I’ve been walking for four days now. Not the entire four days, as I’ve rested for about 8-12 hours each day. I’ve tried to eat cost-effectively leaving me with five days’ worth of rations since I’ve been splitting the rations for 1 pack per 2 days. I’ve also eaten 3/4 of one of the hard loaves. It wasn’t tasty, but it sure as hell was fulfilling.
That aside, I looked up at the sun and estimated the time to be maybe, 3-4pm, so it was still quite early. I’d walk for maybe another 6 to 8 hours and then I’d rest under some nice tree. Since we were still in summer, even the nights were quite warm.
I’ll reach Ispen Village in another 3-4 days since aside from sleeping I’ve been pretty much either walking or eating. So I’ve covered quite a lot of ground. I’m really thankful for the thick, black coat ma and aunt made for me. It keeps me really warm at night so it’s one of my most prized possessions.
As I sighed, I continued walking upon the dreary dirt road.
-
I’ve been walking for 9 days now. Nine days since I left my old home. Nine days of nothing but walking, eating and sleeping. I’ve eaten 4 rations of my beef jerky and 1 ¾ loaves of hard bread.
I hope I reach Ispen Village soon as if I don’t; I’m going to run out of food soon. I have maybe 3-4 worth of food left. Scratching the tiny bit of stubble I had started to grow, I stopped and swung my sack down, and crouched down next to it, opening and retrieving the map my cousin gave me.
Once the map was fully open, I moved my finger around till it landed on Ispen City, then I moved down and through Ispen forest till I reached Ispen Village, moving further down, I reached Helm Village, then I reach Ton Village and Helmton Village.
Moving my finger further up, I stopped on Helm Village, the closest village to my old home, and then I roughly pinpointed where I got onto the road. Then I moved my hand up and tried to calculate where I was on the map and how far I had left till I reached the village of Ispen.
After roughly 30 minutes of debating with myself, I reached the conclusion that I should be roughly 2-3 hours away from my destinations.
Looking upwards I realized that it was about 1-2pm, so I needed to hurry so I can book myself a room in the inn otherwise it would be another night out in the open.
Sighing I folded the map and put it back in and then removed half a ration of beef jerky, the remaining 1/4 of the loaf of hard bread I had left, and the water flask which was running out as well. But I wasn’t really worried about water seeing as how there was a river right next to Ispen and I could refill it there.
Getting up, I dusted my coat off and continued walking, as today was a tad bit chilly and I wanted a warm roof over my head soon.
-
Biting down on the last of beef jerky for today, I chewed it thoroughly before swallowing it down with the last of my water, so I put my sack in front of me and deposited my water flask inside of it.
I had walked about 2 hours and I could already see a wider road compared to my last few days, and it looked better as well, meaning that I had reached the vicinity of the village and another few minutes of walking would get me there.
Doubling my pace of walking, I soon began to hear people talking, kids laughing and running around and animals making their respective sounds. After another minute of walking I finally reached the entrance to Ispen Village.
As I walked to the entrance, I saw the man who was supposed to be guarding the village asleep on his chair, his head resting against his spear, a drowsy expression upon his face. He had a name tag, which was surprising since I knew most villagers couldn’t read, but it made my life easier so I didn’t mind.
The guards name was Jacob, a common male name around these parts.
He was tall, maybe slightly taller than me, who was a good 1’70”, so I sort of felt pity that this was his maximum height, but he did look fit and trained.
He had curly shoulder length brown her and an average looking mug, so aside from his occupation, he was quite average around parts like this.
Smiling, I stopped and removed my coat before wrapping it around my waist before I continued to him. Once I had neared him, I stayed in front of him for a second but he didn’t wake up.
As I contemplated waking him up or waiting, I heard a women’s laughter ring loudly which both startled me and woke him up.
He looked around in a dazed manner, before looking backwards to where the laughter resonated from. I followed his eyes and looked upon a busty brunette lady who was wearing somewhat nicer clothes than most of the other villagers I had seen to date, meaning she was probably one of the wealthier villagers.
She had some light makeup on, further improving her already natural beauty. She was a nice feast for my young eyes.
She was smiling as she walked towards us before she fake glared at the guard who immediately got up and begun dusting himself off.
