Amidst the crowd, Claude felt an intense curiosity gnawing away at his thoughts. Most of the stories told by Raymond are just pieces of gossip regarding nobility, historical events and the lot.
Mythology was something Raymond never delved into in his stories, until now...
'Gods? Aren't they just made-up characters in those stories for children? What does the old man mean by saying there might be truth in a story with them in it?'
Despite these thoughts churning within his mind, Claude refocused his attention on what was happening around him as soon as Raymond began speaking.
"Millennia ago, the land was split into dozens of nations. Each vying for hegemony, resorting to any tactic they had available regardless of how vile or cruel it may be."
"Peace was merely a dream for the ignorant, wars raged and the land wept. It was in such an era, that one day the kings of these countries were visited by strange, ethereal entities."
"They had an almost illusory appearance, with strange visions surrounding their nigh immaterial form. Some were surrounded by fire, some by ice and others by lightning."
"These entities gave these kings visions of the future and the power to fuel their hegemonic ambitions, however, that all came at a cost... faith."
"To obtain the favour of these beings, these kings must give them not only their faith but also the faith of their nations."
"With this divine intervention, the world was torn asunder by even more devastating wars as everyone desperately used these newfound powers to destroy their foes."
"In the past when wars were feared due to the mindless slaughter of soldiers and civilians, now, it was feared due to the powers held by the champions of these Gods."
"Each champion held power enough to move mountains and split the seas..."
Murmurs broke out in the crowd, many filled with scepticism at this story.
The power of these champions seemed incredibly unrealistic, the mere notion that man could wield such power sounded implausible to them.
Most of the audience, including Claude, felt even more confused by what Raymond meant by saying that there is more truth than meets the eye in this story.
Ignoring the quiet chattering of the crowd, Raymond continued speaking as he grabbed their attention.
"The existence of these champions meant that war not only harmed the people but also the land. Due to their fights, the amount of arable land kept decreasing year by year. Their forceful alteration of the environment around them brought forth natural disasters of untold proportions."
"Yet, in one of the larger countries at the time, the king received a dream from the God his country believed in: the Mother of the Stars, Goddess of Dreams and Prophecy, Asteria."
"Her words were simple, 'If you wish to succeed in achieving your ambitions, teach well the child your eldest daughter shall sire.'"
"Excited by the prospects of this new revelation, the king immediately wedded his daughter to her betrothed and awaited the birth of his grandson. However, unknown to both Asteria and all the other Gods, another force was lurking within the material realm."
"It didn't take long for the king to get another visit, this one from an unknown entity. One surrounded by a dark, ghastly void from which hushed whispers echoed. The entity bewitched him, 'Your child will indeed unify all the realms in this world, however, it shall be done after he has seized your throne by force.'"
"Upon finishing the words, the strange figure vanished from the eyes of the king. Despite the vision he had, the king would not be so foolish as to instantly believe in this entity and forsake his Goddess."
"However, as time passed he was haunted by horrific dreams showing him his own death and the more he thought about it the more he didn't want to risk such a thing happening."
"After all what use was hegemony if he was dead by then? Driven by these thoughts he sent a loyal courtier to dispose of the son his daughter had just given birth to."
"Paranoid by his daughter siring any more children that would harm him, he used treason as an excuse and beheaded both her and her spouse."
"On the other hand, the loyal courtier was hesitant upon receiving this order. Drowning in guilt, he impulsively gave the child to a shepherd in a village on the outskirts of the country."
Upon reaching that part of the story, Raymond paused and stared at the enraptured crowd before asking.
"Could any of you guess where the village in this story was said to be?"
Seeing no response, with a cheeky smile on his face he answered the question himself.
"It was said to be right here."
Hushed whispers broke about as they revelled in what they had heard, none of them had ever heard of such a thing in all their time living here.
Their village had such a role in legends?
"Of course, this is all hearsay, no one can truly tell where such a thing would have taken place."
He chuckled to himself as he briefly fell into a stupor, and proceeded to carry on his tale.
"The child given to the shepherd was named Kourosh by his adoptive father and grew up in that village as a normal village boy."
