Chapter 23 Chapter 22 Wandering in a Small Village

Roger walked forward dancing, and four brightly colored wooden balls flipped over his head.He didn't have the ability to stand still and play the ball, but Roger Half Palm had to maintain his reputation, so he learned to make up for his shortcomings in other ways, moving his feet like clouds and flowing water, keeping the crippled palm in a suitable position for catching and throwing the ball. s position. Despite being fourteen, he was short, just over five feet, with carrot-colored hair, green eyes, and a round, fair, freckled face.He shrank, stood upright, and spun quickly, his feet moving with the rhythm of the colored balls.The soft shoes with five fingers separated were covered with dust, and the raised dust fluttered around him, and every breath was mixed with a strong smell of dry earth.

"Is it worth practicing like this if you can't play the ball in place?" Eric asked impatiently. "You look unprofessional, and the audience hates eating dust as much as I do." "I'm not going to perform on the road," Roger said. "Maybe when you're performing in a small village." Eric disagreed. "There's no wooden floor in that kind of place." Roger lost his rhythm, and Eric fell silent immediately, watching the boy frantically trying to save the situation.He finally found his rhythm again, but Eric kept clicking. "Without wooden floors, how are they going to keep the demons from haunting the walls?" Roger asked.

"There is no city wall." Eric said, "Even if it is just a small castle, it still needs a dozen magic sealers to maintain the operation of the city wall. If a village has two magic sealers and one apprentice, it is considered very lucky." Roger swallowed the bile pouring into his mouth, feeling slightly dizzy.The screams from ten years ago came to mind again. He tripped and landed on his back, and the balls fell on his head.Angrily, he raised his mutilated palm and slapped the ground. "It's better to leave the colored balls to me and focus on other skills," Eric said. "If you spend half the time playing balls practicing singing, maybe you can sing three syllables before you start to break."

"You always say 'a bard who can't juggle a ball isn't a bard at all,'" Roger said. "Never mind what you said before!" Eric yelled, "Do you think the god damn Jassin Golden Voice can juggle ball? You have some kind of talent. Once you build your reputation, you can recruit apprentices to help you juggle ball." "Why should I ask someone to juggle balls for me?" Roger asked, picking up the colored balls and putting them back in the cloth bag hanging from his waist.While doing these things, he touched the reassuring item beside his belt, which was the amulet safely stored in the secret pocket, for strength.

"Because it's not juggling that really makes money, boy." Eric said, taking a sip from the wine bag that never left his hand. "Bard performances are about making money. Make a name for yourself, and you'll make loads of Miln gold, like I used to." He took another sip, more this time. "But to build a reputation, you have to play in small villages." "The golden voice never played in the village," said Roger. "Exactly!" exclaimed Eric, making a big gesture. "His uncle may have the power to influence the Angels, but he has no ability to influence the small village. When we build your reputation, we will You can bury him with your own hands!"

"He's no match for Sweet Song and Half Palm." Roger replied immediately, wisely putting the teacher's name first, even though the order of these two names has been reversed in the streets and alleys of Angels recently. "That's right!" Eric yelled, quickly tapping his heels and doing a jig. Roger diverted Eric's anger in time.Over the past few years, his teacher has become increasingly irritable and drinking more and more.Roger became more and more popular, but his name became less and less loud.His singing was no longer sweet, and he knew it well. "How far is it to Cricket Hill?" asked Roger.

"It will arrive before lunch tomorrow," Eric said. "I thought the two villages were not more than a day's journey apart?" asked Roger. Eric grunted. "The Duke's decree stipulates that the distance between two villages cannot exceed the distance that a man can ride in a day on horseback." He said, "It will be farther on foot." Roger's hopes are dashed.Erik really planned to sleep out on the open roads relying solely on Jero's old portable magic circle, which hadn't been taken out for ten years. But Angels was no longer safe for them.As their reputation increases, Master Jessin will come to harass them from time to time.His apprentices broke Eric's arm last year and several times robbed them of coins they earned after big shows.He and Roger were often empty-pocketed, despite being robbed and Eric drinking and spending money with prostitutes.Perhaps small villages can really make them more money is not known.

