บท 21: Trader's Wit and Plea of a Priest
The village was quite lively; I would not have expected so much noise from a place so far away from civilization. I had spent my whole life in the city with busy highways, people marching from place to place like an ant colony, and even planes along with cargo ships could be seen at least once a day. I wished for peace every day, but there I was in the middle of a small community that was seemingly even noisier than the place I hated. Children and animals buzzed at every corner, including near the house that we had been given earlier. Wagons, although rare, were still being pushed by horses. All this was accompanied by the quiet sounds of the wilderness lurking outside the village. Even though this ruckus was not inferior to the one I was used to, I did not find it as obnoxious, and I was even able to enjoy it a little.
But once my ears gave in to the anharmonic orchestra of the village, the door beside me opened and out came Nila. Both her suitcase and staff remained in the house, since they were not in her hands at the moment. She glanced over at me and bobbed her head in the direction where we should head next. I crossed my hands at her lack of words, to which she turned away and led the way.
In this parade of silence that was off-putting even for the villagers, who did not bother us throughout the way, we reached the house by the main road. If I recalled correctly, the one we were visiting was old man Zanuff. His house had stalls attached to the side with several horses and a wagon, seems like he was a trader of some kind. Once we entered the house, the old man greeted us with a deep bow and sat us by the coffee table in his living room. With his limping gait, he slowly brought out a plate with teacups and a ceramic teapot. I shivered at the sight of floral patterns and butterflies that had sucked my blood the other day.
"Good to see you alive and well, Zanuff," said Nila after taking a sip of tea, to which Zanuff laughed in a hoarse voice and said, "I would not say I am exactly well. I was quite old back when we first met. The health problems have only stacked on top of each other since then, unfortunately."
"Yet you are still here. I did not expect you to still be alive, let alone do business to this day."
"I will quit traveling only after being bedridden completely, miss! But you elves truly do not age; you have remained the same lovely lady as you were 20 years ago."
Nila narrowed her brows, but then smiled. "We are eternal, unlike humans. But I am glad that I got to see your snide face for the last time before you go into the coffin."
Zanuff laughed once again, while I was being sidelined completely from this conversation. The old man peeked at me from time to time but did not really address my presence. Instead, he put down his teacup, which was already half-empty, and leaned forward.
"Anyway, I believe you came here to ask for a ride to Wiskoschia, correct?"
Nila nodded, her smile slowly fading away. "That's right, we will go there regardless, but it would be way more beneficial if we tagged along with you."
Zanuff's sunken eyes stopped at me completely, and he kept quiet for a minute, awaiting my reaction. I tried to look away, but the pressure remained unchanged. I sighed at this and said, "What is it?"
My question took Zanuff by surprise, and his eyes widened. He glanced at Nila and asked, "Is this young man an elf as well?"
"Are you becoming senile?"
Zanuff smirked and leaned back in his chair. "You were the only one who barged into my house without even presenting your own name, and your companion now has done the exact same. Is he by chance your apprentice?"
"Do not be ridiculous." Nila shook her head and turned to me. "I guess Zanuff is right. Why don't you introduce yourself?"
I narrowed my brows at Nila's plea and confidently answered, "My name is Blake. Pleased to meet you, Zanuff."
Nila's expression remained unwavering despite my attempt to conceal my actual name. She returned to her cup of tea while Zanuff smiled at me. "This is more like it, Blake. It did not hurt to introduce yourself, correct? I am Zanuff, as you probably know."
I had not introduced myself only because I was not sure how this dumb elf would react to my sudden change of name. If she was surprised by it or, God forbid, corrected me, I would have found myself in huge trouble. Fortunately, this time everything went smoothly, but I still needed to keep my guard up and engrave the name Blake into my mind, while staying in this village.
"Very well," continued Zanuff. "I will give you a lift to Wiskoschia in a few days after the harvest is ready to go. But I have one request."
Nila tilted her head. "And what would it be?"
"You two will load cargo onto my wagon."
"That's… a relatively easy favor. I feel like you are plotting something, boy. Or am I wrong?"
Zanuff giggled once more at her words while shaking his head. Then he looked at his wall clock and smiled. "It's almost time for the congregation in the church. You would not want to miss it, Nila."
I raised my brow at this sudden change of topic. Nila's reaction, however, surprised me even further. She got up and pulled my arm while saying, "You are right. Thank you for reminding me! Come on… Blake, we can't miss it!"
I did not fight back, and as a result, she quickly dragged me outside, while the old man saw us off with a smile. Once we departed from his house, Nila released my hand and pointed in the direction of the forest.
"Church must be over there, we should hurry," she explained hastily and strolled off without waiting for me. Once I caught up to her, I said, "I did not expect you to believe in god."
Nila, however, did not reply, resuming our game of stubbornness. She opened her mouth again only after we reached the church. It was a fine building, far more attractive than the rest of the houses. The church was built from white stone, and the roof tiles were black. It contained two slim towers in the back, the tops of these towers were decorated with the symbols of the moon and the sun. Once we entered, the priest's preaching reached my ears, along with murmurs of prayer coming from the parishioners. Without even looking at me, Nila pulled me towards the seat furthest away from the altar, the only place that was free.
