Shut up: You, Nymphomaniac Evil Sword

Chapter 110 - The Red Bandana

A train was moving fast through the uninhibited lands connecting different villages with the small towns and big cities.

A middle aged man in his forties, with  a bulky build, yellow spiky hair and yellow royal beard was occupying a window seat, but he was clearly more interested in what was happening inside the train than the outside scenery. 

Days had passed by ever since Dror had started his travel, he continued to observe the situation and trends throughout his journey.

He had passed through different villages and towns during his continuous journey.

Dror was traveling from a village to a small town in the far east. He had taken this public train for this journey as it was a common mode of public transport connecting the nearby villages and towns in this area and it was also really fast, the train traveled at speed much higher than any bullet train.

But throughout this journey Dror's thoughts were all mumble jumble and his eyes looked much tired.

He was observing the other passengers. Almost all of them were young men and women who were going to their jobs.

If this was on Earth most of these young men and women would have been in school uniforms, but here they were clearly going to their work.

But what was making Dror more doubtful about his own revolutionary ideas was the fact that, These group of young people appeared a little disheartened with their circumstances but at the same time he could see hopeful looks on their face every now and then.

It appeared like even though they were not happy with the current state of things still they found it to be ok and hoped for a better future.

From the start of his journey from the rebel base until today, he had faced a similar situation many times.

He thought to himself 

" This journey has completely changed my view of the entire thing. I will have to ponder more before coming to any decision…

If I was to push the idea of a revolution by the common people, they might accept it first, but with a single mishap or by the usage of a heavy handed method by the alliance government, The whole revolution would crumble apart.

In the current circumstances most of the people are happy that they can feed themselves and their family.

Most of the new generation was born under the rule of the Alliance government; they didn't even know what a true democratic government would be or what it was like under the rule of a benevolent monarchy.

Which makes convincing them even more difficult.

Hah what am I thinking….I myself am not able to predict the future, and in the event that the revolution fails. The major ire of the Alliance government would be directed towards the common people.

This is much more troublesome than what I initially thought.

  Hmm...Thinking the same thing again and again will not change anything, I need a new perspective…. I will focus on my current task first…  maybe this will give me a breather and help me see things more clearly later.."

The task he was referring to was about fulfilling his promise with Earnest.

Dror had clearly identified the place where Earnest's family used to live.

The old town where the family used to reside was completely destroyed in the calamity, but a new town was later formed on its foundations.

The new town was called Rockfountain and it was the next stop of the train.

As he got down he could see that there were only very few people getting down while the number of people boarding the train was huge. He could see most of them were factory workers and the factories were situated around the bigger cities.

As Dror walked through the streets he didn't find anything noteworthy other than some ancient buildings and a big rock fountain towards the center of the town.

Dror kept on walking, as he searched for a specific address.

After inquiring here and there he finally reached his destination, it was a two storey building .

The lower floor was a shop and the upper floor a home, the shop sold some kind of delicacy and drinks that were native to this town.

The old shopkeeper welcomed the potential customer heartily. But Dror could clearly see the sadness that was hidden deep in the old man's eyes.

  The old man didn't  seem to get many customers, so Dror bought some of the things even though he never intended to.

What Dror was after was this old man called Miguel, this man was an historian and had lived in this town for a long time.

His little research through his sky watch has shown that, if anyone could point him in the right direction then it was this person.

Dror started a casual conversation with the old man about the history of the town and as the conversation progressed the old man became more and more enthusiastic about the topic.

He even asked his daughter in law to bring two glasses and a bottle of the local wine.

One of the reasons why the Old man was extra hospitable was that Dror had bought a lot of things from his shop and the other reason was, he was really enthusiastic about the topic of history and especially to that relating to his own town. 

As they were having the conversation, Dror could feel that someone was secretly observing him and as he used his spiritual sense he was able to instantly detect the culprit.

It was a young boy of seven or eight, peeping at Dror through the small opening of the door.

The boy wore a red bandana and held a wooden stick in one of his hands. 

