Goan stuck his forefinger into his mouth and then raised it up to feel for the direction of the light breeze that passed for wind that afternoon. The crowd was relatively light in the center of town, with few people seated at the various outdoor cafes that were a fixture in town squares around the Sorcerous Empire. "That way." He said finally and thrust his finger out to the north.
Nemu and Kuuderika traded looks, "Are you sure? You know if we head that way we'll be going north. I know you said you wanted to go deep into Ongeku territory, but that's the way to go into the thick of it." Kuuderika clutched her staff tightly and jabbed it hard into the stone.
Nemu shrugged, "Not that I mind danger, you know that, but that doesn't sound like the usual cautious approach you like to take."
Goan slowly lowered his arm and looked to the right where the two women stood, his dark eyes started more intently than usual, and the white hair of his head blew gently in the wind, carried by the breeze, the strands of white hair were like fingers pointing the way forward.
He shut his eyes, drew his head back, and took a deep breath, and for just a moment, it felt like he wasn't there. A memory stirred from his childhood, falling asleep in his mother's lap, and waking to realize she had fallen asleep in her chair rather than risk waking him up. With her head tilted down, her slow and easy breathing caressed the back of his neck just the same way the gentle wind did in the present day over a century later. 'Mother… is that you…? Is this what you want?' He wondered and reached his hand up to touch his blowing hair she'd often touched and praised, then made his decision.
Goan looked at his lifelong team and put his hands on their shoulders. They practically jumped, the constant even tone of voice was gone, the gaze that was always steady and calculating, was suddenly passionate and intense, and the grip of his hands was strong enough that they felt sure he'd have bent metal with ease. "Yes." He said with absolute confidence and boundless enthusiasm. "We go north. Whatever is out there, we'll either be the first of the Empire to see it, or we'll at least be the first of the Empire to come back from it!"
Trace smiles formed on the faces of the women who made up his team. Those trace smiles, hesitant at first, thrown off by his unexpected passion, grew large and confident. Nemu gave voice to her thoughts when she slowly laid her hand over his, "Well, I'm not one to argue with you when you're this enthusiastic, I know it wouldn't do any good anyway." She turned her smile into a half smirk, "So bull headed you should have been born a minotaur."
Kuuderika snorted at Nemu's little dig, but gave a tiny nod of her own. "North it is, whatever is out there, I want to see it too, and there's nobody alive I'd rather see it with. But I do kind of wish aunt Lupu was here with us."
Goan rolled his black eyes. "You would. You just like the way she teases me and insists I'm going to take advantage of you two."
Kuuderika drew her long blonde hair to the front of her body and played with it teasingly, twirling a finger around the locke at its base, she turned her bright blue eyes to him and winked. "Maybe. After all, it's nice to see you get flustered sometimes, and nobody does that better than her."
Nemu flashed a wicked smile to her adoptive sister, "I take that as both a challenge and an insult.
"Oh great, now see what you've done?" Goan tried to glare at Kuuderika, but against his best efforts a little smile began to break through beneath the stare.
"It'll make the trip more interesting." Kuuderika winked teasingly.
"I should have gone for the priesthood." He said in a deadpan voice, "Alright, let's go get what we need, and get going."
They walked with quick and confident steps to the nearest shop, and picked up a prepacked adventurer kit, a pack including supplies, a handful of single use scrolls containing functional magic, emergency medical kit for when mana was low but injuries were present, some basic cooking supplies, and tents, among other small goods.
Then they were gone, or so it seemed to them, time flowed like a river after heavy rains as they rushed out the gate. They looked behind them, each on their own without prompting, but also as one body, and waved to the guards atop the walls who paid no mind to those who chose to leave safety behind them.
