Do you see that tree?

It was still the middle of the day as Jonas looked at the sky, although "day" was a vague description for the grey mess in the sky. It still snowed, which Jonas found annoying on one hand as it was pretty cold but incredible on the other. He hadn't seen that much snow in a long time back in Germany. If it snowed in the area it was not much, often not even sticking around for a day. But now it already snowed for two consecutive days without even giving a glimpse of stopping.

Jonas already knew what plan he had for the next few days, that being to convince Mendo into joining his operation of going into the election. He planned to make the first gunpowder test the one that would not only convince Mendo to join him but also the other townspeople to vote for both of them. That was pretty much the hardest part of that operation, because convincing people that a person they have never met before could lead them into a new era, let's just say that it would be an understatement to call it hard.

As Jonas thought about that, a familiar voice appeared behind him as he walked to the marketplace. It was Mendo. He came up to Jonas and quickly pointed into the direction he just came from, that being was the carpenter named Kirol worked. He then said, "Kirol's finished with you leg thingy, let's go and get it". Jonas looked extremely surprised at this, they only requested it this morning! 'was it already finished? if so, can it really be of good quality?' Jonas thought, but he quickly snapped back and nodded towards Mendo. He wanted to talk to him about the election and his plan and this was the perfect opportunity. it would take them about 20 minutes to reach the workshop. At that time, Jonas could easily bring the subject up. As to convincing him, he already knew how he would go about it.

Both of them took a turn right before the entrance towards the marketplace and went into an alley again. Then Jonas started talking. "Hey, remember yesterday night? we talked about the election if you can, and I had an idea after you said something to me" Mendo curiously turned towards Jonas, clearly not expecting him to start talking about the election that was going to happen next month. Mendo answered with a rising voice "I kind of remember it, but for some reason, the stuff we smoked yesterday made my memories a bit cloudy, what's your point?".

There it was, the question Jonas had been waiting for! He quickly took the chance and said "You told me that a man named Pete would run for mayor, and after that told me that he was going to get elected only on his prospect of being able to keep the town safe" Jonas's tone sounded appealing, he tried his best to sugarcoat his way into convincing Mendo into joining.

He wanted to take this chance as it was the perfect one, he wouldn't have many other tries after this one as he would probably come over as suspicious or annoying. He quickly kept going as he saw that Mendo was slowly paying him more attention, Mendo himself once again noted his extremely curious nature taking over. Jonas followed with "After that, I gave you an answer in which I said "We could build a weapon that could easily keep the town safe", I don't think you were in the right condition to understand that I wasn't joking, we can easily do it". Mendo tried to chuckle but noted that his throat was closed, why was that? Why did this man sound so sure that both of them could once again defeat a wild beast after just barely making it the first time? And even then, he didn't even have a right leg! how the hell would he be able to defeat a fullbear, not to mention all the other beasts in this forest?!

Mendo had taken a liking to Jonas through the last few days. He not only seemed like a nice guy but even saved his life! He gave up his ability to walk normally and was nice to him all the way. He had curious tools on him and seemed to be educated, it was weird of him to even talk to someone like Mendo if that was the case. But Mendo wasn't a dumb man, he could clearly tell that Jonas was more than foreign, the guy knew nothing at all about what was normal around the whole globe! Even though this man was such an enigma, he still felt that these 3 days he had spent with him were enough to consider him a friend, and for Mendo, considering someone a friend wasn't an easy thing. This much was public knowledge about him.

Jonas continued, not leaving Mendo any time to think too much, "I have many things I can tell you, but in exchange, you have to tell me things you know, basically some kind of contract. But that comes later, what I will now tell you is the point I wanted to make from the very beginning of our little conversation" Jonas stood still in the alley, Mendo instantly standing still as well. For some reason, Mendo felt intense fear while looking at Jonas. Jonas wasn't really in any condition to hurt him right now, but the feeling that he was dangerous somehow emerged within Mendo.

Jonas ended his pause while clearly saying in his deep voice "I want you to run the election with me and lead this town into a new era. And if you are unsure about how to answer me right now, I want you to go on a walk with me after I have my wooden leg. This isn't an easy choice you can just agree to in a dark cold alleyway, but I can assure you that I am not lying". As Jonas ended his sentence, he had a slight smile on his face as he looked at the completely baffled Mendo as he began to walk towards the workshop again.

