Ah, I really hope it won't be two days again this time.
I knew the ceremony would take a lot out of him but this is seemingly more painful than Charles had said.
For his memory to be impacted so much, I swore when he first looked at me he had no idea who I was, it's a painful feeling for a mother. Though I suppose it's to be expected, he has undertaken a great shock.
'It's hard enough doing this without you, but why does it have to be so hard on 'him' too?'
I wanted to ask Charles these things, but it was impossible now. And unlike those before, I wouldn't be able to see his remnants in Drew.
This one was entirely fresh.
'A clean mind from the void, devoid of the violence and terror in my own.'
Charles had said he wanted it to be this way. Since the ceremony couldn't be done without the death of the old hawk, there was no choice.
But I still wanted there to be a choice. why must you all shoulder so much? Wasn't doing it once enough? All these decades, you can rest you know.
but I suppose that's my mother talking.
----------------------------------------
'Ah, I really hope it hasn't been two days again.'
Those were my thoughts when I woke up.
Dreaming seems to clear up my understanding some. My theory was probably true. I had someone else's mind in mine. There was no other way to describe it.
It really should have been clear immediately. My thought process has been completely different. Even just sniffing myself and seeing it as a problem was something I wouldn't have done a few days ago.
I think just last month I had bathed for the first time in over a year.
No wonder my mother was confused by my behavior.
This is strange. It's not just someone else's mind, the technology in the world of these memories is far superior to that of this world.
While we fought with swords and bows, they waged war with bombs capable of leveling entire Districts. It was both marvelous and terrifying at the same time.
This person though, the man whose memories I have is someone fairly interesting.
He studied what interested him and would take jobs in the industries he found fun. Once he got bored of them he would move on to the next.
Thinking about it the amount of technologies I could bring to this world via this man's head was enormous.
I must keep it from others though.
I don't understand this at all.
Maybe it's related to magic somehow?
I have often tried, but never succeeded in finding my specialization.
Not finding a magic specialization was seen as bizarre by most, though thinking about it my mother and father never seemed too concerned.
Mostly my dad just told me to practice swordsmanship.
It's possible my mother know's something. But asking about that right now might be a bit insensitive.
Ah, well, I suppose I've been keeping my eyes closed for far too long now. I'd better get up I guess. hope I didn't miss Joseph on his way back from Godrick.
Bracing my head for pain I open my eyes and lean up from my bed. I realize I'm not alone.
Claire was sitting in a chair in the open space that had been cleared days prior.
"Oh, good you're awake. I was worried we would have to leave with you're still asleep." Claire says in her normal tone, I suppose all is normal between us, perhaps she had forgiven my words. "But I suppose you told me to 'never speak to you again.'" She says reading me.
"Ah… yes, that was… I'm sorry. I said a lot of things in the past that I regretted even as I said them. I don't think I meant a word of it. But the fact that the words came out at all was the problem. I'm sorry for expressing my selfishness and anger towards you. It was wrong, and I deeply regret it."
"Ah Whatever, it's the past. You always were a baby, so I just took it as another temper tantrum."
"Temper tantrum? So that's how you see me?" I said standing up without a wink of pain in my head.
"Pretty much." She says smiling and brushing her hair behind her ear. "By the way I heard you collapsed, what happened?"
"Ah nothing really, no big deal, probably just didn't have enough blood sugar."
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"Blood sugar?" She asks as we step out the door towards the dining hall where Degin had been entertaining Joseph with war stories. Though with the current peacetime it mostly involved wolves. I had heard many of the stories before.
" …so I take the fang right outta the wolves mouth, and I kill all three bears with it!" Degin explains proudly pointing to the Fang hanging on his neck. I think the story started with just the wolf.
I wonder how many bears will be in it by the time his grandchildren tell the tale. Noticing me Degin tucks the fang into his shirt likely knowing what I was thinking. he sheepishly grinned and nodded to the chair opposite him. "Good to see you're feeling better."