Jacob: “Ma’am Hana!” he half yelled out before saluting and turning around to me “My name is Jacob, guard of the Village of Ispen, please state your name, job, age, home and reason for visiting, thank you!” he once again half yelled at me as he held his spear.
I guess he could be professional if he wanted to. As I chuckled I saw the women called Hana was also chuckling but I ignored her and continued to answer Jacob’s questions.
Levi: “Pleasure to meet you Jacob, my names Levi, I have no job, I’m a few days past my 13th nameday, homeless as of now and passing by to Ispen City” as I introduced my very common identity he nodded to himself and sat back down onto his chair before he rested his head against his spear once more.
Jacob: “Go right on through, Ma’am runs the Inn ‘The Ladies House’, so she’ll take care of you since you were lucky enough to come when she came here” and with that he dozed off.
Jacob was such a carefree guard, but it’s not surprising since we were in the Central North part of the Empire, otherwise known as the safest territory.
I nodded to him even though he was no longer with me and then turned towards Hana before bowing slightly.
Levi: “Pleasure to meet you Ma’am, in case you didn’t hear me, my name is Levi, no job, barely 13, and a homeless vagabond” as I was bowing when I said this, she chuckled, causing me to end my bow and look up at her.
She had already walked right in front of me a smile across her pretty face.
Hana: “The pleasures mine darlin’, come on, less get you settled right in for however long you stay!” as she said this, she moved to grab my arm and once she did she looked me in my eyes “It’s 1 copper a day and 2 coppers for a meal a day with your room, do you have the money?” she asked me in a natural manner, but I knew if I answered no, her friendly attitude would shrivel right up, so I nodded to which she beamed “How many days will you be staying?” she asked me inquisitively as she dragged me along with her now that she had confirmed I had money.
Levi: “Not sure yet Ma’am” I told her, since I really didn’t know how long I was going to stay “Probably a few days since I need to stock up and learn more about the City before I head there” she nodded to my uncertain words, the smile on her lips never breaking.
Hana: “Well don’t worry your lil’ self aight” she said so as she linked arms with me “The people of this place are decent folk, so we’ll help you before you head off!” and with that we walked up to her Inn, passing by the rest of the village.
The houses were your common wood houses since they were surrounded by a forest, the village was properly better than other village since they always had access to a large amount of timber.
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The nice wooden houses aside, it looked like the village was doing quite well as I could see multiple occupations, such as Blacksmith, Tailor and Hunters in the village so far. This was quite advantageous as other villages would only have 1, or maybe 2 occupations and they’d have to travel to other villages to get what the other professions offer.
And these 3 professions were only what I could see so far, meaning that there was probably other occupations here as well. This village was doing very well.
As I pondered upon Ispen villages prosperity, I was brought back to reality by Hana who had pushed open the door to a building, most likely her inn and entered inside, pulling me with her.
Once we were inside, a lot of heads turned our way, most of the people inside here being men, meant that a lot of glares were sent my way as well as many grumbles which sounded quite similar to ‘Who’s this brat with my Hana’.
But ironically, I don’t think she could be the 'Hana' of this many men but I kept my mouth shut as I didn’t want to beaten to death and robbed blind.
So I let Hana guide me to the counter. She left me in front of it, before she herself went around it and appeared on the other side. Her blouse which covered her bust beforehand had become one button loose, letting her buns appear much more visible.
She most definitely noticed my stare, yet the fact that she kept silent meant that she did it on purpose.
Hana: “So how many days’ will ya be spending darlin’” she whispered as she leaned over counter, more of her bosom becoming visible. I turned around to see many other men were also leaning around each other to get a better view. “Shall I put you up for a week?” she asked with her honey minted voice to which I turned around and smiled, nodding. “Will that be with a ‘meal’” she asked, emphasizing the meal with a wink “or without?” I managed to say ‘with’, while a lot of the other guys in the inn began to joke around saying ‘I’d like to give her my meal’ and the like. She continued to smile “Well then honey” she almost purred the words out “That’ll be 14 copper”.
While I nodded, I reached into my sack and brought out the purse that my brother gave me and begun to place the coppers on the counter one by one, until I reached 14, then I stopped, thought for a moment and then placed 15 while smiling in what I knew was a very ‘un-smooth’ way.
From behind me I heard some of the men mutter ‘Just a poor little boy’ in an angry way, meaning that I had just discouraged some would be robbers. How lucky.
