Minos PoV [https://i.imgur.com/y7d8nKS.jpg]

Minos and Rei found themselves back on the road, still tugging on their horses instead of riding them. This time around they were walking the other direction, facing away from the village, with the sun halfway through the sky behind them.

After getting no result from the girl from the inn, Minos came up with another plan to get what he wanted. He met with Duke Owen's son, confident to get more information about Cassana and her family. The inn, and in fact the whole village, sat on land owned by the duke, and he seemed to know her very well. If earlier, he was on the fence whether the redhead was lying or not, now he was close to certain that she indeed was. I'll squeeze the truth out of her, he swore to himself, by any means necessary.

"It's the perfect plan!" he kept saying to Rei, which the hooded foreigner shrugged off repeatedly.

He was just about to ignore Minos for the last time when he noticed a fork on the road ahead of them. Rei stopped on his tracks and knelt down to study the markings on the ground. He pointed at the ruts that turn away from the main road onto the forest through this outlying path.

"This might be it." Minos said. He scanned the area and found a fallen tree. He climbed up to get a vantage point of the forest up ahead, revealing several more scattered cut-down trees. "There, that's definitely it." He pointed towards a column of white smoke rising from within the woods. The two stepped out of the main road and headed towards its direction.

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The divergent road culminated in a small lodge in the middle of the forest. Beside the house was a shed filled with wood, lumber, and granite bricks, while on the other side were two kilns around fifteen feet tall. The smoke they saw earlier came from one of the pair. As they approached, they noticed a short burly man pushing a wheelbarrow towards the kiln that was not blowing smoke. Minos and his companion watched over the man in silence until their footsteps caught his attention.

The man turned around and took a gander at them both, pulling his coif from his top and nodding his head. Minos noticed the man's left eye was busted.

"Evening," he greeted the man.

The man stood still and silent for a moment before responding, "Evening. Forgive me, it's rare for me to see new faces 'round here."

"No worries."

He walked towards the pair and he seemed to be particularly more interested in Minos than in Rei. With his one eye, he took a scrutinizing look at the young nobleman and the tunic he was wearing. "You are very far away from The Capital, my sir."

"Oh..." Minos said with surprise, "how did you know I'm from The Capital?"

"That," he pointed at his shirt, "I recognize the make. I was a Capital man myself, when I was... probably your age."

"Ah, I see. Well, you're right, I am from the Capital, my name is Minos, and my friend here is Rei, who is from somewhere on the other side of the river."

"Minos, you say? Interesting... I did know about a Minos once. Funny fellow, terrible with women, but very, very hilarious indeed. Minos of Copper Road, as he likes to call himself."

"I am he." Minos proclaimed, proudly.

"Nonsense. The fool would be as old as me by now. You look dashingly young."

"Thank you," Minos sang, taking no time to acknowledge the compliment, "but no, the fool is not old, he is dead. I was his apprentice, his protege, and now his only remaining legacy. At your service."

The man stood in shock, "I see, I see. You don't look anything like him at all. You look more like a prince."

"I get that all the time," he smiled again, almost blushing. "But no, me and the former Minos were not blood-related. Only related by trade, and by the thirst for knowledge and adventure. That is all."

"If you say so. What brings you here, may I ask?"

"Nothing much..." Minos answered, while walking towards the kiln that was producing smoke. "We were visiting the village and... oh, actually we met your son, Ashvell. He is your son, right?"

"Oh, Ashvell. He is my boy, yes. Though he's not actually my son. But I see him as such."

"Really now?" Minos inquired.

"Yes, yes. I picked him off a street in The Capital. Just a little babe, abandoned and alone. I took him in, and now he's my only family."

"Interesting." Minos stared at Rei. "Interesting..." he repeated, then let the air lie dead for a moment, not really interested in talking about Ashvell. He moseyed around between the kilns, stopping at the empty one and took a peep through its open entrance. "So this is where the magic happens, how wood turns to charcoal?" He poked his head inside. "Hello?" and his voice echoed through the small chamber.

