The Strange God

1. 3. Nonsense

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Inside the village head's house, the scene is not as busy as outside, but murmurs can still be heard by the people inside. The people inside want to close the windows, but they cannot because the open windows are the only source of light. The windows are made of materials that light can barely pass through.

Candles sit atop a human-sized candle stand with multiple arms in the room's four corners, but they are not lit. This indicates that candles are precious and hard to come by, even for the village head.

Five people sit on one side of a simple but sturdy rectangular wooden table, while one man sits on the other side, holding an infant. Like the undecorated table, everyone in the room, with walls lined with stones supported by large wooden beams, sits on wooden chairs.

A bald, hunched-backed, wrinkled older man is at the center of the five-person group. Like the other villagers outside, he wears a one-piece coarse cloth. He has tanned skin, white eyebrows, and silver-colored irises.

He appears emaciated, and his clothes seem too large. He brushes his soil-stained fingers through his long, well-maintained white mustache. This is not the only well-maintained hair on his body; he also has a well-kept white beard that reaches his waist, resembling a thick-bodied, thin-pointed paintbrush.

Despite his appearance, he is the village head. Though the shortest and oldest among the five, he is the respected and trusted leader of this nearly isolated, sparsely populated village.

While brushing his facial hair with his fingers, he announces, "You can stay. Take the house at the back of the village."

Everyone, including the four village elders next to the village head, remains quiet despite their colorful expressions. They all look constipated, waiting for their opportunity to speak.

"But that house has a resident. Still an orphan, but still a resident," thinks the one on the village head's right, who looks like a priest based on his robe, distraughtly.

"From now on, you own that house and its contents and can do whatever you need to with it. That should be enough to compensate for the three boar monsters you are giving the village," the village head adds.

"Aren't the value of these three boar monsters equivalent to three of our village?" questions the one on the village head's left, who looks like a healer based on his smell in his mind.

"Village head, so I am a permanent resident of this village from now on?" the man carrying a child asked.

"Yes," the village head replied.

"But we do not issue residency here. Travelers can become residents whenever they give us something valuable, and they can just come and go," thought the one on the far left of the village head, who looked like a small giant based on his build and appeared responsible for the village's security. He covered his face with his right palm to hide his easily readable facial expression.

"Do I also own the land the house is standing on?" the man asked.

"Yes."

"I need more land. What should I do?"

"The small garden behind the house given to you is also yours, but—"

"I cannot take this anymore!" the village elder on the far right of the village head shouted, cutting off the village head's words.

The one who spoke was a dwarf. "Any land not cultivated is unclaimed. Any villager can own lands outside or inside the village if they continue cultivating them, and they lose their claim if they stop tending to them," he added, looking at the man carrying a child with patience.

The traveler nodded at the dwarf and asked, "Do I need to give the village any form of tax or payment?"

"Yes, you have to give the village one golden coin every four seasons during the early days of spring and also—"

"No taxes. The village is not under any of the three surrounding kingdoms, and we do not have a hunters guild, adventurers guild, or any other guild. You just need to provide easy-to-store food at the end of every season," the priest interjected, cutting off the village head's words.

"These are used to pay well-bodied volunteers to defend and secure our village against bandits, monsters, and beasts," the small giant explained.

"It is also used for the village when unexpected famine from drought and other disasters may arise," the healer added.

"Then I need all of this in writing and the signatures of all people here as proof of this conversation," the traveler requested.

"But nobody knows how to read and write in the entire village," the village head said nonchalantly. He seemed used to how the other elders were acting and vice versa.

The priest looked at the village head, who resembled a dehydrated potato with a white mustache and beard. "Village head, how many times have I told you that the church has kept all the records in the village since its establishment?"

The priest then turned to the traveler. "I will create a copy of the record of what happened in this room today. We cannot provide signatures as we do not practice that here; no one can read and write in the entire village except us four elders and the village head. However, I will include the names of the attendees."

"All official documents are written by the church and stamped by the village head. A document stamped by the village head is recognized within the three kingdoms and accepted by their citizens. Instead of a signature, the village head will stamp the copy I provide," he added.

The traveler nodded in understanding.

"Now that you are accepted here, let's finish this. I am hungry, and it is almost past midday," the village head grumbled like a child without shame.

All four elders looked at their child-like village head and face-palmed.

"Ahem," the healer said, diverting all attention to him and the traveler. "I will ask you a series of questions before we let you go. We do this for all newcomers on their first day here."

"Go ahead," the traveler agreed.

"Name, gender, age, race, and occupation, including rank?"

"Kabu–"

"Wait, touch this orb of truth while you answer," the priest interrupted, handing him a palm-sized orb on a glass cup stand.

While the traveler looked at and touched the orb, the priest explained, "We worship multiple gods and goddesses here, and the goddess of two faces is one of them. This orb was a gift from the main church when I was assigned here. It glows blue when the holder is lying and yellow when the holder is telling the truth."

"You may answer the questions now while holding the orb of truth," the healer gestured for the traveler to continue.

"Name: Kabun Yan

Gender: Male

Age: 199 years old

Race: Elf

Occupation: Hunter

Rank: Silver-ranked, Level Blue."

Everyone in the room gasped when they heard his occupational rank. They looked at the traveler with disbelief and wonder, all thinking along the lines of, "What in the world are you doing here? With your rank, the kings of the three kingdoms would be fighting over each other to have one or all of their princesses marry you. Heck, they would even give you one of their sons."

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