Pi’ve sighed, and said staring straight forward, ’King Oarios III. And I am about to deliver him plain to see in the market square as soon as I reach it, so step away, and leave me be.’ He had barely kept Krasian’s company for two minutes and were already fed up with this sorry excuse of a man.

  Krasian sucked his teeth, clearly frustrated that Pi’ve could not give a straight answer.

  ’Alright, then. I’ll leave you be. For now. Meet you in… in the square.’ He said, his tone flat, and head on tilt. Aah, Pi’ve thought, for he knew that face, that voice. He was already scheming something. Pi’ve watched Krasian walk away, at times missing a step on his way back to his table at the pub.

  Pi’ve had always been afraid of Krasian. It was like there was an attractive force which Krasian could not keep from being pulled by. When they were younger, and they both worked the night shift, Krasian used to give Pi’ve a beating, but not enough to leave any mark. Now, not so much, but it was the only thing Pi’ve could think about as he stood near. A sudden anxiety welled up inside of Pi’ve, and he began to question his plan to go to the square now that Krasian was going there—

  I just fought a Black Upir, he told himself. He will not be my doom, and began dragging the coffin along.

  When he reached the biggest street going towards the centre of the city, he turned and walked along it. The further in he got, the more people there were. Naturally, the fishermen had houses closer to the pier, and the rest of the city’s inhabitants lived further in.

  There were several people who came up to Pi’ve, who knew him from before or otherwise. Some he stopped and talked briefly with, while he told other less known faces that he was running an important errand and that he had to get going.

  At several places the main street took a turn, and other roads which were smaller branched out to the left and right. Thergiam was the second largest city in the world, and there were a lot of people living here. There were many buildings and they became denser and taller the further in he got.

  Eventually, he reached the last stretch of the main road. It was quite a long walk, even if this market square was not the middlemost square in the city. By the amount of people in the streets he was not surprised to see that the square was crowded. He could hear a sound he had not heard for a while, and suddenly the crowd veered and parted as a large pig ran through the crowd. After it came four young boys shouting and screaming in high pitch. Pi’ve and others about turned to each other and smiled and laughed. He saw ferrymen, beggars, pilgrims, kids with their mothers, farmers, builders, craftsmen and an the odd scarlet woman here and there. A smith stood in his workshop stoking the flames and hammering repeatedly on a piece of metal. Pi’ve could not see what he was making, but to the onlookers it seemed to be something to behold. On the opposite side of the street a golden haired woman stood waving people to her, and to Pi’ve’s astonishment, he suddenly found himself standing beside her. She was selling ale, wine and other strong liquors. He said he did not have coin, but as he left, others came to her and gave her the precious coinage.

  It was bustling with life. There were carts and wagons with produce, stands and caskets with all sort of items for sale, and men, women and children were walking about with baskets to carry. Guards and knights stood at the edge of the square guarding the streets coming in, and in some places they patrolled.

  In the middle of the square sat a huge fountain, which were a staple for all the cities in Soilar, and within larger cities they had several fountains. This fountain was not the biggest in Thergiam, but still huge. The fountain in the square Pi’ve was currently in was once the centre, but as the former fishing village grew into a town, then a city, the area grew too and another, larger square was established. The biggest square in Thergiam was called the Ol’ Noble Square, and sported a fountain the size of a large building.

  He wondered where he could place the king. There were not a whole lot of empty space between all the shops, carriages and the stands, and the people roaming about took almost all the space which were left.

  Pi’ve pulled the coffin again, and when he came within the most crowded part of the square, he received looks from people who had to give way or who did not want to do so. Pi’ve had picked his spot, and intended to go through with the reveal now.

  On the other side of the large fountain Pi’ve stopped. It was a less busy place between a stand which sold fabric and another which sold garden appliances. Pi’ve had not seen anyone who owned a whole garden, but that was beside the point. He placed the coffin there, and right away, the man in one of the stands noticed him and came up to him.

  ’Hello.’ He said, his hands in his pockets. Pi’ve looked up, then stood up straight.

  ’Hey.’ Pi’ve said, unsure if this was the right time to initiate the reveal. His brain went hazy as indecision and the pull of several thoughts quarrelled in his mind, before he, with resolution, opened the coffin’s wooden lid and revealed the king.

  The man bent over the box, and while taking his hands out of his pocket, expressed five different emotions at once, disgust being the first. He made a quick glance at Pi’ve, before he walked back to his stand.

  ’What do you have in that box, dear?’ The old lady from the other stand said. ’Old relics?’

  ’Well—,’ Pi’ve said, before a gasp cut him off.

