Chapter 15: 14 Elder Irvin
While going to Elder healing´s place I still had time to remember his name. Dodging inattentive adults and sometimes some smaller animals I hastily thought about that name I couldn´t remember.
His name... was Ingrid? No... That's a woman's name right? But something with an I or In... no that doesn´t sound right... Irvan? That sounds right, but something is till of... hmm... Oh! Yes! Irvin, it was Elder Irvin! I think... Bah, whatever if that name is also wrong I can always apologize. Although it won´t improve my reputation, can it get any lower anyway? Probably... yes... it can always go lower... Come on! Happy thoughts! Happy thoughts! In two days I have to win at least two fights or my mother won´t let me continue my solo training. How stress-inducing... well here goes nothing!
I knock on the doorframe and waited for a response.
Strange thought: Does anybody even knock here? I sincerely don´t know since nobody comes to visit us. Besides that one time, my father came after my birth. Did he knock? I don´t remember. Should I simply walk in? Isn´t that quite disrespectful? Or am I mixing up my knowledge? Let´s think a bit about it before I manage to anger another muscle-packed... guy? What did my mother tell me about entering a stranger's house?
.
.
.
Absolut nothing comes to mind. Okay so knocking didn´t seem to work since he did not answer, or he is out. Okay so breathe in breathe out and let´s go in.
"I wondered when you would stop loitering and enter."
The Elder sat at the fireplace and crushed some herbs or other stuff inside a wooden bowl. He did not look at me and instead focused on the inside of the bowl.
"So where did you hurt yourself?"
The Elders house was built partly out of wood and about three-quarters were built on a small rock formation. Glancing through the room, I could see something like a cave entrance leading further down. Hmm? A cave in prehistoric times? Does that mean that there might be pictures of legends or - less interesting - hunting pictures? That could be...
"So?"
His deep voice resounded inside the room. I could already pick up a hint of annoyance inside his voice.
"What did you come here for?"
Right! What did I come here for again? Without him asking me to I sat down in front of the Elder the fireplace dividing us.
"I wanted to ask you a few questions about the small people... do you have time?"
There I minded my manners! Barely remembered that I shouldn´t aggravate him further, but I really don´t know anymore what is polite and what is not. It does not help that I have memories from my previous life in which I was quite polite - cause I was a coward - and my motto was being polite warrants the other side to be polite, too. Often enough it works out, but also often it did not. Some exploited my politeness and my hesitation to talk bad about others. I really hated people talking behind my back. It is not like I would be angry at anybody for giving me critics, so I could better myself. Or simply ignore the comment. I was fed up with the social wars. Tilting the opinion of others into favorable or hate about the guy you like or hate is tedious and I was never good at it. I always wanted to be free of third people's opinions and hoped others would judge me as I am not as they heard. Short answer: It was futile. That´s what is great about this place: Nobody talks behind your back. They always tell it directly to my face!
Enough with my ranting! What I wanted to say was: I really don´t know what is polite here. Somehow I felt I already said that...
"I have time."
His voice grumbled as he took another batch of herbs threw them into the bowl and started grinding them, too.
"At least until I finished my work here, so ask what you want to ask."
Seems like he has an hour or a half to spare for me. So I better stop daydreaming and start to get to the point already.
"What can you tell me about the small people?"
He stopped grinding for a second and gave me a fleeting glance, before lowering his gaze to his bowl and resuming his work.
"Basically anybody could have answered that question."
"but you are the ol... wisest person here. You might know something others don´t."
He heaved a heavy sigh.
"I did promise you to answer, so I will. What exactly do you want to know?"
"Everything. Let´s start with when did the small people appear?"
"When I was young they suddenly appeared at a village near the mountains. They stood there shining in the sunlight and barked as they always do. I don´t know what they were trying to do, but the villagers basically ignored them. Then they attacked."
He threw me a thoughtful look.
"Do you know what happened?"
Well, there are only two options to choose from here. Either the village or the soldiers got obliterated. If I had to choose I really want the villagers to remain victorious, but what really happened?
"Did they kill the villagers?"
That was seemingly the wrong answer, as in Irvin's face I could see disgust dwelling.
"No! The small people managed to pick off a few children, but as soon as the adults arrived they got destroyed. They ran away, but since then time and time again they would come and attack. No matter how often they got pushed back they returned and with time they grew stronger somehow. And now they actually managed to destroy one of our villages."
I could see his frustration on his face. His face wrinkled and his grinding grew fierce.
"Now the villages near the mountains will probably unite and hunt the small people wherever they are hiding."
"What will our village do?"
The Elder only shrugged his shoulders.
"Nothing, it is not our problem. A few of our people have some relatives in that village, so maybe some will venture out and join the hunting, but we will just do as we always did. Since ours is the strongest of the villages."
So that´s why Athala was so interested in the small people? Fine, it has basically nothing to do with me. What I am really interested in is something else.
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