Born From A Divine Gamble

He thought it was really strange, Chinui would never go anywhere without a weapon and he felt he was right. With all those crazy things outside, walking around without a weapon seemed crazy. Were they so confident in their walls that they thought they wouldn"t need a weapon? Maybe they all just left it at home?

What he had said to Galana in the shop may have been a little exaggerated but Chinui had said almost the same thing to him once. He did not know if this was right or wrong but it was the only way he could think of to force her to keep the dagger. In the end, he just wanted to help.

She interrupted his thoughts when she arrived at his side.

"Where do you wish to go now?"

She still seemed both angry and somewhat depressed but he knew it would get worse if he said anything about it so he just ignored it. Speaking to people was hard work. If he was like a wooden sword for her, he also felt like she was one for him, and he was making all the possible mistakes.

"I need a lot of small things, travel supplies and rope. I need to buy food as well."

"Food? But we just ate!"

The remark made him chuckle but that wasn"t what he meant.

"Food to bring on my travel, not to eat right now."

"I see. Then how about the general market, if we go through the dismantling square we should get there in no time."

"All right, lead the way."

Emp had no idea what was what and where were things so he just relied on her to find all he needed. In the mean time he asked Galana something that he just thought about.

"I was able to buy a lot of good equipment without even using a complete red dragon, what do you think I can buy with a crystal plate?"

"I have no idea, it"s way too much money for only one person. Maybe it"s enough to have an entire castle built for yourself."

What would he do with a castle? With only him to man the wall it would not be that useful. Or did she not mean a fortress kind of castle but the residential kind of castle instead? It was just a big house, no? What would he do with all that s.p.a.ce. The fortress was probably a better idea.

As they progressed through the streets, he felt like the atmosphere became even livelier compared to the rest of town. He could hear more and more laughter and songs from afar.

"What is happening over there? They seem like they are having a lot of fun."

"That"s the dismantling square." Explained Galana "We"re almost there. They must have caught something big. It"s easier to explain once you"ve seen it."

Emp wondered what she meant until they arrived in said square. There, on an enormous wooden platform, was held the corpse of a creature so large it rose above the surrounding houses.

The creature had weird looking round head with a prominent skull so thick its own skin did not cover its top. It"s jaw, now slack in death, was unhinged and separated itself in the middle to reveal an extremely long slimy tongue that extended all the way to its legs. The thing had no eyes but enormous ears shaped like those of a bat on the side of its head.

Below its head, a large and long bulbous neck linked it to the center of the rest of its body like a pillar. It"s body was disgustingly fat and had been supported by six comparatively thin legs reminding one of a crab"s. Like a crab, It"s legs were protected by a sh.e.l.l that had the appearance of tree bark but the rest of its body was instead covered in long s.h.a.ggy fur.

All around the creature, men and women were slowly taking the thing apart, piece by piece. The sh.e.l.l was removed in sections, the fur cut down with razor blades to access the meat bellow, and kids were climbing up and down of it, either for fun or to collect some valuable little parts like it"s many teeth.

Below the platform, a bunch of people were taking notes and organising the rest. Around them and the piles of meat already harvested, a huge crowd of people had gathered. Emp had a hard time guessing what they were doing there but thankfully, Galana was there to explain.

"On the dismantling square, there is a party, almost a festival, every time a death-seeker brings back something good. Musicians and singers gather and perform for the crowd." She said while pointing at a group of drummers, flutists, tambourine players and singers standing on a side stage.

"Then, there is of course all the persons who are there to take the thing apart. Since it"s a big one, cooks gathered as well to offer pieces of it to those that want a taste."

Emp could see them in front of large fires they used to cook some of the monsters meat. It seemed really tasty so he decided to buy a couple and joined the line of the people waiting for one.

"Here, everyone eats and drinks while listening to the story of how they caught the creature. It"s the moment of glory the death-seekers dream of."

Emp could feel it, the electric joy in the air. The merry and jaunty music bringing still more people to the square and convincing some of those already there to join the dance in front of the harvest. A large group of people stood proudly beside the creature, laughing and talking with pa.s.sion. They were probably the ones who caught it. In front of them, a large crowd had gathered to listen to their tale, stuck between the dismantlers and butchers hard at work and the people dancing and drinking behind them.

"Usually, it"s a giant fish they bring back." Said Galana in the waiting line with him. "This one is unusual."

"I do not know what that is but I hope it is tasty."

"Also, I thought you said you didn"t want to eat now."

"But it looked so good, I could not resist. It is not even a full meal. How much do they ask for it?"

"A copper leaf for a skewer." Galana answered.

When Emp"s turn came, he gave the cook three coins for three skewer. One for now, one for later and one for Galana. He put one in his bag and gave one to Galana as he got out of the way for the next in line.