  ’Oooh…’ She shrieked. ’Young man. This is no place, nor times for such jokes…’ She said. ’It isn’t real, is it?’

  ’Do you not want it to be?’ Pi’ve asked.

  ’I am not to say. Well, I— I must get back to my stand. Carry on, dear.’ She said and smiled, before worry was apparent in her face and she turned to leave.

  Not long after, the man from the other stand came back, and he had five people with him. Three men and two women. He was pointing at the coffin and saying something which Pi’ve could not hear. They looked rather stern, and Pi’ve was discomforted by their looks. It occurred to Pi’ve that it would be difficult to look down at the coffin as it lay there flat on the ground, so he went over to the edge of it and lifted, and rotated it so that it rested on the edge of the large fountain, and that made it much easier for people to look into the coffin.

  When they came closer, he heard the doubt their voices and the concern in the woman beside the man owning the stand next to Pi’ve.

  ’— am saying, but think about it before you say anything of it. Just look at the letter inside.’ The man said in almost a whisper.

  The small crowd came up to Pi’ve, nodded and smiled, then looked into through the glass lid. One by one their expression went from disbelief to confusion. The other woman shook her head, but said nothing before she turned and left, the apparent husband remained for a while before realising that his wife was gone and ran after her. The third man stood stone faced, hard in thought before he said,

  Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

  ’Where did you find him?’

  ’…Barothron Island?’ Pi’ve said, unsure if he had pronounced it correctly. That was what the Jin— or rather the system— had said when he was initially transported to the tutorial. It was on an island called Barothron Island, but that was no island Pi’ve had ever heard of before, but perhaps the man had.

  The man cocked his head back in apparent surprise. Then he chuffed. ’That is no island no one goes to. That’s the farthest island we know of.’ He said, and his party nodded vigorously.

  ’Yes…’ Pi’ve said. He had no explanation he could give to this man for having been there. ’I found him. I am a wizard, you see. I thought I would bring him back, as he was there, and the letter explained that he wished to be here instead. Where he belong.’

  The man raised his brows, and soon turned to leave.

  ’Well, I think that soon enough this place will be reeling with people to have a look at the old man, so I think it’s time for me to pack up my stand and go elsewhere.’ The man owning the stand next to Pi’ve said. Pi’ve tried to apologise for the inconvenience, but the man continued, ’No, no. It is alright. I just hadn’t expected it.’ The man mumbled something under his breath while packing, giving Pi’ve a strong impression that it was not alright.

  When the man had taken down half his stand, the next batch of people came by. It was about ten people, and they stood shoulder to shoulder trying to look inside the coffin. They all expressed different emotions, and at least one of them seemed rather displeased with the sight.

  One of the men turned and shouted for another to come, and three people came to see what it was. When the reactions of the people around the coffin reached a certain level, people noticed and came to see what the fuss was about. The rumour had spread mouth-to-mouth slowly but surely, and within the next half an hour, a line had emerged. A wizard appeared. He walked past the queue, and people parted to let him see inside the coffin. People respected wizards— out of fear, maybe.

  The wizard looked inside, read the letter, took off his hat and scratched his head. He blinked rather rapidly before looking up at Pi’ve and stretched out his hand. Pi’ve took it and shook it.

  ’Janareus.’ He said. ’What a catch, huh.’

  ’Pi’ve. A pleasure. Quite.’

  ’You are new, are you?’ janareus said. ’You look young…’

  ’I am freshly out of the tu— training. Mentor. New wizard.’ Pi’ve said, saving face, barely. Janareus nodded, looked at the king again and then left. The line corrected itself, and the talking, pointing and surprised looks continued. The amount of people that wanted to have a look had increased rather rapidly, but still there were people who had not caught on to what was happening. That was natural, as there were no one who was advertising the return of the king. The faces of the people who had seen the king was of the same sort: disbelief, but after the sight had settled, they all seemed to be taken by a talkative mood. In the distance, Pi’ve could hear someone shouting and cursing. There seemed to be a lot less people on the other side of the fountain, Pi’ve noticed.

  After another hour, Pi’ve felt like the whole deal was going quite well. He was asked a few questions, mostly where he had found him, if it was really true, and why he had done it. The line had reached the point were it went from the coffin, and turned a couple times in the square to accompany the amount of people who was hoping to see what was happening. The line was moving at a steady pace, and any skipping in line was corrected by the others when they noticed it.

  The ones who had already seen the coffin with King Oarios III formed circles and cohorts around the square, which again seemed to gather the attention of others who had not noticed the line going to the coffin yet. New people was still entering the market square, but few left. No one seemed to be interested in the stands anymore, and Pi’ve could see at least four stands packing up. On the outskirts of the square, he saw a man setting up a new stand. The market was flooded with people, and Pi’ve could hear shouting and people being angry in the distance again.

