The man stared at the fire and said "Before I begin, I wish to say that a tragedy befall me as well. My wife was killed by those who try to kill me now". I looked at him but didn't say anything. All people had losses, although I've lost everything, left with only few of my possessions, this was not a contest of who lost more. I waited patiently for the man to continue.
The guy then said "You said that you've lost everyone dear to you or even close to you. I understand how you must feel" but before he continued I said "No, you can't understand how I feel". He was bit surprised, I think he wanted to tell me that he was in similar situation. Left with nobody that would care for him. I then continued "I don't mean it in that way. I'm sure you meant the feeling of loss and pain, probably the thirst for revenge and helplessness. I understand what type of feelings you wanted to portray but you don't know how I feel".
He didn't know what to say to that. I learned to be straight with people. I said what was on my mind and what I truly thought. There was never a point for me to lie to him or try to cheer him up. All of us had some stuff going on, I didn't live for the sake of making people happy.
He wanted to say something but I interrupted him again "You don't have to feel a certain way because we had something similar happen to us. I don't know how you feel either. I have no clue how it feels to lose a wife".
I continued "Just stay true to yourself. I can tell that you are not that type of human. You are brash and confident man. That is your nature, just embrace it and don't try to put up a show in front of me". The man looked at me confused and surprised at the same time. He said "How do you know that?" to which I answered "I told you, the Art of Hidden Weapons is not the only thing I learned".
I then continued "Speak freely, I can still understand what you mean even if you don't put up a show". The man nodded his head after a while and said "It's true. I think humans have it that way. They want to build up feelings and engage the person listening to their story. You are very smart even though your knowledge is shallow".
He let out a sigh and then continued "Very well, I shall tell you the story like a man I'm". I waited for his story to begin. "I lived with my wife in the city called Hord. We were both mercenaries, meaning we were paid to do stuff like hunting, protection and so on" he said.
He continued "One day, we got a lucrative job proposal. It would pay very well and it was quite easy to accomplish. We would have to protect some sort of young master traveling from Hord to Trost. We would use the main roads. With the fastest horses available in the city as well as the best carriage that the young master owned, the journey wouldn't be hard. The thread was relatively small and the journey would be around 2-3 weeks worth of travel". I thought 'I have no clue where those cities are, I never heard of them'.
The man continued "I took the job without thinking it through. As you said, I was quite confident in myself but that was the biggest mistake of my life". I looked at the man and asked "Why? Did something unaccounted for attacked you?" but he just laughed painfully and said "No, the path was relatively safe. It was that young master who was trouble. I was happy that such an easy job had very generous pay. When we traveled with that young master, I found out why it had such a price".
"I found that the young master gets whatever he wanted and he wanted my wife. I said to his butler that he can piss off but the butler only said that it would be better if I just agreed. He said that the young master was not someone I would like to mess with" he said.
I asked "So, you didn't agree but I guess the so called young master still wanted to lay hands on your wife?" the man looked at me and said "Yes, that is exactly what he tried to do. He wanted to drug me and my wife in order to **** her but he didn't succeed. I didn't eat or drink his drug. My wife on the other hand did but I was enough to take care of them".
I said "So you killed all of them?" to which the man responded "Yes and that was my next mistake. If we just ran away, that young master with his butler would be able to get to the next city no problem. That butler wasn't weak, to say the least. I figured out later that they didn't need protection and only wanted my wife in the first place".
I said to the man "I can guess what happened next. You killed someone who you should never touch and so, here we are today". The man nodded his head and said "That is correct. I killed them and the people who chase me? That young master was one of them. They didn't like the idea that he died when we were supposed to protect him and so they started to hunt us. They assassinated my wife... I managed to get away with my life after killing a few of them but the deed was done. My wife was dead and I was a broken man. To top it all off, those bastards were still chasing after me. I ran away, I ran further and further, until I finally arrived in these parts".
I asked him "Why don't you live in some small village then?" to which he responded "I told you, they have people everywhere. As long as it's a village, settlement or city, they would eventually find me". I asked "Then what is your plan?" to which he looked at the fire that was now burning slowly away and said "I don't know, so far I could live relatively safely here, no one is chasing after me and it's not that bad living here. As a mercenary, I don't need a lot to go by".
I looked at the man and said "Is that your plan? What about your wife?" he said in a sad tone "What can I do against such a large group. If I kill 10 then 100 will come and even if I kill 100 then 1000 will come". I thought for a while and said "So you are dead either way then".
He got a bit pissed and asked "What about you? You are heading towards north. You are dead as well! I wouldn't survive there even more you". I still looked at the fire and laughed. I turned around and said to him "Do you want to join me?". I could see fear and bewilderment on his face. He didn't know what to say for a while but then mustered his response "No, I don't wish to go there".
I said "It's a shame, you would have a chance of survival". I then stood up and said "I shall take my leave now. It was nice to talk to someone after such a long time". The guy was a bit stunned and said "You can stay till the morning, we don't have to rush anywhere. North will not run away and I have to stay in these parts anyway. So we can talk more".
I turned away from the fire and started walking towards north. While I was walking I said "There is no more need to talk anymore. Both of us have different paths in life. I can only wish you luck" and left the campfire as my silhouette disappeared between the trees in the distant.
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