diana to her own manor.

***

Theo's manor wasn't big, it was made of enchanted materials, mainly iron and marble had several rooms and a small garden. It was a peaceful place. There was a study room, a meditation room for magic or battle energy recovery, chambers for sleep, a guest room, hot springs on the roof, and other rooms.

The 1st thing Theo did when he returned to his manor was an order to prepare the Hot springs, so Arthur quickly disappeared to prepare the water and check the magma stones.

Finishing changing his clothes to the home outfit, Theo took several maps of Freinos region from the shelf in his study room and moved towards the roof.

Arriving at the roof, Theo touched the water and felt that it was slowly becoming warmer, so he waited a bit and moved to a small table near a manor terrace.

Looking at the maps that showed unique landscapes, mountains, forests, lakes, rivers, valleys, castles, forts, cities, Theo began drawing and encircling certain areas according to his memory. At first, he began with the north part of the Freinos region that was mainly mountain and forest landscape. He marked several partially hidden passages in the Iron mountains through which monsters breached their defenses in his previous life and spots for forts and fortresses for improving defense. Theo also marked places with metal ores he found during his escape in the Iron mountains.

The boy continued to mark and draw on the map up till Arthur didn't appear next to him.

"Young Master, your clothes for tonight have already been delivered to your chambers. Dinner is also ready. Where to deliver it?" asked the yellow-haired boy, looking at Theo.

Theo raised his head and looked at the water, and saw a small fog already forming above it.

"Here, I would like to eat in the open air," said Theo, standing up and moving to the Hot springs.

Arthur bowed and left the roof while Theo undressed and entered the water, relaxing and enjoying the feeling.

Theo looked at the slowly darkening skies before closing his eyes and leaning at the marble behind him.

Ten minutes later, Arthur entered the roof with two trays on his hands and began putting the dishes and the drinks near the edge of the marble.

After finishing preparing everything, Arthur wanted to say something but got interrupted by Theo.

"Don't worry, I am not a small boy. I won't need your help here. Go, you may come half an hour later to clean here and cool the magma stones. By the way, take that map and put it into my study room," said Theo, opening his eyes and approaching the edge on which dishes were at.

After Arthur left the roof, Theo quickly finished the soap and the potato with grilled meat and washed before returning to his chambers.

He had little time before the noble gathering, so he wanted to spend it in training. So the first thing he did after dressing up was entering a meditation room with his space ring where resources good for training were in.

Theo was a 1st rank adept - the magic talented person who recently evoked his magic talent and formed a mana heart where his mana was already accumulating.

The Mana heart was a small organ just like the battle energy source, but unlike the battle energy source, it usually formed only in the bodies of talented people that could feel the mana in the world. Such people were talented and had potential on the path of magic.

The 1st thing Theo did, was to check the condition of his mana heart and saw that there was almost no mana, accumulated there, so he could only shake his head on laziness of his past self, before drinking a potion that would increase his speed for mana gathering before closing his eyes, and sitting into the lotus position.

Two hours later when he already filled half of his mana heart, when his mana heart became sturdier, a knock resounded from the door.

"Young master, half an hour is left till the departure to the noble gathering. Lord and Madame are asking to gather at the Main Hall, dressed and prepared," said Arthur.

Standing up and leaving the meditation room, Theo quickly found clothes prepared for him by his mother. There was a classic outfit with cloak and Freinos family insignia in there. Theo could only cringe and sigh, looking at the clothes that would restrict his movements to a significant degree.

Even in his previous life when he was already a grown-up man, he preferred light clothes that wouldn't restrict him in case of sudden battle, but right he had no choice and could only sigh and wear the clothes prepared by his mother.

Arthur was also there, helping him, so 5 minutes later, Theo and Arthur were approaching the Main Hall.

There his father, mother, and Lucia were already waiting for others. Father was dressed in his usual official outfit, while Mira and Lucia were dressed in beautiful dresses.

Approaching them, he heard his sister's and mother's conversation.

"So what have you been doing in that pavilion?" asked Mira, with a pleasant smile on her lips.

"There were many animals and monsters there, teachers and elder students allowed us to touch them, and even allowed us to enter a room full of fluffy animals, they said that it could help to check if the student has a talent for taming. Others could also look at them from the 2nd floor. So when I saw how those rabbits and fluffy dogs ran and escaped from any entering student, and how they tried to catch them, I tried my luck." explained Lucia with a big smile on her lips.

"And what happened then?" asked Darwin, with a curious expression on his face.

"Well, when I entered that room, rabbits and other animals weren't afraid of me. They approached me themselves and allowed me to stroke their bodies. It was good and soft," said Lucia with a joyful smile on her lips.

"You're my treasure," said Mira, kissing Lucia and throwing a glance with a cue at Darwin.

Theo and Arthur finally reached them, so Theo nodded at Arthur, letting him leave, and joined his family.

"Where are the others? I thought I would be the last one to come," asked Theo with a curious expression on his face.

"Aurellia bought many new dresses recently, so she got stuck without knowing what to choose. Stella has already left to hurry and help her," said Mira with a helpless smile.

"If only your sisters weren't like mini copies of their parents, they would have been married long ago," said Mira with a helpless sigh.

"Well, I like when Stella kicks ass to her potential suitors. You also like that Aurellia is as passionate about magic and magic research as you yourself, and now you want our daughters to show some interest in men instead of getting stronger?" asked Darwin, looking at Mira.

