When Vanroc's father died, the Church had sent an unexpectedly large number of its troops to the barracks of the local military to take his things with them.
Then they wanted to take Vanroc with them. This could be prevented by the intervention of his grandfather, who was still highly regarded in the military after his retirement.
He and the Church made an agreement that they would leave his grandson alone. Part of the deal was that Vanroc would never know about the deal.
After remembering the difficulties with the Church, Imodi said, "There are things Vanroc needs to know, but I still don't know how to tell him. Things about my past, things that will affect his future. It's just..."
He stopped and wandered deep into his thoughts.
Gwydo, sitting across from him, emptied his cup of tea, looked at the old man in front of him and began to speak with a sincere voice: "I really wouldn't want to be in your or Vanroc's position. It's a situation you wouldn't wish anyone to be in...
Back then the commander saved my life more than once....
I wish I could somehow pay him back by helping you and his son, but there is nothing I can do. That is so frustrating!
I will keep it safe until that day comes, as the commander asked me to."
When the old man heard this speech, he came back from his thoughts and looked at the soldier: "Thank you, I trust that you will keep your promise. I think that due to our agreement, the Church will not take action when I am no more. It would be fantastic if Vanroc would stay in this village after my death. He knows the people who live here and they know him. That should already be a real safety net for him. If he does not move on the continent, they can even forget his existence. That would be safer for him."
Both continued chatting for a while.
---
At the same time Vanroc was on his way to buy the meat his grandfather had asked for.
Although the village of Originem had only 183 inhabitants, the area was as large as a village of 400 inhabitants.
This was because the houses were quite far apart. Between some houses there were even fields where vegetables were grown. These fields would normally be on the edge of the village. However, the owners were too afraid of wild monsters and moved some of their fields into the village.
As Vanroc walked down the street, he met several of his immediate neighbors, whom he greeted and spoke to for a moment. That was normal behavior in the village. Whenever you meet, you talk for a moment.
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After a while he stood in front of a house that was twice the size of most houses in the village. It was the only food store in the whole village. The walls were made of simple wooden panels. In front were two windows through which Vanroc could already see the first goods.
When Vanroc entered the shop, he saw the shopkeeper sitting at the checkout opposite the entrance. He was a muscular middle-aged man with short brown hair and simple everyday clothes. The shopkeeper heard the sound of the door opening and looked up to see who was coming into his shop. When he saw Vanroc walking through the door, he greeted him with a smile: "Hey, little Roc, are you going shopping today?"
"Hello, Uncle Garlly. Yes, grandfather has a guest, so I have to get the food for today. Do you have good meat for me?", Vanroc replied.
The shopkeeper's name was Garlly Pratt. Vanroc often played with his son Xander Pratt when they were about 7 to 8 years old. Garlly Pratt told him then that he could call him uncle if he wanted, because they felt like a family. This feeling arose because Vanroc and his son always played and ate together in his house or in the house of Vanroc's grandfather.
The moment Garlly Pratt heard Vanroc call him uncle, he was particularly happy. That was because his son was recruited by the military and he hadn't seen him in three years. Since Vanroc was like a second son to him, he was of course very happy whenever he met him.
"Of course I have good meat for you! About four hours ago I received a delivery of fresh meat. This time it's meat from a group of Faleleon. Their meat is extremely juicy!", Garlly replied with a somewhat proud voice. From the tone of his voice and the expression he wore on his face, he seemed really proud of himself to get meat of such good quality.
Since Vanroc had never heard of anything like a Faleleon, he asked cluelessly: "Is Faleleon something good? I've never heard of it before."
When Garlly heard what the boy before him said, the proud look on his face disappeared. He felt a little depressed that his attempt to look cool in front of Vanroc failed because of his lack of knowledge. He decided to try again by telling him, "Faleleon are bird-like monsters that you rarely find in the forest next to our village. They are about 2 meters long and weigh about 6 1/2 kilograms. They have a short neck, a slightly longer beak and grey feathers. It is difficult to get the meat of these birds, not only because they are rare to find in the forest, but also because it is popular with all who have tried the meat."
This time Garlly got the result he wanted to achieve when Vanroc responded to his explanation in a praising and amazed tone: "You really have to be a good trader to get something special in such quantities that you can sell it".
When he saw the boy's sparkling eyes in front of him, Garlly was satisfied and happy. He replied: "Of course I am a good trader! Don't worry about the price, I'll give you a good family discount. Two portions should be enough, right? I'll go and get it. Wait here a moment."
When Vanroc heard that he would get a good discount, he was happy. Previously, he had thought about the price because his grandfather only gave him enough money to buy 4 normal portions of Rabbon's meat. Rabbon meat was the most common meat the villagers would normally get. Due to the high population of Rabbon's, the meat was available in large quantities and was usually sold in Garlly Pratt's shop.
Rabbon's are rabbit-like monsters. Their body height is about 58 cm and weighs about 2 1/2 to 4 kilograms. Their fur is white with a brown stain pattern. Normally they are not a threat to humans, but if attacked, they can threaten humans with their 10 cm long and sharp fangs. This is especially the case as Rabbon's live in packs.
After a short while Garlly came back with a wooden box from the back room.
The box had the measures: length = 30 cm, width = 30 cm and height = 10 cm.
It was common in the village to use a wooden box to transport the meat they had bought. Normally a deposit is deposited in the shop, which the customer would get back when returning the clean wooden box. Due to the close relationship between Vanroc and the Pratt family, Vanroc did not have to pay the deposit.
After Vanroc received the wooden crate from Garlly, he paid for the meat, said goodbye and went home.