by Logan Jacobs
“Testing your knowledge, of course,” I chuckled. “Let’s see if your memory is as good as mine.”
“Very well,” the red-haired beauty said as she inclined her head. “Carleone is similar to Bastianville in many ways. It was founded about ten years ago by a man named Carlisle. He was the head miner and the leader, much like my father was when Addington was first formed. Carlisle and my father were boyhood friends, in fact, and my father looks up to him, even though Carlisle is the younger one. I don’t think we would have ever created Addington if it wasn’t for Carleone’s example.”
“So, you know this man pretty well?” That could certainly come in handy.
“I used to when I was very young.” Elissa shrugged. “I haven’t seen Carlisle since I was a little girl, though.”
“He’s got to still be the same man, right?” I turned in my saddle to give her a questioning look. “People don’t change that much.”
“A mine can change a man…” Mahini pointed out in a quiet voice. Her piercing blue eyes were locked onto the gate as we approached, but her face was solemn. “I’ve seen it happen many times during my travels.”
“It’s true,” Elissa added with a sigh. “My poor father has aged quickly since we moved to Bastianville.”
We rode the rest of the way in silence, and then we pulled our steeds to a halt before the guards at the gate.
“What business do you have in Carleone?” the man to my left asked.
“We seek to trade and purchase goods,” I explained. “We bring news of Addington, now renamed Bastianville.”
“Very well,” the guard said, and he jerked his chin to his comrade. The two men backed away from the entrance and then gestured for us to pass through.
I hesitated. These guards could be useful followers in the future. All I had to do was get them on my side, and I bet the rest of the guardsmen would join them. So, I hopped down from Goliath, and I stretched out my hand to shake the two men’s hands.
“What’s your name?” I asked in a friendly voice.
“Why do you want to know?” the guard on the left replied, and he crossed his arms over his chest.
“I’d like to get to know the people of Carleone so I can help them find happiness,” I explained. “As the God of Time, it is my responsibility to know all of my people by name.”
“Don’t listen to him, Jack,” the other guard hissed. “He could be a wizard or something, you don’t know.”
“Hush, Finn, I’m the sergeant, remember?”
I grinned at the two guardsmen, and they blinked back at me in confusion.
That was all I needed.
Chime.
Chapter Six
I respawned to the last half of the ride to Carleone, and I skipped the conversation about the town’s history with Elissa since I already knew all the information. When we approached the walls, I halted before the guards signaled for us to do so, and I immediately swung my legs over Goliath’s withers to slide off the saddle like a professional.
The two guards eyed me curiously, but they didn’t move to block the entrance to the town.
“Good morning, Sergeant Jack,” I said as I greeted the man on the left. Then I turned to nod at the other guard. “Finn, how are you today?”
“H-How do you know our names?” Jack’s mouth hung agape, and the two men shot each other questioning glances.
“I am the God of Time,” I explained in my most godly voice. “I know all things.”
“Careful, Jack,” Finn warned.
I held up my hand to halt his words, and his eyes widened in surprise. “I am not a wizard, Finn, so stop thinking that.”
“You can read my thoughts?” Finn gasped and rushed toward me. “What am I thinking right now?”
“You are confused and amazed by my power,” I guessed based on his facial expression.
“G-God of Time, you said?” Finn squeaked out, which I took for confirmation that my guess had been accurate.
“Wow…” Sergeant Jack shook his head in amazement. “I-It’s an honor to meet you, O Great One.”
“Should we escort you to the mayor?” Finn asked, and he shot his commanding officer a challenging expression. “I could vacate my post to show the Great One around Carleone?”
“That will not be necessary,” I quickly said. “I already know all about your town.”
“Oh.” The sergeant blinked as he processed my refusal. “Of course, Great One, you know best.”
“Carry on, men.” I saluted the two guardsmen, and then I led my horse into the town.
Jack and Finn snapped a salute back at me and stood at attention while I passed by them.
