Chương 33: Weston Part 3

After shutting the door to the militia barracks, I walked around for a bit to clear my head of the off-putting encounter. The captain's voice had remained calm and devoid of any emotion the entire time he had spoken to me, but I wasn't sure if he was upset with me for waiting a bit to come see him. Maybe he was messing with me? Who knew? I found it funny that my meeting with Wizard Johnstone felt like it had gone so much better, even though his tone sounded haughty and dismissive. Oh well, I finally thought.

I'd ask Brendan about it when I got back to the inn. Our encounter had only lasted ten minutes, so it was about 6: 45, but I saw people leaving work already. Apparently, it didn't matter what world I was in; if people could leave work a few minutes early, they would. Most of the men wore clothes similar to mine. Woolen trousers and long-sleeved wool, or sometimes, linen shirts. Mostly in brown or grey hues. They all wore leather work boots. I didn't see anyone wearing a jacket. It was in the high 70s after all.

Most of the men wore what I'd call cowboy hats made of treated straw. There were a few different styles, including some I'd call an Amish style. There were a few men wearing grey or brown felt versions of those hats, and I assumed they must be wealthier townsfolk. Colin was supposed to be picking up one of the straw cowboy hat style ones for me when he did his shopping. As I continued to wander, I found myself near the System temple right at 7 p. m.

In front of me, I saw the doors to the temple open up, and out stepped a thin, tall man. In fact, he was the tallest man I'd seen in this world so far, a good three inches taller than me. He was wearing grey linen robes, trimmed with crimson felt that ended at the ankles of his black slippers. He was wearing a narrow-brimmed, bowler-style hat that was also grey, with a crimson hatband. He looked in my direction, and I saw his eyes flash blue.

I knew he had to be Priest Lewys, but just in case I looked him up as well. I saw his name was Dylan Lewys, confirming the obvious. He gave me a genuine smile and strode over to me.

"Hello, Mr Jacobson," Priest Lewys began in a deep, melodic voice.

"May the System bless you." He stuck his hand out, and we used the same forearm grip, sans ceremony, that I had used with Brendan the first time we met.

"Are you going to the inn?" he asked.

"I assume you are staying there tonight?"

"May the System bless you as well," I began.

"I am heading back to the inn." I held up the box of ammunition and said, "I just left the militia barracks, I was doing a quick look around town before I went back." Lewys nodded and gave me a sly smile.

"I'm sure your meeting with the good Captain Castell was interesting." I couldn't help but smile and shake my head as I responded.

"It was definitely something." That caused Lewys to laugh out loud. He had a deep and pleasant laugh that matched his voice. I seriously wondered if that was a skill. The Bishop had been an asshole, but his voice had also been really pleasant.

"Do you mind if I walk to the inn with you?" Lewys said.

"My wife, Lillian, took a river boat to see her sister in Riverton earlier this week. She plans to celebrate Bhealtaine there. She hates that I am always so busy preparing for it so she leaves to see family instead. I'm not much of a cook myself, so I usually take my evening meal at the inn whenever she's gone."

"Not at all!" I said enthusiastically. People had said that this priest was much easier to deal with, and he seemed to be in a good mood. Talking with him as we went back to the inn seemed like a good idea.

"I had meant to come and visit you this weekend. I wanted to make sure there was no confusion over things on my homestead." Lewys stared at me for a moment before speaking again, his clean-shaven face momentarily wary. After he seemed to gather himself, he said, "I have certainly heard some conflicting reports. Do I have your word that nothing untoward is happening on your homestead? Like the bishop, I can see that you have created a contract with Miss Lloyd.

Wizard Johnstone said that things looked on the up and up when he met with you. And I assume you will create a contract with young Colin once he turns sixteen?" That was a lot to take in all at once, but I set about answering his question as we began the short walk back to the inn.

"I can assure you things are on the up and up. I am not staying in the cabin, and Emily has her contract. Colin will as soon as he's old enough. I'm not asking them to do anything outside the scope of what the contract says. The two of them have been invaluable to me so far. Emily is doing a wonderful job of keeping the domestic side of the homestead humming along smoothly, and Colin has been a great help with field work. Just a couple of weeks ago he even shot an elk for us!" Lewys smiled and nodded as we walked.

