Chương 2: The Eastern Land

Tsukio was an island nation that sat off the southern coast of Cathaya, but calling it an island perhaps undersold the scale of the place. The crescent-shaped isle was massive, even not counting the archipelago of owned territory off their eastern edge. In the end I had settled for being taken near the southern tip of the island. It had not been cheap getting Brazio, the smuggler, to bring me over. But a few rubies can make anybody open to most anything.

He'd even given me a satchel of Tsukio's silver coins for my trouble, along with a bag of seeds. I had decided I'd become a farmer. Before all this, before the Wight, my family had been farming stock and it was something I had experience in. But, if I needed to, I could fish and hunt. Whatever it took to get by. All eyes were on me as I walked the dirt road closest to the boardwalk, framed on my left side by a row of squat stone houses with sloping blue-tiled roofs. I suppose I had expected the stares.

Even by western standards I was a big man, and that was without using my revenant abilities, while tallness was a rarity among the few easterners I'd ever seen. Well, whatever. Foreigners coming to the east weren't totally non-existent, and there was still a whole ocean between me and the Novos Empire. If he ever beat Rhonde, and turned his sights eastward, I'd ideally see him coming and have a chance to move.

As I walked along the Babel stone, worn around my neck as a lozenge-shaped pendant, translated the words of the locals through a haze of magic. Novos had first given it to me during the campaign in the Paarthia Mountains, to understand the dialect of the clans, but the magic translated any language. It could even do text, but I knew I'd need to study the local language too. In case anything happened to the damn stone.' like some kind of ogre.'' Another foreigner?'' Keep an eye on that one.'

Alright, so I was turning heads. The thought alone made me heave a sigh. But it was better to live somewhere more rural than to risk going to one of the larger cities. For whatever reason, on Cathaya and Tsukio, the larger settlements were prone to monster attacks. And the local wizards also liked to cause trouble in the cities. At least, that was what every story of the east told me. I pressed on, winding my way uphill to the towering walled building that stood distinct from the rest of Tiode.

The Iudex was, Brazio had told me, like a governor. Every village and town had one and it fell to them to manage a given settlement at the behest of their provincial governor. If you wanted to buy land, you went through them. Two guards were posted at the gate, local yokels who had probably only gotten the job because they were thick-necked and broad-shouldered. They stood to attention, wide-eyed as I approached, both men lifting the broad metal hats they wore.

They crossed their spears, a move they had clearly practised plenty of times, watching me intently.

"Who... who are you?" one asked, his voice low and hoarse.

"I need to speak to the iudex," I replied, keeping it plain. When it came to hick guards in bumpkin villages, it helped to use small words.

"Well... do you got an appointment," the other asked. And I could tell his roaming eyes were scanning me for any hint of a weapon. With my cloak parted, I was dressed only in a grey shirt, dark trousers, and well worn brown boots. I had no weapons, none that could be seen at least.

"No. But it's important that I see him."

"Well..." the first guard trailed off, and the two men stared uneasily at each other.

"Usually the iudex doesn't want to speak to people without an appointment." I dragged in a slow, calming breath through my nose. No murder, I told myself. No murder, no murder, do NOT kill them for inconveniencing you, normal people do NOT do that. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. And it would be counter-intuitive to my new desire for a quiet life. Still... these two were bumpkins, likely naive as a newborn gnoll.

And a man could get very far so long as they acted confident.

"Son," I said firmly, "what I have to discuss with your iudex is of vital importance. It's something that will impact the entire future of your village. But it's secret, and only your iudex can hear what I have to say. Understand?" I watched as the duo exchanged another uneasy glance. They leaned into each other, exchanging a few hushed whispers that the Babel stone could not pick up on. Eventually one of them pushed the steel gate open and pushed inside.

The other stayed behind, his body covering the gap, and he offered me a sheepish smile. I set my jaw tight as I waited. Gods.. I could have just walked clean through that wall, I could have flattened the whole damn village with a swing, I could have... I snuffed those thoughts, another calming breath dispelling the anger that had been bubbling inside of me. I wasn't that man anymore, I reminded myself, and giving into those impulses would be more trouble than they were worth.

Eventually the first guard returned and offered me a wan smile.

