After finally getting up, I found my host in the tavern part of the
building, where she and her daughter were apparently still cleaning
up after the little incident yesterday.
I carefully walked down
the stairs and called out to her, “Excuse me, Madam.”
She
rose from picking up a broken dish and looked at me with ‘annoyance’
written across her face.
“Yes?” she asked, stretching the
syllable slightly to underline that she didn’t really want to talk
to me.
“I—“ I start, suddenly finding myself at a loss for
words. What was I even call out to her for? She told me to scram and
get out of her life as soon as possible no 10 minutes ago, didn’t
she? But still, I guess I should at least apologize for what
happened. I mean, sure, it wasn’t exactly my fault that her counter
got thrashed, but I at least was involved.
After taking a deep breath I try again, “I wanted to apologize for what happened. I really don’t know what triggered these guys, but maybe I can at least help clean up the mess.”
The
barmaid’s mother rose an eyebrow in surprise before saying, “Would
you look at that. A champion with manners and at least some common
sense. I must admit, I did not expect that. Well yeah, come on down
already, we can use some extra hands. Cynthia, could you fetch the
broom?”
“Of course, mother,” Cynthia replies politely and
hurries off. I guess her mom is the strict type.
I stagger down
the rest of the stairs and over to where the glass is shattered
across the floor, attempting to pick it up without cutting myself.
After a
few seconds or working in silence, Cynthia’s mom says, “The
name’s Sarah, by the way. And I need to apologize the rowdy
treatment my guests have given you. Cynthia told me what happened and
I fully intend to have a few ‘words’ with them.”
“Yeah
well, don’t sweat it. I’m not entirely without blame. I just
should have ignored them.”
Sarah shook her head and replied,
“That wouldn’t have done you much good, I’m afraid.
They...don’t like the champions very much.”
“Yeah, I
figured when his fist attempted to reshape my face.”
“But I
still hope you’ll forgive them.”
I raise an eyebrow and
carried the shards I had picked up to the garbage bin, and asked,
“Forgive them? You think I’d go and exact revenge on them or
something?”
“Many other champions would. They feel high and
mighty, being ‘the chosen one’ and all that and don’t shy away
from any fight, apparently figuring they are invulnerable.”
“Yeah
well, if there’s one thing I learned last night, it’s that I’m
not invulnerable. That I am already up and about again is a bit of a
miracle by itself.”
Sarah smiled faintly and replied, “I
take it, Magnus didn’t give you anything but the clothes you are
wearing, huh? That’s just typical. First he drags them here and
then he unleashes them unto an unsuspecting world. Demon king looming
or not, that guy’s a menace.”
“Why do you let him keep
doing it then? If it’s such a nuisance, I mean.”
“Because
we have to. By royal decree, until the demon king has been
vanquished, every fiefdom has to supply a champion to the everlasting
war every year. So, if Magnus didn’t summon champions from the
other world…”
“You’d need to send someone from your own
people.”
“Yes, and as you might imagine, none of us is
thrilled to set out to get themselves killed. If only the champions
weren’t so unbearable sometimes, it’d even be a good thing. I
mean, who would be better suited to battle the armies of the demon
king, than a demon slaying champion?”
I
stopped in my tracks, recalling that the brutes from last night had
said and said, “Yeah, about that...I’m afraid, that is a
mistake.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, that I am,
by no means, a ‘demon slayer’ of any description. Nor is anyone
else from the world I come from, for simple reason that the only
‘demons’ we have, are those in suits and ties. And we also don’t
slay them, but work with them the best we can.”
Sarah
also stopped picking up the pieces of a jar, walked to the counter
and leaned on it, before she asked, “Are you sure about that? All
champions thus far have claimed that they were expert demon slayers.
And that it was easy.”
“Yeah, right, easy. Sure, it is easy.
In video games. All you need to do is press a bunch of buttons and
the demons fall left and right.”
“Veedeo-games? What are
those?”
