Chapter 4: Six Years Later / Knowledge of the World.

Six years have passed since I reincarnated, I can speak and understand the language, reading it and writing it too. Although there are not many books, knowing how to read and write is an important part of the inhabitants of the kingdom, and thanks to that, the illiteracy rates are quite low. Given that there are not many schools in the Tulser mountain range, most of the infants learn from their parents.

Although the information is limited, I have learned a lot from the history of this country and a little of the known world.

The name of this world is Maltras, the name of the kingdom where I live in is Eralgia, which is a very prosperous kingdom where several races coexist in peace and harmony.

Eralgia was once a small kingdom inhabited mainly by humans surrounded by tribes and small countries of other races. The conflicts between these countries or with Eralgia were not few, the only exception being the Naga, who were a tribe sheltered in the fearsome mountains of Tulser, also inhabited by voracious and powerful monsters that made practically uninhabitable the region for outsiders; but the monsters in turn were the prey of the Naga, which made them the strongest and most feared species.

Several incursions from several countries, including those on the east side of the mountains, always ended in failure.

Everything changed about a thousand years ago. An elf girl married the king of Eralgia of that time in spite of the rejection of the nobles and high officers of the kingdom. Nevertheless, the ability like rulers of the king and the queen was extraordinary, not only were they able to purge the nobility of the useless and make it more competent, but they improved the living conditions of the inhabitants in general.

Thanks to a military reinforcement and technological advance, the tribes that surrounded the kingdom began to fear and to avoid Eralgia; however, the foreign policies were not for military incursion but by political and commercial means. Soon the races began to tire of conflict and wars and began to open to the kingdom, until finally they chose to join the prosperous realm and this one expanded quickly, always obtaining the necessary governability to avoid being crushed under its own weight.

In only 40 years, the kingdom had managed to expand more than 5 times its original territory, but shortly after having achieved it, the king passed away. Though the queen, the nobles, and the whole kingdom themselves wept for his death, the queen did not let the government of her beloved fall into disgrace and continued to establish policies and care for the kingdom until her own death.

Many were dubious that if the new king, son of the former rulers, was an able heir, but their low expectations betrayed them: the young elf king managed to surpass his parents and to improve even more the kingdom that they did... and his greater feat was to obtain the annexation of the elusive Naga.

How he did this was actually quite simple but risky at the same time: Together with his best and strongest knights, the king set out on an expedition through the mountains of Tulser to begin diplomatic relations with the Naga.

After a week, his troops were decimated by the monsters, but he achieved his goal of peacefully contact the Naga, who in turn felt respect for the king... but this would not be enough to annex them to the kingdom.

The things that managed to conquer the naga were the gifts that he brought for them.

The king was quite intelligent and loved to learn new things, one of his greatest hobbies was to learn about the different races and cultures of the world, and among his research he got to know a little about the Naga.

The king's gift to the naga were spices, cereals, alcohol and a pair of chickens.

These products were to enhance the offerings of the Naga to their protective spirit, the mountain serpent, Nagur.

The naga loved Nagur, therefore, offerings that would improve their rites were well received.

After some negotiations with the heads of all the villages, the Naga joined the kingdom pledging loyalty not to betray it.

Since the Naga could not leave the mountains, or else they would lose the blessing of Nagur, the king asked them for their help to tame the region as much as possible, to extract resources and protect the kingdom from the threats that came from the east.

Thus, thanks to the king's feat, the Naga became part of the kingdom and allowed the entry of humans, dwarfs and elves to settle in the mountains of Tulser and also offered their protection against the monsters who inhabited them.

This takes us up to the present time, the kingdom has not expanded again, yet it still has conflicts with some of its neighbors, but nothing on a large scale. So it remains stable.

As for me, since my third birthday I started my combat and hunting trainings under the guidance of dad and mom, who, even when they are caring parents, also are frightening teachers!

"Lift up the direction of your strike! (Tovs)

"HAAAAAAAA!" (Aruh)

Following dad's instructions, I threw a heavy blow with my wooden sword but it was easily blocked.

"Do not support so much weight on the right side of your body!" (Tovs)

Dad softly deflects my attack and I lose my balance. My breathing is agitated, and tiredness keeps me from getting up again.

"That will be enough for today. You have improved a lot, Aruh! At your age, I could barely raise the two handed sword, not to mention being less skilled..." (Tovs)

When I looked up, daddy was next to me and lifted me up to sit me next to him.

"Tell me, would you like to be a hunter? Or guard of the village? There is also the option of moving to Korka village and become a sentry of the Tulser mountains." (Tovs)

"I ... I would like to be a blacksmith." (Aruh)

"Blacksmith? Like me? That's a compliment, Aruh! Ok, then. When you turn twelve, I'll introduce you to Mr. Fas Nesel." (Tovs)

My words put dad in a good mood, however, although following his steps is one of the reasons I'm interested in blacksmithing, there is another one.

"But until you reach the age of twelve, you will have to continue your studies. Even if he is a blacksmith, a naga is a naga. Therefore, strength and fighting skill are indispensable" (Tovs)

"Yes!" (Aruh)

"Aruh! It's mom's turn now!" (Mura)

Mom approached where dad and I were. In her hands she was carrying two large bows along with their respective sacks with arrows.

Really? But if I only had a few minutes to rest!

"Be strong, my champion!" (Tovs)

Do not try to look great even if you are, dad. Oh, my current parents are also exploiters...

Although, I do not feel that it bothers me.