Chapter 57 :

Chapter 57 - Favor and Kinship (1)

“What? Do you have something to say?”

At Gael’s blunt tone, the young Jing slowly loosened the firm line of his mouth and raised it.

“Priest, are you not tired? Around here, there is a spring that gushes medicinal water that is good for the body.”

“What?”

Gael looked at the young Jing as if he were looking at a madman.

Jing did the same.

What is that guy suddenly talking about?

But the young Jing continued speaking, paying no mind to people’s gazes.

“I know the geography around here very well. Running around here and there is my job, you see. Hehe. If you just go around that tree over there, there is a pond that was discovered not long ago. It is good for headaches, toothaches, menstrual cramps, and even!”

As he explained with exaggerated arm gestures, he glanced at the priests gathered nearby at some point and lowered his voice.

“They say it is that good for stamina too.”

“No, you madman!”

At the young Jing’s rudeness in mentioning stamina to a priest of the temple, Gael, who had been listening without realizing it, nearly had a fit.

“What, are you daring to mock me right now? What use would priests who listen to the words of god have for stamina?”

Gael scolded the young Jing as if rebuking him, but the old Jing read the desire in his eyes that could not be hidden.

“Oh my, of course you would have no need for it, Priest. But for things like us, it is far too regrettable to miss this opportunity. Could the benevolent priests not look kindly on the circumstances of these foolish ones who still cannot cast off their desires? This, too, could be considered looking down with mercy upon the people of Abiran.”

At the smooth talk that subtly praised the priest, the tips of Gael’s raised eyebrows slowly lowered.

“T-That is true. That, too, would be a way of caring for foolish and pitiful people like you.”

“Of course, of course. Besides, is it not about time to rest anyway? You must be thirsty as well, so if you sit and wait, I will quickly draw a cup and present it to you. I heard from the knights over there that Lord Gael is so busy with temple work, spending his strength every single day, that he always has a headache.”

“Eeh? How could that be? If such a thing existed, people would have drawn it all out ages ago and dried it up. Those people have never been deceived in their lives, so they are unexpectedly easy to fool, but Jing, should you not avoid falling for this kind of snake-oil salesmanship?”

At that shameless answer, Jing could only laugh, unsure whether he should be dumbfounded or angry.

The man called the young Jing was a chatterbox, but he was still a pleasant chatterbox.

* * *

Of course, no one had ever praised Gael, who played and ate every day at the temple, but the young Jing made up words quite well.

Thanks to that, Gael, packaged as someone who needed medicine good for headaches rather than medicine good for stamina, furtively checked everyone’s reactions.

“Good, then we will rest here for a short while.”

“Oh my, thank you! As expected of a priest!”

The young Jing raised both thumbs and moved away from Gael, returning to his place.

“Does water that is good for headaches, toothaches, menstrual cramps, and even stamina really spring up?”

When Jing asked with a frown, the young Jing widened his eyes.

It seemed that when one mixed half a lie with the truth, a plausible lie was completed.

After all, there was indeed a pond in the forest the young Jing guided them to.

Following where he led, the group parked the carriage a little away from the road to the capital.

In a place that seemed fit not for people but for beasts to pass through, just as he had said, a small and deep pond sat quietly.

No matter how one looked at it, it only seemed to be ordinary water.

But he drew water into a bottle and secretly handed it to Gael, and Gael accepted it while pretending there was nothing he could do.

He seemed to be trying to feign composure as much as possible, but Gael could not quite control the corners of his mouth that were subtly rising.

His mood improved, and after giving an order that the food they had brought could be distributed to everyone, he entered that luxurious carriage of his.

At best, it was only a kindness worth a piece of bread, but it was also enough generosity that there was no reason not to be pleased.

In any case, peace came to Gael in Gael’s way, and to the children in the children’s way.

“Now~ Who is the next hungry one?”

Though Jing’s peace was not complete, thanks to someone with the same name excitedly sharing his own portion of bread with the children.

“Mister, give me some too! Me too!”

“Ahem, mister? Brother! Or big brother! There are perfectly good words like those!”

“Come on, you look about the same age as my dad.”

“That’s right, you’re totally a mister! Mister!”

“You brats!”

At the scolding mixed with playfulness, the children burst into giggles and scattered.

Jing threw his own portion of food, cut in half, toward the young man who had not eaten even a single piece of bread himself.

The young Jing quickly caught it.

“You take very good care of children.”

“Yes. I have a child too, after all. Of course, I understand that it must be hard to believe someone as young as me has already started a family.”

He spoke glibly and grinned, then quietly shifted aside so Jing could sit comfortably.

Thinking that if only he kept his mouth shut, his good personality would stand out even more, Jing sat down beside him.

Then he subtly revealed the reason he had approached the young man.

“If you have been separated from your family, does that mean you do not know how they are doing at all?”

The young Jing showed a troubled expression for a moment.

“Well, the truth is… I have never once gone home.”

“What? Have you not lived this way for quite a long time?”

This time, Jing could not hide his surprise.

“About ten years.”

Watching the young man’s voice grow smaller and smaller in embarrassment, Jing opened his mouth slightly.

“You mean you have not gone home even once during all that time?”

“No! For the first year, I kept stopping by. I also send money regularly. But I could not go home.”

In the end, it meant he was returning home after nine years.

Trailing off at the end of his words and lowering his head like a sinner, he made a tearful expression and continued stammering.

“S-So, the truth is… I am a little scared.”

Jing suppressed the urge to snatch back the bread in the young man’s hand.

Everyone had their own circumstances, after all.

“Why did you not go all this time?”

“Because I had no money. I have to offer tribute to the temple, but after doing that, there is no money left in my hands. After sending money to my wife and child, nothing remains. To earn a lot, I have to take dangerous work, but I do not want to risk my life. Because of that, I ended up taking jobs farther and farther away, and so…”

“What is it, Jing! Who are you bothering this time?”