Building a reputation in a small village is a test for bards, and staying safe with them in Angels seems like a great adventure.Roger looked up to the sky and swallowed hard. Roger sat on a boulder, and had a white patch on his cloak, like the rest of the clothes, the original piece of fabric having faded away, and having to be mended again and again until the whole thing was covered with patches. "Go and lay the magic seal circle when you're done, kid." Eric said staggeringly, his wine bag was almost bottomed out.Roger looked at the setting sun with a look of fear on his face, and quickly began to lay the magic seal circle.

The circle was small, about ten feet in diameter, just big enough for two men to lie flat with a campfire between them.Roger planted a stick in the center of the camp, then took out a five-foot piece of wire, slipped it on, and drew smooth circles in the dirt.He laid out the magic seal circle along the circle, and took a straight wooden stick to ensure that the magic seal cards were equidistant from each other. However, he was not a magic seal master, so he couldn't guarantee that he was doing it right. After laying, Eric wandered over to check his work. "It looks good." His teacher said vaguely, and didn't check it carefully at all.As the sun went down, Roger felt a chill run down his back, and he went through it again, to make sure he hadn't made a mistake, and then again, just for peace of mind.Still, he was on edge as he built the fire to prepare dinner.

Roger had never seen a demon, at least not in memory.The claws that broke through his door were etched in his mind forever, but other images of that day, including the monster that bit off his finger, remained in his mind only indistinct smoke, teeth and horns. . He felt his blood run cold as the trees began to cast long shadows across the road.Not long after, a ghostly figure slowly emerged from the ground near their campfire.The wood demon is about the size of a normal man, with a layer of bark-like shell covered with strong muscles, which is covered with tree burrs.When the demon saw their campfire, he roared loudly, and raised the horns on his head to show his white teeth.He was gearing up, ready to hunt.Other shapes gradually gathered around the edge of the campfire, slowly surrounding them.

