Episode 07
Narca
Stepping out of the old tavern onto the well-packed dirt path, Lumian hesitated about where to go.
The beating morning sunlight held a hint of chill.
Just then, Raymond Clégg approached from the side.
“I was just thinking of looking for you.”
“What’s up?”
Lumian, having returned to his normal state, asked deliberately.
Raymond showed a puzzled expression.
“Forgot? We agreed to seek out elderly people alive who are of our grandfather’s generation today to ask about the mystic rumor.”
Lumian raised a hand to his head, putting on a pained expression.
“Really? Why don’t I remember? Maybe you’re hallucinating?”
Raymond, overwhelmed by the shock and fear, had been trying to recall if yesterday’s events were a hallucination, when he instantly caught the smile appearing on Lumian’s face.
“Damn you, pulling another prank!”
Raymond couldn’t help but curse.
“Your curses lack any creativity.”
Lumian clicked his tongue and sighed.
“Even Ava would be better at it than you.”
Ava Lizier was a pretty girl in Cordu village, currently a gooseherd. Her father, Guillaume Lizier, was a shoemaker. Skilled at making leather shoes from hides provided by shepherds, his reputation extended to several surrounding villages.
“Ava…”
Raymond’s expression shifted slightly.
He then looked at Lumian and said, “Ava is our friend, right?”
“Sure is.”
Lumian smiled and nodded.
The three of them, along with the Béry family’s Guillaume and Ava’s cousin Azéma Lizier, were young people who often hung out together.
“Why not let Ava join our investigation too?”
Raymond suggested.
“You know her father always goes on about ‘why should property be divided for girls who’ll marry out’ and ‘do you know how many families go bankrupt because of that’. So Ava’s really anxious. If we gain any treasure or reward from this investigation, she could rest a little easier.”
“How many uncles in the village say similar things? Including the parish priest, they’re all frantic about not being able to keep their sisters at home forever. Even if they don’t marry, if sisters want to live out on their own, they have to be given their share of the property.”
Lumian looked at Raymond with a smile, then continued in a deliberately nonchalant tone:
“That’s also why so many families want to make one of their children a shepherd. Even if a shepherd can’t marry, they can earn a steady income and support themselves.”
Raymond’s face gradually darkened. He hadn’t considered that issue. This was one reason he liked hanging out with Lumian. Though most villagers called Lumian a troublemaker for liking to trick and prank people, his insight far surpassed all his peers. Unlike himself, who didn’t know much, spent the day bewildered, and only did as told at home.
Knowing is enough…
Lumian muttered inwardly before returning to the main point.
“No time now. We need to start inquiries quickly. We’ll find Ava tomorrow. Hmm, after that, we could probably get little Guillaume and Azéma to join too. We might gain some reward, but besides that, it’s an interesting activity that can hone our abilities.”
“Little Guillaume and Azéma too?”
Raymond seemed reluctant. The more people sharing the reward, the smaller his share. Moreover, and most importantly, if that happened, his chances of making a good impression on Ava would also vanish.
Lumian’s eyes held a pitying kindness as he looked at his friend.
You fool, would Ava even look at you? That high-browed girl only thinks about marrying into a good family. She might have some fondness for a bad boy like me, but she knows how to control herself…
In the Dalarle region, ‘high-browed’ meant having high standards, not even looking at ordinary people.
“My sister says, where there are many people, a path opens.”
Lumian replied briefly.
“So, which elderly people should we find?”
“You didn’t investigate?”
Raymond asked, sounding surprised.
After the wand card incident, did I have the leisure to look into that?
Lumian laughed.
“Of course I did. I’m just asking to test your information-gathering skills.”
Raymond didn’t suspect.
“Among the elderly still alive in the village who are around our grandfather’s age or older, there are nine total. Respectively…”
Six women, three men. Indeed, women live longer.
After listening quietly to Raymond, Lumian thought for a moment and said:
“The last two you mentioned, no need to visit. Those grandmothers are from other villages; they married into this one. Hmm, let’s go ask Narca first. She’s the oldest, and was already an adult when the mystic incident occurred.”
‘Narca’ was not her real name but an honorific for her.
In Raston Province, married women from prestigious families or those acting as the actual head of household received the title ‘Madame’. The method was to add an ‘a’ to the end of the name to indicate femininity and prefix it with ‘Na’ to convey meanings like ‘Madame’ or ‘Mistress’.
Madame Poiris, whose family had long declined and whose household’s actual head was Administrator Beost, couldn’t be called ‘Na’ or have the ‘a’ suffix; she was just called ‘Madame’.
