The Distant Jade was full of rumbling activities after the procession of the Royal Messengers had left. Since it was midnight, Gin finally had a chance to rest, but he still heard the shuffling of feet as the servants moved about. When he had learned that his training would just resume after the unfolding events, his toothy attitude had emerged and it gave Il San the perfect excuse for extra practice. Would he ever learn? No, it didn’t seem to be the case for the young one.

Yet, he could be excused for saying what was on his mind. Should he feel thankful when most of the things that were happening to him were out of his control? Talking, or more specifically, talking back was all he got! Thus talk he shall!

Even as he fumed, and when he was practicing, Gin’s mind had never left the summons he had received. He was glad Il San was the elder of the estate so the pressure from receiving the summons fell on him. If Gin had been at his home then it would have fallen on to his parents or Jani. However, there would have been no reason for a summons to be ordered when he was back in Enwa.

The main question that ran through his head was, what could the King possibly want by having him visit the Royal Palace? If it was within Il San’s rights to take a student, then that meant he didn’t need to be involved with the Royals. He would have been like Spear, simply minding his own business. Master could simply be training his own successor for all the King knew. Yet, he still did need to give credit to the 5. Their misconduct kept haunting him with no pause. It was quickly turning into a curse.

Aside from that, who was the third individual that wanted the information the spy sent out? Would he be able to know anything about them by making contact with the Royals? If not, what should he focus on with this new situation? The more he thought about these things, the more nervous he got. The realization of him meeting the Royals, or just the King herself, got under Gin’s skin in the slow rise of goosebumps. Yet, even through that, he fell into a deep slumber as his swirling thoughts gradually died down. However, it felt as if he hadn’t slept for long when he was woken up by Spear in the morning.

"Young Gin, wake up," Spear shook him gently. His voice was low as he went on, "There has been a change of plans."

"Mmf," Gin breathed as he got up drowsily. Rubbing his eyes, he half yawned, half spoke, "What?"

"We will leave for Hanhal in the afternoon," Spear announced and stood looking as Gin got his bearings back.

This caught Gin off guard, "Why?"

Il San had shown him the date they were to arrive at the Royal Palace from the Jade plate that he had received from the messenger. The time was two weeks and four days away. The days of the ending week weren’t counted which was the custom for any invitation. Il San had informed him that they would leave on the fifth day of the week, and typically from Janln to the Royal Capital it would take two weeks, and they had a fortnight, it was more than enough time for them to get to the Capital and rest. Leaving immediately wasn't an issue, but it seemed to be impatient. No, it was impulsive.

"The sooner we can get to Hanhal the better. Worry not, your training will continue as we travel," Spear smiled sweetly. The stretch of his lips was just that, a stretch. The smile had all the evil intent it usually held.

Deciding to ignore Spear, Gin decisively got up and went to his dressing room. There was no need to ponder on plans set on stone. Though tedious, the sooner they were on the road the better. And though apprehensive, he found that he was nonetheless excited; it was his first time heading to the Royal Capital after all. His earlier exhaustion had made him so muddle-headed that he forgot such a fact. This excitement could even radiate from him for the first time in weeks.

Ah, this training is making me miss good emotions!! Gin wailed inwardly as he entered the dressing room. As he had expected, water was ready and so were his clothes. Not caring about Spear’s ongoing complaints about ignoring him in the background, Gin quickly washed up, dried himself, and dressed. A nice fifteen-minute routine he became accustomed to from the second week of his training.

Spear was watching the efficiency of Gin’s bathing method while leaning at the dressing room’s door frame. His complaints stopped as he asked a sudden question, "Are you nervous about meeting the King?"

Not taking a minute to think, Gin offered an answer, "Yes, my entire life has been turned upside down. Now I have to meet the powerhouses of the Nation, why wouldn't I be quaking with nervousness?"

As Gin straightened his clothes, he walked past Spear and made to leave his room. Spear was right behind him. He wondered why the question was even posed since Spear knew better. Was he trying to rattle him? Find something to poke and joke at. Gin wondered if he would ever have better interactions with capable adults!

"I tell you this... Ai, I’m sure it's nothing new to you. Anyways, this schedule change is too abrupt, Master can be temperamental at times, but he is never indecisive. Never."

Gin moved from in front of Spear to walk beside him, he looked up at Spear as the man glanced back at him. "Can you guess why such a change is happening? Do the Royals make him… This is such an odd thing to ask about the Master, but well, do they make him nervous? They are his superiors after all."

"No, not all, the Master could deal with those Royal Blooded Mammals with his eyes closed, believe you me. About the sudden change, well, it should be important. Too important. He had some interesting subtle reactions when I reported on the spy..."

