Chapter 3:

After six days traveling, Morgja had almost reached his destination, in the distance he could see a huge wall, which easily reached 40 meters high, which left the boy impressed by the fact that he was surrounding a town. The closer he got to the wall the more imposing he looked.

Upon reaching the entrance, the boy paid the driver and got out of the carriage, so that it would then go the way he had come. The first thing the boy noticed when he saw the entrance was that although at that moment it was clear of debris, the gate in the wall with everything that had been above it in the past had collapsed, leaving a free way for anyone who wanted to enter. Next to the entrance there was a big sign that said the name of the town, "Maran", Morgja took a deep breath and began to walk along the dirt road that led inside the wall. While he followed the path, the boy could see in the distance a watchtower that was supported by three legs placed in a triangle, on one of the sides of the pyramid it had pieces of wood that were used to climb to the top.

"Wait a minute!" A boy yelled, as soon as Morgja got close to the watchtower, the boy was leaning out of one of the sides of the tower, his blond hair poking out from under the helmet he was wearing at the time. Morgja stopped at once to see what he wanted from what he assumed was a guard. Who are you!? the boy asked, yelling again at the distance between him and Morgja.

"My name is Morgja, I have come to offer to be a village guard!" the boy yelled back, hoping that the guard currently at the watchtower hadn't shown up for work in the time it had taken him to get there.

"I understand, wait a minute!" The boy shouted again, stopping leaning out of the side of the watchtower, immediately the boy began to lower the watchtower and in less than three minutes he was in front of Morgja. Up close, Morgja could see that the guard had green eyes and wore a breastplate, shoulder pads, elbow pads, bracers, and steel knee pads. "Hi, I'm Cesar, follow me, I'll take you to the town hall."

Cesar began to walk towards the town, which could be seen from there, passing a path that led to the right, passing in front of him, Morgja tried to make out what was at the end, but he could only see a couple of houses. , one in front of another.

"Is it okay for you to leave your post?" Morgja asked, seeing the nonchalance with which the guard walked towards the village without stopping to check if he was following him or not.

"Don't worry," the boy answered, dismissing what Morgja had asked him. "Where are you from?"

"Lakkonia."

"Wow! You're from the capital!? And you've come to this little town to be a guard!?" The boy shouted, impressed both by the origin of Morgja and by the fact that he had traveled more than 1000 kilometers to be a guard in an unimportant town.

"Yes, and..."

"Are you good at magic? I've heard that everybody in the capital are geniuses who dominate all kinds of magic" asked the overexcited boy, interrupting what Morgja was about to say.

"Nah, I'm a lacker" answered the boy, referring to the fact that he had been born without the ability to use any kind of magic.

"Really? Another one, it seems that this town is a magnet for them" exclaimed Cesar, disappointed by the answer that Morgja had given him.

"Another one?"

"The night guard also came from outside and is a lacker, apart from that, almost the entire town is," he answered, before stopping in an area completely covered by stone tiles, and which had a fountain in the center. "Well, this is the town square, and right there you have the town hall," he said, pointing to a large wooden building just across from the square. "Now I have to go, if they see me lacking my duty as a guard they'll tell me off, see you" he commented, starting to run back towards the watchtower.

Morgja went straight to the town hall, while he did he noticed that there was no one there, although, considering the size of the place he assumed that it was something normal. Upon entering the town hall Morgja ran into a counter, behind him was a middle-aged woman with her hair tied in a bun, and red glasses, the woman was thin and quite pretty for her age, her nails were long and painted red.

"Wel...Who are you?" She asked, thinking that the visitor was going to be someone from the town, and changing what she was going to say as soon as she saw that it was someone from outside, being a bit abrupt, despite the fact that she asked without bad intentions.

"My name is Morgja, I came for the job as guard. Is it still available?" Answered the boy, taking the sheet of newspaper in which the ad appeared from one of his pockets and pointing to the woman where they were.

"No, I'm sorry, after the last meeting the neighbors complained that the mayor put this ad without consulting, there was quite a stir and in the end it was decided that we would not hire anyone else and that we would continue with two guards as before," explained the woman, giving all the details about what had happened, even though no one had asked her and she could have just said that the job was no longer available.

"I understand," answered the boy, showing a smiling expression, even though from inside he was screaming.

"I'm sorry, ehm. Do you come from far away?" asked the woman with a pity face.

"From the capital".

"From the capital!?" the woman shouted, surprised both by the fact that Morgja was from such an important place and by the distance the boy had traveled to get there. "May I ask why you would want to come be a guard in a seedy town?"

