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    Chapter 6 The beginning of an important day
  
    


  

  Captain Cémitaire and his cohort arrived in the village of Taunelr at first light. Cémitaire and his men were amazed at the quality and workmanship of the platform that the workers of this small village had built. And that wasn't all: a large majority of the peasants were present, along with the mayor, to welcome them early in the morning. This showed the will of these brave people to defend the Elysée.

  “Finally,” said Cémitaire to himself. “Not everyone is like these cold, selfish city dwellers. Either living in fear, locked up in their four walls, or exulting in their ideologies or religions while crushing those with differing opinions. In any case, where I come from nobody thinks about the common good and the long term. Observing that my country still has human material filled with energy, will and patriotism fills me with bliss.” Very few people took note of the recruiting captain's emotional state that morning.

  Cémitaire had come surrounded by a dozen soldiers in armor. A handful of them were the recruiting captain's personal guard. They alone would be in charge of security and the smooth running of the competition. After all, the Elysian Emoihrape was severely lacking in resources in these dark times. The rest were army instructors. They would act as judges for the competition. They had also come to get better acquainted with their future protégés.

  Cémitaire climbed onto the platform's podium to make sure everyone heard and understood the day's proceedings. Facing the crowd, he began:

  “Hello everyone, I see you're already very numerous. And it goes without saying that your numbers will increase as the hours go by. That's why the tournament won't start until 1 p.m., as usual. And we'll be using the morning to register all participants and establish the competition's pulse. You'll receive a number when you register. When the competition starts, we'll draw lots to select the two contestants from the same pulse. As for the promised reward, we'll recruit the best 32 of you into the infantry! What's more, the strongest among you, the one who wins first place, will receive the position of non-commissioned officer as soon as his or her military training is complete. And yes, not only will the new recruits receive their Emoihrape pay, but their parents will also receive an allowance!”

  On that fateful day, the weather was beautiful, the sky clear, cloudless, it was even rather warm for an autumn day. But after Cémitaire's announcement, it was as if the weather had become all the brighter. Most of the villagers present would never let such an opportunity pass them by, even if they had to defeat their fellow villagers to get it.

  A few hours later, the village of Taunelr was livelier than ever. Some merchants had already earned a good living. One of them, a certain Laris, as he weighed his purse full of gold and silver coins, wondered if he'd have so many customers in the afternoon. Maybe it was better to start offering discounts now, to make sure he sold out before noon, he thought.

  And just then, the shadow of a customer, obviously a big guy, interrupted his intense reflections. When he turned around, he saw a tall, rather slim man of about 30, with short hair. His carefully brushed moustache and simple yet elegant clothes showed that he gave importance to his physical appearance. And beside him stood a young woman, much shorter than him. She was endowed with a mischievous beauty accentuated by her long, delicately coiffed hair. Her clothes gave the impression that she was a housekeeper or secretary, but her manner suggested a much closer relationship.

  At the sight of them, Laris greeted them with bonhomie. “Be welcome, my dear customers, you're in luck. I'm offering a 30% discount on all my fruit and vegetables.”

  “That's some fine fruit you've got there” replied the man.

  “And very fresh, if I may add” added Laris.

  “But me and my wife, we didn't come here to pick fruit.” The man cut him off curtly. “You see, my wife is a great epicurean and her new hobby is retail, your current occupation, if you see where I'm going with this.”

  “No, I don't, I must say you've completely lost me,” Laris frowned.

  “I'm asking you to let my wife take care of the till for you, while you go about your business. It's not that hard to understand.”

  “What!” Laris couldn't believe his ears. He'd already come across a whole bunch of lunatics, but this kind of sicko was a first for him. “You take me for the last of the glandu, get lost! Before I call for help.” Mr. Laris snarled.

  The man remained unmoved. Clearly, this kind of threat didn't affect him in the least. He continued the conversation in this manner. “Yes, you do need help. You're so haggard. It's really time for you to get some rest. My wife is going to hold your crate while you take your nap.” he said in a soft, soothing voice.

  Laris had risen early in the morning, and was still full of vigor, yet as the man uttered these words, an intense fatigue swept through him. Laris wanted to express his anger, but it was extinguished like a flame engulfed by a tsunami. What he wanted to be became unintelligible moans, and as he struggled with all his might to face this stranger, all he saw was a pair of eyes twinkling with a strange glow that pierced him completely, and so the unfortunate man collapsed with all his weight. He was barely caught by the woman who, expecting him to fall, positioned herself to support him.

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  Laris, as a travelling salesman, had obviously come in a horse-drawn wagon. The two of them, the man and the woman, deposited the snoring ectoplasm that had become Laris in his cart, away from prying eyes.

  “According to our information, the object we need to retrieve is just across the road there,” said the man, indicating the butcher's shop across the street. “Janine, I'm going to pretend to be a simple customer and try to take the item by force. On the other hand, if I sense the presence of a mercenary from the Marchage family, I'll lure him out of town to give you free rein to retrieve it for me.” the richly dressed man explained.

  “I understand, Mark, but please be careful,” Janine replied in a whisper.