The wind blew with greater strength behind them with nothing to slow or block its progress, grass beneath and sky above, they took to the widest road there was, the open world. Flanked by distant trees and rolling hills, no destination or goal but to know what lay just out of sight, no burden to bear but the packs on their backs and the company they kept. Nemu's pace began to pick up, her walk became a jog, Kuuderika was the next to pick up the pace of her feet as the spirit took her also. They were ahead of Goan for a few seconds and turned their jogging feet around so that they jogged backwards and looked at him. "What, can't keep up with us?" They asked in the uniform sing song voices that they'd often taken with him when they were growing up.
Goan's face didn't waver, he looked to the east, where beyond the distant sea a grave sat outside a small peasant home and two children horsed around on the monument to one brave soldier remembered by very few beyond the boy who was now a man. 'I don't know if you can hear this mom, but this one's for you, and for me.'
He turned away from the distant thoughts of distant things, and faced his companions, "You two ought to know better than to challenge me to a foot race. I'll bet I can beat you to the top of that hill." He pointed straight ahead, and they looked over their shoulders.
They looked back again to him, though hills were plentiful on either side, they didn't see one where he was pointing. "What hill?" Nemu asked, with her auburn eyebrow raised.
"I don't know. I'll tell you when we find it!" He grinned, winked, and the sprint began. He blew past them faster than the breeze was blowing at their backs and left their stunned bunny looks behind.
"Cheater!" They shouted after they understood what he meant, and they took off after him, none of the three looked backwards again as the frontier town shrank to an ever smaller size until the high walls were barely a dot, and then were gone entirely.
Trees grew taller than any walls, and the farther away they were from the Empire town, the taller the trees seemed to be and the more the way seemed to grow closed in to the front of them. It was like a sack that was growing closer together when the strings were drawn, until their long run, boosted by martial arts and martial training, began to slow down.
They came to the crest of a great tall hill, and Goan said a contented, "I win." As soon as he reached the peak. Nemu and Kuuderika followed a moment later and stood on either side of him, looking down the other side.
Nemu punched him in the arm and stared half sourly at him with pursed lips before she replied, "Yes, you did, but I want to point out, Goan, that this is the only sort of thing where a man finishing first is acceptable."
For a moment he was dumbstruck, though not so for Kuuderika, who covered her mouth and snorted before laughter pushed its way out of her and she imitated her sister and punched his other arm in turn. "She has a point."
Goan could only groan, "Tell Lupu you said that, she'll laugh herself sick."
"Uh huh, I will. So what now, oh fearless leader?" Nemu asked.
Goan surveyed the way forward in silence, the forest below the hill had no 'formal' opening to speak of, it was completely closed off, the trees were large and thick, and the wide trunks and root systems offered a path through as the trees more or less gave one another room to grow.
Goan thought his options through rapidly. 'No guarantee we'll find a suitable campsite before dark, and… what's a few hours early? Plus the hill gives us good visibility for keeping watch.'
He answered her a moment later. "We camp here for now, we'll just sleep early and head out a bit earlier than we normally would. No way to know just yet what dangers are down there and I'd like to face them at my peak instead of depleted."
"Works for me!" Nemu chirped, and shoved the pack off her back and let it land on the ground with a heavy thud.
"Kuuderika, set the alarm barrier to the base of the hill, that's not too broad, is it?" Goan asked reflexively.
Kuuderika responded by pacing the circle that was the top of the hill and looking down each side, until she returned to where he stood in waiting. "No, it isn't too much, not for me." She tapped her staff in hand, but added, "However it will only be an alarm, it won't protect us, just let us know if anything is coming."
"That's plenty, forewarned is forearmed." Goan replied, and left the expert to do her work, while he shoved off his own pack and began setting up a tent.
Long practice made them masters of the process of laying camp and they worked in silent sync. The wood was brought just as the fire pit was prepared. The stew was ready to cook just as the fire was lit, and the tents were erected seamlessly. The fruit of decades together put them in a perfect rhythm that swelled three hearts with pride in their companions. As a result, before long they had three tents facing one another around a small fire pit where stew was slowly heating up. "Why am 'I' doing the cooking again?" Goan asked with a sarcastic smirk while Kuuderika put some temporary light enchantments on a series of pebbles and Nemu checked her equipment.
