Neim was walking silently, crouching to scare Duis. His plan was to startle him suddenly. However, he didn't realize that he accidentally kicked a few pebbles with his foot. One of the pebbles hit Duis's foot. Duis flinched for a moment in surprise, but then he grinned slyly. He had figured out that the person behind him was Neim.
Neim had just gotten close to Duis when Duis suddenly turned around and shouted:
Duis: "BOOO!"
Neim was so startled that he threw himself backward and fell to the ground. Duis was a tall young man with black hair and brown eyes. There was an old burn scar on the back of his right hand. Unlike everyone else in the village, his face bore a weary and cold expression.
Neim: "Duis! What are you doing? I could have gotten hurt!"
Duis: "What's wrong? Weren't you trying to scare me?"
Duis looked at Neim's face, smiling, and extended his hand to him. Neim, smiling back, took his hand. Duis helped Neim up. As soon as Neim was on his feet, he dusted off his newly bought clothes. Since cotton was scarce in the village, making clothes was difficult. That's why getting new clothes cost 10 red potatoes. Neim's outfit had cost 25 red potatoes. Duis noticed Neim's clothes.
Duis: "You got new ones. Good, use them well."
Neim: "If my old ones hadn't torn, I wouldn't have these. Thanks. By the way, darkness is almost here. You had four tins. Why did it take so long?"
Duis: "The well was dried. Filling these was a torture."
Neim carefully examined the well, surrounded by large stones and covered with three wooden planks that looked like they could fall at any moment. The planks seemed ready to break at any second. The tins tied underneath them with ropes were rusted, and the ropes were rotten. Neim tapped the tin with the middle finger of his right hand, and it creaked. Then he leaned over the well. It was indeed empty; no water was visible. Neim straightened up and turned to Duis.
Neim: "This is the second time, isn't it? The well running dried?"
Duis: "Yes. Since the village was first founded, this is the second time a well has dried up. We need to tell Fahg the Elder. If the water runs out, there will be no trees, no food, and no for making clothes. We'd be in deep trouble."
As Duis spoke, Neim seemed like he wasn't even listening. His eyes had drifted toward the cave that was impossible to ignore. He pointed at the cave with his right index finger and spoke:
Neim: "Do you really think no one has ever gone into that cave? Or climbed this mountain to look outside? Maybe there's water out there too. Have they really never checked?"
Duis was clearly tired of this question. He let out a deep sigh. Neim was asking something he already knew the answer to.
Duis: "Since we were kids, we've heard it whether we wanted to or not… Two people went into the cave, but when the darkness arrived, they fell back down, injured, and died. According to those who told the story, they tripped and fell on their way back. Some tried to climb the mountain too, but they turned back before the darkness arrived, afraid of ending up like the ones who went into the cave. But returning was even worse. Because they broke the greatest rule and tried to leave the village, they were executed in the management house with a sword. You know all this already."
Although the two seemed tired of having the same conversation, this time, they looked like they would talk for much longer. They moved a little away from the well and sat on the grass. Duis took his lucky dagger from his belt and placed it beside him—it had been pressing against his stomach while sitting.
Neim: "But what if they weren't telling the truth? What if some people actually left the mountain?"
Duis: "Who knows, maybe they really are lying."
A short silence fell. Duis placed his hands on the ground beside him, palms facing down, and looked up at the up. Meanwhile, Neim's gaze rested on the dagger that had been with Duis for as long as he could remember, yet it never seemed to age.
Neim: "I wish I had a dagger too."
Duis: "If it weren't my father's keepsake, I'd give it to you. But even if I did, it wouldn't be yours. You still have 9 times 100 darkness left."
Neim: "Will you give it to me after 9 times 100 darkness lefts?"
Duis: "I don't know. But if something happens to me, it's yours anyway."
Neim: "Don't say things like that."
The two continued talking. However, this time, Neim's questions were too many, making their conversation last longer than