Chapter 1: New Arrivals

The morning the group of riders entered Bolden, the sky was the deepest blue Morgan had ever seen.

Hidden behind a tree, he observed the townspeople, composed of humans and goblins alike, as they focused on the new arrivals. Taking advantage of the distraction, he snuck closer to the town square where the multitude of people stood, acting casual, as if he belonged with them. 

The leader of the group of riders, dressed in ostentatious military garbs just like his followers, got off his horse as a middle-aged man in well-fitted clothes approached him with a shy-looking young girl following him. 

Both men exchanged greeting words and shook hands. “For the mayor to receive him personally... Is that guy really that important?” said a young woman beside Morgan. Based on her bright green skin and small stature, she could only be a goblin. The goblin woman looked a bit older than him and wore a modest uniform; a Bolden guard, he assumed. 

Morgan nodded, as the question seemed directed at him. “That’s Ser Ivonn Sol, from the capital military,” he said.  It was simple to identify the man from the sun sigil in his cape. ”Despite his age, he is already a Captain.” The man was also the main reason Morgan had made his way to Bolden.

The goblin guard considered his words, a frown on her face, and spat on the ground, very much not the reaction Morgan expected. “Meh. He and his people give me a bad feeling, like they think they are better than anyone here just because they are nobles.” While uncouth, she had a point. One could notice the barely hidden dislike some of the soldiers felt; they probably found a little town like Bolden lacking compared with the great human city of Rover. ”Besides, the mayor is better than that other guy!” she said excitedly.

“Do you think so?” The well-dressed man welcoming Sol seemed extremely average, just judging his looks. One would never suspect such an inconspicuous man had saved their country from one of their most dangerous enemies two decades ago. 

Ivonn Sol, a young noble from Rover who had risen to the rank of Captain in time record, had now met Sigmund Basthed,  the mayor of the small town of Bolden, and one of the four Cardinal Heroes. Morgan felt this encounter would be very significant for their country. If in a good or a bad way, he wasn’t sure.

“Of course. But hey, I’m not surprised you don't know. After all, y’ain't from around here, right?” said the goblin guard, making Morgan slowly turn to her, feeling a bit nervous. Her tone was as casual as before, but a knowing smile now adorned her face. ”I saw you sneaking in. Very clumsy job, especially being so tall like you are… I think we should step away a little and talk, don’t cha think?” 

Sometimes, circumstances could go from good to terrible and then good again in a matter of minutes. That’s what Morgan was just learning.

He had obediently followed the guard away from the town square, noticing for the first time that she was armed with a crossbow. 

Morgan had expected to be brusquely shoved into the nearest cell and interrogated at any moment. Instead, he found himself walking into a tavern.

“Same as always?” a waitress asked the moment she noticed them.

“Yes!” replied the guard. “One bowl for my friend here, too!”

As the waitress nodded and walked to the kitchen, the guard sat at a nearby table and unceremoniously dropped her weapon onto it. He stood there, not sure what to do. “Not going to sit?” She gestured to the table with a patient smile on her face.

His eyes widened, wondering for a moment if she was trying to play some mind game with him. He was never good at reading too much into those, so he simply sat in the nearest chair. He chose the worst one. Not only were they facing each other, but her weapon, a crossbow, was also now pointed in his direction.

After a while of staring at the guard, feeling awkward while she just smiled back at him, the waitress returned and served them two bowls of warm stew, her eyes sparkling as the food was served "So nice-looking like always, and I don’t mean the stew,” said the guard, now looking smugly at the waitress, which gained her a giggle. 

“Such a flirt, but I’ve told you not to put weapons on the table,” the waitress scolded her gently. 

“Oops!” She immediately put the weapon down, making Morgan quietly sigh in relief. ”I love Aria's beef stew so much. Give it a try, I'm sure you'll love it too."

With their expectant eyes on him, Morgan hesitantly took a spoonful and was surprised by the flavor. "Y-you were right, it's very good!" Both women smiled. The warmth of their expressions and the lack of an immediate threat to his life made him relax considerably. 

Maybe he was rushing to a conclusion, but in the last few minutes, he had started feeling like Bolden was a very good place. The greenery from its surroundings mixed well with the modest architecture, composed of one-floor buildings, not unlike the ones in his hometown, but they definitely looked more sturdy and well-cared for, giving Bolden a more pleasant atmosphere. Especially because the townspeople were actually nice, at least judging by just the two he had met. 

“Right, I almost forgot, my name is Naga!"

"'Naga’? Like the half-snake monster?"

She smirked. "Kinda? The people at the orphanage told me that when I was a baby, a huge snake bit me, and I got mad and bit it back, so they decided to call me that."

While most would think the anecdote an exaggeration or an outright lie, Morgan took it at face value. There were a bunch of outrageous stories about goblins shrugging off heavy damage and doing absurd feats of strength like knocking down trees with headbutts. So Naga’s story sounded believable in comparison. 

"Well, that sounds more interesting than anything I've done when I was that young.” He took a moment to think about it and shook his head. ”Or anything I’ve done recently as well," he mumbled, making Naga giggle. "Nice to meet you, too, I guess. My name is Morgan." He bowed. "I'm from Linverd."

