Chapter 20:Halflings

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After the encounter with Vilgefortz neither August nor Vesemir had any desire to stay here any longer. Vesemirgathered all boys and they left Aretuza in a hurry.

August was the one that tried to leave the place as fast as possible, even in the dark forests where dangerous beasts are lurking. August felt much safer.

The first place they decided to go was a big farming village, everyone was tired of the constant travel and they decided that village that is close by could serve as a resting point, and since Vesemir earned a good fortune, they could afford to spend some money to get some quality sleep.

It took them a day of travel to reach the village called Hirundum.

Hirundum is a large farming village that is owned by the Hofmeier family. This family owns the farm and they are not humans, they are from a race called 'Halfling'. Sometimes people call them hobbits because of their small height.

Their kind, unlike others like elves and gnomes, never had official territory ruled under them, most of them live in different parts of the Northern Kingdom

All of them share certain traits. They usually are chubby and stand 2 to 4 feet tall (60-120cm). Their big feet are covered in curly hairs up to their shins. Because of that, they don't wear any shoes.

Most of them are dressed modestly and neatly, but they colour their cloth in pastel colours with green being their favourite.

They are generally peaceful and calm rustic folk that are interested more in the comfort of home than warfare. Their major occupation is farmers, stockbreeders and merchants. They are one of the main suppliers of food in the Temeria kingdom.

But someone might ask, aren't they too valuable for all the monsters and bandits that lurk in the shadows? The answer is no! When an actual need arises, they will display incredible agility and speed. Their talent in throwing various sorts of missiles is great and never can be underestimated.

When their group approached a village, they were met with vast fields with various crops growing. The overall mood was pleasant, there were no signs of hostility coming and most of all it seemed welcoming.

When the boys arrived close to an entrance to the village, a short man, that stood at 110 with a welcoming smile on his face stood there, he showed no signs of hostility towards either of them.

But at the same time, his eyes were showing slight fear. Everyone knew that Witchers don't shy away from taking jobs as killers, and they had no way of figuring out if those that arrive have bad intentions.

Before Vesemir could approach a small man, Halfling greeted them "Greetings travellers, it is good to see you here. My name is Lenny Hofmeier"

Vesemir casually replied, "It is good to see you too Lenny"

Lenny smiled, seeing no signs of them drawing their weapons, and inquired, "How can I serve you on this beautiful day? You arrived here for something specific?"

Vesemir shook his head and clarified, "We are searching for a place to stay for the night."

"Oh, it is great," replied Lenny. He gestured for them to follow him and continued, "We are happy to see guests like you. Follow me and I will show you the way of where you could stay"

It surprised August to witness the behaviour of small people. Before that, he had never encountered such a laid back person. They seemed harmless and there was no falsehood behind their words.

They follow a man. While they were passing through the village, a lot of Halflings were pointing their fingers at the group, gossiping. But it didn't look threatening, it looked kind of funny.

While they were walking, Lenny inquired, "How were your travels?"

Vesemir sighed, showing how tired he was from the event that recently took place "Nothing pleasant"

Lenny supported Vesemir. "Oh, I'm saddened to hear that. I hope you do enjoy your stay here. If you have any questions, please don't shy away from asking"

Vesemir nodded his head. "How much for all of us for a night's stay?"

Lenny waved his hands, denying money. He said, "No no no, we don't need your money, such a people like you that encounter a lot of dangers and keep the lands safe is enough for us to provide you with a place to stay."

Vesemir replied with a slight smile "Thanks"

Lenny walked them to one house that looked quite old, but at the same time, it was in a nice condition that showed that it was taken care of.

Lenny pointed towards the house, saying, "You can stay here. This was the house of my old friend. Unfortunately, he passed away from the disease. He was a lonely man and had no family"

Vesemir replied with a word of gratitude, "I appreciate it"

Lenny chuckled. "No need. It is a pleasure to have you here"

He started to walk away when he suddenly turned around and said, "Oh, before I walk away, there is a river in the north. If you wish to wash away the smell, please use it."

In response, Vesemir nodded his head and lead the boys inside the house.

When they were inside the house, Vesemir asked for attention. When everyone calmed and got silent, he informed the boys, "I want all of you to behave. Halflings mean no harm. They are one of the few that treat us nicely and I want it to be that way, but other than this suit yourself, do whatever you want as long as it doesn't bring harm."

For August it was like a breath of fresh air, he got really curious about this race that felt so much different to others.

He went for a walk around and observed Halflings from the side, not engaging in the direct interactions.

Mostly they were doing nothing special, most of them either did some work in the fields, others were enjoying food and some of them were talking about the most common and boring things in the world.

But looking at them doing so, August saw they were enjoying every single thing they did. Having fun, sharing smiles and enjoying the process of life.

Observing them, August lost count of time. One of the Halflings walked beside him, but because August was too engaged with his own thing, he didn't notice him.

Halfling greeted August with a friendly voice "Hello!"

But the response took Halfling by surprise. August of reflexes took an arrow out of his quiver and almost pierced it through the eye of the small man. August was able to stop himself from doing so just before it was too late.

Halfling's eyes widened. He didn't even notice August move, and here he stood almost killed.

August look at him and sighed, putting an arrow back into the quiver, saying "Sorry, but you didn't have to sneak around our kind, it puts your life in danger"

August scared a small man to death. His forehead got covered in sweat almost immediately. The small man apologized "I'm deeply sorry, I had no intention of scaring you. I wished to offer you some food"

August looked at the hands of the Halfling with a bowl of soup in it.

August smelled the soup as his stomach rumbled. He calmly took a soup in his hand, saying "Thanks"

Saying nothing else August ate, while the small man, pointing at the area close to August inquired "Do you mind me sitting here?"

In response, August just nodded his head and continued eating.

The man took a seat and talked "My name is Timo."

But August remained silent and kept on eating his food.

Timo decided to continue. "You know, I grew up listening to tales about how Witchers fought against enormous beasts, killing them and saving a lot of lives. It always made me curious about meeting someone like you. Have you ever slain a beast yourself?"

August silently nodded his head as an answer.

That got Timo surprised. His eyes went wide, and he excitedly inquired, "Really? Which one was it? Was it a huge Kikimara or maybe it was a bloodthirsty Bruxa?

To both of his questing, August shook his head and said a single word "Wargs"

"Really?" asked Timo in a really high-pitched voice. "That is sooooo cool"

August looked down at the ground, recalling all the suffering he had to go through to become a Witcher. He reluctantly states, "There is nothing cool about that"

Timo seeing the change in August's mood, got silent. He understood that he said something that brought back terrible memories. So instead of continuing his speech, he silently stood up and said a few words before walking away.

"Sorry to bring up bad memories, please enjoy your food"

The rest of the day passed in peace, with the boys having time to relax and sleep, while Vesemir had a talk with the leader of their village - Lenny.

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This chapter is more of the relaxing one. I don't want all the chapters to be full of events. There should be some casual things in between, next chapters will be interesting and will be in Witcher style like how they do the job and things like that.