The exiled scholar stared at me blankly for a moment, then clutched his stomach as he burst into laughter.
“What’s so funny about that?”
He ignored me, now dropping to the ground to roll in laughter. Once he had laughed to his satisfaction, he staggered back to his feet and said, “I’m not laughing at you. It’s nice to dream big, kid. It looks like this is going to go just as Romwell feared.”
“You mean the head priest?”
“When he censured me for my research, I brought up numerous benefits of knowing the orc language. We could get all sorts of information out of the ones we’d captured. We could hear about the state of their country—I don’t even have to explain the military advantage of that. And most importantly, the orcs are clearly far more advanced when it comes to technology. I assume they discovered that knowledge in the ancient ruins. The majority of those are beyond the mountains, after all. If we could piece together all this information, we’d be fighting with an advantage.”
He made absolute sense. I myself didn’t see any reason to counter his views.
“Is it that serious to commit religious taboo?”
“That, a taboo? Hardly. It was just Romwell’s decision. He saw things differently than I did.” He shrugged. “I brought up so many advantages, and he insisted the risk was higher. I asked, why overlook all the benefits for fear of nonexistent risks? I assured him no idiot would think to use this valuable knowledge frivolously!”
He grinned at me.
“Ah, but now that idiot has come. Dear me. It turns out Romwell was right.”
“Peace is a risk? What are you saying?”
“Ask him to explain his shortsighted logic. If you really plan on pursuing peace, you’ll have to ask him these questions eventually. I’ve had to wash my hands of it. But you say you want to learn orcish, do you?”
“I do.”
“Fine, then… I’ll teach you. With conditions.”
“Let’s hear them.”
“First, I want you to take me under your protection and ensure my needs are met. You have quite a bit of status, obviously. You should be able to see that one pitiful old man gets fed.”
“Understood. Kadann Hill will offer you a safe haven. I promise you a room at the manor.”
I’d already intended to offer this, but not just for his benefit. I didn’t want to have to commute here every time I wanted a lesson from him.
“You were appointed as field marshal, then? You don’t look the part at all. Be that as it may, now for condition two.”
“Go on.”
“You will assist my in research. First, on orcish language. My dictionary is far from complete. However, you’ll have to keep my research a secret.”
“And your promise with the head priest?” I asked.
“I never exactly promised not to research. He was more concerned with me utilizing the research. His precise phrasing was: ‘If you pursue the orcish language any further in order to teach it to others, I will have you killed. So long as you refrain, I will leave you be.’ If he fails to fulfill his side of that promise, that’s on him.”
Brave words, but I’d be the one standing between the two of them if it came to that. I really wanted him to resume his research, though, so I’d just have to keep him out of sight as best as I could.
“Very well. I’ll support your research in whatever way I can.”
“Then we have an agreement. I’ll begin instructing you as soon as we reach your manor.”
Having said this, the old man started for his hole, but he paused to turn back to me.
He said, “To tell you the truth, living here free from worldly concerns wasn’t so bad. But at this age, I’m feeling the weather in my bones.” To demonstrate, he stretched out his arms with a groan.
“I can see that. But tell me, why are you so fixated on the orcish language? You wouldn’t be here if you’d just given up and worked on something else.”
The man snorted at this question. “Like hell I could give up! Learning their language was the shortest route I could take. All the other paths would be far more troublesome. Without my efforts, there wouldn’t have been any progress in my lifetime.”
“Orcish is a shortcut? To what?”
“I’ll explain it so even an idiot like you can understand. The true subject of my research was the technology left by the ancients.”
“The people who built the grand dragon house and Dragonjaw Gate?”
“Don’t interrupt! Dragonjaw Gate, yes, but not the grand dragon house. That was yet another civilization, with different technology,” he huffed impatiently. “I had a dream of reviving the technology of the ancients, and restoring to humanity their level of prosperity.”
“What’s that got to do with the orcs?”
“Shut up and wait for me to get to that! You don’t have to jump in every time your fatuous brain spasms! If you don’t understand, save your questions for the end!”
Jeez, sorry.
