It has been two days since the fire at the encampment. Honestly hasn't been that bad, I've just been wandering throughout the forest after losing my general sense of direction. I'm currently trying to find the Esterburn Village, which I remember to be nearby the encampment.
If your wondering why I'm not going back to the village where Lawnsen resides, then it is because I don't want to bring unwanted attention to that village.
If I was a mercenary hired out to find a man who most definitely burned down the encampment, then I would go to the closest possible village.
The one I'm going to is the second closest, so I should be good.
My suit is dirty and my hair is unkempt. I really hope I'm nearing towards the village right about now, I probably smell too.
After a couple more hours of walking through the thick woods, Maxwell finally come across the village.
'I hope they have a tailor around here' thunk Maxwell. He walks up to the village gate where he is approached by two guards.
"Good morning sir's, I hope I can enter without any inconvenience?" Said Saudner.
"Of course not, although you will have to pay an entry fee"
'Entry fee?, hope it's not too much. I only have about 30 lien', He thought with contempt for his wallet.
"How much?"
"Nothing too much, just 5 lien for temporary entry and exit for about two days"
Saudner payed the guard while the other brough him a small piece of paper. "Proof of payment, for today and tomorrow all you have to do is show this paper and you can leave and enter when you want. Although it will be another 5 lien afterwards." Said the other guard.
After that, he entered the village with 25 lien in his pocket, and a small knife in the other. He decided to ask around for where he can a clothing shop where in which, he is told about a small and most importantly cheap shop just a block down.
He walked over and found himself in a small predicament.
"I can't buy a good suit with 25 lien and have enough leftover", he said out loud as if some god was listening, ready to give a small investment to his mediocre problem.
"I believe I can help with that" said an unfamiliar man, but holy smokes forget about stranger danger, this guy has a nice three piece. When I say nice, I actually mean FANTASTIC.
Saudner couldn't help it but his eyes wandered around the man, look him up down to up. The man was wearing what looked to be a finely tailored, nice fitting, three piece suit jacket that was buttoned towards the bottom, for the top however, he had his cummerbund revealed, with a bow tie to boot.
His pants were black as night, and his dress shoes were shined like a golden abyss, and speaking of gold, the man had a golden pocket watch chained to his waist, which was resting in his torso pocket. In his breast pocket lied a neatly folded red handkerchief, and on his fleshy dome lied the most pristine looking top hat that Maxwell had ever seen. It complemented his well groomed beard and payots so freaking well.
If it weren't for his dysfunctional face muscles then he would shed a tear just by the shear uniform presentation laid before him.
"Well?, are you gonna stand there with a dirty torn up,..." he looked him up and down, "- and also burnt suit, or... are you gonna take up my offer for a new suit?" Said the man as he pointed out Saudners fashion disrepair.
"But why me?" Saudner pointed out to the man
The man looked at him for a sec before standing up and coming closer. "Let me give you an important lesson, kid. The best thing a rich man who has everything could do with his money, is to give other the opportunity for a little something."
He thought for a minute. He never though of wealth like that before, maybe it's just because he never was a rich man, but he never strives for it either. Come to think about it, it would make his life much more interesting if he were to make an impression on other people's lives. They would remember him, actually remember him, and they would remember his kindness.
"I...never though of it like that before" admitted Saudner
"Hush now child, let us get you tailored" said the man.
They walked back to the town square where along the way, passerby villager would wave hello to the man, even come up to him and shake his bare hand.
They eventually made their way to the tailor fitter. As they walked in, to the chime of the door bell, the fitter man himself came up and happily shakes the mans hand. He then introduced Saudner to the tailor, and then the whole ordeal was to be solved... in about two days, but what can you expect, you can't make a good suit in a hot minute.
They walked out of the shop after waving goodbye to the tailor. At this moment, Maxwell just about remembered the face that he just committed a great crime.
That's right, the crime of not making a proper introduction to the kind man who payed for his future suit.
