A Wandering Eye

The maps confirmed the predictions that the young man had made earlier in the day about there being a tavern which was right at the outskirts of the village and a monastery which was actually closer to the meadows than the cabin where the monk had resided in only it was at the exact opposite direction of it. The maps also gave additional information that the young man had never given any thought about which were the various locations of fortresses surrounding the vicinity. As someone who has relied too much on electronic navigation systems, it felt surreal to the young man to actually hold a physical copy of maps in his hands, the ones that he only ever used to see hanging on the walls of libraries. But contrary to that, these maps are not exactly the same as those wall decorations in that they were not in color and would not really be pleasing to the eyes.

The scrolls seemed to offer more practical uses such as maybe for charting a course particularly in the unfinished coastal areas of the map or marking a buried treasure which the young man could not be too sure that there was any indication of there being any. There was a cave survey among the many maps. The cave was located under a cliff the young man remembered seeing near the meadows that he woke up from earlier in the day. There could be something or someone there that could help the young man with his predicament. He was surprised that the monk even had cave plans with him. Is there something hidden in the caves there that the young man should be aware about? Maybe there was where the hidden treasure the monk kept his wealth since they did not have anything of fortune in the cabin that the young man could find.

A question came looming to him as the young man was thinking about that. The monk just died, and you are already planning to rob him of everything that they have of worth, is it? At least have the decency to bury their dead body first. You have already taken off his armor. A fair maiden holding a pitchfork entered as the young man was thinking all that. She had not even knocked, also probably knowing that the door was not locked. The young man had not bothered with the lock thinking that if there was going to be an army coming here, a simple latch was not going to save the young man. She barged in with her choice of weapon expecting some sort of fight to occur with whoever was inside but then she just let the pitchfork fall to the ground when she realized that there was only him and the dead monk. 

The fair maiden just stood there motionless when she saw them not uttering a single word. She did not seem as surprised to see him as he was to see her. She must have already seen the young man, probably while he was reading earlier in the day though it was the first time, he set eyes on another person besides the monk here in the cabin. Her eyes moved from him to the direction of the monk who was lying in the corner wrapped with the blankets the young man had used to cover him. She shook her head. She must have already known the outcome of the battle that the monk had fought in. It seems at least to the young man like she did not care all that much that the monk had lost his life. She did not look sad to him. Her expression was quite cold. 

While the young man was staring at the fair maiden, he let out the loudest sneeze in his life. When he opened his eyes again, the fair maiden was holding her pitchfork once again the same way she did when she first entered as the young man was trying to make sense of the many maps that were in the room. She had probably posed the young man as a threat since she was holding the pitchfork as a weapon for defending herself, but she may have changed her assessment. The fair maiden made her presence while the young man was questioning his choices. There was no knock on the cabin door. If there was, the young man had not heard it. The monk just died, and you are already planning to rob him of everything that they have of worth, is it? This time the question was not being thought by the young man but being asked by the fair maiden out loud.

Another question came from her and this time it sounded as if she was really trying not to make it rhetorical but was still not going to elicit the information she wanted. You must be very good at tuning out sounds and voices that are irrelevant to you, is it? Did you not notice the skirmish just outside? Anyway, it is a good thing that you did not lock the door. Actually, does it make any difference though. Never mind. I am just spouting nonsense because I am hungry, I think. The young man did not think anything that she just said was nonsense and thinks that the fair maiden thought so too. He did not have the key to lock the door anyway. The latch seemed like it required a specifically shaped instrument that the young man could see the fair maiden was wearing on her as a pendant attached to her necklace. Nevertheless, he did not bother with a response and left her questions unanswered.

She went to the dining table to eat the rest of the food that was still left for her. The young man who had not uttered a single sentence so far since he entered the cabin was still lost for words. He was not deliberately ignoring her despite her derisive questions, but he was still gathering his wits now that he has met another human being who he was able to communicate with. Before she started eating, she asked another question to the young man and this time it almost sounded like a legitimate question without any malicious intent or purpose. You must have already eaten, is it so? This enquiry was an easy response for the young man with a barely manageable hint of a nod, an action requiring no words. He was still not able to speak for some time and this was not because he had just become a mute all of a sudden but more due to the fact that he was in a state of shock.