"Linverd? That's a week from here, innit?" He nodded. Naga stared at him, looking thoughtful. "If I had to guess... You came to Bolden because of that Sol guy, right?" she asked.

“Captain Sol or Ser Ivonn," he corrected, aware of how some nobles could be extremely touchy about their titles, "and yeah. I wanted to meet him.”

"I assume you don’t have a horse. So, you've been stalking-"

"Following."

"-him on foot this whole time just to... What exactly?"

He lowered his head, feeling embarrassed. "I wanted to join his group."

After a moment of silence, she added, “so, you want to be a knight like him?” Her expression was one of understanding.

It was the kind of 'understanding' where you still think the other person is dumb, though. Sol was a noble. The chances he would let a commoner like Morgan into his group of noble soldiers were almost zero... But ‘almost’ meant he actually had a small chance of Sol accepting him. “Yes, that’s it.” He wasn’t giving her the whole context, but just admitting his goal openly was quite embarrassing; going into detail would be too much, even for him.

“So that’s it? No criminal or nefarious reason to come here?” Naga looked almost disappointed.

“None at all!” he denied vehemently.

"Oh, well. That’s good." She emptied her bowl and left it on the table, along with some coins.  "I'll pay for yours, too. So, have a good day!" She stood up and seemed ready to walk away when it finally registered to Morgan how weird everything that had just happened was.

"Wait, that’s it? You are going to leave?"

“Yes? Why do you look so surprised?”

“I thought you were going to interrogate me.”

“I just did,” Naga smirked. 

She had asked him some questions. But they were so innocuous, and she had been so friendly, it hadn’t felt like an interrogation. “I mean, like, in jail or something…?”

She tilted her head. "You want to go to jail?" He shook his head fervently. "Good. Because I don't think it’s necessary; you seem trustworthy."

"I do?" he asked, grateful but confused.

"Yes. You see, we goblins... can read minds!" Morgan went still, trying not to think about anything. She giggled. "You are so silly! I'm just joking... Kinda. We goblins have very good instincts. So I know you are telling the truth and don’t mean harm. I can feel it, like, in your aura, I guess. Not sure how else to explain it. You just feel like a good person.”

He wasn’t sure what to say. Her words moved him.

“Actually...” Naga stared at him, her gentle smile widening. “Why don't you come with me? There’s a part of the town I think you’ll love. I can show you around!" Morgan hesitated for a moment. "I mean, if you want to impress Sol and become a knight that much..."

"Okay, I'll go!"

"That's the spirit!" They left the tavern.

He didn't notice the red eyes following him as they ran towards the wide two-floor building to the west of the town.

As they walked the path around the building, Morgan's eyes roamed around, staring at the multiple guards coming and going.

Naga explained, "these are the barracks. A bit shabby but-..."

"What are you talking about? This place is great." The building was weary and grey, but Bolden's defenders lived and trained in such a place. It was a nest for peacekeepers, and that appealed to Morgan. 

"Seriously, that's what you think?" Naga looked incredulous. "You haven't even looked inside yet. I know I'm not that tall, but there's barely any space for anything in my room!"

Morgan's eyes went wide. "You have a room? Like, only yours? You don't have to share it with someone else? That sounds nice," he said, with just a bit of envy. 

Naga looked stricken. "You are making me feel bad for complaining. I'll just shut up." He didn't quite understand her reaction, so he just shrugged and followed her to the back of the building, greeting the guards they crossed with. Morgan behaved as politely as he could while Naga was absurdly friendly to everyone, as if they were all her best friends. 

A training field soon came into view.

"Here we are!" Naga's smile was back at full power as they approached the archery range. Various targets were lined up about 5 meters from each other. "How good would you say you are at archery?"

"Not good," he replied immediately.

"Not much experience?"

He scratched his head, embarrassed.. "I'm terrible, I think."

"Don't be silly, you can't possibly be that bad. Just watch." She gave him a little show, calmly aiming with her crossbow and smoothly landing an arrow straight to the center of one of the targets. "See? Easy. Bows are a bit harder, so give it a try with the crossbow. They are better for beginners."

He looked at the weapon with wariness, taking a step away. “Are you sure I’m allowed to do this?”

She shrugged. “I told you I trust you. As long as you don't hurt yourself or anybody else, it's fine.”

Sighing, he took the offered weapon and gave it a try. It felt impossibly heavy, as if it didn’t belong in his hands. He tried to emulate Naga’s expert attempt, feeling his hands all clammy and his posture stiff and wrong in ways he had no idea how to fix. 

By the time he was done, only one of ten arrows managed to hit a target. "Well, you got one, at least," said Naga, doing her best to sound encouraging.

"I guess so." To avoid further embarrassment, he didn't mention he wasn't even aiming at that target but the one to its left. "It doesn't matter, I'm better with swords, anyway."

"Even then, it's important to know these things, you know? What if someone comes at you to kill you and you just have a crossbow to defend yourself?"

"I would wait until they are close enough to use the crossbow as a club." His face was serious, he would totally do it if needed.

