Zed turned to see what had improved the young man's mood, and smiled when he saw Al and Alisa. It had only been a couple of days since he last saw her, but she looked different, more relaxed than he had seen her. She looked like she had finally found the place where she belonged.
Blaise noticed Al and Alisa and waved. He told Zed and the young man, "Take a thirty-minute break, and then get back to training." He greeted both of us and then walked away with Al to speak in private. Zed came up to me, and the young man trailed behind him, eager for an introduction.
"Hello, Alisa, you look well. How have you settled into your new home?" Zed greeted me with his version of a smile.
I gave him a friendly smile and replied, "Hi Zed, I am settling in well. Thank you for asking. How are you doing? Blaise told me they built a new training area and barracks for the Kanta army."
He looked proud as he replied, "I was accepted into the Kanta army as a Lieutenant, and am in charge of training the new warriors. My quarters are adequate, slightly better than the Privates' shared quarters. I have my own room and bathroom. I am satisfied with the arrangements."
The young man introduced himself, "Hello, my name is Tobin. Nice to meet you, Lady Alisa." He gave me a warrior's salute that he had learned from Zed.
I chuckled slightly at his serious look as he saluted. He had a baby face with his big, grey eyes and shaggy black hair. He was probably around fifteen years old. "Hi Tobin, nice to meet you. You can call me Alisa. No need to be too formal. I'm cousins with Katie and Abby." I greeted him politely.
He perked up even more at the mention of Katie and Abby. He was one of the actors in Abby's theater group and had graduated from her school before he started his apprenticeship with the Crafsman in Ilmir.
Katie was well known in the entire Kanta region for her contributions as the Madam Clan Leader. Being related to both of them was an instant seal of approval for me. "Oh, that's great! Everyone loved Katie and Abby! Any family of theirs is welcome here!"
Zed seemed annoyed that Tobin was taking up so much of their time in this short visit. "Private Tobin, go practice your techniques with the pell," Zed ordered in an authoritative voice.
Tobin snapped to attention and saluted. "Sir, yes, sir." Tobin turned away to go practice with renewed vigor. He wanted to show off for Alisa. He shouted over his shoulder as he jogged towards the wooden practice dummy, "It was nice to meet you, Alisa. Hopefully, I will see you around town soon."
Zed narrowed his eyes at Tobin, and he hurried away. Zed could be scary when he was in his serious mode. I had seen him kill before without changing his facial expression much, so I could tell that he was irritated.
I complimented Zed to lighten the mood. "Cute kid, it looks like you are training him well. You are an excellent fighter, so he has a lot to learn from you."
Zed beamed at the praise, "Yes, he has a lot to learn before he is at my level. Most of my skills were learned in real-world combat. It is different to learn in a safe environment, but it is a good start. I will train the new warriors in the basics first, and we can advance the training once they master them."
I said a silent prayer for those new warriors. I know that Zed was not an easy instructor and had learned the hard way, so he had very little empathy for the new warriors. It would be tough, but they would be better warriors in the future.
"Have you tried the food here? It's so much better than any other foods that I have eaten in Stanarussi or Lancri. How does it compare to Shibatsu?" I asked as I changed the subject.
He replied indifferently, "The food here is better than the food in Shibatsu. I am used to eating anything that I can from place to place."
His comment reminded me of our travels and the hot air balloon. I asked, "Blaise told me that you helped him move the balloon. Where is it now?"
He smiled as he remembered the hot air balloon. "Yes, we moved it closer to the De Kanta house. I can show you later if you like. We moved the rations here to the barracks. I figured that you would not want them."
I would be happy if I never had to eat one of those dry, bland biscuits again, so I was more than happy to give them away if they wanted them. "No problem, I don't need the balloon right now, and you are more than welcome to any of the food left over from our trip. I want to use the supplies that we brought to help make more contributions to the Kanta clan, so I can go with Al and Blaise to get them later."
Blaise and Al came back from their talk, and Zed nodded towards them. "Well, it looks like it's time to get back to work. I hope to see you again soon. I'm glad to see that you are fitting in well."
I agreed and waved goodbye to them as we left for our next destination, the blacksmith shop. I told Al about the supplies in the hot air balloon, and we made a stop there first. Most of the food had been removed, the rest were non-perishable items that I brought with me from Stanarussi and Annalaias.
Al helped me carry the things that I wanted to keep in the house. "Just take what you want inside. I can get Blaise and Kirin to help me with the rest that is going to be used for the new inventions." I had already mentioned how I wanted to use these items to help the Kanta clan.