The art of a false word

The town represented a pile of two and three-story buildings with high sharp spires, towers and some very large objects. Everything was surrounded by a decently high stone wall. Outside of it could be seen hundreds or even thousands of wooden huts, chaotically crossing the winding streets.

The view from the hill I was standing on was simply breathtaking.

Apparently, a middle class was living somewhere beyond the walls, protected from the crowding in decaying wooden outbuildings rabble.

After examining myself, I come to conclusion that it would be hard for me to get in there.

There was no real reason for me to go there, considering who I wanted to get lost among.

"So... what's next?" I asked myself, scratching my head.

The voice in his head chuckled.

"Looks like you're going to have some… vivid experience... a little different from what you got used to. It is definitely different from fucking with noblewomen."

"I didn't ask you", I thought.

"You need to find some shelter, and then you can think everything over."

"Indeed", I nodded.

Getting down the hill quickly and heading to the city, I was thinking hard about my next actions. And the closer I got to, the more I hesitated.

I wasn't pleased with what I came across. It could be said about both the people and their environment.

First, I decided to walk and look around the city.

"What, no worthy mansion for your Imperial Majesty?" a malignant voice commented what I could see.

Somehow I even agreed with him. I wouldn't want to live in SUCH horrible conditions. Definitely not in the leaking houses, with the wind blowing inside through all the cracks.

And the locals themselves...

They were in no way in a better condition. They were all dirty and wearing rags. Although there were neat looking ones, I noticed but one common feature among them—apparent exhaustion.

I frequently faced empty, frightened and angry looks. It was hard to sense a reason for that.

It also seemed that both men and women were in a more or less equal living conditions.

Though, small groups of armed women was stranding out from the crowd. They were walking slowly through the narrow streets of slums and glancing lazily at the locals. I didn't know whether they were looking for someone, but I decided to mix with the crowd and avoid attracting their attention.

Luckily, I easily manage to do so with my looks.

The streets often led out to small "clearings", they were open spaces where people were crowding around the fire to cook some stuff. I didn't know what they were eating, but I could only guess.

In fact, in order not to get lost while wandering, sometimes I had to orientate myself using the walls, which occasionally could be seen behind the houses. I reached the main road leading to one of the town gates. There were hundreds of beggars sitting along the stone road, as well as a lot of guards keeping everything under control. At least, they were actively trying to make it look like that's the case.

An unmeasurable, two-way flow of caravans with ordinary people and some armed soldier-like individuals, dragging a load were walking down the same road.

Yet, their amount was far less than those of the beggars, so I could easily cross this road, even walking side to side. I did it, being under the watchful eyes of the guards.

A slight melancholy and a little bit of anger captured me. That might've been contagious.…

So, not caring about the repercussions, I charged into the first more or less acceptable house.

It was a brick one-story house, although the first floor looked more like an attic. Well, at least, the building was decent: solid wooden walls that wouldn't shake when pushing them, a wooden roof under the batter, and some kind of solid foundation. There were even shutters on the windows—it was definitely the best house that I had seen on my way.

Naturally, it was inhabited by some thugs. There were four women with gangster appearance and swollen faces. They were flapping their eyes at the sight of me standing in the aisle.

We looked at each other appraisingly. While I was thinking over whether they should just make me get out of here or make room, they've been trying to figure out what kind of schmuck barged into their house and what to expect from him.

Seeing their intrigued looks following my every step as I walked toward them, I left behind the idea of good neighborliness.

They were sitting at a table choke with glasses and empty dirty bottles, leftovers… and joints.

I stopped in front of them. They still kept their silence, glaring with their stupid glances.

I decided to break the silence first and cleared my throat.

"Have you... have you ever heard of such wonderful thing as racketeering?" I asked, shaking my head.

"Oh.. Huh?" replied one of them.

"You, old bag, get up and out of here. Now!" I said with a subtle mental message from a maliciously laughing demon.

It seemed like they were not much different from rabbits, so that woman obediently started to get up.

I looked at the others.

"You too... we've got a change of plans. Get up, clean the room up and get out through the window."

That's funny. I stood and watched as they were hastily cleaning up.

I felt a very strange dissonance while comparing their bodies and faces. They had beautiful figure... and drunk faces. Their thin slender legs with a slight fat on the hips created a mature air, and there was their dirty tangled hair. They possessed slender fingers, beautiful hands and yellow, dirty skin. Their long eyelashes, their deep eyes were surrounded by red vessels on the eye whites.

In addition, they clearly used to be fit as I saw muscles straps running under their skin.

"Hey, why are they so obedient?" I whispered to myself.

"They are drugged and their minds are malleable to external influence."

Hm…

"So, when they sober up, they can come back?"

"Most likely," chuckled the voice in my head.

"Ah... is there a way to send them… away, permanently, and, you know, forever?" I asked thoughtfully.

A laughter responded to me.

"Ha-ha, sure! But I won't do everything for you. No, I will strengthen your words... But it is you who should think over the way to get rid of them."

I scratched my head in thought. One had already left and I was not going to look for her, but with the other two…

I need to come up with something.

Should I take drastic measures? Or... I looked at them again. Drunk, life runaways, who apparently also tried to escape from their past, dispirited and virtually useless by themselves. On the one hand, it was sad and I felt sorry for them, but on the other...

Should I bring more bright colors to their life? Bring them to sense? Motivate so they could search for their destiny?

