In a World without God

Chapter 6

The two Velox pawed at each other impatiently. Edulis's cart had left the grasslands and entered the Casbah Desert, the largest desert on the continent.

The sands of the Casbah are beautiful. White as a snowflake, soft as silk, it sparkles like quartz in the sunlight. But that sparkle poses a great threat to the Erabu who cross it. It can blind them.

He should have pulled his hood over his eyes, but right now Kishi couldn't afford to. A silver-haired boy was leaning his elbow on his shoulder.

Kishi turned his head slightly to check the boy's hands. He wasn't holding a sword, so what was this cold on the nape of his neck?

He'd been an erabu for over a decade, but he'd never seen anything like this. Most of the Ygraine clan are depressed and lethargic. It's only natural. It's hard to be cheerful when you're trapped in a place like Kaldura and oppressed by the state.

But this boy, Edulis, is more than energetic, he is radiating. Kishi's Erabu senses were warning him. This bastard has killed a man or two before.

"No. It can't be."

The other guy was twelve years old. He's never been outside of Kaldura, except to visit the Temple Memorial. Kishi ignored the alarm bells ringing in his senses and tried to sound nonchalant.

"Ha! This is ridiculous. You want me to hand over the Velox? Why would I take such a bet?"

"Hey, mister. Weren't you confident? Is Erabus Kishi a man who can't even stand by his words?"

That face. The smirking tone. Even if he belonged to the Igraine faction, he was, by name, a member of the Fei family. Where did he learn such insolence?

"There's no point in making a bet with someone who's going to die anyway!"

"You're not making a bet because you're going to die, or are you admitting there's a chance you're wrong?"

"There's no chance of that!"

"Then what, are you intimidated by me, mister, are you a coward who's being pecked by a twelve-year-old, haha!"

Edulis turned his head toward the lifeless relative sitting next to him and said in a sarcastic tone.

"Hey, go back and spread the word. That Erabu Kishi is an asshole who doesn't have the balls to bet with a twelve-year-old."

"What, what did you say?"

"How are you doing so far? Aren't you scared to cross the Casbah Desert? Oh... I thought I smelled something fishy, but it must have been Kishi's piss on the saddle. Hey, buddy, spread the word. Kissy's wagon smells like Kishi's pee!"

Kishi's face turned red. Fueled by rising anger, veins popped on his neck. He couldn't articulate his words properly due to excessive excitement. Edulis had touched upon Kishi's pride. In Erabus society, courage was the most valued virtue. Once marked as a coward, it was challenging to find opportunities.

If word of what Edulis said was to spread among the Erabu, other Erabu would immediately come forward to take Kishi's job. They'd say things like

"Hey, I don't think a guy who's intimidated by a 12-year-old can get to and from Kaldura, so I'm taking it now.

After that, it doesn't matter what excuses Kishi makes. It is the opinion of most Erabu that a coward's words are not worth listening to.

Edulis was well aware of this. As far as he was concerned, Erabu was easy to manipulate. All he had to do was scratch their egos and they would bend to his will.

"You... you bastard!"

Blood rose to Kishi's eyes. "You've never set foot outside of Kaldura, you've never seen how brave Lord Bosha's descendants are, and you've never heard of the fear of a dragon!"