Carleone was bigger than Bastianville, and it was organized in one neat row along either side of the main road. The mountain sides walled off the left and right of the town, and walls covered the gap between them to form a narrow rectangle shape. People milled around the street. Some carried baskets balanced on their hips or heads, and others had bundles of furs or meat thrown onto their backs, but it seemed like everyone was hard at work.
The buildings of Carleone were in slightly better condition than the ones in Bastianville, but they looked to be made out of the same kind of timber as Elrin’s house and the inn. I also only noticed a couple that were boarded up, compared to the handfuls in Bastianville.
Then I saw a wooden sign advertising rooms and food hanging in front of a building a couple of blocks ahead, and I signaled to the women to stay close as I maneuvered Goliath down the busy street.
The townspeople seemed downtrodden and dirty, and I didn’t see a single smile anywhere. I knew their mine was drying up, so I was sure money had gotten tight.
Carleone needed the God of Time to help it thrive.
I grinned as the familiar excitement coursed through my veins. I loved a good challenge, and fixing this town’s problem in one day would certainly be one.
A stable hand rushed down from the porch of the inn and tipped his hat to me.
“Afternoon, sir!” the lad called up to me. “Are ya going to the inn? I’ll take your horses to the stable for a copper.”
“Alright.” I grinned down at the kid as I fished around inside my belt pouch for a copper coin and tossed it to him before sliding off Goliath’s back. Then I helped Elissa to dismount from Star, but Mahini leapt from Warrior’s back with a practiced ease.
The boy led our steeds away, and the three of us climbed the stairs up to the inn. The aroma of fresh baked bread wafted out from the entrance, and I followed my nose and growling stomach inside.
Then I made a new save point as I opened the door.
A woman looked up at us with a big friendly smile as soon as we entered. The dining room was sparsely populated with only a handful of people scattered about. They all wore the same dejected expression as the people I’d encountered outside, but the woman who was quickly approaching wore a happy face.
“Lovely to see some new faces,” she chirped. “My name is Nelly. I suppose you are travelers in need of some warm food? Perhaps a soft bed? I can soothe all your ails, just follow me.”
“Bless you,” I replied with a grin.
This woman was speaking my language.
We followed her over to an empty table, and she gestured for us to get comfortable.
“I’ll send Cook out with the special,” she informed us. “It’s a copper each for dinner, and two each for the night.”
“We will only need one room,” I explained. “Price seems a bit steep…”
“There’s nowhere else to rent a bed in all of Carleone,” the woman assured me as she cocked her hip to one side.
Apparently, she didn’t appreciate my attempt at haggling.
“Torya over in Bastianville would never treat me this way,” I said with furrowed eyebrows.
“Torya?” the woman scoffed. “She’s in Addington, not Bastianville.”
“They renamed the town in Sebastian’s honor,” Elissa interjected with a proud gleam in her emeral
d eyes. “He saved us from many dangers in a few short days.”
“Who’s Sebastian?” The woman wrinkled her nose as she glanced at each of our faces.
I lifted my hand up like a student who’d been called on by his teacher, and I cleared my throat. I was the God of Time, and I needed to get used to being the center of attention.
“That would be me,” I announced. “I am Sebastian, the God of Time, and I am in Carleone to help the town thrive like I did in Addington.”
“Pfft,” the woman hissed. She stared into my eyes for a long moment, almost as though she could see into my soul, but I kept my expression neutral. “What can you do to help us? Things have gotten bad around here lately. We lost three guardsmen just last week, and the mine has practically dried up…”
I wasn’t satisfied with her reaction to me. Everyone in Carleone had to be totally convinced of my godhood in order for me to have one hundred percent completion, so I reset to my previous save to use the knowledge she’d given me to my advantage.
Chime.
I entered the inn for the second time, and I waved to Nelly with my best smile on my face.