Roger's eyes drifted to Eric, who was drinking heavily from the wine bag.He had expected the teacher to act calmer, after all he had spent the night in the magic seal circle, but the fear in Eric's eyes was clearly not the same thing.Roger reached out a trembling hand, groped in the secret pocket, took out his amulet, and held it tightly in his hand. The wooden demon lowered its magic horn and launched an attack. A picture suddenly appeared in Roger's mind, a memory that had been suppressed for a long time.In a blink of an eye, he returned to the age of three, and death approached from behind his mother's shoulders.At that moment, everything came to the surface—his father took the poker and stood up with Jero, buying time for his mother and Eric who were fleeing with him; Eric pushed them away and rushed to the secret door ; the bite that took away his finger, the sacrifice of his mother. I love you! Roger held the amulet tightly, feeling that his mother's spirit had been truly by his side.In the attack of the monsters in the center of the earth, he believes that the amulet can protect him better than the magic circle. The demon attacked the Sigil field fiercely.When the magic light flashed, both Roger and Eric jumped up in fright.Jie Ruo's magic seal net bloomed with silver flames, bouncing back the monster in the center of the earth, unable to move for a while. They were briefly relieved.Sounds and magic lights attracted the attention of the other wood fiends, who took turns attacking, testing the sigil from all sides. But Jie Ruo's bright face magic seal card is unshakable.One by one, sometimes even in groups, the demons were rebounded, and could only circle the camp angrily, searching in vain for the weak point of the magic seal. However, when the devil kept rushing towards him, Roger's thoughts had already flown elsewhere.Time and time again, he saw his parents die, his father in flames, his mother crushing demons into bowls and thrusting herself through secret doors.Again and again, he saw Eric push them away. Eric had killed his mother, just as he had killed himself.Roger took the amulet to his mouth and kissed her red hair. "What are you taking?" Eric asked softly after making sure that the devil couldn't break into the magic circle. Under other circumstances, Roger would have panicked at the exposure of the amulet, but now his heart is not here at all, but he is back in the nightmare of the year, desperately trying to make sense of it all.Eric has been with him as a father and son for ten years, are these memories true? He spread his palms so that Eric could see the red-haired wooden doll in his hands. "My mother," he said. Eric stared at the doll sadly, the expression on his face clearly telling what Roger wanted to know.His memories are real.Angry words piled up on the tip of his tongue, and his whole body was tense, ready to pounce on his teacher, push him out of the magic seal circle, and accept the punishment of the earth core monster. Eric lowered his eyes, cleared his throat, and sang.Although his voice had been tainted by years of drinking, he still had a touch of the sweetness of old days in his softly melodious lullabies, which touched Roger's memory as much as the sight of the Wooden Devil.Suddenly, he remembered that in the same magic seal circle, Eric held himself in his arms and sang the same lullaby in the sea of ​​fire in Heqiao Town. Like his talisman, the lullaby enveloped Roger, reminding him of the security it brought him that night.Eric was a coward, it was true, but he lived up to Carlito's begging to take care of Roger, for which he lost the Duke's errand and ruined the rest of his life. Roger put the amulet back into the dark bag, staring at the darkness in front of him, memories of ten years ago kept appearing in his mind, desperately trying to clear his mind. Finally, Eric's singing faded away, and Roger came back to his senses and began to prepare cooking utensils.They had sausages and potatoes baked in small pans and served with crusty bread.After dinner, they practice the show.Roger took out his violin, and Eric drank to soothe his throat.They sat opposite each other, doing their best to ignore the monsters in the center of the earth outside the circle of the sigil. Roger began to play, and all doubts and fears disappeared as the vibrating strings became his world.He played a melody first, then nodded when he was ready.Eric hummed the tune along with his melody, and after he nodded again, he began to sing.They sang for a while, basking in the harmony created by years of practice and performance experience. After a while, Eric suddenly stopped singing and looked around. "What's wrong?" Roger asked. "Since we started practicing, there seems to be no demon attack magic seal." Eric said in surprise. Roger put down the violin and stared at the surrounding night with wonder.He found that the teacher was right, how could he not have noticed this phenomenon before.The wood demon crouched on the edge of the camp, motionless, but when Roger made eye contact with it, the other party rushed forward. Roger screamed, and quickly backed away when the earth core monster hit the magic seal force field and bounced off.The other demons awoke from their trances.Magic light began to bloom around the magic seal circle. "It's the music!" Eric said. "The music makes them intoxicated." Seeing the confused look on the boy's face, Eric cleared his throat and began to sing. His voice was loud and spread far away, overshadowing the demon's roar, but it did not cause intoxication.On the contrary, the monsters in the center of the earth were even more angry, constantly attacking the magic seal force field, just like angry spectators constantly protesting. Eric frowned, changed the tune, and sang the last song with Roger just now.But the monsters in the center of the earth attacked the magic seal one after another.Roger felt even more frightened, what if the devil finds a weakness in the magic seal force field, just like back then... "Violin, boy!" cried Eric.Roger looked down blankly at the violin and bow in his hands. "Play it, idiot!" Erik ordered. Roger's mutilated