His words were mild and low enough to reach their troop and soon all of them dispersed into different directions.
Arthur went around the big maple tree. A group of men were sitting there gossiping after their long tired day. They heads were buried in their shawls and had been smoking with their pipes in mouth. They saw Arthur coming to their way,
"Brother, we have seen you in the village. Are you new here?"
Arthur gazed at them and said,
"I am a traveller. I think this seems to be a good place to halt for the night."
Saying this he directed his steps to those men and sit with them. One of them poured a glass me of wine and offered," Here, take this. You said you are a traveller and you must be tired."
Arthur merely took the glass and nodded saying," Thankyou, you are too generous brother." After a long pause when all the men took a few sips of wine one broke this silence,
" Brother, you didn't mention, from where are you?"
Arthur had all his answers ready,"I have come from Perra. Our place has been loosing it's strength from quite a few years so I had to move out. I have heard this place can be good to settle down with some business."
The another man with a tired and a worn out face cried in astonishment,"Business! We have stayed here from our childhood. Our lives are devastated paying depths. You better have a big meat or else you can't survive here."
Arthur was startled at his place. He grip over the glass tightened,
"Is it so bad. Is settling down here not that easy."
The man who had spoken was an aged person who seemed to have stayed since a long time in the village. He was probably facing a hard time for sure. His body had already weakened. He just smirked and replied,
" Lower your voice. There are lot of greedy dogs waiting to eat from our flesh."
The other man with pitiful eyes stopped the man and said,
"His land is on the verge of getting consfiscated. The landlord has shown no mercy. He already is struggling for two times meal a day. To add up to this, the landlord will be marrying his daughter next month as a way of half compensation to the depth."
The old man simply stopped this man with tears in his eyes," i can't hear this anymore. I can't live nor die but why are you guys wasting by speaking about my miseries. Enjoy your drinks."
All this saddened Arthur. He was at loss of words. Only if he could reveal his identity...
He siped his drink and felt as if he got his voice, "Why don't you complain to the monarchs in charge of this village?"
The other man raised his one eyebrow and said faking a crooked smile, " Whom should we complain and who should complain? It's not just this, lot of people are struggling with their daily lives. These landlords and all these highly people are always looking for a chance to suck our blood. They left us with no proofs and if we raise our voice they harass us even more. They have our nerves."
Arthur was startled and angry at the same time. He felt as if a strong sting had followed over his complete body. His eyes were red in rage and his face fell flat in shame but he soon managed to keep himself calm.
All the men continued with their wine. The atmosphere that was filled with some chattering immediately turned down to an awkward silence."
After a while when the chattering started again with the random topics, Arthur sought to himself, ' I can't leave this chance. I need to ask them right away.'
I have heard there's some masked man in this village. He is known for his valour. The latter village where I had been, I heard a few stories of this man. I was wondering how it would be seeing this man in real."