“Gregor…, huh.” Ewald whispered the name. It was the name of Karsten’s former advisor. Fabian told him the name just before they departed the capital, Keviel. They were heading back home, to Lux.
“Sir Ros, what do you know about the reunification war?”
“Nothing much, I am afraid. All I was told was that it was a quick and decisive war. With two quick successful wars in the belt, the king reinforced his position as a capable king.”
“A capable king, huh…” Ewald gazed at the moving scenery outside.
If he was indeed a good king, would it be right for him to kill him?
“Does he have children?”
“He has a wife and two mistresses from what I was told. From the women, he has two sons and two daughters. They are all legitimized.”
Déjà vu
Two sons. If he was removed absurdly, there looked to be a good chance at another civil war again. The country might become divided once more.
I am getting a headache.
Rubbing his temple, he grimaced.
“Is something bothering you?”
“No, no, it’s fine.”
His target was either Karsten or Gregor. There was a good chance that it was both. It was probably the both of them, he felt.
“W, wait, two daughters? How old are they, do you know, Sir Ros?”
“Hmm?” Theo went into thoughts. “I am unsure. I think his oldest daughter is already married. His second daughter is right around your age, I believe.”
C, crap. I am not getting another arranged marriage proposal from the king, am I?!
He had a bad feeling. It would be really hard to reject a marriage proposal from the king. He soon shook his head repeatedly.
No, no, probably not going to happen. I am just gonna forget about this marriage shit and live on for now. I can’t do jackshit anyway.
“Do you think the king may propose a marriage between you and a princess?” Then Theo had to bring it up again.
“Aaack!” Ewald cradled his head.
“Why the panic? Wouldn’t it be great?”
“Sir Ros, you are one to talk. I don’t even know her face!”
Theo did not agree however. “Someone like me is just a small fish. My wish for wanting to marry a woman I like is something I can realistically pursue. You, however, are the heir to the Fenchel house, one of the most powerful houses in Egra. I am afraid you don’t have the freedom to choose your future wife.”
He couldn’t talk back to Theo because he knew he was correct.
“We nobles rarely get to choose our mates. That’s just how it is,” Theo said.
Sighing deeply, he looked out to a window with a pout.
The journey back to Lux was quite similar as before. At almost every night, they either fought back a pack of werewolves or a great bear. The difference was that everyone was now used to it. Thus, their efficiency as well as teamwork had gotten better to a point that it became an effortless routine. They arrived back in Lux without any casualties or even wounded.
Ewald’s maids welcomed him once he was back in his room. Emily was among them.
She’s still here. She must be good.
It was easy to tell who was a part of the loyalist maid faction. It was age. Maids from the loyalist faction were considerably older.
“Welcome back, milord,” They said in unison.
“Don’t worry, I will work on the tea field as soon as possible.”
The maids smiled, bar Emily.
She must not be getting the tea then. Understandable since my harvest is barely enough for a group of five.
“Emily,” he called her out.
She startled as if she didn’t expect it.
“Yes?”
“You’ve been serving me since the beginning. You’ve served me well. I suppose I could grant a request from you as long as it’s something I can do.”
She hesitated as her eyes darted around. Was she afraid of the loyalist maids? He wasn’t certain.
“T, there is one thing I would very much ask of you, milord…” Her voice was timid as if she was clearly afraid of something. Even he could sense sideway glances from the loyalist maids.
“You may speak,” He raised his voice, indicating that he was in charge.
She bowed as deep as she could as she told him.
“Please assign me as your head maid.”
He could hear gasps from the loyalist maids. As for Ewald, he didn’t even know such a position existed.
“What does that position entail?”
She was still locked in her deep boy position as she spoke.
“Being your head maid will entitle me to choose which maids will be allowed to enter your room, milord.”
I see. I see why she wants that position.
So far, she had been eclipsed by the loyalist maids. He could see why she wanted such a position. It was a powerful position in a limited way.
“I shall grant your request!” He exclaimed at which point Emily got down to her knees.
“T, thank you!” She exclaimed. The older maids, meanwhile, grimaced at once.
“However, I would like you to include at least one maid from the loyalist.”
Emily didn’t seem to mind at this point.
“That shall be done,” She replied promptly. The point for her was that she’d regain her powers back which she achieved. Being stuck at the bottom of the chain must have been bothering her a lot, it would seem.
Once that was over, he headed to his tea field. He hadn’t harvested in a while. The thing with Macomaco plants was that overaged leaves were useless. The leaves had to be at an exact age or it would end up tasting bitter.
Just as he expected, most of the leaves were overaged. At this point, it was better just to start over. Seeing there were three loyalist maids nearby, he ordered them to pull everything out.