A deep voice suddenly cut between the two of them.

Jing raised his head and looked at the people walking toward the young Jing and himself.

Several men who, at first glance, seemed to have lived rough lives placed their arms around Jing’s shoulders and settled down.

Seeing them checking around Jing and confirming Ratel’s absence even as they sat, Jing somehow felt awkward and made room beside him.

“Hmm… I have also wanted to greet you at least once from before. Your skill was impressive.”

There did not seem to be any malice in the way they subtly spoke to Jing either.

“As you know from talking with him, this guy has a lot of useless words, but he is not a bad guy. Please understand even if he bothers you.”

“Useless words? I was having a deep conversation about life with this gentleman.”

“What depth is there to talk about in a life where all you do is wander around here and there?”

It was a little chaotic, but Jing did not feel particularly bad.

After all, when he was with Ratel, opportunities to talk with other people never came at all.

“I am Jing. I am going to the capital to meet my family.”

“Oh! If it is Jing, then as expected, you have the same name as this guy. This guy also said he was going to the capital to see his wife and son.”

“That is right. We were already talking about that. I told you it was a very deep conversation, did I not?”

When the young Jing spoke sulkily, the men roughly nodded and turned the topic to Jing.

“Everyone’s circumstances are more or less similar. We came out to earn money, and then gradually drifted outside. Still, we are somewhat better off. Are we not better than those who cannot pay tribute at all and send their entire families to Hodie?”

Everyone sitting around him responded to his proudly raised voice.

“That’s right, we are not the kind of bastards who do such things to our families!”

Seeing the young Jing, who had been dispirited until just now, brighten up, Jing tried to settle the queasiness in his stomach.

The sight of them offering everything to the temple and the imperial family overlapped with himself from only a few months ago.

Was that what it had looked like?

So disgusting?

Excited, they did not notice Jing’s expression gradually darkening and continued talking.

“Still, Jing—ah, no, I mean the young Jing. Good grief, since your names are the same, it is confusing.”

One of the men who had called the young Jing laughed awkwardly and brought up another topic.

“It was a truly excellent choice not to delay the time of your return any further. From what I hear, the number of people in the capital who have lost places to go is increasing greatly.”

“Is that true? For what reason?”

The young Jing and the other men opened their eyes wide and gathered closer to the man who had brought up the story.

“I heard that people who were living as wanderers in the center of the capital are being rounded up. I also heard that once they are caught, they have to do harsh forced labor.”

“If you say the center of the capital, do you mean the plaza around the temple?”

Jing, who had been quietly listening to the man, moved closer to him as if drawn in and asked.

“Yes, that is right. As expected, old man, you know about it too. Well, it was quite a commotion. Not long ago, the lord duke of that Feedus family coveted that place, went against the will of the imperial family, and was executed.”

Since it was neither surprising nor unfair that Duke Feedus’ end had spread among the commoners in that way, Jing waited for his next words.

“Whether it is to clean up the aftermath of that or what, they say some lord who is acting head of the family or something is sweeping out that entire area. They also said he would clean it up neatly and hand it over to the original owner.”

Everyone gathered here knew who the original owner referred to.

“Who did you hear that from?”

Jing asked while suppressing his trembling voice.

The man looked at Jing, who had suddenly begun asking many questions, with puzzlement, but he obediently continued answering.

“There was someone who came out from the capital. He said he had suffered to death doing labor there. I heard he escaped as soon as he got paid.”

“It seems they have some conscience at least. Seeing as they worked people and still paid them.”

“They must not have been able to do anything dirtier than that while building a structure to offer to god.”

The men’s conversation continued.

None of them noticed Jing, who had gone quiet because he was gritting his teeth.

It was Tollin.

He was dealing with the messy task left behind by an irresponsible family head.

Though he always nagged, in the end, Tollin was someone who listened to him.

The news of Tollin he heard indirectly was so very like him that Jing raised the corners of his mouth.

Unfortunately, the time Jing could spend missing his old friend was not very long.

“Do they think they can receive salvation by doing that after already being abandoned by god once? It is a useless struggle.”

The man who had brought up the topic of the capital’s situation added with a snicker.

“It seems nobles and lower ones are no different when it comes to struggling out of fear of being abandoned by god.”

At the obvious mockery, Jing felt his head cool coldly.

“Did you not say they already went against the emperor’s will once? Then it is over. What useless thing are they trying to do?”

“Is it not good for us? They say they are even handing out food for free, so we should suck out the sweet water while we can.”

“Still, seeing the famous House of Feedus fall so low feels strange.”

Sneers and jeers that did not stop flowed from their mouths and pressed down over Jing’s head.

Along with deep anger, emptiness came to him.

It was not that he had not expected the prestige of the House of Feedus to fall because of his choice during the hunting competition.

No, even though he had expected it, the reason his heart sank like this was probably because, somewhere inside, he had thought that if it was the House of Feedus, the choice he made might end as Agony Feedus’ individual wrong choice.

He had arrogantly thought that with his death, that small disobedience, which was ambiguous to even call rebellion, might be covered up.

He had thought that if it was his death, it might have that much value.

Even if he returned to that situation again, he probably would not make a different choice.

Because if he had not done so, he would have regretted it even more.

But hearing the House of Feedus being lowly gossiped about even from the mouths of those who had once been busy bowing their heads at the mere mention of its name made his heart heavy.

“They say the next family head or acting family head is doing all kinds of dirty things. It is a perfect end for that family.”

When the absurd slander that followed demeaned his friend, Jing rose from his seat without realizing it.

“Get lost.”

At the chillingly cold voice, the men’s mockery finally died down.