Chapter 7

The hero learns about the key... to his adventures

The next two days passed slowly, as I ventured into the lands and wilds around the castle. The sword I had purchased served me well, cutting down the Dragonlord's monsters with far greater ease than trying to bash them with the club. I spent some of my hard earned gold on a shield, so I could get used to fighting with it, and by the second day felt confident enough to visit the town of Garinham to the north west. It was almost due west of Erdrick's tomb, a thin strip of land with the ocean on one side and a mountain range on the other allowing access. Having stopped at the tomb to again pay my respects and make sure it was untouched since I had been there, (whatever protection magic could have been inside the journal, and my removing it could have allowed monsters near, but it seemed this was not so) I set my sights west and moved on past it. I made it to the village with little trouble, following the coastline I couldn't miss it so there was no possibility of me getting lost. I stayed for lunch to rest a bit at the Inn, and talked to the people there who were quite astonished to see a new face. The town itself was tiny, barely more than a collection of houses and shops, though the people were quite friendly. They, I noticed, like their counterparts at the castle and nearby village of Brecconary seemed to wander around almost at random, with nothing to do. They looked helpless, moving lethargically, but brightened when they saw me. They eagerly welcomed my approach, and spoke up with hardly any prompting on my part with what seemed to be the first thought that popped into their heads.

This too is the Dragonlord's doing. With the lands unsafe to travel commerce has no doubt been brought to a standstill. That means no raw material moving around to be made into products, such as ore from mines or wheat from the fields. So what else are they going to do? Sit at home and feel sorry for themselves? At least moving around like this gives them something to do. Food stores must be holding out thus far, they don't seem to be starving which is a relief. A pity those monsters I kill out there are made by the Dragonlord, and simply become gold when they perish. Can't eat gold! The number of monsters that were not slimes (as I assume they would be very poor eating if you could even slurp one down and not gag) could feed a… village… This thought brought me up short. I haven't seen any game animals anywhere, I thought with a chill. Are they hiding, or just dead? No cows, deer, rabbits, birds, sheep, pigs, nothing like that. What are these people going to eat once this crisis is over? If all other animals have been driven off because of the Dragonlord pretty soon people around here are going to starve. They can't work the fields because monsters would attack them, so they can't even grow vegetables or harvest wheat for bread. This kingdom is in more dire straights than I first thought. I really must hurry and get strong enough to challenge the Dragonlord before even worse happens.

I had been standing there brooding for some time and so a young woman in blue and white by that time had wandered close and came to talk to me. "Welcome to Garinham," she cheerfully told me. "May your stay be a peaceful one."

"Thank you," I said to her. "I'm sure it will be." As it doesn't seem like there are any monsters roaming around here. Are they instructed to stay away from villages then?

She moved on. I felt a little sad, she could have stayed to talk, what else did she have to do? I shook that thought out of my head. She has no obligation to stand there and let you stare at her. You're not the hero of the world yet, just a person who happened to make it between towns. And even then it would be her choice, and she choose to move on after politely greeting you. She doesn't owe me anything, and she didn't have to say hello in the first place.

It seemed people were quite proud of their little town, as not long after that an old man in a gray cloak and pointy hat walked up to me. "Do you know the story of this place?" he asked.

"I don't!" I admitted.

"Garin, a wandering minstrel of legendary fame, is said to have built this town."

"Is that so? But surely you mean founded?" I asked politely.

"What?"

"You said built. I highly doubt a minstrel, no matter how legendary, could build a whole town by himself. I doubt he sang it into existence. So clearly he didn't build it himself."

"I meant what I said," he fumed, and walked off.

Strange. I guess that explains the name though, Garinham. The hamlet of Garin. Or the place he ate a lot of ham. I could go for some ham.

Another strange interaction was a man I took to be a mercenary of some kind, dressed in leather armor and a helmet. He asked me if I knew of a man named Nester, and grew disinterested when I told him I did not. But there were rumors as well. Another old man, I had to look twice to make sure it wasn't the same one as before, boldly told me of the princess.

"Many believe that Princess Gwaelin is hidden away in a cave."

"Preposterous!" I told him.

"It isn't, many people believe it. You can ask them!"

"What? No, I don't care what people believe. I'm saying it's not logical for her to be hidden away in a cave as you say. Why would the Dragonlord abduct the princess and then not take her to his castle? A cave? Don't be ridiculous."

"I'm not saying I believe that," he assured me, "I was just telling you what many believe."

This made sense to me. "I see. And what do you think?"

He leaned closer to me and lowered his voice to a whisper. "I think she's hidden away in a cave."