The young man was actually quite grateful. Finally, he has met someone who can actually speak his language. The young man pretended to continue studying the maps, but he knew that his mind was no longer focusing on the old pieces of paper. It took him a while, but he managed to get up and sit adjacent to the fair maiden at the dining table. The young man got anxious as his footsteps began approaching the dining table but her smile as he sat down calmed him a bit. He had to make sure to choose his words carefully. The young man did not want to sound like a crazy person considering the circumstances of his current situation. He began by thanking her for the dinner, telling her the spicy sambal she made was delicious. The young man did not mean to start eating first without waiting but he was starving. He did not say the last sentence out loud to the fair maiden.

She was clearly pleased with the compliment and told the young man before she got to this place that she had sold Nasi Lemak. I am glad that you liked it, not that I was expecting a visitor today.  I did my best to cook all this with the ingredients that I had available to me. I used to help my mother run her food stall before I got here. I have been here for some time, and I can tell that you are a newcomer. I have never seen you before. She told him she knew that he was a newcomer here since she has never seen him before. The young man thought that was a little bit strange. He stopped to consider the notion that she did know everyone here. The young man could not confirm this, but he was sure that the fair maiden knew the recently deceased monk.

The young man then asked her about the monk. He wanted to know why she was so casual with his death. Her answer was that the monk was one of many who have stayed in this cabin. All of them have died in the same manner clad in armor around dinner time. The fair maiden was clueless as to why and where they were fighting but every time, they got back to the cabin by the time she arrived they would be dead. The next individual to come will take care of the dying person in armor. Some were able to get a drink before they died, a few even had something to eat before dying. Usually, she leaves the cabin around this time and just lets the newcomer do their thing. In the young man’s case, he had been reading. He wanted to trust her, but he really could not because there was something the young man felt like she was not telling him. 

If everything she had just said was true, then why had she come in with the pitchfork getting ready to attack whoever was inside and why did she drop the tool when she discovered that it was only the young man and the dead monk? What had she been expecting to fight against? Plus, the young man did not want to just accept his fate that he was going to die next. The young man wondered if the monk had known about these series of events, which the fair maiden kindly filled in the details regarding the monk who was oblivious to his fate since she was not able to explain it to him due to the language barrier. She added that she was not going to tell me either if he had not asked. She did not want to scare him but at the same time she was not going to lie to him, either. 

She told the young man that she was just as confused as he was. When she finished the meal, she played some tunes on a turntable. The young man had not realized there was a vinyl collection before she turned up the music. He got stuck looking at the maps, he did not even venture into the rest of the area. The fair maiden asked him if he liked smooth jazz, to which he told her that he did not listen to enough of that kind of music to have an opinion. She said it was her personal favorite genre before playing one of the many vinyl records on the shelf. As the first side of the record played, the fair maiden washed the dishes while she told the young man a story of how one of her friends called her something offensive to her for asking someone, she did not know the name of a song that was being played at a café. 

She and her friend were just getting their daily morning coffee there. She asked one of the baristas serving, ‘What was the name of the song that was playing?’ She told me to take note that this was before smartphones came up with those apps that can tell you what song you’re listening to. The fair maiden really liked the song, so she just asked the barista that handed over her coffee if she knew. Though they did not know the exact title of the song, the barista did tell her that they were some Malay indie band. The young man told her he liked that band, too. He remembered that the band had a few good albums he liked. She later asked me if it was weird or inappropriate for her to ask the barista about the music and the young man told her if it was him, he would just ignore those kinds of statements. 

He personally found it more embarrassing to ask for directions when he was lost because his interaction with the person who he is asking will forever remember him as someone incompetent since that will most likely be the only time, he will interact with that person again. Ignorance of a song or artist is not really all that much but failure to navigate on your own is or at least to the young man. He was trying to allude to the fact that he was lost and seeking her help to navigate himself back home. Talking about maps, the fair maiden continued the conversation by telling him that one of the many maps that was in this cabin was a map of this whole place. Now that was interesting news. What else did she know? How much can the young man trust her? Why hadn’t she used it herself to leave? Maybe he will decide at a later time.