A Promise Between Men: part 1

In that night, as we rode our way back to Josy's house. Passing each and every candle lamp-post there was to light the road, we could hear the murmurs of the drunk man as he made himself comfortable on the back of my wagon.

As we made our way back, the town chief spoke to me.

"I've heard that you closed the gate. I came by when it was still open and I tried to look beyond the gate" he said.

"You did?"

"I did and it's quite amazing to see such an open field beyond the wall. And I'm even more amaze to see that you were capable of opening such a large doorway." he said, impressed by my accomplishment.

"Well…it took me everything that I had just to open it, so…you know, hard work pays off, I guess."

"Hmm, hard work does pay off."

"Hmnmmnn….*Hick*…Hmm…" With Josy's unconscious drunk state, his murmurs were the background to the night's silence.

".…I'm sorry about him, he only ever drinks to cool off his head." said the Town chief as he leaned over to look at Josy with a somewhat worried gaze.

"Its fine. I can understand why some people try to drink their problems away for a while…I've even done it myself." I said as I reminisced on my past.

"Hmm, Alcohol is a great thing to have in times of hardships…that much is true." he said as he pulled away the bottle of rum from Josy's hand. He turned it to himself and looked at the empty bottle with a conflicted expression.

And without any sense of remorse, he throws it out of the road and into side where no one could ever find it for the day to come. I could ever look with a surprised expression…but I never question why he did it just now.

"...can I ask you a question boy?" said the Town Chief.

"What is it?"

"...Can you read? As a mage, can you read?" he asked.

"What does that mean?" I asked, wondering why he asked such an unclear question. A question that leaves me wondering if it was ever relevant.

"...I've heard in the stories of the past that mages were talented people. Where not only were they blessed with this miracle called mana, but they were also blessed with the knowledge to read almost any language there was…from the ancient letters and to our modern words, mages were gifted with a mind to seep all forms of knowledge."

"They sound incredible, but I don't I have what it takes to read any "language"…like I said before, I'm not a mage, I'm a farmer…or so I plan to be." I said.

"I know that it may sound like it was just a story written for the children…but please, I have a request for you."

"..."

"If by any hope that you were as talented as the mages of the stories, please…by my life, please help Josy." he says as his somber words made me felt conflicted over his request. He sounded genuine enough that his request felt compelling.

"...What is it that you want me to even do?" I asked.

"Josy has a book written by the dwarves."

"...Dwarves?"

"...it may sound like a story similar to that of the mages, but the dwarves were real…some may not believe for them to exist, but in truth, Dwarves once existed in Astra…a long time ago."

"...The Dwarves?"

"Yes, Dwarves. They were once the most highly sophisticated existence to ever roam the world. With their advancements that go so far beyond that of the people of today. With high architecture, high weaponry, high agriculture and high standards… But one day, they were simply gone in a blink of an eye. No one knows why or how, but the dwarves were gone without explanation. And through the years, their existence has been buried and only ever known to a few people who take in the wonder of such time."

"...People like you?"

"Hehe, yes people like me. But I only ever came to know their existence because of my grandfather, he who was once a scholar who came to the interest of the dwarve's existence…he passed his wonders down to me. That is the reason why I came to know of them."

"Are you also a scholar?"

"No, but I was given all of the books owned by my grandfather…remember when Josy ranted about him not being able to read the words of the dwarves a moment ago?" he asked.

"Yeah?" I said as I remembered his drunk ramblings.

"I gave him the book that might possibly be capable of creating a magical item. A sword capable of raining down fire at an opponent and it was written in the language of the Dwarves. "

As he explained himself, we finally arrived at Josy's home back again.

"I gave him that book as a gift to his abilities…as a blacksmith." as he said this, he got off the wagon and went to pull off Josy out from the back of the wagon.

I helped him and carried Josy to his house. As we got there, we noticed that his house was unlock. And although it was a reckless act, it was easy for us to get into his house and place him upstairs, where his bed was.

"...Say, how did you even know what the book was about, when you can't even read the words on it?" I asked him.

"My grandfather was able to decode a small context to each and every book he owned about the dwarves…and by prospects, knowing the context of that specific book, I gifted my friend the book in hopes of letting him learn a bit of it as an investment to a future where he can create such a powerful item."

