The Return of the Prodigal Son (3)
Once, twice, three times.
My mother’s hands are busy adding water to the stew.
Ever since he was young, Goat loved watching his mother cook and looked forward to the smell of the fragrant food being prepared from her fingertips.
The current concentration is probably just right.
Four times, five times, six times…
But at some point, the taste Goat remembered began to fade.
Even now, Goth remembered.
In front of the kitchen, my mother was looking apologetic as if she had been caught.
“······.”
The scent of stew disappears as the amount increases.
The moment Goat saw his mother’s expression, he realized what he had to do.
The cold reality was gripping the young Goat by the collar and shaking him.
Poverty makes us bow our heads to each other even though we have done nothing wrong.
It makes people shrink and look only at the bottom.
So Goth decided to leave.
Because there was no chance to raise my head anymore in this damn town.
Before meeting the mercenary who was praying, the goth of Wisteria Village was wandering around looking for an opportunity to look up.
※※※※
A simple dining table that doesn’t even seem to require a fork.
In the steaming stew, large chunks of sliced potatoes were welcoming Vlad.
“How will it suit the driver’s tastes?”
The table was prepared with everything she had, but Goat’s mother was anxious, wiping her hands against her apron, as if the shabby ingredients were bothering her.
“sorry. Sir. “If you had given me a message that you were coming, I would have prepared a piece of meat in advance…”
A young knight who appeared with his son.
If you look at her appearance alone, it was clear that she was the child of a fancy noble family, so she would not be satisfied with the skills of a country woman.
‘I don’t think they raised chickens.’
Vlad looked at the egg in front of him.
Since I didn’t hear any chickens crowing when I came in, the eggs must have been urgently borrowed from somewhere.
At first glance, it was not enough for them to have enough money, so they must have done too much for their son.
“Please eat. Sir.”
There are two eggs in front of Goat.
There are three eggs in front of Vlad.
But Chaina knows that this one egg is ultimately for her son.
Even before Vlad tasted the stew, he felt the taste of his mother.
“thank you.”
So Vlad deliberately swung the ladle of stew wide and poured it into his bowl without hesitation.
In times like this, I knew that acting confidently would lessen the burden on the owner.
“······I’m so glad. “You’re here at such a good time.”
Gott’s mother, who was relieved to see Vlad scooping spoons without hesitation, immediately began to shed tears as she held her son’s hand.
“For a kid I haven’t had any contact with until now to come here just in time for his younger sister’s wedding, your father and older brother must have called you here.”
Vlad had his eyes and mouth glued to the stew, but his ears were open, and his ears perked up at the story being told.
“······.”
A brown-haired woman made awkward eye contact over the bowl of stew she was holding.
The brown-haired woman who looked like an ordinary country girl was Goth’s younger sister.
“You can go see Marie’s wedding, right? Do you have to go right away?”
“No, this is…”
Not only had it been a long time since her son came to visit her, but it was truly an unfortunate time, so her emotions were probably special.
However, Goth was not in charge of the journey and was merely a squire next to the knight.
“Should I go right away?”
“······.”
Goth’s eyes hover awkwardly in the air, unable to face Vlad.
Vlad, who was looking into those eyes, just shrugged his shoulders.
‘There’s no choice.’
I didn’t want to be dragged into unintended circumstances, but if it was something like this, I would have no choice but to stop for a while.
I was planning on staying here for a day or two anyway.
“The stew is really delicious. “Can I ask you a favor often over the past few days?”
“······thank you. Sir.”
Goth’s mother, who understood Vlad’s answer, began to shed tears as she folded her hands over her chest.
A quiet rural village that I have never experienced before.
In this village, where the warmth of stew comes with the approaching spring, Vlad decided to take a break for the first time in a long time.
※※※※
After finishing his meal, Vlad came out of the house and started walking around the area little by little.
It was a consideration for Goat, who had not been with his family for a long time, and was also due to his old habit of looking at the surrounding scenery.
“I don’t think this house has a stable.”
Heeeeeee-
Noir, who went out with Vlad, couldn’t find a place to stay no matter how much he looked around, so he was tapping Vlad’s back with his snout.
I don’t like humans, but I like what they create.
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The free spirit of the grassland was enjoying to its heart’s content the benefits of civilization that would protect it from wind and rain.
‘They put a lot of effort into making it but don’t use it…’
As Vlad quietly surveyed the village while taking a walk, he saw a collapsing mill.
Since it was next to Goat’s house, I thought it might have something to do with it, but it was a mill that seemed to have been out of business for a long time.