"But you just said- never mind. Good day sir!" I walked away, thinking the man a bit addled. No doubt the bleak, lonely emptiness of his hopeless, futile predicament is beginning to get to him.

I walked away from him, as he was seemingly hiding at the end of a short path that went nowhere surrounded by stone blocks. The only other rumor about the princess was told to me by a young boy I encountered. If you can call his "news" a rumor at all.

"It is said that the Princess was kidnapped and taken eastward." He told me this as if he was showing me a shiny gold coin he had found, or a feather or a smooth stone he was proud of. I hated to burst his bubble, but the actual fact of the matter was that much was obvious, where else could she have been taken? I told him so.

"That stands to reason, lad," I told him. "We seem to be on the west coast. As you can see, the ocean stands to the west of us." I turned and threw out a hand, taking in the ocean that glittered and sparkled in the afternoon sun hardly steps away from the village. "She could easily have been taken south, but unless the Dragonlord wanted her off the continent, he couldn't have taken her west. Thus the only way forward for him was east."

"I guess you're right," he admitted. "You're pretty clever, huh?"

"I try my best."

I didn't feel clever as he walked away, as a sudden thought struck me. We are inches from the ocean, yet I see no docks or boats nearby. When this great minstrel 'built' this town, why didn't he move it the five minute walk down to the shore and start there? Include a dock as part of the town so it could have boats and thus, perform fishing. It's like it was founded deliberately away from the water for no reason. Goods could more easily flow in and out, more food would be available, there would be a whole raft of benefits. Very odd. I suppose the docks could have been ruined as a part of an attack by the Dragonlord's minions but I don't see any wreckage. I'll walk down there on my way out just to see, but I really don't expect to see anything.

I gave no thought to the enormous building I passed as I looked around the town, barely glancing at the door to the place, and had then seen all the village had to offer. With a shrug I went on my way, drawing my sword as I knew it wouldn't be three steps before I was once again facing some agent of the Dragonlord. Before going too far I did go down to the water but as I suspected, no wreckage of a dock was to be found. The area here was as wild and untouched as the rest of the land, making me wonder what they had been thinking. The perfect place for a town, and they instead looked over at the field that must have been there before the town was and thought "yes, that's the place, that field over there. Build near the water? Oh no, perish the thought."

It seemed my earlier fears that this area might soon be depleted were groundless, as I still couldn't go twenty steps in any direction without facing something itching to end my life. I made it back to the safety of Brecconary to have my magical power restored, and sighed a great sigh as I went back out again to slaughter more monsters. My gold totals slowly rose, so it seemed likely I would earn enough gold to buy the better sword by the end of the third day. I felt myself getting a bit stronger by the end of the second day as well. As the sun set that evening I went back to town, planning to stop and see my new friend and see how he was coming along. The tool shop owner told me he was making good progress copying the journal, and presented me a blank journal for my very own, which I spent some time on before supper, as it was too dark to go monster hunting any more that day. After that he joined me by the fire up on his second floor.

"I must have killed a hundred slimes today," I told him. "I honestly don't understand it. Where are they all coming from? I'll pass through a grove of trees, clear them out, go look at the ocean for a moment to catch my breath, and the same grove of trees yields a dozen more. They can't move all that fast, you would think the land was covered with the things, underfoot at every step, given how many I seem to kill. But no, they're always several yards apart. And it's not just slimes, it's ghosts, and drakes, and I've seen the occasional wizard skulking around as well. Always singly. Even slimes might overwhelm me if there were that dozen that attacked me all at once, but no, always one at a time. Does it mean something? Are they just not smart enough to work together?"

He considered. "I suppose only someone running around killing as many creatures as you do would notice. It is odd. I'm afraid I don't really have an answer for you, though."

"I mean how many did the Dragonlord make? And why? Some kind of scare tactic, just to keep people in line around here? His hobby? But there must be other towns to guard, and even his gold can't be limitless. I will find other monsters further from here, won't I?"

"I can't know the Dragonlord's mind, but yes, I would assume so. Rumor has it that crossing a bridge will bring new monsters to bare… Where did I even hear that from?"

The same place as the princess being taken east I suppose? Or that she was stuffed into a cave? What, do certain monsters mark their territory and respect bridges as their boundaries? That seems unlikely.

"As an interesting note, Erdrick ran into a similar problem. The demon he was fighting, a being named Baramos, used gems instead of gold to create his monsters. Apparently this type was everywhere at one time as well."

