The Omni Familiar of Zero

Rivalry

Ren's sides ached profusely, it was his first time on a horse, after all. "My sides hurt..." Ren moaned, walking slowly.

Louise glanced at Ren and frowned. "You're useless. You haven't even been on a horse before? Commoners are just..."

"And you're annoying. We've been on that thing for three straight hours!"

"Well... we can't walk our way here now can we?"

Despite the pain, Ren curiously looked around. White cobblestone roads... feels like a theme park here. Compared to the Academy, there were far more people in common garb here. On the street side were vendors selling fruit and meat.

Ren's love for exotic places momentarily rose. But this was a weird world. There were people briskly walking and people frantically running. Males and females of all ages walked the streets. This bore no difference with Ren's world, though the streets were a bit narrower.

"A little bit tight here..."

"Tight? This is a really wide street as it is."

"Just this?" Not even 5 meters wide. With this many people walking around, every step felt cramped.

"Bourdonné Street, Tristain's widest avenue. The palace is straight ahead." Louise pointed.

"Can we go to the palace, then?"

"What business do we have visiting Her Majesty The Queen?"

"I want to ask her to increase my portion of food."

Louise laughed, which made Ren feel a sense of pride.

The streets were filled with shops. Ren, full of curiosity, could not take his eyes off them. When he looked at one weird-shaped frog in a jar on a trader's mat, Louise pulled him by the ear. "Hey, don't walk around corners. There are lots of thieves and pickpockets here. You are looking after my wallet in your jacket, right?"

Louise said wallets are for servants to carry, and mercilessly gave that duty to Ren. The wallet was heavily filled with gold coins.

"I am... I am... very carefully, too. How can anyone steal something that heavy?"

"With magic, that can be done in a second."

But there was nobody around that looked like a mage. Ren learned how to discern between commoners and mages in the Academy. Mages always had capes on, and they looked really arrogant when they walk. According to Louise, that was a noble's walking stance.

"Aren't they all commoners?"

"Of course. Nobles only take up 10% of the population, and there's no way they will walk in slums like these."

"Why would nobles steal?"

"All nobles are mages, but not all mages are nobles. If for whatever reason a noble is disowned from their family, left the family name on his or her own accord, dropped status to be a mercenary or a criminal... Hey! Are you listening?"

Ren wasn't. He was too fascinated by the street signs.

"What does that bottle-shaped sign say?"

"Brewery."

"And what does that sign with a big cross say?"

"It's a recruiting center for guards."

Ren stopped at every meaningful sign, and Louise had to pull him away by his wrist every time.

"Okay, okay, I understand, you don't have to be in a hurry like that. Where's the blacksmith's shop?"

"Over here. They don't just sell swords though."