“May we ask why?” They inquired. They must have assumed that a lot of harvests would be made.
“The leaves are all overgrown. These are useless. All the leaves here should be taken off. At that point, you might as well start over.”
They didn’t quite seem convinced. Nevertheless, they had to comply and began to pull every tea plant. It would take the reminder of the day to replant the whole field.
The next day, when the maids invaded his personal space as usual, Emily was leading the charge this time.
“You go dust! You prepare the meal! You, get down there and scrub!”
She barked order after an order as she ordered around three maids. Even the lone loyalist maid had to follow her orders. It was a pretty powerful position.
The sad thing was, though, nothing really changed for Ewald.
“Emily, can I make a suggestion?”
“Yes?”
“How about …”
He suggested that the maids serve him breakfast first. When he was finished with it, he’d leave his room. Then the maids would be free to clean up as much as they want. He basically didn’t want maids cleaning his room while he was in the room. Additionally, he wanted some peace and quietness in the morning. He also wanted a much smaller room but knew that he wasn’t going to get that from Emily.
“I will take it into consideration,” She replied curtly.
Wait, that’s it? You are not going to comply?
He was quite shocked that she wouldn’t comply right away. What was so hard about it anyway? Unable to press further, he had to be content with whatever she was going to change in the near future.
Once his breakfast was done, he visited the decoy house to check up on Raem and Lara.
“Milord! It has been a while,” Raem said with vigor. They were found in the backyard of the decoy house. Ewald was quite shocked to see the transformation Lara went through. Her hair was much longer now and did look like a girl. She put on some weight as well as muscles also. She was practicing her spear thrust, and her trusts did seem to carry some powers because he could hear “woosh” whenever her spear thrusted forward.
“She has been at it every single day,” Raem explained. “I bet she can pierce the skin of a wild boar now.”
“That is good to hear. How have things been while I was away?”
“It’s been okay. I and Lara have been taking some mundane jobs from the guild to get by. Whatever coins we could earn, we did it.”
Raem used to ignore small paying jobs at the guild. He changed now. He took whatever jobs that came along the way and gave every coin he earned to Karla.
“Our meat jerky stack is low. We should go hunt wild boars soon,” Raem suggested.
“Let’s go right now then.”
“Understood.”
Raem put on his usual setup which was his leather armor, a shield, and a sword. Lara had a new setup. It was her spear and a thick linen tunic that was oversized for her. It was so large that it reached her thighs. The tunic didn’t seem to be new.
“Oh, you have a new bow.”
Indeed, Fabian had given him his old bow. He said he had no need for it.
“Yep, I felt it was time for an upgrade.”
His old bow was actually a practice bow. His new bow was a warbow which had a stronger wooden body and a thicker string. It was actually harder for him to draw arrows with it, but he figured he’d eventually grow strong enough to be able to use it with ease soon.
“Let’s goooo!” Lara led the way with a cheerful voice.
Ewald felt Esther would complete this party. They had two melee and an archer. A fire mage would indeed complete the setup with Lara acting as an emergency healer.
Where they went was the same forest where they encountered the greater bear where they had previously fought two boars. They did spot a few rabbits on the way but chose to leave them be since a wild boar would yield much more meat anyway.
“Oh, a full skin of a wild boar earns about 25 iron coins, milord,” Raem informed.
“That’s not bad.”
“I was told that it’d patch more if it was damaged less but I suppose there isn’t much we can do about that.”
“True. I mean we have to harm it to kill.”
“There is a wild boar!” Lara exclaimed as she pointed at a spot. Indeed, a wild boar was digging one of its front legs. It was preparing to charge forward at them.
“Alright, here we go!” Raem readied his shield and took the full brunt of the boar’s charge. His shield held firm although it creaked loudly, and Raem himself managed not to get pushed back.
“Hiya!” Lara thrusted her spear with a shout. The tip of the spear pierced its skin, and she pushed harder. The boar squeaked loudly. Meanwhile, Ewald fired his elemental wind arrow to its hind leg, crippling its ability to charge.
“Take this!” Raem pulled out his dagger from his belt and shoved it from below into the boar’s jaw.
All three were quite experienced in taking a boar down at this point. They would have struggled a bit if it was just Raem and Ewald. With Lara’s contribution, however, the whole ordeal became a lot easier. It was still a battle of attrition but lasted much shorter now.
“Phew, that was easy, relatively speaking,” Raem remarked as he stood over the dead boar.
“I was actually helpful!” Lara said joyfully.
“You indeed were,” Ewald replied.
They were pleased with the fact that they all had seen clear growth in their combat capabilities. Lara was especially overjoyed since she had been feeling that she was nothing but a burden. All her efforts had paid off.
“I bet you two can pull this off without me,” Ewald remarked.
