章 37: Stories
Romain thought he was the unluckiest person in the world. With no money and a lot of mouths to feed back home in Steiger, he decided to try his luck last time hoping to land a lucrative deal in Haldin for a prospective buyer. He can't feed his family with iron ore and Archipel ale, as his wife told him many times before.
He was lucky enough for his family to not join him this time, Romain thought. As soon as he had crossed into the border of Haldin, he was beset by bandits on the road. Deserters from Rudelia's army, from what he could tell by the symbols that ordained their shoddy armor. Conscripted peasants turned highwaymen who were tired of obeying their country's nobles and decided the life of a outlaw would be preferable to groveling at some highborn commander's feet. Now they've lost both their yokes and their inhibitions if the echoing screams and corpses scattered about were of any indication.
Now all he can do now is wait for the inevitable. The moment they find out his family cannot afford to pay a ransom, his life would be forfeit. At least his cell was spacious even if the only light came from the only window on the cell door. He wondered if there was any skilled builders in their ranks if they were able to carve rooms and hallways like these out of the mountain. The merchant was surprised when he had taken his first look at their makeshift fortress where they had brought him. It was as if they were a foreign force occupying the region.
"I wish I at least had some company," he said to himself, "Waiting to die isn't as exciting as I imagined..." The few male prisoners they had in the other cells had gone silent. The sobbing he had been hearing these past few days had gone silent. Romain thought they must have finally broken down in despair.
At least whatever death these villains will give him would be quick, he hoped. Compared to those women in the dancing troupe he had traveled next to, Romain felt he was getting off easy. Whatever was left of them after the few days here would be sold in secret to whoever could pay and properly hide their little indiscretions. If you have a pretty enough face, even men weren't safe from what he was told in hushed whispers in the tavern. For once, he thanked his parents that he looked a little squirrelly.
Romain started to cover his mouth to yawn, when he began to hear approaching footsteps down the hallway. Moving towards the small window on his cell door, he peeked through to see who was approaching. When the figures emerged from the dimly lit corridor, he struggled to stifle his sardonic laughter.
The gods must have heard my pleas and decided to make one last jest, he thought. A guard approached the antecedent cell from him with a golem in tow. A large cubic head sat its shoulders, dotted by several tiny eyes. His naked body looked nearly human in appearance if not for the midnight blue, polished leather-like skin that covered him with a patterned weave. Its joints and chest were even protected by some kind of flexible metal plates. These bandits must have all the luck in the world to stumble onto a treasure like this, the merchant chided in his head.
The guard let out a growl, "This is your cell, golem. Boss says I can't hurt you because you look like you're worth a fortune but that ain't gonna stop me from tying you up and tossing your metal ass in there myself!"
Romain didn't hear any signs of struggle and assumed the golem followed his instructions as the the sound of its cell door closing rang out through the prison area. The guard then turned his eyes towards the merchant with a sharp glare.
"Having a laugh over there, old man!?" the bandit sneered, "Or are you jealous? We found this beauty just wandering around the woods nearby. Once we find a buyer, we ain't gonna be drinking that piss you call ale that was sitting in your caravan. I can finally drink some good wine for once!"
The bandit laughs heartily as he says those words, "You better hope your old woman pays up, just in case you thought we'd let you go now that we have this little bundle of gold in our pockets. Otherwise, me and the boys are gonna have some fun practicing our knife throws with you!"
The guard chuckles to himself as he disappears down the hallway. Romain let out a dejected sigh. He had wanted company. To his chagrin and disappointment, it would be a golem. Such an eccentric lot, he thought but at least he would try to accept his improved situation.
"Hey!" he says in a hushed tone through the cell door's window, "Can you hear me, golem?"
"Hm?" a voice creaks out from the neighboring cell, "Are you a prisoner too?" it asks.
"Yeah!" the merchant replies, "The name's Romain. I'm a merchant traveling down to Haldin before these gentlemen decided to abscond me away to their quaint mountain home."
"A merchant, huh? Did you travel from Steiger?" it inquired.
"Yeah. Got a family there," Romain says dishearteningly, "I got a tip that the Region Lord in Haldin was hurting for metals for rebuilding houses and improving some of the farming villages around the city. Thought I'd try my luck and see if I can drop off all this ore I've been sitting on for months since there was a huge surplus. With the tensions building up in the north, you'd think I'd be able to find some profit in all of this. But there's too much materials floating around and not enough buyers. And now? Just gonna sit in this cell until they find out that there's no money coming their way with the wife and kids wondering if their dad is ever gonna come home. You wouldn't happen to have something over there I can use to fashion a noose with would ya?"
"That's quite the story, Romain." the golem commented, "Took a bit of a dark turn at the end there, though."
The merchant scoffed, "You heard the guard. Doesn't look like I'll be getting that quick death I wanted."
