The Song Of Sword And Magic

Chapter 11: The Recluses

[Translator — Asuka]

[Proofreader — Karane]

After they left the forest, they reached a vast and open space. Fern was shocked to see such a stunning place right before his eyes. Wooden houses were scattered around the place. Women were preparing lunch, and the kids were playing among themselves. Meanwhile, most of the men were practicing martial arts, and some of them were crafting wooden weapons. All of them had one common characteristic—they barely had any clothes on their bodies, and the kids were even naked. When they saw Fern entering the village, they all glared at him. Some of the women even shouted at him out of fear.

The leading man turned around and said something, after which, a warrior ran toward a large wooden house in the village. Then, Fern was brought to a bonfire that had been put out. He scanned the surroundings as he tried to come up with a way to flee. However, first of all, he had to pray that these people wouldn’t kill him.

A while later, an elderly man stepped out of the wooden house. Surprisingly, he was dressed up more neatly than the others, even though his clothes were worn out as well. He even sported a priest hat as a few strands of his gray hair stuck out from the brim. His calm expression gave off a sacred feeling. 

“Is he the intruder, Allen?” The elderly man turned his head to the leading man, but his gaze was still fixed on Fern.

“Yes, Elder.” Allen replied respectfully. 

The elderly man motioned for the others to bring them two chairs. After Fern took a seat, the elderly man sat on the other chair and sized him up. “I’m going to ask you a few questions. Don’t try to lie to me because that will only harm yourself. Do you understand?”

After Fern nodded, the elderly man asked, “What’s your name? Where are you from?”

“I’m Fern, a mercenary from Deville,” Fern answered slowly. He realized that the elderly man’s accent was different from that of Allen.

“Deville is a wonderful place. Now, tell me why you’d leave that place and come here.” The elderly man’s expression and tone remained indifferent. 

“I didn’t intend to come here. My destination is Wet Port. I still have two companions, and we were together initially.” Fern licked his lip, thinking how to make his story sound more believable. “But we fell into some trouble on our way there.”

“Trouble?” The elderly man arched his brow. “What kind of trouble could make you take the risk to enter the swamp?”

“I don’t know what they are, but they appear to be gigantic wolves. They chased after us and almost killed us.” Fern shook his head and continued, “Then, I lured those monsters away so that my companions could flee to Wet Port. In order to do so, I galloped away on my horse and unknowingly reached the swamp.”

At the mention of this, Allen lowered his body to whisper in the elderly man’s ear. After that, he told his subordinate to bring a horse over. Upon a closer look, Fern realized that it was Dark Cloud. Just when he wanted to rise from the chair, two men behind him pressed him down again. Dark Cloud recognized Fern as well, so it snorted and wanted to go to its owner.

The elderly man gave Fern a look and asked, “Is that your horse?”

“Yes. It saved me.” After casting a glance at Dark Cloud, Fern shifted his attention back to the elderly man. “When I fell into a dilemma beside the swamp, the predators reached me. Even though I managed to defeat all three of them, more wolves were coming at us.” Then, he looked at his wound on the shoulder and said, “When I was in despair, I was shocked to see that my horse had stepped into the swamp, and it wasn’t sinking.”

“Then you followed the horse to this place?” The elderly man ran his fingers through his own gray beard and looked at the wound on Fern’s shoulder. 

“I had no choice.” Fern shook his head. He had ignored his pain for a long time out of anxiety, but at the mention of his wound, his pain returned to haunt him, which caused him to gasp. Following that, he grabbed his upper arm firmly with his right hand to alleviate the pain in his left shoulder. 

The elderly man fell into his thoughts while other people just waited patiently without uttering a word. Then, he looked at Fern again. “I trust you, Mr. Mercenary. You can choose to recuperate in this place before leaving. Or, you can leave now.” Upon finishing his words, he motioned for the others to release Fern. 

When the ropes were untied, Fern was finally relieved. As he rubbed his shoulders and wrists, he nodded at the elderly man to thank him. “My companions are waiting for me in Wet Port, so I have to get there as soon as possible. Otherwise, they’ll think that I’m dead.”

“You can make that decision on your own,” the elderly man said with a smile. “But young man, I suggest that you should stay here to recuperate. Your wound seems to be severe.”

