A loud slam of the door resounded, which finished to wake him up. Sighing at the absence of a lie-in, he got up to join his two hosts in the middle of their meal. Dravel threw him a contrite glance:
"Sorry for the argument..."
"It's okay, I had to wake up at some point," Tolir lied.
"Anyway, please, help yourself!"
On the table were slices of bread and jars containing various substances to garnish them. Curious, Tolir tasted them all before choosing the one that was close to a kind of jelly. As he bit into his bread, he wondered if it was made from the berries he had eaten the day before.
As he enjoyed his breakfast, Dravel stood up before apologizing:
"I have several pressing matters to attend to today. In the meantime, enjoy our village, even if there is little to do here."
Tolir agreed as the chief left the house. Alone, he sighed, wondering what to do with his day. He hesitated to return to his goblins, but quickly gave up, figuring that the villagers would spot his absence throughout the day. Especially since he could infiltrate the village and find out more about it. Since it was the only place of habitation in this world, to take it over would be tantamount to dominating this world.
A Machiavellian idea formed in his mind. Rather than wander around without knowing where to start, he might as well ask a guide. Especially since the one he had on hand felt a lot of resentment towards the village, so if he exploited it correctly, he could obtain precious information.
As soon as he had finished his meal, he approached Alyn's door, to which he knocked:
"Don't come in if it's going to be another one of your interminable lectures," sobbed a faint voice. At least I know why Mom and Dad left the village..."
Tolir scratched his throat before answering in the most neutral voice possible:
"It's Tolir, I wanted to know if you could be my guide for the day?"
"Me? Why? I can't get out of my room for today anyway..."
Tolir sighed, reconstructing the scene of the morning. He asked:
"It's because of yesterday, isn't it?"
"Yes... Uncle Dravel doesn't want me to come out of my room or he'll hand me over to Father Maurias..."
"I don't think he'd mind you going out if you don't venture into the forest, would he? And even more if his guest asks you to."
She paused for a long time and then, convinced, opened the door:
"It is accepted. On the other hand, wait a moment while I get ready."
Tolir breathed, relieved that his argument had hit the mark. He waited for her in the living room for a quarter of an hour before she arrived, having exchanged his nightgown for his outfit from the day before. This one tightened and having long boots turned out ideal for the expeditions in forest and archery.
Ready, they left the house and headed for the main square of the village where the inhabitants were going about their business. A blacksmith was repairing farm tools while a lumberjack was delivering a stock of wood to a carpenter. Tolir was intrigued by these unfamiliar occupations, observing in detail each of their gestures, while Alyn gave them disdainful looks.
After several minutes of observation, Tolir tired of the spectacle and joined Alyn, who in the meantime had laid down on a bench. They remained for long minutes in an awkward silence. After a long hesitation, Tolir broke it:
"What else is there to see around here?"
Alyn snorted in disgust before answering:
"What else? Nothing, except a perpetual boredom... At least in the forest, there's always something interesting going on..."
Tolir sighed, the bad mood of the girl contaminated him little by little. At least he could learn more about his companion:
"I understand that you didn't live here before, what happened? Well, if it's not indiscreet..."
"It's good, anyway everyone here knows, it's better that it's me who tells it to you," she sighed. "I've only been living here for three months, before that I lived with my parents outside the village towards the northern tip of this world."
So, they still use the points of the compass, Tolir remarked. Wait a minute, if she doesn't live with her parents anymore, does that mean they're dead? He didn't dare to interrupt her to ask her about this, he had been indelicate enough so far to not aggravate his case. Alyn continued:
"Over there, there were no rules about staying away from the forest or about not hunting goblins. We did what we wanted without caring about the opinion of some priest or village chief... Of course, life was less comfortable but at least we were never bored unlike here."
"One day, when I came back from a walk in the forest, I discovered our house invaded by goblins. Thanks to my talent, I managed to get rid of them as well as I could but inside, I discovered my parents, dead... Since then, my uncle took me in..."
She sighed while remembering these memories. Then she whispered in a more childish voice, more in accordance with her age:
"I'm grateful for what he did, but I'd rather go back to my real home, at least I'd be close to my parents..."
These last words brought tears to her eyes. At the sight of them, Tolir panicked. Not knowing what to do, he grabbed her head to pat it. A memory of his old life came up from the depths of his memory. He remembered that his little sister used to like it when she was sad. A sudden melancholy hit him. Even though they were not always on good terms, he understood that he would never see her again. To chase away this sad thought, he increased his strokes on Alyn's hair as she calmed down.
When both of them recovered from their emotions, Tolir proposed:
"Even if there's not that much of interest according to you, why don't you take a walk, who knows, you'll find some anecdotes on the road?"
She approved the idea, getting up after wiping her eyes reddened by grief. She took the path to the left of the square. As he walked a few meters away, a huge and richly decorated building appeared. Alyn commented:
"It is our temple... Where Father Maurias lives... It is a pity that such a beautiful building is inhabited by such a person..."
As Tolir admired the temple, he hit a passer-by who sent him flying two meters away. Without caring about him, the man continued on his way. Stunned by such audacity, Tolir exclaimed:
"Hey, you could at least apologize!"
Alyn ran over to help him up and explained:
"It's no use, it's a golem under the orders of the priest... To show his authority, he orders them not to move away if someone gets in their way..."
He had no idea what a golem was but he understood one thing:
"This priest seems to me to be quite a nasty guy," he said while getting up...
"That's the least we can say..."
They continued their tour of the village this time watching their way. During his visit, Tolir crossed several times golems. By dint of observation, he deduced several pieces of information reinforced by Alyn's comments.
The golems were artificial beings devoid of any evolved intellect, made through magic. They obeyed only one person: their leader, Father Maurias in this case. Their presence was explained by their usefulness: they acted as a kind of guard to defend the village. In total, he estimated their number to be around ten.
These golems also explained the priest's vehement behavior toward Alyn. He feared that she would undermine his authority, since his legitimacy rests essentially on the control of this guard. Indeed, if she demonstrated that she was as capable as he was of protecting the village, what use would he have for its inhabitants who were not religious?
Coming to this conclusion, Tolir smiled with satisfaction at having found the weak point of the village. If he eliminated the golems, the defenseless village would be forced to submit to his authority. And to top it all off, Alyn would be able to roam the forest as he pleased.
Appreciating the emerging plan in his head, he decided that the next day he would return to his goblins to prepare an army capable of facing the priest. The only drawback to his plan at the moment was convincing the villagers to join him instead of fighting him once Father Maurias was defeated... He had enough time to find a solution, however.
Once they had completed their tour of the village, they returned to the chief's house where he was about to scold Alyn. Fortunately for her, Tolir intervened to explain that it was his fault. Understanding the situation better, the chief softened before thanking him for occupying his niece's day. Tolir chuckled, falsely embarrassed, as everyone sat down to lunch.