"Well it's not much of magic, as it is nature. Simply nature. You let the wood burn in a tight kiln such as this, but not burn it too much to reduce it to ashes. And with patience and time.. You get charcoal."

"That kinda sounds like the exact opposite of nature, wouldn't you think?"

"What do you mean?"

"A stone oven, controlled flame, patience, those are things that don't come by easily in nature. That sounds like man trying to control the elements of nature, conquering it for their own use and pleasure. Isn't that the very definition of magic?"

The man took turns scratching his head and his bum, "I don't know about that. I only know how to make charcoal. If you want to talk about magic, you go to the village and talk to Canae's girl, she's the one. That girl is gifted with all that magic nonsense."

"Are you talking about Cassana?"

The man paused and looked at Minos's face. "I see, from the way you say her name, that you've already met her too."

The young nobleman glanced at Rei. What is he talking about? His companion responded with a shrug. "Whatever. Now, do go on, and don't mind me here. I just want to see the process. Curiosity, that's what brought me here."

"Curiosity of what?"

"Charcoal of course! How it's all made."

"I don't see what's to be curious about it, but, very well." The man returned to his wheelbarrow and continued pushing it towards the empty kiln. He filled the small container with different kinds of wood, all sized no smaller than a woman's arm. The man then picked two pieces and walked into the open kiln.

"So are you filling it up?" Minos inquired, despite the obvious.

"Yes. The big ones, they go first, right in the center, where the heat will be.. Uhm..." he lost the word he was trying to say.

"Concentrated?"

"The hottest."

Minos picked up two pieces of wood, "Do you mind?" he asked the man.

"No, no, go ahead." He moved to the side and gave way to Minos. The young nobleman entered the dark chamber and placed the pieces of wood beside where the man put his. "Not like that, turn it on it's end. Just lean it on the other ones."

Minos followed the man's instructions.

"Very good, very good."

Minos revelled at the praise like a child, flashing a satisfied grin. He then went back to pick more from the wheelbarrow.

The nobleman and the collier took turns in placing the rest of the wood into the kiln until the wheelbarrow ran empty. Afterwards, Minos pushed it to the shed where more stacks of wood awaited. "You know I read this book, and it said that the first magicians were charcoal burners such as yourself. Do you know that?"

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Really? I've never heard of that before." The man answered, while filling up the wheelbarrow with wood.

"Well, that's what the book said. According to the author, a piece of charcoal is very much like a wizard's stone. He explained that a raw wood like this," he raised a wedge of oak, tried its weight, then placed it back on the wheelbarrow, "is indeed useful for making fire, but the heat it creates is only a quarter of what you would get when you turn the wood into charcoal first.

"He said that a wizard's focusing stone, the one they used to do magic, is not very far from a charcoal. It starts as an ordinary rock mined from the earth," Minos picked up a small pebble from the ground for effect, "then it undergoes a process not too different from this," he pointed towards the smoking kiln, "and it comes out with a power comparable to a troop of archers with flaming arrows." He tossed the pebble to Rei who managed to catch it without missing a beat. "What do you think of that?"

"I think you should start reading more interesting books," the man quipped to which Minos chortled. After the wheelbarrow had filled up, he started pushing it back to the kiln, where they proceeded to empty its contents again.

"And I've always wondered, what happens inside this big guy?" Minos gave the kiln a tap, "How does it turn wood into charcoal, and what makes charcoal more powerful than wood?"

"I told you already, its nature."

Minos sighed. "I suppose you can't just leave me inside this oven, and let me watch the whole process happen up close, do you?"

"If that's okay with your friend right there, I certainly wouldn't mind," he joked and laughed at the implication. "But no, I refuse to go to jail just because I let you burn and die inside my kiln."

"Well, ever heard of the saying: no knowledge comes without sacrifice?"

"I don't see the point of knowledge, if it would cost one man's life."

There are things more valuable than a man's life. Minos would've loved to answer back, but it would just prolong their conversation. He was too excited to see how the process works.

After emptying the wheelbarrow again, the pile of wood inside the kiln has now reached to around five feet tall. "So is that it? We can light it up now?"

