421 New Moon Village (1/2)
Zero was bored and Jermine was sleepy. They had been waiting in this room that Desert Lily prepared somewhere underground. Why wasn't Truen done with negotiations yet?
”Did they forget about us?” Zero asked and Brutus looked slightly apologetic. They were waiting for nearly two hours but nobody checked in on them. With three people in a small waiting room and uncomfortable chairs, the stablehand couldn't blame Zero.
Jermine was used to waiting but Zero was bored out of his mind. The Black Mamba representative said that Truen would be meeting him with a guest when they were ready but his friend wasn't answering his party calls or updating him on the situation.
Zero was rolling dust balls in a corner when the door flung open. Startled by the sudden noise, his carefully collected dust balls went flying everywhere and Zero sulked a little. Why did they have to come when he finally found something to entertain himself with? Then again, this was good. He could finally talk and return to the inn.
”Sorry for the long wait,” Truen apologised and introduced Monoman again. ”This is Monoman, he wants to talk about a village collaboration.”
Brutus took the hint and took Jermine with him to return to the inn first. Zero, Truen and Monoman waited for them to leave completely before they sat down for serious talks.
”Village collaboration?” Zero asked. ”Which village are you from?” he asked the semi-giant.
”I'm from a lawless zone's village to the far east of Deadman Town. It doesn't have a name yet. I have long heard about Half Moon Village at Endow Hill, it is known to take in refugees of any kind and has a very unique diversity of villagers. The village I founded in the lawless zone is similar. I heard about the dragon heroes from your village in Smargdas and had a tip-off that I could find the village leader if I hurried to Deadman Town. I recognised your personal guard instantly so I approached him to talk to you.”
Zero was curious and looked at Truen. ”Who gave you the tip-off?”
Truen was equally curious and nearly choked on his saliva when Monoman told them he heard about it from Mitchnew. It was Zero's turn to be puzzled. Mitchnew was in Smargdas setting up an information network. Why would she give Monoman her information and better still, how did she know where they would be?
”Did Mitchnew really tell you that? What else did she tell you?”
Monoman didn't hesitate to admit everything, remembering Truen's advice about lying to Zero and keeping anything from him.
”After the war when peace regained, I decided to settle down in the wilderness alone to pass my days in peace and continue defending peace at the most problematic borders. It's a place where exiled criminals are sent to be killed so over the years I met my fair share of vile criminals as well as political victims. I saved those who shouldn't be left to die and abandoned those who didn't deserve second chances to their fates. The villagers have grown too big for me to protect alone so I think it's time for them to find a better and safer place to live in, a place that wouldn't question their histories or backgrounds.”
Zero thought about it. ”How many people are we talking about? We have a rule in Half Moon Village. Those who don't work don't get to eat. We have plenty of need for labour help because the village is undergoing a massive renovation ever since the fire. The farms need more hands because it is expanding and the traders need more delivery personnel because our production orders are increasing. Housing might be an issue because we don't have pre-built places for so many people.”