Chapter 209: Distrust
The old village chief’s voice was as harsh as the wind that whipped across the cove. "State your names. And your business."
Riku offered a calm, disarming smile. "My name is Riku. These are my companions. We are simple travelers, looking for a place to rest and work for a time."
The chief’s eyes narrowed. He looked Riku up and down. He looked at the four beautiful women and the silver-haired boy standing behind him. "Work?" he scoffed, the word a disbelieving grunt. "People like you don’t ’work’. What do you really want here?"
"We really do not want anything more," Riku said, his voice sincere. "We wish to become a part of your community for a while. We want to learn your ways. We want to live as you do. We want to fish as you do, and earn our keep."
The old chief stared at him. The other fishermen exchanged confused, suspicious glances.
Then, the chief burst out laughing. It was not a friendly sound. It was a harsh, scornful cackle that cut through the wind.
"Become one of us?" he spat, his eyes filled with contempt. "You think you can just walk in here with your fine clothes and your pretty faces and play at being fishermen?"
His expression turned to a furious snarl. "I know your kind. You smile and you offer pretty words. You use those girls to soften us up. Then, when our guard is down, you steal what little we have!"
The other fishermen gripped their makeshift weapons tighter. Their faces were hard masks of distrust.
"We are not thieves," Riku said, his voice still calm, but with a new, hard edge.
"Get out!" the chief roared, pointing a trembling, calloused finger down the beach. "Get out of our village! We don’t want your kind here! Leave now!"
Lila stepped forward, her hands raised in a peaceful gesture. "Sir, please," she said, her voice earnest. "We truly mean no harm. We are just looking for a place to stay."
"We’ve seen enough harm from outsiders," another fisherman growled. "We don’t need more."
Lysaria tried a different approach. "We are all subjects of the same Empire. Surely there is room for a little trust between us?"
"The Empire has forgotten us," the chief retorted bitterly. "And we have learned to forget it. We trust in the sea, and we trust in our own kind. Nothing else."
He took another step forward, his hand now gripping the hilt of his gutting knife. "I will not say it again. Leave."
Riku saw the absolute, unyielding distrust in their eyes. He knew there was no point in arguing further. He held up a hand, signaling for Lila and Lysaria to stand down.
He gave the old chief a single, respectful nod. Then he turned his back and walked away.
His companions followed him in silence. They walked away from the small, fearful village of Saltwind, the harsh sound of the crashing waves swallowing the angry shouts behind them.
They were disappointed. But they were not defeated.
They traveled for two more days. The coastline was a rugged, unforgiving landscape of sharp rocks and grey, churning seas. The wind was a constant, biting presence.
On the afternoon of the second day, they crested a high cliff. Below them, nestled in a much larger, more sheltered bay, was another village.
This one was different. It was larger than Saltwind. The boats were bigger, better maintained. The houses were sturdier. And from the center of the village, a thin curl of smoke rose from a tall, stone chimney. It was the smoke of a forge.
"There," Riku said, pointing. "Let’s try that one."
Hope, resilient and stubborn, sparked in their chests once more. They began the long walk down to the new village.
However, the reception was just as cold here.
The blacksmith, a mountain of a man with arms as thick as tree trunks, took one look at them as they approached his forge. He spat on the ground. "We don’t need outsiders here," he grumbled, and went back to his work, ignoring them completely.
The other villagers simply turned their backs as they approached. They would close their doors without a word. It was not the open hostility of Saltwind. It was a cold, silent wall of indifference.
They left, their spirits a little lower this time.
They tried a third village. It was a small farming hamlet in the middle of a vast, windswept plain. Here, the people were not hostile or indifferent. They were terrified.
The moment they saw Riku’s group approaching, the villagers scrambled. Doors were barred. Shutters were slammed closed. It was as if a great storm was about to descend.
They were left standing in an empty, silent village. They could feel the eyes on them. Peering through cracks in the wooden shutters. Watching from the shadows of barns.
They left without speaking a word.
The pattern repeated. Again and again. They tried a logging camp deep in the Ironwood Forest. The loggers threatened them with their axes. They tried a small trading post at a crossroads. The merchants accused them of being spies for the Tempest Legion and threatened to report them.
