Clan Dominance - the Sleepless Ones 2

by Dem Mikhailov

  “Known what?” I asked with a stony face.

  “That Phelagea would turn out to be the killer!” Stevan shouted. “I had no idea at all!”

  “So you mean...” I said against my will.

  “Aye,” the shopkeeper sighed. “The fool confessed in front of everyone. It was barely an hour since you’d left, and we all heard her. She’s told us all about it — how she’d sent her daughter into the woods to gather toadstools, and how she’d prepared the treat for old Jogley. So you’ve done all you’d promised, Rosgard, and that’s how it is... Oh, and here’s your money — ten pieces.”

  What? Phelagea, fessing up?

  Congratulations!

  You have completed the quest: ???

  Your reward: 10 gold pieces!

  You have leveled up!

  Points available for distribution: 15.

  I was at Level 19, and it eventually dawned on me that I had completed my quest.

  “Ten?” I looked at the two stacks of gold coins in front of me with unfeigned surprise. “We’d agreed on two, most esteemed Stevan. And divine judgment... Although, given that Phelagea had confessed...”

  “Ten coins,” the mayor said firmly. “You’ve earned them. You’ve protected an innocent and found the criminal. As for divine judgment... Cough, cough...”

  I didn’t quite get why the mayor had decided to have a coughing fit all of a sudden, and looked at the shopkeeper instead. He was bolder, saying instantly,

  “Let’s just cancel the whole thing. The divine retribution, I mean. It’s all been done, and you’ve identified the killer. So we can take it from here. How about that? Tell us, Rosgard.”

  “Tell you what?” I asked back. “All I can say is that I don’t understand a damned thing! Do you want the killer to walk free?”

  “That will never happen!” The mayor’s voice was like a roar, with no trace of the cough left. “She will be punished! But divine judgment... You know what divine punishment is?”

  “Death,” I shrugged. “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. So what about it? Although... Listen, to be honest with you, I don’t really give a damn!”

  “Say what?”

  “I don’t care either way,” I said again. “I have completed my task and received my reward. If you want to deal with the criminal yourselves, do whatever you want.”

  “Good, good,” the mayor reclined in his chair with visible relief. “Don’t you have any doubts. We’ll deal with the wicked crone properly, uh...”

  “She won’t shrug it off easily!” The shopkeeper chimed in. “So, Rosgard, here’s our gratitude, and we all bow to your judgment and your sharp eye. But why don’t we forget about the divine judgment? Why bother those who dwell in heaven with such trifles? We’ll deal with her our way. First she’ll get lashed in public, and then we’ll send her away to a faraway hamlet to grow radishes, her and her daughter, until the end of their days. Who knows? Maybe some passing leprechaun will get interested in Phetissa...”

  “Right,” I nodded. “No need to bother the gods. I’m fine with that; so be it. In that case, there’s nothing left for me to do in your village, and I may well be on my way... Oh, my, I should have found the missing unieye. I’ve forgotten about that completely; sorry. To tell you the truth, the thing about your one-eyed mascot is that...”

  “The mascot?” The mayor jumped up and waved his hand. “He’s back! Right as rain! Came back tonight! He must have been out with wenches of his kind, and got back right after that! The rascal! So don’t you worry about him, kind sir. We’ve found him! Here, another two gold pieces for your trouble, and a supply of provisions for a week so that you would want for nothing on your way! You can set out this very moment! We’ll see you off!”

  “So he’s back, is he?” I said slowly, watching the mayor place two more heavy golden discs on the table. “I see...”

  Suddenly, I had a strong wish to take a peek inside my pack and make sure the remains of the slain unieye were still there. One never knew — what if the beast had crawled out of the pack while I was sleeping, reassembled itself, and come back like a one-eyed Frankenstein’s monster? Year, right... Either the mayor was lying, or I’d offed a different unieye. There was no way of telling now.

  The two men sitting nearer to the edges of the bench took out a heavy cloth-wrapped parcel and a small keg, placing them on the table. Food and ale, as promised.

  “All right,” I nodded as I leaned forward to grab the coins. “Agreed.”

  Another message popped up in front of me.

  Congratulations!

  You have completed the quest: Find the Unieye.

  Your reward: two gold coins, a week’s supply of provisions, and a keg of ale.

  I’d also received some XP points — not many, but every little counted. Another quest was completed, and I didn’t even have to rise from the table. Moreover, the reward was much larger that we’d agreed upon. Nothing short of a miracle. I shook my head in amazement as I pocketed the rest of the reward, putting it in my pack. It made sense to use every opportunity to get a little something, after all.

  I kept thinking of what in hell had actually been going on, but I decided to refrain from asking any questions, and just said slowly,

  “Just one thing before I leave. Alishana... I really wouldn’t want her to be bullied any longer. To be honest with you guys, I don’t really get you. You’d been ready to accuse an innocent, and now you’re protecting a killer from getting her just deserts. So yeah, leave her alone.”

