So, after that, I continued my investigation. If you remember, I told you we looted their clothes. And from what Forsaken told me, they are from somewhere where these clothes were made. That brings us to the question: were there other places outside of the neighbouring villages?
That's when it's going to be interesting!
I started questioning myself about it. However, since Forsaken was from the second generation of nomad, he couldn't really have an answer about where he really originated from.
My last option was to ask someone from the village for answers. And at this point, there weren't many people left, and even lesser people I knew.
So, I asked Lingo first. He told me " I've never left the region in my life ". Dead end.
I then asked Mama Ngala, but she answered " You really think that with all the work I do, I have enough time to play travellers? Stop asking stupid questions, I'm busy "... Yeah, actually I didn't tell you about it, but the women from that region were really really easy to piss off. I don't know why, it must be a cultural thing, I guess.
I had two people left in mind: Miki—Actually, I should have used a respectful suffix to his name but heh, he's not here anyway— and Makemba.
He's talking about the " respectful suffix " people from that region use when talking to an older person. Just like the " Mama" before Ngala, because directly saying the name can be seen as inappropriate and impolite.
I honestly was too tired to find Makemba back, so I went for Miki. He was in a remote village a few kilometers from there.
The day after, I went there with Forsaken, thanks the directions Lingo had given us. It was pretty close actually. We did probably two to three hours on foot to get there.
Forsaken had really good stamina, nothing less to expect from a native nomad.
On the road, we saw the village in question. However, that's when I hated walking the most. You see the thing getting closer, but the closer you get, it gets further. I don't know
if you've ever had that experience.
*member of the crowd: Yes, I've already lived it! It's indeed very weird!*
Yeahhhh.
So, when we arrived, I didn't even have time to look for Miki, and it's Mina who jumps on me. She was really happy to see me alive. She also asked who was with me, but I couldn't say Forsaken was previously an aggressor—even thought he never killed anyone, I still had to cover for him. I told her he was the friend we made along the way, and she said "alright". Too bad she didn't get the reference. Ahaha!... You don't get it either, right?
*the crowd: Yess*
Didn't expect anything else anyway.
So, she brought me to her father who was selling fruits and vegetables on a stall in the village market. That village was more " evolved" than the Anza Village. It was a bigger community, and the rules were a little bit different. There were fewer social exchanges. It was actually just like Anza Village, but capitalist.
There was a market, not the one you could imagine, but I'm too lazy to describe it, so imagine how you want it to look like.
There were also bigger houses, not the small terracotta ones the Anza Village used. It looked more... European. Wait, you don't know what Europe is anyway. Act as if you
know what I'm talking about.
He's getting a little too comfortable here. Can someone please slap him ? Or at least give a threat or something?
Oh, nevermind, someone climbed up the stage and is beating him up...
Arh! You bunch of fucking animals!
*the crowd: Continue talking!*
Crap! Okay, enough of the descriptions.
I asked Miki about the motherland of the men in black, or at least the origin of their clothes. He told me, " I can answer both: they come from... "
Wait... What was its
name again? I actually forgot the name.
*members of the
crowd: What ? Are you serious?/ What do you mean you forgot?*
I'm dead serious. I really forgot the name of the place. Even though I lived there, but it was a long time ago. Okay, let's call it " The Medieval Empire " from the time being. When I remember, or if you guess from what I say, the name will come
back.
So, when he told me the name I forgot, I only had one thing in mind: Going there.
I asked him where it was, and he said " two days on foot " while pointing a direction.
Two days ? Might as well say four days. I had not enough stamina for that. And not enough
fighting skills too, I didn't want to run into some knock-off men in black on the way.
I unfortunately had to wait and prepare.
When I was reflecting about it, I felt my clothes being pulled, and when I looked, it was Forsaken asking me to lend him an ear. So, I lowered my head to hear him, and he told me " She's cute " while pointing a girl on the other side of the market... Pfff ahahaha ! It was so funny, I even burst out laughing!
I told him " Go on, have fun, we're only here for a day anyway. I'll come pick you up on the
afternoon " and I left...
Why would he just waste time on saying such trivial things when he's had so
much epic adventures—ohhhh! I get it now! He's trying to make the crowd doze
off!
Okay, when the day was over, we slept in the Nda Village—the village I was talking about the whole time—and went back to Anza the next day.
When I arrived, I went straight to Lingo's house and barged in, but I found myself face to face with Lingo and a girl. I remember seeing her often, but never made the link
between her and Lingo.