  After one last look, Mark and Janine got down to business. Janine began selling Laris's fruit and vegetables in the manner of a professional saleswoman. As for Mark, he waited a few minutes to make sure their previous actions had gone unnoticed. Pretending to be a bourgeois customer, he went from stall to stall for a few dozen minutes before entering Gentin's butcher's shop, where two young men, Lautrant and Gentin, greeted him.

  That day, Lautrant woke up in a very good mood. Today was the day he was going to make a lot of money thanks to the wolf he'd killed the day before, but it was also the start of his new life as a non-commissioned officer in the army. The night before, he'd been so excited that he'd fallen asleep much later than usual.

  As a result, he was up much later than usual. So he couldn't attend Cémitaire's speech, but his father was there and told him all about it. That's how he found out that only the champion of the tournament could be appointed NCO, and that the tournament itself wouldn't start until the afternoon.

  Admittedly, becoming the winner of this type of provincial tournament was unthinkable for the average person, but Lautrant was a firm believer. According to him, Forsance was a potential dark horse whose strength he didn't know. Lautrant, being a fairly social man, had already exchanged fencing tips with the other young men in the area, and had always come out the big winner in these friendly matches, hence his self-confidence.

  Having eaten and ready to leave, Lautrant joined his friend Gentin. The aspiring soldier wasn't at all interested in practising one last bit of martial training or going to the stalls of the fairground merchants to spend his money. On the contrary, he was going to spend his morning helping Gentin sell wolf skins and meat. He had promised himself to share the profits equally. It was his duty to be present, but before doing so, he didn't forget to go to the village square to register.

  Waiting for him in the village square was the pretty Margot. “I knew you'd come this way!” she said simply. Once he'd registered for the tournament, Lautrant was naturally delighted to see his sweetheart waiting for him. He explained in all sincerity what he was going to do this morning, and again Margot simply replied, “I knew you would. And so the two lovers set off for Gentin's butcher shop.

  Gentin and his father were hunters, while his mother was the one who ran the store and sold what her husband and son had hunted. Today, however, it was not Gentin's mother but Gentin himself who stood behind the store counter.

  “My mother's gone shopping and asked me to look after the store,” he explained to them as Margot and Lautrant returned. “That's good, that means we'll have the store to ourselves,” exclaimed Lautrant. “Yes, I think my mother wants me to think about something else,” Gentin explained to them. “She's the type who wants to take care of everything and leave me no work, ah.”

  And so, Lautrant and Gentin welcomed customers into the butcher's shop. As for Margot, she didn't stay long in the company of the two men. She said she was bored and went off to rest in the back of the store. But before she slipped away, she left them with a very specific instruction: never to sell the carcass of the largest wolf killed the day before, no matter what the price, while running her right hand through her hair. And she added that she intended to keep it for herself. And with that, she slipped away.

  Gentin was feeling rather frustrated by Margot's abusive behavior, but he didn't say a word for fear of offending his friend, and tried to focus on the business in hand. As for Lautrant, he nodded, after all, without her they'd never have been able to harvest so many carcasses so easily. So it was only natural that she should have something.

  At around 11 o'clock in the morning, Captain Cémitaire, a recruiter, and his sidekick, Mayor Trapèze, were happily dining in the town hall. It was the first time the two men had seen each other, but they became fast friends. They exchanged the latest gossip, as well as their own anecdotes from the army and civil service. However, their thrilling conversation was interrupted by the youngest soldier escorting Cémitaire. The young man was out of breath, with unmistakable signs of fear embedded in his facial features. As he burst into the town hall dining room, he spoke these words:

  “My captain, it's terrible! A monstrously large column of smoke has appeared to the south, about fifteen kilometers from here. I checked it out on a map before coming to see you, and there is indeed a village there, as I feared. What should we do, Captain?” said the soldier rapidly, gasping for breath.

  Cémitaire, on the other hand, was still in control, and even had a disapproving look for the young soldier.

  “It's probably nothing,” he said.

  “The mayor and I were just discussing the fact that the saint is out and about in the area and that it was a great pity she hadn't joined us today.”

  “I think the explanation for this mystery is quite simple. The saint must have organized a great sacred purifying fire in this famous village, that's all.” he continued.

  “If the villagers share your concern, just get the suspicious people out of the way and share my explanation with them. I've often noticed that when the law is enforced, the population feels much safer.”

  “Very well, my lord. It shall be done as you wish, my lord!” Obeyed the soldier.

  “If you've come here just to tell me that, you can go now,” replied the Cémitaire recruiting captain curtly.

  The young soldier set off again, somewhat ashamed of his lack of experience and lucidity.

  As he turned back, one of his colleagues guarding the entrance to the town hall, who had heard everything, lectured him, explaining first of all that not only had highwaymen stormed a village, they would have been obliged to react, but it could just as well have been the Emoihrape who had simply ordered to burn down an entire village, and as everyone knows, they had every right to do so. And finally, the captain's explanation was certainly the most rational of all.

  The young soldier who was being educated in this way became even more aware of his lack of judgment, especially when his elder brother finished his long tirade by reminding him that insecurity is just a feeling.

  “Yes, it's true, insecurity is just a feeling, so all I have to do is think positively and everything will be all right,” he said to himself.