Chương 7

Collecting Shusks ended up being incredibly fun, and Sobelle came out of the river refreshed on top of it. In the end, they got around a bucket's worth of Shusks, which indicated that it was once again their spawning season. If they got back to the village and everyone saw that her father carried a shirt filled with the shelled critters then it'd be another several weeks before someone ate anything other than a Shusk.

Saltor hadn't worn anything when they got back and he was shirtless as they entered the house, Sobelle had his leather vest and the Shusks got his shirt. Creyla's face turned red when she saw her husband and Sobelle quickly got out of the way before things went out of hand. She changed into a fresh set of clothes and walked out of the house. She intended to keep her peace of mind for the day so she went to the alcove early, there she studied in peace and counted upward using the number 4.

It was easier to do now that Sobelle knew the method of starting from one number, and then counting up. 4 would become 8, eight would become 12, and that would become 16. Simple stuff. However, she wanted to pass the test the Gods gave her as quickly as she possibly could and that led her to come up with one near trick. She remembered all the possible combinations and did so when she repeatedly called them out verbally. Wasn't she one smart nugget?

"Four, Eight, Twelve, Sixteen, Twenty, Twenty Four..." she had also learned that as long as some numbers were solid or had a 0 next to them, they became very easy to add numbers to.

"... Twenty Eight, Thirty Two..." [1+ Wisdom!] And the Gods had chosen to reward her, which proved that she was in the right direction when it came to this trial. She felt proud for a moment and forgot the remaining numbers in the set so she had to count starting from thirty two, reminded herself that the next ones were 36 and then 40, and repeated the sequence. Sobelle did this until she was able to very easily say the entire set of 4s and once she was able to, she then moved back to the number 1.

Then after that, 2. And so on and so forth. She wanted to memorize all the numbers the Gods gave her, as they were a divine gift. Sobelle didn't dare forsake even a single sequence. As for the bigger numbers on this list? Sobelle didn't dare study them, as that felt like arrogance. A hubris she did not wish to have when faced with Gods. If the Gods saw her fit to be taught more numbers, then they will. And Sobelle would wait for them to do so patiently. For the rest of the evening, Sobelle memorized.

This was the only thing she could do for the moment and when night struck, she came back home to a dinner of Shusks, mushrooms, and vegetables. Shusks fried in butter was a luxury her family rarely ate. It being the main dish tonight was a signal that told everyone they'd have an excess of food in the coming weeks. This didn't surprise Sobelle one bit, as the changing seasons allowed for animals and critters to grow in large quantities or shrink in numbers.

The former was what caused her father to spend some Levs on butter so that their family ate something delicious for once.

"Meat two nights in a row." Creyla announced as a bowl of steaming, opened Shusks was placed on the table. Another followed, then the third one came. The woman was all smiles as she served food, "we are blessed by the Gods, let us thank them." Sobelle did this every night and she'd do so later as well yet she joined in with the rest of her family anyway. There was always time to thank the Gods, for they were the reason why everything existed and all good things happened.

Without them, humanity would not be where it was today. No one said thank you to her for catching the Shusks and foraging the mushrooms, which Sobelle didn't mind. It was thanks to the Gods' blessings that she was able to do any of those things so they took full credit, if it weren't for their words of advice, Sobelle would have given up in that forest. Truly, them and their ways were wondrous. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

Once Saltor arrived, they ate. No one spoke and it became an unwritten rule for everyone at the table to enjoy the taste of meat, as it was something they rarely get to taste. Vegetables tasted good, but it is in the meat of animals that Sobelle's tongue leapt for joy. Shusks were delicious, they felt rubbery but broke down the moment human molars crushed them. Their juices tasted sweet and were further enhanced by the buttery sauce they came with.

Sobelle would eat this every single day if she could, unfortunately, Shusks were rarely in season and their numbers would begin to dwindle now that the village knew they were back in the river.

"Mom, I'll go with everyone tomorrow to get Shusks!" Azil declared with confidence. Creyla shushed her son and hit him on the back of the hand.

"Ouch! What was that for?!"

"You're not allowed to do something so dangerous, wait til you're a bit older."

"Well Sobelle did it!"

"Sobelle is sixteen."

"Sobelle is a woman!" Azil yelled, his face furious.

"How come she was allowed to do it but I'm not? It isn't like I'm weaker than her!"

"Well, if you say that then you can always carry eight buckets of spring water back and forth." Sobelle often let her family members treat her horrendously. They were used to this attitude and expected her to continue acting like that. Not this time.

"Eight times. This was after I did my usual morning routine and after that, I caught Shusks." Instead of praise—saying she expected it was wrong, she knew her family wouldn't take her words lightly—Sobelle instead was met with stares full of worry, pity, and even smugness in the case of Efree. The reason why was because no one expected women to do any of that. Women were caretakers, they foraged on occasion, yes, but they were meant to stay in the house and take care of the family.

Men were the hunters and were expected to provide for said family. They did physical labor and kept women fed and safe.

"Sobelle... That's not something to be proud of." Her father explained. Saltor's tone was as calm as it could reasonably be, "women don't do anything physical, and they do not carry buckets from the mountain spring."

"Yes Sobelle, it is good that you were able to do so much despite everything, but do remember that we are meant to be protected and dainty. You are not a man, so do not act like one." Creyla scolded her on top of everything else. This was why Sobelle didn't dare tell anyone about her dreams of becoming a knight. She believed it was possible, the Gods believed it was possible, yet everyone else does not.

Sobelle did not care about the opinions of other humans for the heavens blessed her and guided her, that was more than enough proof of her potential. Yet it hurt anyway, to see her own family think of her as someone normal even though she proved to be anything but. She'd already shown them that she could do physical labor, so why couldn't they accept that it was fine for her to do so? To them, she was not meant to do it. Ever. And yet they were wrong, because Sobelle could do it. She'd be a knight one day.

They'll see.

"Okay, I'm sorry for overstepping." Sobelle relented for now, but one day she would prove everyone wrong. She'd be the greatest knight this world has ever seen and everyone would remember her for so long she'd fade into myth. They ate their meal in silence after that, Azil didn't dare say anything more about bringing Shusks tomorrow nor did he try continuing the argument with his mother. All was peaceful, and Sobelle was too.

If she resented her family for thinking that she wasn't blessed then that would be against the laws of the Gods. Families should always support each other, that was what the preacher who occasionally came to the village said. Sobelle did not want to risk acquiring the ire of the deities so she refused to hate her family. Even if they get a bit annoying at times. After dinner, Sobelle settled into her bed and pressed herself against the wall.

Her ears picked up the sound of conversation from the other side and she guessed they must be her own siblings based on their voices.

"So arrogant. Who does she think she is?" This would be Efree.

"She thinks she's so much better than everyone."

"Yeah! Just because she got food today?!" Azil hated her too huh? That... Hurt. She cared for her brother.

"Who cares about her? You two really need to get your priorities straight, Sobelle isn't special. She's weak. Pathetic." Her elder brother, someone who came from the same mother, also hated her. She really thought out of everyone, it would be her three brothers who would support her the most. But if Dorsh hated her, then she didn't trust the opinions of Larud and Aidon. Sobelle closed her eyes and tuned them out.

She hated that her own family didn't consider her as one of them but she'd never resent them out of fear of retribution from the Gods. They would get punished one day. She was sure of it.