ILIAS VAN PAYNE
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We finally arrived at the village.
The map the farmers brought with them painted a vivid image of the village. My imagination wasn’t far off.
The village was still in its beginning stages. If expanded properly, it would grow to resemble Gilead in several decades. Thirty-five wooden huts with straw roofs spread apart varying in different sizes. Larger structures were built here and there which I could guess were trades buildings. I think one of them might even be a church.
The village itself didn’t have any walls protecting the houses. To the west was the ten-acre field that provided their income. The fields, even though they carried wheat, looked like rice fields without water. The fields were dug out and were roughly a foot deeper than the surface of the ground.
North was the lake labyrinth that had been mentioned. Hearing the word labyrinth scared a lot of people. But this labyrinth didn’t feel that strong and most of its monsters would be dwelling in the water. The only thing dangerous about it were the shores. This lake’s deepest parts were the shores and its shallowest was in the centre. A child could fall in and drown or get picked off by monsters.
To the east was a thick evergreen forest surrounded by foliage.
Askeladd was right about one thing—this village was vulnerable to an attack on all sides. A mounted attack from the east and south. A siege from the west using the shrubs as cover. And if the bandits had, they could even attack from the north using boats.
If Thaddeus and Erina were here, they could combine their abilities and make glass walls. It wouldn’t be strong, but it’d be something. I wonder how the two of them are doing.
We came from the south, climbing up the hills that hid the village. The road winded up over the hill which the ten of us stood on.
The people in the village were in their own little world, working and living their own lives. Three dozen were tending to the crops, kids were playing in one area, and a handful of men were building houses—this place looked peaceful.
“Everyone!” Toshi cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted to the village. “We’re back! Seven have decided to help us!”
The villagers locked their gazes at us. A moment passed before they dropped what they were doing and fled into their houses.
Toshi chuckled nervously. “They must think we’re the bandits.”
We made our way down the hill and into the village, finding the people cowering in their homes and peeking at us through their windows and doors.
The three farmers who recruited us went around.
“What happened?” Toshi questioned. “Why is everyone hiding? We’re not the bandits! It’s us three. We’ve brought back seven strong warriors that have agreed to protect us!”
Even the pessimistic Ritsu joined in. “What’s wrong with you all? Come out! Come out and greet your guests—your sentinels! Is this any way to treat the people who decided to help us?!”
None of the villagers moved an inch. They all remained wary, spectating us from the safety of their homes. Even the crying of children was heard.
Jaime began poking the alarm bell that hung by the well. We had this back in Gilead—an alarm to let everyone know that there was an emergency. I slapped her hand to prevent her from accidentally clanging it.
Askeladd found the situation amusing, scratching his chin and grinning at the three farmers whose faces were starting to turn red.
“I feel so welcomed,” Tony jested. “The way everyone is reacting shows that they want us here.”
Mondatta scowled around. “What does this mean? We’re here to help you out. Why are we being treated as if we’re the bandits?”
Hanzo shook his head. “I don’t know. Akira might, so let’s go see him.”
“Is he the chief?” Askeladd questioned.
“Yes, he’s the oldest and wisest among us. He’s the one who advised us to seek out warriors’ protection, even when we had no money to offer. He’ll give you a warmer welcome and explain what’s happening.”
The three farmers led us to the common lodge where the old man they were talking about was residing. He was sitting at a long table on the elevated front of the room.
The four other villagers accompanying the chief sat us down and gave out tea to drink. From their mannerisms, they shared the same feelings about us the rest of the village carried. The only ones who didn’t were Hanzo, Toshi, Ritsu (which made sense), and the chief himself.
The three farmers told Akira what happened and demanded an explanation of their fellow villager’s attitude. The situation was so embarrassing for them that they couldn’t even make eye contact with us.
“Us farmers are foolish,” Akira explained in a calm manner. “We are afraid of everything. Rains, droughts, raids, fires, and even simple animals. We wake up afraid, we go about our day afraid, and we go to bed afraid. And we do that over and over again. Today is no different because this is the life we know.”
