Age of Azmoq_The Valantian Imperium Read online

  Parshtel seemed inclined, but also hesitant at the same time.

  “I know he is your assistant… But what if he bungle it up? You know what… Johotei or I can also talk, with your guidance… But, I would rather you go and talk, using your ‘experience’ directly.”

  This back and forth might have gone on for a while. But Grim had a low tolerance for any sort of “back and forth.” There were times when my master exuded such authority in his voice that it was impossible to oppose what he said. I knew this first hand. His usual manner of speaking with everyone, although laconic, was relaxed. But once I had tried to accompany him on one of his walks, and his voice precluded any further discussions. It was just impossible for me to say anything once he had said, “no.” This again was one of those times.

  “Parshtel, stop worrying. I will not go directly but I can instruct the young one better than I can instruct you or Johotei. So, he will go.”

  And that was that. The decision had been made for Parshtel. Parshtel nodded and stopped talking about the newcomer altogether. Parshtel exchanged some pleasantries and left. He was relieved that some solution emerged, but not too relieved as it was not the solution he, or rather Johotei, wanted. However, the decision had been made. I was to go and engage the new comer to figure out more about him.

  After Parshtel left, I tried to gain some “knowledge” from my master’s “experience.”

  “So, Grim. Share your knowledge. What should I do?”

  My master shrugged nonchalantly. “How should I know? Just go talk to him and figure it out.” He then walked away as if he had already put this whole conversation out of his mind.

  So much for his “experience.” Not that I should have expected anything else from him anyway. I often wondered if his tongue hurt when he spoke and if that was why he was so laconic. I am sure most of the villagers would have thought the same at some point of time. And that was saying something in Villasboro.

  Now I had to come up with a plan by myself, to reach out to this stranger. All because of the responsibility that Johotei asked Parshtel to take up, which he tried to pass onto my master, who then gave it to me. I was terrible at making plans, having never made a successful one before. Life mostly just happened to me, and given that I was still alive and well, I never saw the need to think too much. I finally decided what I would do. It wasn’t the fanciest of plans, but it was a start. I planned to talk to people the newcomer had interacted with, learning all I can about him. Then I would go talk to the stranger.

  The first person I went to meet was Florence, who owned the town’s grocery and potion shop. Like most shops in Villasboro, it was a small place, as most people grew their own food. So, the grocery section of the shop was limited. However, when someone would fall sick, Florence would help them out with her potions. Her shop was larger than our smith shop, as she liked to have some space in the shop to walk around. I had seen the new comer take some potions and groceries from her, so she had probably interacted the most with him.

  Florence was the most beautiful woman in the village, with olive green eyes, long raven hair and a pleasant face. Like most in the village, she was quite well built, but her features were more pleasant to the eyes than everyone else’s. It was a tad difficult for me to talk to her, which I had not, so far, as I had no reason to. But this “mission” gave me a proper excuse. I went to her shop the same day as Parshtel’s visit, after my work was done. And there she was, sitting outside her shop, on the porch, leaning against the column, reading a book.

  “Hi there, Flora! What are you reading?”

  Flora looked a tad surprised, as she had never spoken to me before, even though we had known each other for over a decade and we lived in a village with barely a thousand people.

  “Hi there. It’s just some book on some new plants found in the forests. What brings you here? This is the first time we have spoken. Are you well?”

  Her voice was sweet. I was blushing. At least on the inside. I tried to stay calm when I replied.

  “Yes I guess it is the first time. I am feeling alright. Just running a little errand for Parshtel and Grim. Parshtel was in our shop a while back, asking us about the new comer. You know, the stranger, who has been around for a while. He seemed a tad worried, so he and my master decided that they should try to know more about the new comer. I was tasked with gathering some information on him. So, naturally my first thought was talking to you, as I have seen him around your shop a couple of times.”

  “Parshtel—worried? That’s… new. I have never see that man worried.”

  “That’s true. The reason is quite simple. Johotei bugged him for months about the stranger. Which is why he has started to get anxious. Although, now that he has pawned off the responsibility to my master and me, he’s back to his relaxed self.”

  “Ah I see. Johotei is a high-strung man. He would pain Parshtel about nothing. Although I don’t know much, but the newcomer seems harmless. He is just an old man who buys some food from me every now and then. But to be fair, I haven’t spoken to him much, so it is better you go talk to him directly.”

  I didn’t expect her to know much anyway. As someone from Villasboro, she wouldn’t have bothered to ask a stranger anything. Villagers seldom asked friends too many questions, let alone strangers.

  “Hmmm…. what you say makes sense. I don’t really think he is harmful. If he was, he would have done something in the time he has been here. But I still have to find him and try to know more about him. Did you happen to catch his name by any chance?”

  “Not really… I didn’t ask. There was never a need.”

  Again, I hadn’t expected a different answer. Now that I think back, it’s really difficult to imagine people having such Herculean detachment from everything around them as the villagers from Villasboro had. In my final bid to know more about the new comer, I asked, “Well, is there anything you can tell me about him? Like where I could find him?”