She chuckled and slid the money from the counter and placed them in a pouch which she then carried away to a room behind the counter.
She returned a few moments later and gave me a key.
Hana: “Your room is number 14 honey” as she said that, she leaned over and placed a kiss on my cheek “Dinners in an hour, don’t be late” and she left to the back room as I stood there in a slightly dumb founded manner. I was beyond excited simply because I was a man going through what I knew was puberty and a pretty girl like Hana kissing made my mind quite excited.
As I took my key and decided to head to my room, when I turned around I saw a large, heavy set man standing right in front of me, a look of anger in his face.
He was bold and wore no shirt, showing his body which resembled that of a Greek God’s off. His arms looked like someone had glued trees to a human torso. This giant stood at over two metres, or at least I thought so at least.
Before either I or he could say anything, a man from the back yelled “Leave the lad alone Jono, she ain’t your women, she can kiss who she wants” and with that the inn burst into laughter.
Jono, the man standing in front of me had his face go red like a tomato before he turned around and begun yelling.
Jono: “Shut yer trap Miki, an’ da rest ta yah as well befo I come back dere, and beat all o’ ya” he roared in anger which in turn made the rest of the men laugh harder.
Turning back around, the man Jono looked at me with even more anger than a few moments ago. I cursed the man named Miki internally as I readied myself to my fate.
There was no way I could beat this man named Jono, no way, whatsoever.
Jono: “Lad, fo’ da crime o’ touchin’ mah women, I’ma beat some respec’ into yah, aight” and with that, he moved one step closer to me, and then another step.
The whole inn quieted down as he kept walking, his steps the only sound resounding throughout the inn. With each step he took, the more and more my heart sank into realization that I was about to get a harsh beating by this man in front of me.
Solemnly accepting my fate, I awaited him. I stared up at him and watched him near me, a look of glee come upon his face.
As he stopped a mere foot away from me he opened his mouth.
Jono: “An’ last words lad?” he asked out loud in an attempt at what I knew was to humiliate me, but I simply looked at him.
Levi: “Make it quick” I said out loud, in a somewhat arrogant tone. I berated myself in anger on the inside as I knew that I had just fanned the flame and I was now going to receive a fiercer beating than before.
A short round of laughter went around after my words while the man himself, Jono, looked furious.
His fist moved surprisingly fast for a man so large that I instinctively attempted to move back, but since my body didn’t respond how I wanted it to, my knees simply buckled under the pressure and I ducked, making his attack miss.
He howled in anger at me dodging that he moved back a step so that he could bring his fist down upon me, yet I tried to get back up so that I could dodge, instead of dodging once I had gotten up, I miscalculated how much strength I needed to put into my legs to get up so I ended up planting my forehead into his gut, pushing him back a few steps.
He doubled over in pain, his hands caressing his stomach, while I fell back down, my forehead aching from the pain it received from impacting upon him, yet more than that I wanted to apologize so that he could hopefully give me a lighter beating.
I pushed myself up quickly so that I could hurry up and apologize to him face to face, yet instead; the back of my head which moved up too fast hit something with a lot of force.
I felt immense pain in the back of my head, my ears were ringing, my eyes aching, so I grabbed my head with my hands and stood still for a few seconds. After my body stabilized and the immense pain at the back of my head went away, I looked upwards so that I could see what I had hit with so much force. I stood their shocked at what I saw. I saw the man, Jono, sprawled across the ground unconscious, while the rest of the inn looked flabbergasted.
I looked around the bar and everyone had a shocked expression upon their faces, as if everyone had seen a ghost.
In my panic I stupidly opened my mouth.
Levi: “Everyone okay?” I asked, my voice came out sterner than I thought it would and everyone in the inn quickly nodded their heads, everyone saying something similar to ‘never felt better’, or ‘I feel incredible’ so I quickly nodded as a wave of relief came through me when I thought that nobody was going to come and take care of me for Jono.
When I was finally certain that I wasn’t going to get attacked randomly I looked back at Jono and pointed at him “Someone take care of him” and with that the man who I thought was Miki came over and picked Jono up, dragging him outside the inn while apologizing to me.
I looked around the inn once more, taking in the bewildered looks thrown my way, before quickly heading for the stairs and making my way up to my room before anyone else could make a problem for me.