"No, not yet. We're not even halfway done. What's next is we seal it, like that one." said the collier, pointing to the smoking kiln.

Minos walked around the other structure and realized that it had no entrance. "Wait, are you telling me that every time you burn a batch, you close it shut?"

"With granite, of course."

"That sounds like too much work."

"It is. But the wood needs to be free from outside elements, or else, it will burn uncontrollably. We haven't even filled up the kiln yet. See that?" the man pointed towards a pigeonhole at the top of the kiln. "We'll drop the smaller pieces of wood from there. That should fill this entirely. Then we light it up from here," he then pointed to the fist-sized holes at the foot of the structure.

Minos studied the kiln with awe and failed to come up with a response.

"I should finish this before the day ends. And then first thing tomorrow, I will light it on fire."

"Tomorrow, not now?"

"It's late already. The first few hours of the burn, you have to take a close eye on the process, so you can make adjustments early on. Failing to do so will result in an entire batch getting wasted."

"How long does it take for the wood to become charcoal?"

"Two to three days."

"Two to three days?!" repeated Minos, in disbelief.

"The first day of burning the smoke will look like that, thick and white. You then watch and wait until it becomes clear, that happens during the second day. After that, you wait one more day for it to cool down. Then you have charcoal."

"I didn't realize it takes that long..."

"All good things take time. You can't just rush towards the ending, you'll have to wait and let things... go on." The man said, almost losing track of his line of thought.

"This whole lot goes to Mugendale alone," he pointed to the smoking kiln, "while this other one goes to all the other villages around the mountain." He pushed the wheelbarrow back to the shed. "On the waiting days, that's when we go out to cut, then once a month we do a replant."

Minos took a step back to look at the whole picture. "Not a bad enterprise. I think you have a good thing going here."

"I do. I plan to build a third kiln over there, to increase our production." The man walked back to the lodge and sat down by the porch to rest.

Minos walked around aimlessly, taking note of other curiosities he could set his eyes on. Meanwhile, Rei patiently stood still on his spot, almost disappearing into the foliage.

"I must apologize, I may have forgotten my hospitalities. I'm not used to having guests here," the man stood up again, "but would you boys like some tea?"

"Tea? Really?" Minos remarked. "You don't have anything that has a little bit of a punch?"

"No, nothing, I'm afraid. No liquors in this house. I swore to keep a clean life."

"Sounds like a lonely life."

"As it should be."

Minos looked at Rei, who gave a nod, "Sure, we'd like to have some tea."

The man stepped inside his lodge.

Minos climbed up the porch and found a stool to sit on, right across where the man was seated earlier. An elegant-looking table stood in the center of the foyer. The young nobleman studied the furniture, pressing his palms against the varnished surface.

The one-eyed man stepped out of the house, holding a wooden tray with three mugs and a teapot. He settled them right on the oak table.

"This looks magnificent," Minos praised the wooden furniture. "Where did you get this?"

"Ashvell and I made that," answered the collier as he served their mugs with tea.

"It looks majestic. Almost royalty-quality."

"Well, sometimes you get tired of burning wood, so..."

Minos raised his mug to toast on what the man said, before taking a sip.

"Is your friend coming? Can he understand us?"

"Yes, yes." Minos waved his hand towards Rei who was really just starting to fade into the background. "Come here Rei, tea's here."

The hooded foreigner walked and joined them on the porch. The collier passed him a mug of tea, and he nodded with gratitude. The three all took a gulp and then let out their breaths audibly.

"This is better." Minos smiled, "I like this here more than in the village."

The collier burst into laughter, "as much as I appreciate the compliment, I only extend my hospitality to guests, not freeloaders. If you wanna stay longer, you can rent a room at Canae's inn."

Minos shared with his laughter, Rei remained his usual self, aside from when he would face away and momentarily pull his mask down to take a sip at his mug.

"How well do you know Cassana's mother?" the young nobleman asked, before placing his mug back on the table. He sat straight with his legs crossed, bracing himself for a long and detailed story.

"Canae? Not much, really... She owned the only inn in the village, an inheritance from her parents. She and her husband managed the place, they have a daughter, Cassana - a beautiful redhead."

