Land of Mirriam

“It's your day off, and you're busy with what? What’s happening?” the Mayor’s eyebrow convoluted as he tried to understand what was happening.

“Just answer the question... Is the moon depicted in the mural the same as the table we use to eat every day?” Gallo insisted on an answer.

“Yep, the great-grandfather of my great-grandfather was the one who split that. Why do you ask?” the Mayor wondered, with a hint of annoyance since it was a rare day off.

“Unbelievable…” Gallo then left the Mayor’s house. Simon was still holding the trap door for the underground tunnel, and Gallo went back again. Simon simply waved at the Mayor and followed Gallo, leaving the Mayor confused.

All of the buildings had trap doors leading to the underground tunnels, allowing safe travel underground even during heavy snow, which had happened before.

Such rare occurrences happened only once every 200 years, and the last one was just 150 years ago, so it was still a long time coming.

Gallo, followed by Simon, rushed back into the town hall using the tunnels.

He started looking around the tables that had been used; lunch had just finished, so they were already cleaned, and there weren't many people there—only the townspeople who were helping the Forest Folk with their daily chores.

“Why the hell are the forest guys doing the chores around here?” Simon suddenly asked, stating the obvious.

“Let’s just say they don’t really like the snow and they owe me!… Simon, please stop asking random questions,” Gallo, who was busy inspecting the tables, complained.

The top part was smooth, but the lower part had them—the carvings. “Simon!! Flip the table slowly!!” Gallo commanded. Simon scratched his head; he was sure he didn’t owe Gallo anything.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Just pick it up!” Gallo insisted excitedly. Simon complied and raised the stone in the air, flipping it. Gallo knew how strong Simon was because of the heavy weapons he used. No wonder he sometimes overwhelmed the hero.

Raphael arrived back at the pantry; he had forgotten where he put his favorite cup and had been looking for it since morning. “Whoa!!! Simon!! What are you doing!!” he exclaimed, quite surprised.

Gallo was on the ground, drawing the carving he could see under the table. “Okay!! Let's go for the other one!!” Gallo said, and Simon carefully placed back the table and flipped the other one.

<--->

Raphael gave Simon a dried fruit. Simon gladly sucked on it as per Raphael’s instruction, while Gallo was at the table, figuring something out.

“I understand it now! This table is like a signage for the clans on the wall!” Gallo exclaimed, raising his hands in excitement.

“Sign? What?”/ “Signage?” Simon and Raphael repeated, respectively.

“For each floor, a clan owns it! Though there are only 2 emblems recognizable! You could find these 2 emblems on some of the coat of arms in the central!” Gallo pointed out 2 emblems. Of course, Simon didn’t recognize them, but Raphael, who was raised in the central, knew of them.

“The Crown Emblem, it's on the imperial coat of arms,” Raphael said, and he was correct. The second emblem was not familiar, though.

“The second one is on the carvings in the main gate of the wall… the wolf emblem,” Gallo answered.

The man on the green poncho nodded “You know, the imperial family has special doors that only they can open…” Raphael added. “I’ve been in the imperial palace once, and there are a lot of those ancient carvings. Sometimes, among the carvings, there are secret doors that allow royal blood to pass through and move around the palace,” Raphael continued.

“Secret doors?” Gallo muttered. It was possible, but where did they lead?

“Raphael, where do you think I can plant this?” Suddenly, Simon asked the most random question.

“A corn? Hmm, somewhere a bit dry and warm!” Raphael answered his question with enthusiasm. The boy nodded after the answer.

To that note Raphael remembered a chat with a scout as he was walking around “A scout said that it would probably be sunny tomorrow,” Raphael added as he started heading back to the trap door that leads to the tunnel. “I’ll be sleeping!!! Bye!!” Raphael said as he left the two boys alone.

“I’m bored now,” Gallo said. “Me too,” Simon agreed. There was silence as the two boys tried looking for any stimulus but Gallo breaks the silence.

“Simon… wanna spar with me?” Since the two of them were left alone, Gallo suddenly muttered.

“Sure.” Well, since they both said they were bored, why not?

The sparring room down the tunnels was empty that day since it was a holiday for everybody. The two arrived there. “Simon, what would you do after this?” Gallo started a conversation as they both picked up wooden swords for training.

“I’m going to sleep” Simon said. “I mean after the siege…” Gallo spells it clearly.

