Chapter 6- the settlement. part 8(Ch26)

The settlement looked like a slum in hell.




 Messy wooden houses with worn-out fabric doors, which have lost their original color for a while, giving the feeling that they will fall off with a touch. Stone houses half missing, ready to fall at any moment. Tents made of animal skins. Houses with four columns embedded in the ground in the form of a square, and above them many branches. 




 




Pools of black smelly water everywhere. Mosquitoes and insects of all shapes, floating about like clouds. The ground is wet and muddy as swamps.




 




 But even so. It was crowded with happy people. Many children are running everywhere, laughing. Men and women standing and talking around a big wood-burning fire.




Young people sitting in circles around the fire, talking intently on different topics.




 




Women hugging their children, whispering and laughing happily. People light a fire somewhere else, some throw wood into that fire, others devour some fruit and stare at the fire. 




The thing they had in common was that they were not human at all, in addition to the unbelievable happiness in their eyes. In addition to their ugliness that you only see in nightmares. 




 They were all severely disfigured in their faces.




Broken teeth. Cut lips and burnt faces. Cut ears. Some lose an eye. Burnt noses flayed. Some of them miss their arms. The scene was horrific. Most of them were of the Ronia race. 




LINIAS and Hicros advanced about , covering their noses from the stench, which turned their stomachs. For a moment LINIAS was about to scream when he saw some people drinking from the black pond water. Mumble says:




-"This is terrible... How can they live like this?" I turned to a twelve-year-old boy, who was trying to drink from that pond.




Before the boy could drink the water, LINIAS grabbed him by the emaciated arm.




 




And he said :




" Don't drink from this, boy." 




 The look the boy gave LINIAS surprised. That was not a child's look. It was a look that radiated pure hatred. The child was red-haired, however, his face was frightening as it looked like a sticky paste. It seemed as if someone had poured boiling water on the boy's face, until his facial features disappeared. In fact, LINIAS was afraid of the boy's face. He never imagined , that a child would have such a face.




 




 The boy slapped LINIAS  hand and shouted angrily:




" Don't touch me!" And that cry made them the center of attention, as silence fell and they stared at the place of the sound. With the help to the dancing flames, the boy with his remaining eye clearly saw the person in front of him. The boy was frightened by LINIAS ' looks and fancy clothes. He moved his eyes a little, then widened in surprise. He was a huge man like him he had never seen standing next to the man. 




The boy rose to his feet, and said in a hoarse voice lacking teeth:




-"What do you want from me?! I'm not a slave anymore. I'm free now!"




LINIAS said in a voice as gentle as possible, so as not to frighten the boy:




"I have no doubt what you're saying, boy.. I told you not to just drink this dirty water, it doesn't look good." 




"What do you want me to do, old man?! To die of thirst?!"




LINIAS felt nothing offended or annoyed by those words. Rather, he felt that it was the truth, for LINIAS lived a long life. Hundreds and hundreds of years. And it was not only for the boy, but he felt that everyone present here were children and boys to him. His life as Salem was completely different.




 




 So he said with a warm smile:




"That's right, I'm an old man who has forgotten how many years he has. But, boy, is there no clean water in this place? Why are you afraid? Why are you going back?" 




-" I'm not afraid!".




"Then answer the question."




The boy said:




"I only know this water, ask those who might know?!" LINIAS turned to the people around him. It required tremendous courage, no one would dare to look at their disfigured and disgusting faces. He lowered his eyes, feeling nauseous, and probably lost consciousness quickly from it. But LINIAS will not make them feel less than anyone else, nor will he do them any harm more than they are. So he looked at them, as if he was looking at perfectly normal people. And he said:




"Isn't there clean water here?"




.




Everyone shook their heads in the negative.




- " Hmmm. This is a disaster. What about food? No. What about diseases? What do you do when you get sick? You definitely get sick." 




One of the men replied:




-"No. We rarely get sick, and there are some people who can use healing magic, and I am one of them, as for the food. We bring some fruits, we hunt animals from the forest. Also, we used to fish, but now it is impossible..everyone Once Mr. Angus brings us some help.. We are really thankful to him because he saved so many of us, and brought them here to live. "




 




 LINIAS knew what Angus was doing to them, so he didn't talk about it. He said:




"Fish? Hmm. But, excuse me for asking, sir. Isn't the jungle dangerous for you?"




"Thank you for your praise, sir. But.. I'm never a master.. I.. he.. just.." The man looked at the ground broken, unable to continue speaking.