After giving the man his name, he noticed the man's eyes widen a bit as if he recognized him, but before he could question it, the man quickly shook his hand while give out his name.
"Mr. Godlike, now I'm very sorry but I have a business to attend to." He starts walking away before turning his head and saying, "We shall meet again on different circumstances"
Different circumstances? He didn't understand what he meant by that, but what he could tell was that the man wasn't a threat so this didn't bother him.
Now then, onto a secondary important issue.
He didn't have a proper weapon. Now you might ask your self, why would he need a weapon. Well you see, it crossed his mind a while ago after killing Brine that it felt good. It was like release.
Now I know what your going to say but let me elaborate. It wasn't the act of killing itself that made Saudner feel good, but the act of taking someone's ego down to the grave. That right there was a great feeling, and where could he exemplify those feelings? Bounty hunting. So you see, that is why he needs a proper weapon.
So with this in mind, he started making his way to a tool shop where he could procure himself an axe since that's what he's used to and what he likes to use. While making his way though, he heard a conversation between a tourist leader and a tourist who was asking about the origin of the village. He decided to sit by on a bench nearby to eavesdrop the conversation.
"A long time ago, this village was actually just two villages that were hell bent on destroying the other. I'm talking serious levels of destruction. House fires, bombs, setting trees on fire, murdering livestock, setting livestock on fire." Said the tour guide to whoever was listening (one of whom just so happened to be Maxwell)
"Yeah some real crazy stuff, but after a couple decades they finally decided to bury the hatchet. The peace treaty occurred not too far away from the village, but we aren't going to cover that area since it's real deep in the woods" explained the tour guide.
'Interesting, they buried the hatchet huh. Well well well. I think I know what to spend my money on.'
Saudner walked through the not doing thick woods with his new shovel leaning on his shoulder. He carried it with pride and joy that couldn't be seen on his face but if you look inward then you would see a man that is very happy despite having no money.
Yep that's right, our lovable little upstart just bought a 25 lien shovel.
I mean how could you blame him, it was on sale and it came with a whetstone for free. A sane man wouldn't ignore such a deal.
But now he faces a new problem, a problem that he didn't see until now.
He had no idea where the hatchet was buried.
Well no that's not true, he had a general sense of where to go just not exactly where it was in that direction that he was going.
"If only a solution to my problem would come up" pondered Saudner aloud.
"What are you doing around here sir, you don't look like a fisherman" asked a childish voice behind Saudner.
He turned around and what do you know, it's a child, who could've guessed. A child with fishing gear, must be a fisherman, or in this case, a fisherchild. The child was wearing a fishing hat and some other fishing accessories and equipment. He had short brown hair that was peaking out from his hat, and dirt brown eyes.He was about 4 feet tall so he could only reach up to his lower waist.
'What a short child" he said internally
"Wow your pretty short huh" he said externally
"Yeah and your pretty tall huh" came back the small child.
Was that supposed to be an insult, he didn't know. He was always under the impression that being tall was good. Meant you could pick things from a higher shelf. Higher shelf equals higher self, which he was because he was 6 foot 7.
"Listen child-" "You can call me Dollop" the child interrupted with enthusiasm.
"Right, Dollop. Listen you seem like you've been around the area a couple times. You wouldn't happen to know where the two leaders of Esterburn buried the hatchet would you?"
"The burial ground?, of course I know where it is, just follow me, sir" the child said with childlike enthusiasm aka a high pitched voice.
And thus they began their quiet walk... which was then interrupted by a sudden question that came upon Maxwell's dome.
"Say, why is it that the burial isn't in the town?"
"Well you see, my mom told me that the burial was once where the two towns used to coexist, or in their case I guess,... co-hate-each-other?Anyways, after settling their disputes, they found out that there was a much better place nearby to have a village, but by that time though they already buried the hatchet so they couldn't move the burial place."
