Halonar: I have declared war against these tyrannical Otherworlders!

第10話

Jack got done packing shortly before noon, he had gotten very little sleep. He and the rest of the Branch had stayed up almost the entire night for the ambush. Still, he loaded his belongings onto a donkey in the stable.

The donkey had originally belonged to Wyatt, its name was Fido, because he was the size of a large dog and he was brown. He was pretty sure that Wyatt would be okay with him taking Fido.

He hopped on Fido after he was done loading his stuff, and rode him slowly out onto the road. Kuhara looked at him on his way out, she wasn’t angry, she looked almost sad to see him go, but Jack had already made up his mind. He was sure that the Branch could find more recruits to fill the gaps. And staying behind would just put them in more danger, especially if the Aldarians found out. He was better off alone anyway.

Jack knew he had arrived in Keywark when he saw a beggar approaching him, the man’s shirt was held together by little more than a few threads.

The man gave him a toothy smile, and held up the bottom half of a broken bottle of rum. “Spare change?” he asked. Jack forced a smile and gave him a few coins from his pockets. The man smiled wider and thanked him, then turned around to leave. Tucked in his back satchel, was a big knife. Jack gritted his teeth, he knew his way around a town like this. He had grown up in one after all.

Jack never told his wife, but he had used to live in a town like this one. The conditions weren’t nearly as bad as this, Jack ate well, and slept under a bridge close to the river. People would often throw coins into the river for good luck. Jack found out about the coins when he was hit by one while fishing for salmon. From that point on, he fished for coins. Jack later ended up working at a store, other people like him had chosen a life of crime over hard work. Jack eventually built up enough money to support a family…

Jack felt sick to his stomach. He had almost forgotten how he had gotten in this situation. He shook it off and moved forward.

Jack continued on his way, he didn’t make direct eye contact with anyone because It could start a fight. He found it very difficult to do that when he was the only one in sight with a pack animal. Still, it was broad daylight, he highly doubted people would attempt to rob him right then and there. He kept riding. As he got further into the city, he noticed the streets and houses looked better. Cleaner. There were less people in the street.

He stopped when he got to a gate. A guard halted him, then waved to another guard. The other guard opened a large door.

“No weapons,” said the guard, gesturing to Jack to put his sword in a pile of weapons. He obliged, He would probably get it on his way out.

Beyond the gate, the town looked much cleaner, at least. The houses seemed to look the same though. He found it difficult to see, as everything appeared to be shrouded in some sort of mist.

Jack spent the rest of the day exploring the town. To his surprise he saw almost no Aldarians . He looked at a few shops, none had any food, which was weird.

Every shop sold almost the same thing; clothing, horseshoes, or bricks for building houses. Jack approached one of the vendors and asked him where he could find food. The man told him to go away. Jack grunted and left.

He didn't buy a single thing. He mounted Fido again. Fido grunted and his stomach rumbled. Jack was hungry too. And by now it was getting pretty late.

This place looked cleaner, maybe an inn would be here, but Jack didn’t see any.

Suddenly, a carriage rolled in front of Jack, startling Fido. He squealed, stopping in his tracks abruptly. Jack was thrown off his back. Jack immediately rolled and got up, just in time to intercept a knife being jabbed at him, he twisted the man's arm, a disarming technique that he had learned when he was only a teenager, the man grunted and dropped the blade. He wore a piece of cloth over his face. Three other men exited the carriage, they held various weapons, another knife, a bow and one had a full fledged spear.

Jack grunted, kicking the bandit he had disarmed in the stomach, the man groaned and fell over, the bandit fell over. Jack felt something go thunk into the ground next to him. The man with the bow was firing glass-tipped arrows at him. Jack gritted his teeth, glass tipped arrows were just as dangerous as obsidian arrows, which could be bought on the black market for an even cheaper price. The only downside was how fragile they were. They could only piece skin, if they hit even a folded piece of paper they would not penetrate and shatter. Terrible for military application, great for robberies.

The man fired another arrow. By now, it was getting dark and Jack could barely see the bandits. When he was growing up, people who defended themselves during robberies would usually manage to drive away their attackers, but these men must have had experience with fighting, because the one with the spear took formation, maybe he was an ex-soldier, Jack didn’t know, he assumed so.

The man with the knife charged at him, almost replicating the first man's attack completely, Jack intercepted again and disarmed, the bandit retreated, disappearing into the shadows. The man with the bow took aim again. This time, Jack got hit. Luckily, his satchel stopped the arrow.

The Bandit who held the spear, confronted Jack with the tip of the spear. It was a fishing spear.

Jack had used a fishing spear before, they were not optimized for combat, the pole was made out of flexible wood. Jack parried. With a small wooden shield he had brought with him from the Branch’s armory, green paint coated the shield, with a brown branch with yellow leaves painted on it.

The bandit made a stabbing motion. The spear flexed slightly, conforming to the rapid movements. The spear hit the shield, sending a familiar vibration into Jack's arm.

The bandit immediately pulled back the spear, tearing a piece of wood off with it, he whipped the spear sideways, an unacceptable attack move with a spear. Jack grabbed the makeshift and snapped it in half with his leg. Jack slammed the shield into the bandit's face, knocking him out.

The bandit with the bow fired one last shot, which missed Jack by only a couple of inches, then proceeded to pull out what appeared to be a makeshift mace. He swung it at Jack as he approached. Jack dodged the swing easily and punched the man in the face, knocking him out and giving him a bloody nose.

Jack stood over the three bandits he defeated, the fourth one completely gone. The carriage they had used to start the attack had no power source, simply pushed down from a large hill. It had nothing inside besides cobwebs. Jack suddenly realized that Fido was nowhere to be seen, probably fleeing due to the conflict.

