Capítulo 8: Village Out of Sight
[Location: Hidden Village- Kingdom of Tevell]
[3 days have passed]
The next morning, inside the barn the morning light began to filter through the holes that were there, the barn door began to open letting in a layer of light that covered both of us and finally waking us then a figure covered by the morning light entered the barn and with a cheerful female voice woke us up.
-????: Good morning sleepyheads!
-Zyrus: (yawning) ugh...good morning...
I rubbed my eyes when I got up while Celes removed some branches of straw that got stuck in her hair, having better vision I could see that the person in front of us was a young girl with black hair and braids at both ends of her head, she wore a navy blue dress and an apron with a ribbon on her belt, she carried a bucket in her right hand and in her left some clothes, boots and a sponge.
-Zyrus: Who are you?
I asked still something sleepy to which the girl cheerfully replied as she approached us
????: I am Annie Sorrel the granddaughter of the chief of this village.
(Annie Sorrel -Chief's Granddaughter- 15 Years)
-Annie: My grandfather asked me to come wake them up for breakfast.
-Celes: Breakfast?
We both looked at each other confused, we didn't expect to be invited to breakfast, I was thinking of leaving after getting some supplies and some clothes for Celes but this is definitely perfect.
-Annie: Yeah, but first...
She approached me, put the bucket on the ground and pointed to my face with a face of disgust.
-Annie: You two should take a bath because you stink, especially you.
It was true that I hadn't taken a bath since I came to this world, although until then I hadn't noticed the smell that I was emitting after all the sweat and dirt that I accumulated running and fleeing for my life, I instinctively sniffed my armpit and I could really feel that it stank very bad.
-Annie: Here, use this bucket with water and this sponge to take a bath here, when you finish put on these clothes that I brought you, the one you are wearing is already very dirty and stinks so I will wash it.
The girl left the clothes and the sponge on a box, I was somewhat paralyzed by the strong but kind personality that this girl had and then she took Celes's hand and looked at her with a smile
-Annie: And you come with me, I'll give you a bath and fix your hair.
-Celes: What!?...no, please wait a second miss, what are you...? please stop, My Lord!?
Despite Celes' constant complaints, Annie dragged her by the hand out of the barn, Celes looked at me before leaving the barn almost as if asking me for help and I only limited myself to a gesture with my shoulders to make her resign, behind them they closed the door and I was left alone.
-Zyrus: Well I guess I'll have to bathe the old fashioned way.
As an inhabitant of a more modern world, taking a bath in a bathtub with warm water was something normal every day, but here I suppose that these kinds of things do not exist and if they do, not everyone would have access to them, surely people With a lot of money they should have huge bathrooms, bathing, in this way it was not very hygienic for me but what other option did I have? This was better than nothing I suppose.
-Zyrus: (Sigh) I miss the comforts of my world..., there is no internet, there is no television or video games, there are no comfortable bathrooms and I just got depressed.
After a while lamenting about the things that this world lacked compared to mine, I took off my clothes and began to wash my body and after 30 minutes washing myself as best I could, I dried myself with a cloth that came with the clothes and then I dressed with the The same clothes that Annie brought me, consisted of a white shirt, brown pants and short leather boots.
-Zyrus: Huh...it's more comfortable than I thought, the clothes are almost my size and the boots don't feel tight.
After getting dressed, I took my other clothes and left the barn, the door of the house where we spoke with the old man last night was open and a basket outside was my jacket that I gave to Celes last night so I went over and left the rest of my clothes inside the basket and my shoes aside, then I looked inside the house when I heard a voice from behind
-????: Ah I see you've already changed, good.
I turned to see that it was the same old man with whom we spoke last night.
-Zyrus: oh...yes thanks for letting us stay last night sir.
-Old Man: No problem young man, I am Ernis Sorrel, chief of this village and Annie's grandfather whom I assume you have already met.
(Ernis Sorrel -Village Chief- Sorrel - 81 Years)
-Ernis: But please come in, breakfast is already served.
I felt my stomach growl when he mentioned breakfast, I had run out of food yesterday on the way and since then I hadn't eaten anything, I nodded and we entered his house, he led me to the kitchen where on the table there were wooden cups with coffee served, toasted bread, cheese, butter and some sweet rolls, my mouth watered at the sight of such a picture.