I sighed and clapped my hands to get their attention.

"Right, right! Stop and listen to me! Let's find out "who is who" and where sits the dragon. Starting with... "

I pointed at one of the women.

"…you."

I looked her over from head to foot. She was dressed in an old leather suit, obviously marching, with a short sword with a worn handle hanging on a belt hangs. She had pretty nice boots in a good condition. Her body was physically strong and, apparently, accustomed to active lifestyle. But her face... I winced.

"What's your name?"

"Fei Yun," a woman's voice said with a slight hoarse.

"Fei Yun, ha?"

I examined the pronunciation of that name, estimating its sound

"Now look at you, Fei Yun. You, the Warrior, used to be in excellent physical shape. The one that never knew the sorrow of defeat… and what you have become!"

I ignored her surprised glare and only gave her a disdainful look, so she felt embarrassed.

"You drink some shit, smoke joints on the outskirts of civilization! And you could have become the Dragon Slayer, the Savior of the Prince Charming, the protector of the Motherland from vile invaders, a Holy Warrior or a Great General... I despise you."

I literally spat out the last sentence.

I looked away from her and looked at the next one.

"You!" I snapped, my eyes blazing.

"Anshuoanesha, shir!" proclaimed the girl. She had the messiest hair, she was dressed in black long belted robe and appeared to be barefooted. I quickly began sorting out associations in my mind with her name... oh, the irony.

"Antoinette... dear Antoinette," I said softly, "a girl like you should be the subject of ballads with handsome young men confessing their eternal love standing under your windows at night and depriving themselves of sleep for many weeks …"

Wait.

I'm not sure if guys sing serenades to girls in this world, and not vice versa…

"Ahem." I said, clearing my throat, "Antoinette, you could have become the source of fire in men's hearts, because that's what they miss. They're empty, and the girls are used to possess them, but not you, dear. You could have brought them light and the will of fire..."

I was getting quieter by the end of my speech. Gee, I'm spewing nonsense.

"And you are…"

"Eitner..."

The third one looked down. With such a swollen face it seemed cute but rather nasty.

I looked at her. She was nothing special—just a typical girl. Yes, her body is beautiful, but she neglected it. It's worth noting though, she looked gentle and kind, obviously not suited for this world of female rivalry. She was definitely too weak for that.

"Einher… Care to tell me, who you are? Weak, stupid and defenseless... What kind of woman are you?"

She seemed to be crying. You're in a wrong world for that, baby.

"…even now, instead of accepting reality with clenched teeth, you're crying…"

I came closer and looked at her. She was pretty slim. Probably, the most slender of them all. Straight posture, obviously trained. Even though some sharp facial features showed up through the swollen cheek. The girl was obviously involved in the upperclass, most likely as a servant.

"You do have potential, too."

She stared at me

"Yes, Yes, that's true. Hidden like an unflowered lotus bud. But you need some time to blossom... But you are clearly trying to ignore it, right? And then who should flowers of talent blossom for?"

I stood back and looked around the women standing in front of me, and continued.

"We all reap the fruits of our mistakes. Sometimes they are so disgusting that they get cheekbones paralyzed and make our eyes get full with teats. But is this the reason to give up like you did? You, rags and trash with no life purpose, with no stem."

I clenched my fist and bent my arm at the elbow.

"Dreams of a global goal that worth reaching. That's what you're missing! And today is your lucky day! I'll give it to you!"

So, I hope that all this time the demon assisted me, too, and this nonsense remained nonsense without the corrupting influence of my companion.

"Fei Yun," I looked at the first girl. "Your destiny is to become the greatest warrior! Kill a hundred of demons! Become so powerful that you could confront a whole army alone and win!"

Approaching her, I put my hand on her forehead. The girl jerked slightly, but kept standing.

"I give you my blessing!" I said proudly.

I wish to believe that I could bring them to the sense with this sort of tactile contact. I didn't feel anything, but when I stepped away, girl sat down with her shaky feet. Maybe it was because of the fear, or due to being under the influence. Hopefully, the second.

I approached the second one, who gulped slightly, glancing at the fallen friend.

"Anshuoanesha..." I said, parodying her.

"You have a difficult mission to revive the male kind. Who else but a girl can possess a man's heart in her hands? And you deserve it more than anyone."

Those dirty greasy hair... Disgusting.

"Look at the world"

I spread my hands.

"…what kinds of men do you see? They're all empty, washed out bunch of slaves!"

Walking around the city, I studied the women's attitude to the opposite sex. I came to some conclusions and I did not like them.

"You have to find the best ones! The rest are to carry the flame and to direct them along another path!" her eyes flared with understanding. "Because those bitches take the best, so they dry them up being captured!"

Then I started improvising, as I wanted to finish with her. The point I was trying to get through was vague.

"Well, you understood!" I patted her shoulder and touched her forehead. "My blessings!"

She also decided to go down, just like the first one. I went to the last one.

"Einher... a great human among mortals, insignificant before the heaven. The great in front of the sky, and miserable among the people."

I stared into her eyes.

"No one will cut down useless tree, as it will keep growing and become great. Nobody needs it and that is why it is truly free and beautiful."

And after a pause, I continued.

"Go and find your way," I said. My blessings!"

I walked over to the chair and wearily flopped into it. It was such a simple talk, but oh so tiring...