“Nelly!” I greeted her like I’d known her my whole life. “Torya sends her love, and she said not to swindle us.”
“D-Do I know you?” Nelly asked with a confused expression. “I don’t remember seeing you around here before.”
“I have never been here before, but I am the God of Time,” I explained. “I know everything about you, Nelly. I know you’ve been worried about the people of Carleone ever since the death of three guardsmen, and I am here to ease your fears.”
“O-Oh, w-well, what can I do for you?” Nelly’s confused look remained firmly in place.
“I have come to save Carleone,” I announced. “The mine is drying up, and many of your miners are out of work. I can help everyone, just like I did Bastianville.”
“It’s true!” Elissa added. “He saved my town in only a few days!”
“Can it be?” Nelly’s confusion was quickly shifting to awe. “Could you truly be the Great One of prophecy?”
“That I am.” I bowed with a flourish. “A pleasure to meet you.”
“Carleone could use some good news after everything we’ve been through…” She shook her head again, but this time to dispel her internal thoughts. Then she turned and gave me a radiant smile. “I would love to be of service to you, Great One.”
“So, a copper for three dinners, and one more for the room?” I asked with my most flirtatious smile.
The innkeeper giggled like a young girl, and she wrung her hands on her apron.
“Alright, alright,” she agreed, and she shook her head in awe as she accepted the two copper coins from me.
After a short while, the promised dinner arrived. It was a warm, creamy potato soup, with a bowl of grapes, and hunks of fresh buttery bread on the side.
I was definitely eager to dig into a hot meal after the long day we’d just had.
Once we’d finished our meal, Elissa announced she was going to take a nap since the fight with the kobolds as well as the day of riding had exhausted her.
Mahini and I bade her a sweet rest, and then the two of us headed out into Carleone to explore.
Jax’s forge didn’t have a smelter for coins, so the copper harvested from the mine used to be hauled to Carleone to get turned into money. Elrin had sent me with several hunks of unrefined copper to smelt, so the forge was our first destination.
Plus, I loved seeing the excitement on Mahini’s face at the prospect of new weapons and armor.
We stopped by the stables to grab the copper ore and some of the looted kobold weapons from our saddlebags, and I directed the stableboy to take the rest of our belongings up to our room, but I warned him not to wake up my wife. Then we continued on until I heard the ping of a blacksmith’s hammer, and Mahini’s piercing blue eyes lit up with joy at the noise. I chuckled to myself as I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and turned in the direction of the sounds of a forge.
We followed the sound of the dinging hammer to the edge of town, where the river cut inside the city walls beneath a low archway. The opening in the wall wasn’t big enough for anything but the water to move through, and the heat of the blacksmith’s hearth accompanied the rushing waters.
An impossibly tall bald man with dark skin stood with his back to us and leaned over the anvil. The large hammer swung in his hand like it was a feather, and the rippling muscles in his exposed arms glistened with sweat.
He reminded me of John Henry.
I cleared my throat, and the hammer paused in midair. I put on my best smile and motioned for Mahini to do the same. The desert goddess frowned for an instant, but then her lips curled upward the slightest bit.
Good enough.
“What do you want?” The blacksmith turned to give us a hot glare.
“We’re visiting from the town formerly known as Addington,” I explained. “Jax said there was a decent forge here in Carleone, and I’m fascinated by smithing, so we decided to drop by.”
“Formerly known as Addington?” The blacksmith crossed his arms over his chest as he raised one eyebrow.
“Yes.” Mahini nodded. “It was renamed after the Great One, Sebastian, so it is now called Bastianville.”
“Who is this Great One, then?” he asked in a gruff voice as his dark eyes darted between Mahini and me.
“That would be me.” I bowed with a flourish and grinned even wider. “I am the God of Time, but you can call me Bash.”
“Bash, huh.” The blacksmith seemed skeptical still, but his glare eased into a neutral appraisal. “I’m Malakai, but you can call me Mac like everyone else in this shit hole does.”