-Zyrus: With...with permission.
-Ernis: Go ahead and eat what you like.
I sat in the chair and Ernis in the front seat, I began to eat some bread and sweet buns accompanied by coffee and by God it was delicious I couldn't remember the last time I ate something decent, after a few minutes footsteps were heard entering the house and Annie appeared in the kitchen.
-Ernis: Ah Annie, how did it go with the girl?
-Annie: Well, I had a lot of work, grandfather, that girl had neglected her image for a long time and although she didn't have clothes of her size, I finally left her in a more presentable way, go ahead and don't be ashamed.
Another girl walked into the kitchen with glowing skin, wearing a white button-down shirt that was a little tight across her breasts, a brown skirt that was clearly a little short on her as it showed a little higher than her heels. , short leather boots and her red hair was now shorter and had a ponytail, you could see the shame on her face and in the gestures in her hands.
-Celes: Uh...uh...good...good morning...My Lord...
I stared at her somewhat blushing, she was completely different from the girl who wore a rag, her hair long and unkempt and with dirt on her body from this morning, Annie approached me and patted me several times on the back with a mocking smile.
-Annie: Come on, come on, don't you have anything to say to your "Knight"?
Hearing her say that in a mocking way, I knew that then Celes told her about us and the oath she swore to me.
-Zyrus: uh...ah...well...you...look amazing Celes.
I smiled at her happily, still a little blushed, and she just let out a few small sounds of embarrassment while covering her face from how red it was, then Annie took her by the hand and led her to the breakfast table, Ernis seemed confused by the the way Celes had called me.
-Ernis: Well, well, it looks like there's a story here I'd like to hear.
We spent the last hour telling him about ourselves over breakfast obviously omitting the parts about me from another world and my conflict with the king of Tevell.
-Annie: Woaaahh...it's really incredible, Celes had already told me about it but hearing it in more detail sounds even better.
-Ernis: I am also surprised by what two young people like you have had to go through.
-Zyrus: Well, I've only had a few bad days, Celes is the one who's had a worse time than me.
-Annie: But you saved her, right? spending all that fortune on a slave just to set her free, a lot of people would call you the biggest idiot in the world, but I think it was kind of romantic.
-Celes: Ro...Romantic!? n...no...no, you're wrong! I...I saw it more as a...an act of great kindness on his part...hehe...yes that was it...hehe...
We both felt embarrassed listening to Annie, it was nothing like that, I only did it to ensure my trip, I had no intention of turning this into a romantic relationship, since once I returned to my world I would not see this world again or Celes again.
-Ernis: Come on Annie, don't say those things, you don't see that you make the two of them uncomfortable, they are a Knight and his lord whom she must protect hehehe.
-Annie: Well, to be honest when my grandfather told me about you two I thought Zyrus was a horrible man for having a woman dressed like that.
I couldn't blame Annie for thinking like that, anyone who saw us like this would think the same of me.
-Annie: But when I was giving Celes a bath, she told me what you had done for her and my opinion changed completely, now I think that she was an incredible person, idiot, but incredible.
-Zyrus: Thanks Annie...I guess.
I didn't know how to take that compliment/insult from Annie but at least things had started to look up. The village chief rubbed his beard and looked at us curiously before asking us something.
-Ernis: One thing if you allow me to ask, our village is very hidden in the forest and does not appear on the maps, how did you find it?
-Zyrus: Well, when I was passing through the main road, I ran into an old man accompanied by a mule who was going to the capital, he told me about this village and told me that a good friend of the Chief sent me.
-Ernis; Oh! You must have run into Marcus then, an old friend who lives in the capital, if he sent them then there is no problem.
After breakfast Annie got up and cleared the table, Ernis got up and mentioned that he would take his daily walk through the village, after finishing cleaning the dishes Annie mentioned that she would wash my clothes in the river, they allowed us to stay in the village for as long as that we need but the truth is that I would prefer to continue traveling as soon as possible, once my clothes are clean and we prepare ourselves with supplies.
-Zyrus: I will also go to the river, I need to wash my suitcase, it almost stinks of rotten fruit.