hand trembled—the bow made a sharp sound on the strings, like nails carving a slate.The earth core monster screamed and fled backwards.Roger cheered up and played more harsh notes, driving the demon farther and farther away.They yelled loudly, and their claws blocked their ears, as if in great pain. But they didn't escape very far, just backed enough to bear the sound.There they waited, their black eyes gleaming with the light of the campfire. The sight horrified Roger—they knew he couldn't play forever. Erik was not exaggerating in his claim that they would be treated like heroes in the small village.Cricket Hill has no bards of its own, and many residents remember Erik's performance as the Duke's emissary ten years ago. There is an inn in the local area specially for passing coachmen and farmers traveling between Linjin Town and Shepherd Valley. The owner of the inn warmly entertains them, and the accommodation and meals are completely free.All town residents, men, women and children, came to enjoy their performances, and the money for the drinks alone was enough to pay for all the hotel expenses.In fact, everything was going great until they started passing the money cap around. "A bunch of corn on the cob!" Eric yelled, shaking the thing in front of Roger. "What are we going to do with it?" "We can eat," Roger suggested.His teacher glared at him, then continued pacing. Roger liked Cricket Slope.The people here are very simple and enthusiastic, and they know how to enjoy life.At Angels, the audience packed up to hear him, nodding and tapping.But he never danced to the music as intoxicated as the townspeople of Cricket Hill—before the violin was fully out of its case, the people began to back away, clearing a large open space.Soon after the performance began, they were already spinning and laughing, completely immersed in his music, wandering in the music.They cry as Eric sings sad songs and laugh wildly as he tells nasty jokes and plays humor.In Roger's eyes, they were the best audience in the world. After the performance, the voice of "Sweet Song and Half Palm" was deafening.People invite them to their homes and entertain them with food and wine at home.Roger was also pushed into the straw pile by two girls with black eyes and bright eyes, and was dizzy from kissing. Eric wasn't as happy as he was. "How could I have forgotten that this is the case when performing in a place like this?" he lamented. He was referring to the money hat thing.There are no coins in the small village, or only a few coins.The only coins you have are used to buy the necessities - seeds, tools, and sigil stakes.There are two mukaras at the bottom of the hat, but this amount of money is not enough to pay for Eric's drink on the way from Angels to this place.Most of the Cricket Hill townspeople put grain in the money hat, and the occasional sachet of salt or spices. "Barter!" Avery said the word as if it were a curse, "no wine merchant in Angels would take barley!" But the people of Cricket Hill don't just pay with grain, they give away bacon and fresh bread , a piece of cream or a gift like a basket of fruit.Warm covers, clean patches, and they gratefully provide any excess items and services.Since leaving the duke's palace, Roger hasn't eaten such a rich meal.In this case, he really couldn't understand the teacher's frustration.What good is money, but is it used to buy these things that the Cricket Slope people provide them? "It's a good thing they have wine," Eric murmured.Roger took a nervous look at the teacher's wine bag, knowing that drinking would only deepen Eric's depression, but he didn't say much.Drinking makes Eric look miserable, but being told to drink less makes him even more depressed. "I like it here," said Roger boldly. "I wish we could stay longer." "What do you know?" Eric said loudly. "Stupid boy," he growled, as if in pain. "Linjin Town can't be any better than here," he continued to lament, looking at the road, "Shepherd Valley is the worst of these villages! What am I thinking, repeating this stupid mistake?" He kicked the precious sigil, and the sigil circle tilted sideways, but he didn't seem to notice or care, pacing drunkenly around the campfire.Roger gasped. The sun was about to set, but he said nothing, but rushed to the side of the kicked sigil, and scrambled to put it back in place, staring fearfully at the horizon.He repaired the magic circle in time, and fell backward when the first earth core monster rushed, screaming in the dazzling magic light. "Damn it!" Eric yelled at the demon who was pounced on him.Watching the geocentric monster collide with the magic seal net, the drunken bard raised his head contemptuously and croaked like a hen. "Be quiet, please." Roger begged, grabbing Eric's arm and pulling him towards the center of the camp. "Oh, don't tell me you're the only one who knows?" He snorted loudly, slammed his arm and almost fell, "Poor drunkard Sweet Song doesn't know how to stay away from the claws of the monster in the center of the earth?" "It's not like that," Roger retorted. "What else?" Eric asked loudly, "Do you think you don't need me because the audience is chanting your name?" "No," said Roger. "Of course not!" Eric muttered, took another swig from the wine bag, and then stumbled away. Roger's throat clenched, and he reached into the secret pocket for the amulet.He stroked the smooth surface and soft hair of the wooden doll with his thumb, trying to find strength from it. "That's right, go to your mother!" Eric yelled, turning and pointing at the little baby, "You forget who raised you so much, who taught you so many skills! I gave up my own for you life!" Roger clutches the amulet, feels his mother's presence, hears her dying words.He recalled the scene of Eric pushing his mother down again, and anger gathered in his throat. "No," he said, "you're the only one who didn't give up your life for me." Eric frowned and moved closer to the boy.Roger retreated, but the magic circle was very small, and there was no way to retreat.Outside the magic seal circle, the demons hungrily followed it. "Give me your thing!" Eric growled angrily, grabbing