Indeed, Fern’s wound had worsened as it had now festered. He felt pain so intense that he almost couldn’t take it anymore. “But… I don’t want them to wait for me for a long time.”

“It won’t take a long time. We have to hunt wild animals around this place all year round, so we still get hurt sometimes. Therefore, we have developed our own special medicine.” The elderly man told the others to leave as this interrogation had ended. “You can bring it with you and apply it on your wound on your journey. Before that, you’d better stay here for two days to recuperate before leaving.” After he finished his words, he rose from the chair and was ready to leave.

“Thanks. But… who are all of you? Why do you live here?” Fern rose from the chair a well.

The elderly man stopped in his tracks and cocked his head a little. “Allen will give you a place to stay and answer your questions.” Then, he shuffled back to his wooden house. 

“Follow me and praise the God of Medicine. If your wound isn’t treated properly, your life will be at risk.” Allen’s attitude had turned much milder than before.

“Yes, yes.” Fern muttered. He wasn’t certain whether it was because of his bizarre experience for the past few days or the fact that he felt excruciating pain. At the moment, his mind was a mess, and he just wanted to take a rest so that he could clear up his mind.

When the sky turned bright the next day, Fern awakened from his sleep. He hadn’t had such a peaceful sleep for a long time. He looked around and realized that the room remained the same, except that there was a girl sorting out his clothes for him.

“Who are you?” Fern had wanted to sit up, but he soon felt a sharp pain in his shoulder and laid back down.

“Don’t move. Your wound was cleaned yesterday, so you need more rest now. Later, I’ll change the bandage for you.” The girl adjusted the quilt for him. Her eyes were as clear as crystal. 

Judging from her accent, she’s a Southerner, Fern thought. He knew a thing or two about different accents in Wallis. Southerners tended to drawl when they spoke, and they sounded like they were reading a poem. On the other hand, Northerners tended to speak in a flatter tone and utter every word clearly. The accent in Deville, which was located in the Southwest, was slightly different from the Southern accent. It wasn’t as upbeat, but it was equally melodious. 

“Are you from the South?” Fern sized up the girl before his eyes. She was a short but sturdy woman with long and curvy ginger hair. Although her clothes were worn out as well, they were clean and fitting. 

“Yes, my home is in Greville… Well, my previous home.” Upon finishing her words, she turned around and continued sorting the clothes.

“I’m sorry.” Fern adjusted his posture to face up at the ceiling. “My name is Fern. What about you?”

“Bessie.” When the girl was done with it, she picked up a jar of ointment from the bedside table. “It’s time to change your bandage. It may feel a little painful. Your wound should have improved by now. I don’t even know how you endured it last night.”

The girl was unexpectedly talkative. Perhaps she’s stayed here for too long and doesn’t get in touch with many people, so she needs someone to talk to, Fern thought. “Can I ask you some questions?”

“Sure. Come on. Sit up.” Bessie helped him up on the bed and placed the quilt behind his back. “That’s right. Sit properly.” After that, she reached out to take off Fern’s shirt.

Fern was shocked by her sudden move and caught her wrist, which affected his own wound. So, he covered his shoulder and gasped in pain.

Bessie covered her mouth and giggled. “Don’t be shy. Don’t you realize that your clothes have been changed?”

It was until then did Fern realize that he was wearing his spare clothes, while the clothes Bessie was sorting were the dirty ones. “I thought Allen helped me change out of my dirty clothes…”

“Why would he do that?” Bessie smiled at Fern’s comical expression. “Don’t worry. I only helped you get changed and wiped your body.”

Fern blushed slightly, and he tried to cover up his embarrassment. “Anyway, thanks.”

“You’re welcome. I saw that you have other old wounds on your body. You’re lucky to have survived until this day.” The girl undid his bandage and wiped off the ointment on his shoulder with a wet cloth. “Yeah, it’s much better now.”

Fern clenched his fists as he endured the pain and couldn’t utter a word. 

***

“Didn’t you say that you wanted to ask me some questions? You can go ahead now to distract yourself and alleviate the pain.” Bessie dunked the cloth in a basin of water and continued wiping off the remaining ointment. 