“But why are they afraid of us?” Mondatta questioned. “All of you know those three went out of their way to search for help. We’re the help.”
“Exactly,” Roxanne agreed. “It would be understandable if they were only scared of us at first but they should’ve known who we were the moment they saw these three’s faces.”
Akira closed his eyes and took his time to form an answer. “Everyone these people have known in their entire lives live within this village. They are afraid of outsiders, good or bad. They’ll warm up to you eventually.”
Hanzo stood up, fists clenched and chest puffed outwards. “Then everyone is stupid. Why is everyone scared of good outsiders? They should be welcoming these seven. If everyone treats these people as the enemy, they’ll leave and we’ll be left alone to fight the real enemy.”
“Give it time, child. The others will grow on them soon enough,” Akira said. “One doesn’t pluck a fruit if it hasn’t yet ripened.”
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“That’s something we don’t have!” Hanzo yelled, storming out of the lodge.
Toshi, with a look of worry, attempted to follow him out but Ritsu grabbed his wrist. The two of them stayed where they were.
A momentary silence hung in the room as Akira shook his head.
“Hanzo’s right, you know?” Askeladd mentioned. “It’s hard to find motivation to fight for people who despise you.”
“We don’t despise you—”
“I know. It’s just a figure of speech.”
The chief squinted at us. “Hanzo said there are seven of you. Three of you are women—you won’t be shown much respect at first, but these three spoke highly of you. Just show them you’re worth the food we’re giving you.”
Mondatta tsked. “I’ve been doing that my entire life.”
“But I’m more worried about the children. These two are part of the seven, are you not?”
Jaime erected her back. “We are.”
“You two look well off and the way you behave tells me you were taught proper etiquette.”
“We were and much more, sir. Reading and writing, arithmetic, history, geography, jynx, swordsmanship—the Colonel, Auntie Trish, and Heloise taught us.”
Ahh. Even though she hated studying, she’s now using that fact to get the chief to favour her.
“We need seven,” Askeladd said suddenly. “One warrior for each direction, two for reserve, and myself as the leader. It may seem like they’re a waste of food and we’d be better off sending them home. But they’re part of the seven.”
“He’s right, Chief,” Ritsu said. “You know me as someone who looks at things objectively, but I’m against sending them home. I’ve seen what they can do and we need their help.”
“Hold your tongues you young ones,” Akira said. “I never said I didn’t want them to stay. You lot are too hasty. I was just warning them that they’ll be looked down upon by the villagers.”
“Why is that?” Jaime questioned.
“Farmers are the lowest of the low and they don’t want their pride to get hurt. The idea of children stronger and more educated protecting them is one they won’t take lightly. It’ll hurt their ego.”
“Well, they better learn.”
Askeladd smiled at her retort. “Now, about our deal. We can eat our fill and in return, we’ll help you fight the bandits.”
“Yes, that’s what those three have told you.”
“And it’s because you have no money.” The knight nodded. “But these bandits have been plundering the land and they’ll have riches on them. You really don’t think we forgot about that.”
“You clearly haven’t. What of it?”
“We want seventy percent of all the loot they have on them. Ten percent for each of us.”
“Too much. Forty is the highest.”
“Maybe we need that extra thirty percent more than you. And you’re the ones that need our help. If I were to choose between me holding forty percent of the loot alive or seventy percent of the loot dead, it’s pretty obvious which one I’ll take.”
“We can’t give that much up.”
“We only want the things we can sell. The horses, weapons, armour, food, everything else, it’s all yours. Everything is worth money, you just need to work for it.”
Akira thought about it and nodded. “Seventy percent of the loot, but everything else is ours.”
“Yes, and we want seven of the horses for each of us.”
“Of course.”
Tony yawned. “So, the deal was we’d protect y’all and we’ll get food and shelter in return. Where are we staying?”
Akira spat out some phlegm before leading us across the road to a small building.
“On very rare occasions, businessmen who buy our crops and adventurers sometimes need to stay in our village. This is the house we built that acts us our inn.”
“It’s pretty small,” Mondatta noticed. “But it looks cozy.”
