Jongho POV
I woke up super early today and decided to go on a walk through the city. The streets are very empty, only a few people have to go to work this early. I am freezing a little on this cold december morning. I wrap myself into my coat.
I come to an alley that seems to lead to the nicer area of city. I spot four boys who are climbing up an apple tree. They try to throw an apple at my head but I am able to catch it.
"Good catch, old man!", one of the boys shouts.
"Who do you call old?! I am only 20."
"That is almost three times as old as I am."
They giggle and throw another apple at me.
"Why do you keep throwing apples at me?"
"Mom says apples are only for ordinary people.", another boy says.
"Everybody should eat apples. They are very healthy. And what do you mean by ordinary people?"
"People that are not aristocrats.", the tallest of them says.
"Aristrocrats are not better than anybody else. In fact most of them haven't ever worked hard. They live a privileged life by barely doing anything."
"Who are you to say that?", the first boy asks.
"Someone who's parents worked hard everyday to earn all the privileges that aristocrats have since their birth. Also have you never eaten an apple then?"
"No. Does it taste good?", the fourth boy asks.
I split the two apples for them and give each of them a half.
"Woah! You're so strong!", the tall boy says.
I smile.
"Apples taste so good! From now on I will never listen to my mom and eat them all the time.", the second boy says.
"Please split more apples for us."
I split a few more apples for them and even eat one myself.
"I think I have to go now, boys. I still have something to do today."
"Before you go, can you help us get off the tree?", the first boy asks.
"Of course."
I carefully lift them down one by one. We wave goodbye to each other and I slowly walk back to ship.
On the way I think back to my childhood.
15 years ago
It is a sunny afternoon. I arranged to meet a friend after lunch at the river.
From our house I walk down the street that leads to a small park. I see my friend on a bench near the river.
"Hello, what do you want to do today?", I ask.
"Let's play tag. Your turn. "
He touches my arm and runs away.
After we played for a while we climb up a tree and watch the people that walk by.
"Yesterday I saw some men that carried huge boxes with metall in them around. I wonder if we will also be that strong one day.", my friend tells.
"You need to practice everyday to become that strong and eat well."
"I already eat well. Let's do it together!"
"What?"
"Become the strongest men in Wisnpfloss!"
"Okay, let's do it!"
We climb down the tree.
"I think we should see if we can help other people by carrying heavy things for them."
We go from house to house and ask if anyone needs help. After we did that for a few hours, we decide to do a race back to the park.
"The loser has to carry the winner home.", my friend declares.
I run as fast as I can but my friend is always a little bit in front of me.
In the end I loose and have to carry him home on my back.
"I already feel a lot stronger.", my friend says as we arrive in front of his house.
"Let's do the same thing again tomorrow."
Now
We really did that everyday for a few years. The neighbors were always very happy when we came to help. Later we even took fighting lessons and had a part time job at the harbor where we carried boxes from the ships to the shops. I can't help but smile as I remember these things. I have to visit my friend again the next time we come to Wisnpfloss.
I am back at the ship. Everyone is gathered on the main deck.
"You were away for quite a while. Did anything happen?", Hongjoong asks.
"No, I just went for a walk."
"Can we go now? I don't want to stand around in the cold any longer.", Wooyoung complains and darts forward.
"Can he not wait, just once?", Seonghwa questions.
We run after Wooyoung.
"Don't just run away without knowing the way.", Hongjoong scolds him.
"I can just ask someone for the way."
"I am starting to regret last night's decision of not throwing you out."
"Which parts of the city did you walk through this morning?", Yunho asks me.
"I went north east from the harbor. There are a lot of bigger houses and villas in that area. I met some children on an apple tree who had never eaten an apple and were fascinated by my apple splitting skills.", I tell.
"Sounds fun."
We walk in the direction of the castle again but this time we take a side road that leads us to a huge and beautiful building. The wooden door at the entrance has Muelstatt's emblem engraved on it.
Someone leaves the building just as we were about to enter and holds the door open for us.
On the inside are dozens of bookshelves that reach up to the ceiling. This library must be at least five times as big as the one in Vretefokl. Although I heard that Vretefokl's library has the rarest books of all libraries.
Hongjoong goes to the man at the reception.
"Good morning! What are you searching for? We have the newest books from all over the world, classical literature, books for every profession, books of Wolkmaar's history. Almost anything you could think of."
"We are looking for something very specific. Some things were stolen from the castle 300 years ago. Do have any reports on that incident."
"Oof. That is indeed very specific. I have to look. Please wait here for a bit. I'll be right back."
Ten minutes later the man from the reception is back.
"I only have some reports from the city guard. But I am not allowed to give them to you without permission. I am sorry. Is there anything else I can do for you?"
"No that is all I wanted to know. Thanks."
"What do we do now? Where do we get the permission to look at these reports?", I ask.
"From the chief of the city guard I guess.", Mingi responds.
