Pilgrim, p.27
Pilgrim, page 27
The guards at the city gates with their giant shields stopped him, the larger of the two giving Danzen the once over.
“What is your purpose for visiting today?” he asked in a slow drawl.
Danzen was about to tell him that he had something to sell, but then he thought otherwise, figuring that telling him this may key one of them to ask for kip in return.
“I have an illness,” Danzen said, going with the first thing that came to mind. “Stomach sickness. My doctor in Suja Village told me to come here and pick up some herbs from a friend of his.” Danzen slowly lowered his hands to his stomach. “It’s not great.”
“Pass on through,” said the city guard, giving Danzen a wide berth, his companion doing the same.
Surprised that this had worked, Danzen went along his way. He ignored most of the people moving through the streets as he searched for the shop that Khamdo had told him about.
He spotted a brewery that also had an outdoor bar where people were already starting to congregate, a pair of men singing a song about a harrowing battle that took place eons ago.
Danzen found what he was looking for across from the brewery.
Set into the storefront of a two-story building, Selden’s Emporium was easy to overlook. That was, until Danzen moved closer to the shop and saw that the inside windows were lined with shelves featuring oddities, the window trims with a glowing line of green painted on them, and various animal tails hanging from the bottom of the sign above the door.
Danzen stepped in to find the shop empty of customers, the space nice and tidy.
There was a mounted head of a deer with a horn and set of antlers, shelves upon shelves of metal tins, everything from what looked like shrunken heads to primitive jewelry, most of which were displayed so someone passing by outside could see them.
“May I help you?” a man seated behind a counter asked. His eyebrows were long and bushy, a few strands of hair stretching across his bald dome.
“I’m here to sell something,” Danzen told him.
“Oh?”
Danzen went into a satchel and came back out with the strange armor. He set it on the countertop, and as he did the man became giddy with excitement.
“Oh my, oh my…” he said as he lifted the top and peered at it through the sunlight coming through the window. The man stretched the sleeve, running his hand over the material. “Where did you get this?” he finally asked Danzen.
“I found it.”
“Where?”
“I live near Suja Village, on the outskirts. It was discarded outside of my home.”
“By the Asura Forest, eh?” the man asked.
“Yes. I believe it belonged to a yokai. I was told that you would be the man interested in purchasing it.”
“I am the man interested in purchasing it,” he said with a crooked grin. “Selden’s the name, but I’m assuming you already knew that.”
Danzen nodded.
“This material…” He stretched it again. “I’ve only seen one other piece like it, and it belonged to a sugawara.”
“Sugawara?” Danzen asked, realizing in that moment that Selden would perhaps be as good of a source as Elder Sonders' library or Abbot Mergen’s field diary in identifying yokai.
“Yes, a sugawara. It’s the spirit of a lost warrior that has taken a corpse and been animated by lightning.”
Instinctively, Danzen took out his field diary, looking to the seller’s desk for something to write with. Once the man handed him a writing utensil, Danzen wrote down the name on a blank page.
“So you are interested in these kinds of things, eh?”
“I am. Since I live on the outskirts of town, I run into them on occasion,” Danzen explained. “So I’ve been keeping a field diary…”
“Well if you ever want to compare notes…” Selden offered him a toothy grin, his teeth yellow and brittle.
Danzen nodded.
“This material is said to repel a lightning strike,” Selden explained. “It obviously wouldn’t fit you, but it could possibly fit me,” he said with glee. “I’ve never actually tested it, but perhaps during the next lightning storm I will give it a shot. Anyway, yes, I would be delighted to buy this from you. How does a thousand kip sound?”
Having no idea what the armor was worth, Danzen simply shrugged. He did know, however, that Elder Sonders had paid him a thousand kip to retrieve his nephew, which was a much more complicated endeavor.
“Not enough?” Selden asked, misinterpreting Danzen’s gesture. “Fine, for an object like this I can go higher. Fifteen hundred kip.”
“Deal.”
“And if you see anything else like this, bring it by. I’m always in the market for new and exciting things,” Selden said as he folded the material.
“Body parts, too?”
The shop owner nodded, his smile thinning. “But if you do bring something like that, which I sincerely hope you do, make sure it’s concealed in some way. People can be squeamish here in Chutham. Quite unfortunate, really, but the truth generally is.”
****
Danzen took his time walking back to Suja Village, happy that he had been able to open another stream of revenue. With how often he assumed he would encounter yokai, he would probably have plenty to sell to Selden.
He only wished now that he had picked up whatever he could from some of the yokai he’d already slain. Who knew how much kip they would have been worth…?
He was hungry by the time he reached the Third District, and planned to stop by the Raksi Hall for some stew. But first, he needed to check in on the general store. Danzen had written off what Yeni had told him about her uncle, but now that Khamdo had also spoken about him, he figured it was worth checking out.
And besides that, he also knew that he owed Khamdo some parts.
Danzen was just reaching the front door of the store when Yeni burst out, an agitated look on her face, one that immediately changed when she spotted the former assassin.
“You came!” she said.
“I came to buy things.”