“Yes, I do have some questions.” Fern had many doubts concerning this remote village. He had wanted to ask Allen last night, but the process of cleaning his wound was so painful that he almost passed out. So, when it was done, he just wanted to slumber off and couldn’t care about anything else. Now, it was the right time to get the answers to his questions. “Judging from your accents, all of you should come from different parts of Wallis. How did all of you gather together and decide to live here?”

“We followed Elder to this place. He’s a wise and benevolent man who can predict the future.” After the girl cleaned the wound, she started stirring the ointment in the jar attentively.

“What kind of future could make all of you give up your original lives and venture into this swamp?” Fern questioned as he was puzzled.

“At that time, Elder envisioned that two years later, all of Wallis would be engulfed in a crisis. The village we’re in now is the only safe place on the continent.” Then, Bessie applied the ointment on his wound. “It’s almost been two years since we moved into this place, so the crisis should come soon. Did anything happen when you were in the outside world?”

“Yes, your elder might be right. But how did he predict the future?” Fern was amazed by the elder’s ability to foresee the future. 

The girl stopped what she was doing and tried to recall what happened two years ago. “At that time, Elder was trying to inform the villagers and travelers about his prediction in a village near Canreto. Not many people believed him, until a strange event happened to the village.

“A strange event? What is it?” Fern was having a feeling of déjà vu.

“There was a cemetery near the village, so the villagers would bury their dead relatives in that place. Even the citizens of Canreto would choose to bury their relatives there as well.” Bessie gulped, as though she had recalled something terrifying. Then, she looked into Fern’s eyes and said in a serious tone, “Some people realized that some of the tombs were pried open.”

“Maybe it’s the tomb raiders’ doing. There are many valuable items in rich people’s tombs, so there would always be bold and amoral tomb raiders.” Fern shrugged. 

“But, there were no traces of digging or piled up soil. The tombs were opened just like that. It’s like…” The girl shuddered and clenched her fists. “It’s like they were opened from the inside.”

Fern felt a crawling sensation on his head, and couldn’t think clearly. “What about the corpses? Are they still inside the tombs?”

“Yes, but it’s apparent that they were all moved. Or… they moved on their own.” Bessie took a deep breath to stabilize her emotions. “Then, the villagers buried the corpses again, but a few days later, the tombs were once again opened, and the corpses were no longer in their original positions. After a few times, no one dared to visit the cemetery again.”

“How did the elder explain it?” Fern was sure about the village’s name by now.

In a meticulous manner, Bessie started applying the ointment on his wound evenly. Then, she fished out the bandage from Fern’s bag and wrapped it around her hand first before using it to dress up his wound. A mild scent wafted from the girl’s body. “He said that this was the sign of the crisis, so we had to immediately look for a sanctuary with him.” After dressing up his wound, the girl cut off the remaining bandage and wrapped a thread around his shoulder. “After this event, many people who didn’t believe him initially started following him. Soon, our group grew to more than a hundred people.”

“Did you follow him because you believed him?” Fern felt that the girl before his eyes was different from the others.

“No, I don’t believe there’s a crisis. Even if there was one, I already had experienced it.” The girl’s eyes welled up with tears. “I was an orphan who had no relatives or friends, so I chose to follow them to this place to start a new life. I don’t care when the world is going to end.”

“I understand your feelings…” Fern said after some hesitation. He had wanted to console her, but he didn’t know what to say.

Bessie brushed away her tears and flashed a smile at him. “Thanks. I’m really happy I spoke with you, even though I’m mostly answering your questions.” Her face blushing, she immediately hung her head low. 

Her action reminded him of Kaya, who would also blush when she talked to him. With his heart filled with sorrow, he laid back down on the bed. When he saw that Bessie’s hand was right beside him, at that instant, he had the urge to hold her hand. No, Fern, you are unable to give her a promise or anything she deserves. You’ll only harm her.

“I should be the one thanking you,” Fern said with a smile, casting away his urge.

The girl smiled at him again. “It’s done. I should go and prepare lunch now. Take a rest. I’ll send some food to you later.” After that, she rose from the chair and turned to leave. Fern could smell her scent again.

“Oh yes, what is the name of the village near Canreto?” Fern was confident that his speculation was right, but he needed an answer.

Bessie gave it a thought and replied, “Sheepfold Village.”

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