He was scrutinizing Dror carefully and was ready to attack Dror if needed .

Dror found this really funny, but he kept this matter to himself.

But he heard a voice in his mind " I like the young one, he seems to recognize your pathetic acting… run away before you get beaten up by a child…"

Dror could only yell in his mind " shut up Nympho…"

Before he could shout at the evil sword again.

There was a commotion from the other room, as the boy was caught by his mother and she shouted at him.

" Martin, what are you doing holding that stick and how many times have I told you not to tie that bandana on your head.."

The little commotion caught the attention of both Dror and the Old man.

The old man gave a sigh and said " please don't mind, that was my grandson.."

Then he called out " Martin, come out here and meet our guest…"

The little boy came out with a downcast face, tightly clutching the red bandana in his hand.

The old man continued " little Martin likes to do role play games, so please don't mind him…"

Dror already knew the Old man was not speaking the truth, but he didn't mind it. But before he could say anything the boy spoke up.

" I am not role playing, I am a warrior of the Red bandana and I will fight scum's of the alliance government like him…"

This time both the old man and Dror were taken aback.

Dror was not shocked at being identified as someone from the government, but at the fact that a boy could so openly curse the alliance government.

The old man took the child into his arms while tightly hugging him " My child stop this, didn't I tell you not to do something like this. You will also be taken away if you continue this, then who will take care of your mother…"

The boy started sobbing, the old man's eyes were also becoming wet but he held it in.

" but but… They took away dad and they keep on coming to our house questioning you and mother, they ransack our shop and house to extort money… one of them even tried to misbehave with mother.."

The old man could only hug him tighter. " That is enough child, This is our customer not someone from the alliance government so you don't need to worry… now go to your mother and be a good kid.."

The boy left as instructed but only after taking a close look at Dror.

" I am extremely sorry for his behavior, he is only a kid who is trying to adjust after losing his father.."

Dror could connect the little information and more or less guess what was happening.

He had heard about the Red bandana, a  group of protesters who had openly spoken about the atrocities committed by the government and demanded for change in the laws.

Even though their protest was peaceful, the government had dealt with them heavily. Most of the leaders were caught and executed, while the rest were sent to jail.

The Old man's son must have been a member of the Red bandana.

Dror was sensitive enough to not ask about such matters, so he steered the conversation back to his topic on the old graveyard.

Dror was able to figure out a general location to start his search for the remains of Earnest's family members.

Dror had started this conversation by stating that one his ancestors might have lived in this town and he wished to pay his final respect to them.

Before leaving the shop Dror wanted to compensate the old man a little more so he spoke up " Mr. Miguel I am really grateful for your help, I would also like to order 50 bottles of that local wine when I visit you next time .. this is a small advance for preparing it.."

The old man didn't take the money but instead gave a long sigh " Mr Jackson I am extremely thankful for your offer, but I can't take your offer.

We will be leaving this town soon… but I can arrange someone else to help you with this matter…"

"That is okay Mr. Miguel I will be in the town for a while, you can fulfill your part of the trade after you return from the journey.."

The Old man looked more rejected this time and spoke in a sad manner " I  will be truthful with you. 

You might have heard about the Red bandana protests. My son was also a part of it, he was executed by the government and we as his family members are being sent to the punishment village… We will not be returning …"

After pausing and a long sigh he continued. 

" I have grown up in this town, I have spent my whole life here, all the beautiful memories of my life are associated with this place.

It breaks my soul to leave this place, leaving behind the memories of my father, my mother  and my love.

  But what choice do I have…  Little Martin still doesn't know that we will be leaving this place forever… I don't know how to console him when he finds out… Is this fair, is it fair to force such harsh punishment for peacefully showing your protest.

My son was a really good man, he helped everyone around, he was a peace loving kind boy… I am sure he will never resort to any violent protest.. but now."

  Tears were running down his eyes as he finished saying what he wanted to say.

Dror felt like his heart had grown heavy, he didn't know what to say, how to console this helpless old man.

In the end he could only say his goodbye and walk away with clenched hands and a heavy heart.