Chapter 95 – Whiner’s Home

Slowly, Joshua stretched his legs into this courtyard. There were new tombstones laid in this courtyard, seeing the tombstone, Joshua went to the memorial tombstone was and stared at the names written on it. In his hand was a bottle of wine. He put it on the tomb.

The tombs were empty. There was nothing but empty coffins buried here. Joshua knew that. He was told by Silo who arrived silently like him in this courtyard of tombstones. Silo weave through the flagstone paths before standing beside Joshua.

“Silo.”

“Joshua.”

The two looked and nodded at each other. They kept looking at the memorial tombstone. There were o still and noiseless mood around the courtyard of tombstones. The only sound that could be heard was the birds flapping their wings. And the crickets that make noises. The wind blew from the left, making Joshua’s gray long coat flutter along with the wind. Silo tugged his tunic, rubbing his collar. Silo stared at the names on the tombstone.

“Thank you,” said Silo.

Joshua looked at Silo. “What exactly for?”

“For dragging me out of that despairing face and making me see hope despite losing it. I still think you are crazy. But I guess that crazy thing you did save us. It was stupid, isn’t it? We could have avoided it all if we just stop and listened to tour voice of reason. But our anger made us unable to hear our reason. We didn’t listen and we charge like fools who then was too late to realize what they were facing.”

Joshua didn’t reply. He listened.

“I shouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for you. You save me and give me this reason. And someone to fight for.”

“I didn’t do anything special. It was my ego doing that.”

“Maybe,” said Silo. “But that Ego saved me. I thank that ‘Ego’ you speak of. Honestly, when we arrive in the town after that despairing journey. I drank myself to the bottom of the bottle. I kept whining how things should have been different. It was done. It was over. I know that there was no way for them to come back. But I keep on whining about it to Cyra who listens. She...she’s too good for a whiner like me. Ah, why was I so dense? Why did I fail to see her?”

Joshua smirked. “Finally seeing the truth?”

“Yes. I do. That woman listens well. She doesn’t care about my leg. She even listens to my drunk whining. I’ve always asked myself what did I do to have someone like her fall for me. Do you know?”

“No,” Joshua shook his head. “But somewhere along the line, she must have started to like you.”

Silo frowned. “Maybe, still, I would like to give her the best life. I am getting married to her.”

“Congratulations.”

Joshua replied. The bottle of wine he bought was shimmering as the sun rays hit it. Silo turned his attention to the bottle as well.

“You better give me some gift. I supposed we could drink to our hearts in my wedding.”

“We can do that.”

“Aye, still, would it be good to whine in such good day?”

Joshua puckered his lip. “We are humans. Humans whine when they can. When we are tired we whine. When we are hungry we whine. When we are having a bad time we whine. It’s human to whine, Silo. It’s nothing special at all.”

“Hah,” Silo beamed. “That’s one way of putting it. Still, I don’t see you whining.”

“I do whine,” Joshua looked at Silo. “But I keep it to myself since I would go on long rants.”

“Really?” said Silo. “So when you are going to rant about my friend?”

“When I am alone, that would be great.”

“Heh, is that so?”

Joshua nodded. The two kept praying for the dead. After that, they sat near the tombstones and opened the bottle of wine. Silo brought two cups and thus they drank for the fallen hunters. It was a simple ritual that Dan recommended. Silo knew the tradition and Joshua were happy to partake in a round of drinking.

The bottle was near empty in just a matter of minutes. Joshua stared at the wine. He sniffed it and said. “This is a good wine...”

“It is. Sadly, the village making it was crushed along with its makers. Vineyards got burned. Those Bali and Cagan warmongers crushed their airships on the village. They ransacked the village and had to be eliminated by the Thorn Cross Legion. They say that a noble lady crushed the raiders and burned them out of anger.”

“So this is a rare wine now?”

“Not really...I heard that noble lady invested some resources in that village.”

“She must really like the wine.”

“Aye, she even brought an entire regiment of guards in that village. So this wine wouldn’t disappear. Though the profits of that village will be hers, it’s her fief now.”

“What a nice noble lady,” said Joshua.

“Who knows?” Silo shrugged his shoulders.

The two continued drinking until the wine was emptied. Silo stood up gingerly. He looked at the cloudy sky. “I better go. See you around.”

“Goodbye.”

Joshua nodded at Silo. He watched him go. His eyes would look at his artificial wooden leg skid the ground. Joshua sighed. He laid his back on the grass. He closed his eyes. He recalled the horrors that he suffered. It hurt. It made him want to give. In honesty, he wanted to whine about it. But the things that he had seen and witness made him too tired to do it.

It’s all so tiresome, he muttered. He looked at the differently shaped clouds. They move slowly across the sky. There was a breeze coming from the north. It was accompanied by the smell of floras. He was sprawling in a middle of a courtyard with tombstones laid around. The wine beside him made him looked like a drunkard. It took a while but Joshua finally stood up. He took the bottle with him and bid farewell to dead.

He strode out of the cemetery. He eyed the town of Edawick within the fringes of his sight. He didn’t want to jinx it. But he hoped that this place would be his home in this world.