We got up from the table and walked with Annie to go to the river, on the way we saw some people who greeted Annie, being a small village everyone must know each other, when we reached the river Annie approached the shore and with a cleaning board she began to wash my clothes, I also went to the river and emptied everything from my suitcase. the money, the vial, the necklace and some notebooks that were also damaged.
-Annie: You have very strange clothes, these pants I don't recognize what material they are made of and this jacket with teeth in the center is very strange.
-Zyrus: Ahaha...if it's from a far away land, they're personalized.
I couldn't tell her where my clothes came from, while washing my suitcase, Celes brought the sword and started training with it to adjust to its flaws.
-Zyrus: By the way, Annie, do you know why this village is so hidden?
-Annie: Well, it's a bit complicated to explain, at first this village didn't exist here but my grandfather told me that 13 years ago our real home, a village that no longer exists was burned, my parents died by fire but my grandfather told me I rescued when I was still very small and we came here, I have no memories of that day.
As she continued to wash she could see an expression of anguish on her face.
-Annie: He built a small cabin for the two of us, over time more people came here, some fleeing, others with nowhere to go and over the years this village was built, but everyone agreed that they should stay out of the knowledge of the rest to protect us.
She finished washing my clothes and put them in the basket again, she took the basket in her hands and before leaving she looked at the sky.
-Annie: My grandfather never told me about what really happened that day but he says it's not something I should worry about, well, I'll go hang up the clothes, see you.
I also finished cleaning my suitcase and leaned it on a rock with the inside exposed to dry, Celes who had already finished training approached me.
-Celes: I think I know the reason.
-Zyrus: Huh? oh really?
-Celes: Yes, when I was still traveling in the old man's wagon, I heard in some towns, people talking about a village in the far north of the kingdom that was burned because the villagers refused to pay excessive taxes and endure constant abuse. of the same collectors and their guards.
Hearing that reminded me of Sara's story, about how the enormous taxes barely left her to eat, without a doubt that should have happened, but why going to such an extreme of destroying a village and killing its people was...inhuman.
-Zyrus: Celes, we have to prepare to leave, we will leave tomorrow at dawn.
She agreed and we returned to the village to gather supplies and other objects that may be useful to us, thanks to the fact that the head of the village told the other villagers about us, they were all very cooperative when we asked for help, it was already dark and we returned to the house from Ernis to dinner.
-Ernis: Well, as your day has been, I heard that you have been gathering supplies for your trip.
-Zyrus: Yes, we appreciate your enormous hospitality, if there was a way to repay them for what they did for us.
Annie: No payment is necessary, Zyrus, you two are on an important trip and it wouldn't be right to charge you.
-Ernis: It's true, you still have a long way to get to Gainsworth, you must go through some towns and cross the East Border Gate, so you will need all the resources you can gather.
Ernis got up from the table and took a scroll from a kitchen cabinet, then he returned and handed it to me.
-Ernis: Here you go, my old map of the kingdom that I used when I was still a traveler, it will be difficult to travel without one, I marked reliable routes that you can follow and safe places where you can rest on the way, I hope you find it useful as it was for me.
-Zyrus: Thank you very much, this will be very useful for us.
This is what I was missing, after losing my last map I hoped I would not end up walking blind again and the map that Ernis gave me is very detailed and showed rest points and alternative routes as well as how long it takes to get from one point to another.
-Ernie: I'm glad, in my youth I always wanted to travel the world but I didn't take into account the dangers of the world itself then, so I settled for traveling the whole kingdom.
After finishing dinner we got up and headed for the door to go sleep in the barn but Annie stopped us at that.
-Annie: Where are they going?
-Zyrus: To the barn, to rest for tomorrow.
-Annie: But what do you think silly, we won't let you sleep in the barn again, come on, I'll prepare a room for both of you.
We were both surprised to hear that rooms had been prepared for us, we followed Annie into the hallway of the house, she opened a door and there were two beds prepared, she proceeded to light a candle to illuminate the room.
-Annie: Well, Celes and I will sleep in this room, Zyrus you will sleep in the next room, it's smaller but you won't have any discomfort.
She proceeded to open the door of the room on the side, lit another candle and as she said the room was smaller, it looked more like a small warehouse and there was an improvised mattress with straw on some boards and a pillow.