"I thought I told you I don"t want you to buy me food!"

Emp was getting pretty used to her being angry so he did not mind it and just shoved the skewer towards her.

"I did it by reflex and I will not keep all three for myself, if you do not take it I am just going to give it to someone else, like the girls over there."

"Don"t!" She said as she s.n.a.t.c.hed it. "I mean, not to them, those are hero fishers."

"What is a hero fisher?" To him, they were just a bunch of lightly clothed girls. Galana took a bite of the skewer before she answered, she seemed to really like it.

"They come here looking for a husband from the group of victorious death-seekers. Now, they are just waiting to see if any of them are interested."

"Can they not just go ask them? I thought women were the ones to choose who they wanted to be married with."

"Of course they can"t just go there! If they just go ask and get denied, not only would they have failed but finding another one would be much harder because the rest would feel like they are just a replacement. Instead, they go for the safest way, they make themselves as pretty as possible and wait to see who they can catch before they reel him in to ask. That"s why they are called hero fishers."

He wondered why they did not go to someone they already knew instead, it would be much less complicated.

"I see. This whole marriage thing is getting harder and harder to understand."

Emp took a bite out of his skewer himself and had a hard time understanding why everyone was so eager to get some of it. Compared to rabbit meat, it was harder to chew and it tasted so salty. It was far from bad but there was just too much salt, it was worse than the bacon he had for breakfast. He asked his next question before he took another bite.

"I understand what they are doing here now but not why I can"t give them a skewer."

"Idiot! Isn"t that obvious? If you bring them one, everyone will think you are interested in them but since you aren"t one of the intended target, they won"t know what to do with you. Not only will you look ridiculous but you will probably also anger a lot of people."

"I don"t get how bringing them food makes me interested in them. I do not even know them."

"That"s what I"ve been telling you since this morning! Stop buying food to strangers! It"s weird! People only buy things to those they care about!" She yelled as she threw the now cleaned skewer stick at him.

Emp would try to remember but this was hard. He could not help those he did not know but, he had so much money to waste. Helping people was hard, become someone they could rely on for Love would be harder than he first thought it would be.

They left the festivities behind and walked to the nearby market. Galana was pouting again but at this point, Emp just considered it was her normal mood.

It was much quieter here than on the dismantling square. The people were still in a good mood of course but did not feel like singing and dancing. They just went about their business like normal.

There were so many stalls selling all kinds of things, from food all the way to the strangest of trinkets.

Emp knew he had fallen behind the schedule so he did not waste time looking at everything. He quickly found all the things he needed and bought a lot of fresh fruits he put in the bag. He still had a lot of fish left and he had nothing against it but, only fish every day was starting to get boring. He even found a new and slimmer belt buckle.

"You"re really going to buy a new buckle? Do you even know how to replace it?" Asked Galana

"No I don"t, but next, I need to buy a lot of new clothes so I will ask there."

"What kind of clothes are we talking about?"

"I need clothes for the school and new travel clothes because mine are badly damaged."

"Alright but we won"t find both of those things in the same shop. Could you tell me what other things you need right now so that I can take the most efficient route? If we continue like that, we"re never going to be finished before night."

"I need to see someone who can fix an injury and I need books about languages. Maybe I should also get a new pair of boots? After all that, you bring me to the north gate and we will be done."

"What kind of injury?" Asked Galana with a frown.

"I hurt my leg fighting the woodland horror and it still has not fixed itself."

"You want magic heal or an apothecary?"

"Which is faster?" Asked Emp curious.

"Magic of course, but it"s going to cost you a lot more than the other way."

"It"s fine, I do not mind, I just want to be done with it."

"Alright, follow me, we"ll start with that, I think there"s a healing mage on the west road over there."

Finally, his leg would stop hurting him all the time.

They left the busy market through a small street and Galana led him through a series of back alleys connecting it to the main west road. But, in their shadows, they came across a group of men wasting their time in a animated discussion. Funnily enough, they were the same men they saw that morning at the inn.

With the impressive number of people he had seen in the city, he would have never thought he would meet back with the same ones twice.

When they noticed Emp and Galana, the group of five blocked the narrow path. It was quite easy to do since they only had to be two to block the whole way. They said something that made Galana frown. She asked them a question and the men answered by smiling weirdly and drawing a bunch of long knifes from hidden scabbards.

"What is happening?" Asked Emp confused.

Galana gulped and simply said. "They are threatening you."

***

About the Dismantling Square:

In the dismantling square, the party last as long as the hunters keep coming back. They bring something and the city feast. The day they don"t, they mourn the lost heroes from present and past with stories and songs instead. The atmosphere is different but the entertainment never stops. People need entertainment and hope to live after all. As long as successful hunters will be viewed as heroes, the festivities will never come to an end and there will always be someone to bring back what the town needs to survive.