13 | P a g e Chapter 1:The Young Mistress’s Violence It was evening when I arrived in the City of Roa. Buena Village and the City of Roa are a day’s coach ride apart, a journey of six to seven hours. Just the right distance, neither too near nor too far. Roa is a lively city, one of the largest in this area. The first thing that caught my eye were the citadel’s walls. Sturdy walls, seven to eight meters tall, that wrapped around the city. Horse-drawn carriages came and went through the gigantic gate. As our coach passed through it, I saw lines of merchant stalls. The first thing that greeted me inside the city was a horse stable and an inn. A crowd of people bustled to and fro: merchants, townspeople, and even armor-clad warriors. It was truly like something out of a fantasy novel. I glanced at what seemed like a waiting station, where people sat with large amounts of luggage. What’s that about? I wondered. “Ghislaine, do you know what that is?” I asked the person with me. She had ears and a tail like an animal, with dark brown skin that her sparse leather armor showed in wide swathes. She was a tall and muscular swordswoman. There were seven tiers in the Sword God Style and Ghislaine Dedoldia was third from the top, with such impressive skills that she was known as a Sword King. She would be the one teaching me the art of the sword. She was like a second master to me. “You…” She turned irritably toward me. “Are you trying to make fun of me?” She scowled ferociously, and I jumped. “No, I was just… I wondered what that was. I didn’t know so I hoped you would tell me.”