  “Well, he spends time near the South exit sometimes. I have seen him there occasionally—he seems to just sit there and sleep. You try your luck there. And, well, he has a mat which he carries around. To sleep on I guess. Not sure if that is helpful in any way.”

  Finally, I had some useful info. Not the mat part. I didn’t really care if he slept on a mat. Or what he did with the mat. Anyway, now I could go near the South exit to search for him. I was happy that I had some lead to follow, but also sad that I had to end my first conversation with Flora.

  “Thanks Flora—I’ll go start my search for this guy at the south exit… Well... Now that I am here… I might as well pick up some food. Who knows how long I would have to wait for this guy.” I wasn’t really planning to wait for long at the south exit, but I needed some excuse to continue my conversation with Flora.

  She replied in the pleasant, cheerful voice. “Well that’s a first too. What do you want to buy?”

  It was a first, because I grew my own food. I had a farm larger than many in Villasboro and grew all that I needed to eat. But having started a conversation with Flora, I didn’t want to end it so fast. So I rambled out whatever food items came to my mind.

  “Well, I’ll have some bread, butter, purple cheese, carrots, tomatoes, onions… ummm, garlic, mushrooms… ummm… bamboo shoots…” I couldn’t think of anything else. “…Ummm… and some eggplant,” I ended lamely.

  Flora smiled, clearly amused at my order. “That is some salad you are making.”

  She went in, humming a lovely tune I hadn’t heard in a while. Something to talk about while I waited for my weird food choices to be packed.

  “That’s ‘Past the green cover of life!’ Nice song! Haven’t heard it in a while. You like it?”

  “Well, as someone who keeps going to the forest, the song comes to my mind often. I guess folks like you who stick to the village boundaries forget the song.”

  That was true. I remembered my parents used to hum the song whenever they would go to the forest. That was a while back. I h
adn’t heard the song since. Grim wasn’t much of a singer. The song was created a few decades back by the then village musician, who fell in love with the forests while working as the village’s lumberjack. While I reminisced the origins of the song, and about the last time I had heard it, Flora was done with my order.

  “That’ll be 77 credits. Here are your vegetables, butter, cheese and bread.”

  The monetary system in the village is quite different from the rest of the world, based on what I understand now. Each item or service offered in the village had a value. When you bought it, the value was charged to your account. For example, Flora would have to open an account for me, and add 77 credits on it. If she used any of the services or products that I offered, I would charge her according to their value. At the end of each month, everyone settled their accounts with their own items or services. So for example, Flora could ask for products from my farm for up to 77 credits at the end of the month, or use my smithing experience for any fixes in her household for that amount. But I digress.[1]

  “Damn it,” I thought. “I need to say something quick or I’ll have to leave. Who knows when I’ll have a chance to talk to her again?” In Villasboro, rarely did people speak to casual acquaintances without a concrete reason. The thought felt odd. But for some reason, I really wanted to extend my conversation with her. Then I remembered that she was reading a book.

  “Thanks. By the way, what was that book you were reading when I got here? Anything interesting?”

  Flora smiled again. “Well, yes. To someone like me who takes interest in various plants, it is. It is about the latest plants discovered in the forest. Some of those plants have unique properties.”

  “That is interesting,” I said, while thinking “I could ask her about these interesting plants! Maybe we could continue talking till we became friends. Then I could come here more often.”

  “So, what are some of these properties?” I enquired.

  “Well, I didn’t know you were interested in Botany. Wait a minute.”

  Within seconds of having conceived the thought, I was completely convinced that this course of discussion would lead to a deep and lasting friendship.

  Flora returned. “Here you go. You can have the book. Read it at leisure and return it to me when done. I have already read it once. I was just re reading it to refresh my memory.”

  “Well that was unexpected. There goes the long conversation that would have led to a ‘deep and lasting’ friendship,” I thought as I thanked her for the book and the food. In retrospect, I really shouldn’t have hoped for anything more.

  It was time to be off.

  “Bye, Flora! Thanks for everything!”

  “See you around,” Flora said as she waved. “Hope you enjoy your meal and the book.”

  So ended my first conversation with Florence. Not exactly the glorious conversation I had hoped for, but not a bad one either, at least by Villasboro standards.

  I headed towards the southern exit of our village with my food and book in hand, both of which I hadn’t really planned on picking up. While it was called an exit, it was one only in the broadest sense of the word. I think, somewhere in the past, there was a path which lead out of the village through the woods. Now there was just a sign saying, “South Exit.” The path had long been consumed by the forests. In typical Villasboro fashion, the sign doesn’t point anywhere. Even the signs in my village didn’t care too much.

  When I reached the exit, there wasn’t anyone in sight. I decided to wait for a while. I really didn’t have anything to do or anyone waiting for me back home, so I could stay there for as long as I felt like. I did end up waiting for a while, so it was a happy coincidence that I had picked up some food. I ate the weird salad I made from the vegetables I bought, which I named. “The stranger meal” after the newcomer. He was the reason I was sitting there and eating that salad in all its well, nontraditional glory.