"You shouldn't sound so despondent there, big guy."
"Oh? And why's that, golem?"
"That's because I'm here now! There's nothing to worry about." it happily states.
Romain began to scream internally. This is why he hated talking to intelligent golems, he thought. The man knew that they were stupidly optimistic and friendly even in the most dire of situations. In the face of danger, the idea of protecting themselves would not cross their minds. They would rather go about their craft than attack another living being. Sure, he's met a few with a bite to their tongues or whatever they had, but picking up a weapon and protecting themselves was beyond them.
The merchant struggled to continue the conversation. But the length of his isolation outweighed his frustration, "So... you got a name? Or did you not pick one for yourself yet cause you just woke up? You didn't have any clothes on when they dragged you in so I assume your a fresh awakening unless they took them from you."
There was a pause before the golem spoke again, "Is the guard still there? I can't see from this angle."
Arching an eyebrow, Romain was puzzled by the golem's odd request but obliged anyway. Peering down the hallway in front of his cell, he could make out the silhouette of the bandit guard idling against the wall and casually picking his nose. He noticed Romain looking at him and spat in his direction.
"He's relaxing down the hall." Romain replied, "Quite the charming fellow, isn't he?"
"Good!" it exclaims, "My name's Arlan. And yeah, I did just awaken recently. Are we the only ones here?"
"Nah. There's a handful of men in the other cells but they're not talking much these days. The few women we had here were taken away just a little while ago to Gods knows where." he responded.
"They were prisoners huh? I saw them making food in the main gathering hall."
"Being forced to cook these bandits dinner, most likely. I was wondering why there's only one guard right now. Probably having a celebration now that they have you to sell." he said starkly.
"I must be worth quite a lot then." The golem says wonderingly.
"You don't look like any golem I've ever seen, with that human like body. A golem collector would pay a high price for something as unique as you. Hell, you even sound normal!" This point had been bothering Romain since their conversation started. Despite Arlan's nonchalant demeanor, it almost seemed like he was talking to a regular person. He'd believe it more if the golem didn't make such a crudely optimistic statement beforehand. There was nothing good about the situation they were in.
Romain was so busy in his thoughts that he didn't hear the sound of thundering footsteps approaching from the hall.
"Hey! What are you two yammering on about?" The guard yells, "Thought I'd cut you some slack, old man but the idea of taking you out to the yard is starting to get real tempting. It's because of you two I don't get to have some after dinner fun with those girls. Instead I'm stuck babysitting some worthless shits and a dumb ass golem!"
"Nice place you got here," Arlan commented, "I enjoyed the tour while you all paraded me around like a trophy."
The guard scoffed, "Well, well! The golem has a bit of a bite to his words. Too bad you can't do anything about all this. I could open that door and stab you right in the gut but you wouldn't even lift a finger to fight back."
"You must have some experience kidnapping golems before huh? Must know a lot about our little quirks then." the golem stated.
The bandit snorted, "It's common knowledge, golem. Wonder why none of you want to travel around? Not that it matters for you. You're gonna look great displayed in a glass case in someone's parlor."
"No need to be so hostile, friend." Arlan calmly says, "Besides, me and this gentleman are just sharing stories."
"Stories?" The guard snickers, "You a bard, golem? Is that what you do?"
"It's not my specialty if that's what your asking. I just like sharing them," the golem replies, "I can tell you one if you'd like. That dinner's already started anyway, right?"
Well it's not like he had anything else better to do, Romain thought. In about an hour, the screams and sobbing are going to start again and the merchant would rather hear the guard's annoying taunts than listen to another night of that.
"Fine. But if it isn't any good, I'm stabbing this sack of shit in the thigh." the bandit motions to Romain mockingly, "I'll be entertained either way."
"Of course!" The golem exclaims, "Let me tell you the story of the Trojan Horse."
"What, is that some kind of mythical steed?" the guard asks.
"Not a beast, friend. A war raged between the ancient Greeks and the Trojans far in the past. The Greek army laid siege to the Trojan capital of Troy for ten years but could do nothing to penetrate its city walls. So the Greeks prayed to the gods and devised a plan. The next day, the Trojans found out that the Greeks had suddenly left. Not a single soul was left outside the city gates. Instead, they found a wooden horse, the symbol of Troy."
Romain was at a bit of a loss. He wasn't a learned man. Far from it. But he's never heard of these countries before from anyone. Was there something even older than the Old Empire, he asked himself.
The golem continued, "Thinking the war was over and the Greeks had left it there as a gift for their surrender, they pulled the giant statue into to the city. When night fell they began to celebrate their supposed victory. Little did they know, however, was that the Greeks didn't give up at all. Under the cover of night, they sailed back into Troy and their armies secretly gathered in front of the gates once again. With all the Trojan soldiers completely inebriated and passed out, there was no one who stood watch. All of a sudden, a trap door opened from beneath the wooden horse's belly and out came a platoon of Greek soldiers. They began to kill the Trojans while they slept as they opened the gates for the rest of their army. The Greeks raze the city to the ground and finally ended their decade long siege, winning the Trojan War."