"I needed a job and the housing offer was promising," the boy answered. "Anyway, I have to go, thanks for your time".

Despite the fact that Morgja had kept smiling the whole time they had been talking, the woman felt sorry for the boy, and watched as he walked towards the door while trying to think of an idea so that the whole trip there would have served him well.

"Wait!" the woman yelled, before the boy walked out the door, Morgja turned around and looked at the woman. "Why don't you stay in town for a couple of days? I'll try to convince everyone to hire you at the next meeting".

"Really!?" asked the boy, approaching the counter again, his expression had changed, although he maintained the smile with which he had been speaking to the woman the whole time, it was noticeable that at that moment he was doing it genuinely and not to hide his true feelings.

"The next meeting will be the day after tomorrow, wait until then at the inn, I can't promise that we'll hire you, but I'll do everything in my power," answered the woman, trying to make the boy not trust that it would be safe to ask him. I was going to get the job.

Morgja nodded and went out the door to realize that he did not know where the inn was, the boy looked to the sides, to the left of him he could see a few buildings that seemed to be shops and to his right some that appeared to be houses normal. Morgja decided to go to the left, thinking that the shops would most likely all be located in that area. Just in front of the first building the road divided into three, one that went directly to the store, another that went straight on, and the third, which was located on the opposite side of the first and went straight on for a few meters and then continued to the right leading to another store. A few meters later the road divided again, this time only to the boy's left and again it seemed to lead to a store, although it was too early to be sure, the boy assumed that his idea that the inn was in that area was true, and he kept walking forward until he came upon the road dividing for the third time, again to the three available sides; Ahead of him led to a building that appeared to be a hospital, albeit a smaller version of the one he was used to, to his right was a fourth store, and finally to his left a large building, which had a sign at the entrance saying "inn/tavern"

The boy took the path to the inn and when he reached the building he entered immediately, again he was in a room designed for reception; the room was square, and had a door both to the left and to the right and just in front of the entrance a counter, in which there was another woman, this one seemed to be much older than the receptionist of the town hall, the woman was not very graceful, and the large amount of makeup she wore on her face did not help to see her more beautiful, her hands were bony and like the other receptionist they ended in long nails that were painted red; On each of her fingers she wore a ring that sported a gem. The woman tapped her fingernails on the table, creating a rhythmic sound as she read a book.

"Excuse me," Morgja said, trying to get the attention of the woman, who was engrossed in her book. After calling her three more times, the boy placed his hand in front of the woman's book, preventing her from continuing to read.

"What..."

The moment she saw the hand, the woman was going to yell at the boy for obstructing her reading, however, as soon as she realized that he was a customer and not one of her neighbors, she changed her attitude and her frown to a smile that sent a shiver down the boy's spine at how horrible it was.

"What I can help?" the woman asked, keeping her smile.

"I want to stay here for two days," the boy replied, returning the woman's smile so as not to appear impolite.

"Do you want us to prepare your food or do you prefer to manage on your own?" The woman then asked, making the boy see that they also offered that kind of service, something that was not usual in the capital.

"How much would it cost?"

"20 Bamen without food 35 Bamen with food."

Morgja began to think about what the best option was, he only had 35 Bamen left, which was what he had left over from the carriage payment, thanks to having made the trip in one day less than the boy had estimated, if he chose the room Without the food, he would have 15 Bamen left over, with which he could buy food and water for 3 days, but surely of poorer quality and less quantity than what he would be offered during those two days of lodging. After 5 minutes thinking about all the pros and cons of the two types of accommodation, the boy opted for the one that offered him food, since it had been almost a week since he had eaten elaborate cuisine and that it completely satisfied him.

"You have to pay in advance," the woman said, reaching out and opening her hand for the boy to deposit the money into it. Despite the fact that it was the first time he was asked to pay in advance, the boy did not complain and took out of the bag in which he kept the money, all that he had left, to then place it in the woman's hand . "The rooms are on the right, at the moment they are all empty, so you can choose the one you prefer," she explained, moving her hand to the right, to indicate the door that he had to take.

Morgja entered through the door the woman had indicated and found himself in a long corridor with three doors on the left and two on the right, and a staircase to the upper floor. The boy went to the first door on the left, and right next to it he saw a small sign that said "Mixed", after examining the other four doors, he discovered that those doors led to outside bathrooms and toilets. Next, the boy went upstairs to go to his room, on the top floor there was another staircase to a second floor, and all the doors were located on the right, Morgja entered the first room, which led to a room With a single bed, a desk with a chair and a cupboard to store luggage, the boy lay down on the bed and fell asleep right away from having spent six days sleeping on the floor.