Roger's wrist. "It's mine!" cried Roger.They fight for a moment, but Erik is tall and has good hands.Finally he snatched the amulet and threw it into the fire. "No!" Roger yelled, rushing to the fire, but it was too late, the red hair caught fire in an instant, and the wooden doll was already on fire before he could find a branch to pick out the amulet.Roger knelt and watched it burn, dumbfounded.His hands began to tremble. Eric ignored him, and stumbled to the demon who was crouching outside and attacking the magic circle. "It's all your fault!" he roared. "It's all your fault that I will lose my job and beg from village to village with an ungrateful child! Your fault!" The earth core monster roared at him, revealing two rows of sharp white teeth.Eric yelled back at them, slamming the wine bag in the demon's face.The wine bag burst, spilling blood red wine and leather fragments on both of them. "My wine!" Eric yelled, suddenly realizing what he had done.He stepped out of the sigil circle, as if he had the power to undo the mistake. "Master, no!" Roger yelled.He scrambled forward, kicking the back of the teacher's knee, holding up his good hand and grabbing Eric's ponytail.Eric was pulled back into the magic circle and fell heavily on the apprentice. "Get your dirty hands off!" Eric yelled frantically, not realizing that Roger had just saved his life.He got up, grabbed the boy by the shirt, and pushed him outside the circle. At that moment, both of them and the earth core monster froze in place.As the demons cheered excitedly before the meal, Eric finally understood what he had done, but the demons had already rushed towards the boy. Roger fell to the ground screaming, not expecting to rush back to the magic circle in time.He threw up his hands in a desperate attempt to fend off the demon's attack, but before the demon fell, he heard a cry and saw Erik cut off the core monster and slam it aside. "Go back to the magic seal circle!" Eric shouted.The demon roared and counterattacked heavily, and the bard immediately rose into the air.When he fell to the ground, he wanted to bounce up again. With a flick of his arm, he hooked the rope of the portable magic seal ring, messing up the position of the magic seal wooden sign. The monsters in the center of the earth began to rush towards the gap in the magic seal.Roger realized they were both doomed.The first demon came at him again, but Erik grabbed it again and flung him aside. "Your violin!" he shouted, "you can force them back!" However, just as he spoke, the claws of the earth core monster had already penetrated deeply into his chest, and blood spurted out from his mouth. "Teacher!" Roger exclaimed.He looked at the violin hesitantly. "Save yourself!" Erik yelled before the demon tore out his throat. When Dawn drove the demons back to the Demon Realm, the fingers on Roger's intact palms were already dripping with blood.It took all his strength to straighten his fingers and let go of the violin. He played for a whole night. After the campfire went out, he curled up in the darkness, playing incongruous tones, and driving away the monsters lurking in the darkness. When he played the violin, he felt no rhythmic beauty, only an unpleasant squeaking noise; nothing helped him to forget his fear.But now, looking at the teacher's corpse lying in a pool of blood in tattered clothes, a new fear surged in his heart, and he fell to his knees and vomited continuously. After a while, he calmed down a little, looking at his bloody hands, trying to stop the trembling.He felt red and hot all over his body, but his cheeks were cold and bloodless in the morning wind.His stomach churned, but nothing came out.He wiped the corners of his mouth with his colored sleeve, then forced himself to stand up. He tried to collect Erik's remains for burial, but couldn't find much to bury, a lock of hair, a tattered boot with all the flesh eaten from it; and blood.Demons don't shy away from internal organs and bones, and they grab them fiercely. According to the priest's teachings, the earth core monster will devour the victim's body and soul, but Erik always said that the cultist can lie better than the bard, and his teacher is a great liar.Roger thought of his talisman, and how it felt to be guarded by his mother's spirit.How could he feel her if her soul was devoured? He turned to the cold ashes of the campfire.The wooden doll was still inside, black and full of cracks, and it was quickly shattered into pieces in his hands.Not far away, the remains of Eric's ponytail lay quietly on the soil.Roger picked up the hair and saw that there were far more grays than blonds in it.He puts the hair in his pocket—he's going to make another amulet. When Lin Jinzhen came into view before dusk, Roger finally breathed a sigh of relief.He didn't think he had the strength to last another night in the wild. He considered turning back to Cricket Hill and begging passing couriers to take him back to Angels, but that would have required explaining what had happened, and Roger wasn't ready for that.Besides, what is there to miss about Angels?Without a performing license, he couldn't perform at all, and Erik offended every bard who could help him with his apprenticeship.It's better to stay on this side of the world. No one knows him, and the guild can't control him. Like Cricket Slope, Linjin Town is full of innocent and good people who are willing to welcome the bard with open arms, and have no desire to question the people who bring entertainment to the town. Roger gratefully accepted their hospitality.He feels like a liar because he's just an unlicensed apprentice claiming to be a bard, but he doesn't think the townspeople of Rimjin would care if they knew the truth.Would it make them refuse to party to his music, or not laugh enough when he played tricks?But Roger dared not touch the colored balls in the surprise bag, nor did he dare to sing.He replaced juggling with stunts like backflips, somersaults, and handstand walks, trying to hide his inadequacies as best he could. The townspeople of Lin Jin didn't force him to perform colored balls, and that was enough for the time being.