13 A Troubling Decree (1/2)

Li swiped the jars of seeds from Vincentio's cart and placed them in his pocket. That triggered his inventory to activate, and the jars disappeared, absorbing into a dimensional void where it joined a plethora of items. He forgot that he had to consciously think about not using his inventory to appear like a normal person, but he couldn't deny that it was convenient either.

Plus, he figured with contraband like this, it was better to have it somewhere the ordinary person couldn't see.

Old Thane stood by Vincentio's horse, putting a hand on the animal's skinny flank and calming it. The horse looked down demurely, afraid to look at its master's corpse. The old man ran his hand across the horse's hide and shook his head.

”You've taken a mighty many lashes, poor thing,” said Old Thane. He unstrapped the horse from the wagon and put a hand on its rump. ”I would set you free, but you're no wild animal. You'd waste away out in those wilds.”

”Then let's keep him,” said Li. ”Let him pull your wagon instead. Would make life a lot easier for you.”

”Aye, that's true, but my riding days have wasted away, Li. Unless my feet are planted on the earth, I cannot see.”

”That's no issue. I'll guide the horse.”

”My muscles will waste away if I don't keep them active.”

Li came up to Old Thane and slapped his back casually. ”Stop being so stubborn, old man. I know you want to do things yourself, but you've earned at least this.”

”I suppose so,” grumbled Old Thane. He felt around the horse, getting a good mental image of the animal's dimensions. When he was satisfied, he jumped atop the saddle with surprising dexterity. It was obvious it was a well-practiced movement.

”And you say your riding days are over?” remarked Li. ”You know, sometimes I can't even tell your blind.

Old Thane laughed and flexed his arms atop the horse. The peaks of his biceps strained against his shirt. ”It's all conditioning, my boy. Make sure to keep yourself healthy so that you'll end up like me!”

”Yeah, yeah,” said Li as he rolled his eyes. Although Old Thane had kept his body in excellent health, he was still an old man, talking to Li with that familiar didactic tone that most old people adopted with younger generations. It was pretty endearing, honestly.

Li grabbed the horse's curb rein and tugged. It obeyed, adopting a gentle pace back towards Old Thane's wagon.

”Is the ride smooth?” asked Li as he strapped the horse's harness to the berry cart. He had never handled a horse before, but the beast was remarkably tame, and the harness was very intuitive. It didn't take many tries before he figured out what went where.

”Smooth as a babe's bottom,” commented Old Thane. ”Vincentio, scoundrel he was, always had a way of training his steeds well.”

”Great, now I won't have to constantly worry about you blowing your knees out,” said Li with a smile. He took a sidelong glance to Vincentio's mangled corpse. ”About the body…”

Old Thane sniffed the heavy stench of iron in the air and scowled. ”There are no witnesses in this village and knights will think little of a criminal mauled by what seems to be a beast. I say we let the fool rot.”

”We think alike,” said Li as he tugged the horse's reigns and led it out of the village.

The way back to Riviera was uneventful. The moon, still full and bright, guided their way. They had fully expected the knights to be upholding the blockade again, but the encampment was eerily empty. A thankful blessing, too, as Li was tired of dealing with unnecessary obstacles anymore.

All he wanted to do was get back to his daily farming routine.

When they arrived at their cottage, Li tied the horse to a fencepost – a temporary arrangement until he could build a stable. Old Thane, tired from the tumultuous night, went straight to sleep, dropping on his bed of hay and animal skins and going into a heavy snore.

As the old man slept, Li took a cursory glance of his room, making sure everything was in order. It was a small room. He figured more than two people would feel extremely cramped in it. There was an old bookcase – recently dusted now that Li was there – and this was what he checked up on, making sure the books were all there.

Obviously, Old Thane had no use for books anymore, but he valued these for they were his wife's. The books covered a vast breadth of topics. There were a few obvious books such as [The Herbs of the Wilds] and [Elementary Elixir Brewing], but nestled among there were tomes such as [The Codified Laws of Soleil, 1020], and [The Collected Histories of Man].

Old Thane had spoken many praises about his wife's abilities, but he had spoken precious little about her origins. From her readings, Li could theorize she had been a foreigner of some kind, unaccustomed to the ways of this land.

Explained why the old man was so fierce about defending Li from discrimination.

Li, having taken full account of the books, silently left the room, closing the wooden door behind him. He settled into his own quarters. It was far larger than Old Thane's with a proper woolen bed elevated off the ground with stubby wooden legs. Despite being a larger room, however, there was nothing in it aside from the bed.

Li knew the story. Old Thane had built this entire cottage from the ground up and had fashioned this room for his and Aine's child. From how large the room was, it was evident that Old Thane was willing to give any child of his considerable love. But unfortunately, Aine had proved infertile, but that had not prevented Old Thane from loving her any less until her passing.

Li sat on the bed. He did not need to sleep for he was not truly human, but he could mimic such a state as part of his shapeshifting abilities. Tonight confirmed something he had been theorizing for the month: his thinking was changing the longer he stayed in this world in his inhuman body.

He felt absolutely nothing when slaughtering the bandits or seeing Vincentio dead. He had killed before in his past life as a soldier, but regardless of how many people he killed, he still felt something, some numbness, maybe, but now, there was truly nothing. He merely saw meaning in their deaths. Their bodies went back to the earth, nourishing the soil.

There were times he felt the life around him strongly. Sometimes when he weeded, he felt he could hear the very earth's heartbeat. There were times when he could hear the march of death.