"However, that all changed one day when he received a vision from an entity now familiar to you all."
"Yes, it was Asteria."
Hearing his words, excited muttering filled the crowd. The children understood that the turning point in the life of Kourosh was here.
"Though she was initially confused by the fact the child she had prophesied about suddenly died, she didn't believe that a mere mortal would deceive her."
"Especially, with the fact that he had no reason to do so."
"Nevertheless, the frequent changes to the future she kept foreseeing led to doubts and upon further investigation she discovered what the king had done."
"Furious with this deceit, she sent a vision to Kourosh explaining to him the origins of his birth and the fate of his parents."
"With the help of Asteria and her prophecies, Kourosh joined the army and managed to slowly climb the ranks in court. He soon developed into a powerful general of the kingdom all the while hiding his identity."
"After becoming a general, Kourosh didn't make any rash moves and remained waiting. Waiting for the opportunity prophesied by Asteria."
"This opportunity soon revealed itself, a civil war initiated by a duke to take the throne for himself."
As he reached this point, Raymond paused as he seemingly drowned in his thoughts.
"And then?"
A voice rang out from the crowd, as it urged Raymond to finish his story.
"What do you expect?"
Being so abruptly interrupted, Raymond shot an annoyed glare in the direction of the crowd from where the voice sounded before he carried on telling the story.
"Where were we? Oh yes... Kourosh destroyed the rebellion before rebelling himself and then committed regicide. Oh, now I think about it, it's also patricide is it not? And then he became the king and unified the world... the end."
By the time Raymond was done speaking, a depressing silence hung in the air. Claude and everyone else in the crowd cradled their heads in the palms of their hands.
'Damn it. What's up with this shoddy way he ends up finishing all of his stories.'
Their hearts sank as they realized the anticipation they had felt earlier now could only once again crumble into disappointment
"That's all folks. The sun's about to set, let's save the stories for another day." Raymond announced with a crisp clap of his hands, as he ushered the lingering crowd to disperse.
Disgruntled sounds echoed from around, but everyone still begrudgingly made their way out as they revelled in the story; despite the poor way its ending was handled by Raymond.
Once everyone else had left, Raymond turned to Claude and pointed at the flowers that were left scattered about. "Claude, help me sort these out."
"Can I not?" Claude meekly answered, though, he was nonetheless disappointed by the response he got. "Of course, but that would mean I won't be answering the questions you so dearly want to ask."
Raymond smirked as he responded, delighted at the sight of Claude wilting like a withered flower.
"How do you know I have questions for you?" With despondency lacing his words, Claude turned to Raymond before asking. Raymond's smirk widened at Claude's meek response, a twinkle of mischief dancing in his eyes. "Ah, but young Claude, your questions are all but written over your face."
Breathing a sigh unbefitting his age, Claude trudged over to the pile of flowers and he began sorting them out.
Time soon passed and the duo soon finished assorting the flowers into little bundles before laying them out in the open space to dry out in the sunlight before dusk arrived.
Inside the house, they sat opposite each other as they ate their dinner with Claude sneakily glancing at Raymond between each mouthful of his meal. Annoyed by the piercing stare of the child opposite him, Raymond rolled his eyes before speaking.
"Stop staring and ask your questions."
"Well... I have a few... First of all, I've been wondering, what about that person who tempted that king to deceive Asteria? What happened to them? Why were they never mentioned again in the story?"
"Secondly, there are those supposed gods? They ask for worship, but why? How does it benefit them? And why can't they directly affect this world, like how Asteria didn't directly kill the king who deceived her?"
"Thirdly, was what you said true about the village in the story and our village being the same?"
"Then... Then, you've always rushed the endings to your stories... Why? Why can't you just finish them normally!?" After he finished firing a series of questions, Claude took a deep breath as he stared at Raymond opposite him.
Raymond briefly paused his eating before placing the fork in his hand. He silently stared at Claude briefly before he jovially spoke up.
"Wonderful questions as always, Claude. Always straight to the problem. For your first question, I can't go into too much detail without taking up too much time but... Let's just say they didn't exactly disappear."
