Chapter III - Mazino Kingdom (part 1)

As I hop in, I realize that the inside of the cart isn't that spacious.

It's big enough to fit at least six people. But thanks to the boxes inside, it can only fit less than four.

Aside from the two siblings, there are boxes filled with fruits. There are at least 8 boxes, where some are stacked above another. The boxes are placed in the middle of the long carriage, while the sides are where the people sit. The siblings sat on the right side and I sat on the left.

"Okay, all set? Let's go! Haiyah!!"

The horse made a small sound when the old man whipped the rope before starting moving again, pulling the whole cart. And as the carriage moved, I immediately adjusted to the shaky environment.

The back of the carriage was open, with a foldable wooden gate as the only thing stopping us from falling backwards, out of the carriage. I kept my gaze there, since looking outside like this felt really nice.

"So, where did you come from?"

The little girl asked me as I was eating the bread they gave me, and I turned my gaze from the view to her.

"Umm, I don't know which direction, but it's a kingdom far-far away from here. You probably have never heard of it."

I said to her, but the old man heard it from the driver's seat.

"I'm pretty sure I know the names of all the kingdoms… Lady, just how far did you get yourself into?"

He asked from the front seat while controlling the horse that moves a little slowly now, which made me panic a little because I wasn't expecting him to know all the kingdom names.

"Well, I'm not sure. All I did was move from place to place in the wild."

"So you were surviving in the forest?"

This time, the boy asked me. From his eyes, I can tell he is very curious and excited about my fake journeys.

"Not exactly..."

"Did you get to meet bears?"

"Ehh..."

"Are there cute animals there?"

"Well, there are a few…"

"What kind of food did you eat in the wild?"

"That's..."

"Is it really that cold in the wild?"

"..."

Damn, kids…

The siblings barraged me with questions that I didn't even know how to answer. But I had to make up some story or something, else I might be considered a threat.

"Kids, please! The lady is tired. Leave the heavy questions!"

""Sorry, dad.""

The children said to their father at the same time, which amazes me. I then turned to the old man, because he seemed to be wanting to talk to me. His back can be seen clearly from the inside of the carriage, despite nearly being covered by boxes of fruits. But, I can tell he is turning his head this way once or twice.

"So, young lady. What's your name?"

He suddenly asked, and I started to ponder.

Name, huh?

If I use my real name, wouldn't that be a male's name?

Then, should I use a fake name? This isn't my original appearance, after all. Nobody will recognize me, anyway.

Hmm… what name…? 

Rose? Or maybe, Scarlet? It does suit my red hair.

Or maybe… I can use the name of my female videogame character in a game that I play nearly everyday. People call me by that name all the time inside the game, so it should be quite familiar to me.

Yeah… let's use that name.

"Rize."

Damn, it felt so absurd.

"Rize? What a name... I'm Urek, by the way. The girl is Mana, she is eight. And the boy is Ven, he's eleven."

"Nice to meet you, sister Rize!"

The little girl suddenly said after hearing my name, and I turned to her with a smile.

"Nice to meet you too, Mana."

Looks like I can use that name, after all…

Kids here are so sincere and straightforward. I guess I haven't really met any decent kids in a long time. Most of the kids I met recently were a bunch of jackasses that only know trash talking.

Or maybe that was because those were boys… and I was a guy at the time. I guess little girls socialize differently?

"So, miss Rize. What are you doing, coming to Mazino?"

The old man asked again, and this time by saying a name I haven't heard of before.

Mazino? Could it be the name of the kingdom?

"I just needed a place to stick around. I journeyed a little too far, I guess. Time to make a stop."

I lied, as smooth as breathing. Luckily, the old man is not at all suspicious.

"Ah, I see. And why are you barefooted?"

He asked suddenly, and I began thinking long and hard.

"I lost my shoes in the woods…"

I need to tell this guy a good story. Until I figure out what is going on with me, it's much safer to keep the whole thing to myself and keep telling lies, since I'm not sure what exactly this place is like.

"Ah, there's an extra pair of shoes right next to the boxes--"

"No, wait. I can't have that."

He is already helping me by taking me to the gate… I can't have him give me more things. Though, they did give me bread, but a pair of shoes are…

"It's okay. The shoes are ugly!"

Ven said to me without concern whatsoever, which made his dad laugh from the driver's seat.

"Just take it, Miss Rize. You need it more than I do!"

He said while grinning widely, and I turned my gaze towards the boxes of fruits. There's a pair of shoes right next to them indeed, and they do look old and dirty.

"In that case… I hope you don't mind."

I took the shoes and tried them on. Two pairs of young eyes are watching me as I do so, but I did not mind them.

I looked at the box of fruit right next to my feet after putting the shoes on. The fruits, I somehow know. These are pineapples.

"What about you, Mister Urek? Traveling with your kids?"

This time, I directed a question to him. I suppose I can do that as part of socializing, and it sounds like it worked.

"Uh, no... Haha, no way. I have no time to travel, no. We just came back from a nearby farming village, you see. After grabbing those fruits so that my wife can sell them, at the main shopping area in the capital. My kids said they wanted to come since this will be the last time before a season change, so I took them with me."

Season change…? Well, this is around the end of a season indeed. It's about to be summer now.

"Ah, I see. So these fruits are to be sold?"

"That is correct."

"How much for each, exactly?"

"A single good apple is about... 4 to 5 Jules? I don't know, mostly my wife is the one who understood those stuff."

Jackpot. I found knowledge. 

The currency here is called Jules. An apple is worth 4 to 5 Jules. So to calculate, 4 to 5 Jules is about one US dollar or eighty cents.

Now, to keep pretending...

"So Jules is the currency in Mazino?"

"Yes, it's… the main currency in any kingdom, Lady. Seriously, how did you not know that?"

I became silent to that question. I barely knew anything.

"I guess I... Played around in the wild a little too much. I haven't encountered a single town or kingdom at all."

"Oh. Then you must really be coming from the east!"

"I guess so?"

The horse is getting closer and closer to the kingdom. I can see how big the kingdom's walls are, now that we are close. 

It's... Humongous. It's definitely taller than my school building, possibly as tall as a mall. It seemed to be made out of stone, and separating it from the land outside the kingdom, is a river. 

Of course any castle must have rivers outside their walls. Why wouldn't they?

"Oh, since you came from far-far away..."

He stopped his question for a while, and I can tell he already has some ideas on where I came from.

"You do happen to know how to read… don't you?"

As we get closer to the gate, I can see there is a big sign right above the gate. Inside the sign, written... Whatever the fuck those symbols are.

Fuck…

"I... Don't."

"Oh, dear lord."