"Did her mother have the same red hair as hers?"

"No. Hers was more like auburn. Cassana's hair, I've never seen anything like that before. It's very enchanting, I know."

"And your son seemed to be enchanted by it."

The collier chuckled, "of course. He doesn't talk about such things, but a father knows. I just let him do his own thing."

"Good luck to him, then."

"When the boy was younger, I would bring him along to deliver the village their supply of charcoal, and the two would play around, being of same age and all that. Eventually, when Ashvell grew into a man, he would offer to bring their charcoal himself. Of course I know his full intentions, who am I to stand in my son's quest for love?"

Minos raised his mug again and offered another toast. "How about her father, how well do you know him?"

"Much less, really," said the collier, "Canae was very welcoming. The rest of the village love her, her guests and patrons adore her. Her husband, however, is not very good with people. He prefers to be quiet, and sometimes would rather just sit in a corner.

"He didn't have many friends, did he?"

"I don't think he even had friends. None that I know of, he was just always with his wife and their daughter. What a tragedy, for that little girl, to lose both your parents in just a span of months..."

"Yes, very sad," Minos said, not really trying his best to show empathy, "But what about before they were married, what was he like?"

"I wasn't here yet back then. I moved from the Capital, with Ashvell, and they already have Cassana by that time. So I don't really know. What I do remember, is that I've heard he was an outsider like me. I think he was a mercenary of some sort, who became a regular patron... and I guess he fell in love with Canae, and they got married and had a daughter. That's the story I know."

"I see..." there was a hint of disappointment in Minos' face. He was expecting more, but instead of pushing, he changed the topic to avoid suspicion, "Were you always a collier? Even back in the Capital?"

"No. I was in the 26th Brigade."

"You were a footman?"

"I was a marksman. Bow and arrow."

"Really?" And Minos wasn't expecting that. The man was short but burly, and he didn't look like the soldier type. Not in his demeanor nor in the way he stod or sat down. "Are you ever good?"

"Best archer of my time, if I do say so myself. I even got promoted to Palace Guard. Six or eight months."

"Just that long? What happened?"

The man pointed to his busted eye, "this happened. I wish I could say it was a battle scar, but no. A regular hunting accident, with the royal family. I was compensated, then eventually forced to retire early. No archer is good with one eye alone. You mess up the range, your accuracy falls down, your peripheral is not the same. So I took all my earnings, and my payout, then I moved out here."

"And how did you turn from soldier, and Palace Guard, to a collier?"

"I trained with the old charcoal maker. Eventually, he died and I took over. Then I got to expand it."

"And I think you made the right decision. Leaving the Capital."

"Is that so?" The man kept his gaze upon the twin kiln in his backyard, but in truth his head went back to where he was twenty or so years ago. "I heard about the war. How did it go?"

Now it was Minos' turn to look a hundred yards into nothingness.

"To be honest, when I saw you, I thought you came to recruit me back," the one-eyed man continued, "I thought you've run out of soldiers, and you're out to get the old ones."

"No, no, we won." Minos answered with a sarcastic grin, "we drove out Auhros, we got another peace treaty."

"You know that war with Auhros has been going on and off and on again even when I was your age. Now look at me, I'm an old man now, everything here has changed, but that conflict remains."

"You think it will never end?"

"What does it matter what I think? It doesn't matter if it ends or not. I'm an old man, in a hidden lodge, in the middle of nowhere. If Auhros takes over, then I'll just pay my taxes to them. No big deal."

"Fair enough."

"You fought during the siege?" asked the collier.

"I did."

"What did you do?"

Minos let his breath out before pausing for a moment to think. "Cavalry."

"Were you good at it?"

"Hmm... not much. If it were up to me, I wouldn't be there."

"Why? You don't like fighting?"

"I do, I like it. But it's not about the fighting, it's just... I don't like getting my hands bloody for someone else's glory."

"Hear, hear," now it was the one-eyed man's turn to raise his mug to what Minos said. "You got a good set of head on your shoulders boy. Best keep it where its at."