“There’s nothing left to buy,” she said, throwing her hands into the air. “Uncle Gempachi has eaten everything.”
“Everything?”
She nodded.
“That’s what Khamdo said.”
“Wait, so you trust him but you don’t trust me?” the teenage girl asked, a line appearing between her brow as her eyes narrowed on Danzen.
“This has nothing to do with trust.”
“Where were you all day?”
“Chutham.”
“Why did you go there?”
“No reason. May I come in?”
The youth continued to block the door. “I don’t want you to kill him,” she said under her breath.
“I wasn’t going to do that,” Danzen told her after a long pause, wondering why she had assumed he was capable of such things. Maybe she was able to read him better than he thought…
“But he has to go. Just…” Yeni chewed on her lip for a moment. “I don’t really like him. But my dad does, he’s doing everything he can do to make him happy. But Uncle Gempachi is taking advantage of him, and he’s ruining our business.”
Just moments ago, Danzen was about to step into the store and see what she was talking about. Now that it looked as if this could turn into a family drama, he started to think otherwise.
It wasn’t his business as to what happened in their small family; all he needed was supplies for Khamdo, and since he didn’t know what Khamdo actually wanted to buy…
“Where are you going?” Yeni asked as Danzen turned away, figuring he would just give the money to Khamdo himself. “Don’t you want to see this?”
Danzen shook his head, and was surprised when the teenager came forward and grabbed him by the arm, dragging him to the front door of the general store.
It wasn’t often that someone put their hands on him, an instinctual part of Danzen nearly flipping her over onto her back. But he caught himself just in time, and for his efforts he was shoved inside the general store by the teen.
“See?”
Sure enough, an overweight man sat on the floor with a dead look in his eyes as he chewed on a chain. His feet were short and stubby, and he wore a button-up shirt that was barely able to contain his girth. Another noticeable, if slightly jarring feature were his whiskers, which were ten inches long and were only situated at the corners of his mouth, the rest of his face clean-shaven, his hair practically nonexistent.
“Uncle,” Yeni whined, “what are you doing?”
“Have… Have to eat…” he said between bites.
“Where’s your father?” Danzen asked Yeni, his hand slowly lowering to the hilt of his blade. Once again, it had been sheer instinct that he went for his weapon, the hair on the back of Danzen’s neck standing to attention as he first caught sight of the gluttonous man.
He stood with his legs slightly spread. In case he needed to move into action, his first reaction would be to step in front of Yeni and protect her.
“He went to get more food from the market in the First District,” she said, glaring at her uncle. “And I think he’s going to stop by Chuki’s lumberyard for supplies.” Her voice lowered. “He’s going to have to hide this stuff if he brings it back here…” Yeni gestured toward her uncle.
“That makes sense,” was all that Danzen could say.
“I’m going to… I’m going to… finish this soon,” Uncle Gempachi said, looking at Danzen and Yeni with bloodshot eyes.
“What am I supposed to do about this?” she asked in a shrill voice as she made her way to the front counter. Still, with a dark look on her face, Yeni took a slat of wood from one of the shelves behind the counter and tossed it onto the ground, where it slid over to her uncle.
Wheezing, the man managed to press himself forward and get the wood, which he quickly started chomping down on, the heavy man letting out a satisfying burp after swallowing his first bite.
“Do you have somewhere you can go?” Danzen asked the teenager.
“What do you mean?”
“It may not be safe here,” he said.
“Not safe? It’s safe. He’s just eating everything.” Yeni finally interpreted the look Danzen was giving her. “Wait, you think he’ll try to eat me?”
Danzen grimaced.
“He wouldn’t do something like that. I don’t…” The teen turned to her uncle again, suddenly not so sure of the statement she’d just made. “Maybe I should go somewhere else, at least until my dad returns.”
“I think that would be best. I was planning to drop by Khamdo’s home. Perhaps you could go there with me. They’re probably having dinner right around now.”
“But the store…”
“Leave a note for your father and lock up,” Danzen instructed her.
“Fine…”
Danzen waited for her to lock up. When she was done, he led Yeni through the residential area behind the main street to Khamdo’s quaint home.
He knocked on the door and Sarnai came, Leegan in her arms. “Khamdo’s not back yet…” she started to say, her eyes jumping curiously to the teenage girl.
“I figured she could stay here for a little while,” said Danzen. “There is a disturbance at the general store…”
“My uncle.”
“Yes, I’ve heard about that,” Sarnai told Yeni. “I just made some dinner, and it doesn’t look like Khamdo will be home to eat it while it’s warm. Please, come in. You can come in too, Pilgrim.”
“I think I’ll grab an ale instead,” he told her as he reached into his satchel for some money. “And give this to Khamdo. It should help him get some of the supplies he used on my place today.”
Danzen handed her several hundred kip. She protested at first, but he insisted, and once her child started crying, Sarnai no longer put up a fight.
With Yeni at Sarnai’s home, Danzen made his way to Suja Raksi Hall, where he planned to eat a meal and drink some alcohol alone. This plan changed once he saw Mansukh sitting at a table by himself, the general store owner nursing a flagon of ale.