I immediately made a U-turn but he called me and presented me to her. Her name was Anna... Which was a pretty normal sounding name among all the names I've ever heard in the whole region, along with Mina. She had a light skin, which was a bad sign, because it's well known that black girls with light skin tone are often players—okay, my ex was like that, but it's still universally known... I'm sure of it—But anyway, I wasn't about to spit on my buddy's girlfriend.
What kind of stereotype is that...? Come on Void! ( Actually, for all the
people deceived by these girls, let's give him half a credit for that.)
I took the opportunity to tell him: " We have to train our bodies and fighting skills
together from now on." And he said yes.
For the following months, all I was doing was working out every time I could with Forsaken and him.
*member of the
crowd: You said Months ?? Why did you take so much time?*
I was afraid... No, I am afraid of Mama Ngala's medecine. I couldn't afford to get beaten again. So, one day, I judged myself to be jacked enough. Our workouts were mostly pushups, sit-ups, squats, and we pretty much used any object we could find useful to train our bodies. Also we were often sparring with wooden swords and doing hand to hand combats.
That day, I told Forsaken: " We're going to the Medieval Empire in three days ".
I told it to Lingo—after interrupting him and his girlfriend, of course—and he told me:
" Okay, I have a present for you ".
Let's skip to the day before the departure.
I was preparing everything. A few people gave me food to help me, and I was given a " bag ", which was a big cloth I'd fold the edges, add a strap and use as a backpack.
I went to Lingo's house, and again, he was with Anna. He told me, " Here, the present I promised you " and it was a wooden mask.
Ahhh, the plot armor mask. It was quite useful.
It was a mask with a smile on it, with no eyes. However, I could still see through it... That
mask was weird and I felt a strange energy from it.
It was the waves of plot convenience hitting his face.
I guess i couldn't say no to an honest gift. But he sensed my puzzled face and told me: "It's a gift to protect you. That mask is a reminder to always smile, even in deep sorrow and grief."
*member of the crowd: And you still took it ?*
It was kind hearted, so I took it.
*same member of the crowd: Were you stupid? It definitely screamed " Something fucking weird is going on ", come on!*
How dare an insignificant like you talk to me like that ? Is it because I'm chained to that
chair? Have you forgotten what I did to your miserable town? I dare you to talk like that again.
Yeah, that's what I thought.
He probably wants to get beaten again.
I was saying, I got the mask, did what I had to do for the day, and P.R.P.S.
The next day, we woke up early. I went to Lingo's house to say goodbye, and he was with his girl, so I just checked him with our secret handshake and told him, as I backed away " I'll only come back to see the kids " and we both laughed.
After that, I went back to the Nda Village. I forgot to tell you, we had to go along with Miki, since he often used that road to deliver fruits and vegetables to other villages.
So, we started walking, we picked him up and took the directions he pointed at that day.
Strangely, it's like it was organised. Paths between close villages were just walking in the forest, but this time, to go to the Medieval Empire, it was a large road. Seemed like
horses often took that road. I knew I was going to live in a better place than before, even if it was still underdeveloped, compared to my world, but it's not a competition.
The first day, we stopped two times to eat and cool off a little, and at the end of the day, we slept in a village called Mouyondzi. People there were really friendly, they also seemed to know Miki very well. We sat at a campfire, and one of the elders started talking and making big gestures like he was the main character of a drama or something. But unfortunately, I couldn't understand a single word of what he was saying. I asked Miki, and he said: " He is telling mythical stories and telling proverbs." I was bored.
P.R.P.S.
*member of the crowd: Excuse me, mister Void*
Yeah, I'm listening.
*Same member of the crowd: You said earlier that you had haunting dreams. Did they stop orrr—*
No. I was still haunted by that. I just was too tired to even take the nightmares seriously. By that time, I considered them as part of me. However, I don't see the damn point
of the question. It wasn't even correlated.
*Still the same member of the crowd: I just wanted to know, that's all*
Hum... Weirdo.
So, the next day, we hit the road again. For clarity, the " road " was just a large path of sand and gravel—not real pavement or asphalt.
We walked and Miki was telling us about his life. How once, when he was younger, he used to peek at girls bathing and changing, how his mother used to beat him up because he was lazy, and how he was scared of medecine because of Mama Ngala. At this
point, I think the whole village was scared of medecine.
Two different worlds, but humans will always be humans.