Житие Мое / Life of Mine: Глава 3

Chapter 3

Camrad_RIP 07.05.23 в 19:49

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Camrad_RIP 07.05.23 в 19:49

I was saved by Lucik.

Camrad_RIP 07.05.23 в 20:30

Our novice white mage and his buddies sneaked into the wake to watch the drunks. Don't get me wrong. We don't get drunk to the point of blue. He saw me go behind the garage, but he didn't see me come back. Disregarding the risk of being punished for prying, Lucik went to the elders and demanded to find me. When the delegation, with their enchanted lanterns (which are indispensable in the Krowhard), arrived at the barn, Rustle was long gone. So the brother saved the brother.

Camrad_RIP 07.05.23 в 20:33

Then there was Joe, who gave me CPR and heart massage for forty minutes nonstop (anyone who's tried it would have understood, I'd have lasted a quarter of an hour at most) while the headman's truck made its way to the county hospital. I woke up two days later in the ICU, and for the first five minutes, I was sure I had reached the other side - everything was so white and shiny and slightly hazy. And it even looked like angels... I could only imagine that!

Camrad_RIP 07.05.23 в 20:37

No one here understood the depth of my problems. I went out of my way to convince everyone that I was completely healthy, while the doctor took a perverse pleasure in proving me wrong. And he called himself white! By the end of the week, this "sir" was getting on my nerves. He was partly right: for a couple of days, my vision was intermittently impaired, and when I tried to stand up, my muscles were pierced with sharp pain, but then everything went away.

Camrad_RIP 07.05.23 в 20:39

"Don't argue with me, sir," the healer whispered good-naturedly, tapping me on the knee with his hammer. It's a good thing he didn't stick needles under my nails! "A normal person would have been killed on the spot with such a dose, but black magicians are exceptionally tough bastards.

Camrad_RIP 07.05.23 в 20:40

And if a doctor says so, you have to believe him. In the end, he forbade me to do magic for at least two more months and even wrote a statement to the university.

Camrad_RIP 07.05.23 в 20:41

"What's your hurry?" Chief Harlick, who came to interrogate me personally, was perplexed. "We called your boss, and he was very understanding, so you're free to walk around until the semester starts. I wish I had a boss like that!"

Camrad_RIP 07.05.23 в 20:42

Was it worth explaining to the man that if I didn't renew the reanimation spells, Max would bite half of Krowhard? I didn't want to train the dog to be a cannibal.

Camrad_RIP 07.05.23 в 20:43

"So, what happened?"

Camrad_RIP 07.05.23 в 20:43

He listened attentively to my story and nodded to confirm the suspicion of my uncle's poisoning but did not share the progress of the investigation.

Camrad_RIP 07.05.23 в 20:46

"We're sure to find those two. It's a pity you didn't get a better look at them. Do you know what they were looking for?"

Camrad_RIP 07.05.23 в 20:46

I have no idea. I thought my uncle told you something.

Camrad_RIP 07.05.23 в 20:47

He chewed his lips.

Camrad_RIP 07.05.23 в 20:48

"We'll come back to that. Two days before he died, Gordon received a package. Something small and light. Do you know who it was from?" I guess he got the answer from the look on my face. "Well, get some rest. I'll see you later."

Camrad_RIP 07.05.23 в 20:49

And then I decided to ask a very important question for me:

Camrad_RIP 07.05.23 в 20:50

"How do people die from a Rustle attack? I've been meaning to ask for a long time."

Camrad_RIP 07.05.23 в 20:50

He shrugged:

Camrad_RIP 07.05.23 в 20:51

"It's hard to say. There are no witnesses. Usually, there's a skeleton and lots and lots of brown foam."

Camrad_RIP 07.05.23 в 20:51

That's when I remembered the keeper of King's Island. On the other hand, he didn't rip his own jaw off, did he?

Camrad_RIP 07.05.23 в 20:52

"And how do you treat victims?"

Camrad_RIP 07.05.23 в 20:52

"We're not treating them at all! We wait for them to settle down. A positive reaction to contact with the otherworldly remains for life. You know, Rustle doesn't forget the marked ones. I hope that's a rhetorical question, isn't it?"

Camrad_RIP 07.05.23 в 20:54

I twitched an eyebrow:

Camrad_RIP 07.05.23 в 20:54

"Professional. We had a lecture at the university on the otherworldly."

Camrad_RIP 07.05.23 в 20:58

"Oh, yes, I heard!" He came to life. "Some brat have fun in Radstone, hasn't he?"

Camrad_RIP 07.05.23 в 21:06

I grimaced:

Camrad_RIP 07.05.23 в 21:07

"But then everyone was so steamed."

Camrad_RIP 08.05.23 в 05:13

"That's okay, it's good for our kin!"

Camrad_RIP 08.05.23 в 05:13

He went away, and I was left to ponder the futility of all things. If I told them about Rustler, they would just lock me up for forty days. During that time, the zombie dog would go berserk. On the other hand, no one else has seen the monster. If I were to get a positive reaction later, I could always say it was the result of my visit to King's Island. Prove it! The main thing is to be careful and get away as quickly as possible; skeleton and brown foam are not my styles.

Camrad_RIP 08.05.23 в 05:31

The next day I was released, and it was clear that I couldn't go to Redstone right away.

Camrad_RIP 08.05.23 в 05:31

My relatives all came to pick me up in the headman's roomy jalopy. Lucic rejoiced as if I'd come back from the dead, which was almost true. My mother wept on my chest. I'm black, of course, and certainly heartless, but I couldn't just say "ciao!" to everyone. The sudden departure didn't fit the situation in a purely logical way. I should have stayed home for at least a week. And not go anywhere at night.