I couldn’t tell if the nickname was something he enjoyed or not since he didn’t seem to appreciate the townspeople of Carleone referring to him by it, but I ignored the hostility in his voice and eyed his anvil.
“Nice to meet you, Mac,” I said as I analyzed the blade he’d been working. “You’ve got the makings of a fine sword, there.”
“You have an eye for quality,” Mac chuckled and beckoned me in closer.
I let out the breath I’d apparently been holding and crossed the distance to the anvil. I shot a grin at Mahini over my shoulder, but the desert goddess merely leaned against the door frame with a blank expression. Her mercenary training was coming out, and she was obviously on the alert.
I could tell she didn’t trust any of these townspeople, but she would soon realize she wasn’t in any danger with me around.
“What kind of metal are you using?” I asked as I eyed the freshly formed sword.
“Steel, for now,” Mac answered as he picked up the blade with his tongs and tossed it back into the fiery hearth. He pumped the bellows a few times before he turned back to me. “I’ve got a bit of malachite from the mine that I’m going to turn into copper and start working with. If you’re sticking around for a few days, you could see what I come up with.”
“We are only staying one night, unfortunately,” I replied. “Maybe on my way back home we will stop by.”
“It’s a beautiful icy green rock,” the blacksmith rumbled, and his desire to possess the stone was blatant in his dark eyes.
“Of course,” I said, since that was the common ore that made the metal.
“It turns into copper,” Max continued as if he didn’t hear me, and his eyes had a far-away wistful look that made me think the dude really loved gems and minerals. “Good for meal cookin’, but the metal is soft so they aren’t great for combat.”
“I would love to see it,” I said as I gave him a friendly smile. “I actually brought some copper here. I heard you can mint them into coins?”
“Yeah.” He cleared his throat and looked down as I set the rough ingots on his anvil.
“We are going to visit the duke,” I said. “Can you send the coins back to Bastianville once you are done minting them?”
“Yeah,” he repeated as he looked
at the copper. “I heard Add--Bastianville was having a goblin problem with their mine.”
“Not anymore,” I said. “I fixed it, and that is why I need to talk to the duke. We need to open up trade again.”
“Huh.” He nodded. “Well, I’ll have these coins ready for your town soon.”
“Sounds great,” I said.
Smithing was awesome, and I really looked forward to mastering the skill with all sorts of different metals.
“If you’re interested in the tradesmen,” Mac said after a few moments of silence, “you should go speak to our tanner. I may be comparable in skill to your Jax, but our tanner is the best for many miles around.”
“Bastianville doesn’t have a tanner, right?” I looked to Mahini to confirm.
A dark look crossed her face. “Not anymore.”
I sighed. We’d have to fill that position eventually, but maybe Carleone’s tanner would recommend someone looking for work.
“Thanks for the advice,” I said.
Before we left, I sold the blacksmith the looted kobold weapons since none of them were powerful enough for me to keep, and then he gave us directions to the tanner’s business.
Overall, I was very pleased with the interaction since I didn’t even have to reset to a previous save to get on Mac’s good side.
I was just that awesome, I supposed.
Mahini and I waved goodbye before we headed back into the main street of Carleone. The distraught and bummed out expressions on everyone’s faces was starting to get creepy, and I really hoped I could figure out how to help the town before the end of the day.
We were almost to the tanner’s house when we literally bumped into a person with a huge bundle of skins on his back.
“Ope, sorry there,” the man muttered from beneath his heavy load. “I’m almost home and wasn’t looking where I was going.”
“Here, let me help,” I insisted, and I took the bundle of skins from his back.
The man let out an exhale as I took his load, and he turned to give me a grateful grin. He had shaggy brown hair that fell to his shoulders, and the wrinkles around his eyes suggested he was in his later years. His brown eyes were warm, and so was his smile, but there was a hint of pain behind his expression.