"The iudex will see you now, Westerner." Iudex Ryuga had been the overseer of Tioda for the better part of 15 years. He had thought, initially, that it would be a simple job. A step up from life as a clerk in the chaos of Low Moon. But nobody had told him that the country was rife with bandits, that there were stray yokai in the woodlands, and certainly nobody had warned him of the Snake Flower Sect on Mount Gruai. And now, it seemed, a foreign cultivator had landed on his shores.

At least that was what Danu had warned him about when he ran, ashen-faced into his office. It was the 'vibe' the man gave off, a subtle pressure in the air that he claimed followed the Snake Flower cultivators when they came to town. Well, Ryuga supposed a western cultivator preferred to be called a 'wizard' or 'sorcerer' if the stories he'd been told were accurate. Still, it was possible Danu was exaggerating or misreading the situation.

He'd hired the boy for his strength, not his brains, but he supposed it would be best to proceed with some measure of caution. He turned slightly from the window, where he had been watching the shaded peak of Mount Gruai, and watched as the mystery man entered. Ryuga was decently tall, even if age had left his posture a touch stooped, but the westerner was more than a head taller than him. Even so, Ryuga was not one to be easily intimidated. His face was a mask of carved stone, hawkish gaze affixed to the stranger.

"And who might you be?" the iudex asked.

"I was told you had some important business to discuss."

"Amon Kosis, your grace." The air shone faintly when he spoke, and when Ryuga listened carefully he could hear a faint rumble to his voice. Qi seemed to lace his words, translating them to the Tsukian tongue, though it still sounded a little odd. As if he were speaking the words with a heavy accent.

"Apologies for the sudden appearance, but... yes, I did have something important to discuss. Y'see, I'd like to buy some land in your fine settlement." Ryuga blinked slowly at the man. Then he cocked his head to the side.

"I was under the impression you waned to discuss something of vital importance. I was expecting it to be something much more... dangerous." Those two idiots would get an earful when he was done here.

"I told your guards that it's something that will impact the entire future of your village. Way I reckon, living among you will have an impact on the village's future. Small and harmless impact, ideally." Ryuga snorted, shaking the wispy white hairs of his moustache.

"Clever, aren't you?" he asked.

"Well, you're here now, so... fine. We may discuss the matter but, alas there really isn't much land available for purchase in Tiode. Not that's worth owning, at least." He walked past the giant, his chin raised high and the breeze ruffling the hem of his white robe. He made for a shelf laden with brass-cased scrolls, knowing all of them and their contents off by hart, and pulled out one that contained a map of the Tiode region.

"I oversee this village and a large ring of wilderness beyond the outer farms, and of that there are only a few stretches here that I have the authority to sell to you." He set the map on the table and ran his finger across a stretch of the wilderness. Ideally, Ryuga thought, he could just get this outsider to leave. That the prospect of so little land to buy, and at a relatively steep price at that, would have him looking at some other village.

Instead, this Amon Kosis stroked the coarse and russet stubble of his jaw. He leaned in for a closer look and then tapped a finger on a patch of land just off to the north east, the region oddly devoid of trees or other structures. It was a long walk to the village proper, a region that offered privacy and a good measure of solitude.

"And what about here?" Ryuga smiled slightly.

"Ah. That old spot? It's been abandoned for a few years now. A good few acres, but alas the soil isn't very good. Had a fellow who tried to run a ranch there, raising oxen. Didn't last. It's... cheap land, yes, but it's cheap for a reason. Being honest, Ser Amon, it would not be worth buying." He wasn't sure if the man looming over him was a cultivator or not, and decided it would be best to be honest.

He didn't want the foreigner living here, of course, but Ryuga was not so foolish as to risk doing or saying anything that could earn the ire of a man with qi at his fingertips. The giant said nothing, initially, and Ryuga felt a few beads of nervous sweat prickle at the back of his neck as the man stared at him with a blank expression. Then Amon smiled.

"Maybe I could judge for myself if I want it?"

"Hm?" Ryuga lifted a thin brow.

"Ser?"

"I trust you know the land better than me, your grace, but I suppose I'm curious. Land can be hard to work with, but..." He shouldered the heavy bag on his shoulder, and an assortment of clinking sounds echoed from within.

"With the right tools, maybe I could make something of it." The iudex frowned, staring silently at the man. In that moment it seemed even more likely to him that he was looking at some manner of cultivators. After all, only a cultivator would decide to be such a pain in his ass right after meeting him. Still, he forced himself to smile.

"Give me just a moment to have my bird saddled."