"Interesting"
And thus they began their quiet wa-
"Say, they should be a second hatchet right?"
"Huh?, what do you mean?"
"Well I mean, you say that the two villages both equally hated each other, right?"
"Yep, a whole lot of hate"
"Then there should be a second hatchet then. That just makes sense, if they both hated each other then they would both have hatchet to hate each other with. They wouldn't just borrow the same hatchet from each other, that just wouldn't make sense."
"I kinda thought it was a metaphor, like the hatchet they buried represents the in fighting they had, and when they buried it, it's like they were moving on from there past"
He... didn't think of that variable. A metaphor huh. Unheard of, Absurd, but look at that child's eyes. They're full of contempt with their statement.
"Huh, I guess your right about that" dejectedly admitted Maxwell, his hopes for a second hatchet destroyed.
After a couple hours of walking, the child and man find themselves at the monument. It was a fine stone slab detailing the battles between the two villages.
Story's of crop burning's all the way to body impalement of the grievous variety detailing all the way back to about a couple centuries ago.
All of this was promptly ignored by Saudner as he immediately started digging.
"Hey isn't this illegal" said the small child
"Oh without a doubt yes"
"...isn't that... Y'know like bad..."
"Depends on how you look at it" said a third familiar voice. "Surprised to see me in this neck of the woods." The man walked out from under the tree and revealed himself to be Mr. Godlike.
Saudner, puzzled, asks, "why are you here?"
"Eh I was following you" casually replied him.
"STRANGER DANGER STRANGER DANGER, MY MOTHER WARNED ME ABOUT YOU KINDS OF PEOPLE" bursted out the child.
"Relax kid I'm not following you, I'm following him" he points to Maxwell.
"Me?"
"Yes you"
"I feel honored but I really need to get back to digging" and then he went back to digging.
"Listen Psycho, I would like to offer you a job" he said with a grim smile.
For Saudner everything stopped, his digging, his mind, his bones, even his heart for a few seconds. In a split second he had the blade of the spade up to the mans neck.
"How" he said with the most concentration on slitting his neck from an arms distance.
The man took an expressionless look at Saudner before recounting a work story.
"It was a weird day when your mother told everyone that she just gave birth to a child. Everyone thought that she was gone for 9 months because she was going undercover or something, but being pregnant with you was not what we were thinking." He paused to look at Maxwell.
He continues, "then everyone in the department froze when she said that she named her sweet baby boy, Psycho. No one knew, not even me, if she was joking or not. I guess now it seems to be true."
"Your name is Psycho." He ends
For a while he seemed to be a statue with how little movement he was making, with his spade still up the Mr.'s neck. Then he said.
"You knew my mom?"
"Yes"
Psycho let out a sigh of relief. "Alright then, I can trust you" he goes back to digging.
"And the child?" Godlike points to Dollop.
"You answered your question; he's a child"
The child by the way was currently in relief for they thought they were about to be witness to a murder.
Godlike began, "Listen, I have a job opportunity for you, Psycho"
"Oh?" He said while digging.
"Yes indeed, it involves doing various tasks at your own leisure but within a monthly quota."
Psycho thought for a second before going back to digging. "Like a bounty hunter?"
"Well it's not just killing. It's other things too, it all depends on the client. Information gathering, assassination, body guarding, escorting, etc."
'The job sounds nice. Lots of variation so I won't be bored, I can infer that the pay is good just by looking at his suit, and it's by my own time so I can do stuff in-between'
"The job sounds good, I'll take it"
Godlike beamed at his answer. He looked so overjoyed, like a child getting a puppy or a puppy playing with a child...fuck it, combine those both and that's how happy he was.
"Oh that's great to hear. I'll just have to get the contract manufactured and it'll be a pie."
Heavy Thunk
"Oh I think I hit it"
Psycho then dug the surrounding area of dirt to discover a coffin. It was only when he saw the coffin did he realize that he was not to far away from a graveyard.
