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Chapter 20 - Shop

Anaphol digressed from finding a place to finding answers to his questions.

His stated parental advisory included crossing the ocean. What he needed was how he is supposed to complete such an ordeal?

And to what end?

Questions and questions swarmed. Yet the boy in neon jacket walked on the whispering roads of Central Monite.

It was quieter in the inner streets of the city, more so calm. His hand on the white tarp and the ride tighter than usual.

'Why aren't there any pursuers!' Rattled in his brain. And Naph was right in his understanding of the evening hours of Central Monite, he was not being followed by any malicious person whatsoever.

Oceanic scent intermixed time to time with fresh oriental wafting in. Anxiety formed a slight root within him. He glanced back time to time hoping someone would follow him.

Naph was in a new city beyond his experiences. The structures felt familiar. There were roads, pavements, city lights, and buildings a bit similar to what he had seen in Sevenren and Rentilaco.

Yet he could tell the city was different. If the distinction of the market in Central Monite attracted him in, the difference in architecture of inner city felt calm yet alive.

Working his ride forward, he sifted through what he could understand from one look of the inner city.

First, he truly wasn't in the inner city. He concluded that the place he is in is at the border of it. The houses and shops ratio was more in the favor of the shops and they were well tailored to the just arrived travellers.

'Not the kind of places that may offer the information and services I need.' As his gaze bounced of one flat roofed house to the next one storey house that also served its front as an open shop.

Most buildings had flat roofs, and the same could be said of the buildings in Sevenren. But Naph identified few differences, these ones in Central Monite don't have railings on the roof nor does it have fences around them. This became a main difference from the Sevenren's architecture while it mirrored Rentilaco's in that regard.

Evening shaded the sky slight gold. The blue tried to fight it off but it was a losing battle against a setting sun.

Naph didn't take turns to other street. Sticking to the main road he let the wind from the shore come and play with his grayish white hair. It danced like the moonstone had come alive under the winds grace.

His hair a lonely traveling boat among the slowly lighting up poles of light on the road. Shadows welcomed the golden sky, while white light from poles attempted to chase it away.

But how did the light poles function? Naph never questioned it, his mind caught up in its own swarms of thoughts.

A slight doubt did sneak in, as he voiced it under a breath wanting to pay attention to what's around him, "How did these poles of light light up? I don't see someone coming and igniting a flame inside."

A nearby barker heard his words and called out, "Hey, boy! Do you want to learn? Come along! Come along to the school! It's a wonderful school and teaches about the poles too!"

Naph shook his head wildly. The barker's determination unshaken by Naph's unspoken refusal called out again, "It's a great school! By the name of the One who walked, the school maybe new but it teaches all the truths that the ecclesiarchs teaches in their sanctums!"

He just pushed along his ride, shaking his head in silence. Distance expanded between the barker and Naph for each step he took away leading to his unknown goal.

After a few paces, Naph glanced back at the barker, seeing him engaging another passerby. He gazed onto the residence in front of which the barker stood. His ride stopped by the side of the road, while he felt differently about the house that the barker stood in front of.

It was the first building that completely had a different architecture. An enclosed front that also stood out like the shops in Rentilaco, while the outer carvings and walls matched well and accustomed to the native structures of Central Monite. But the roofs were sloped while it held two more floors above it, with each having sloping roofs.

He did not have a retort, nor did he name drop Bulwark's name. Naph took his gaze off the residence, an oddity yet not by much among its fellow structures and he pushed upon his ride to turn for the first time.

He suspected the danger was of a different breed in Central Monite.

'I need to find my footing… fast.'

Dragging himself, and turning right into an alleyway. He walked into shadows affirmed by the evening.

The road ahead seems a bit less crowded from where Naph walks in the alley. Still, he feels a tingle, a different sensation than when someone gazes at him.

'This is different.' He contemplates whether to take Bulwark to the next road first or check out around the turning leading out.

"That is… not going… away?" He felt as the tingle left him. Naph's inner sense of danger went off.

"Nope. Got to check through first."

Naph pushed his four wheeler to the side of the building on his left nearer to the exit of the alleyway. Glancing back and forth, he stepped out the turning trying his best to act like a normal local, while his eyes frantically subtly searched whatever was in front of him.

The building on his left had a chalkboard placed out in front. On it the words "Bookstore and Café" were written. In front of the assumed bookstore, there was a flower store Naph noted. No other store was closer while there were a few residential houses around him.

Some of them were two storied while others followed the normal trend observed of one storey buildings.

Naph bent down to tie his tied shoelaces better. He tinkered with thoughts in his mind.

'So a bookstore and a flower shop. Or a book shop café? And a flower store. No observable danger. Let's just act to check one out.'

He turned around to left and entered the bookstore.

A soft bell rang and the receptionist stood up from behind, her chair spinning in its place.

"Welcome to Central Monite's Finest Bookstore, sir. How may I help you?" Her mellow voice dragged away Naph's attention from the spinning chair.

He straightened his head through a mid-stop shake, and asked, "Uh, yeah. I want to get to know about the continents. Anything on that?"

She shopped his question to the back of her memory, while she answered. "Yes, of course." She glanced at him, or rather Naph thought she was glancing into him as she asked, "Which continents do you wish to learn of?"

He brought his right hand to tap with his forefinger on his lips, acting out a thoughtful sight. He answered after a breath, "All of them. Regda, Tarna, and any other out there."

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