Chapter 2:The Capital City

The town is what you expected from the medieval epoch. A mixed of brown wood,dark wood and white wood with a twinge of stone. There is an inn nearby, possibly for merchant, adventurer or travelers who is tired from their journey. Not far away,there is a bar,staples and a building with a sign said "Merchant Guild".

I wander around the street some more. The citizen are very diverse. Some are white,some are borwn,some are black. Most importantly,there are more than one species. There are elves and dwarves mixed in between too. This gave me hope finding more species like this,and I can study their anatomy too.

I meander through the street,I got some weird looks along the way. It shouldn't be surprising considering the fact that I am donned with t-shirt like now. Wait,if I want to know about this world, I could just go to the public library. Library is supposed to have all kind of knowledge. With my new objective,I ask a random stranger. She told me to go near to the center. I just need to go straight line and turn left. I thank her and went my way.

I was walking down the street,looking left and right to appreciate the infrastructure. A warm wind blowing me occasionally. That when I realized I already reached the center,time do really go fast when you are engrossed in something.

Anyway,at the center,there is a grandiose castle. It can fit around hundred of people,who I figured most of them are probably servile worker. Around the castle,there is a few guards, patrolling. At the entrance,three guards are warding a metallic gate. I immediately know this is something about nobility. I look up and see a flag fluttering. This flag is the same one I saw in the emblem of an another flag outside the city, So these guys are the ruler, but something is strange.

The direction of the wind is blowing from my left side to my right side,but the flag above is fluttering from my right side to my left side. If magic is involved then that explains the supernatural phenomena but why. Why did they go through the hard work just for that. I mean,it not that big of a deal. Maybe the library can provide me with the reason. So I turn left.

I can see a glimpse of an imposing building not far away from here. That left me wondering,is this the kingdom? I mean,there is a castle here,but maybe this is just a capital city. This is way smaller than a kingdom I have in my head.

Well anyway,I reached my destination. A grand building, adorned with the hue of a pearl and a golden intricate design. The building have a text said,"The Great Library Of Sokaro" inscribed. So this city or this kingdom I'm currently in is Sokaro. I take a step into the house of books.

In the library,there are a lot of bookshelves here. There are few people here,and all of them are bespectacled. Probably scholars or something. First and foremost,I need to read about this world in general. To be honest, I don't exactly sure where to find it. I'm just gonna search around history, geography and social studies.

In the history section I found the whole history of Sokaro ever recorded,shortened in a book.

In the geography section,I found the map of the world and a brief history and environment of each of the land. I emphasized the word "land" because this world technically only have one nation. Apparently, Sokaro,which is a kingdom, conquered the entire world. It piqued interest in history even more.

In social studies section,I picked a book about the Yumen ,which is a noble family that ruled the entire world. The emblem on the book is the same one I saw on the castle. So that castle is for the Yumen.

When I am searching the section,I saw all kind of branches of study. Like, biology, etymology, studies of magic, economy,anatomy, math, political and even fiction books. I will read it when I understand the basic of the world.

I heft the book to the table,and pour it all down. I decided to look at the map first and geography. There are three prominent islands,Sokaro,Verin, and Luxium. Sokaro is the pivotal island for the world economy. It's where merchants,vendors or peddler came around the world to sell their goods. Since Sokaro is in the center between Verin and Luxium, it's more convenient to do the business there. There are also artisans,smiths,artists and craftsmen selling their goods. The capital city of Sokaro is Sokarium,the one I currently residing. I know this because Yumen's castle only in the capital. This is also the reason why Sokaro is very diverse,I seen it a few hours ago. The estimate population of Sokaro is 23,000 people. The topography of the nature is mostly green,it do have some slope,and mountain,but there is few of that. The population, herbivores and carnivore,raining season are balance and in good condition.

I want to read more but I need to stop,I am starving. I returned the book to its initial place and headed out. Now,where I do I want to eat? Hm... Maybe at a bar,or a restaurant. Oh,or maybe at a stall. I want to taste a new cuisine made in another world right now. I found a restaurant,with the hanging signs said,"Guila's Restaurant". The restaurant's infrastructure look like a typical two story house. So,this must be a family restaurant. I will either eat the most scrumptious food I ever tasted or getting a food poisoning. Either way,I don't care. I just want something to fill my tummy.

But that when I realized,I don't have any money to begin with. Now,what do I do? Do I steal someone's pocket and spend it? Nah,I probably got caught. Maybe I can beg, pleading everyone on the street to give me scraps. But I might waste my time,and maybe I get kick out by the authority. Also,it will be a disgrace. That's when I got an idea like a light bulb turning on.

