I sat up with difficulty. My whole body hurt, my stomach still ached from the blow of the club, and my left eye was already swollen shut after the kick in my face. What kind of world is this? It’s not worth saving, let the demons take it! I looked down at myself as I sat on the road in the forest dressed only in pants and laughed. A great world savior! If the baron came two minutes later, I would probably be sitting here absolutely naked. Damn, even laughing hurts.
What do I do now? I can’t come to the settlement half-naked. Thoughtfully, I looked at the corpse of the robber next to me. His shirt was ruined by a large bloodstain on his chest. Would such a garment be better than none at all? Yes, it would, I decided. I didn’t know where I could get another one, penniless as I was.
It was disgusting to fiddle with the corpse, but after some fumbling around, I took off the dead man’s shirt. Fortunately, I found an almost full leather water pouch attached to his belt, the contents I used to wash off the blood in a makeshift fashion. The hole from the crossbow bolt was not as large as I feared. It didn’t make the shirt any nicer, but since I didn’t have another one, complaining didn’t help. Sighing, I put it on. At least it fits reasonably well. Except for two worn copper coins and a small utility knife, Owl had nothing of value with him. After some consideration, I also took his belt and the water pouch. However, I would rinse it out properly before drinking from it. At the moment, it was empty anyway.
I looked around again. Where had the robber’s bow gone, and his quiver? I looked up to the place on the tree where Owl had been sitting when the shot hit him. I see, the quiver was hanging on a branch. The bow must have bounced somewhere as it fell and landed in the bushes. I shrugged my shoulders. So be it, I couldn’t use it anyway.
The half-naked corpse was lying on the side of the road. Was I supposed to take care of it somehow? Nope. With a little bad luck, my body would be lying there now. You know, bad karma eventually catches up with you. I hoped the same was true for Baron of Eichendall. And if not, I would help at the time. With these thoughts, I set off.
The road stretched on endlessly. After about an hour, I came to a simple bridge made of tree trunks, which led over a somewhat wider stream. I took the opportunity to wash the shirt properly again, rinse out the water pouch and fill it with water. Then I remembered my cell phone. It was really lucky that the robbers hadn’t seen it. But I didn’t want to keep it with me, it could be stolen or taken away. Besides, it might raise unpleasant questions if someone saw it. Who knows how they treated people from other worlds here? I had no desire to end up on the stake because of it.
This bridge provided a good landmark. I counted ten steps from it to the east, chose an old tree on the bank of the creek, and buried the cell phone under it. A larger rock marked the spot. I hoped that at some point I would have the opportunity to retrieve it. And that the cover would protect it from moisture to some extent. And if not... at the moment, I had more pressing concerns. I said goodbye to it and moved on.
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Since I would probably - hopefully - soon meet people who wouldn’t immediately try to kill me and with whom I could converse, I had to think about how to introduce myself. I didn’t particularly like my earthly name, Jasper Tillmayr. Now I had the perfect opportunity to change it. What should I call myself from now on? After some deliberation, I decided to call myself Jason, after the leader of the Argonauts who made it home after many dangerous adventures. And a bit after Jason Statham, who always reliably chopped his enemies to bits. Jason Envoy, the dispatched world savior. That will be my new name.
It had gotten really dark by now. Without the road, progress would have been unthinkable, even so, I guessed the way more than I saw it. I often stumbled over tree roots that crossed the road in many places and sometimes I fell down. I was close to giving up when I saw a light some distance away. With renewed strength, I covered the last part of the path and now stood in front of a high palisade of tree trunks, which was interrupted at the road by a gate. The gate was flanked on both sides by watchtowers. Below the watchtowers, burning torches were attached to the palisade, illuminating the gate. Unfortunately, it was closed.
Today was really not my day! I stepped closer to the gate. It looked really massive, carpentered from tree trunk halves, which were held together by thick cross beams. There didn’t seem to be a bell. I looked up at the watchtower. Was there someone there? “HE-E-LLO-O-O! PLEASE LET ME IN!”, I shouted as loud as I could. Nothing moved. “HE-E-LLO-O-O!” I tried to bang on the gate, but soon let it go, that would only get my fists bloody. “HE-E-LLO-O-O!” Did I really have to sleep out here, so close to my destination?
There was a little rumble at the gate. A door in the gate, which I didn’t notice in the dim lighting, opened and two bad-tempered guards came out. “Who’s screaming their head off here, disturbing righteous people’s night’s rest?” one of them asked me challengingly. The man’s hand was on the pommel of the sword on his belt. The other guard was armed with a spear. Both wore leather armor reinforced with iron plates and leather helmets.
“I... I am Jason. Robbers ambushed me in the forest. Please let me in.” My voice sounded even more miserable than I expected. I actually felt a little intimidated. The men were obviously not in a joking mood.
“So so, robbers...” The swordsman walked slowly around me and regarded me carefully. My black eye did not escape his notice. “Why is your shirt wet?” he asked suddenly.
“Um... I got hit and had a nosebleed, so I washed it out.” Somehow it seemed inadvisable for me to tell about the encounter with the baron and the death of Owl. I wanted nothing to do with a murder investigation.
“Can you describe the bandits who attacked you?”
“Yes... I can try... There were three. One was named Owl, an archer. The other had a club, his name was Korf. The third they didn’t call by name, but he carried a large axe.”
The guards exchanged a glance. The description seemed to tell them something.
“All right,” said the guard with the sword. His voice didn’t sound so harsh now. “You can come in. Welcome to Eichendall and all. There is an inn in the center of town, just straight ahead, you can hardly miss it.”
We went through the little gate, which the guards locked behind us. I wished them a quiet watch and walked further into the village.