“The ancients did not leave much. Within our territory, we only have Dragonjaw Gate, so the other scholars and I would spend our days piecing together the circle under the gate. Of course, we hardly made any progress. One day, though, when despair was beginning to get the better of me, a dragon rider came to us with something amazing. What do you think it was?”
“I don’t know.”
“A book. A book written by the ancients! Some outrageous idiot named Rigel had found it. He’d flown all the way to the old capital simply out of boredom…flown straight into orc territory on an idle whim! See what I mean by outrageous idiot? Never before had I been so thankful to God for bringing idiots into the world. I was ready to apologize for all the times I’d cursed in His name.”
This was some talk from a former priest. Anyway, Rigel was really getting blasted for someone who’d discovered such a valuable artifact.
“And what do you know? Of all things, that book was about Dragonjaw Gate! Not that I could read a word of it. I had to guess context from the illustrations, but there was no doubt about the subject matter. The book contained many descriptions of Dragonjaw Gate, including a complex diagram of the magic circle. I had no idea how anyone could draw up something so elaborate. It took a magnifying glass to observe the finer details. Do you know about magnifying glasses? You do? So what do you think it was? No, not the glass! I mean the gate.”
Undeterred, he continued, “Anyway, Dragonjaw Gate is not just a fortress. There’s a possibility that a massive dragon was once sealed beneath it. That’s what was pictured: a dragon pinned to the ground with eight stakes. Yes, I understand your disbelief; it’s written all over your face. Of course, it’s possible the illustration was just a metaphor to represent something else entirely. However, based on how precisely the dragon was portrayed, and the details on a magic circle that appeared to be a binding seal, it’s not out of the question. It’s possible that what we call ley lines are actually—”
I felt he was getting off track.
“Um, could we get back to the—”
“What, is that how you ask someone to teach you? Teacher is feeling enthusiastic right now, so just shut up and listen! You seriously lack respect. Anyway, where were we?”
Despite his foul manner, he did return to the topic.
“There was no doubt that the book’s text was crammed full of information that would help elucidate the magic circle. Decrypting that text became the central focus of my research. I started by comparing the magic circles I knew to the drawings in the book, and guessing what might be written about them. I made a little progress, just enough to work out some of the circle’s functions. However, there my studies reached a dead end. I could not actually read the words themselves, so the book itself wasn’t enough. What would you have done then?”
“Search in Dragonjaw Gate, perhaps?”
“That’s right. Though it had been searched before, I obsessively investigated every nook and cranny. And while I did uncover a few secret rooms, I found little else. Then what next?”
“How about searching for other ruins?”
“That would be a good idea, but we know there are no other ancient ruins on our side of the mountains. Therefore, I set my sights beyond the mountains.”
“Into orcish territory?”
“That’s right. I talked my way into an invading force, as their chaplain, and searched the other side. Unfortunately, there weren’t any ruins near the far side of the mountains. Perhaps that had been a frontier region to the ancients. No doubt there was more to be found to the south, but I could not venture that deeply into orc territory. I needed to gather information from the orcs themselves, my best bet being for them to guide me. It’s obvious the orcs have investigated ancient ruins. I hoped to view whatever documents they might have written about their findings.”
“I see. So that’s why learning orcish was necessary.”
“You finally understand? Good grief, could you be any slower?” His words were sharp, but he seemed to be enjoying himself.
“Well, look, I need to return to Dragonjaw Gate for now. I’ll send someone for you as soon as I can. Please be patient.”
“Fine. I just hope I don’t freeze before they get here. Wait, you said Dragonjaw Gate? You’re allowed to come and go as you please? What about the underground chamber?”
“I am, and the chamber is open. They’re in the middle of a ceremony to reactivate the barriers, right now.”
“By God! I didn’t think they’d actually do it. Is it going well so far?”
“So far.”
“Who’s in charge?”
“Worion, the head scholar.”
“I see… So he succeeded me. He’s quite an idiot himself, but he’s one of the better ones. He should be able to handle whatever happens.”
Being a better idiot was probably the best compliment the old hermit could give.
“Since you’re going to Dragonjaw Gate, then, I have one request.”