The Last Case

the Jomking II

'I never wished to take any new cases or even get back in this line of work. But for some reason, I could not resist when George read me the letter about this one.

'The driver, again, dropped me at the entrance of the farmlands and moved ahead, and I walked ahead on the same road as the day before and after some time, I was standing some distance from the house the woman from the other day mentioned.

'The words of the lady came to me, "You can visit the last farmland house at the end of this road. He was pretty close to the slaves. I often saw him helping the female slave when the master was not there." I also remembered her later words, "You can stay here for the night if it pleases you." And I shook my head, for why would I think of that part? That thought disgusted me for some time.

'Noticing the door closed from outside, I walked away and rested under a tree till an old, healthy person returned from wherever he had gone. After some more time had passed, I walked toward the house.

'The old man opened the door, "May I help you?" And a smile came on him after realising my identity. He spoke before I could say. "I am well aware of who you might be. Please, come in." He walked in, "And close the door behind you."

'He was about to pour me a mug of wine before I asked him not to. Looking at my outfit, he asked me to sit on the cushions near the fireplace and soon came out with his mug of wine and sat opposite to me.

'"By your expression, I presume you know why I might have visited you."

'"I think I do," he nodded. "What do you wish to know from me?"

'"The other day, I visited some of the houses on this road. One lady mentioned, the master of the house at the end of this road, should know more about this runaway person. For he was the person closest to the slaves. That happened to be you."

'The man smiled, "I will not deny I was close to the slaves, and even their master. But if you wish to conclude I was a part of this incident and killing, I will deny that."

'"I am not concluding anything," I shook my head. "I only wish to know what you know about either of them, or anything about this situation."

'The man nodded, drinking from his mug, "The nation of Lydia was not united earlier. There was a time not more than 60 years ago, when this nation was divided into different territories ruled by different heads, the Earls. But the land was extremely fertile-not as fertile as the Sindhi lands, beyond the Sumerian deserts, but fertile enough. And the old ruler of Thena used this division as an advantage to ravage lands.

'"But there was a visionary. A person who brought together some warriors and, defeating the heads, united the lands and named it after his deceased lover-The Lydia. In those times, I and the slave's now-dead master were close friends, comrades, fighting together alongside other warriors and the current king.

'I smiled, "It is funny then, how after the unification you ended up on the same farmland as him."

'"There are many more you will find. For this lands were gifted as an honor to the best ones. Thus, some of us end up in the same place."

'"What happened then?"

'"We were given houses to live and lands to harvest. Massive lands which would feed us for a lifetime. For fighters like us, where taking lives was all we knew and got pleasure from, farming and creating life was a life lesson. Farming was like parenting thousands of lives. Gradually, as his lands gave him a profit, he bought more lands from others and extended his lands. Of course, not everyone had the same views about farming as I did.

'"We occasionally had conversations about the old days and how life is now over mugs of wine, but they reduced as he was changing. Soon, his brother separated from him. He was a man with a vision . . . just like the current king."