章 1: Chapter-1<Strangers-1>
Boonie village is a relatively small village. It is approximately half a kilometer long. And is one of the most secluded villages of the area. Or it was safer to say that there was no other village in that area. The nearest village was at least a day's journey from there. And if it was winter time then the same one-day journey would get converted into a 3-day journey.
The Boonie village was located in the Kalgan forest. So adventures and hunters who came to Kalgan forest for hunting would often stay in the village. This was how the Boonie village sustained itself. And most of the village folks worked as guides or helpers to these people. With the traffic of so many people, one would think that the Boonie village must be rich. But that was not the case at all.
The Kalgan forest, where Boonie village was located had a huge variety of wild plants and animals to hunt. And many people would come to the village to hunt these creatures. And the best part was that dangerous animals would never come near the village. But the main problem that was faced by the village people was the winter…
The winter season lasted approximately 5-6 months of a year. And the winters came, it would snow a lot. The snow made it very hard to navigate through the forest. And sometimes it even makes it harder for the hunters to track their way back. So all the traffic of hunters that visited the village would come in the rest of the 6 months.
In the 6 months of winter, people usually would not be able to go out and buy necessities. So most of the village people would start hoarding food and other necessities for the harsh winter. That hoarding would amount to a significant amount of people's savings. That is why the people of the village were not that rich. But they were surviving somehow…
There is only one bar and inn in the village. It is owned by the chief of the village, Jared. He is a middle-aged man in his 40s. He had a son and daughter-in-law who helps him run in the inn. While the old man is a drunkard he usually is drowned in a bottle of alcohol, while his son and daughter-in-law look after the inn and bar.
…..
"10…..Co…..copper." The main receptionist of the inn said while stuttering.
"So that charge is for a night?" a hunter asked.
"…" To this, the main receptionist of the inn nodded his head.
"Will it include a meal?" the hunter asked.
"…" To this, the main receptionist of the inn declined by shaking his head sideways.
"Alright then… I will take it." The hunter said.
"Foo…..Follo….Folllow...her." the receptionist said while taking out a key from the drawer of his table. And then he rang a bell on his table. Listening to the bell a middle-aged woman came from the adjacent room. The woman was in her thirties. She had jet black hair with blue eyes. She had blue eyes and fair skin. She looked fairly tired for some reason. She also looked pale and was sweating like crazy. But the receptionist overlooked it as these were indeed very tiring days.
The receptionist of the inn then showed the woman the key and she understood what the boy was wanting to tell her. Then the hunter forked up some money which the boy took and put in one of his drawers. Then he noted the name of the hunter in a register. And then the woman escorted the hunter of his room.
As the woman went away to escort the hunter, the receptionist sighed with relief. The receptionist's name was Fabian. And he didn't like to talk with people that much. And one of the major reasons behind this was his speech disability. He would stutter every time he would speak. Most people would be irritated when he would need a lot of time to complete his sentences. That is why he didn't like talking to people.
And his crippled body didn't help either. His one leg was way shorter than the other. While his left hand was completely disabled. He can't even sense that hand. Because of all of these things, it was very hard for him to live a life in the village. Most of the villages were manual laborers. So a cripple like him didn't fit well in the village.
He became 18 years old this year. According to the customs of the village it had been 5 years since he became a man. But still, he was a bachelor of the village. The friends of his age had already settled and started grooming their families. His childhood friend had 4 kids. Yet here he was stuck in a job that he don't like. And most important of all, he was all alone.
Fabian may be a cripple. But he was 10 times smarter than anyone in the village. Seeing his intellect Jared taught him how to read and write with his son. The only purpose of this was so that his son could get a servant for the inn that could take care of the inner finances of the inn. And doing so his son would get a loyal and cripple dog that they could put on the lease.
Fabian understood the evil plan behind Jared's generosity. But it also benefitted him greatly. So he just went on with it. He was a cripple and this was the only way from which he could make a decent earning. Although he was treated like trash in the inn, still as long as the money that he earned from the inn could keep his bed warm and his belly full, he would keep working here even if he doesn't like it.
…
Fabian then started looking at the register and started making a record for the day. As it was already night time Fabian was not expecting anyone to come to the inn this time. So he wanted to wrap his duty fast as he can. And before he does that he needed to make a record of today's earning and expenses.
He also had to make a list of all of the things that they would need in the winter. The winter was just upon them. And he needed to stock some supplies for the repairs of the inn. As well he needed to restock the alcohol. There was so much to do and he was all alone. As Fabian was wrapping things up he was so in much hurry that he didn't notice he had some customers.
Two hooded figueres were standing in front of the receptionist's desk. These figures were wearing long cloths wrapped around their body which didn't let any parts of their show. The hoddie of these people was so deep that one would not be able to see the faces of these figures. One of the figures was bulky being standing with a height of 6 feet 4 while the other one was a small being with a height of 5 feet 4 inches.
Fabian was startled as he saw those two people suddenly appear in front of him. But then they smiled towards them and spoke…
"We….Wel...Welcome!...….Ho…. How….. Heel…..help... u?" Fabian said.
"I heard this is the place where you can get some food in the village. Is that true?" the smaller person said in a girly voice.
"…." To this Fabian nodded his head to yes.
"Good. Then we would need a table for two please." The smaller person said.
"…." To this Fabian smiled and gestured them to follow him.
Then he took his clutches from behind the table and started limping towards the restaurant of the inn. The restaurant was handled by Jared's daughter-in-law. So Fabian just escorted them towards the mostly empty restaurant. And then he started heading back. But as he was heading back, the burly hooded man stopped Fabian…
"Can you do me a favor and hand this to the man that is staying in your top suite?" the burly man said while handing a rolled piece of paper to Fabian.
Fabian smiled and took the paper from his hands. He was irritated as he had a lot of work in his hands. But it seems to him that he would not be able to do anything before his bedtime. Their special suite was on the third floor. And he don't know whether that man had noticed it or not, but Fabian was not someone that could climb stairs. So asking him to go there was kind of rude.
But Fabian still had to do what his customer had requested. And the worst of all he had to see that man. The person that was staying in the suite was a man that Fabian hated. That man was handsome and charming and he had slept with most of the female workers that worked in the inn.
And that was the sole reason he hated that man.
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