The conversation between the two didn’t go on. They had both had nothing more to offer. Gin did know what changes to spot with the Master thanks to Spear talking to him as he did, but otherwise, he could confidently say he knew nothing. On the other hand, Spear had a better grasp at the changes due to their Master’s consistent way of expressing himself. When this consistency broke, he was faced with the small disruptions in the Master’s mannerism.

Gin and Spear maintained their silence lost in thought. Eventually, Spear decided to quieten his mind, while Gin’s was raging. The nerves had resolved to double down and made him churn one imaginative possibility after another. It was only as they neared the Dining Hall, did Gin refocus. Entering, Il San was already sitting at his usual spot and Gin wasn't courteous and sat down at his Master’s right side.

"Master."

"Mm. "

That was the only greeting exchanged between the two. Il San had gotten annoyed with Gin’s formal greetings and had him stop. Gin didn't hold much thought to it since they both knew his greetings were very insincere. Thus, their greeting turned into two words. There were instances that the long-winded greetings would be reinstated, but this only happened when Gin was feeling petty or there were more people besides Spear.

While these greetings went on, Spear felt bitter about it. How could he not?! The old Master would sooner skin him alive if he even thought about spewing such a ‘greeting’ to him. Thus, unlike Gin, Spear could only bow deeply and ask about the Master's health and continued in the steps of his formal greeting. What made the bitterness in his heart more prominent in Spear was, there was no nod, a glance, or ‘Mm’ spared for him. Even the cold ‘humph’ was never a greeting since time immemorial! Silence was his answer as usual and all Spear could do was straighten from his bow and sit down to signal the servants to start serving the food.

After the meal, Il San shooed Gin to meditate rather than do physical training. Spear went to finish the traveling arrangements to align with their new departure time. As luck would have it, Spear’s activities ended as noon came around and the three set off for the Royal Capital.

To Gin's annoyance, he had to share a carriage with Il San. Spear had taken a horse and rode it beside their carriage. Six servants traveled with them as well, two in a cart that carried various items including their cases, and four in a smaller carriage than that of Gin and Il San. Gin had dreams of sleeping while traveling, but who knew that it had all been an illusion. He bet his arm and leg that Spear made the two of them share the carriage to save money, rather than it being a convenience for his Master to teach him. He wondered what Spear told Il San to convince him to travel in the same carriage. No, maybe it didn’t take any convincing at all for the training addict!

Through a steady trot, the first stop the company made was at Janln City's Border District. Near the border was a Court Office that reported and shared news from the Royal Capital and vise versa to the outskirts of the city. The same Court Office was where the King’s messengers had come from. The area, though small, was busy with activities which made a short pause as Gin and company passed through. Though cheap in number, the carriages that Spear prepared were of exquisite quality. It was very typical of Spear, and the attention was taken in by the student proudly.

When stopped by an inspection officer near the gate, Il San removed the Jade plate and passed it on. The inspection officer had been both nervous and enthusiastic as he read through the plate and verified it with the office's logs. The man of mysteries was making an appearance for the first time in a long while, and the officer couldn’t even remember when such an occurrence happened ever since the old man had arrived in the outskirts of Janln. When he noted the keywords on the plate, the inspector immediately understood and didn’t tarry as he gave back the plate and saluted vigorously.

Gin had witnessed the exchange and got the feeling that Il San’s leave and arrival at the Palace would cause a sensation for sure. He wondered how the travel would fare as they went on. Seeing the Jade plate return to their master’s sleeve, Gin was reminded of the card his parents held. Passing through the border required either a letter of invitation or introduction for visitation purposes, but if these weren’t available, a Jade card for identification would suffice.

The card could be of simple identity verification that everyone held from the tender age of five, or it could be an identification of a position. His parents had a Jade card identification for farmers provided by the Agricultural Bureau that acted as a small government office as well. This card held more weight than that of a personal identification since one could avoid the registration process at the border.

I certainly miss them, Gin thought as he lifted the carriage's curtain and looked out the window. This was another good thing that the accumulation of stressful events had made him forget. His parents were at the Royal Capital, and as if planned by the gods he was to see them again near their predestined time. Maybe the gods hadn’t abandoned him completely. Maybe they did deal some of his cards right. Are those stars starting to align? Gin gave a bitter sigh. He knew he should stop, but he had the strong urge to make his grievances heard by the all-knowing folks above them!

Gin didn’t move his hand from the raised curtain as he continued to stare outside. After the District, there was nothing but plain fields that stretched endlessly. Gin saw that at some point the scenes would just blur together longer than the travel to Janln until they reached the border of the Royal Capital. As the young one focused on the view of the outsides, Spear started to obstruct his line of sight while he sat tall and majestic on his horse. He had a head wrap beautifully set on his head with a single end of the wrap fell across his front, meanwhile, the sun complemented the light blue robes that embraced his body.