The two of them finally arrived at the workshop, Mendo knocking on the door as soon as they arrived. He had an expression of bafflement and thoughtfulness since the talk he had with Jonas but tried to hide it as he went into the workshop to which Kirol had just opened the door. Kirol quickly showed Jonas the prosthetic leg he had made. Jonas was more than surprised at the quality it had when inspecting it. It not only fitted him perfectly but even had something resembling afoot at the bottom so he could wear shoes and didn't have to show everyone.

Jonas thanked Kirol as he put the prosthetic on and stood up with another leg for the first time in 2 days. He still used one stick as a crutch so as to support himself better. and once again thanked Kirol. He still had a slight grudge against him but he himself knew best that holding grudges and actually treating people differently based on them were two different things. Someone can say that they never hold grudges but they would be lying to not only themselves but everyone else as well. Holding grudges is natural, but executing actions based on them is idiotic.

After they were done, they left the workshop again with a relieved Jonas, Mendo was anything but relieved. He didn't know were Jonas would take him. Jonas asked Mendo a question that confused him even more, "I heard that there is a mine in the mountains, do you know in which direction the path to it is? we need to get a bit of distance from town, although the actual thing will be tomorrow, I need to convince you to join me somehow right?" Mendo was unsure of what to do but eventually ended up showing Jonas the way.

Both of them walked quite a way before finally reaching the east gate of the town. This time, two men wearing iron helmets were watching the gate, just like the ones from the entrance gate. After talking to Mendo for a bit, they let the two through the door. It was almost evening when they arrived at the final stretch of clear land before the forest. They walked for about 20 minutes from the gate to the edge of the forest. When they finally arrived, Jonas looked at the treetops and every direction he could, turning around himself multiple times.

Mendo was insanely confused, what was Jonas doing? what did their useless walk over the clear land help in convincing him to join Jonas in the election? Mendo had many questions, but as per usual, he wasn't allowed to think them to the end as Jonas interrupted them. He looked at Mendo who in return looked at him. Then Jonas pointed towards a tree, but not any tree, the tallest tree there was in the vicinity. It was about 50 meters taller than all the other trees, making it a whole 200 meters tall! its width was as much as 6 houses, roughly translating into 30 meters.

The tree stood alone in the vast field, seemingly taking distance from the others. It stood about 300 meters away from the road the both of them stood on and had cutting marks all over it. When looking closely, one could even see a pretty decent sized hole in the trunk, although it wasn't really that big and almost unrecognizable at the distance they were standing. The field they stood on was roughly 500 meters away from town.

Mendo didn't know what to say until Jonas once again took the lead by saying, "It's afternoon it seems, so we should hurry as to not be late to get our reward, but first I want to ask you if you can see that tree over there. Can you tell me something about it?" Jonas looked to his site were Mendo stood. Mendo, on the other hand, stared towards the huge tree, while slowly saying "That over there is the biggest tree you will find in the area. It's extremely special, but also a pain in the ass for the village guard, as it's the only tree we cannot fell, even with the best technology we have. We had a man with an extremely well made Galver over here in this town. He tried his best, but the furthest he got into it is the little hole you can see in the trunk..." Mendo paused for a second, then he quickly looked over to Jonas and said in a rather loud tone, "Why are you showing me this stuff? Do you think I don't know anything about this town? Let's just get our rewards now!" He turned around angrily and was just about to start walking off when a sure sounding voice came from behind him, saying

"That tree over there will lie on the ground tomorrow, and when that happens and you find out I'm not lying, you will join me in the election" Jonas slowly turned around to face Mendo who was standing still with his back turned towards him, it was quiet for a minute while the wind blew over the field, letting both of their clothes fly in the breeze. Then Mendo turned his head around, his short grey hair doing the same as his clothes. He said, "If you manage to cut that tree down, I will go into the election with you, you hear me? Now come on and let's get our reward".

Jonas slowly walked into the direction of Mendo, his one crook supporting him and his new leg as they walked back towards the town. Jonas's expression revealed a half-smile as he started walking.

Now the only thing he had to do was to make himself look a bit more well kept and groom his beard for the crowd he was trying to get.