"Did he? Strange, that the magic would have changed over the years. Or maybe they just knew similar but distinct spells? One thing bothers me about the whole thing. The wizard I saw spoke to me, seemed intelligent. All the ones I've met since then I've not given a chance but they turned into gold just the same when I killed them. So I know monsters created from gold can be intelligent, and these wizards are not people that have simply joined the army of the Dragonlord. But then why aren't all of the Dragonlord's monsters intelligent enough to speak?"

"It can't be simply the size of the creature, it's magic that's making it possible in any case. It's really just the shape it happens to take, if I had to guess."

"Exactly my thinking! I mean maybe the Dragonlord doesn't want to create an army that could turn against him? Perhaps he can choose how smart the creature is when he makes it? If they were smart enough to think for themselves, they might think 'why am I following this guy instead of doing what I want.' I don't recall if the wizard that did speak to me gave me more gold, maybe using extra gold could give them extra abilities?"

"That would make sense. Magic can do extraordinary things."

"It just doesn't add up. A smarter creature would live longer, he wouldn't have to make as many. All these creatures roaming the world, it's almost like..." I stopped mid-sentence and blinked a moment. They were put here simply for me to beat up, making me stronger and increasing my wealth. And to slow me down in my journey across the land.

"Almost like what?"

"Never mind." He'll think I'm crazy. "Does the journal have anything to say along those lines?"

"He never thought about it. At least not in the beginning. Later he did start to wonder about some odd stuff."

"Like what?"

"Like doors."

"Doors?"

"Indeed. Apparently there were some doors no one had a key to. People just wandered by them not caring what was inside I guess. But there was a key to them, sometimes halfway around the world. And even more interesting, there was a magic key that could open 'magic' doors and a thief key that could open 'thief' doors. Either key would not work in the other 'type' of door. Can you believe it?"

"Why would anyone do that, make a lock for a door there was only one key to in the world?" No wonder he thought about things being for his convenience in the world.

"He asked that of himself many times. Perhaps he discovers an answer later but I doubt it. He had to go around finding these keys to open the doors he came across. Now days, of course," he announced proudly, "we simply have keys. Much easier. Too bad they're so fragile."

"How so?"

"They break with only one use. One might almost think keymakers planned it that way to increase their own wealth."

"Wait a second, start at the beginning again. What you're telling me is that long ago, only certain keys could open certain doors?"

"That's right."

"And the keys didn't break then?"

"You know, I guess they didn't!"

"But now people make keys, and they can open any door, but only once?"

"That's about right. We don't have anyone that makes keys around here. Maybe to the east?"

"Yes, no one at Garinham offered to sell me any. Wait a second, Garinham!"

"What about it?"

"There was a door there! Some absolutely enormous building with no windows. I glanced at it but it didn't seem interesting enough to really think about. It had a door. Someone in that town must own the place. Do they buy a new key every time they want to go in? I wonder what's inside."

"How big was it?"

"You know, now that I think about it, it stretched the entire length of the town. It's crazy. What could they keep in there?"

"Could be anything I suppose, if it's that big."

"I'll have to go back there and- Wait a second, this doesn't make sense."

"What doesn't?"

"The king used a key to unlock the door to the treasury. Are you telling me every time he does that he has to buy a new key? That's the craziest thing I've ever heard! He either opens it very rarely or the king has a person that can make keys somewhere in the castle. And if any generic key can open any door, how does he keep people out of the treasury? I mean there were guards, yes, but still..."

"That stands to reason. You could go ask him. Maybe that door is special?"

"Maybe. I will ask him! He seemed happy enough to see me the last time. A little too happy, if I'm being honest. Insisted on me telling him of my adventures thus far."

"You can't really blame him," the man told me a little sadly. "I'm sure he would like nothing more than to take up a sword himself, rush to his daughter's rescue, and avenge his wife's death. But no, he must remain in the castle and pretend to be the king of this land. He has been forced to rely on others, like yourself, to do what he wishes he could do."

"Oh." I was a bit taken aback. "Yes, that does make sense," I decided. "He can't send soldiers, he hardly has more than a handful at the castle as it is. There are no travelers in the land to bring news and gossip. And my stories may raise spirits at the castle if the king is telling others of them."

"You have the right of it, I think."

"So tomorrow I'll head back to Garinham, I'll need to kill more monsters anyway I may as well go somewhere as I do so. I'll check out the door, but first make a stop at the castle and see what the king has to say. Maybe I'll look around for more doors, see what the castle looks like. I was escorted back and forth but they know me know, maybe they'll let me walk around a bit."

"Wouldn't hurt to ask. Do you have enough gold for the Inn?"

"I do, thank you for asking." I stood and stretched. "Thank you for your hospitality once again. I'll let you know what I find out about that door."

"I would be curious to know. Be safe out there."

"See you later."