Snorting and glaring, Gin cursed, "I hope you roast well, senior!"

"I hope you sleep better than you did this morning, young Gin," Spear moved his sideways glance from Gin and grinned.

Having had enough, Gin closed the curtain and immediately started to meditate. He needed inner peace. He didn't know why he liked to lit a spark and wind up burning himself when it came to Spear, but he was miles away from beating the man in the war of words! But, soon... soon he would grasp his weakness!

°°

A clear bell sound woke Gin up. He almost choked on his saliva from being woken up so abruptly. A week and four days had passed, and the nearer they got to the Capital the more consistent the volume of the bell’s ring remained. However, this wasn’t the only matter Gin had noticed, the trip was arduous and the training he went through had become harsher. His measly defenses and offenses against the Master in mock combat were a terrible sight to witness. Spear never went a day without pointing this out, and, as an interesting bonus, Il San started to give him detailed pointers for every move he did wrong. For the days that he hadn’t, it seemed that Il San had been collecting the necessary data for the voluminous chastising.

Over and over again, they trained and his Master became more demanding. Gin’s punishments never seized, and now it consisted of him running alongside the carriage or horse the Master would ride to set the pace. Spear would be at his back following him on his horse at a slow gait while spouting ridiculing words. The damnable ‘senior’ had all the nerve to call it training his mental strength. Gin called it ‘arse disease’, and by all the holy beings screwing him over, he was winning!

As they had traveled, their pace had only slowed when they stopped from time to time to eat or rest. Though the training was monotonous, it didn’t stop Gin from sweating buckets. Since he could only wipe his sweaty body with wet towels, he did it more times than the rest, and he came to hate the whole process as it did little to get rid of the stench of sweat. Do insert here Spear’s biting remarks. Luckily for them, there were several small towns situated before their main destination so they could bathe and freshen up. The inns, though lacking compared to those in the Border District, charged more for the convenience they provided.

The Royal Capital was just a day and a half away. The young one, currently in the carriage trying to not fall asleep again, was very excited as they entered the first small town of that week. The previous week they had stopped in two towns and Spear had informed him that they were lucky to have stopped. When Gin and Il San were not training, they made their way faster than the other travelers. They needed to make up the distance caused by the pause for lessons, and this was how they managed to keep the travel period to the capital under two weeks. Gin had thought it impossible, but with the change of horses at designated spots, it hadn’t been an issue at all.

As the distance continued to narrow to the Capital, Gin became less nervous about what awaited him when the thoughts of his parents took precedence in his mind and heart. The homesickness did take priority over missing his parents at that point, however, he just wanted to complain to them. He wanted to have a lengthy seat down with them and make them understand the pains, tribulations, and down-right unfairness of what he had gone through for the past weeks. He had to make them see that his future was shattered beyond repair, and someone needed to take responsibility!

"We will only be staying for two hours. Quickly wash up, eat and get back to the carriage," Spear announced to the company. It was afternoon, and as exhausted as everyone was, they quickly did as told, this was routine for them. At this point, all they knew was, the sooner they reached the Capital the faster they could really rest.

Gin quickly bathed and went to the inn's diner to eat in the usual company of spear and Il San. The six servants had their own tables and were already chowing down their food at a fast pace; they needed to see to any repairs, cleanup, or purchasing of items for the comfort of their travel. When Gin joined Il San and Spear he spared no time and wolfed down his food and downed his water.

As quickly as they came, they quickly left. Feeling a little bit more refreshed, Gin decided to meditate. It was the cause of him falling asleep and waking up almost choking on his drool, but it made him look serious, so, why not? He meditated for a while but eventually fell into sleep’s embrace again. By nighttime, Gin was woken up by a servant and he saw that a rough campsite was set up for dinner.

They ate, cleaned up, and some helped themselves in a near bush before they went on the road again. Gin looked out the window and saw Spear’s horse being ridden by one of the servants. This was another usual routine. A servant would take over for Spear as he rested in the carriage. To Gin, it was his peaceful moments, and that night was by far the most peaceful as he stared out to the night sky. In the far distance, he could see lines of bright lights that looked nothing like the stars above and more like the artificial lights of the glowing Capital.

When the morning of the next day came, Gin was surprised. He had skipped training the day before and on that morning. In fact, when he was drooling, Il San hadn’t dragged him out of the carriage or scolded him with his glares! No, the most important fact was, after breakfast, with all his nerves heightened and ready for some catch to skipping the training from the Master, Il San told him that since they were nearing the Royal Capital, he should rest well for the coming two days, the training would resume the day after. Tears almost fell from Gin's eyes. This humane treatment! This taste of the heavens! The sky was about to fall!