"I have a better idea. We could just ask the king. He lives around the corner anyways.", Yeosang suggests.
"Do you think he will just give it to us so easily?", San asks.
"Well for a few informations about Nekra Kindom he will.", Wooyoung states.
We are back at the castle and meet the king at same room as yesterday.
"What can I do for you today?"
"We need your permission to look at the reports about the burglary from 300 years ago.", Hongjoong explains.
"What do I get in exchange?"
"Informations about the Nekra Kingdom.", Yeosang says
"Sounds good. Mr. Badler please bring me a pen and paper. Go ahead, tell me what you know."
"First of all, you should know that my father wants to take over all countrys one by one. His first target is actually Wajasi. He is still building an army, at the moment he has around 2500 soldiers which doesn't sound like a lot but they are all specially trained in all sorts of fighting methods which makes every one of them count as three soldiers. As you know he is trying to conquer islands that have the resources that he needs at the moment. He is trying to build ships that are specifically made for war. A lot of them. He is not ready for bigger battles yet. Unfortunately that is all I know. He never let me in on any specific plans."
While I talked the king has already finished writing his permission letter.
"That gives me a good overview though. Thanks. Mr. Badler, please put a seal on this."
Fifteen minutes later we are back at the library with the letter.
The receptionist opens and reads it.
"I didn't know that you are acquainted with the king. I am sorry. Please follow me."
The man brings us to the basement of the building where more bookshelves that are filled with books are. I read a sign at the side of one of the bookshelves. "City Guard Reports, Year 1650-1699"
So here they store all reports of the city guard.
We stop in front of the bookshelf that has year 1400-1449 written on it. The man goes through a shelf that has written year 1420-29 written on it until he reaches for a book with the title: "City Guard Reports, Summer 1425"
"Here it is. Please be careful with it.", the man says.
Hongjoong opens the book and searches for the day of the burglary.
"I found it! Let's see... Apparently the lead led them northwards but they weren't able to find anything...
Oh here is a list of the things that were stolen."
I look over Hongjoong's shoulder.
"A triangular piece of a stone plate with an engraving on it. Sounds like what we are looking for.", I comment.
"There is a comment at the end of the page. The puplic was informed about the missing items. Investigation was halted in August. Investigation was resumed in October. Sir, can we have a look at the reports from Autumn?", Yunho asks.
"Of course.", the receptionist says. He gets the book from the shelf and gives it to Yunho.
Yunho finds some important clues in the reports from October.
"A vase and a silver plate that were stolen from the castle, investigation report found in City guard reports, Summer 1425, were returned by a resident of Aplbom. According to the resident the man paid for his debt at the inn with the items before he ran away. The suspect has brown hair, is around 1,82m tall, very pale and has a small ship with which he travels.", he reads aloud.
We find a few other, similar reports from Pirnpluum, Schaepli, Faidehoi and Kuelaevild.
"The person from Kuelaevild said that he heard the suspect say that he wants to fly to Wajasi.", Mingi reads aloud.
"That could be another important hint.", Seonghwa states.
"Maybe it would be good if we ask about the key in the places he visited and places that he might have visited on his route.", San suggests.
"Yes I think so, too. If we don't find anything there we can move on to Wajasi.", Hongjoong says.
"What exactly are you searching for?", the man from the reception asks.
"A key for a treasure chest. It was broken into several parts and we think one of them was stolen from the castle 300 years ago.", Wooyoung tells.
"Don't tell him too much. You never know what could happen.", Seonghwa whispers into Wooyoung's ear but loud enough for me to hear it.
"Oh, I understand. You are treasure hunters. But how do you know the king then?"
"We are done hear. Thank you for your service.", Yunho says and gives the books back to the man before anyone could answer.
"No problem. Do you know the way back?"
"Yes, thank you."
"Have a nice evening."
We leave the library and walk back to the ship. On our way we get stuck at the winterfest.
"There are so many people here. It's going to take a while until we get home.", Seonghwa asserts.
"I am hungry and thirsty.", San whines.
"Me too. I want chicken.", Yeosang shouts.
I am also a little bit thirsty. There should be a booth with something to drink nearby I think.
"They sell punch over there!", Wooyoung screams excitedly.
"Okay, let's have our lunch here then.", Hongjoong decides.
Hongjoong buys us punch, three sausages in a bun and candy apples as dessert.
"Can we also bake cookies on our ship? We always did that at this time of the year at home.", Yunho asks.
"If you want to. But we need to buy the ingredients first.", Hongjoong says.
"Oh look over there are cute plush toys.", San exclaims.
"Where?", Wooyoung shouts.
The two and Yeosang run off into the crowd.
"Kids, don't just run away in such a crowded place.", Hongjoong shouts after them but it is useless. They don't hear him anymore.
I spot a booth with some funny looking scarves in the distance.
"These scarves look cute.", I say to Mingi and Yunho.