Nemu paused and pointed the arrow she was holding, directly at him, "Because the last time I cooked on one of these outings you said, and I quote, 'Even Lord Ainz cooks better, and he doesn't even have taste buds.'" She glared at him and snorted.
"Right, but is it 'my fault' you somehow got the idea that you were supposed to use the green parts of that vegetable? No, no it was not." Goan shook his head vigorously.
"Maybe not, but still! Could be a little nicer to a girl about that." She turned up her nose haughtily. "You didn't even apologize."
"You dumped it on my lap. It was hot." Goan said dryly.
Neither could keep their faces straight for long, but Nemu cracked first, "Fine, I'll cook the next night. But you really do a decent job on the stew."
The rest of the evening was spent as so many had been before it, with the three alternating between their laughter and their taunts. Each one was the butt of every joke from every other until the sun began to go down and the stars took their place as the lights in the sky, the meal was done, and Goan took first watch.
Kenmet struggled in his chains all the way to the cell. "I didn't do it! I didn't! It was just an accident! We had an argument! He thought I was trying to hurt him, I wasn't! I swear! I swear on my gods! My name! My father's grave! My mother's life!" He stamped his feet and tugged relentlessly as he was dragged away and back to a familiar cell.
A half a dozen other Ongeku were there in the same lockup area, but they were disinterested at best and still drunk at worst. Kenmet staggered when he was shoved violently into his isolated area. He spun and rushed the bars reaching for the guard with a desperate, wild look in his eyes as if the chains bound more than just his wrists. "You've got to believe me! I didn't! I didn't!" He shouted in a desperate wail. The guard reared back away from him and reached for his weapon.
"Get back!" He snarled at the Ongeku murderer and held out the tip of his weapon in front of himself.
Kenmet backed away, 'Shit, he thought I was going to attack… this is getting worse.' He thought, and fell to his knees when he grabbed the bars. "Please! I didn't do anything! I didn't! I have a wife, a family to provide for! The worst I did was have a few to many and get into a fight!"
"Violent one, eh, well I guess it was only a matter of time…" The guard grumbled and sheathed his weapon before going to where another guard sat behind a desk.
"Watch that one." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder to where Kenmet knelt, slowly banging his head against the iron bars. "Violent, seems a bit deranged now, but he killed a dwarf supervisor and evidently got into trouble for a brawl in the first place."
"Sure thing." The other replied, and after giving Kenmet a long and pitiless look, went back to ignoring him.
It was lonely in the cell, because of his crime, the cell was left empty except for himself for several days, and other than the guards, there was nobody to talk to that wanted to talk with him.
Moments crept by like hours, hours like days, and days like weeks as he languished behind the bars, eating the food he was given, relieving himself into a bucket, marking the passage of time by the meals and the bucket emptying.
When the escort came for him, it was a relief. After what seemed forever in a timeless place, everything now moved like gale force winds. He trudged between two large orc guards, outside to a set of stairs that led to the roof. Atop the roof of the place sat a podium, stone benches, and a pair of tables. Off to one side, a scaffold from which a noose hung ominously, dangling over the edge of the structure.
He swallowed hard and felt his body start to tremble. A woman sat behind a single podium, called them to order, and time became a blur as Kenmet told his story and the others on site that day came up and told their own versions of events.
"I didn't do it! Someone please believe me! Please!" Kenmet implored and pounded his fist on the stone table at which he sat, his chains rattled and he cast his eyes around him, seeking a friendly face. While his peers were quick to attest to his character, their cross examination had fairly ruined that.
'If I didn't know better, even I'd think I was guilty.' Kenmet cursed in his own mind as he heard them talk about what they saw and heard before and up to the end of the accident.
Finally, it was done. The judge folded her hands in front of her at the podium. She was dressed in a white robe, and had long dark hair that might have made her look like an Ongeku if she hadn't had the pale skin of the Newcomers to go with it.
