Cugel suppressed the hot remark which rose to his lips, and contented himself with a shrug. Maier walked away with the Nolde and for several minutes the two men conferred, with frequent glances in Cugel’s direction. Then the Nolde departed and the innkeeper returned to Cugel’s table. “A somewhat brusque man, the Nolde of Gundar,” he told Cugel, “but very competent withal.”
“It would be presumptuous of me to comment,” said Cugel. “What, precisely, is his function?”
“At Gundar we place great store upon precision and methodicity,” explained Maier. “We feel that the absence of order encourages disorder; and the official responsible for the inhibition of caprice and abnormality is the Nolde … What was our previous conversation? Ah yes, you mentioned our notorious baldness. I can offer no definite explanation. According to our savants, the condition signifies the final perfection of the human race. Other folk give credence to an ancient legend. A pair of magicians, Astherlin and Mauldred, vied for the favor of the Gunds. Astherlin promised the boon of extreme hairiness, so that the folk of Gundar need never wear garments. Mauldred, to the contrary, offered the Gunds baldness, with all the consequent advantages, and easily won the contest; in fact Mauldred became the first Nolde of Gundar, the post now filled, as you know, by Huruska.” Maier the innkeeper pursed his lips and looked off across the garden. “Huruska, a distrustful sort, has reminded me of my fixed rule to ask all transient guests to settle their accounts on a daily basis. I naturally assured him of your complete reliability, but simply in order to appease Huruska, I will tender the reckoning in the morning.”
“This is tantamount to an insult,” declared Cugel haughtily. “Must we truckle to the whims of Huruska? Not I, you may be assured! I will settle my account in the usual manner.”
The innkeeper blinked. “May I ask how long you intend to stay at Gundar?”
“My journey takes me south, by the most expeditious transport available, which I assume to be riverboat.”
“The town Lumarth lies ten days by caravan across the Lirrh Aing. The Isk river also flows past Lumarth, but is judged inconvenient by virtue of three intervening localities. The Lallo Marsh is infested with stinging insects; the tree-dwarfs of the Santalba Forest pelt passing boats with refuse; and the Desperate Rapids shatter both bones and boats.”
“In this case I will travel by caravan,” said Cugel. “Meanwhile I will remain here, unless the persecutions of Huruska become intolerable.”
Maier licked his lips and looked over his shoulder. “I assured Huruska that I would adhere to the strict letter of my rule. He will surely make a great issue of the matter unless —”
Cugel made a gracious gesture. “Bring me seals. I will close up my purse which contains a fortune in opals and alumes. We will deposit the purse in the strong-box and you may hold it for surety. Even Huruska cannot now protest!”
Maier held up his hands in awe. “I could not undertake so large a responsibility!”
“Dismiss all fear,” said Cugel. “I have protected the purse with a spell; the instant a criminal breaks the seal the jewels are transformed into pebbles.”
Maier dubiously accepted Cugel’s purse on these terms. They jointly saw the seals applied and the purse deposited into Maier’s strong-box.
Cugel now repaired to his chamber, where he bathed, commanded the services of a barber and dressed in fresh garments. Setting his cap at an appropriate angle, he strolled out upon the square.
His steps led him to the Solar Emosynary station. As before, two young men worked diligently, one stoking the blaze and adjusting the five lamps, while the other held the regulatory beam fixed upon the low sun.
Cugel inspected the contrivance from all angles, and presently the person who fed the blaze called out: “Are you not that notable traveler who today expressed doubts as to the efficacy of the Emosynary System?”
Cugel spoke carefully: “I told Maier and Huruska this: that Brazel is sunk below the Melantine Gulf and almost gone from memory; that the walled city Munt was long ago laid waste; that I am acquainted with neither Blue Azor, nor Vir Vassilis. These were my only positive statements.”
The young fire-stoker petulantly threw an arm-load of logs into the fire-pit. “Still we are told that you consider our efforts impractical.”
“I would not go so far,” said Cugel politely. “Even if the other Emosynary agencies are abandoned, it is possible that the Gundar regulator suffices; who knows?”
“I will tell you this,” declared the stoker. “We work without recompense, and in our spare time we must cut and transport fuel. The process is tedious.”
The operator of the aiming device amplified his friend’s complaint. “Huruska and the elders do none of the work; they merely ordain that we toil, which of course is the easiest part of the project. Janred and I are of a sophisticated new generation; on principle we reject all dogmatic doctrines. I for one consider the Solar Emosynary system a waste of time and effort.”
“If the other agencies are abandoned,” argued Janred the stoker, “who or what regulates the sun when it has passed beyond the horizon? The system is pure balderdash.”
The operator of the lenses declared: “I will now demonstrate as much, and free us all from this thankless toil!” He worked a lever. “Notice I direct the regulatory beam away from the sun. Look! It shines as before, without the slightest attention on our part!”
Cugel inspected the sun, and for a fact it seemed to glow as before, flickering from time to time, and shivering like an old man with the ague. The two young men watched with similar interest, and as minutes passed, they began to murmur in satisfaction. “We are vindicated! The sun has not gone out!”
Even as they watched, the sun, perhaps fortuitously, underwent a cachectic spasm, and lurched alarmingly toward the horizon. Behind them sounded a bellow of outrage and the Nolde Huruska ran forward. “What is the meaning of this irresponsibility? Direct the regulator aright and instantly! Would you have us groping for the rest of our lives in the dark?”
The stoker resentfully jerked his thumb toward Cugel. “He convinced us that the system was unnecessary, and that our work was futile.”
“What!” Huruska swung his formidable body about and confronted Cugel. “Only hours ago you set foot in Gundar, and already you are disrupting the fabric of our existence! I warn you, our patience is not illimitable! Be off with you and do not approach the Emosynary agency a second time!”
Choking with fury, Cugel swung on his heel and marched off across the square.
At the caravan terminal he inquired as to transport southward, but the caravan which had arrived at noon would on the morrow depart eastward the way it had come.
Cugel returned to the inn and stepped into the tavern. He noticed three men playing a card game and posted himself as an observer. The game proved to be a simple version of Zampolio, and presently Cugel asked if he might join the play. “But only if the stakes are not too high,” he protested. “I am not particularly skillful and I dislike losing more than a terce or two.”
“Bah,” exclaimed one of the players. “What is money? Who will spend it when we are dead?”
“If we take all your gold, then you need not carry it further,” another remarked jocularly.
“All of us must learn,” the third player assured Cugel. “You are fortunate to have the three premier experts of Gundar as instructors.”
Cugel drew back in alarm. “I refuse to lose more than a single terce!”
“Come now! Don’t be a prig!”
“Very well,” said Cugel. “I will risk it. But these cards are tattered and dirty. By chance I have a fresh set in my pouch.”
“Excellent! The game proceeds!”
Two hours later the three Gunds threw down their cards, gave Cugel long hard looks, then as if with a single mind rose to their feet and departed the tavern. Inspecting his gains, Cugel counted thirty-two terces and a few odd coppers. In a cheerful frame of mind he retired to his chamber for the night.
In the morning, as he consumed his breakfast, he noticed the arrival of the Nolde Huruska, who immediately engaged Maier the innkeeper in conversation. A few minutes later Huruska approached Cugel’s table and stared down at Cugel with a somewhat menacing grin, while Maier stood anxiously a few paces to the rear.