"Yeah I guess I just needed some sleep." I say laughing
"Rest always helps." Joseph says not understand the circumstances of my three day sleep binge.
"Of course." I say nodding. "So how did everything go in Godrick?"
"Well, as to be expected they were thrilled hearing you all would be maintaining the road. I assumed it was just because it would be out of their hands. Instead half their population still wanted to maintain the road themselves they didn't trust the Count would do it properly. However once that faction heard it would be your group that would handle it, they quickly agreed. I wondered if it was fear, but it was actually trust. I suppose it makes sense, every villager who's left for Havas have met you all on the road."
I expected it would go that way, Godrick was my neighbor, and Dad said to treat neighbors well. That's what we had always done. Even more so than Havas since Godrick was an extremely poor and small village.
"As for the bandits," Joseph continued. "They weren't able to provide any sort of location or even numbers, but we did receive the basic story. It is as I told you yesterday, the group claims to be the 'Blood Hook Tribe' but the attacks don't fit the… "
"Wait you said the Blo… " Degin interrupts, a hint of either fear or anger in his voice. It was difficult to judge. He stops himself as Joseph nods to his question. "That's, impossible. Those villages would be destroyed instantly if the Blood Hook tribe wanted it. And anyways they haven't been seen in 50 years. No, there can be no way."
"That's what I had thought too. However it is still a problem even if it's just someone claiming to be them. Whether true or not, the fear brewed by their name is something that will spread like wildfire even without a spark."
"That's true." Degin says biting his lip. "But we still need to be careful even if it is a fake, we do not know their numbers or individual strength. If they claim to be 'Blood Hook' then it wouldn't be rare for there to be battle mages."
"Mm that's true, even as fakes they would have some if they wanted to be realistic."
Seeing Joseph and Degin banter like this reminds me of when Degin and my father would talk. This man really was similar to my father.
I glance back and forth at them as they continue to talk. They compared strategies for drawing them out and attacking blind spots. Forcing ambushes and something called a triple ambush. Which despite their explaining I could not grasp.
They assured me it wasn't a situation I wanted to be in.
They went on for quiet awhile, the name 'blood hook' riled Degin up quite a bit.
I understood why. When Joseph had told me yesterday, it had been a big surprise. But it seemed even more so for Degin. I wonder if maybe our tribe had some sort of history with them.
Some kind of bad blood that brought about the anger he showed when he heard the name.
"So the obvious course of action." Degin concludes as I space out, barely catching the remainder of the conversation.
"Yeah, we should definitely send Claire and the Young Hawk Drew to handle the investigation of this frivolous business. While you and I share a drink at the 'Noble's Pub' in the castle district!"
"I could not have said it better myself." Degin replies with a huge grin patting Joseph on the shoulder firmly.
""Wait what?"" Both Claire and I ask simultaneously.
Well that either means, that this wasn't mentioned at all in the conversation. Or Claire just wasn't paying attention either. Both were likely cases. She was somewhat of an airhead sometimes.
It's probable Degin and Joseph had settled this long before I woke up and just put on this play for the two of us.
But it was still strange. Wasn't I the 'Hawk'? Was Degin allowed to tell me what to do?
Not that I saw any real issue with my elder telling me to do something. But chain of command wise, wasn't this insubordination kinda?
"Being 'Degin' doesn't mean I always follow you Hawk. Trust me when I say this will be good for you. All young Hawks must take flight. It's tradition, and a perfect chance." Degin says glancing at Claire. That's right Degin isn't his name is it, I feel embarrassed again culturally. Degin means Two in the ancient language that our tribe spoke before the advent of the common language.
"I understand, I'm glad that you are not simply a 'Yes-man'." I reply giving him a nod.
"Yes-man?" Joseph asks, and then as if brushing it off turns to Claire. "What do you say will you accept your task?"
"Yes sir, Of course." She states placing her hand to her heart. It was a salute like gesture here. I had to admit this knowledge of the other world expands my knowledge here heaps and bounds.