She spoke in the crisp, professional air of Empire officials and stared at him with calm brown eyes that appraised him as he had a fresh kill after a hunt. Kenmet felt the world opening up beneath his feet to swallow him whole. "I've heard enough. It's clear to me that this was a case of murder. It is obvious to me that you attempted to kill him once while making it look like an accident, and when that failed? Well you just tried again, dropping him instead of a brick. Had the late Boki not managed to shout for help, you might even have gotten away with it."
Kenmet shot to his feet with his eyes wide and shouted out, "I didn't! I didn't do it!" As if they hadn't heard him the first time, He thrust his chained hands out imploringly, only for the two heavily armored orcs to lay meaty hands on his shoulders and force him back down. He felt the sting of the stone bench against his ass when he was forced down too hard, and tried, and failed, to rise again with his voiced denials.
"You're a dangerous killer, and we can't have that. Our laws reign supreme on our land. Those laws will be respected." The judge drew out the sealed envelope as Kenmet stared in disbelieving silence.
'This can't be happening! This can't be?! Is this a dream?! A nightmare?! Am I having a nightmare?! I have to wake up! I have to! I've got to wake up!" He shouted desperately in his own mind while the judge opened the order that Moaleh dropped off before the trial.
"Persuant to the laws of the lands of the Sorcerous Empire, you are sentenced to hang for the crimes of attempted murder, and murder. Sentence to be carried out immediately. Your body to be defleshed, reanimated, and set to work for the family of the one you killed, until the last to know Boki in life, passes away."
Kenmet's temper flared up, and a rush of outrage and fear backed strength let him force his way to his feet and jump onto the table, briefly away from his guards. He shouted long and loud, "That's your law?! Fine! But not here! This isn't the land of your empire, Newcomer! This is Ongeku land! Land you all stole from us by buying it from that bastard! He had no right to sell the land! You can't buy from thief and keep what you stole! Go home! Go home! Go home and go away and never come back! Death worshipping monsters! I didn't do it! I didn't! Fuck you! Fuck all of you!" His body flailed and chains rattled as he kicked at the guards who tried to bring him down. He was strong, and held off for a moment until their greater skill and combined greater strength, brought him crashing down loudly to the table.
"Carry out the sentence!" The judge shouted, and despite his best efforts, Kenmet was dragged bodily by his wrists, kicking and screaming, all the way to the gallows.
"Fuck you! All of you! Empire of thieves and death worshippers! You deserve what you say I did! I wish I had done it! I wish I could do it to all of you! Get off our land and let me go!" He screamed wildly as he tried unsuccessfully, his head bobbing around madly as they forced the noose over his neck.
'I'm dreaming, this is all a dream! I'm going to fall, the rope will snap, and I'll wake up in the cell the morning after that fight, or better yet, back home with my family. It'll turn out that there is no empire, and everything is how it's always been!' Kenmet tried to tell himself this as he spat at his guards and tried to bite a hand that came to close.
Down below, the exchange was carried by the breeze to the listening ears of passersby, who paused to watch and listen as it all unfolded. The crowd began to gather and grow.
"Go home! Go home! Leave me alone! Let us alone!" Kenmet shouted, his eyes catching sight of the hundreds that were witnessing it all and doing nothing. "You can't judge me on our land!" He managed to cry out, and the orc guards gave him a good hard shove, then down he fell.
'No! This is all a dream!' Kenmet thought as he screamed, and the roped snapped taut, cutting off his scream in an instant, leaving only the sound of creaking as his body swayed and twitched. The faint smell of human waste wafted as his body loosed its bowels, and Kenmet did not wake up from his nightmare.
His head cocked at an ugly angle, his eyes stared open, his jaw hung loose and slack, parting his lips while his eyes bugged out in an empty, wild stare. As the Ongeku in the crowd stared back at his swaying form, low murmurs began, and slowly became a rumble of discontent, as the Ongeku onlookers found their martyr.
AN: Reviews are appreciated.