"...you invested in the fact that he was a earnest blacksmith?"

"Not to an extent…"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"It has been 25 years since I gifted him that book…by now, I don't expect him to even accomplish such a task, but he himself did not give up on the book. He proclaimed to the whole town that before he would ever die, he would accomplish creating the relic…"

"..."

"Word got out about his promise to create the magic sword and it came notice to some noble out far in the dragon empire…"

"...Oh, so that's how a noble was able to came to request him about the sword?"

"Yes, the noble promised a vast amount of riches in exchange for the sword. And Josy accepted, but to his acceptance, a deadline was meet. One year…one year was all he had to make the sword."

"...That's a long time." I said in exaggeration to the time limit.

"It is…but 11 months have already passed…and now, the deadline is at reach."

"Oh, that very close. Still, the noble should have known that its quite impossible to make such an item."

"Nobles only ever care for the end result…and one year was quite a generous amount of time needed, but Josy was unsure…yet still, because of his greed, he accepted the request. Right now…he only has about two weeks to finish."

"And if he doesn't deliver?" I asked

"Then he fails." and he answered

"Hmm, I think he's going about this the wrong way." I said

"What do you mean?"

"If he fails the deadline, then he fails the deadline. Would this even affect his mentality towards finishing the sword before his death? I mean, I can tell that he's wiling to risk even burning his house down just to make the sword. And even after that, the incentive to finish the sword because of what a noble promises as a reward doesn't really amount to his role as a blacksmith. His promise to finish the sword before his death should be enough not change anything in him." I said.

"That may be true…but as a blacksmith, do you know the one thing that is necessary to continue on this line of work?"

"...Skill?" I assumed.

"Materials."

"Oh, you mean ores." I assumed

"Yes, Josy has accumulated quite an absurd amount of debt in procuring ores from the mines. With his line of work, the ores are needed just to continue his living. But because of his investment towards creating the sword, he's at a point where he might even go broke from everything. And despite his works on the standard house materials and weapons, it is not enough to contain the profit of the materials needed for making the magic sword. He is losing money."

"Hmm, and with the noble's promise to pay him for the creation of the magic sword, he will be able to pay off the debt?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Huh, so I guess he really is in trouble then."

"So will you help?" he asked.

"Hmm, I don't know."

"I'll do anything with my position as the town chief…I'll even provide you the support of the whole town if you go through with helping Josy."

"Why not just hire a mage then? An actual mage."

"...Mages are rare…very rare…even with my request to the dragon empire, they don't have the time to lend a single mage to watch over his work…and with such a small percentage of it actually succeeding, the empire will only ever send help if he provides an adequate amount of workability within the sword. If Josy were ever to prove that the theory behind the magic sword was possible, then the empire would have sent an accepting amount of help…but with Josy's current progress, the empire is hesitant to do anything, all except for the noble who started the commission for the magic sword." said the Town Chief.

"Why are you going so far for him? I don't think this involves you at all…and even if you did start the whole thing by giving him the book, it has nothing to do about his obsession with it."

"...I'm his friend...and I consider him my brother."

"..."

"...Please, help him."

"...Fine, I'll try it. But in exchange, I need to request you a few things." I said. Convinced, seeing as how I don't really lose anything in this transaction other than my time lost. But I'm not in a hurry so I'll try to see if I can do anything at all.

And with the help of the All-Known Book, there might be a possible advancement in the study and creation of the magic sword from the dwarve's books.

"I'm thankful." he said as he bowed his head to me. From there, his expression changed. He showed me a face filled with hope, compared to when he was looking at the bottle of rum, today was more glowing.

"Can you show me the book, I wanna see what I'm dealing with here."

"...Ah yes, I'll go get it." said the town chief as he made his way down stairs.

"..." I stayed in place as I looked around Josy's room.

And just like before, it looked like a regular room for a regular old blacksmith. The bed itself wasn't burned from the fire, the bookshelves as well. As all the major damage done was on the ground floor, anything here was just the simple smell of the burned wood. And yet, Josy slept here like a log in his drunk state.

"...You wont be able to do it…" and all of a sudden, I heard Josy's voice as he said something in his bed.