 




LINIAS said, having understood what the man had in mind:




"Look at this boy." He pointed to the previous boy who was listening to the conversation and continued saying:




- "Did you hear what he said? He said he is free. And you are all like him now. So don't think about the past, you were not before, you are a free man, and you will be called master, as you are any person in this world." 




 




The man looked at LINIAS with passionate looks. Tears welled up in his eyes and he said in a warm voice:




" Thank you very much, esteemed gentleman. I have never heard such beautiful words in my life." 




 




"I only said the truth, sir. You not less than anyone in this world. How about my question, if you please? " 




The man said:




- "Uh, sorry, we go with hunters to protect us from monsters."




LINIAS  said :




"Isn't that a human organization that exterminates monsters?"




And a woman beside him, feeling the warmth of this man, who spoke to them so kindly, answered:




-"That's true. But we made an organization for ourselves...they are no better than us."




 




LINIAS raised a finger in front of his face, and with a gentle smile said:




- "I liked what you said, lady, for we are nothing less than them. What a wonderful lady."




 The woman lowered her eyes, feeling very ashamed, at being called a lady for the first time in her life, especially when she was told that by a man as beautiful as the man in front of her.




 For a moment a hum and a whisper was heard:




- " We?" 




- "we? ".




-"What does that mean?"




LINIAS  said :




-"I live in this land now. That's why we care about all of us... you and me." Everyone was silent. They seemed to understand. So he said:




"Where are these hunters? I want to meet them if possible."




- "They are there!". said the boy, pointing forward among the dilapidated buildings and the nest.




 




LINIAS , not wanting to annoy the adults any more, said:




"Boy, can you take me there?"




The boy said, staring with hatred at LINIAS:




" I have no desire for that." 




-"Mm..it might be your first job in your life. Don't you want that?"




 The boy narrowed his purple eye and said:




"What do you mean by doing?"




 




"I'll reward you with whatever you want, boy."




Annoyed, the boy said:




"What I want, you can't give it to me."




LINIAS smiled and said:




"Really. Why don't you give me a try, boy? I might make your dreams come true, but make your reward realistic."




"Then. I want nothing."




"Tell him what you want, boy, the opportunity only comes once, so make the best use of it!" So said Hicros, with his glowing green eyes, staring at the boy. The boy shivered in fright, and sweat ran down his face like a river from those eyes.




LINIAS said uneasy:




" Don't be afraid, boy, say what you have." 




 Hicros closed his eyes to look like a statue upon hearing those words.




"Then what do you want, boy?"




.




The boy seemed to regain his calm.




"I want to be a knight." Everyone stared at him in astonishment, as if their minds were frozen from what the boy had said, even LINIAS was like them. But. The reason why LINIAS was surprised, he was not like them, because he did not understand such a thing, and said:




- " Names and positions do not dictate the stomachs...especially in this land nowadays"




murmured the boy:




 "Then. You can't. Didn't I tell you that you couldn't give me what I wanted?"




What's up with this boy? Why is he staring at me like that? Is this the people's view of corrupt rulers? He must know me then. What did I get myself into. He said :




"That's not what I meant, I was.. you don't care. Whatever you want, boy. From now on you're a knight. Is that okay?" 




The boy replied angrily:




"Are you making fun of me , old man?" 




"You puzzled me, boy. Didn't you ask to be a knight, and here I am giving you a knight?"




-"There are actions, and actions for these things. Also, who do you think you are to give me a knighthood?!!"




 "I'm starting to get tired of you, boy. So... do you know what the procedures are required for this?"




-"How did I know this!" This boy is a real headache, he must be Sinoria best friend.




 




 If Rivera were here, she would have told him about these things. LINIAS knew nothing of these things. Even in the clan

 they did not do or care about these things.




 It might be like those movies you've seen. Turning to the boy, he said:




"I gave you what you wanted, and you won't keep your promise? Is that what a knight does?" He continued talking to the people around him:




-"Your life will change a lot from now on. For the better, of course. This is a promise from me."




 He walked away, knowing the boy was going to catch up, and he had nothing else to do. And even if he didn't catch up, he would have asked for the location from anyone else.




 




 Everyone looked at LINIAS strangely, not understanding anything he said. They had a wonderful life in this land. Similar to the misery and slavery they lived before. For a moment the boy stared at the two people's backs, and ran to them shouting:




 




"Wait man, I'll show you the place."

Chapter end