The two listeners were left speechless. The merchant knew it wasn't a bard but he was expecting something a bit more... grandiose. In the times he spent in the taverns, the only stories he had heard were tales of heroes or Merchant Guard hunting sea monsters that sometimes roamed the Archipel Bay. This was less of a tale and more like a lesson from some wandering scholar.
The bandit growled seemingly in agreement, "I wanted to be entertained, Golem! Not bored out of my mind! Guess you didn't care much for my warning then." He looked over at Romain with anticipation in his eyes.
"Oh, you aren't? History is important you know. So you don't repeat the mistakes made in the past." Arlan stated, "Of course, now we have a bit of a problem."
The guard looked puzzled at the golem, "What are you going on about?" he moved closer to the golem's cell door out of Romain's sight, "Or are you just stalling for time to protect your friend here?"
"'Fraid the problem is that I don't have much time left now that I know what's going to happen after that dinner ends. You really should have listened to the story, friend. It's not a very good idea to accept strange gifts left on your doorstep. It might be dangerous."
The guard had enough of the golem's words, "Dumb ass golem, why don't you start making more sen-"
Whatever the man was going to say was cut off, followed by muffled screams. Romain wasn't sure what was going all. From his tiny cell door window he could barely make out the bandit's legs flailing slightly above the ground as if he was being held in mid air, which seemed absolutely ludicrous to him.
"Crap! H-Hey! Stop it!" the golem shouted. Was he struggling against the bandit? The merchant was sure he didn't hear its cell door open. What was going on over there, he wondered with increasing apprehension as the muted shrieks of terror escalated higher.
The seconds pasted until silence suddenly befell the prison, broken only by what sounded like a bale of hay falling to the ground to Romain.
"Shit... so that's what the claw does to people I grab. I should do something about him before someone sees- What? No, Oracle please! I don't need to know my core is 100% charged again."
"H-Hey, Arlan? You ok over there?" Romain asks nervously, "What happened to that guard?"
"I killed him," the golem says frankly.
"W-W-Wait! What did you just say!?" he shouts unbelievably, "But how!? You're a golem, are ya!?"
"That's right," the golem replies back like it was normal thing to say, "Here, give me a moment."
As soon as it said those words, Romain began to hear the crunch of metal. From his cell he could see a part of a cell door, ripped in pieces, fall into his vision.
"Gonna start putting my gear on. And do something about 'that'. Maybe I could use the Maw?" it explains.
Romain could hear the rustling of fabric and clinking armor in the golem's cell. His mind couldn't comprehend what was going on. He began to think that he was hallucinating.
"Wanna hear another story?" the golem asked, "Armed robbery, murder, arson, kidnapping, torture, sexual assault and human trafficking."
The merchant tried his best to form words, "...What kind of story is that?"
"Not a very good one," Arlan replies, "But that's the story behind these bandits. And why the Mayor of Wolf's Rest wants this place cleared out. No trial for these guy's unfortunately. Not like I have much sympathy for them after I saw their handiwork impaled on the poles outside. Fucking classy, these guys are."
The golem moved in front of his cell as Arlan came in full view. The previously naked golem was now wearing finely tailored clothing protected by a shimmering breastplate with a crimson cloak emblazoned with the crest of Haldin. A spear rested easily on its back. This was a sight Romain thought he'd never see. An intelligent golem; dressed and armed to fight.
"It's true, then... can you really fight?" he asks with a hint of suspense in his words.
"Yep," it says so matter-of-factly, "If you don't mind, I think it's best you stay in there for now. I'm going to start clearing out the patrols before I give my comrades waiting outside the gates the signal to attack. You don't want to get caught in the crossfire when the fighting starts."
Is this really happening? Will he really get to see his family again? The merchant's heart began to palpitate wildly at this sign of hope.
Arlan began to move towards the hallway as Romain tried to catch his attention one last time, "H-Hey, wait! Before you go, tell me what kind of golem you are. I've never heard of an intelligent golem that can fight or kill another person before!"
It turned around and thought for a moment before giving the merchant a shrug, "Hm... an adventuring golem?"
Romain gave the golem an odd look, "That doesn't sound right at all." he said frankly.
It nodded back at him, "Your right. It sounded better in my head, to tell you the truth. Well... wish me luck then." it turned back to face the hallway as it pulled out the spear from his back, "You know, I told you that there was nothing to worry about now that I was here."
The merchant looked on as the golem crept down the dark corridor, lit ever so slightly by a crimson glow. This was going to be a story his children would never believe.
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