Narca had lost her husband young, single-handedly shouldered the household, raised two sons, married them off, and even seen grandchildren. Though very advanced in age, she still held the family’s financial power. This was rare in Cordu village, as men led most households. In fatherless homes, sons naturally took over management power from their mothers as soon as they became adults.
“Alright.”
Raymond didn’t ask any questions.
After passing a few buildings, Lumian could see four elderly women basking in the sun and chatting in front of a two-story building. Sitting close together, they were picking lice from each other’s bodies, passing leisurely time. In the rural Intis Republic, picking lice from each other was a recreational activity that brought people closer.
“Go ask now?”
Raymond hesitated slightly, seemingly worried their investigation might become known.
“Let’s wait a bit.”
Lumian nodded cautiously.
From what he knew, many rumors circulating in the village started from such gatherings and spread like ripples.
After waiting a good while, three of the gathered elderly women left, saying they had chores at home.
“Good day, Narca.”
Lumian didn’t miss his chance and approached.
Narca’s hair was streaked with white, her eyes slightly cloudy. Wearing a long dark skirt of coarse cloth, her hands were wrinkled like chicken skin, and the age spots on her face were prominent.
“When is Aurore joining the gathering? Many villagers want to see her.”
Narca looked at Lumian and asked with a beaming smile.
Many ‘men’, you mean.
Holding the thought ‘You say what you want, I’ll say what I want’, Lumian asked:
“Narca, I heard you’ve actually seen a real mystic? The owner of the coffin that took nine oxen to finally move.”
A slight change came over Narca’s expression.
“Who told you?”
“Raymond’s grandfather came one night and told me.”
Lumian lied offhandedly.
Narca looked bewildered.
“So souls really can return home…”
“My father told me. He said grandfather mentioned it when he was alive.”
Raymond, unable to stand watching Lumian deceive the elderly, stepped in.
Narca looked slightly disappointed, paused for a moment, then spoke:
“None of us knew that man was a mystic until he died. He seemed perfectly normal.”
Just like no one knows Aurore is a mystic.
Lumian muttered inwardly.
“When he died suddenly, that owl flew in…”
Narca continued, lost in memory.
Her story basically matched the rumor.
Lumian pressed further.
“Where did that mystic live back then?”
Narca looked at him once.
“It was where you and Aurore live now. After burying the mystic, the parish priest back then gathered some people, took anything valuable, then burned the house down. For 20, 30 years after, no one dared go near that place. Then, when the matter was gradually forgotten, Aurore came to this village, bought the land, and built a new house.”
Our house?
Lumian was taken aback.
It was an answer he hadn’t expected at all.
And almost simultaneously, he recalled issues he usually overlooked.
Why did Aurore, with her economic strength and transcendent abilities, choose to settle in a rural village like Cordu? The provincial capital Vigor, the textile center Suhit, even the capital Trier were all much better places to live than here. Even if she wanted somewhere with good environment and clean air, there were districts in big cities to choose from. Aurore once said if you want to hide, hiding in a big city is best…
Lumian couldn’t calm down amidst the whirlwind of thoughts. It was because he had only learned today that the land Aurore chose and built on was where a mystic once lived.
“And where was the mystic buried?”
Raymond beside him couldn’t help but ask.
Since they couldn’t get any property from the house, now they had to hope the mystic’s remains held something special.
Narca laughed.
“It was such a big incident, even the parish priest was shocked. Back then, the coffin was moved by nine oxen to the public cemetery beside the church. The parish priest performed a purification ritual, then burned the body and dumped the leftover ashes in a pit.”
“I see…”
Raymond couldn’t hide his disappointment.
“But why are you asking?”
Narca studied his expression for a while before asking.
Lumian smiled and told a truth that sounded like a lie.
“We’re looking for the mystic’s treasure.”
“Young people shouldn’t just live in fantasy.”
Narca admonished.
“Understood.”
Lumian’s expression was very innocent.
After bidding farewell to Narca, he and Raymond walked towards the village square.
“No hope, Lumian. There’s no hope in this.”
Raymond muttered despondently after passing one building.
“True. What needed burning was burned, what could be taken was taken decades ago.”
Lumian nodded. Having seen hope in his dream, his disappointment was relatively less.
Raymond agreed.
“Yeah, the only thing from that rumor not destroyed is the owl.”
“The owl…”
Lumian’s eyes sparkled as he turned his gaze towards the forest outside the village.
Raymond shivered violently and quickly added:
“But it was so long ago. That owl must have died long ago.”
He was too afraid of contacting evil creatures like owls.
In southern Intis, owls, nightingales, and crows were all considered ominous, evil, and demonic creatures. People here believed these birds stole human souls or brought misfortune.