  “Don’t even worry about that,” Stevan said gruffly as the mayor nodded. “No one will dare to so much as throw a sideways glance her way now. It’s just... She’s not local, get it? And Phelagea... Why, she knew me when I was a bare-assed toddler, and it’s not just me. Those big guys are her relatives,” the shopkeeper nodded at each of the men, who’d looked visibly uncomfortable, hiding their eyes. “And not just them. But rest assured no one will trouble Alishana now.”

  A bare-assed toddler indeed... Stevan must have been tripping. Waldyra had only existed for a couple of years, and he was just a segment of code, anyway! How on earth was any of that possible?

  But I didn’t care much about it at that point.

  “All right, then,” I sighed, rising. “Fare you well, good people. It’s time for me to get ready for my journey. Stevan, I’ll have to visit you first, though — there are a few things I need.”

  “Let’s go right now!” Stevan suggested hastily. “I wouldn’t dream of making someone we respect as much as you wait! So... We’re agreed then, right?”

  “We are!” I said, beginning to sound irritated. “I’d said as much earlier. I’m fine either way. You take care of it — I have no wish to stick my nose into your affairs.”

  The men nodded at once and gave me a deep bow simultaneously as they got up.

  Congratulations!

  +10 to friendly disposition from everyone in Mossy Hills.

  I hiccupped nervously, collected my jaw from the floor, and returned the bow.

  Ten out fifteen. I just managed to score ten levels of good disposition toward me out of fifteen possible. I’d always be welcome in this village now — I’d find a bed in any house, be able to buy stuff for lower prices than usual, and stable my pet for free... as well as a bunch of other things. Indeed, I wasn’t prepared for any of it... All of that was in theory, of course — after all, all of them would be delighted to see the back of me as soon as they could, but that would be temporary, before they’d find a suitable remote location for Phelagea. Once this blew over, they’d be really happy to see me...

  “Come on!” The beaming shopkeeper ushered me on. “I’d even open my shop in the middle of the night for someone like you, let alone the crack of dawn! And the prices you’ll see will please your eye, too!”

  “All right,” I agreed. “Let’s go.”

  My head was buzzing with all the emotion, but, generally, I was as happy as a pig who’d chanced upon a whole pile of r
ipe apples. It had taken two minutes for me to get two quests acknowledged as completed, I’d received precious XP points, and managed to get on great terms with the whole village — without doing a damn thing. In a different situation, and playing with a different character, I’d definitely stay for longer. There were too many mysterious things about this friendly little place... Well, another time, perhaps. I needed to keep moving.

  Buoyed by these thoughts, I kept following Stevan placidly, so when he stopped suddenly, I failed to react in time and bumped right into his back. I cursed, took a step back, and froze in surprise. There was a lone female figure standing five paces away, in the middle of the dusty village street. Alishana, the raven-haired beauty. Her arms were akimbo, with fists right at the waist, her lips were compressed tightly, and there was a whole maelstrom of emotion in her oriental-looking eyes.

  A heavy silence hung in the air. The only thing to read it was the wind over our heads rustling softly over a perfectly empty street, just barely touched by the morning sun. I’d imagined a Wild West scenario for a moment — any second now, Alishana would produce two enormous revolvers and stuff us with hot lead. I didn’t know what Stevan may have been thinking, but he coughed nervously and took a step back.

  “Stranger,” Alishana said slowly, paying zero attention to the trader.

  I looked around, hoping there’d be some other player nearby, and then replied reluctantly,

  “I am listening.”

  “The hill with the marble effigy of the goddess of justice lies in a different direction,” the beauty whispered in a voice that made me shiver.

  Damn... Village girls weren’t supposed to talk like that.

  “I know,” I shrugged as I looked at the hill towering over the village.

  “Alishana! You stay out of this thing!” The shopkeeper, who’d just managed to come back to his senses, said gruffly. “We’ll settle it ourselves.”

  “You’ll settle it yourselves, will you?” Alishana repeated his words slowly. “So it was your father poisoned in such a perfidious manner, and not mine? You are the orphan now, are you?”

  “Uh... Well, he wasn’t your actual father,” Stevan said in a voice that had suddenly gone hoarse.

  “That’s not for you to decide!” Alishana yelled loudly, and my shoulders twitched again as I tensed and took a step sideways, where I’d be covered by the shopkeeper’s wide back. The way the girl waved her hand was extremely discomforting — it was as if she’d been about to produce a pair of throwing knives from the sleeves of her wide dress, or prepared a battle spell.

  “Jogley is my father! And you’re the one who should stay out of someone else’s family’s business! My precious husband is too kind-hearted, and it is sometimes too easy to persuade him. So why does my father have to lie in the cold ground while his killer goes unpunished? Stranger! Did you, too, believe their sweet lies, receiving their gifts with a content bow?”

  “Uh...” I coughed. “I did, it fact, accept a few things from them,” I uttered reluctantly.

  “Had any of this happened back where I come from, anyone who’d dare to lay a hand on one of my kinfolk would have long been a corpse, as well as whoever attempted to save them from just retribution!” The beauty’s enormous eyes flashed, and there was a glint from the narrow blade of the knife that she was suddenly holding in one of her delicate palms.

