Chapter 219: About Machines and Watermelons Pt.1

Tarsuria, Year of Severus, 18, I.R., the 60th day of Spring, Broken Springs

--------------------

Oyue sat on his bed. Nullus pointed the sword at her, ready to attack. Suddenly, his sword became too heavy for him to hold.

"You know it's bad manners to point a sword to a guest." Oyue calmly said.

"Well, try telling me that before abandoning me three years ago." He spat.

Oyue simply looked at him with frustration written all over her face. It seemed like the goddess had a lot of things she wanted to talk about but chose to only speak a few choice words.

"There are things I dare not say because—" Oyue took a deep breath.

"Because you're a goddess and the deity's plans are incomprehensible to mortals." He mockingly answered the goddess. "I've heard that nonesense before, Oyue. You should know that more than I. You saw it."

Oyue silently stared at him before choosing to stare at his dirty wooden floor. Even as a goddess, Nullus couldn't help but admit how different she was from those other deities he encountered during his previous lifetimes.

She was empathetic and caring towards him in a genuine way, although he couldn't help but doubt her. She gave him powers without anything in return; a trait that any previous gods he encountered wouldn't do for him.

But even then, there was a little space of doubt in his heart about the goddess' façade and it all culminated three years ago when he was left for dead. That unseen attack which he figured could only be the work of a supreme deity that killed his valued comrades. He could still see their faces as their poor bodies slowly sank under the cold, dark lake of the damned goddess in front of her.

"You can take away my weapon or my powers, but that doesn't mean I would kneel down to you!" Nullus spat.

Oyue looked him in the eyes and shook her head. "I didn't come here to bring you such misery."

"Misery? So, you talk about misery?!" Nullus' face reddened in anger. "You could've let me die that moment I drowned in your damned waters! But no! You wanted me to suffer!" He pointed at her. "I tried…I tried so many times to end my misery but you won't allow me to die. What kind of sick deity does that?! Oh, wait! Each of your kin are like that! Manipulative and---"

"Enough!" His house rumbled at Oyue's voice. It took a moment for the goddess to compose herself. "There are things I would like to tell you… but now is not the time, Adlaw-on." She stood up from his bed.

"W-what do you mean by that?" Nullus raised his eyebrow.

Oyue's eyes met his one last time. "Now that the leylines had been unlocked, be ready for drastic changes. You will meet one sooner than you expect." She faded away in thin air.

"What did you just say?" He shouted at her, angrily but she was already gone.`

Nullus' sword lit up once again and floated back to his hand. He immediately threw the sword over to where Oyue stood. The glowing blade lodged itself on the wooden wall. He cursed under his breath and took out the blade from the wall before going to the kitchen. He sat on a chair and stared at the bed for hours, daring himself not to sit or lay on the bed that the goddess' sat on.

Enraged at the idea of the goddess sitting on his bed, Nullus did an illogical move. He threw away his bed in the dead of the night out of his house and burned it as a sign of his disgust towards Oyue. After the bed turned into a burning piece of wood, he went back to his house. He took a bottle of water and drank it before continuously staring at the bed until he fell asleep.

He woke up the following morning by Squeakers annoying wake up call. Nullus grunted and grumbled as he woke up from his chair. His eyes were welcomed by the sight of an empty bed, a reminder of his conversation with the goddess.

Nullus immediately stood up and greeted Squeakers who was about to thrown pebbles at his window. Seeing how the kid was likely to hit him with the tiny stones, he immediately nagged at him, prompting the child runaway.

After a quick breakfast, he immediately went to the town square and met with Squeakers and the rest of the townsfolk who were surprised to see the watermelons seemed to have increased in size. The alderman was running towards him to tell him about the great news; a phenomenon that he already knew who did it.

"Nullus! Nullus!" The old man shivered in delight. "T-the melons! T-the melons are huge! Thank Oyue for these big melons!" He prayed.

Nullus squinted at him as he tried not to burst the old man's bubble. "I-indeed." He cursed at his breath.

The old man turned around and excitedly announced the miracle to the townsfolk who were as bedazzled as he was.

"My fellow townspeople!" The alderman called out at the top of his lungs. "Oyue has blessed us with these big watermelons! From this day moving forward, we shall call this fruit as Oyue's melons!" The crowd cheered as they chanted a horrendous name all over the place.

Nullus wanted to correct the old man for using such an inappropriate name. However, since it was describing Oyue, he resorted to not care about it. He might as well milk the mockery as much as he could. He tapped the old man's shoulder and asked him to continue with the program that morning.

"Alderman Hostea," He slightly coughed to get his attention. "I think it is time we begin the process of yeast fermentation."

"Oh! Indeed!" The alderman answered and took a glance at him. "Yes, please. Go on."

Nullus took the stage and instructed everyone to gather the smaller watermelons for their procedure. He showed everyone how to peel the watermelons without losing too much chunk of its fruity meat and separated the fruit meat from the peeled skin.

He then instructed half of the townsfolk to boil some water and clean the jars that they would place the peelings and juices on. Nullus instructed them to cut the peels into sizeable shapes and labeled the jar where they placed it. After putting the peels inside the jar, he then instructed them to fill the jar with water until it filled three-fourths of the jar before sealing it tightly. He then asked them to place it inside a dry, clean place away from cretins.

"What are we going to do with the meat?" One of the townspeople asked.

"Good question." Nullus smiled. "Get me the biggest bucket we have."

It only took a moment for the people to procure him the largest bucket they could find. He instructed Squeakers and the rest of the children to wash their feet and climb inside the bucket while the skinned fruit filled the bucket until their ankles.

"Alright," Nullus grinned. "Now for the fun part. I want you to stomp Oyue's melons as strong as you can until it turns to pulp!" He noticed enjoying his command way too much.

The children smiled and began to crush the fruit by their feet. He encouraged others to do the same as well and everyone obliged. There were a lot of melons selected for their winemaking. The alderman asked the village minstrel to sing to them a song as they went on their way.

Nullus sat down at the shade of an okre tree delighted with what the townspeople were doing with the fruits.

"Well, Oyue." He mumbled. "Try getting stomped once in a while, will you?" He smiled as he looked at the orange-colored horizon. Thinking about his petty payback to the goddess. He knew it wasn't enough, but he couldn't neglect the people to starve as well, especially with the Fall season coming up soon.

It would've been better if he trashed the fruit altogether and left the damned town, but this wasn't their problem. It was his and the goddess. No matter how much he loathed her, he couldn't just leave the people to their own devices, not now.

Nullus took a sip of water from the gourd the alderman offered to him earlier and stared blankly once again at the horizon, waiting for the people to finish stomping at Oyue's melons. He cracked a smile another smile. He just couldn't help how funny the name sounded.