Chapter 14: To Meet a Count Part 1

The inn Joshua chose was a nice establishment by even his modern standards. He had a private room with a deluxe sized bed. Think feather stuffed covers and eight fluffy feather stuffed pillows were on top of the bed. There was a storage chest, and a private toilet in an adjoining room.

The full moon lit the sky, and he could see the palace from his window. It was bigger than he had expected. The city he was in was not the capital of the kingdom. The governor of the lands was a count, which on the noble scale was near the middle. He had Joshua's memories to thank for that information.

In this new world of his there were two classifications of the nobility. There were landed nobles and free nobles of the realm. A landed noble meant that the noble was in charge of a territory, and they started at the rank of count. Above count was viscount, duke, and then the king.

Free nobles had no land, they only had the honor of title and money. The lowest of their rank was a squire. It was common for knights and knight-captains to be a free noble, but uncommon past the rank of count.

Joshua thought of all these things to mentally prepare himself for tomorrow. Although he was having a hard time focusing. He could still see his mother's beaten face and he could still feel the press of her lips on his forehead from when she kissed him goodbye. It was actually her who taught Joshua about all of that nobility stuff, which only made him more curious about her and kept her on his mind.

"I have to save her as soon as I can." Joshua said to himself. "I will save you mother. I promise." He said as he looked out the window in the direction of the lower city. He walked over to his big fluffy bed and jumped into it.

It was the first warm soft surface he slept on since coming to this world and yet he couldn't sleep. His mind was too focused on the events of the day and what he needed to do in the future.

He closed his eyes as the thoughts raced through his head and pretended to sleep. The light of dawn shone through the window and hit his eyes. He opened his eyes and got up, yawning. He knew he had slept some, but he knew it was not nearly enough to feel rested. He gathered his gear and paid for his night's stay.

A warm fresh loaf of bread was provided as breakfast, and he took it with him as he walked to the palace. The bread was fluffy, warm, and soft, completely different than the bread he was used to in the lower city. Although he did wonder why bread was common in the upper city. He understood the reasoning in the lower city. It is cheap to make and has some carbs for energy.

But why are the rich free nobles of the upper city eating it? Shouldn't they be eating eggs and bacon? He pondered those questions while he walked to the palace gates. There he was stopped by a guard with a sword secured to his belt and a shield upon his back.

"Halt!" The guard said. "What is your business with the count?"

"Oh, I am Joshua, from the adventurer's guild." Joshua said while handing the guard his card. "I have a scheduled meeting with the count."

"Oh, the demon slayer." The guard said as he lowered his guard. "I heard about you, slayed that unkillable demon that killed my brother. Thanks for that. I hope you made it suffer."

"Sorry for your loss." Joshua said.

"Ha!" The guard said. "Don't be! That man was a fool and a drunk! One night he went out drinking and got completely wasted, declared loudly to the entire tavern that he was doing to rid the land of the demon and then walked out.

We found his chewed-up corpse a few days later. I loved him of course, but the damned fool did it to himself."

"I see." Joshua said. "So can I go in now?"

"Yeah." The guard said as he pulled the door open for Joshua. "Please keep your weapon attached to your belt at all times, or you will wish the demon killed you."

"I understand." Joshua said. The front gate of the palace blocked the view of the interior. As much as Joshua stared at the building last night, he could never imagine the sights he was now seeing.

A marble brick walkway cut through the perfectly manicured grass to the main entrance of the palace. Either side of the path was lined with some of the most beautiful flowers Joshua had ever seen and along the walls were shrubberies that were trimmed into the shapes of various animals.

More guards patrolled the grounds in groups of four. Large towers also were erected at the four corners of the outer wall with more guards manning each of them. Two additional guards stood in front of massive iron doors that were the entrance to the palace proper.

Joshua walked across the marble path and as he approached the two guards each of them grabbed one of the massive iron doors and opened them slowly. By the time Joshua reached their location the doors were completely open, and the guards were saluting him as he passed.

Inside was a butler waiting for him. "Good morning, Sir Adventurer Joshua." The butler said while bowing. "It is my most humble duty today to ensure your meeting with the lord goes exceptionally well. If you would please follow me, I must fit you with the proper attire."

"What's wrong with what I am wearing?" Joshua asked. He thought his outfit looked good; it was a silk shirt after all.

"Too many things to mention sir." The butler said, not stopping his mission. "Now please hurry, don't dally around."

CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Alphachoas

Thanks for reading! Please add this book to your collections if you have not already! Also please vote with powerstones! And let me know what you think in the comments!

comment 2 comment

Vote

SEND GIFT

Load failed, please RETRY