Every door was closed. Every face was hostile. Every attempt at kindness was met with suspicion.
After nearly two weeks of constant travel and rejection, their hope had worn thin. Their supplies were low. Their spirits were at an all-time low.
One evening, they made camp in a small, sheltered clearing. The mood was grim. Lila stared into the fire, her usual bright optimism gone. Sherry was sharpening a dagger with a vicious, angry energy. Lysaria and Elara sat in a dejected silence.
Riku looked at his friends. He saw the weariness in their eyes. He saw the frustration. He saw the hope slowly dying.
This wasn’t working.
"Enough," he said, his voice frustrated.
Everyone looked up.
"We might need a change of plans," he announced. "Let us meet inside the world tree."
He gathered them in a circle and took out the small, warm Seed of the World Tree. He focused his will.
Enter.
With a familiar flash of white light, the cold, damp clearing vanished. It was replaced by the warm, welcoming light of their private manor. The smell of woodsmoke was gone. The scent of clean linen and polished wood filled the air.
They gathered in the spacious common room. They sat in the comfortable, plush chairs around the large wooden table. However, none of them hadthe mood to enjoy the comfort this time.
They ate in silence for a long time.
Finally, Riku set his mug down. He looked at the tired, disheartened faces of his friends.
"This isn’t working," he said, his voice heavy. "My plan was a failure."
He met their gazes. "What are we doing wrong?"
It was a question no one had a ready answer for.
"What are we doing wrong?" This time, thinking to himself rather than voicing it out loud.
"Nothing!" Lila said, her frustration boiling over. "We were just being friendly! We offered to work. We smiled. How is that wrong?"
"In this kingdom, it is," Sherry replied, her voice a low, cynical growl. "I told you. This land is not like yours. They are a hard, suspicious people. Your southern charms are worthless here."
Lysaria, who had been staring thoughtfully into the fire, finally spoke. "Perhaps the problem is not what we are doing," she said, her voice calm and measured. "But who we are."
Everyone turned to look at her.
"Caelus warned us," she continued, recalling their lesson in the inn. "He said that kindness from a stranger is seen as a trick in Eldoria. That an open heart is seen as a weakness to be exploited."
She looked around at their faces. "We have been trying to open a locked door by knocking politely. But in this kingdom, a polite knock is just another reason to bolt the door."
"So what are we supposed to do?" Lila asked, her shoulders slumping. "Be rude? Threaten them like that Lord Falco did?"
"It might work," Sherry mused. "They respect power. A show of force might get them to listen."
Riku shook his head. "No. That’s not who we are. We’re not here to conquer them. We’re here to find allies. Threatening them will only make them our enemies."
They were at an impasse. Their friendly approach had failed. A forceful approach was against their principles. They were stuck.
Elara, who had been quiet until now, spoke up. Her voice was small but clear. "What if... what if we went back?"
Everyone turned to her.
"To Stonefall," she said, her gaze hopeful. "To Caelus’s village. The old man there... he listened to us. He gave us a place to stay. Maybe we can start there."
It was a logical suggestion. A safe one.
Riku looked at her and gave a gentle, appreciative smile. "That’s a good thought, Elara. It’s smart to go where we know we are welcome."
He paused, his smile fading slightly. "But it would not solve our problem."
"Why not?" Lila asked.
"Because the only reason we were welcome in Stonefall was because of Caelus," Riku explained. "We would not be guests of the village. We would be guests of its secret ’Lord’. We would be hiding behind his mysterious authority."
He looked at each of them. "We will not learn anything about the rest of this kingdom by hiding in one safe village. And we certainly will not find the kind of independent, strong-willed teachers we are looking for if we can only operate where a young noble protects us."
The room fell quiet again. Elara’s suggestion, their last good idea, had been shot down. Their path forward was completely blocked.
They were in a kingdom that did not want them. They were looking for people who may not even exist. And they had no idea how to even begin their search.
Riku let out a long, slow sigh. He saw the weariness and frustration on the faces of his friends.
"Alright," he said, his voice heavy. "We have tried our best, but for now it seems we have failed. We will not find any solutions tonight. Everyone should get some rest. We will try to think of something new in the morning."