Chapter
5
“Myrr! Breakfast is ready!” Houle called from the kitchen.
“In a minute!” Myrr shouted back. She combed her shoulder length
hair and tight it in a ponytail. She then quickly took the last glance of
herself in a mirror as she straightened her tunic. She grabbed her bag and went
downstairs.
Houle took off the apron and hung it on the wall and served
breakfast. Myrr joined him few minutes later.
“Omelette and bread toast? Is that all?” she asked before she sat on
the chair.
“No complaining, young lady. This is all we have for today and you
have to go to the grocery store this afternoon,” said Houle and poured the milk
in the glass and put it at Myrr’s place, the place she used to sit.
“What? Why me?” she frowned and took a seat. She gulped the milk.
“Because today is your turn,” Houle pointed a piece of paper pasted
at the food cupboard. Myrr rolled her eyes. “You don’t have evening training
class so you need to go to the grocery. Here’s the list of things you should
buy,” Houle passed a small piece of paper to her.
Myrr munched the bread toast and stared at the paper. “Okay then,”
she shrugged, food was still in her mouth.
“How many times do I have to tell you, young lady, don’t talk while
your mouth is full?” he warned but in gentle tone.
“More than hundreds,” Myrr giggled. Houle smiled and they continued
eating breakfast while talking about school.
It had been two years since the tragedy and Myrr was getting taller
a bit. She grew her hair long until it reached her shoulder while Houle just
like his hair to be cut short. Houle lived with Myrr since he’s her guardian.
Shatter often visited them during the weekend. Houle begged Shatter for
permission to join School of Nightingales. He wanted to get stronger so that he
could protect Myrr. Shatter agreed but Houle must not let anyone knows that
he’s not originally from the tribe since not all people knew that Myrr found
him two years ago. Houle was indescribably happy when he received the good news
and promised to study hard.
Houle made sure the house was securely locked before went off to the
school. He usually went to school with Myrr since they were in the same school
but different building. Myrr managed to pass few tests and nominated as the
Junior Nightingale while Houle made into the school with only one test and he
passed with great result. He was the Senior Nightingale and hoping to graduate
as the Warrior of Nightingale.
“What class do you have for today?” asked Houle before parting.
“Spell-casting class,” answered Myrr. “See you this afternoon,” Myrr
smiled and waved.
Houle nodded and watched her until she disappeared from his sight.
Then she continued walking to his class.
“Good morning!” greeted Reles, waving at him.
“Good morning, Reles. Being a tutor today, eh?” said Houle.
“Yup. Need to teach little monkeys about fighting,” she grinned. She
always called the Juniors ‘little monkeys’. “How’s Myrr doing?”
“Just like usual,” he shrugged. “Complaining the breakfast.”
Reles laughed. “Well, see you around,” she patted him on the back
and rushed to the class.
Houle wrote every single thing during the lecture. He was sitting in
the lecture hall with his two good friends, Apologos and Berstan. He met those
two when he was accepted in this school and they’ve became good friends since
then. He always tried to concentrate during the lecture session and sometimes
he felt very sleepy. He was not good in spell-casting and healing but good in
fighting. His friend, Apologos always trained with him almost every day, during
the training session whilst Berstan joined the Healing Squad because both of
her parents are Healers.
The class ended at mid-noon and Houle would wait for Myrr at the
front gate. Myrr appeared few moments later and they walked back home together.
But today was Myrr’s turn to go to the grocery store so they parted at the
junction near their house. The grocery store was not far from Myrr’s house so
Houle did not have to be worried of her safety. Besides, the grocery store
belongs to Struer’s family.
That grocery store was not like any normal one. It looked small but
once we go inside, it’s like we’re in the different dimension. There were few
big trees in the corner and the store was very spacious. Fireflies spread
everywhere giving light to the customers. Myrr loved being in this kind of
place. She walked towards a raccoon-like creature who was sitting on the big,
fluffy red mushroom, reading a newspaper. He was one of the workers in the
store and he smiled as Myrr approached him.
“Good afternoon, Myrr. What can I do for you today?” he asked
affably.
“Good afternoon, Gimme. I wanted to buy these things in this list,”
Myrr smiled back at him and handed him the list.
Gimme looked at the list and snapped his finger. A small rodent
appeared and Gimme told him to get those things in the list. Within few
seconds, the groceries that Myrr needed were there, on the counter. Gimme
counted the price and Myrr paid it. She took the groceries which were put in
the bag and waved at Gimme. Gimme winked at her and told her to come again.
