Sword of the Godslayer

IX - The Charcoal Maker

Minos and Rei found themselves back on the road, still tugging on their horses instead of riding them. This time around they were walking the other direction, facing away from the village, with the sun halfway through the sky behind them.

     After getting no result from the girl from the inn, Minos came up with another plan to get what he wanted. He met with Duke Owen's son, confident to get more information about Cassana and her family. The inn, and in fact the whole village, sat on land owned by the duke, and he seemed to know her very well. If earlier, he was on the fence whether the redhead was lying or not, now he was close to certain that she indeed was. I'll squeeze the truth out of her, he swore to himself, by any means necessary.

     "It's the perfect plan!" he kept saying to Rei, which the hooded foreigner shrugged off repeatedly.

     He was just about to ignore Minos for the last time when he noticed a fork on the road ahead of them. Rei stopped on his tracks and knelt down to study the markings on the ground. He pointed at the ruts that turn away from the main road onto the forest through this outlying path.

     "This might be it." Minos said. He scanned the area and found a fallen tree. He climbed up to get a vantage point of the forest up ahead, revealing several more scattered cut-down trees. "There, that's definitely it." He pointed towards a column of white smoke rising from within the woods. The two stepped out of the main road and headed towards its direction.

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     The divergent road culminated in a small lodge in the middle of the forest. Beside the house was a shed filled with wood, lumber, and granite bricks, while on the other side were two kilns around fifteen feet tall. The smoke they saw earlier came from one of the pair. As they approached, they noticed a short burly man pushing a wheelbarrow towards the kiln that was not blowing smoke. Minos and his companion watched over the man in silence until their footsteps caught his attention.

     The man turned around and took a gander at them both, pulling his coif from his top and nodding his head. Minos noticed the man's left eye was busted.

     "Evening," he greeted the man.

     The man stood still and silent for a moment before responding, "Evening. Forgive me, it's rare for me to see new faces 'round here."

     "No worries."

     He walked towards the pair and he seemed to be particularly more interested in Minos than in Rei. With his one eye, he took a scrutinizing look at the young nobleman and the tunic he was wearing. "You are very far away from The Capital, my sir."

     "Oh..." Minos said with surprise, "how did you know I'm from The Capital?"

     "That," he pointed at his shirt, "I recognize the make. I was a Capital man myself, when I was... probably your age."

     "Ah, I see. Well, you're right, I am from the Capital, my name is Minos, and my friend here is Rei, who is from somewhere on the other side of the river."

     "Minos, you say? Interesting... I did know about a Minos once. Funny fellow, terrible with women, but very, very hilarious indeed. Minos of Copper Road, as he likes to call himself."

     "I am he." Minos proclaimed, proudly.

     "Nonsense. The fool would be as old as me by now. You look dashingly young."

     "Thank you," Minos sang, taking no time to acknowledge the compliment, "but no, the fool is not old, he is dead. I was his apprentice, his protege, and now his only remaining legacy. At your service."