After we sat down, Nila's hands were clenched, and she bowed lightly, but no words of prayer came out of her mouth. I did not repeat nor do anything, just continued glaring around the place and peeking at the priest from time to time. One peculiar detail by the altar was the statue of a woman with a crescent moon crown on her head and an hourglass she lifted above her head. It seemed like it was the statue of the goddess, the one I was supposed to slay per Solitaire's request.
I rubbed the gemstone in my pocket, and my brows narrowed at the thought of our last farewell. He might have thought that I was dead since I was in quite a predicament the last time we spoke. Did it mean that our deal was canceled now, and I was free to do whatever I wanted? But what about my revenge on the people from my original world? I should probably forget it for now since there was really no way of knowing whether Solitaire had abandoned me or not. If he actually did, then it would be for the better.
I was not religious. Even though my orphanage tried to teach me the word of God, I never actually listened to them. Something never sat right with me about the existence of some omnipotent being up in the clouds that did nothing about my suffering. I was told that it all must be the trial of faith, but I really couldn't see how believing could change my life for the better. Even here, this god that probably existed did not do much to help people around. I could perfectly see them praying, showing their humility, yet mistress fate brought upon their lands a criminal who had already killed some of their relatives. Their prayers really did not bring these fools far, but they were lucky that I was not planning on pillaging this place. I wanted to get out of here; the last thing I wanted was for my name, Dusk, to be revealed, whether through words or my own actions.
As for my task, I couldn't see myself fighting a god. Bet no one was stupid enough to even attempt imagining themselves piercing the flesh of the divine. I was not afraid of god, but glad that I did not actually need to hunt it now. Well, up until Solitaire would show me his smarmy face and encourage me with another threat.
As I revised my bet with Solitaire, the congregation ended, visitors departed, but the priest came in our direction. He first looked at Nila and bowed lightly, but then his attention turned to me. The priest smiled as he said, "Good evening, young man. May I know your name?"
"It's Blake."
"Blake then, I hope you enjoyed the stay at our church. It is always nice to see new faces here." He smiled again and turned his attention to Nila. "I am as much glad to see you here too."
"You are older than Zanuff, yet you look much fresher, priest Olek."
I leaned on the bench, expecting a long discussion. Olek was dressed in a black robe, but instead of a cross, there were two amulets dangling from his neck, one reminiscent of a sun and another of a crescent. I was quite surprised to learn that he was older than Zanuff since, as Nila explained, there were not many wrinkles and grey hairs present on him, and his posture was rather straight.
Olek shook his head at Nila's comment and said quietly, "All because Zanuff is a hard worker, unlike me, who lived all his life in the village."
"You can be lazy at times, that's right."
I raised my brow, not expecting Nila to insult someone she should respect, but the priest only giggled at her comment and answered, "I more enjoy the slow tempo of life, perhaps that's the reason why numbers did not bend my spine quite as badly… but since you are here, Nila, I have a request."
Nila tilted her head while I sighed lightly, to which the priest apologized and continued, "Not that long ago, people began disappearing by the main road to the city of Wiskoschia. So far, 3 children and one young man were gone."
"And how were you able to travel to Wiskoschia?"
"Through a detour, but the road to Wiskoschia is thrice as long this way. I am afraid that our harvest will drop in quality if Zanuff takes this road again, that's why I am begging you to investigate the main road."
I was taken aback by this revelation and couldn't help but wonder why Zanuff did not mention this issue. But Nila's words brought light to the reason. "So that's why he sent us to the church, this brat… knew that I would not be able to bargain against you!"
"I believe that's why he did not visit us today as well. But what do you say, would you be able to help us?"
Nila lowered her head in thought, lightly adjusting her hair. After a minute, she raised her head once again and nodded. "This will not be a problem, but for deceiving me, I will not help him load the cargo. I believe Blake would be much better cut for the job."
"Huh?"
"Is that so? May Goddess be with you!" exclaimed the priest and shook both of our hands. As I wanted to protest this sudden change of plans, Nila squinted at me, and I kept my mouth shut. She knew my dirty secret, which put me in an unfavorable position. Not only that, but she did not shy away from using it! This woman!
After we departed from the church and moved towards our home, I grabbed her by the shoulder and asked, "What the hell was that? Would it be difficult for you to load cargo using magic?"
She lightly swatted away my hand and replied, "This is your punishment for lying to me. You will also investigate the road with me as well. Tomorrow morning, better not sleep in."
"Damn it, I really hope prayers will not save you from karma!"
At my words, Nila shook her head and glanced at me. "I believe you would be a far more desirable target for karma. As for me, I am not praying for myself."
I huffed and crossed my hands in protest. Only after we entered our hut did curiosity take over, and I ended up wondering, "Who are you praying for then?"
She did not answer at first, but after rifling through the jewellery that covered her ears, she answered, "One foolish man who helped me out a very long time ago."
Those were the last words she told me before preparing for the night. Our beds were quite far apart from each other, yet I could perfectly hear the occasional turn of book pages behind my back. Even through my heavy eyelids, when my mind was already half asleep, I could still hear this soothing sound. It had been a while since I had slept in the same room with someone else.
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