Outdoor Camping

After a short check, they finally left the village.

They drove through the yellowing fields until they came out onto the main road again. For Chester it was an ideal time for introspection, there wasn't much to do and they were on a road he already knew was safe.

The first thing he thought of was his wife. The one person he couldn't forget, even after all these years. Every time he started to recall happy memories of their time together, she would appear in front of him, covered in blood. That image he couldn't get over, and he listed in his head all the things he had done to get revenge. Murder, blackmail, abetting crime, theft, kidnapping, abuse of power and many more he couldn't even think of.

Didn't regret any of it, why should i? They were not people who deserved good, they had no right to interfere in my life. Why? Why did they want to kill a simple postman? Why had such a secretive sect broken its silence for a simple murder? Even though it drove him crazy that he couldn't get answers to these questions that he hadn't been able to solve in his mind for years, he had calmed down. He knew he was not going to get anywhere like this. But he had not forgotten what had happened, he had only exchanged his anger for patience, and when the time came, they would trade places again.

First he had to get out of here, he had to leave this planet that felt like a surreal dream. But where was Earth? If it doesn't recognize any stars, then doesn't that mean it is outside the observable universe? When you're this far away, do you really can go ba-

Chester interrupted his thoughts. There was no room for despair. He would go as he had come. He would make it, period.

He refocused on his surroundings. They were back on the main road and had traveled a considerable distance. The roads were boring and safe. Maybe he should rest his eyes for a while. As the only one, he would keep the night watch alone, could not trust this creature villagers even for a simple vigil. He would somehow survive, but they had to take him to his destination and keep him alive so he could earn money from them. Speaking of money, he took the coins out of his pocket.

He had six copper, three iron and two silver coins. He still didn't know how much what was worth.

In a low voice Mag answered.

"Maybe they use the eighth system, since they don't have ten fingers."

"Why are you speaking in a low voice?"

"I don't know, I decided it was embarrassing, a big man can't even count money, you don't want the others to hear."

There was nothing embarrassing about it, he knew math. Then he realized she was doing it as a sarcasm.

"You just... Anyway, I don't care."

He turned to Ragul.

"Can you tell me about the coins? I'm not that good at math."

Ragul was surprised, but he hid his surprise well.

"Well, you don't have much money, Chester. You're even poorer than me, but don't worry."

He sighed deeply.

"We'll give you all our money at the end of the journey. Anyway, in a nutshell, eight iron is worth one copper, fifteen copper is worth one silver, and fifty silver is worth one gold."

It was an unbalanced exchange of money. Maybe each mine was the money of a different place, he thought. Ragul continued.

"You know what they say. A few pieces of iron will feed you, then a few pieces of copper will buy you a worn pair of pants. With a few silvers you buy a good tool, and with a gold coin you buy your freedom."

It sounded like some kind of nursery rhyme to educate children. He was not a child, even if it was catchy.

"I don't know what they say, Ragul, that's why I'm asking you."

"..."

"It's my fault. In short, iron is slave money, you can't buy anything except a cheap meal. With copper you can usually buy a good meal or a cheap piece of clothing. With silver you can buy a good tool, a service and a mount. With gold you can buy good armor from a craftsman, a good war mount or, if you are a slave, your freedom for a gold piece."

"And how much do slaves earn?"

"I know they earn a few irons, but certainly not a copper. On top of that they have to pay their masters ten coppers a month, give or take, for clothes, food and lodging."

It was a pretty grim situation, but not outrageous. A quick calculation meant that at best they would be free after about five years. For the slaves, a glimmer of hope was important to prevent revolts. After some more thought, he remembered that he had given a gold piece to a random lizard like it was nothing. He admitted he had been a little hasty. He hoped Mag wouldn't notice, if she realized she wouldn't shut up. He put the money back in his pocket.

"Good to know."

After an overly cold thank you, he continued.

"I'm going to take a nap and Mag will look around. I'll wake up if anything happens."

"I don't think anything will happen on these roads either, we'll let you know if anything does."

Chester closed his eyes and tried to sleep. He had trouble falling asleep because of a flash in his mind that he couldn't stop and a humming he didn't normally hear. After some effort, he finally managed to fall asleep, only to be woken up immediately.