I can barter with them. They will offer me a meal and I give them my service. It's a win-win negotiations. But what if they just ignore me and kick me out. No,I can't just assumed the worst. I need to at least try. If I failed,I can do it again at another establishment. The reason why I am always behind my classmate because I am a coward. Scare to participate, thinking I will get it wrong and everyone laugh. I didn't asked any questions to the teacher, thinking they will reproach me for not listening.

Today,I want to change. I muster all of my strength to take a step closer to the restaurant. Closer and closer. I held out my hand to grab a knob,this door is made with wood and it's the type where you have to push it. Then,I open it...

Extra:Butchering

Quite a large amount of people are amass to one spot. That spot is where the lion monster carcass located. It's a fresh kill where everything still remains profitable. Some people skin the monster to get the fur garments. Some people declaw it for weapon. Some people slice the flesh for supper. Basically every part of its body is being used. Even its guts and organ are extracted to make necessities, accommodated people demand or for the future scholars.

The reek of blood,fat,guts and flesh made some vomited. These are novice for gathering resources,who is guided by veteran. This is also included the son of Guila. This is his first day of visiting the carcass to gather meat for their restaurant. His name is Ron and he is 16 years old.

He reluctantly pulled out a machete and slice off the flesh. He got a huge square chunk from the thighs. He wrap it around and place it in his wagon. He got an instructions to bring meat from its belly,breast,tongue, ribs,shoulder, thighs and ham.

He will get the easy one first,with the help of others,he get the shoulder first. For the second one,he get the tongue. Since it got cut in half diagonally,the tongue is split. That's not the problem,the problem is the smell of the monster saliva. He pick up the fragrance oil, spray his cloth an abundant amount for good measure in the wagon and wear it like a scarf. He got a huge chunk of it and store it. He can't spray the oil all around the carcass or the quality of the meat will depleted, that's what his father told to him.

Now for the hardest part,he have to get the ribs, belly and breast. The meat is not hard to slice off but you have to see the internal organ everytime. A seasoned butcher will not be affected by this,but a novice right him will be nauseating, especially if it in half.

He go to the ribcage,slice the meat off including the bone while having a lung right in front of him. When he done,he go to the breast. He get to see a heart and two lungs in a animal for the first time. He try to ignore it to focus on his butchering,but he just can't.

He then go to the belly,which is notorious for the smell of intestine and it will take a lot of time to slice the meat off. He sit down on the grass and begin cutting. Beside him is a girl roughly his age. She is also cutting the belly with him. It will be awkward to just sit around,he thought. So he strike up a conversation.

"So,what bring you here?" Asked Ron while slicing.

She ignore him and continue her business.

"Come on,we gonna be here for a long time. It will be a little awkward."

She still ignore him

She evidently not interested in small talk,so he doesn't bother her some more. He sometime glance at her beautiful face,and her knife. Her knife are survival knife,not very effective for cutting a meat like this. Some time passes,he already done his work for the day. He pack his thing up,ready to go home. He look at her one more time,she still trying to get a piece of it.

He sighed and goes over to help her. He stop the girl and start cutting for her.

"Your knife will get you nothing." Said Ron,"You need to use more sharp knife against this tough meat."

She silently watch him cutting the belly. With nothing to do,she pick up an intestine and slice it open.

"Wha-what are you doing!?"

A fetid smell wafted through the air,making Ron run while holding his mouth shut and vomit out another lunch. After finishing,he came back to the girl,who is unaffected by the smell. Ron noticed his machete seem like it moved,but that's not important right now.

"Hey,why are you doing this?" Said Ron,fuming with anger,"There is nothing beside wastes."

Then,she mutter a word. "S-Sorry." She has an adorable voice, enough for a simple boy like him flush.

"N-Nothing, it's not a big deal or anything." Charmed by her voice,he sit down and continue slicing the meat for her.

Some more time passes,and he finished cutting for her. He give a chunk of it to her and say,"Here."

She received it,and turned her head away.

"Thank you,"she said quietly then head off. Ron watch her from behind,"What a cute girl,maybe I should ask her out when I meet her again." is his thoughts. He returned to his wagon and ride away from the carcass, which is nearly a skeleton.

"I can't wait to eat my father's cooking for supper." He mumble. "Why does she suddenly open the intestines,does,she had an ulterior motive?"