NOVEL NEXT CCXXXII – Departure and Recollection
Esperanza “woke” up the next morning, or gave the appearance of waking up to others around her. Ever since she rose to the third tier, she had discovered that amongst other things, she no longer needed to sleep, or at least, sleep in the way most people defined it. Rather than sleep completely, Esperanza instead rested “parts” of her body, while another part remained awake and aware of its surroundings, allowing her to maintain watchfulness at all times, even while resting.
Part of it was probably how it became easier to understand if she viewed each of her eyes as a separate source of input. By splitting them up that way, it made it easy for her to allow chunks of her awareness to rest while remaining awake and aware with the rest, even actively participating in conversations and low-intensity activities.
These days, she only woke her whole body at the same time during intensive battles, as most other situations allowed her to go through them without having to exert herself fully. Even keeping herself in disguise like the one she presently wore was done that way, with the parts she shoved “inside” kept inert and at rest, while the outer layer of her body was alert and active.
She followed the recently awakened crowd of demons – including some of her compatriots – out of the tent, where an aromatic scent enticed them. Said aromatic scent turned out to be coming from a bubbling pot of what seemed to be porridge or gruel of some sort, ladled out and served to the waking demons in wooden bowls.
Upon tasting it herself, Esperanza found that it was more of a thick soup rather than porridge or gruel, sweet and savory, likely made with the local maize and flavored with bits of meat from the slaughtered [Crawler] the day before. It was a hot and hearty start to the day, a good way to wake up, to say the least. Given how practically every one of the demons returned a bowl that had been emptied to the last drop, the sentiment was clearly a shared one.
The group’s plan was to depart from Landeboug over the day. It was not uncommon for visitors to depart after only a single day’s stay in such small towns, especially if they already bartered for what they desired. Staying longer meant more expenses, after all, and while a night’s stay was often unavoidable, most travelers would usually attempt to save up as much of their meager finances by not staying overlong.
Nalihimatu and Ilavakide were already packing up as they would depart soon, while Val-Kas’j and his group would depart the latest, around the afternoon. Esperanza and Isfrea planned to look around the town a bit more, looking for things that might plausibly sell for more money elsewhere, as befit their guise as traveling merchants.
There wasn't much to browse in Landeboug, as the town was mostly agricultural in nature. Most of what the town produced were foodstuffs, so they eventually decided to just buy some of the local specialties, like some rare aged liquor made from fermenting the best yield of the town’s prized maize crop, for example.
The amphora they managed to procure was of a brew started a decade ago, the maize kernels crushed, then mixed with water and allowed to ferment for several weeks before the fluid was strained and stored into other such amphoras to age. The resulting liquor was enjoyed when it reached five years of age or more, and most of the batch had already been drunk or sold, with the amphora being one of the last.
They also got some slices of [Crawler] fat preserved in spices that the old Nevilosk woman minding the liquor store said was her family’s special recipe and was particularly well-suited to be enjoyed with the alcohol. The lump of shiny, jigging fat had been marinated in a brine mixture, then caked with liberal amounts of spices and salt.
Supposedly when preserved that way and stored in a dry, dark space, the fat could hold for months to even a year or more, so there was definitely a point to the preservation process. Whether it made the lump of fat taste good or not was something Esperanza was somewhat cautious about, though. Either way, they accepted the trade with the elderly demon woman and moved on, the two soon leaving the town of Landeboug just before noon.
At first, they exited the town from a different direction as the one they came from, but once Esperanza and Isfrea were out of sight, they took a turn and passed the town from far enough away that their passage wouldn’t be noticed. Together they headed towards the forest where the rest of the group had been waiting for them.
Once inside the forest, it was easy enough for them to go straight into its deepest depths – Esperanza had assumed her amorphous form once more and carried Isfrea along for expediency – where it only took Esperanza moments to notice the presence of the other [Progenies of Yore]. She made her way to them, and found everyone other than Val-Kas’j group already present.
Said group joined them several hours later, closer to the evening, since they departed from Landeboug the latest. None of them attracted any suspicion, other than a couple of the older townspeople noting that it was pretty rare to see Nevilosks not in the army in their region. It was something Esperanza kept in mind, though fortunately, rare just meant that they did see some from time to time.
“I guess that means we’ll have to check whether sending any of our Nevilosk or Ragah-Fiq members would be appropriate or not from the next village onwards,” noted Ani after the group mulled over their findings. While rare visitors like how Esperanza’s group was seen in Landeboug wasn’t uncommon or suspicious, it was still something memorable, which was something the group as a whole were trying to avoid.
“Ma’Varoks and Tesh’kas seem to be the most common, so we should be able to scout things out regardless of the place,” volunteered Legisvula from the side. “Also, the division is more pronounced the more isolated and small the place is. Some villages might only have people from one of the demon races living in it, while just about any city would have all of them.”
“Definitely something to consider since we don’t want to be too memorable. Other than that, did any of you find any issues with having to kill demons now that you’ve seen them living normally?” asked Ani some more, knowing all too well how easy it is for some people to crack once they were no longer unable to view their foes as something other, instead of just people.
“Not one bit. I think we all understand all too well that these same people who live quietly and peacefully in their idyllic little town would act no differently than the ones who personally slaughtered Navef back then,” stated Val-Kas’j with a shake of his head. “They all seemed pretty devout to the teachings of their gods, even if we saw nobody that looked like a priest or shaman around.”
“Speaking of, that is one thing we need to look deeper into,” said Esperanza. “The complete lack of any shaman or other clergy was a bit odd, even if the townspeople seem devout enough to take care of the temple and pray there without anyone telling them to. I get that the demons might do things differently, so I want to find out how exactly they keep their faith so conveniently spread like this.”