“Your daughter is at Khamdo’s place. Sarnai is feeding her,” Danzen said as he took a seat in front of him.
“What?” The older man looked up at Danzen, a distraught look on his face, his cheeks red.
“How many have you had?”
“Just…” Mansukh shook his head. “I’m sorry.” He hiccupped, and placed his hand over his mouth for a moment, keeping it there as he stared down at the table. “My uncle has eaten everything in my store. I’m down to my last kip, and like an idiot, I’m here spending it on drinks. I just needed one, but one turned into two which turned into three…” He started to count on his fingers, eventually losing track of the number and waving his hand. “More than I should have drunk. I’m sorry. I should go get Yeni.”
“She’s fine for now,” Danzen told him as Zorya the barmaid came over to their table.
“A stew and an ale,” Danzen said before she could ask.
“Another for me,” Mansukh started to say. The drunk glanced from Danzen to Zorya.
“Fine. A mug of hot water then,” he said with a grumble.
“Tell me about your uncle,” Danzen said after the barmaid had left.
“He showed up a few days ago and he just started eating everything,” said Mansukh, his words slurring together. “Everything. It didn’t matter what it was. Food, construction material, even a glass figurine that used to belong to my wife. Where was he when you saw him?”
“In the store.”
“By the curses of Sunyata…” said Mansukh, once again burying his face in his hand. “I guess Yeni dragged him in there. Probably better. He has already eaten most of our furniture. Did she tell you that?”
Danzen shook his head.
“Well, he did. The bastard. No, I shouldn’t say that about him. He helped me a lot when I was first getting the general store up and going, pretty much funded it. He deserves to eat whatever he likes. I’m being ungrateful…”
“Something is wrong with him.”
“You think?” Mansukh asked, sending his neck forward some. “Because I was thinking the same thing too. I’ve never seen someone eat like that. And furniture? Who eats furniture?”
“I will look into it. It may take me a day,” Danzen told him as his ale came.
Zorya placed the mug of hot water before Mansukh, smiled at Danzen, and quickly skittered away.
“She’s a good girl,” Mansukh said, watching her run off. “My Yeni could learn a thing or two about work ethic from her. But she’s lived a hard life, Zorya has. And being a barmaid certainly wouldn’t be something I’d want for my Yeni.” He shook his head. “Right, my uncle. Anything you can do. I have an important shipment coming in a day from now and I already can’t pay for it.”
“How much?”
“I can float a little bit of it, but probably around a thousand kip.”
Danzen nodded. “We’ll think of something by then.”
“Why are you helping me?” Mansukh asked suddenly. He peered at Danzen, trying to decipher if there was some ulterior motive in his companionship.
“I was told that the people of Suja Village helped each other out. I live here now, or near here, so I’m trying to do my part.”
“That’s really nice…” Mansukh took a sip of his hot water and winced. “I wish hot water tasted like ale.”
This statement caused a rare grin to stretch across Danzen’s face. “I’d bet good kip you’re not the only drunk who has said that before.”
“Ha! Most certainly not.” His jovial tone quickly faded as he began worrying about Uncle Gempachi again. “I don’t know when he’s going to leave, but if I somehow can pay for the coming shipment, and he's still there… We’ll have to move somewhere. Maybe to Tudan. Maybe farther. I don’t know. I don’t know what we’ll do,” he said, his voice growing desperate again.
“Just try to relax,” Danzen told him. “And sober up; this will work out.”
.Chapter Three.
It was too late to stop by Elder Sonders' home, so Danzen Ravja made his way back to his monastery instead, keeping a careful eye on the Asura Forest as he walked beside it.
He was greeted by Yama, the lion dog hopping down from his pedestal and happily approaching Danzen. The former assassin placed his hand on the yokai’s head and took a deep breath in, admiring the monastery for a moment, how foreboding it looked in the dark, especially with the moon behind it, elongating its shadows.
The door was fixed, and once he let himself inside, Danzen quickly locked up. It was pitch black inside the monastery, but he’d made the journey to his bedroom enough times now to navigate the space in the darkness.
Danzen reached his bedroom and flicked the lantern on, which hissed as a small flame sparked behind a glass cylinder.
This provided just enough light for him to look through his field diary, where he searched for the yokai who had attacked him last night.
There were no entries for a “sugawara,” and after flipping through once again, Danzen finally grew tired.
The wind woke him sometime in the middle of the night, the former assassin immediately going for his weapon as he thought he saw something shift in the shadows.
Some of the assassins that were currently hunting him, ones like Soko, or perhaps the blind Nomin, were known to operate in complete darkness.
Crouching now, Danzen slipped over to the wall next to the doorway, taking calculated breaths as he listened for any indication of movement within the monastery.
Another gust of wind wailed as it moved down the hill, to the farmland and the forest below.
Always one to be careful, Danzen sat with his back against the wall, Astra now in his lap, the sword still sheathed.
A week or so ago, he had tried setting alarms around the monastery, using a string with small bells tied to it.
But the winds, which started up almost randomly, quickly forced him to take these down. He also thought about setting up a tripwire in his home, but it would be something he would have to remove every morning, especially on the mornings that Khamdo came.