Camrad_RIP 08.05.23 в 12:46

"Such a horror!" I don't know how many times my mother repeated this. She calmed down a little on the way, but she clung to my hand like I was about to be taken away. "And someone tried to get into Gordon's house, broke the windows, and left."

Camrad_RIP 08.05.23 в 12:47

And I even know what scared them off. You have to have the fantastic nerve to show up twice in a place guarded by zombies.

Camrad_RIP 08.05.23 в 13:02

What were they looking for? Surely they hadn't found it, or they wouldn't have tried a second time. Small, light, a little bigger than a notebook. That's what I think Chief Harlick described it as. That's where my imagination failed me. It might have been a hundred thousand in bonds, or a confession from the Prime Minister's wife, though I don't think they would have killed for the latter. The poison still reminded me of it with a weakness in my body and a distraction in my attention. On the short journey home, I was as tired as if I had walked all the way from end to end, and Joe had even had to help me undress. This had not happened to me since I was seven years old! Yes, I was obviously ill, and it would do me no harm to rest for a week or two. Home-cooked food, complete peace, and no need to go to the shitty factory. I took the doctors' prohibition on witchcraft as a black one ought to; I did not care for it. As for Rustle, I was inclined to think that he had not had time to reach me.

Camrad_RIP 08.05.23 в 13:09

A man can hope for the best!

Camrad_RIP 08.05.23 в 13:10

The last week of rest had cost me a lot of nerves. My weakness made me angry, and the thought of a valuable thing that could go to someone else was frenzied. It was like giving up my own. My spare time was divided between searching for hiding places in my uncle's house under the pretext of sorting out junk and interviewing witnesses. Not every policeman can get a definite answer to a particular question from a resident of Krowhard, but I was as relentless as a runny nose. The inquiry was aided by the fact that there was no other alchemist in the valley, and the villagers had to come to me with all their problems, and there was nowhere to go. The postman remembered that the parcel my uncle had received two days before he died bore the address of the capital. The old boozer, who had been frank with me at the wake, said that my uncle had lived in the capital for some time and had returned to his native village about twenty years before without explaining the circumstances.

Camrad_RIP 08.05.23 в 13:41

Mom would get upset, saying: "You're working too hard," Joe gently assented. I smiled sweetly and involved my stepfather in everything I could think of. It was my little revenge for the insects that were still flying around in the garden. They couldn't hurt me since I'd made sure I had an amulet that repelled bees, mosquitoes, bedbugs, and any creature that might invade a human body, and even Quarter had lost the urge to pat me on the shoulder. There it was, the true power of magic! But it was about principles.

Camrad_RIP 08.05.23 в 13:46

Max had the best time - the zombie dog was blissfully in the tall grass, lounging around exploring rodent burrows and chasing butterflies.

Camrad_RIP 08.05.23 в 13:47

The killers did not appear again.

Camrad_RIP 08.05.23 в 13:47

The old alchemist's house was gradually emptying. The first thing I did was drag a large oak table into our attic. I liked it purely aesthetically. In the toolbox was a fancy set of lock picks. In the bedroom, there was a lovely set of chalk rosaries, a must-have for the black mage: they could hold a spell or two that could take the place of an operative curse with no trouble at all. My uncle must not have known how to manipulate streams. My loot was the old wizard's work journals. The last entry there had been made twenty years ago. I hoped to find in them a recipe for an antimagic remedy and slip it into Mr. Rakshat's tea. Digging through my uncle's things was not tiresome, only a little sad. It's the kind of hassle that reveals to us the true nature of death. You go away, and there is nothing you can change. Everything you hold dear is left at the mercy of the living.

Camrad_RIP 08.05.23 в 14:14

I concentrated on arranging my findings into three piles. Things that would go in the trash, things that would be memorable, and things that could be put to good use. In the end, all that was left was a sterile house devoid of any individuality, in which a new alchemist would move in the next week. I did not wait for that to happen, for who knows how my wicked nature would react to a stranger? The huge suitcase was already packed, the fancy suit was waiting on the rack, and my conscience was burdened with one small but urgent matter: to put in order the repellent spells around my uncle's house. Their absence was becoming noticeable - there were mice in the garage. After that, the matter of tradition was closed.

Camrad_RIP 08.05.23 в 16:41

On the day of departure, I woke up very early after a detailed dream in which I was setting up some strange alchemical constructions that could fly without wings. How, I wondered? I was awakened by the smell of fresh pancakes and Lucik. My visibly grown brother was running around the garden with some problem that only the white one could understand. Maybe he thought the mice were too cramped for space. We should get him a cat...

Camrad_RIP 08.05.23 в 17:09

But they wouldn't let me stay in bed.

Camrad_RIP 08.05.23 в 17:09

"Breakfast!" My mother's voice came from downstairs.

Camrad_RIP 08.05.23 в 17:10

Yes, yes, I'm on my way... The screeching and stomping announced that I would not be the first one at the table. That's too bad! I hurriedly pulled on my pants and rolled briskly out of the room.

Camrad_RIP 08.05.23 в 17:11

Despite the early hour, everyone was in place.

Camrad_RIP 08.05.23 в 17:12

Joe sipped milk from his beer mug with a contented look. For little Emmy, the pancakes were just an excuse - she'd lick the jam off them and ask for more. Hopefully, her mother would be able to wash her off afterward. Lucik, in his excitement, didn't even notice that he was eating; he was an amazingly active child. The bees left the sugar bowl at my appearance with a disgruntled "bzz-z".

Camrad_RIP 08.05.23 в 17:13

"Are we going to the station together?" I asked, just in case.

Camrad_RIP 08.05.23 в 17:14

"Uh-huh," nodded Joe good-naturedly.

Camrad_RIP 08.05.23 в 17:15