"Ohhhhhhhhh...that makes more sense"
He pried the coffin open to reveal something expected and also unexpected but also at the same time the unexpected was something he hopefully expected.
A corpse with his arms crossed over his chest. One of the hands had a hatchet, but the other was empty. Curios.
"Neat a hatchet" he grabbed the hatchet from the corpses cold dead corpse hand.
"And apparently another hatchet?" Questioned Mr. Godlike with his hand under his chin.
"But where is it?" Said Dollop.
"Someone must've beat us to it, but why take one?" Questioned psycho with a clenched hand holding the hatchet under his chin.
Snap "I GOT IT!" Exclaimed Godlike.
"There's a town meeting today between the two elders of Esterburn, which meeeeaaaaaaaannnnnsssss?!?!?" He answered/asked
Double snap "One of them is planning to make a dramatic murder" answered Psycho
"YEP YOU GOT IT, THATS RIGHT BOY WE GOT A MURDER/REVENGE PLOT THATS HAPPENING TONIGHT, expected it?" Godlike shook the child.
"Sir I'm too young to know what murdervenglot means" fearfully misinterpreted Dollop.
"A crime is happening tonight, Dollop" translated Saudner.
He slapped his hands on his cheeks, "OH MY GOODNESS!... that's illegal" he said proudly.
"Yep" said God and Psycho
"We gots to stop it"
"We can probably get paid for thanks" though out loud Psycho.
"They might even give us free room and dining at the inn" thought out loud Godlike.
"Guys we have to do it because it's the morally right thing to do" dejectedly said Dollop.
"The child's right, Psycho. Let's bounce." He grabs the child and the whole group makes way to the village.
"Alright we're here, wow that took awhile. It's already dark" exasperated Godlike, "But hey it looks like we made it in time, it's about to start.
"Right let's go. Dollop stay here lest you want trauma" said Psycho
"From murder?" Questioned Dollop
"No, from a public official meeting. These things are really boring." Said Godlike
"And also murder" continued Psycho
The two men walked to which they were greeted by a woman who seemed to be leading everyone to their seats. They were led to their front row seats, which Godlike earned for them, and then sat down.
Then a door opened to reveal a rather wholesome looking man. He had an aged look accompanied by a green shirt and overalls. A very normal looking man.
"Howdy everyone, I hope you all enjoyed the food" he said to the people near him. Wait a minute, there was food... damn it. I hope there's still some left.
Another door, which was close to where Psycho and Godlike were sitting, opened to reveal a rather intense looking man. All in all I'm just gonna say he looked like Dracula in that he's clearly old but by god he knew how to age well. The whites in his hair only add to the beauty of it.
And now it's time. For the meeting to begin.
Psycho woke up to two things, Godlike jabbing him in the side, and maniacal laughing.
Holy shit what the hell happened in the last hour to lead to this. What were they talking about, un-mowed lawns? Perhaps the garbage men moving by the people dumpsters too far? For crying out loud it's a town meeting.
He looked up to see the wholesome looking man looking not-so-wholesome and by that I mean he looked like he was gonna kill someone, specifically my non-existent ears with all that laughing, and also with a hatchet.
"IVE HAD IT WITH YOU, CRYAMORE. IVE ALWAYS HATED YOU AND I ALWAYS WILL EVEN AFTER YOUR DEATH" Said the now evil looking man before reaching behind his back and quickly throwing a hatchet at the dashing man known as Cryamore.
But before it hit his good looking face, it was caught by Psycho. "Nice weather huh, say could I get permission to kill your brother?"
"This seems like justification, go for it" said Cryamore.
"Gladly" Psycho said before absolutely demolishing the other mans head with his perfect throw.
That man, who by the by his name was Jolly, was launched onto the floor with a hatchet in his cranium.
His last words were, "EEUUUGHHLGRHJKKKKLVB" nothing much to live by but would you expect from a dead man with a hatchet buried deep within his head.