Chapter 3 - Education with Anne

A panting youth lay on the sand, while a huge monster bent over in front of him, staring at him with its predatory gaze.

That's how it felt to Naemon, who was lying on the cozy sandy ground. Who could have imagined that his usually loving and gentle father could be such a tyrant? 'Damn! Drei Family, if only I could get my hands on you! With the Legacy, I wouldn't be in this situation now!' Naemon's head was full of angry tirades against the main family.

"Come on, get up, Nae. Your mother is waiting for you" Gunther said to his pitiful son. "Don't act like that. I spared you, especially for the first training session."

Naemon stood up in silence. He was still angry with his father, who had driven him through the village like a cow several times.

And the worst thing? He was sweaty and covered in sand!

He looked at his body and wondered whether he should go and wash himself quickly. That thought passed just as quickly as it had come, and he pulled his gaze away from the sweat and directed it to his goal. 'No, I can't waste any time. I'm not a child anymore! I have to make the most of the opportunities!'

Naemon said goodbye to his father, who also had his own plans, and went to the agreed meeting point.

It wasn't long before Naemon arrived at his destination. In front of him was a prominent building. It wasn't as big as his parents' mansion, but it was still quite substantial. Above the entrance door hung a sign with a coin on it.

This building was the Drei Family's trading house that Naemon's parents were allowed to manage. It was not only the sole trading house in the village but also served as a hub for smaller trading houses in the area.

Naemon didn't hesitate and went into the trading house.

The interior of the building looked disproportionately small at first glance, but that was because most of the space was used for storage.

The first thing Naemon saw was the sales counter, which was manned by an old man. He looked curiously to see who had entered and smiled when he spotted Naemon.

"Oh, good day, young master. The madam is in the back."

"Thank you, Erwin!" said Naemon and walked past the counter further in.

Anne was sitting at a table drinking tea. She was surrounded by various wooden boxes. It didn't look like an office, but rather like a storage room that had been repurposed.

When she saw Naemon, she couldn't help but smile, but the closer he came to her, the more the smile disappeared and her eyes started to twitch.

"I think we need to re-plan something. I don't want you to always arrive here sweaty. We'll do it like this: first, you have your lessons with me, and then you can train with your father. Then you can wash yourself right away." Anne decided for Naemon without giving him a chance to argue.

"Mhm, that sounds like a plan!" Naemon nodded enthusiastically. He didn't feel like walking around all day drenched in sweat either.

Naemon sat down on a chair opposite Anne and waited for her to say something.

"Okay, first of all, we'll start with geography" she said and rolled out a map.

Naemon lowered his gaze to the map on the table, but listened intently nonetheless.

"You know where we are, don't you?"

"Yes. We are here." Naemon pointed with his finger to a point on the map. "In the village of Keld, which is subordinate to Viscount Zehn."

"And what is the name of our kingdom?"

"That's easy. The Kingdom of Ebrion, and our king is Toryn Ebrion!" Naemon answered proudly.

"Good that our efforts were not in vain." said Anne contentedly.

"But mom, why are we looking at the map?" asked Naemon.

Anne smiled and brought out a larger map. "Look what your mother found!" she said and put the new map on top of the old one.

Naemon was speechless. This is the map of the kingdom! So far, he had only been able to see a local map.

"Let's continue. Tell me what you notice about the map."

Naemon stood there and thought.

"Hmm. The border regions have little detail. In the east, however, there is also a lack of detail. The mountain ranges are still clearly visible, but after that, there is little."

"Well spotted, darling. The border regions are, of course, not marked in detail. Imagine what would happen if the enemy knew how our borders were set up? Many traps would be pointless."

"And what about the east? Are there neighbors too?"

"No, in the east are the Wild Plains." Unfortunately, she knew very little about it herself, but she tried to fish out as much as she could from her memories.

"The Wild Plains is a bizarre and dangerous place. It belongs to our kingdom because only we have access, but no one wants to go there voluntarily! They even say that the most powerful magicians and aura knights stay away from it! And the worst thing is that it has access to the Taboo Forest."

"What is the Taboo Forest?" asked Naemon. He had heard of many forests, but never of a Taboo Forest. Even the name sounded ominous.

"Darling, I know very little about it myself. Only what my parents told me. And even they only heard about it from rumors on their travels. The Taboo Forest is something like the border of our continent. It is said to contain endless monsters that regularly come out of the forest to terrorize people. Fortunately, we only have one place in the kingdom that borders the Taboo Forest."

"And what is behind the Taboo Forest?"

"I don't know. Some say it's the end of the world, others believe that there is paradise behind it."

Naemon was shocked that all of this actually existed. Before, he had only been involved with his village, apart from the trip to the main family. That's why he needed some time to process Anne's words.

"I was also fascinated when I first heard about it. But fortunately, we are far from it." said Anne and ended the speech. Next, she would chase him through all the important nobility!