“Never mind, I doubt you’d understand. Either way,
you said that Magnus didn’t give me ‘anything but my clothes on
my back’. Is there anything else he should have given me?”
“Well
yes, an explanation would have been nice, don’t you think? But he’s
so dead set on that whole ‘prophet on a mission’ routine, we
regularly have to deal with totally confused and lost people, who are
still trying to figure out what happened to them.”
“Yeah,
about that...I’m still not sure there myself. I mean, I’ve got
the whole ‘summoned to another world’ gig and I have to say, this
is the strangest dream I’ve had in a whole while, but—“
“A
dream, huh? It’s been a while since one of the champions claimed
that. And that’s actually part of the problem the people in this
town have with the champions. Many of them think this is just a dream
or a game of some sort and that they can do whatever they please,
like for example hitting it up with the young and star-eyed barmaid
working the counter, promising her the world and going off to
‘vanquish evil’, once he learns, that said barmaid is pregnant
with his child. But it isn’t a dream, you know? At the very least
for us, this is the reality we live in. Where the things we do and
don’t do have consequences.”
And just like that, she had
managed to tell me everything I needed to know and made me feel bad
at the same time. Because I too was guilty of ‘thinking this to be
just a dream’. I mean, I was still convinced that it was, because
‘people going to bed with their wives and waking up stark naked in
some cave in a foreign world’ simply didn’t happen, but that was
still no reason to be an ass about everything. No wonder the people
of this town didn’t like the champions, if all of them acted as if
they owned the place.
Finally, Cynthia came back with a broom in hand and started sweeping the ground. Why she didn’t do that from the get go, I never understood, but I also didn’t ask. There was simply too much going on in my head at that time, especially since I was a friend of the ‘multiverse theory’, according to which everything you can imagine is a reality somewhere. Meaning, that even if this was just a dream, to the people inhabiting it, it’s as real as the world I was waiting to wake up in is to me. And just who’s to say, that the world I came from is not the dream of someone else either? Would I like it, if someone suddenly showed up and pretending to be God himself? I don’t think so.
After
cleaning up the place in silence, Sarah put a small pouch with a few
coins on the counter and said, “As a little thank you for helping
out today...and for listening. Everyone always dumps their ballast on
us, but barely anyone ever takes the time to listen.”
“Yeah
well, don’t sweat it. As I said, it was at least partially my fault
as well.”
“So, what are you going to do next?”, Cynthia
asked.
That was a very good question, actually. I had already
learned the hard way, that the champions did not have the best
reputation in this town and it made me shiver at what the rest of the
world thought about the lot of us in general.
“Our honored
champion will be heading to the nearest office of the adventurers
guild and register himself, of course. And from there, he will find
someone, who can teach him about our world and how to actually use
that sword he’s got dangling around his waist. Isn’t that right,
esteemed champion?”
‘Talk about doing a 180 in attitude,’
I thought, but said, “Yes, that sounds about right. I have abused
your hospitality for far too long already. I wish I could pay for the
damage my presence has caused, but, as we’ve already established,
I’m kinda on the broke side.”
Sarah laughed and replied,
“Don’t worry about that, as I said, I fully intend to have a few
‘words’ with the patrons who caused the damage. Don’t worry
about us. I’ve long since learned how to deal with troublesome
customers. Very well then, esteemed champion, may the spirits guide
and protect you on your journey. And may you be successful, where all
others have failed before.”
The
half-sentence, ‘So we don’t have to deal with any more ‘champions
from other worlds’.’ remained unspoken, but I still understood
what she meant to say.
Which was not bad at all, considering
that I am terrible with subtext.
And thus I soon set out, following Sarah’s instructions, asking people for directions wherever they didn’t try to run away from me.
And I swear to God, I felt the entire town sighing in relief, when I finally passed the threshold to the road towards the next town, my new bag containing some water and food for the journey.
Back
then, I had hoped to come across an actually paying side quest, even
if only so I wouldn’t have to rely on the goodwill of people as
much.
Now I have long since realized how silly this hope was.
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