Chapter 6: Kingdom of Myrtana, Part 1

Chapter 6: Kingdom of Myrtana, Part 1

"Woah there. What's wrong, young man?" Grim asked after he saw Erik panicking and screaming.

Erik froze for a second, and then quickly grabbed Grim by the collar and asked in a hysterical voice, "What country is this? Where are we?!"

"Calm down. We are in the eastern part of the Kingdom of Myrtana a few dozen kilometers from the city of Geldern," Grim answered with a scared look on his face.

"Myrtana? Geldern?" Hearing that, Erik let go of his collar and froze with eyes and mouth wide open. His mind was running through all the information on countries and kingdoms of the Earth, present, and past. However, he was absolutely certain that he never heard of those places.

A new wave of anxiety flew over him and he started breathing really fast, but he somehow managed to keep himself from bursting out.

After a few deep breaths, he finally calmed down and turned to Grim with a forced smile "I'm sorry for my reaction before. It seems like I really messed up this time. I'm actually way further from where I thought I was. It would appear I got lost. Haha" he awkwardly scratched his head while forcing a laugh.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. I don't know if I can help you with that. In this small village, we don't really get to know much about the outside world." Grim thought for a while and then continued, "Come. Let my wife take care of those wounds and then we can talk about your problems."

"Okay, thanks."

Erik followed Grim to his house at the edge of the village. It was a small wooden house with a few chickens walking outside. "Gvene, I'm home! I brought a guest!" Grim called before he even stepped inside.

"Welcome back honey. I'm just about to make dinner," a voice was heard coming from what looked like a primitive kitchen. On the ceiling there were many different herbs tied on a string, drying. In front of the fire was a middle-aged woman preparing some kind of vegetable soup.

"Erik, let me introduce you to my wife, Gvene Frolf." Grim hugged Gvene by the shoulders with one hand and then pointed at Erik, "This is Erik. I found him in the woods at the clearing by the river. Apparently, he got lost in the woods and got attacked by wolves. " Updated from novelb(i)n.c(o)m

They were suspicious of possible enemy spies, especially in times of war. That's why even though Grim and his wife were very welcoming, it didn't mean that they would be so hospitable if they suspected that he was an enemy spy.

"Could you tell me where is the closest city? I think I will need to find some work so I can make some money to get back home," asked Erik.

Instead of staying in this small godforsaken village, it would be always better to stay in a more crowded area to figure out his situation. At least until he knew what he was dealing with he didn't want to take any unnecessary risks.

"Sure. As I said before, we are now on the east edge of the Kingdom of Myrtana. If you follow the road to the west you will come to the city of Geldern. It's the first big city in the vicinity. It's only a few dozen kilometers away. It shouldn't be a problem to reach it in a day's worth of walk."

Grim scratched his beard, though for a while and continued, "If you want to make some quick money and you are not afraid of hard work you should try joining the Warrior's Guild. I used to work there when I was younger. I met some great friends there as well hehe. Ah, good times. " While talking, Grim chuckled while falling into memories, remembering his youth.

"Cough, cough," Erik cleared his throat and asked, "What is this Warrior's Guild? "

"Oh, it's something like a mercenary guild just the jobs and work is much more varied. " Grim took a big breath and continued "Let's take our village for example. As you saw, the wolves came quite close and if you didn't kill them, they would probably attack our animals in a few days. We would then have to request help from the Warrior's Guild so they can send some experienced hunters to take care of the problem. Of course, we would have to pay for the service."

Grim took a sip of his drink and then continued, "There are also many different requests. You could for example go and collect some rare herbs for Alchemists or merchants in the city. You could also act as an escort between the towns. The bandits are getting more and more daring these days. They often attack lone merchants and travelers on the road between the towns. "

'Holy shit, this is going to be a huge pain. Armed guards just to travel between towns? Are you kidding me!?' thought Erik to himself, but in reality, he just nodded and said, "So that's how it is. I will have to be careful it seems."

Grim nodded and suggested, "Of course, you can also take some other jobs. You could work at the inn or you could become an apprentice or an assistant for some Alchemists or blacksmiths."

"Thanks for your advice. I will have to think about it," said Erik.