“I don’t know, but after one more year, I can join the adventurers. It's actually my birthday around winter,” Simon said nonchalantly. “Really? You should have said that, and we would have celebrated it!” Gallo was surprised by the sudden revelation.

“I’m not actually sure when I was born, but the old man that raised me said it should be around winter… and I prefer not to celebrate… for habitual reasons,” Simon said.

‘Habitual reasons?’ What the hell was that? As much as Gallo wanted to pry more about Simon, he didn’t. He actually had a proposition for Simon and he proceeds to his objective. “How about serving my house… I’m going to inherit my title officially at 20 years old.”

Gallo was to inherit his father’s title as a Count, but Simon remembered when they met before. “But you introduced yourself as a Count before… or am I imagining things?” Simon said it without any doubt.

“I was faking it until it became real,” a flat toned answer from the red hair as he smiled, the boy was stone faced .

“... No… you are weaker than me,” Simon suddenly said, in a much more serious tone.

“Hmm… you didn’t have to be so blunt and refuse politely, you know that? Is there any way I could change your mind?” Gallo really saw Simon as a great asset.

“If you can beat me in a sword dance, then I would think about it,” Simon answered.

“We are going to dance with swords? Is that some kind of metaphor for sparring?” Gallo wondered.

“It starts with a salute, sword on chest, waves down, and a bow,” Simon did this as he spoke, and Gallo followed. “The challenger then lands his best strike against the champion, and the champion will adjust according to the challenger—no magic, no dodge, only the wit of the sword,” Simon added after the salute.

It was as the old man had taught him.

“The first lesson is free… the next one is not… strike me your best,” Simon smirked.

It just got on the nerves of Gallo; he remembered how he lost against him. It seemed that he was the challenger. But what was the difference between a spar and a sword dance? Gallo wondered. Well, if Simon said to land his best strike, then he would do it. He had been practicing swordsmanship since he lost. He was just planning to refresh himself with some exercise.

“Eat this,” Gallo puts his back into the attack. It was a piercing attack.

“Thwack!!!” the sound of the 2 wooden swords resounds in the hall.

“Nice hit.” Unlike before when they sparred, Simon received the wooden sword strike on point. Gallo was sure he put enough strength into it to break one of their wooden swords, and he purposely used a piercing attack because a sword is stronger at its peak than on its side. Still, Simon received the piercing attack relatively easily.

Simon broke the contact between them and then went into his stance. Simon hadn’t even gone into a stance when they sparred earlier. “We can only touch swords… you may start anytime,” Simon said.

Gallo smiled and attacked, starting with a piercing attack again. Simon would parry it, playing with his pierce by disrupting it before it gained momentum. Gallo was getting annoyed. Finally, Simon attacked him, and as per the rules, Gallo parried it. It was true—Simon was using the same force that Gallo landed on him with the first strike. Simon was fighting on Gallo's terms.

The two had the same power but different sword styles. Gallo was now confident that he could pull this off. “The goal of the sword dance is to disarm the enemy,” Simon muttered.

Gallo, of course, knew some of the best disarming techniques. Since the rules stated that they could only touch swords, that meant he could predict some of Simon’s next actions.

“You will serve me,” Gallo said as he initiated an attack. This time, it was a slash rather than a pierce.

“You showed the back of your hand,” Simon muttered as he straightened up his sword. His sword specifically aimed on the bottom of Gallo’s wooden sword where he held, causing him to lose his grip, and his sword flew away from his hands.

“!!!” Gallo was clearly surprised; it was as if Simon had been waiting for it.

“I won…” Simon said, raising his hands for a shake. It was the same thing he did after defeating Gallo during their earlier spar.

“…How far am I from you?” Gallo said as he took his hands.

“... You will never reach me in sword skills… sorry,” another blunt statement from Simon.

Simon felt a small shiver on his back, it was some kind of instinct… Gallo was angry… but it immediately faded as he stood up. With a resolute face, Gallo met Simon's gaze. “Someday… I will surpass you…” He declared, a smile playing on his lips, his determination reignited.

“Whatever you say,” Simon replied coolly, stepping back to put some distance between them.

“... You do realize I'm on holiday, right?” Gallo remarked as he observed Simon returning to his stance. “I'm bored… entertain me with your struggle,” Simon retorted, goading the redhead into action.