128 CXXVIII. Over The Hill

"Why do you think Kvete lands' cold streaks and Vegard's forge are connected?" interrupted Reidar, intruding into the conversation.

"It is said that Vegard's weapons are not mere weapons. To forge them, you need more than just steel. The blacksmith uses the vital energy of our fields, of our plants, preventing them from growing" said one of the two men, drinking mead.

"My grandfather said that many years ago, before this village existed, Kvete was the greenest region on the planet, there were trees everywhere, it was a boundless forest. Then the blacksmith chose to take refuge here and since then everything changed and the peasants of the region were forced to cut down the dying trees to plant the wheat, which needs fewer resources to grow... but it produces less profit" said the other old man.

"Throughout two generations, as affluent traders, we have become poor farmers without resources" he continued.

Dag and Reidar looked at each other, imagining the discomfort those people felt and their refusal to change the way they saw things.

The legends of Vegard and the evil he had brought to Kvete, had been inculcated to them for generations, would not have changed after the words of an inexperienced young warrior like Dag.

He and Reidar avoided going on with the conversation and simply finished the meal and drank the homemade mead.

After about half an hour, Karl returned to the hut and went to sit next to his companions.

"Hey brother! What happened to your hair?" chuckled Dag, putting a hand on Karl's shoulder.

He had completely messy hair, flushed lips and the shirt he was wearing under the leather suit of the armor was half out of his pants.

Karl laughed, embarrassed in front of his companions.

About ten minutes passed, before the girl entered the hut, without her hat, with her long blonde hair loose.

Karl looked toward the table, embarrassed, as she walked toward the woman sitting at the head of the table and sat next to her.

Dag continued to pat Karl over his shoulder, proudly.

He filled him with a glass of mead and made a toast in his honor with Reidar.

By the time everyone finished eating, it was afternoon and the Sun was about to set behind the hills on the horizon.

Reidar and Dag sat at the table, with a map of the region in front of them, trying to locate the small village in which they were staying.

Clearly, it did not appear on the map, of a much larger scale.

After receiving advice from the two old men in the village, Dag and Reidar were ready to leave.

Karl didn't seem intent on leaving.

The three friends came out of the hut, to speak in private.

"That girl really hit you, huh?" asked Dag to Karl, imagining what had happened that morning.

"Her name is Agnes... It's a beautiful name, isn't it?" replied Karl, looking towards the hut with an expression off into space.

Dag and Reidar looked puzzled at each other.

"Yes, that's a nice name" Reidar said.

"Her skin was as smooth as the most refined leather and her big, firm breasts like two big pulpy fruits" Karl continued, fantasizing.

"Hahaha! Then it worked! Did you fuck her?" asked Dag, curiously.

Karl blushed. He then turned out to his two friends and nodded his head, confirming Dag's hypothesis.

He and Reidar burst out laughing.

"It never happened to you, did it Karl?" asked Reidar, teasing his comrade.

Karl looked downwards, shyly.

"You know we have a mission to accomplish, brother. Once we get to Tyven, before we head to Hevnen we can pass here one last time if you like" Dag continued.

"It was the most beautiful thing that ever happened to me! I didn't think sex could be so beautiful! I thought fighting was satisfying, but that body... why fight when you could always have sex?!" replied Karl, gassed by his new experience.

"Hahaha! You're right! I'd love that too" Reidar chuckled, sharing Karl's enthusiasm.

"All right, Dag. We can leave anytime. Agnes and I will see each other again, I'm sure. And next time, I'm going to ask her to come with me to Jernhest. I don't think her mother has anything to do with it" Karl continued.

Dag nodded his head.

Just then, he heard a sound coming from hundreds of feet away.

It was a horse's nitrite.

"Wild horses? The farmers didn't tell us there were wild animals in the cultivated fields" he said, looking around, trying to pinpoint the source of that noise.

"What are you talking about, Dag?" asked Karl, who tried to look in his direction, not seeing anything.

"I heard the nitrite of a horse. I suppose he must have a knight, too. It came that way" Dag continued, pointing his finger at the top of a hill adjacent to the village.

"It's true! Someone's there! Look up there!" confirmed Reidar.

On the hill, a man on horseback was spying on them. As soon as he noticed that Dag and his companions had discovered him, he turned the other way, moving away quickly.

Within seconds, he vanished behind the headland, descending from the opposite side to the one facing the village.

"I think he was one of those bandits we let go, Captain!" said Reidar, who would be ready to chase him and kill him instantly.

"I think you're right. But where is he going?" said Dag, squinting to focus.

"I don't like this. If we leave this village, the bandits could attack it again and this time there would be no escape for these poor people" Karl said, drawing the attention of the other two fellows.

"That's true. We can't leave them like this... not after their hospitality. Those bandits were bad fighters, I'm sure we could defeat them even with our eyes closed" said Dag, self-confident.

Karl approached his captain and looked him in the eye.

"If anything happened to Agnes I would never forgive myself. I beg you, Dag. This time it's me proposing a detour" he said, in a serious tone.