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The two of them made their way deeper into the city, headed towards the castle. Leo fought his urges to look at everything that Edheim had to offer. He’d been living in a magical world for well over a month, but this place was truly magical.

He saw mages teleport into the middle of the street without breaking their stride. He had to pass dozens of vendors that sold foods that called out to a primal hunger of his. There was a pet store with a sign that just said “FLAMING GERBIL FAMILIARS HALF OFF!” He had no need for a familiar, let alone whatever a flaming gerbil was, but he wanted one badly.

The journey to the castle was a strong test of willpower for Leo. Despite a near close call with a restaurant that offered unlimited salt spirit fries, they were able to reach the castle with no interruption.

The castle was a monument to something far greater than any man. The walls surrounding it were adorned with stone gargoyles at the top, and Leo could swear that they were looking down at him. The towers that broke up the wall seemed to be split into two.

There would be a solid stone structure that ended with a flat top. There were openings where Leo could see guards keeping watch on the surrounding area. Floating far above it was the top half of the tower, which held its place mid air. The pointed tops seemed to pierce the sky as they levitated above.

The symbol of the kingdom seemed to be magically marked into the walls. There was a bear laying within a field of aspen flowers. It was not an ordinary painting. Leo saw as the bear moved around and stretched lazily, while the flowers danced in the non-existent wind.

Marem had told Leo to let her handle the letter given to them by Zanwin Vanceroy, the mayor of Faelde city, since she claimed to be more experienced with the matter. Leo didn’t have any counter arguments, considering the fact that she has lived in this world her whole life while he was just a newcomer.

While the two of them approached the wooden gates, the guards responded to their movement. Soon there were a handful of royal guards blocking them. Their armor had a golden shine to it, which reflected the sunlight to create an aura around them.

“Halt! What business do you have at the castle?” demanded the largest guard.

Marem pulled out the letter, “We have a government seal giving us entry. We require an audience with the king. So hurry up and alert your superiors.”

The guard snatched the letter from her hand and looked it over. Leo saw him show the letter to the nearby guards as they whispered to each other. One of them entered a nearby door in the wall and brought out a stone box. A dark purple energy swirled around the box. The guards placed the letter inside and waited.

After a few passing moments, a giant purple hole energy onto the door. It pulsated with mana and held an unstable form. Through the haze appeared the face of an elderly woman. She looked around the surroundings until making eye contact with Leo and Marem.

“Oh, Marem, it’s nice to see you, sweetie. Tell your father I say hi. I see you and that strapping young man want a meeting, but it’ll be a bit. Come back around 10,” said the woman.

Before anyone could respond, the feed ended with a pop and the woman disappeared from sight. The knights opened up the box and handed Marem the letter back. She secured it and turned to Leo.

“Alright, so we have a few hours to spend in the city. Anything you want to do?” asked Marem.

“How come she knew you?” Leo ignored her question.

“Oh, my dad just does some business with the king. As his oldest kid, he’d sometimes bring me along,” she explained.

“That’s cool, what type of business did he do?” asked Leo.

“Does it matter?” She dismissed his question.

“I guess not,” replied Leo.

“Okay, we’re going to this nearby restaurant I know. We’ve had nothing but rations for the past week and a half, so some real food would do us good,” ordered Marem.

She led Leo away from the castle and down the main street of the city. They passed by countless restaurants that all enticed him. It was a lot harder to pass up food when you could smell every fine detail that goes into a lovingly handcrafted dish.

After ten minutes of walking, she brought them into a small diner that was nestled into a group of buildings. The inside was cramped, with only enough space to fit about ten occupants. There was a man sitting in the corner, his skin was a deep purple. He seemed to be entranced by the bowl of soup he was eating.

Leo looked up at the board displaying all the food for sale. There were dozens of soups, sandwiches, and “other” foods. He looked around the list to try and find anything that seemed familiar.

“Can I get a wererabbit stew, but no onions and extra carrots,” she said to the meek elf cashier. She turned to Leo, “What do you want?”

Leo panicked and picked at random, “Oh, uh, just one second. I’ll get the demon-hog pulled pork sandwich with a sprite.”

The cashier gave him a confused look, “Sorry, sir, we don’t stock that at this location. We offer water, wine, ale, beer, and mead.”

“Water is good,” Leo awkwardly chuckled.

The two of them paid and sat down at a small table near the entrance. Near the entrance being a bit redundant as even the furthest table was only a few steps away from the door. The gentle warmth from the kitchen put him at ease. Leo decided to talk to Marem about her connection to the capital. She mentioned having family reasons to reach Edheim, but she never went into detail about what they were.