As Myrr went out from the store, she was shocked when someone
greeted her.
“Hello there, Myrr,” greeted a man who was leaning on the store’s
wooden wall.
“Oh, hello there, Mr. Scotan. Good afternoon,” she bowed slightly.
“Shopping?” he asked, glancing at the grocery’s bag.
“Yes,” Myrr nodded.
“Are you alone? Where’s your guardian?” he smiled.
“He’s at home. It’s my turn to come and buy these groceries,” she
replied.
Myrr was a little bit scared of this man for he was the greatest
Assassin and also known as Executioner. He was tall and slender and has short
violet blue hair. For Myrr, his expression was weird especially when he smiled.
But she knew that Scotan is a good friend of her late father and Shatter.
They chatted for few moments and Myrr excused herself to go home for
she was kind of late. Scotan patted on her head softly and she ran along.
Scotan watched her leave and kept staring at her until she disappeared from his
sight. He smiled meaningfully and left the store. He really wanted to keep an
eye on Myrr.
Myrr reached home few minutes later and she heard Houle was arguing
with someone. She took off her shoes and rushed to the kitchen, holding the
groceries bag. She saw Houle, who was wearing an apron was having a row with
her cousin, Arwe.
“You let her go alone to the grocery store? You should be there with
her,” scolded Arwe. “What if something bad happened to her?”
“I’m still fine”, said Myrr. Arwe was surprised to see her.
“See?I told you not to worry much. The grocery store is not far from
here. And besides, she used to go there since she’s five,” said Houle
confidently.
“Hey, how do you know that I’ve been there since I was five?” asked
Myrr, putting the grocery bag on the table.
Houle took all the things inside the bag and put them in the cabinet
accordingly. “Lucky guess,” he grinned. “Now, can both of you please not to
disturb me because I need to cook.”
“I can cook better than you,” Arwe smirked.
“No, you can’t,” said Houle.
“Yes,” Arwe stepped forward, “I can.”
“Okay, smart boy. Let’s compete. The best meal, win,” Houe
challenged Arwe.
“Bring it on!” Arwe slammed his hand on the table.
Myrr rolled her eyes. Those two were always arguing every time they
met. And it annoyed her. Houle asked her to be the judge but Myrr refused. She
didn’t want to get involve with their fights.
“What’s cooking?” someone appeared suddenly at the window. Both Arwe
and Houle jumped off their skin.
“Don’t ever do that again!” said them in unison.
“Uncle Sequi!” Myrr greeted him and invited him to come inside.
Sequi is one of the great Healer and his hobby is lingering around,
doing nothing, if he’s not busy. He sometimes loved slacking off.
“How are you, my cute little kitten?” he hugged Myrr.
“I’m good and healthy. What about you?” asked Myrr.
“I’m hungry and I need to full my stomach,” Sequi patted on his
stomach. Myrr giggled.
“Then stay here for lunch with us. Arwe and Houle are going to cook
something,” said Myrr cheerfully.
“Well, that’s very nice of you,” he smiled and turned to Arwe and
Houle who were scowling each other furiously. “So, what’s cooking?” he asked.
“Beef curry!”
“Grilled beef!”
Both of them growled to each other. Then Myrr told Sequi that they
were having a cooking competition and asked him to be the judge. Sequi agreed
and both Arwe and Houle cooked as delicious as they could. Sequi couldn’t tell
who the best cook was because he was too hungry. Everything that he ate was
considered delicious.
They ate lunch together and after that Arwe excused himself for he
needed to go back to his Barrack. Myrr cleaned up the table and went to her
room to change to her usual attire. Sequi was still there, drinking lemon
juice. He was free the whole day.
“How’s school?” asked Sequi. “Are you the same class with my
daughter?”
Houle nodded. “School’s okay, I guess. The test will be held next
two weeks and if we passed this one, we’re going for the level 1 training. I
heard we need to fight with dummy ghouls,” he replied.
“That’s great. Everyone is waiting for that moment. But you must be
careful, Houle, when you meet the Ghouls,” warned Sequi and he was definitely
looked very serious.
“Why?” Houle frowned. “It’s just a dummy. It’s nothing to worry
about.”
“I’m not talking about the dummy. I’m talking about Ghouls. You
should not let your secret revealed,” said Sequi in a very serious tone.