"Yeah it sounds like fun. I haven't been to Godrick since we were twelve huh?" I say turning to Claire. She remembers the time I'm talking about and quickly turns red nodding in acknowledgment. The nod wasn't necessary the red face was answer enough, though I guess I shouldn't tell her that.
"Good" Degin says before sniffing the air expectantly, I too noticed, a few minutes prior. The wait has been killing me.
I glance towards the kitchen and walking out is my mother, with what was likely the last of the meat. I'm sad I missed out, but meat won't be an issue if things can go how I want.
Setting the plates down in front of all of us my mother heads back to the kitchen. Despite her being my mother and my father's wife she always remained the role of innkeeper. She said it was part of her pride. We rarely even got guest's, but she still maintained each room just in case. She was really something.
Despite all that I somewhat wish I would have had more family dinners. It wasn't something that was common in this world I guess, or maybe it was just my dysfunctional family.
Stuffing our faces no one seated at the table said a word, only opening their mouths to stuff more food in. Or gasp for breath between bites.
Oh, I should mention. The only dignified person at this table was Claire.
Even with my American sense of cleanliness I still stuffed my mouth letting juices run down my cheeks without regard.
Thinking about it. I should probably check out my mother's kitchen to be sure she is handling everything up to code. It would be bad if anyone accidentally caught a parasite due to this world's sense of cleanliness.
Though I thought that. When I later checked the kitchen I learned my mother washes every surface with water magic. She also has some understanding of raw meat carrying parasites. She really was an amazing person, I totally understood my dad falling for her, it was hard not to.
As we all ate, I began wondering. Why has Joseph chosen to send just me and Claire to 'investigate'?
What did he mean by investigate?
Were we only to learn about their motives or were we to hunt them down?
There was a big distinction.
As it stood I wasn't sure just the two of us could handle even a small bandit gang. My father had taught me swordsmanship but I'm sure not on the same level as someone who uses a sword daily for protecting themselves. Likely if I faced any real danger I would be quickly cut down by a real swordsman. And if they indeed have Battle mages, well then I honestly have no scope of how powerful they could be.
And no matter how you look at it Claire was a girl, and this would be a dangerous mission. Ah I wonder if this is Earth sensibilities or this worlds?
Speaking of, it's somewhat strange that I don't know the name of the planet I currently live on. That's a rare opportunity isn't it? Does that mean I get to name it? Well probably not.
"Are you worried?" Claire asked noticing I had stopped eating and was just blankly gazing at her.
"Ah, yeah. I'm scared you could get hurt. Especially if as they say they have a battle mage." I explain honestly voicing my thoughts. Well the former ones. The latter will likely be something I accidentally spill while drinking.
"Nothing to worry about, I'm a battle mage, as well as a swordsman. So I can protect myself, and maybe even you if I have the time." She says sticking her tongue out at me.
She really is just as cheeky as she was when she lived here, has she learned nothing becoming a knight.
What happened to chivalry?
Or maybe that was only on earth.
"Some knight."
"What's that?"
"Nothing."
"Right."
As it had already gotten late. And Joseph and Degin begun drinking together. We all decided they would stay in the Inn's rooms instead of heading the 2 mile journey back to the Count's castle in Havas.
It was alright since Joseph had already sent word back about the results of the trip, and the fact that the bandits would be dealt with. I wonder, how he already known I would agree? I guess manly spirit. Or maybe I'm over assuming myself.
Also I say the men 'agreed to stay', but it was mostly due to my mother's workings.
It was her who had first brought out the wine.
Thinking about it, I can likely make alcohol the likes of which these people have never even imagined.
Memories of three months running a moonshine still won't go to waste, nameless person whose memories I have.
On an unrelated note I say 'nameless' because as I am able to understand the memories content. I don't exactly understand the English language. Sound in the memories so far is just gibberish to me, I've heard words repeated before but I can't fully grasp them yet.