Fire Mage (Web Novel)
chapter-143

'75,000 Exp is not a small amount. Not only that, the other reward is something more than extraordinary.'

'This mission is definitely a dangerous one. But, there is still more than 5 years to complete it, so I can take it slowly.' He silently put the mission on hold and turned his attention to the guards.

The bald man asked a few questions about their visit and soon let them in.

Noel whipped the horses and soon drove the carriage into the town.

Meanwhile, Charles and the kids looked at the surroundings and glanced at the unique cottages, huts, and tiny houses in interest.

At the house entrances, red human face masks were hung and gave off an eerie feeling. Not only those, Charles and the kids even saw few pumpkins hung in front of the houses!

"Helm Ville... This town appears very unique." Charles muttered slowly and soon turned his attention to a lone tall building at the town center.

No, it was a stone temple!

Charles stared at the temple's peak, then towards the dome, and soon focused his attention on the tower.

Multiple human sculptures were carved on the tower and appeared very beautiful.

"Strange... Why there is a temple in this town? Moreover, why there are no Churches in this town?" His eyes scanned the surrounding areas, and soon he asked in surprise.

At that moment, Jessie pushed the brown curtain and spoke with a thoughtful look on her face.

"I once heard that the Kingdom of Moon still worships their ancestors as Gods. Although there are some churches in few cities, there are no believers at all. So, it's not a strange thing for Churches to not present in such remote Town, Teacher."

"That's surprising. Then, what about those peoples?" Charles nodded his head and turned his gaze towards a group of 10 people who sat under the shadow of a large tree.

Three luxuriously dressed men sat on metal chairs, while other men, who wore old linen clothes, sat on the ground while massaging the luxuriously dressed men's hands and legs.

"The well-dressed men belong to Ruler caste, while the remaining members belong to Subordinate caste, Teacher." This time, it was Rhea who spoke those words from inside.

"Oh? Can you explain more about this caste thing?" Charles turned his head around and asked at her in surprise.

In the meantime, Rhea wore a solemn look and started to speak.

"During the past two years, I do gather some information about the Iron Kingdom and knew about this caste system. This system started a few millenniums ago and is still followed by the people of the Iron Kingdom. Most of the commoners, slum people should belong to this Subordinate Caste while the Mystics, Nobles, and other high-class peoples should belong to the Ruler Caste. A subordinate caste man must obey the Ruler caste ones' words and also have to follow certain types of strict rules."

"A Subordinate Caste man should never sit when a Ruler Caste people are standing. Even if the Ruler Caste people are sitting in a chair, the subordinate caste man should sit on the ground. Otherwise, the latter will face deadly consequences."

"Consequences?" Noel suddenly interjected their conversation as he parked the carriage near an inn and jumped down from his seat.

"Yes, there are consequences like isolating the other party from the rest of the people, stripping his right to buy necessaries in the market, and so on. He will basically have to move out of the town and live in the wild. Although there are no terrifying monsters in the nearby woods, it's still dangerous outside for a powerless mortal." Rhea paused for a moment and then added in a solemn tone.

"This is just an iceberg. There are more things a subordinate caste man has to follow like he can't walk into Ruler Caste man's house, bow their heads whenever the other party walks past him and so on."

"Isn't it basically pure discrimination? Why aren't the churches interfering in this matter?" Noel showed a dissatisfying expression on his face.

"Humph, what can they do? Slaughter all the Ruler Caste people? Almost one-third of the citizens belong to Ruler Caste. If they did something like that, it will only induce fear in the citizens' minds. No, it might cause other kingdoms to wary of the churches' influences. In truth, the former King of Iron Kingdom implemented so many interesting ideas to reduce the discriminations and gave equal rights to the subordinate caste people. But still, he couldn't achieve his goal before he was assassinated two years ago. You can't change the peoples' mindset in few years, Noel. You have to do it step by step."

Charles also listened to her words and soon climbed down from the carriage.

After that, he stood with the support of a black cane and asked Jessie to come out from the carriage. Then, he asked her to follow after him and started walking into the Inn, leaving Noel and Rhea to argue about the strange caste system.

Once he walked in, Charles saw the Inn owner in the reception hall, who was in the middle of combing her dark blue hair.

The Inn owner was a lady in her thirties and had black eyes, a round face, and a lean body.

"Can we get any house for rent in this town, child?" He went near her and asked in a calm voice.

Upon hearing his old voice, the woman stopped her hand, turned her gaze towards Charles, and asked in a strange slang.

"Foreigner? It looks like you guys just arrived here. For how long do you guys plan to stay here in this town?"

Although it was still a Laka Language, he needed some time to understand the words from her mouth.

"Six months," Charles responded after a short pause.

The woman nodded her head and spoke.

"You can go to Strangers Street and look for a man named Finn. He will show you the best house in that street." She suddenly paused for a moment and then asked.

"Are you guys Mystics?"

Meanwhile, Charles raised his eyebrows and then nodded his head.

"Then, you will have an easier time getting houses. But be careful during the nighttime, though. There is a rumor going all over the kingdom that ghosts are appearing at many places and kidnapping peoples randomly. There are also a lot of murders happening these days, so many foreigners are returning to their own kingdoms."

'And, here I got some strange compulsory mission to save this kingdom.' Charles let out a bitter laugh and nodded his head.

Then, he turned around and started walking out of the Inn while Jessie followed after him slowly.

Soon, they went near the carriage and noticed that Rhea and Noel were still arguing about the caste system.

"You guys can argue about that topic later." Charles went near Noel, placed his hand on his shoulder, and added.

"Let's go. We have to find a good house before the dusk appears."

At that moment, a loud clanging sound echoed from their right side, followed by a loud woman's cry.

"Your Highness!"