"That is good to hear. I am glad it is working out for you so far. Bishop Smythe's words weren't as unflattering as I think you assume they must have been. True, he certainly wasn't happy with you keeping the Lloyds on. He is a System traditionalist, after all. But once Wizard Johnstone met with you, he seemed to have calmed down, he gave me no instructions to cause you any trouble." I gave a sigh of relief at those words.

"That's good news. Has he given any instructions as to whether Colin will be given certain classes when he comes of age in a couple of months?" The priest gave me a thin smile and said, "He has simply told me to use my discretion."

"I see," I said.

"Well, I can just tell you that he has been working hard, and he's one hell of a shot with that rifle of his. I have no intention of letting them go after this year. Emily and Colin are hard workers, and I'm grateful for the help they've provided so far."

"That is good to hear," Lewys said in a tone that said my words truly did make him happy.

"Ah, we are at the inn." Lewys pointed towards the front door of the inn.

"Why don't we table any more of this fraught discussion until a later date. I am looking forward to a beer and a bowl of stew. Have you had the brown ale yet? It is as good as anything I could find in Londinium."

"I certainly have," I said with a smile.

"And I agree, it's wonderful. I already ate, but another beer wouldn't hurt." Lewys chuckled.

"Just make sure not to have too many more. Captain Castell will be displeased if you are not at drill at 8 a. m. prompt." When we walked through the doors of the inn, it was already packed with customers. It was only a few minutes after 7, but there were very few empty seats. I didn't see Colin or Aiden, but Brendan was standing at the bar. He waved to me when he saw me. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

The priest patted me on the back and said that he was going to go sit at a table in the corner with an empty seat. The other three people sitting at the table were dressed nicer than anyone else I'd seen so far in Weston. There was a man and a woman, as well as a girl who looked to be in her early teens. A quick ID said that they were Dylan, Alys, and Gwen Evans. That meant that the man was the mayor of Weston.

I was mildly surprised to see them at the inn, but I guessed that being seen out and about was always a good idea. Even if he was appointed by the empire, not elected, it was always important to have a presence. I made my way back to Brendan. When I got to the bar, he inclined his head towards the table the priest was now sitting at and said, "I see you met the Priest Lewys already, then. How'd that go, see?"

Then, before I could answer, he gave me a toothy grin and asked, "An' how was your meetin' wi' Captain Castell?" I snorted.

"The priest asked me the same thing. Was Castell messing with me? Or did I piss him off somehow?" Brendan shook his head.

"Nah, he's a funny one, the Captain is. No one ever knows if he's happy or proper hacked off, mind. I could've warned you, like, but where'd the fun've been in that, eh?" He laughed and then carried on.

"He is a good militia captain though, fair play. Served twenty years in the Royal Marines, he did. Actually fought goblins an' trolls down in the lands t'southwest. The Empire's not made much headway down that way, see, too many swamps in the south." I nodded at his words.

"Ah, that's good. Well, I guess I didn't come off too bad with Castell then. As for Lewys. He seemed nice. He sounded like he will give Colin a fair shot when he comes of age. I told him they've both been a big help." Brendan nodded.

"Did he ask you about marryin' Emily, then? Say anythin' 'bout gettin' a temple-approved weddin'?" I almost spit out the drink of beer I had just taken.

"No! He didn't mention marrying Emily."

"Hmm," Brendan said, rubbing his bearded chin.

"Well now, maybe he's just waitin' t'take your measure, like. I'm tellin' you, John, by this fall at the latest, you'd best marry that one" Exasperated, I said, "Brendan, I don't want to talk about this, plus Emily has shown no interest in me." He looked at me as if he were a little upset with my last words.

"She's a proper woman, she is. I don't care what the Bishop tinks. She's better educated than most folk out 'ere on the frontier, an' she's smart to boot. She wouldn't say anythin' t'you that'd be out o' line, mind." With a final fierce look, Brendan's face softened, and we went back to talking about inconsequential things. He said the boys had gone out shopping for anything that wasn't perishable, and they'd be back after they put the supplies in the wagon.

I was worried about the supplies just being left unattended for a couple of nights, but Brendan assured me there wouldn't be any theft in this small town. The innkeeper and the mayor would have to go looking for anyone who stole anything since it happened in their stables and town, respectively. Getting caught for theft out here would mean being sent back to the home isles as a criminal. Not a prospect anyone who wasn't desperate would consider. After a while, the boys showed back up.