He was about to start looking for fido when he heard a Voice call to him, a woman's voice.

“Hey!”

He turned and looked in the direction. Illuminated by light coming from inside a cottage, stood a woman beckoning him to come over. Jack ran toward her. When he got to her, she waved for him to come inside.

Inside the house was warm and cozy, reminding him of his bitter past. He suppressed the thoughts and tried to focus on the house and the woman. The interior of the house vastly contrasted the dilapidated neighborhood that Jack had ridden through.

The woman had dark skin and darker hair. She wore a dress with flowers painted on it.

“Bandits are getting more aggressive lately.” she said, looking at him “glad you made it out alive.”

When Jack didn't respond, she spoke again.

“Oh, that reminds me, is this donkey yours?”

She led him to her yard, where Fido was nibbling on a patch of grass. He stopped when he heard Jack approaching, Fido brayed.

“Thank you.” Jack finally said, breaking the silence between them.

“You're welcome,” she said, “My name is Bel. You and your donkey look hungry, you want some food?”

Jack didn’t say anything, he didn’t want to take from the woman or waste her time, but Fido made up his mind for him, braying at the mention of food.

Jack sat at the table. It was a small round table, with cloth over it. A steaming potato sat on a plate in front of him. Fido crunched happily on a bunch of carrots nearby.

Bel sat in front of Jack. “You never told me your name,” she said.

Jack didn’t say anything. A thought had occurred to him. He had heard stories about witches since he was young. Witches being deceptive towards unsuspecting victims remained omnipresent in every story he heard. Often in the tales, witches would poison food while still managing to make it delicious due to their vast knowledge of brewing. The victim would either die and become an ingredient in another potion or, would be put to sleep and captured as a test subject.

Jack took a cautious bite of the potato. He didn’t understand the exact way the food would poison him, it looked and tasted exactly like a normal potato. He took another bite, then another.

Before he knew it, half the potato was gone.

He looked up, Bel smiled at him. Not an evil smile.

“My name is Jack,” he said finally.

“And you are a traveler?” Bel asked.

“Yes.” Jack responded. He sipped his tea, nothing wrong with it either.

“When you're done, there is a spare bed in the upstairs area.” she said, getting up to leave.

When you were gone, Jack finished the rest of the potato and his tea. He made his way to the room, expecting a cauldron or a coffin that she would push him into when he got close enough, but alas, it appeared to be an ordinary bed. He laid down on the bed, waiting for it to explode, catch on fire, or do something interesting. But alas, the bed did nothing.

Eventually, he fell asleep.

Jack awoke to the sound of a Whistle. Bel immediately opened his door, she looked anxious.

“Get dressed.”

Jack was confused, he was already dressed, He had gone to sleep that night with all of his clothes.

Bel threw him folded clothes, overalls, boots, and a ragged shirt. All grayish brown.

She wore the same exact clothes as the ones she gave him.

“I’ll explain later,” she said, when she saw his confusion. “Let's go.”

Jack and Bel made their way outside. Thick smoke coated surface. To Jack’s shock, people walking in the streets were also wearing almost the same outfit as him. Greyish-brown overalls, boots, and some were wearing a cap of the same color. The only people that weren’t wearing the same clothing were the homeless people. Bel trudged forward. “Follow me,” she said.

Jack followed her down the street, but he wasn’t concentrating on her this time. He was paying more attention to his surroundings. Everything was ugly brownish-gray. Smoke poured out of factories just past a metal fence near the path.

“This kingdom is classless,” Bel started, “property is equally distributed, as is food,” she explained. “There isn't always enough food to go around, and some people starve. You can’t grow anything, anyways either, the land is cursed. No food will grow, and those that do are inedible.

Jack absorbed the information. They made it to Bel’s destination apparently, she grabbed a hammer, and began hammering a pile of rocks. “Don’t just stand around, if you don't see you working, you’ll be arrested.” Jack took one of the hammers and began repeating Bel’s motions.

Jack observed his surroundings, people of all shapes and sizes were working in the facility. Men, women, children, and even old people. It wasn’t uncommon to see children working, but usually children worked in safe jobs, like picking fruit, or knitting. And it was uncommon to see elderly people working, especially in rugged conditions.

Jack smashed another rock open, nothing of value appeared to be inside. He didn’t get it.

The rest of the day was interesting, when the work stopped, Jack followed Bel to a building with a picture of an apple over it. Inside, was a basket of vegetables and fruits, guarded by three soldiers armed with spears.

The soldiers eyed Jack and Bel warily as they entered, their spears held at the ready. Bel approached the basket of produce cautiously, exchanging a few words with the guards in a hushed tone. Jack couldn't make out what they were saying, but he sensed an air of tension in the room.

After a brief exchange, Bel gestured for Jack to follow her as she selected a few items from the basket. Jack noticed that the selection was limited, with only a handful of fruits and vegetables available. It was clear that even in this seemingly abundant store, scarcity still ruled.

Back at their shared dwelling, Bel busied herself with preparing a meager meal from the fruits and vegetables they had acquired.

Jack stared down, not in disgust of the food, which was as delectable as could be, but from the situation they were in.

“This is terrible,” Jack spat. “I don't get it, why don't you just leave?”

“I can’t, It would be very hard, but even if I get out, there is nothing waiting for me outside,” Bel responded solemnly.

“Why?” Jack pressed.

“Because, I have no family.” She responded, “They were killed when I was just a young child.”

Jack stayed quiet the rest of the evening.