looked at the village in front of us. I couldn’t help but shudder.
Why?
Why did this village look this similar to the one I “saved” from orcs?
No. No. I was just tired. It was just my pattern-seeking brain.
This place had more houses though houses looked less advanced. All houses looked similar to each other and were simple in structure. I guessed they probably had like 2 to 3 rooms at most. Only two structures were more remarkable. In the middle of the village stood a temple? A church? For some reason, I could tell that it was a place of worship but it was different than the ones I was used to.
“You guys don’t have a place to stay, right? Come, let’s go to the tavern.”
Bolverk called out. He led us to other remarkable buildings. Its exterior is adorned with wooden beams and a thatched roof. As I stepped through the tavern's heavy wooden door, a wave of comfort washed over me. The interior was bathed in the soft glow of candlelight, making the place just barely lit enough to walk without falling.
Several rugged men wearing simple clothing looked at us when we entered. I stepped in front of Nocturna, just in case they wanted trouble. Bolverk made no comments about Nocturna being a beastkin but just in case.
One of the men raised his wooden cup in the air.
“Old man Bolverk is back! How are you still not dead, you stubborn bastard?”
People laughed.
“He can’t die yet. He still owes me money!”
The guy looking at the bar shouted, causing more laughter to rise.
“Shut up all of you! You are embarrassing me in front of youngsters! Also, I paid my debt 10 winters ago! I am not that old enough that you scan scam me!”
Bolverk shouted while pointing his staff to the tavern owner.
“Can you even remember what you ate this morning?”
The tavern owner called out.
“I can even remember the day your father was born! It hailed and ruined the corps that day! Now, stop working your mouth and work your hands! Give these youngsters some water and food!”
He looked at us. He was middle-aged with his hair greying. His clothing was slightly better than others so he must be richer than others.
“Newcomers! Welcome to my humble tavern.”
“Nice place. Do you have a name?”
Lily’s extroverted ass jumped into the conversation. The tavern owner looked puzzled by his question.
“No. Why would I need a name? This place is the only tavern in this entire area.”
Hmm. Noted. That meant that either this place was the biggest village around or it was something like a resting place for travelers which meant that this place had many routes. Otherwise, why would they need a tavern? A simple bar would be sufficient for villagers.
“Where did you come from?”
He asked us. I slightly turned my head to look at other customers. Some actually bothered to not look interested while the remaining ones got closer to listen.
They probably didn’t have any bad intentions. Things, exciting and new things don’t happen in villages like this commonly. So they were just curious. But even then what kind of answer we had to give? We didn’t know what our “trial” here was. Can the answer we give here hinder our trial?
“They came from a faraway place. They even fought against draugrs! Even with my help, they are tired. So give those poor kids some food and water and show them a place to sleep!”
I heard some disappointed sighs as Bolverk shut down the tavern owner’s question.
“Okay, okay. But do they even have money to pay?”
“Well, I do so you better do your job.”
Bolverk left several coins on the table. The tavern owner was very quick to give us food and water after that. Food was in front of us even before Bolverk could walk out of the tavern.
“I’ll see you guys around.”
Is what he said before leaving.
A simple vegetable soup and bread. I couldn’t tell the vegetables. Maybe they were unique to this world and didn’t exist on Earth. The bread was hard to chew. It reminded me of the breads we made ourselves back when I was a child except even harder to chew. At least the water was cold. We shared little parts of our meal with Gökbörü.
“So draugrs, huh? They are getting more and more common. How did you guys fight them? I see no weapons.”
He asked directly to me after eyeing Nocturna and Lily. Did he think I was the main fighter? Guess he was right.
“They also didn’t have weapons. We were on equal terms.”
I said without lifting my head from my soup.
“Oh, you guys were lucky! You met with the weakest ones. Some of the higher ones carry enhanced weapons and armor. They even use mana.”
Noted.
“I saw no fence or guards. Are you guys safe here without any protection?”
He laughed.
“Aliera’s protection is upon us! Weaker ones die and stronger ones avoid the village altogether. Trouble happens when people go to woods but hey, that’s life.”
He shrugged rather apathetically.
“Do you mean the temple in the middle of the village?”
“Aye. As long as we give offerings Aliera will protect us.”
Something rose inside me. Anger? Disgust? They accepted being stuck in a village surrounded by restless undead? They survived by praying to a God. That’s…
“Isn’t it dangerous? Why didn’t you guys try to exterminate the undead?”
He laughed.
“How are we going to do it? There are more draugrs than I could count and trust me, I can count well. Even if we tried, who is going to tend to the crops? Who is going to look after the livestock? It is better this way.”
…
…..
……..
Well, I am angry now.
I understood where they came from. They were safe here. They also had no combat experience. They already had a set system in which they could survive. Fighting was hard, risky, and terrifying.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
It was easy for me to scream at them to fight. My entire life was fighting.
