“Friends, Westies, townspeople, lend me your ears! Our town has been saved! We have extricated ourselves from grave danger! The days of sorrow were numerous, but now peace and happiness have returned into our town. The vile sorceress, the witch who wouldn’t spare even the children, is now detained, and soon I will mete out her appropriate punishment. I will not suffer evil among us, as the watchful guardian of this town, I will always be the first to strike against our enemies, and…”
“You struck her, all right!” I shouted suddenly, surprising even myself. “Struck her so hard, I daresay you even made a deep impression!”
There was some laughter among the townspeople, but most of them were just bewildered. Schultheiß’ head became red.
“What are you insinuating?”
“I am insinuating nothing,” I answered calmly. “I am telling these good people that you were screwing the witch.”
“Preposterous!” the mayor cried. “I admit that you were of some help during the investigation, but that doesn’t give you the right to…”
“We have been a help?” I bellowed. “We have solved the bloody case! You were only hindering us, trying to save your guilty lover, and burning innocents in her stead!”
“Enough!” shouted Schultheiß. “I will not have my name dragged into the mud!”
“Then don’t drag it there yourself!” I shot back and raised a monocle. “The mayor has lost this, and we found it in the bedroom of the witch! This man here was in cahoots with the woman, who was trying to kill the children! He tried to save her from justice until the very last moment!”
“Lies!” cried mayor, properly angered now. “That proves nothing! Anyone can buy a monocle like that!”
To my dismay, there were supporting voices from the crowd. I am losing them, I thought with resignation.
“Take a look around in your city!” I tried. “Take a good look! You can see the same thing everywhere! The town’s watch is reduced to three people, and even they have shoddy equipment! A witch could practice her vile magic for tens, and even then, you needed three outsiders to stop her! Your streets and your dock fall in disrepair, while your mayor builds a new house, and fattens on your taxes!”
But I already felt the crowd turning away from me. My words have fallen upon deaf ears, but Schultheiß was cheered on, when he spoke.
“Stranger, you are a fool, if you think what you say. I have been the most generous mayor in the history of Westwater. I would never take from the city! These good people can tell you that I even give the public from my own! Or is it not true, that every market day I broach a barrel of my best ale on this very place? That I slaughter a fat ox, to give its meat to the townsfolk? Ask anyone here, and they will tell you the truth!”
The crowd erupted in wild approval. I tried, at least.
“Be it as you want,” I shrugged. “We will leave tomorrow anyway. Let us hope we have dealt with all of your problems because this man here won’t solve any of them.”
“This young man is confounded, my friends,” said Schultheiß now, regaining his full confidence. “He was still of some help of us, and he is also our guest so that I won’t speak ill of him. No doubt, it is only the hard circumstances we found ourselves against our holy fight against the witch, that broke his mind. He is a victim too! Even I cannot save everyone, but I had to put my people before a stranger! You understand it, my friends!”
Thus Schultheiß’ speech grew, with ever more fantastic claims and assertions. It would have been amusing if it wasn’t our achievements that the bastard was stealing. I had half a mind to kill him on principle, but the slight annoyance I felt did not warrant a bloodbath. If I murdered the mayor in the middle of so many people, a resulting carnage would have been a certainty, and we might have even lost our lives. So, I just sighed and backed into the inn. The mayor didn’t even notice it by then; he was entranced by his own speech, building up to a climax. His audience didn’t pay me any more mind either; they were listening with rapt attention.
“It wasn’t a bad try,” said Rhodarr putting his hand on my shoulder. I turned towards him with raised eyebrows.
“You are still alive? What have you been up to in these two days?”
“Why, I was working,” he grinned. Then he continued in Draconic. “I have made a nice heap of money, and most of it comes from the gentleman over there. You know, his full household is here, listening to this nice speech, the town’s watch is understaffed and otherwise occupied, so I thought, why not take a peek what our good mayor keeps in his chests?”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“I am pacified,” I declared. “Hearing that does make the world seem a more just place.”
“Then come in. Beldrak and Jim already ordered their dinner. I suppose it won’t hurt knowing that mister Schultheiß will be the one paying our bills.”
“Say no more,” I laughed again. “Just lead on.”