-Zyrus: I will sleep here?
-Annie: What? Do you have any complaints about how I prepared a room for you?
-Celes: I... I don't have problems where I sleep, I also prefer to be close to My Lord only if-
-Annie: But what are you talking about, Celes, I can't allow a girl and a boy to share a room, besides, Zyrus is a man, I'm sure he'll be fine.
Both Celes and I resigned ourselves to Annie's constant pressure, she really did have a strong personality, nothing else to do Celes and Annie entered her room and I settled into this small space.
-Zyrus: Well, this is better than lying almost dead on the ground, to sleep then, because tomorrow will be another day where anything can happen..., I miss my room.
The next morning I got up to get ready for the trip, Annie knocked on the door and went to my room to leave my clean clothes.
-Annie: Good morning, sleepyhead! Here you go, clean and without bad smell, when you change come to the kitchen for breakfast.
-Zyrus: Thanks Annie.
I nodded and she left, after getting dressed I felt comfortable again wearing my clothes and although it didn't have that pleasant smell that detergent leaves at least it was clean, I took my suitcase, put all my belongings together with supplies that we gathered from the village and went to the kitchen where Ernis, Annie and Celes were already having breakfast, I joined them to have breakfast and talk before leaving but between that conversation a topic came up that caught my attention.
-Zyrus: The King of the Forest?.
-Ernis: That's right, it's an ancient beast that has lived for more than a hundred years in these forests.
-Zyrus: An ancient beast....wait...by...chance, it doesn't have the shape of....boar right?
-Ernis: Hmm? Well, yes, how did you know?
I figured, that "King of the Forest" was the same pig-shaped monster that has been causing trouble along the main road these days and almost killed me once.
-Zyrus: huh?...well...I heard something like that on the way from some soldiers but what can you tell me about him?
-Annie: Let me tell it grandpa, I love that story.
-Ernis: Very well, go ahead dear.
-Annie: (Coughing) Well, the King of the Forest was born as the smallest of his litter, they lived in the forest in the deepest part, during a winter season his family moved in search of warmer lands without knowing that they would end up invading goblin territory.
"Goblins? When I hear that, a lot of things come to my mind and not the good ones"
-Annie: One night the goblins cornered his family that had invaded their territory and began to kill them, the little boar unable to fight saw his family die in front of him, his crying was so strong that it is said that the Mother of the Spirits heard it.
"Mother of Spirits? Now that's something new"
-Annie: Then the Mother granted the little boar the "Blessing of Nature" which made it bigger and stronger, the goblins intimidated by its enormous size fled in terror.
"A Blessing? and I still don't know how to use mine, I wonder if I really have one or it was just another trick"
-Annie: Although his family did not manage to survive, the small wild boar that was now gigantic began to protect the inhabitants of the forest that were threatened so that the tragedy of his family would not be repeated.
-Celes: He must have become a noble beast to later be called King of the Forest.
-Ernis: That's right, for more than a hundred years the King of the Forest has protected its inhabitants from other monsters or humans who try to hunt them.
"Noble beasts, yeah right, that noble beast did not stop to try to kill a defenseless person."
After the conversation ended and we also finished having breakfast we got up to leave and say our goodbyes, it was time to move on.
-Ernis: Do you already have everything you need?
-Zyrus: We got it, again we really appreciate your help.
-Annie: We already told you not to worry, just take care and come back whenever you want.
-Celes: We thank you and we will keep the location of this village hidden.
They both nodded with a smile, they trusted us that we wouldn't say anything about this village, but I felt that we couldn't leave that easily.
"I guess at this point it's just dead weight"
I took my phone out of my bag, which was already useless, I approached Annie and handed it over to her.
-Zyrus: I know you didn't want a payment but at least I want you to keep this, it's like an amulet.
They both looked at the phone in a very curious way, it was not surprising, it was something they had never seen before and after a few seconds inspecting it they looked at me and nodded with a smile.
-Annie: Okay, we'll keep this amulet as a keepsake.
-Ernis: It is a very strange amulet but we promise to take care of it, good luck on your journey
After that we walked out of the village, waving goodbye to the two people who opened their home to us and gave us their kindness, thinking if we would ever return to this village, probably not.
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