When he opened his eyes, they had already arrived at the campsite. In his mind, he felt as if he hadn't slept at all during what seemed like only a few minutes.

He would have no difficulty in keeping watch, but he wanted to be fresh for tomorrow. With the training he had, he could easily stay awake for a few days, but there was no need to be so serious.

Chester got out of the wagon. They were in a forest of what looked like normal trees. Although the terrain was flat, they were surrounded by rocks. He was sure they were some distance from the road, because he could still hear the passing, drumming footsteps of the Kurlas.

"Exactly how many hours did I sleep?"

"You were asleep for exactly four hours and fifty-seven minutes."

"And I feel like I haven't slept at all."

Mag focused her gaze on Chester's helmet and after a brief inspection returned to looking around.

"Hmm, that's interesting. It must be the active data stream. It seems to be preventing you from going into deep sleep. I'll have to look into that."

"Here's a toy for you. In the meantime, tell me about the terrain."

"You can learn about the terrain by looking around."

"Mag."

"What? Did I say something wrong? There's nothing around except these strange plants. Actually, they look a lot like pine trees. Other than that, I've already studied the plants around here."

"I'm asking geographically. I don't care about plants."

"North of us is deep forest, the rest of the way is a winding road. It's not a very big place, but we're close to the road. Ragul managed to find one of those good campsites he was talking about."

Chester decided to take a look around. Tersan seemed to be busy cooking. She was cutting strange and unfamiliar plants and throwing them into the cauldron.

The children were by the fire listening to a strange story that Semder was telling.

Ragul was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is Ragul?"

“He went to bring here a log that had fallen over a little further back.”

She heard a scream from the fire and turned to Samder.

"Stop telling my kids scary stories, they get scared."

"But mom-"

"Shush! What I say goes!"

"Let's not anger your mother, children. Have you heard the story of the great hero Akjagalin?"

Chester was not interested.

"I'd better go look for Ragul before it gets dark."

As he made his way deeper into the forest, he made a mental note of some narrow places, ideal places to place a trap.

A little further on, he could see the black silhouette ahead. It was definitely Ragul. It looked more like he was trying to uproot a tree than a fallen log.

After getting a little closer, he looked at the tree he was trying to uproot.

Although it was much shorter than other trees, its trunk was very thick like any other tree in the forest. It was normal that he could not uproot it. The roots must have gone very deep.

"It looks like you need help."

He gave the fallen log beside him a hard kick, and it split down the middle, shattering into pieces. Fortunately, Chester was behind Ragul and none of the pieces of wood hit him as they scattered like shrapnel. He was clearly angry, but he spoke calmly.

"I came to get the log from this place, but it's rotten to the core, but I found an oorana. One of these would be very comfortable instead of sitting on a stone floor, but I can't get it off. And if I show up empty-handed, she'll give me an exhausting lecture. I've been at this for hours."

"We can try to cut it with an axe"

"My axe is very small to cut an oorana, it would take me hours. Anyway, let's go back."

It would have been good for him to spend his shift sitting down. He didn't think it would take much effort.

"Let me try."

Ragul was smiling as Chester approached the tree.

"Free to try."

Chester took out his sword and leaned it against the tree. The trunk of the tree was longer than his sword. The bark was really soft and smooth, it felt like rubber.

Chester had sent Ragul away before he started. After deciding where to drop it, he opened his sword and carefully cut a triangular piece. After separating it from the trunk with a hard kick, he waited for gravity to do its work, but the tree was still standing. The tree hung in an awkward position, bent over.

After waiting a little longer, Ragul approached.

"A magic touch is coming."

Ragul pushed hard and the last piece of the tree broke off and fell to the ground with a thud.

"Just like that."

"Careful, the cuts are very hot."

"They glow like embers. Thank you, by the way. Now we have a comfortable place to sit."

After some thought, he spoke again.

"I wonder if we can fit it in the wagon."

"Is it worth that much?"

"Not really. It's used for soft-surfaced furniture, but I've heard it doesn't grow up north, so we'll have to make do with straw beds when we get there. But with one of these I can get Samder to build couple of beds."

"Not a chance, this log is too big to fit in the wagon."

"Unfortunately, we don't have time to scrape the logs."

After a pause, he continued.

"But if you help me-"

"No, I have my sword to protect you, and I'll burn half of it when I peel the bark, it won't be good."