The mill, which was slowly falling apart, seemed to hold as many circumstances as a fallen spider web.
“······I’ll give you a place to sleep, so stop messing with me.”
Purr-rrr-
Chat Noir began to shake his head, as if he was finally relieved by Vlad’s grumbling.
Even if it wasn’t for Chat Noir’s complaints, Vlad also planned to stay somewhere other than Goth’s house.
A goth house that is as small as it is old.
It wouldn’t be very comfortable to cram the whole family into a small guest room and try to sleep there.
“It’s coming at just the right time.”
In the distance, several village men could be seen climbing the hill toward Goth’s house.
They were probably sent by the village chief.
Since he learned that the stranger who entered the village was a knight, it would not be an easy matter for the village chief to overlook.
‘······It looks like there’s something really wrong with that Goth guy.’
However, Vlad frowned as he saw the village youth coming up towards this place.
Men climbing a hill holding something in each hand
No matter how I looked at it, it didn’t look like they were welcoming a member of the village who had returned after a long time.
“Hey Goth!”
The voice was loud enough to reach Vlad’s ears as he went outside for a walk.
A sturdy man began to shout loudly, as if for everyone in the village to hear.
“How did the debtor who secretly ran away at night come crawling back in again?!”
An attitude that disturbs no one.
Plus, it has a shiny scabbard that doesn’t look like it’s been used much.
Looking at the men who looked like typical gangsters, Vlad realized that they had not come to Goth with a benign purpose.
“······Thomas.”
Goat, who had been resolving issues between family members for the first time in a long time, came out of the house with a frown on his face.
It was a sudden and rude call, but Goth’s attitude was calm, as if he had already expected it.
“Running away at night, I just left after seeing the moon because the night was nice.”
“If you take it out in the middle of the night without paying back, I’ll give it to you too, you bastard!”
The man who seemed to be the leader of the group started scolding Goat, as if he was not satisfied with his relaxed response.
“Pay the mill usage fees that have been delayed!”
“What you say hasn’t changed at all whether it was before or now. “It’s like these people who have no development.”
Goat snorted as he looked at the group that came with weapons pointed at them.
There was a time in the past when he trembled at this threat, but for Goth, who had experienced the wide world like Vlad, the current situation seemed like child’s play.
“A total of 2 gold, including the interest that has been overdue.”
“It’s time.”
Shiny coins flying before I could finish speaking.
The men looked surprised as they watched Goat casually flipping the gold coin.
“Eat that and get away quickly. “You damn bastards.”
“······This bastard.”
It’s different from before.
The goths that had been watching them carefully now showed no trace of them.
The Goth, who had grown large, was looking down at them, and the leader of the group, Thomas, became angry at the look in his eyes.
“Do you think you would receive this money knowing what it was? “You cheater.”
“······what?”
“How do you know that the money came from fraud, like your father did?”
Now that the debt has been paid off, there is no need to talk anymore.
However, the man in front of him had no intention of leaving easily as he was picking at Goat’s wounds.
Perhaps the thread of emotions that have been twisted and twisted for a long time is what is creating the current situation.
“I heard you even brought some kind of knight, a brat, this time? “I heard he even carried the flag very proudly.”
“Shut your mouth. “If you flutter any further, I won’t be able to handle you.”
“why. “Are you afraid that your lame play will be discovered?”
The man named Thomas started walking around and shouting loudly as if everyone could hear.
“It is better to believe that the one you brought here is a fake than to believe that you have become a knight’s squire. “Isn’t everyone like that!”
“cancer. of course!”
“Unless he’s a fake, why would I hire someone like Goth as my squire!”
“If you can use a worm that can’t even use a knife properly as a seed, then you know the level!”
Goat’s eyes began to turn red as he heard the gang’s ridicule.
If you are not angry at their actions, which are insulting to not only your father but also Vlad, then you are not qualified to stand as someone’s son or squire.
“You crazy bastards.”
Goth placed his hand on the sheath to pull out the sword he was holding.
As they said, he didn’t learn how to use a sword properly, but Goth was still a man who experienced the harsh world through his career as a mercenary.
“They are bastards.”
“······what?”
A near-miss situation before the sword is drawn.
The moment Goat’s mother and younger sister, who were holding their breath inside the house, rushed out to stop him, someone’s voice was heard from behind.
“What you’re doing is very familiar.”
A man approaches from afar, holding on to the reins of a black horse.
Although it was small, it was a voice that contained the power to stop everyone’s actions.
“······Are you the fake knight that Goth brought?”