  The shouting came closer and closer, and Pi’ve could see that the crowd was being pushed to let someone through. He saw then that it was one of the guards which had stood watch of the square, finally having enough of the spectacle.

  ’Let me through! By order of the king, I have right to free passage!’ The guard roared, and then came close to the coffin. He was clad in armour and had a long sword in the sheath fastened to his belt. People somewhat reluctantly parted to let the guard through. As he looked into the coffin and read, he became more and more agitated, or scared. Pi’ve was unsure.

  The guard abruptly moved as if everything was at stake, and with all his speed unsheathed his sword and swung it upon the glass of the coffin. He looked like a wild, ferocious animal the way he swung the sword. It occurred to Pi’ve then, that even though the guard would have a job regardless of who was king, this current rule may give privileges to those favouring it. Regardless if it was a good rule or not. For those who was being oppressed by the current king, this was a welcomed sight, but for those who benefited from the king, they would be less obliged to wish the old king back.

  Before he could muster another swing, and before Pi’ve could get over the sudden fright, three men had jumped the guard from behind and tackled him to the ground. They snatched the sword from him, and ran away. One of them even managed to grab his dagger before he had fallen all the way to the ground. The guard rose, shouting and running after them. Pi’ve quickly looked at the coffin and saw that the glass was still intact, with a small indent in the middle. It was good he asked for tempered glass.

  This brought even more attention to the coffin, and soon enough, another wizard appeared. He was wearing a black robe, with a staff with a red gemstone on it. He did not look amused at the sight of the king after having had a look at him.

  ’This is not permitted, Pi’ve, what you are doing.’ He said.

  Pi’ve was taken aback. How did he know his name?

  ’I know everyone's name.’ He said, and Pi’ve felt a shiver down his spine. The wizard stepped up onto the coffin and began shouting.

  ’The viewing is over! The portent which this man has brought is unauthorised, and unverified! Leave the premises!’

  He was met by boos and shouts. When the wizard saw that his words had not persuaded the people to leave, he stepped down from the coffin, turned to Pi’ve and said,

  ’Don’t think that you will get away with this. There are rules, and you should know better.’ The wizard said and barred his teeth. He scoffed and turned to leave fast. ’New blood. Think they can…’ He said, but before Pi’ve could hear the rest, he was outside earshot.

  A little while later, Pi’ve heard his name from somewhere down the line. He saw Krasian, and to no surprise of Pi’ve, he had his little gang with him. What was a surprise, was that they looked happy as ever. Drunk as ever too, no doubt. His nervousness about meeting Krasian had disappeared long ago, but if it had still persisted, seeing him in this state would do the trick. He looked like his old, happy self. The one who was not violent.

  ’Pi’ve! What is happening? Did you do this?’ Krasian said.

  ’See for yourself.’ Pi’ve said and pointed down into the coffin.

  Krasian guffawed. ’You weren’t lying. Oh my…’

  ’Do you know the story of Oarios III?’ Pi’ve asked.

  ’I do.’

  ’Alright. Then I wish you to stand here in my place. Tell people who this king is to those who do not know, and what his appearance means. It has become a bit too crowded for my taste, and I believe my involvement in this is soon to have served its purpose.’ Pi’ve said. The truth was that he had seen the reaction of the wizard clad in black, and understood that this may not have been the right thing to do, and he did not want to stand here himself to advertise the coming of the old king.

  ’Yes. I wish that. Thank you, Pi’ve.’ There was fire in Krasian’s eyes. Finally something useful for him to do.

  Then Pi’ve and Krasian swapped places, and Pi’ve spectated Krasian for a while. He knew a lot more about the King Oarios III, his father and grandfather and the line they came from than he had anticipated. A new vigour sprouted from having Krasian there in his place, and soon, the marketplace completely unrecognisable.

  Instead of the stands and shops being strewn around in circles and rather randomly around in the round square, they had positioned themselves on the outermost position in a circle around the whole square. The rest of the place was transformed into a hub— a gathering ground— for people to talk and discuss what had just happened. Opportunistic sellers went around selling beer and food to the gathering.

  Pi’ve walked about, and seeing the reactions of the people around, most of them being secretly pleased, and he was also pleased with the outcome. Some people, mostly those who looked wealthy, looked displeased by the ordeal, but the general temperature was what Pi’ve had hoped.

  Pi’ve felt someone tap his shoulder, and as he turned, he saw another wizard standing there.