  “Alishana!” Stevan exhaled loudly, taking a few steps back. “As the gods are my witnesses, what are you doing?”

  “The local customs are different, though,” the young woman continued, paying no attention to the shopkeeper. “Things are done differently here.”

  “Right, right,” Stevan nodded his head vigorously. “We do things differently here, we do!”

  The shopkeeper wasn’t the only one walking backward — my retreat was event speedier. I had a distinct feeling that I’d be no match for this seemingly frail and harmless girl. Not just me — even Gosha’s buffed-up character would be unlikely to win a battle against her.

  Alishana assumed a very characteristic fighting stance familiar to me from my Khrushchot days, when I trekked across the blazing hot desert sands. There used to be a large and very militant tribe living there; true masters of weapons and magic. The stance was clearly one of theirs — left foot forward, just a little bit, with the right one behind one’s back, most likely brewing some devastating spell. We’d be rolled so thin no cleanup would be required — just spreading some sand over the street would do the trick.

  Was that the very same delicate female that had been sitting next to a huge village oaf, making sure he got all the choice bits?

  “But I wasn’t talking to you,” the girl shook her head and looked at me with eyes colder than ice. “Stranger...”

  The shopkeeper sighed in relief, and, taking a few unsteady steps aside, leaned against a wooden fence that started creaking under his weight, leaving me face to face with a furious woman with murder in her eyes. If she hit me with a magic spell, there wouldn’t be much left — a charred pair of boots, perhaps.

  “I am listening,” I responded in the voice of a doomed man, looking at the tavern entrance with the corner of my eye — so close, and yet impossibly far.

  “You made a promise,” the girl said curtly.

  “I did,” I said as I squared my shoulders. “And I’ve kept it.”

  “My father’s killer is still alive!” The woman was looking at the ground in front of her now, fingering the hilt of her knife nervously.

  “She is,” I nodded again. “But such was the will of your father. He had wished for something different.”

  Alishana’s whole body shuddered as she lifted her head, scorching me with her glance. I didn’t manage to say anything else — the air blurred before my eyes for a moment, and then the girl was standing right next to me. I didn’t even see her cover the distance between us — one instant she was over there, and the next, mere inches away from me, all of a sudden.

  “Something... different?” Alishana whispered softly, and I gave a cautious nod.

  After a moment’s thought, I added,

  “There’s no reason for me to lie to you, Alishana. Nor am I afraid of falling by your hand. I am a stranger, and I am immortal. Even if you kill me now, I’ll resurrect in a second. I believe you know as much.”

  “I do,” she nodded in acquiescence, taking a step back. Her movement was nothing short of feline. “I have seen the likes of you... I’ve even fought them. But all of that was long ago and far away. Tell me, stranger. Did you really see Jogley, my father? For he really is my father, no matter what certain people might say,” the short glance thrown at the wheezing shopkeeper didn’t make him any more optimistic.

  “I know,” I said again, for the umpteenth time today. “He himself recognizes you as his rightful daughter. But bear Stevan no ill will — if it hadn’t been for him, you’d never have found out the name of your father’s killer. It was Stevan who gave me the task of finding out the killer’s name, and he paid me for it handsomely out of his own pocket.”

  “It is the very truth,” the shopkeeper said in a small voice. “As the gods are my witnesses!”

  “I spent a long time speaking to the man you call your father,” I said slowly. “And it wasn’t death that old Jogley had wished for, but life — for you, your husband, and your unborn child. He wanted the killer to be known to protect you before she made an attempt on your life, and I have kept my promise to him. Phelagea and her daughter are a danger no more. They will be punished publicly and banished to a faraway hamlet in the woods, where they won’t see anything or anyone but the forest around them and the dangerous beasts that live there. A place where every new day is just like the previous day and the day to come. You should know that sometimes life can be harsher than death.”

  “Life... Can indeed be harsher than death,” Alishana echoed my words. “I do know as much... Indeed.”

  “Oh, but there’s something else, too!” I said, making my voice as mir
thful as possible. “He told me he’d wanted his grave visited, and his grandchild to be shown to him. He also said he’d put some money away for a rainy day, and that it’s buried under your porch, urging you to dig it up and spend it as you see fit. He told me you were a master of housework, and that he still remembered those spicy dishes from your faraway homeland. And he doesn’t hold any grudges against you for chasing him all across the yard with a towel in your hand — he actually misses those times. You’re always in his thoughts, and he’ll look after your family. So, that... That’s how it goes.”

  Each of my words made Alishana’s face change a little. The frozen mask of a killer kept softening, transforming into the face of a beautiful girl. Her eyelids fluttered, and tears started running down her cheeks. I was delighted to see the knife was no longer in her hand as she wiped them with her fists. Then I heard someone else’s whimper from the direction of the fence. When I looked there, I was surprised to see the shrewd cutthroat trader weeping like a baby.