"E-eh...? And what would you do if the enemy also has a ranged weapon? They won't approach you!"

"Guess I'll die, then," he said, unperturbed by the grim scenario.

Naga snorted, apparently finding him funny. "You are so weird. But whatever, let's do as you want and try with swords. At least you have some actual training with those, right?" she asked while they walked to the open field.

He opened his mouth and then closed it. "Kinda? I have seen other people training. And practiced using sticks or whatever I could get my hands on."

She looked surprised. "Wait. You haven't held a sword before?" 

Stopping by an equipment rack, Morgan was offered a vest and a wooden helmet so he could protect himself a bit. He did not comment on how oversized the helmet Naga was using was.

"I have. At least a couple of times. I mean, I worked for the blacksmith in my town for some months... He always took the swords away the moment I tried to wave them around, though." He lowered his head at the pile of depressing memories.

"So you are a total rookie?" He nodded after a moment. "Well, I'm not sure if I'm any good at teaching sword fighting.” She handed Morgan a wooden sword and grabbed one for herself, then they moved some meters away from each other. ”But I think you should be able to learn at least a couple of things sparring with me... Though People don't like to do that too much." She chuckled awkwardly while Morgan frowned, suddenly realizing this could be a huge mistake.

He imitated Naga as she assumed a defensive stance. He felt nervous, especially as some other guards stopped to watch them. "Huh? Your posture looks good enough. Let's test it." She approached slowly. "If I do this..." She slashed at him. It was a slow attack to test the waters, so Morgan easily blocked it with his sword, both clashing for a short moment before Naga back-stepped, creating some distance between them.

She grinned. "Okay, how about this then?" Approaching again, now a bit faster, her attack was again blocked by Morgan, but this time, she immediately followed with a second and third attack, each one blocked with ease. "You have some good reflexes!" 

Naga's grin widened, her now visible sharp teeth creating a strangely menacing expression. She continued attacking, wildly growing faster and stronger with each slash, giving Morgan no time to strike back. 

As their swords locked, Morgan was pushed by the strength of his opponent. It made him remember that, as small as she looked, Naga was still a goblin, and they were known for their physical strength, surprisingly greater than the average human.

As he tried to create some distance, Naga pursued him, putting all her strength behind a downward slash intended to finish the fight. So it took her by surprise when, for the first time, Morgan didn't block but dodged instead, making her stumble for a moment. Morgan took advantage of her mistake to finally attack, lightly hitting the side of her helmet. That was enough to make the unnecessarily big helmet whirl around, blocking Naga's eyesight.

"Oi!" She dropped her weapon and clumsily tried to correct her helmet position, causing the laughs of some of the people watching their mock combat. Once she realized what she had done, her face reddened. It was a peculiar sight on a green-skinned face. "Guess that's your win...?"

"It was?" Morgan couldn't help but smile a bit. Better to ignore the fact that Naga’s last attack would have likely broken his bones if he had tried to block.

"Anyway, you lied, didn't you?" she asked, her face almost pouting. It didn't quite have the effect it should have when the person doing it almost cut him in half a moment ago. "No rookie would fight like that!"

"I didn't lie, though? I always practice by myself; no one trained me. And I have no real fighting experience." No soldier or swordsman showed any interest in training him. But he still worked hard by himself to get as strong as he could, even if sometimes his body hurt so much he felt like giving up. 

He also tried to get as much knowledge about swordsmanship as he could, even if that meant he had to spy and stalk any soldier or adventurer he crossed paths with. He didn't care if it got him in trouble; he wasn’t going to stop. Not as long as he was pursuing his dream. "Hey, was I really that good?" he asked, feeling insecure.

"Yep." She nodded. "Between us," she approached and muttered, her eyes on some of her colleagues, "you could easily kick the ass of anyone here." Then she added quickly, "except mine. I wasn't fighting seriously, of course I wasn't!"

Blushing slightly, Morgan couldn't help but smile gratefully. "Thanks."

She stared at him weirdly for a few seconds. "That charm is wasted on me, buddy."

"What?" he asked, confused.

"Nothing, nothing!" She lightly shoved him forward. "How about I get you another sparring partner? Do you feel like training more?" 

"That would be nice. If it's no bother...?"

"It's not! Besides, you still plan to approach that Sol guy even if it won't go your way, don't ya?" Disrespect toward the captain aside, she was right. Even if Sol didn’t accept Morgan to be part of his group, Morgan still planned to take the chance to learn as many of the nobles’ techniques and tactics as he was able to.

“You aren't wrong.”

"Then you could stay with us guards in the barracks!"

The offer surprised him. "Can I? Y-you sure?"

"Yeah, why not? You have no money to rent a room, do you?" He shook his head. "It's decided then! This is gonna be fun, I can feel it! With you here, I may even see one of those city dumbasses getting crushed! Oh, I can almost imagine their dumb expressions!" She seemed a bit too excited about having him beat people up.

She wasn't wrong about it sounding fun, though.

But once again, red eyes focused on Morgan. This time, he felt them, hard like drills in the back of his head, but as he turned to look behind him, he found nothing.