20 The great city of Arcadia

The convoy reached the outskirts of the city by the morning of the fifth day. The next five days of the journey were pretty uneventful, unlike the second night which scared the hell out of the teens, excluding Clint.

"Young Masters and Miss', the great city Arcadia is now within sight. Isn't she a beauty!?" Raj reported to Leo before fixating his eyes on the vast city of Arcadia.

"You seem to have a thing for Arcadia, Raj. Your eyes are glimmering too much." Leo inquired half-jokingly.

"Well yes. My family is here in Arcadia and thanks to you Young Masters and Madams, I can see my family after a long while. I heard that I have a new baby girl to take care of now." Raj declared proudly, with hints of fatherly affection on his face, making Leo's and everyone present in the convoy's hearts fill up with warmth.

"The first time you see them and hold them is always a memory you will never forget. It will fill your heart with joy every single time you remember it, Raj." Hiro had a tender smile on his face,as he looked at Raj from the corner of his eyes, to which Raj reacted with a smile.

"So, what is your next mission after you escort us to the academy, Raj?" Leo asked, casually trying to hold a conversation to kill some time.

"We have a few letters penned down by Lord Liam himself and we have to hand them personally over to some important people in the academy, Master Leo." Leo squinted his eyes after hearing Raj's answer.

"I am going to ask you some serious questions, can you answer honestly Mr.Raj?" Leo's face turned slightly serious as he looked at the clear sky from the window.Raj glanced at Leo, waiting for him to ask.

"Why is Lord Liam making such a deal out of the seven of us and investing so much, just because we broke a gem and some Quartz crystal? It doesn't feel right to me. You work under him and even if you report him that we asked you such questions, I am sure he wouldn't think much about it. Why did he even trust that we will hold up our end of the bargain when the time comes?"

"Hmm...you sure are thinking about this a lot, aren't you Young Master Leo? " Raj let out a small smile as he said those words.

"Please, answer me Mr.Raj."

"It's only natural for you to be so worried. I will tell you exactly what you need to know, Young Master Leo. I have worked under Lord Liam for three years now and I know everyone sees him as a sly man. But everything he says and does always has a meaning, that people like us don't know. His assumptions have never been wrong and he never goes back on his words."

"Even though you have many doubts on my Lord, from my personal experience I would only say 'Trust him'. I don't know if this will make you feel better but the last time a Nex gem was cracked by a human, was centuries ago, and breaking it in a Qi exam is a miracle Master Leo."

Raj's face was pleasant like he was saying 'You can trust my words and calm down.'. He looked forward at the approaching city gates.

"Alright then. There is nothing that I would get out of worrying too much, anyways." Leo sighed as he leaned back on his seat.

"You act too mature and logically for your age,

master Leo. It might save you and your friends someday." Hiro complimented from his heart, looking around, trying to check for any dangers.

It took less than twenty minutes for the convoy to reach the city gates of Arcadia. The seven inside the cart were exhausted from the long journey, so they had no interest in exploring or even looking at the city currently. But it all changed as soon as the soldiers guarding the gates let them in.

The seven had heard that the city was the Northern most city and also the farthest from the capital which made them imagine a small city with an academy somewhere in the city. But this world never ceased to amaze them by proving them wrong, and it made sure to amaze them once again.

Anyone can say at their first glance from outside the window, that the Academy occupied at least half of the city.the city was more advanced than the city of Ostinia from where they came. The city was as big as Ostinia, even after excluding the Academy that occupied the city majorly. The city was filled with different kind of goods working on Qi batteries and had four big towers which seemed to be the same as the signal towers back on earth.

"Well, that's the expression any man would give when they see Arcadia for the first time, hahaha." Hiro laughed heartily as Raj and the other knights smiled, looking at the seven who had their jaws falling to the ground.

The Academy was at least 500,000 sq.ft in area with visibly large structures even from very far away. The Academy occupied the entire western half of the city, while the rest of the city was on the east.

"Let's not waste time and head right for the academy and finish the formalities, Master Leo." Raj said with a straight face to which, Leo denied by shaking his head.

"Mr.Raj, if I remember properly, Lord Liam gave me the authority to command you for the journey, right?" Leo looked straight at Raj to which he nodded in agreement.

"Then, I command you to hand over the letters to Hiro and let him complete the delivery. You are relieved of your duties. Go to your family, to your daughter, Mr.Raj. Are you okay with delivering the letters on his behalf, Mr.Hiro?" Leo gave his first order with a warm smile before looking at Hiro and asking him if he had any problems with it, to which he shook his head with a similar smile like Leo's.

"Master Leo...Thank you. I'm really grateful to you." Raj bowed slightly before he gave the letters to Hiro and rode as fast as he could, down the familiar road to his house.

"I didn't know you were such a considerate man, hehe." Erina and the others who had just witnessed another side of Leo giggled, as a warm feeling crept inside their heart.