"The next time I tell you guys a story, I'll tell you about the fall of this empire and the role of this unknown force behind it. All you need to know is that this group hails from a realm known as the subspace, a dimension filled with horrors beyond your wildest imaginings."
"They have been called a multitude of different names, hellions, demons, hellspawn etc. Nevertheless, the name that has stuck around them for the longest period was... The Old Ones."
"Then you asked about the gods, didn't you? You see, Claude, for the gods, faith is not merely belief; it's their sustenance. It's akin to fuel for them, empowering their essence and enabling them to perform feats that can bend or even break the laws of nature that bind us mortals."
"Thirdly, I can't say for certain but from what I can draw from historical records, the place where the village was said to be should be her- no scratch that, it should be south of the village. Somewhere around where you lot play, you know? That massive field?"
"And, for your final question... It's very easy to answer."
"I simply don't like endings..."
Giving the disgruntled boy opposite him a cheeky wink he answered the final question and then changed the subject.
"Well, now I have a question for you. Why do you think I asked you to bring me these flowers?"
Upon hearing Raymond's question, Claude felt a bit lost.
Why would he know?
Hell, he too was curious to know why an elderly gentleman would need so many flowers.
Was the old man finally trying to get himself a missus?
"Tch. Kid, where did all the knowledge I teach you end up?"
Clicking his tongue in disapproval, Raymond chastised Claud before continuing.
"Moonshade, a very common flower in the Empire of Francia, is sometimes even considered a weed or a nuisance by many. Nevertheless, there are a variety of uses for them. They not only possess some slight anti-ageing properties but also help in our digestion, they can even be used to make a special herbal tea. These factors come together to make moonshade a very cheap way to manufacture medicinal tea."
As Claude listened on he began to understand the uses of moonshade, but something bugged him.
"If these flowers were so important, why does no one seem to care about them?"
Claude queried, not sure why people were ignoring such a versatile plant.
Hearing his words, Raymond sighed as he began to answer.
"For those who are more well off. They simply think that it's beneath them to use such a common herb, no matter how important it is. They would rather opt for the more rare and precious herbs, even if they have similar effects."
"For the poor... It's simply due to a lack of knowledge."
Hearing Raymond's answer, Claude was just even more baffled.
"Are those rich people just dumb? And why don't those poor people try to learn things like this, it isn't exactly complex?"
Raymond chuckled to himself as he heard Claude's ranting.
"Yes, the rich truly are as thick as a log of wood. And, for those who are poorer, they simply don't have the time to learn things like this. They have to slave away in the fields to earn enough to feed their family. Even if they did have the time, they simply lack access to a place in which they can learn this knowledge."
As Claude listened on, he began to understand a little bit more about the world around him but at the same time, he possessed a growing curiosity regarding Raymond's past.
Was he some sort of noble?
If he wasn't, from where did he learn all of this knowledge and get his stories?
As Raymond's voice faded, he paused, a distant look clouding his eyes.
"Remember, Claude, every story holds a truth, often hidden, often forgotten. What you choose to do with these truths... well, that could change the course of your life."
Claude listened quietly, attempting to make sense of these words.
It wasn't often Raymond taught him things like this; usually, he'd be taught knowledge on the more scientific end of things, with only tidbits of other knowledge sprinkled in here and there.
After Raymond finished speaking, he soon rushed Claude to go to sleep before the boy could ask him any more questions.
Afterwards, the elderly gentleman began making his way back to the dining room. Sitting himself back on the dining table chair, beside him lay a small book, veiled in his own shadow.
Propping his chin on top of his fists as he stared out of the nearby window.
His eyes reflected the tender, silver moonlight that basked the world beneath it in a gentle shine as he lost himself to his thoughts.
He found himself reminiscing his past, as a certain figure slowly appeared in his mind.
"Endings... What a bittersweet thing they are. Unknown yet inevitable. Swift and unfulfilling. Wouldn't you agree with me, old friend?"
Raymond muttered wistfully as a calm silence enveloped him.