With his nerves strung and ready to snap at the change of regimen and the apprehension of what was to follow the break, the Capital’s Border District bustling streets came to sight. From the start of the Border District to the center of the Capital, cleanliness and well-preserved houses became a constant theme. The crowds of people didn’t make this go unnoticeable. It was organized chaos, and Gin was amazed enough to put Il San and his evil plans to the back of his head.

As it was Gin’s first time in Hanhal, he wanted to focus and see all the places his father and mother had told him about. He was never allowed to go due to how arduous and business intensive the trips were. His parents would stay for a short while to make sales of their harvest in the towns surrounding the Royal Capital before going to the Capital itself to buy some things for the farm and his mother. Instead of getting items from Farmer’s Galore, his family would wait for the trip to the Royal Capital once a year to buy all the items they needed for cheap. Sato thought he was doing himself a favor, and, for once, Gin actually agreed with him. Zehabi was a price bully!

Gin looked at the busy people moving to and fro. As the carriage was passing by in surprising swiftness against the human traffic, he was unable to see what most stalls were filled with. Those he was able to see had items like silk and cotton from the Kingdom of Queimbu, while others had large ivory and jade sculptures that Gin wondered why they placed them so far out on the road. One sculpture that stood out the most though was two fifteen-foot circling Koi fish made of iron with the large print of ‘Mumia’ on the band where the fish were merged on. The Grand Duchy of Mumia was the main supplier of Iron, and as Gin started at the huge shimmering art piece, he saw the truth in that claim.

There were street hawkers that carried baskets designed in different shapes and sizes which contained snacks, jewelry, and other things Gin couldn’t identify. A whiff of kahawa filled Gin’s nose and he turned his head back to see a kahawa shop he had missed. They had different snacks on display, and they were the same ones that the street hawkers had in their baskets. His mother had told him the border was the great spot for a mixture of cultures and foreigners outside of the Nation of Jade, and Gin had to agree wholeheartedly.

From the Border District, next was the Peasant District and then the Imperial District. Il San had a good number of properties in the Royal Capital, however, most of the properties, the shops and stalls, were in Janln. Some businesses made their way to the Peasant District and Spear, of course, managed them all. After staying with Spear for so long, Gin had to wonder who started the rumors of Spear being the Master’s guardian god. Since the businesses under Il San were all over the place, Spear would rush about to deal with them frequently. What, ‘he is not seen but he is always around’?

Gin frowned as he turned his head that was slightly poking out the carriage's window to glare at Spear. Ten out of ten he bet on his body aches that Spear was the one who spread those rumors. Feeling a piercing gaze on him, Spear looked over to find Gin glaring at him as if he had taken his money and ran away with it. Spear smirked and said, “We are here.”

Gin looked in the direction that Spear pointed at and became impressed. They were currently in the Imperial District. Though he had lost track for a while, he had come to learn that the Peasant District was just an extension of the Border District. As he had stared out, similar scenes rushed past him. The major difference would be the gradual decrease of human traffic as they went further into the Peasant District and the Imperial District. The chance to stone roads from dusty ones was also a huge indicator of the contrast of the areas.

The houses that Gin saw as they passed through were marvelous. Some had height as a key element, others had width as the focal point in their architecture. The houses not only varied in size but they varied in color and general presentation. Some had secure fences, others didn’t bother and had trees for outer walls. Others had gardens from the start of their building to the road the carriage made its journey on.

Gin’s dazzled expression continued up to a certain point. What he witnessed next baffled him. While they made their way to the furthest end of the Imperial District, they entered an area with houses spread out a little further than previously. When they passed through one corner, he saw a building that was eerily similar to the Distant Jade, and only its surrounding area was smaller than the originals. As the carriages made their way inside the gated estate, the only greenery was at the front yard, where trees and grass flourished. The added difference as well came from an elaborate fountain a few feet away from the main entrance's stairs. It was fancy, but nothing of note compared to the surrounding buildings of the Imperial District that screamed wealth.

When Gin concentrated on the building's closed entrance, he saw familiar figures that he had wished to see from the morning after the first day of his training! His mother and father. They wore similar colored robes, and the scarves they draped on their necks swayed lightly in the soft breeze. The earlier incredulous nature of the building they were in was forgotten by the young one. The scene of wonder was stored away in the dustiest parts of his mind as they neared the three-storey building, neared the gathering servant, and most importantly, the other half of the Ena family.

Gin had tears lingering in his eyes.