But…
But…….
But………..
Was this really a human way to live? They were in a cage surrounded by hostiles. They didn’t even rely on their own strength to survive! Where is the human spirit to overcome? To adventure? To fight back?
I looked at the tavern owner’s eyes. They were brown. Wrinkles and his tanned skin told me that he worked under the sun for a considerable amount of time.
“This village has a limited amount of time.”
I felt gazes piercing my back. Some of them were hostile.
“With no new blood coming in inbreeding will start. Or bad weather will mess up crops. Maybe a sickness will start among livestock. Maybe Aliera will stop giving protection. If new blood comes, the village may even expand beyond her protection. What will you do then?”
Constant chatter going on since we came here stopped.
“Sorry about my friend. He took a nasty hit to the head while fighting. If you show us a room to sleep we would like to rest.”
Lily jumped in.
Why I was this angry?
“It is what it is.”
“It is fate.”
“It is Allah’s will.”
What a load of bullshit. Acceptance of bad things without even trying to make things better. How many times have I heard phrases like this?
But why I was this angry? I should be already used to this kind of stuff. I am too old to be this emotional.
Did my body being a teenager affect me this much?
A burly man with a thick beard and calloused hands leaned forward, his eyes narrowing.
"And what would you have us do, stranger? March into the woods and take on those draugrs with our pitchforks and shovels?"
Lily grabbed my arm, shaking his head.
“Come on man. I know but don’t.”
He whispered.
“I would start by setting some kind of fence around the city. So you wouldn’t be sitting ducks if they decide to make a meal of you.”
Voices rose to make up excuses and protests. Lily pulled my arm harder.
“Poyraz, don’t antagonize the kind villagefolk that may or may not be crucial for our trial.”
I looked back at them. Nocturna looked concerned and Gökbörü was also pulling me my pants as if to telling me to stop.
“Okay.”
I said as I freed my arm.
The tavern owner showed a room. It had a single bed.
“Wow, it really has a single bed. Fanfiction writers were right!”
I sat down on the corner without reacting to Lily’s words.
“Nocturna, you take the bed. We can sleep anywhere.”
“Is it really okay?”
“Yes.”
I said as I lay down on the floor.
“Poyraz, do you need to talk?”
Lily sat down beside me.
“You are definitely sleeping on the other corner. I am not waking to your sleep fondling in the middle of the night.”
“But you know that I can’t sleep without hugging something.”
“Then stay awake.”
“Ugh, my heart! It is freezing because of an Ice King!”
Lily took a deep breath. I knew that meant he was about to talk about my behavior.
“Are you really okay? I know that you were in right, at least partially but that wasn’t like you.”
“I am just tired.”
“Are you sure? Is there something you aren’t telling us?”
I let out a long sigh, closing my eyes for a moment to gather my thoughts. Lily's concern was genuine, and I knew I couldn't keep everything bottled up. But what I was supposed to talk about?
Lily was probably struggling against the same things as he was in the same situation.
“I am okay. Just a little bit tired that’s all.”
I could sense Lily's hesitation, but he didn't press any further. Instead, he patted my back and gave me a reassuring smile.
"Alright then. If you ever want to talk, you know I'm here, right?"
I managed to muster a small smile in return.
"Yeah, I know. Thanks, Lily."
Despite claiming that I was tired and being tired sleep didn’t come easily. When I was a child, my parent would talk about being too tired to sleep. I never understood them until I got into the military. I wanted to believe that the reason I couldn’t sleep was that and not the other things in my mind.
“Cracked. Fractured. Broken. Loss of family. Loss of friends. Loss of country. Loss of your entire species. Immense and constant physical and emotional pain. Crushing responsibilities given to you without your consent.”
It came out of the hole it was hiding.
“I wasn’t hiding. I am not some separate entity or personality. I am you.”
“Perhaps. You are my illogical side. Depression is just flawed perception of the world caused by chemical imbalances, past experiences, and personality. You are my flawed view of the world. You think that since three coin flips all landed on the head, it will always land on the head. Since bad things happened in the past, you think it will always happen. Since I am sad and overwhelmed now you think that I will always be sad and overwhelmed.”
“You call it flawed. I call it realistic.”
“Realistic my ass. Good things happen. Good people exist.
“Maybe they do. Maybe they don’t. The real question is; do you deserve them? Do you deserve good things? You who failed to protect your world. You who killed civilians. You who currently hiding a secret from your best friend.”
“…”
“Silence, huh? Come on, this is the part where you crack a joke and push me back into my “hole”. Are you too tired for it? Or did I break you?”
“Shut the fuck up.”
It was too late when I noticed that I said it out loud. I listened to the room to see if others were sleeping or if they did wake up to my voice. The only thing I could hear was the calm, steady breathing of my companions.