Percy watched the strange contraption grind the materials into fine powder. They swirled through the long metallic cylinder, its interior filled with steel teeth, rotating thanks to the heat from the furnace. It was actually ingenious how the locals harnessed the movement of the hot air to accomplish tasks otherwise impossible with brute strength alone.
âI suppose we would have figured this out too, if we spent our whole lives stuck at Red...â
As for the materials Sengo had placed inside the machine â they werenât anything special. Just some limestone and clay. They had those back on Remior too. In fact, Percy was pretty sure heâd seen both of them in many of the other worlds heâd visited.
A few minutes later, the crushing process was complete. Sengo removed the pipe venting the excess air into the tube, before emptying its contents into several buckets, filling them with an unassuming grey dust.
âThis is called cement.â the man explained to his âsonâ after noticing Percyâs perplexed expression.
And the latter wasnât faking it either. While Takeo had seen his father work many times before, Percy struggled to find many details in his hostâs memories. Evidently, the boy had never helped Sengo much, their relationship having always been rather rocky.
âItâs an important ingredient of concrete, but not the only one.â the man continued, oblivious to his thoughts.
Next, he picked a bucket with each hand, gesturing at Percy to do the same. The young man didnât miss his âfatherâ wincing as he lifted them, probably suffering from some old injury or ailment.
The two then walked to a different room where a second machine was located. It looked a little like the one from before, though it was wider and didnât contain any teeth inside. Clearly it was only meant for mixing, not crushing. Sengo placed the buckets on the ground, before picking a different pair up, filled with other materials.
âConcrete is mostly made of gravel, mixed with fine sand to fill in the gaps.â he explained as he poured the buckets into the device. âThe cement we created earlier is used along with water to hold everything together.â
Percy nodded along, as he watched Sengo work, occasionally helping out when the latter had to lift something heavy. Even with the aid of the machines, a lot of physical effort still went into this. Though from what the young man had seen, the results were more than worth it.
Once they were done, they emptied the new material into the buckets again, this time ending up with a viscous grey sludge. Leaving the house, they walked over to a building down the street, stopping by one of the walls. It was broken, as a few chopped vines thicker than Takeoâs thigh were lying motionless next to it.
Two men were also working there â the first people other than Sengo that Percy saw outside since coming here. One was an older man â maybe a few years younger than Sengo, while the other was a boy around his age. The two barely spared them a cursory glance, busy as they were. They seemed to be uprooting the malignant growth that had sprouted the vines, before it had the chance to do so again.
âAkio, Haruto.â Sengo greeted. âI see youâve had a busy day.â
âAaahhh! Weâve been trying to dig this infernal thing out for hours!â the older man groaned. âKimiko kept complaining about it.
âAkio, we canât leave that thing sticking into our living room!â
Well, I sure donât see her pulling the roots out!â
âHahaha! Listen to your wife Akio. You know how important it is to get rid of the darn things whenever they pop up inside the village. If we leave them be, theyâll only get worse.â
But Akio shook his head.
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âWhatâs even the point? We both know an extra vine or two wonât matter when the whole jungle comes alive! Old friend⊠Iâm afraid this is going to be our last feastâŠâ
Sengo didnât say anything, but Percy didnât miss how everyoneâs mood turned more sombre after the brief exchange. They all understood they were living on borrowed time. As things stood, they couldnât even venture out to forage for food or more materials. Even if they survived the massacre, who knew if there would be anything edible left out thereâŠ
âCome on, Takeo. We need to patch the wall up before the concrete starts to dry.â
Percy nodded, though being called by his hostâs name reignited his guilt. He had yet to tell the man the truth, and he was starting to think heâd never find the courage to do so. It wasnât like the villageâs situation was great, but at least Sengo seemed to find peace in his work. Percy didnât want to rob him of that minor consolation during his last couple of days.
The two worked in silence over the next few hours, filling the broken segment of the wall with the sludge. They used a few metallic sheets propped against the wall to keep the liquid from spilling out. By the time they were done, the others had finished too, returning to their house. Nobody in the village seemed to be in the mood to do much else, besides waiting for the calamity with their loved ones.
âSee, Takeo?â Sengo suddenly asked. âMost of the buildings wonât survive the feast, but every wall might just be enough to save an extra life. Itâs more productive to do this than to go out there killing people.â
Percy could tell the man really disapproved of his hostâs actions. Their differing philosophy on how to approach the feast was probably the core of their strained relationship.
âHonestly, I canât even tell which one of them is rightâŠâ
Whether it was slaughtering innocents to delay the disaster by a few minutes or trying to build a few extra houses that werenât likely to survive, none of it sounded like a particularly effective strategy. Of course, it wasnât like they had a better option. Percy hadnât personally experienced a feast, but from what he knew about infestations, these people were screwed no matter what they did.
âI suppose if itâs not going to help either way, Iâd rather avoid getting blood on my handsâŠâ
Young and hot-blooded as Takeo was, he had clearly gone with the less moral option. Yet, getting out of this place with his hands clean might not be in the cards for Percy eitherâŠ
âAaaahhh!!â
Hearing the scream, Sengo and Percy looked in a certain direction, spotting a few hooded men holding hatchets and sabres in the distance. Percy couldnât make their faces out, but something told him these people werenât from the village. One of them dragged a weeping lady across the street, heading towards the jungle. She was the one who had screamed.
Drawing his machete, Percy hastily dropped it by Sengoâs feet so he could defend himself. Next, he unsheathed his sword as he ran towards the raiders. Strictly speaking, he didnât really have any skin in the game. After all, he wasnât the real Takeo and this wasnât his village. Consequently, fighting the raiders to save a local was arguably pointless. That said, watching them butcher innocent people while doing nothing just
felt
wrong.
âHold on, son!â Sengo shouted, causing Percy to look back.
The older man was running behind him, clutching the machete in his hand. He looked like he was in pain as he exerted himself, but he carried the aura of a fighter all-the-same. Peace-loving as he was, he clearly knew how to defend himself.
Glancing around, Percy noticed more of the villagers rushing out of their homes, each armed with a finely crafted weapon like his own. It seemed nobody here was a vegetarian.
âOf course not. Even if they donât like going out there hunting people, they wouldnât have survived this long if they couldnât handle themselvesâŠâ
Seeing all the familiar faces, Percy couldnât help but recall some more of his hostâs memories. He remembered the countless hours spent practicing with these people, sparring with them, being taught by them how to hold his sword, how to use it. They were all his teachers⊠and his friendsâŠ
Soon, the villagers stood before the raiders, outnumbering them by about 15 to 10. Percy would have expected them to give up and leave, but they hadnât done that. And why would they? The more blood that got spilled today the better things would be for the survivors. Evidently, the raiders would rather take their chances.
But Percy wouldnât.
âIâll give you one chance to run away. Nobody has to die. Not
today
, at least.â he said before anybody had the chance to.
The villagers gave him odd looks. Takeo was probably the last person anybody expected to douse the conflict. But he had to do this. Whether it was the locals or the raiders, all of these people were just trying to survive. Percy didnât want to hurt anybody if he didnât have to. Sadly, his enemies didnât seem to agree. They only tightened their grips on the weapons, silently giving Percy his answer.
Watching some of the last surviving natives prepare to kill each other, Percy couldnât help but recall Sengoâs words from earlier.
âSometimes, taking lives and saving them are one and the same...â