章 18: Chapter 18
|Talgeyl - Temporary Lord of Lordlake City|
Life has been hard for us since the Queen cursed our land a year ago. The land grows barren, the rain stops coming, and even the water inside the ground dries up. At least we are not dead when the queen uses the Sun Rune, as I know how powerful that rune can be.
It can wipe Lordlake out of the map and leave nothing but a giant hole. However, I know that the others will not see it like that. Some of us fear her wrath, but most are angry at her. However, we did not express it fully because we did not want another of her wrath coming at us.
Ultimately, we cannot do anything but swallow our anger and move on. Sadly, it is harder than it looks. With no water around us, we need to walk a few kilometers north, where monsters are waiting for us, and even kill us if we are not careful.
Many of us are already dead trying to bring clean water from the Falena River. If not for that blasted fortress blocking the water path, we will be okay. We still need to find a way to get food besides the fish, but we will manage as long as there is clean water for us to drink.
However, with that fortress blocking the water from reaching our city, we are only waiting for our demise. We have already spent all of our supply in the well and in our emergency water supply in the underground storage room.
Now, we only wait to die either by the lack of water, lack of food, or by the monster. I hope the children survive and go to the other cities.
"Talgeyl! Talgeyl!"
I snap from my thoughts and look back to see Goesch run toward me. Goesch is the strongest fighter in Lordlake. He is the one fighting through the barren land to get water for all of us. He is the reason why we can still survive in this city.
He is a towering man who stands two meters tall, fifty centimeters higher than me. His body is full of muscle and scars from the past fighting. It is surprising that he is a farmer rather than a fighter before the queen punishes us.
"Goesch? What is it? Why are you running?"
"There is a group of people walking here."
I widen my eyes and quickly walk toward him.
"Are you sure? Who is it? Are they a knight? Does the queen come to punish us once again? I know I should stop those young men from sending that plea to the queen."
"No. I don't think they are knights."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. They did not come with armor or anything. Not only that, there are only four of them and an animal."
"What?"
"Yes. I did not know what to do."
"Then let's greet them and ask for the reason why they come here."
"Are you sure? I can gather the others and throw them away."
"No. We did not make any more enemies."
Goesch looks at me for a second and sighs.
"You are right. I hate it, but we did not need more enemies. Come on, the others are already waiting for you outside."
After saying that, the two of us walk out of the Lord's Mansion, and I can see a group of seven people already waiting for me. I nod at them, and they follow my lead. Seeing us walking to the entrance of the city, the others also followed us.
We can see our guests walking toward us at the entrance. When they arrive in our city, I walk forward and say.
"Welcome to our city, stranger. My name is Talgeyl, and I would like to know the reason why you are coming to our city.
The young man with black hair and golden eyes walks forward with a smile on his face. He bows a little and says.
"My name is Gerrald, and my companion and I come here to sell you some goods. We are merchants, you see?"
"Truly? I may be old, but my eyes are still sharp, you know? I did not see anything you can sell."
The young man smiles and snaps his finger. A second later, three massive barrels of water and five boxes full of food, by the smell of it, appeared in front of me.
"See? We are merchants. Well, I'm a merchant. My companion is my bodyguard."
I look at the water we need and cannot help but say.
"I-I don't think we can afford them, sir. We did not have anything to sell and did not even have money left after spending most of it to buy food."
"Well, lucky for you, I did not need a potch. I hear the sand in this part of the city is the best and I want that. Those massive barrels of water? One kilo of sand. That box of dried food? One kilo of sand."
I look at him in shock and slowly say.
"You know that helping us is punishable by whipping, right?"
"Helping? No, sir. We are merchants, and I come here to do a trade. I hear sand is really valuable in other continents, and the sand here is top quality."
I can feel a single tear coming out of my eyes as I see the young man give me a smile. I smile at him and say.
"Then I will make sure to give you the highest quality of sand."
"Great!"
The young man claps his hands and looks at his bodyguard.
"Alright people! Help them carry these goods inside! I will cook something good for them! Come on!"
For the first time in a long time, the people of Lordlake have life inside their eyes as they help the bodyguard carrying the barrel of water inside the city. Slowly but surely, the people start coming out of their houses, bringing cups.
One of the bodyguards, the one with a leopard, is the one filling the cups with water. I can see the others crying while they are drinking the water and release a relieved sigh.
"What is going on here?!"
Ah, it looks like people's cries are loud enough for the local doctor to hear.
Silva is an older woman, around the same age as me, 58. She has brown hair, with the front of her hair already turning white from the stress. We are indebted to her because she is the only reason why many people in this place are still alive.
"Is that water?"
I smile and walk toward him.
"That young man over there is giving us–"
"Trading!"
I smile at him and continue.
"Trade these foods and waters in exchange for sand."
"Sand? Really? So he is giving them for free."
"Trade!"
I chuckle a little as Silva ignores the young man, who is busy taking out more barrels of water. I can see Goesch ordering the other young men to make sure to store the rest of the barrels in the underground storage so they do not get dirty.
"Tch. They forget to boil them. Oi! Goesch! Take one barrel and start boiling them! I need them to let my patient have something to drink! Is that rice? Oi! Make sure to cook that rice and make porridge for the sick!"
I chuckle a little as she walks back to the clinic while grumbling. She might act like that, but she is the kindest person in this place. She acts like that because of the burden she is carrying. She has carried the burden of many people on her shoulders.
I shake my head and walk toward the young man but stop a little when I see something on the ground. I pick it up and look at it.
"A stamp?"
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