"...Your awake?" I asked as I turned my head to his direction.

"...Don't waste your time…its impossible to do anything with that darn book." he said, in his somber tone…filled with the depressive atmosphere of this room.

"...Never say never old man, not with how your at your wits end. You need all the help that you can get." I said as I didn't want to walk out of this job before I could even do anything.

"Hmph!..knock yourself out." he said in his grumpy tone, still affected by the state of his drunkenness.

As the town chief came back, he brought with him the book that was quite large. It was the size of two regular books and with the thickness of it being quite noticeable. I can already notice that the chief was having a hard time bringing up the book to the second floor, so I tried t help him out.

"That's a pretty big book." I said, as we placed it down to a desk. He then, picked a candlelight that was near and placed it near the table so that we could see it.

"...Whoa." and to my surprise, this book was really something. From its cover alone, it was tinted in charcoal black and golden yellow as its theme. And the words themselves as its title was near impossible to resemble. It was written like a similar language to that of the Asian countries in my past world…something similar to that of Islam Writing.

"...Well, can you read it?" the town chief asked, as he looked to me, filled with the anticipation of my answer.

"..." I stayed silent as I tried to see if this was possible to be read by using the All-Known Book. And since it was weird to talk to the air about this in front of other people, the only possible way I could get an answer was type in the question like it was a internet search bar that appeared before me when I asked for the AK's help.

'What does this book Translate to?' I typed into a screen and as quick as it had, the answer was given.

[UNDER-OATH: THE ETERNAL FLAME SWORD'S RULE.]

"...Its titled, Under-Oath: The Eternal Flame Sword's Rule." as I said this, both Josy and the town chief looked to me with a surprised expression.

"...W-what did you say?" asked Josy as he got up from his bed.

"...Unbelievable. I can't believe that y-you were able to read it!" said the Town chief as a smile came from his face.

"Did you doubt me?" I asked as I turned to them with a doubtful expression.

"Yes, I thought that it was crazy to even assume that it was possible. I thought that it was simply a joke. Even my grandfather was only able to decipher it with years of study…yet you were able to find the name of its title simply at a gaze."

"Are the stories true about the mages? Are they blessed with the knowledge to learn almost anything?" asked the town chief as he felt like a heavy news was just realized.

"Well…maybe not." I said as I didn't want them to go far from bolstering on the fact to the town of the mages being quite the big heads that they were. In fact, maybe the mages were simply just studious people and that the truth lies with the fact that the All-Known book was the only reason for me being able to decipher the book.

"What do you mean?" asked the town chief as he looked to me with the anticipation for the truth.

"I won't say anything to you or explain how I'm able to decipher the book. In return, I will help you and I need you to help me by keeping all of this a secret. The fact that I can read this book must stay a secret." I said as I look to the two with a serious gaze.

"Why?" asked the Town chief, in wonder of the fact that the boy before him did not want to share a secret…did not want the trouble of having to share the aftermath of what's t come.

"The answer is as simple as it may seem." I said as I look to them with my arms crossing.

"...What's the reason behind it?"

"...It's a goddam hassle…and I'm only ever helping you because I want to."

"With your ability to decipher the words of the dwarves only proves that you are a mage." said the town chief.

"...I'm not a Mage. Its possible that I can become one, but I don't want to and I don't plan on becoming one. Instead, I just wanna be a farmer…just like my father."

"..."

"..."

And they felt this just as much, to a point that they look to me with a similar gaze. They felt this genuine voice of the boy's wish to become something that he wanted…

A simple farmer.

And they respected that like any person would when watching someone make a promise that felt achievable.

"...You gave me the hope to actually complete this sword…and I apologize that I could not believe you a minute ago. It just seems so impossible to go through with it, knowing how much I suffered with not being able to read this book." said Josy as he gripped on his hands with all the hate he accumulated to his own.

"So I promise by my oath that everything that happens here will be kept a secret." said Josy as he looked to me with a straight face.

"And so will I." so did the town chief.

And with that, a vow was made in this room. To not tell the truth and to not reveal it to any who came of interest. Only the people of this room were to know of its secrets…and will be kept even to our deaths.

It was a promise between men…