  I started reading the book I got from Flora, titled: “New discoveries: The green we didn’t know was around us.” It was written by Gregor Bose, the famous botanist of our village, who passed away about a decade back. It was quite an interesting read.

  The forests that surround Villasboro likely extend for many kilometers. We have confirmed that it is at least 20 kilometers in each direction.

  Even the famous botanist from Villasboro couldn’t be bothered to cover more than 20 kilometers of the forest.

  The forests are home to many mundane as well as many strange species of plants and trees. In our previous book, The Forests That Surround Us, we covered lot of the plants and trees that we see and use on a daily basis like Eucalyptus, Birkau etc. They will not be repeated here.

  This book is focused on the plants and trees more recently discovered across the hills and forests, which are unique or rare. There are plants that cannot be distinguished from stones, there are those that change their shape based on their surroundings and then there are plants that prey on the animals by trapping them with an almost undetectable hypnotic scent, which we think causes hallucinations in their prey. We shall cover these and many more in some detail in the following chapters.

  It was amazing to know that we had so many different and strange life forms around us and I hadn’t seen any of them. As I continued to read, the night approached. So instead of heading back home, I decided to spend the night outside. It wasn’t like I had to get back to anyone. The only difference was that I was going to sleep on the soft grass and not my hard bed.

  The next morning, I woke up to a bizarre sight. The new comer had come to the South exit. He was sitting upright on his mat and sleeping! While it was interesting to see, I wasn’t sure why anyone sleep like that. This was when I observed the stranger properly for the first time. He looked quite old. I figured he was about 100—120 years old. He was of average height, had short unkempt hair and a thick moustache, both of which had turned completely white. He wore a simple tunic and pants. He didn’t seem to be carrying any clothes or other possessions, but for his mat.

  As time passed, I started to feel a little awkward. I wasn’t sure if I should wake him up, or how. I hadn’t come across anyone who slept while sitting upright, so I didn’t know if the etiquette to wake such a person up was different. Plus, this was my first encounter with someone from outside the village. I didn’t want to offend him.

  I didn’t have to worry too much, as he seemed to wake up almost at the same time as I started to worry about how to wake him up. It was almost as if he could sense my anxiety. This conclusion seemed accurate as he looked straight at me as soon as he opened his eyes. He had brown eyes. And although they looked old, they had a twinkle in them, as if they had recently rediscovered their youth.

  He was awake, but my awkwardness didn’t reduce. Both of us were silent. I didn’t say anything for a while and neither did he. He just kept looking at me, with a slight quizzical expression on his face, but also a hint of a smile, as if he was enjoying my discomfort. I had all evening to think about what I should say to him and instead I chose to spend it reading a book on plants.

  “What should I say?” I thought, as the seconds passed by. “I should probably start with a casual greeting.” Seemed like a good idea.

  “But… what qualified as a casual greeting for people outside Villasboro? Do they say Hello… or something else? Does he even speak the same language as me? Don’t be silly… or course he does. He has spoken to Flora and others over the last year and a half,” I thought.

  But then doubt crept in as the silence continued.

  “But what if he signaled with his hands to communicate with them? I should have asked Flora more questions. Anyway, I should really say something!”

  The stranger raised his eyebrow, probably wondering if I was mute. I started to wonder the same thing. “Speak!” I mentally shouted to myself.

  Well, what did I say? “Hey there… How goes… life?”

  That probably wasn’t the smoothest start. But it was at least a start.

&n
bsp; The new comer seemed pleasantly startled to discover I was blessed with the gift of speech, and possibly, intelligence.

  “Life is good, my young friend. Nice to finally have someone start a casual conversation here… Even though the words you use to greet people are a little strange. How are you?”

  “Well, he definitely speaks in the common tongue,” I thought, feeling relieved.

  He seemed like a nice man. His demeanor and the tone of his voice calmed me down. I continued our conversation. “Well, to be honest, I am pretty intrigued. We don’t usually get too many visitors here. And almost no one stays this long. So what brings you to Villasboro?”

  The man replied with a twinkle in his eyes. “Well, you could say I am a traveler. In my old age, I decided to move away from the world and the mess it has become. I wanted to find a place that is quiet. A place where I could relax, and let my mind wander… I travelled far and wide, searching for such a place. And then, I finally found it. This village is probably the quietest and the most relaxed place I have seen. The people here are different from all the people I have seen in my life, which adds to the charm of this place.”

  Till that point in my life, I had given little thought to the world beyond my little village. It surprises me now and it surprised me then to realize that. I wondered why I had never cared, nor had anyone else in the village for that matter, to even spare a thought for what lay beyond the boundaries of our village? Was our village really so different from the world?

  “What do you mean, different?” I asked, as these thoughts arose in my mind.

  “Well for one, people elsewhere usually start a conversation with a stranger by stating their name, and then asking the stranger his name. I have been here for about a year and a half and no one has asked me my name.”