"Nevermind, just forget about that, let's not touch our elder daughters, they already have a lot of things to do," said Mira.

"Well, if you want to marry your child that much, we have a solution," said Darwin with a light smile, throwing a hinting glance at Theo.

Mira got a bit disappointed, quickly sobered up, and a mysterious flame lit up in her eyes when she looked at Theo.

As if feeling the incoming arrival of a big headache, Theo sighed and turned around, and moved to the carriage that was parked outside just not to hear their conversation.

"He is already 12-years old, dear, it's an ideal age for beginning choosing a good fiance who Theo would love and care about," said Mira, looking at Darwin.

"Do you have anyone in mind?" asked Darwin.

"Teresa Roland, back then when they were small children, she was his close friend, I still remember how they played with snow together, and how he came to me telling about his games with her," said Mira with a smile on her lips.

Lucia also liked Teresa and considered her a friend, so she began nodding, agreeing with her candidacy with a serious expression of an expert.

Teresa Roland was not a bad candidacy as his wife, she was talented, strong, was a daughter of the head of the Roland family, he knew her, and could even love her in the future, but it was if only Theo would stay in the Freinos city, and wouldn't leave it.

"Well, I agree with you, and it's possible to organize it, but it would be bad if it would be forced, Teresa Roland is a young prodigy of the Roland family in which they invested a lot, she is already famous as a mage and enchanter, I think it's a bit early right now to propose. Besides, Theo and she haven't seen each other for years, let's see what would happen after their meeting today," explained Darwin.

Just as he finished his last words, two beautiful ladies in dresses appeared and approached Theo, that was standing outside near the carriages.

Several moments later, Darwin and others were already boarding the carriages.

"Alright, let's move out," said Darwin, nodding to the armed knights and mages that were waiting near their horses nearby.

Soon, two carriages with the Freinos family insignia began moving, following the escort of knights and mages toward the inner city.

***

It was already night. Moon has already appeared. Light stones throughout the city were already illuminated. The city was slowly falling asleep, but one street differed from the others and was full of activity and movements happening there.

The 3 floored building, known as "Hal of gathering" looked like a palace, had its own garden and many guest rooms. It was much more beautiful than local buildings, differed in size and materials with which it was constructed.

Many carriages were entering and parking nearby to Hall of gatherings. There were nobles, merchants, famous characters. Among the crowd, there could be seen many influencing characters, famous warriors, guild quarters representatives, and many others. Many came with families. All of them came to a noble gathering where they would discuss further actions in the region's economy, politics, and its problems. During the noble gathering, guests could contact most of the nobles of the city, find strong and famous warriors, make deals with city merchants or enjoy the atmosphere, drinks, or women. And, it wasn't an event organized only for adults. Scions of noble families could meet and talk with their peers. There were also squads of elite patrol units that were vigilantly looking around.

A Roland family organized tonight's noble gathering to find a solution against river monsters that were affecting the trade with the Dwarf kingdom. The Roland family had another reason for the gathering. They were also officially introducing their grown-up Teresa to the public after her long period of studies. Teresa was already 12 years old, and it was a ripe age for looking for a potential husband. The Roland family planned to use this night to introduce her to potential candidates and made sure they invited all young men from noble families. Using this rare chance when most of the young noble would gather in one spot, many others also invited their daughters and sons for today's gathering.

Music was already playing. Most of the guests had already arrived, but all of them were waiting for the main noble family of the city. Noble family heads couldn't begin their discussions and patiently waited for the Darwin Freinos.

Among the groups of guests, the handsome male in general's outfit without armor attracted most of the attention. One could see many noble family heads, guild representatives, and many influencing merchants around him.

"Nei, where is lord Darwin? The noble gathering should have already started." Asked a male in merchant's shoes and mage's robe.

"Kane, no idea. Lord Darwin told my messengers that the problems we have are worth gathering. Something has delayed him"

"Send another bunch of messengers, many have already begun celebrating and some have already begun asking questions."

"I have already sent messengers, say to James and his people that we will start soon."

Soon, guardian knights with Freinos family insignia appeared on the same street as the Hall of gatherings. Several moments later, carriages with Freinos family insignia were parking in the special areas.

While Kane Aus left to talk with James Belkot and his people, heralds proclaimed an important piece of information.

"We greet the Freinos family, Lord Darwin, Madame Freinos, Stella Freinos, Aurellia Freinos, Theodor Freinos and Lucia Freinos."

Instantly all attention moved toward the entrance, where 4 ladies in amazing dresses and 2 similar-looking males were entering the hall.

The public watched an older male saying several words to his children and leaving together with a beautiful woman toward the chambers of decision.

A moment later, Theo, Stella, Aurellia, and Lucia moved in different directions. Stella and Aurellia found a group of ladies in the adventurer outfit and began talking, while Lucia found a group of girls around her age.

Usually, they greeted important guests before the gathering, but as all of them were currently following their father, they could only greet them after they finish their business.

It wasn't the first time Theo took part in such gatherings. He had a vast experience of participating in such events, even with much more influencing characters. So Theo wasn't nervous. He began fulfilling his duty as a Freinos, clearly understanding that he looked more like a piece of tasty meal for guests and their girls than other lonely young boys that were already in there.