Vlad, who took off his armor for a moment to receive a treat, looked like a bright blue baby to anyone who saw him.
The silver jacket he was wearing and the spirit of the horse he was leading seemed unusual, but the men who had lived their whole lives in a small town living in luxury did not have the knowledge to distinguish between the real and the fake.
“It’s a fake article.”
Vlad scratched the back of his head after hearing the man’s words.
How should we respond in times like this?
The gangster in the back alley suddenly started to raise his head as he looked at his peers whom he had not seen in a long time.
“What would you do if I were real?”
“what?”
He ignored himself and ignored his seed.
Since his honor as a knight was ignored, he would have nothing to say even if his head was cut off.
“But this is Goth’s hometown.
The force pressing on the men was becoming sharper as the blue eyes were turning round.
All the frogs in the well stopped crying due to the force of seeing the real thing for the first time in their lives.
“I’ll give you my life.”
Probably because of the stew.
The memory of the stew and the smoky blooms reminded me not only of my mother, whom I missed, but also of the smell of the dark back alley.
“Go for it. “You guys.”
Even if he wasn’t a knight, Vlad had been real for a long time.
The best prospect in the back alleys of Shoara.
A pure-blooded street girl born in the womb of a prostitute fiercely bared her teeth at innocent country gangsters who had no idea what was going on in the world.
※※※※
“If something like that had happened, shouldn’t you have told me first?”
The village chief’s house is well built for a small village.
But now, a suppressed shout was coming out from within.
“Stefan. “Please calm down.”
The village chief pulled out a chair and spoke to the mercenary leader, who was becoming increasingly fierce, as if to calm him down.
“What kind of knight would come to this small town? Plus, the guy I brought with me was a goth. “That guy is not worthy of a real knight.”
“······I’ll say it again. “Chief.”
A man with scarlet hair.
Stefan, the leader of the Thornwood Mercenaries, raised his finger as if warning and threatened the village chief.
“Anything related to security in this town must be done through me. Don’t forget that this is also the Lord’s will.”
Stefan’s warning mixed with anger had a force that could not be easily ignored, no matter how experienced the village chief was.
“okay. “We will definitely do that in the future.”
Stefan did not want to ruin his work.
If something goes wrong from the start in this area, which could possibly be a new location, the Thornwood Mercenaries will have to start wandering without any promise again.
“Like you said, nothing like this will happen in the future…”
“Chief!”
The village chief tried to calm Stefan down, but was unable to continue speaking due to the door suddenly opening.
“Big trouble, big trouble!”
A man suddenly burst in as if breaking down the door.
It was hard to recognize him because he was so distorted, but he was one of the gang that was running around with his son.
“That article is fake, no, it’s real.”
“······No, why you?”
The village chief looked at him and looked surprised.
Her face was so pale and swollen that even the parents who gave birth to her could not recognize her.
The sound of breathing coming out between the badly broken front teeth was panting.
“He might kill Thomas!”
“······!”
After hearing the shocking report, the village chief unknowingly pushed past Stefan and hurriedly ran out the open door.
To the village chief, the safety of his only son was just as important.
“Aaaah!”
At that moment, a scream was heard coming down from the hill above.
The familiar voice was indeed his son, Thomas.
“Damn it…”
Stefan gritted his teeth and followed behind the village chief.
In the end, the village chief’s son, who was grumpy, must have done something wrong.
“Please help me!”
There was a pitiful scream and dust rising from afar.
It was the dust created by Thomas, who was swept around with his feet tied behind a horse.
“Thomas! Thomas! “Someone please stop it!”
The village chief, who saw this, lost his temper and was screaming wildly, but no one in the village could easily stand in the way of the galloping horse.
Through Thomas’s bursting wound, traces of blood began to appear throughout the village.
“Who is the village chief?”
The black horse, which had been running wild for a while, finally stopped in front of the village square.
Although he was still grinning, his anger didn’t seem to have fully subsided.
“The chief of this village must come before me.”
Blonde hair and blue eyes.
And a man who is too ferocious to be called a knight and too proud to be called a scoundrel.
Stefan recognized the stranger from afar and swallowed his saliva without realizing it.
When he was an ally, he was an incredibly dependable person, but when he was an enemy, he was someone I couldn’t handle.
“Who is the village chief who dares to disrespect the honor of a knight by sending such a sloppy bastard!”
The voice that rang out like a thunder made all the villagers freeze as if they were stones.
Small evils end up being eaten by bigger evils.
The son of the village chief, who had ruled the village with mediocre power until now, was now covered in blood and panting heavily at the feet of a real gangster.