We let them each have another small beer, then around 9 p. m. we went up to our rooms. When Colin opened the door, the room looked about as I expected it to. There were two twin beds, just barely long enough to accommodate my height, and a nightstand with an oil lamp in between the two. There wasn't any extra space. Things felt tight and claustrophobic if one was prone to issues with tight spaces. Luckily, I wasn't anyway.

Tomorrow morning, Brendan and I would head to the barracks, then head outside of town to do our shooting tests. Aiden would stay in this room, while Brendan and I spent the night in the barracks. The second and third floors of the barracks had cots that took up most of the space in those two rooms, so all the out-of-town militia members had places to sleep. Once we were alone, I asked Colin how his day had been.

Colin first gave me a big grin, then his smile faded, and he said, "John, I haven't been in town since before Pa died. We didn't have any money, so there wasn't any reason. But me and Aiden had fun today. I bought our supplies, and sold my pelts. I got 5 gold for them!" I smiled at him and said, "Good for you! You should save that money for now. I'm paying for all of the supplies we need." He looked down, but didn't kick the floor.

"I know, I did buy some hair pins, and a new brush for Ma. Ours are pretty worn down." I nodded, then joked, "Did you buy any hair ties for yourself? To keep that darned hair out of your face?" He smiled and looked down, hiding his face.

"See!" I said.

"That just proves my point. Buy a damned hair tie."

"Yes sir," he mumbled.

"I'll get some tomorrow."

"Good," I said, then remembered.

"Oh, did you get me my hat?" He looked back up at me.

"Yup!" He got up from his bed and rummaged through the pack at the end of the bed. He brought out my straw cowboy hat and brought it up and looked at it. He dusted it off as if it might have something on it, then handed it to me. I took it and looked it over. It appeared to be in good shape. It was definitely what I'd call a cattleman style. The traditional shape you'd see a cowboy wearing when he was on his horse. I put it on my head, and it fit well. Since it was made of treated straw, it was fairly light.

I knew that thanks to a skill the hat maker had, it would be more durable than the average straw hat I could've bought back on Earth. It didn't have any magic stats or anything. Come to think of it, I didn't know if there was magical gear or not… Maybe something to look up in the almanac sometime?

"Thanks," I told Colin.

"I'll be glad to have this in the morning. I wasn't issued any hats or anything, just got the bullets." Colin nodded and said, "No, there aren't any uniforms for the militia. I don't think they figured we'd need any. If the militia ever has to fight something, it won't be another human." I didn't find it particularly funny, but I made myself smile.

"Fair enough," I said.

"Alright, let's get to sleep. I don't want to be late tomorrow." We got into our beds, then I snuffed out the light. It had been an interesting day, exhausting too. Funny how tiring sitting in a wagon can be. I also had to meet a lot of new people. It also been been a few weeks since I'd seen anyone other than Emily, Colin, or my one meeting with the Newtons.

n the year 1303CE a company of men numbering around 1, 200 were portaled over en masse from a world they called Gaia. They brought with them the first firearms introduced to Talamh. These primitive guns that they called arquebuses were slow and unwieldy, but they were reinforced by twelve cannons that fired devastating cannonballs as well as pikemen who were wearing full plate armor.

The company, who called themselves the Orange Devils, arrived in late Medi, during harvest season, and were able to occupy the northern city of Eboracum, which they fortified and controlled for nearly two years thanks to the superior range their cannons enjoyed over empire mages.

If not for the heroic actions of the citizenry of Eboracum, who opened the city doors in the dead of night to a special troop of empire assassins who were able to sabotage eleven of the twelve cannons, the empire would no doubt have lost many more good men to these otherworldly invaders. After the sabotage, the invaders negotiated a surrender to Emperor Arthur VII.

They were removed to the mainland province of Hispania where they were put in control of the defenses of the border fortress of Tolosa, where their descendants are still in charge. The Emperor, along with the Church and Parliament, decided that from that point onward, all of those who were portaled in from other worlds must submit themselves to the authorities wherever they may be with the Traveler Act of 1306.

In 1418CE, due to low adherence to the Traveler Act, a second law, called the Traveler Enforcement Act of 1418 was passed, levying fines and possible prison sentences for failure to turn in any persons who are suspected of being travelers. Excerpt from The History of Travelers by The Royal Historian for Arthur VII, Cillian Byrne of the House of Byrne, who can claim direct lineage from Arturos. This book is available in the Albion Guild Shop.