After some regret, he decided he was right.

"You are right, this is not your job."

Ragul put his hand in the hollow of the tree and dragged it across the ground and they set off for the camp. Chester walked beside him, he couldn't carry a log that big without changing his armor. Fortunately Ragul didn't need any help. Soon they saw the campfire and then they arrived. Seeing the log, the children got up from the ground and ran and jumped on the soft log. After Ragul had placed the log by the fire and received loving praise from his wife, Tersan gave them each a wooden bowl of food.

Chester was not sure it was edible. It looked more like tar than food.

Mag had whispered in his ear that it was harmless after a brief inspection.

He took off his helmet to eat it. He was curious about their reaction. Although he tried to act as if it was an ordinary situation, he could see Ragul and Tersan's surprise on his face. Samder, on the other hand, did not seem that surprised.

He took a spoonful of the gruel from the bowl. It was bitter and had an earthy taste that caused a tingling sensation in the mouth. He had eaten worse things, but at least this was fresh and hot.

"Thank you for the food, it's delicious."

"I'm glad you liked it."

"Ragul, come with me, I need to tell you something, it's not suitable for children."

Ragul and Tersan had gone to the back of the wagon and were arguing loudly with each other. He couldn't hear the content clearly, but it wasn't hard to understand that the topic was about being human.

"They are overreacting a bit, don't worry man, I will convince them. You seem like a nice guy."

"Can you hear what they are talking about?"

He answered after devouring his food without even using a spoon.

"They're talking about how a weak human can protect the taurran. That's not so wrong, my friend. You're not very tough or strong."

He had already gotten the job and they had signed, customer satisfaction was not that important. If it was going to be such a big problem, Ragul was the one who should have refused. Chester was fine with it.

"I don't take jobs I can't do, I've said that before."

"I bet you do, mate... but you're no wizard, that's for sure. And the sword... you know... it's not really favored by humans, you know?"

"What do you mean?"

"Let me put it this way... I don't want to depress you, but... you're not very 'strong'. I mean, you take on a Zarnek or a Half-Feline? The result is obvious. Bang, pow, bam! He'll cut you down before you're ready. Swords and all that."

After weighing his words, he continued.

"Humans can do magic too, but I've only seen two human wizards. They were retired and their hands were shaking. I mean, it's like a miracle."

"I am not like other people."

"That's it, man! That's the attitude! Keep hope high. I'm behind you. I love humans, they're often full of hope. Lumas? Ewwght! I don't like them. Their big eyes make me nervous."

It meant he would be racialized. At least he wouldn't be lynched. It was a good development. After a while the shouting stopped and Tersan and Ragul came back to the fire, side by side. The children were not interested, they were playing with the fire among themselves. Suddenly the atmosphere was like a stone. It would be good for him to leave for now. He wanted to set some traps in the places he had recorded earlier anyway.

"I'm going north to set some traps."

Chester got up and headed towards the possible routes he had seen earlier. The further he got from the campfire, the darker it got. What little light there had been on his way to Ragul had disappeared. He put his helmet back on, this time on a path illuminated by night vision.

It was an advantage that it was an uninhabited forest, but a disadvantage that the occasional sound of passing wagons could be heard in the distance. This narrow path leading to a small hill was ideal for an trap. No one would choose to jump over a half-meter wall when they could just walk.

Instead of a sound trap, he thought of a deadly trap.

He reached for the focuser. What he picked up was a motion-sensitive anti-personnel mine. It was quite simple to use, all he had to do was lift the lever on the side, pull the pin and push the lever into the mine. It also had a weight sensor so that it wouldn't explode on anything that moved. If something weighing more than fifty kilograms was moving around it, it would detonate even if it was not directly stepped on. It had about three minutes before it activated. That was enough time for him to leave safely. Once he had placed these traps in the places he had marked earlier, all he had to do was to renew them every four hours. No one could approach from the north. At most a pack of wolves or similar thing could get past the traps, but could be easily dealt with.

Hours passed as he set the traps. It was inconvenient to set traps facing the road. The idea of killing an unsuspecting person looking for a place to camp by stepping on a landmine was not a good one. He decided to go back to the camp. As far as he could see from a distance, the fire was out, everyone must be asleep.