25 The villagers‘ secret

During the following days the villagers who were very timid in the beginning started to get happier with each passing day. They enjoyed roaming around in the outskirts of their village before they could muster up enough courage to enter the forest.

Many of them were still quite afraid but from the moment on when the Night Serpent's Eyes suggested to tag along with the more or less courageous villagers they lost most of their fear. They had lost most of their capable men who were able to hunt animals to feed the hungry mouths in the village against the bandits and I could see some signs of malnutrition amongst the villagers.

Nevertheless, it did not look like they had eaten any of these animals that roamed around and appeared to be extremely calm and docile.

The seemingly wild animals were as tame as a pet could be. These animals weren't the tiniest bit shy. They even approached many of us although we were obviously strangers to them.

I was told by the villagers that these animals were indeed wild but nonetheless they were treated as friends and the humans of the village saw them as equals which surprised quite a few of us.

This way of thinking was practically unheard of and although I came from a world in which nature was treasured since most of it has been lost due to humanity's thirst for resources which led to the planet's ecological destruction.

I was truly impressed. When the village had some experienced hunters they would only kill if there was a need for some products that could only be produced from the animal's flesh, bone, hide or blood.

This was probably the most peaceful village that ever existed until the bandits came and destroyed the villagers' paradise.

They had only survived this long thanks to their village being located right beside a small river. This river was the one that was also close to the bandits' hideout but these scumbags only knew how to take others things away. They fortunately did not notice that there was an abundance of fish in the river. Had they noticed the fish and caught them then the villagers would probably have died of hunger.

I wasn't the only one to notice that there were a lot of fish in the river. The Sabreteeth Black Bear that Maverick had left behind besides the Alpha Direwolf was already standing in there being surrounded by water up to its knees.

It utilized the same tactic that the bears on earth had used according to my world's history. It used its paws to quickly catch the fish.

This bear still gave me a headache. It was important to me since it was one of few things that Maverick had left behind for me and the Night Serpent Clan.

The problem with it was that it hardly followed any commands it was given. It appeared to be lazy although I knew from our fight against the wizard apprentices that this beast could give formidable swordsmen a hard time, not to mention that I once had quite the difficulties while trying to slay one of its kind.

It only followed orders if they were important to the Night Serpent Clan as a whole for example when I decided to move the clan it was always tagging along without any signs of complaint. On the other hand there was the Alpha Direwolf which was probably destined to become one of Theresa's familiars. I thought about it for quite some time and was pretty sure that this wolf was meant for her. Her wolf pack had become considerably stronger when Maverick's second beast joined it.

‚You shouldn't complain' Drake interrupted my thoughts ‚didn't you receive the storage ring, the magic books and whatever that thing was, which the chief used to assess you whether you would be able to use magic someday.'

‚I know that Drake, but I can barely understand any of the theories and spells in the books.'

I was afraid that I might not be able to read them but except for a short chapter at the start of each book I hadn't had any problems with the letters. Yet, it was weird that I could read them because they looked different from the letters I knew from my world. I hoped that somebody could teach me the remaining letters which I could not decipher at the moment.

The problem was that from all of the people I knew there was nobody who was from noble birth and the only person who had thoroughly learned to read and write was Maverick because he was taught by his master. Theresa knew a little bit as well but she was a fighter and had a hard time teaching others.

I was still deep in thought, when I heard the village elder's voice. „What beautiful carvings" he exclaimed. „Our village has always highly respected the beauty of art."

I wondered what he was praising but I had already guessed what it would be most likely. He was indeed looking upon the fine sculpture that was carved from a giant piece of obsidian. He was looking at the statue of the Night Serpent.

He village elder was extremely respected by all villagers and each of them called him father or grandfather to acknowledge his wisdom and kindness. He had also started calling us in a similar way and when he saw me walking towards the statue he asked me „Valentinus, my son, are there some artists among your group? If one of your people created this then I would like to ask him to teach some of my children. Many talented artists' lives were taken during the past few years. It would sadden me if our culture filled with art and wisdom got extinct."

„It was indeed carved by one of my people." I had an idea and paused for a moment. „Do you like it? Normally people might be frightened by such an evil looking statue."

The old man looked at me and answered „only humans are evil, son, no other species is as destructive as ours. Even the fiercest animals only want to survive. Valentinus, you are a group of tamers. Although you appeared to have blood on your hands I don't think of you as an evil person. I try not to assess living beings on their appearance but on their actions. So far, you have ended our misery and helped us whenever you could. Now tell me, what is it that you find to tell me, I am old, my son, but not an idiot."

„I can't tell you but I'll show you"

After our short talk we walked a few hundred meters, or rather I walked and had Bambi carry the old man, to an area where the river was a little bit deeper.

„Old man, please ready yourself and don't be frightened"

After saying this I walked over to the river and jumped in. After a few seconds I resurfaced but I wasn't alone anymore.

The old man was surprised when he saw a girl and a young men coming to the surface after me. Furthermore he flushed slightly after realizing that the girl wasn't wearing any clothes. He started to talk „Valentinus, why didn't you invite your friends to our vill..."

He stopped in the middle of his sentence before recollecting himself once more. He has now seen the bottom halfs of Gabriel and Natalie and his reaction was better than I had expected.

„A-a-are these... two real Naga?" he stuttered slightly because he was obviously surprised.

„Yes, we are, young man" answered Gabriel

The old man was stunned for a second before he broke into a lustily laughter that only subsided after several seconds.

„Young man, hahaha, it has been decades since someone called me that, hahaha. I feel honored to talk to such a mighty individual." He then turned to me „that snake's sculpture... how is it related to your clan?"

I answered mostly truthfully „It is called the Night Serpent. It once saved our clan and a young Naga after being targeted by slave trader's. It is responsible for our friendship with the Naga."

‚Technically, this wasn't a lie, but you truly have a talent when it comes to storytelling, Val' snickered Drake.

The old man appeared to be impressed but he still didn't forget his hospitality and he immediately offered for the Naga siblings to stay as long as they would want.

I was impressed. There wouldn't be many humans as open-minded as this fellow.

He seemed to have guessed my thoughts when he said „If they are your friends Valentinus, then they shall be ours as well." right when I finished thinking about it.

I allowed him to ride Bambi back to the village and I walked alongside it. On our way back I threw one of my daggers at a passing rabbit. It went straight through his right eye.

‚Dinner is served' Drake jubilated when I fetched the body. I calmed him before telling the old man that I got us something to eat.

Then I inquired „why are all of these animals here so peaceful and appear almost human compared to the ones we can find around the village?"

„It has something to with our history and culture. If you want to learn about our it I invite you to come to our village's school. It only mostly teaches basic stuff like maths and our language but since we have an easier life now we might be able to add history as well and if your artist who crafted the statue is willing to help out then I'd love to have him as our arts teacher."

Theresa overheard our talk and asked

„You really teach all people of your village? I'm embarrassed to ask but could you teach our clan as well, please? Most of us have never even learned how to write their own name."

„Of course" said the old man „we have few things in this village but we will never stop sharing our wisdom"