“There are only five rooms.”
“We’ll share a room,” the twins said.
I raised a hand. “Jaime and I will do the same. It looks like there’s only one bed so at least we’ll be warm during chilly nights—”
Just then, the clamour of a bell radiated throughout the village. We spun in confusion as the villagers accompanying us gazed towards the hill. The people hiding in nearby houses ran to us.
“Bandits? Impossible! Hanzo said two months,” Askeladd reasoned out. “There’s no way the bandits are attacking now, your crops aren’t even close to being ready for harvest.”
“What does the bell mean?” Jaime asked.
“It’s an alarm.”
Askeladd, without missing a beat, ran towards the sound. He was followed by Roxanne and Mondatta. Tony put out the pipe he was smoking before following suit while Roxy, Jaime, and I trailed behind them.
The entire village had congregated out of their houses and around the well. The alarm had dissipated when we arrived. The hysteric crowd surrounded us as we drew our weapons. Askeladd, Jaime, and Roxanne unsheathed their swords. Tony raised his pistol and Roxy readied her shield while Mondatta summoned Zenyatta, who enveloped me in a bubble as I launched myself in the air, hovering to study the area.
The only sound I could hear was the wailing of the villagers.
“Help, the bandits are here!”
“The bandits have come!”
“Help us!”
The crowd had gotten so chaotic that it was impossible to keep focus. The six below me tried to calm everyone down to no avail.
I watched for horses, but I couldn’t find one. North, east, west, south—none were there. Everything seemed normal.
Have the bandits abandoned the idea of a mounted attack and snuck in instead? Maybe they’re hiding in the houses.
Tony fired a shot into the air which silenced the villagers. “First of all, which direction did you see the bandits come from?”
A collection of voices answered. “The road… the forest… the hills… No, I saw them hiding in the fields…”
There was no clear answer. Just the shouts of fear.
“Okay, fine, let me ask you this—who saw the bandits?” Askeladd questioned. He waited for a moment but got no answers back. “Then who rang the bell? And where is it? It’s missing from the well!”
“I did!” a familiar voice shouted. Hanzo was standing beside a hut. “And don’t be scared, no bandits are coming today.”
At the knowledge that it was a false alarm, the seven of us lowered our guards while I literally lowered myself to the ground.
“What’s the meaning of this?” one of the villagers said. “Why would you sound the alarm?”
Hanzo ignored him. “Look at it this way, you fools! Me, Toshi, and Ritsu travelled all the way to Shoya on foot, which took four days. While we were there, we were rejected, stolen from, and laughed at. These seven—who know there’s a chance they might die here—have agreed to help us. And they’re not doing it for valour or riches or glory because they know they won’t get any. Yet they still came all the way here.”
He shook his head, ringing the bell at his fellow farmers before putting it back where it belonged.
“And how did you welcome them earlier? You hid in your houses. You treated them like the bandits they agreed to protect us from. You fools! If you treat them like this, they’ll lose the will of wanting to protect us! But I ring this a few times?” Hanzo caused the bell to clamour once more. “And all of a sudden you rush out screaming their names to protect you? ‘Help! Help! Help!’. Where was that energy earlier? Some thankful people you are. What a joke!”
The villagers bent their heads down, gazing at the ground with shame. They were tricked into confronting us and were proven right by Hanzo. Not only that, they couldn’t even shuffle their feet to leave the area.
Toshi was nodding with approval, and even Ritsu, who always carried a snarky attitude grinned at his friend.
Hanzo knocked some sense into them.
“Listen all of you,” Askeladd yelled. “If you want to survive the bandits, you’ll only need to follow one rule. Do what we say! That’s all.”
Akira, who only just arrived, limped to Hanzo. His aged body made him hunched over, but he still eyed the young archer.
“Anything wrong, Chief?” he asked.
“No, I even applaud you for your little stunt.” Akira swung his head towards us. “There. Your appreciation. It’s not much, but it’s a start.”
“What a welcome.” Askeladd smiled. “The sweet fruit begins to grow.”