We squeeze ourselves through crowd towards the scarves.
"Hey, don't run off too, you rascals.", I hear Seonghwa say in the distance.
"Look isn't this one cute. It has little reindeers on it.", I say.
"I like this one with the stars.", Mingi exclaims.
"Look this one has trees on it.", Yunho comments.
"Oh, I have found one for Yunho. Look it has paw prints on it. Isn't it perfect for our puppy?", I shout.
"There you are!"
I suddenly hear Seonghwa behind me. The older crewmate takes mine and Mingi's hand.
"Puppy, we are going.", he says to Yunho.
We squeeze ourselves through the crowd again.
"Don't ever do this again. What if something happened to you. ", Seonghwa scolds us.
"Sorry."
Seonghwa suddenly stops in the middle of the road and looks around.
"Are searching for Hongjoong?", Yunho asks.
"Yes, he went to get the other three."
"Oh, I can see San.", Mingi exclaims and waves in the direction.
Hongjoong finds us and we reunite.
"Good that all of you are so tall.", he comments.
San has come back with a big dog pillow in his arms that he clings onto and smiles contentedly. He looks like a little child.
We continue making our way through the crowd. Seonghwa is still holding my hand for some reason.
"I shouldn't have bought them candy apples. Now they are all on a sugar high.", Hongjong complains.
"Why did buy San that plush toy?", Seonghwa asks.
"You know that he has trouble falling asleep alone and often climbs into the other's beds. So I thought that it might help him.
Besides that he also grew up without ever having such things and he really wanted it, so how could I say no?", Hongjoong answers.
"He seems very happy about it."
We finally are back on our ship.
Hongjoong yawns.
"I think I will sleep for a bit and then look for a route that we can take to visit all of the islands.", he says and disappears into the captain's cabin.
I go into the bedroom to read something. San also comes into the bedroom.
"This is your new home from now on.", he says to his new plush toy and puts it on his bed.
"Have you given it a name yet?", I ask.
"What?"
"When I was young I gave all my toys names."
"Hmmm... I think I will name him Shiber."
San lies down on the bed and hugs Shiber.
"Haven't you already read that book a few weeks ago."
"Yes but I have gone out of books to read, so I am reading it again."
"You could go into the city and buy new books."
"If you haven't noticed it yet, people from all over Waerglunt have come to see the winterfest and the streets are super crowded."
Wooyoung enters the room.
"Can I read your book again, Jongho?", he asks.
"No, you folded over the corners the last time."
"Pleeeaaaaaseee?"
Wooyoung pouts and makes some cute noises.
"Okay."
"You're the best."
Wooyoung gets the book and disappears again. He is so annoying sometimes.
Two hours later Hongjoong comes down from his room to discuss his plan with us. We gather around the table and he shows us the route on his map.
"So, tomorrow morning we will buy everything that we need in the city. After that we will sail to the southwest. The first village we will visit is Saekehuls. Then we will visit my parents in Aplbom. The next place we will visit is Prodt, then will sail to Pirnplum, after that we will visit Schaepli. Since Yunho and Mingi would like to see their parents again we will go to Faisnvild next. Then we will fly to Faidehoi and Hoppnmuls which are on one island. Kuelaevild was the last location mentioned in the reports and on our way to Wajasi we will visit San's parents in Kraggnsdrant."
"So we will fly in a zigzag?! ", I say.
"Yeah, the guy took a weird route. Probably because he was on the run."
"How long would it take to visit all of the islands?", Yeosang asks.
"Around ten and a half weeks."
"Woah! Can we go to the bookstore tomorrow then? I have read all books on the ship by now and I think I will die from boredom in the next three months if I don't get any new ones.", Seonghwa says.
"I think we all need some new books to read.", Hongjoong comments.
"I hope there won't be as many people in the streets tomorrow. I don't want to squeeze myself through the streets again.", Yunho adds.
We eat dinner and play cards together. Then we get ready for bed.
"The new route is really something.", I say.
"I guess we will see almost every corner of Waerglunt through it.", Wooyoung argues.
"And some of us will see their families again.", Mingi adds.
"On which island do you think we will find the key on?", San asks.
"I hope it is the first one.", Yeosang answers.
"Hmm... I think it's going to be in one of the smaller villages. I think we are going to find it in Schaepli.", Mingi guesses.
"I think it's the opposite. So I say we will find it in the town Pirnplum.", Wooyoung replies.
"I think that we will find it in Wajasi.", I say.
"I feel like we will find it on the last island.", Yunho states.
"That is San's home.", Wooyoung exclaims.
"My parents don't have it!", San defends himself and giggles.
"Maybe one of your neighbors has it.", Yunho jokes.
"Where do you think it is, San?", Mingi asks.
"Hm, I think the thief hid it in a secret place on a small island."
We blow out the candles in the laterns on our nightstand and slowly fall asleep. The last thing I can hear is San whispering: "Goodnight, Shiber."