“We probably could,” Raem replied. “But it won’t be pretty. Your arrow pierces through the boar. That is a lot of damage.”
He had a point. Ewald had routinely disabled boar’s ability to charge, which was its strongest attack. The fight would have gone probably differently if the boar could charge numerous times.
“You know, there is another kid named Dion. I think he’s 13 or 14. He’s a warrior. You could team up with him when I am not around.”
“I’d rather not,” Raem flatly rejected the idea. “I don’t want to share the loot. Besides, I’ve seen Dion.”
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“You have?”
“Aye. I’ve seen him at the guild from time to time. I do not get along with him. I think he’s a jackass.”
Ewald folded his arms. “What makes you think so?”
Raem shrugged as he told him, “He is always talking about he’s gonna hunt down minotaurs and whatnot. He swears openly that he is going to become the best and everyone should suck up to him while they can.”
“Bullshit,” Ewald blurted.
“Exactly. So, I’d rather not work with someone like him.”
“Indeed, you have a point there. Well, let’s get the boar home.”
At this point, the locals began to recognize Raem and Co while they carried the dead boar home.
“Caught another boar, eh?” A farmer remarked from his field. “Been a while since the last catch, hasn’t it?”
“Yeah, well, one of the members was away, so -”
“I see. I see. Could ya trade some meat with me later? I reckon buying it off you ought to be cheaper than what the market sells for.”
True, indeed. Raem would take vegetables instead of coins. The farmers liked trades better than spending coins.
After giving it a thought, Raem responded, “A half sack of what you grow for a chunk of fresh red meat, what do you say?”
He was a cabbage and carrot farmer.
“Kiddo, yer ripping me off.”
“Fine, I will give you a whole leg.”
“Nah.”
“Sir, this is fresh meat. You don’t find this every day.”
It was true. What the market offered was preserved, salted, meat. Otherwise, meat would go bad within a day. Fresh meat had much more value and had many more ways to cook than salted meat.
The farmer stroked his chin as he considered Raem’s offer.
“Fine, kiddo, ya win. But bring dat leg quickly, ya?”
“I will have Lara deliver it to you.” He pointed at her.
“You were silky smooth,” Ewald remarked as they walked away from the farmer. “Are you sure about selling that leg though?”
“It will be fine, probably. With you back, we can catch a wild boar at any time we want anyway.”
Once they were back, the regular routine began which was setting up a smoking station. This time, though, Raem cut off its hind leg and handed it over to Lara before doing anything else.
“Ask my mom for a bag and deliver it to the farmer, yeah? Don’t forget to take the sack. The payment is supposed to be half a sack of cabbages and carrots.”
“Got it!” She ran into the house with the leg.
“Raem, wouldn’t the sack be a little too heavy for her?”
He paused what he was doing, giving it a consideration.
“You have a point, sir. I will go with her.”
“Alright, I will set up the smoking station and begin smoking the meat.”
“Thank you.”
After he skinned the boar and got the meat off, they returned with the sack. It would seem that Ewald was correct. The sack would have been too large for her. And there was something else.
“The bugger tried to scam us,” Raem said angrily.
“What? How?”
“He had rocks inside of the sack! Good thing I checked!”
Apparently, the sack had a few rocks inside, making it heavier. Ewald noted internally that he should watch out for scams when dealing with farmers.
The next morning, Emily led her charge into his room as soon as he woke up. His personal space was invaded once again. In spite of his suggestion a day earlier, nothing had changed. She barked orders, and maids did their things. But he recognized a familiar face among maids.
“Noelle?!”
She bowed to him at once. “Yes, milord?”
“You are back.”
“Well…, yes.” She seemed nervous as if she didn’t want to spend any time speaking with him. Shrugging, he told her to continue.
I would rather see Esther than Noelle though. Where does she work anyway?
“Emily.”
“Yes, milord?”
“I understand that you and Esther don’t get along?”
“Eh…, whatever do you mean?”
Playing dumb, eh?
“So, you two get along?”
“Of course, milord.”
“Then I suppose you won’t mind if I ask you to include her?”
She grimaced very briefly.
“You won’t mind, correct?” He pressed.
“I would mind.”
Wow, this girl is bold.
“You two do get along though?”
She answered with silence. Noelle noticed the commotion and seemed to be sending an eye signal. Sending a discreet nod, he let Emily go.
“Nevermind, you may go.”
After they were done and left, Noelle came back shortly later.
“What is that you wanted to say?”
She hesitated a bit before spilling her beans. Apparently, she was not aware that Esther was her elder sister.
“Emily and Esther never got along from the very first day,” She explained. “They had a verbal fight on the first day and they have been at each other ever since.”
“Why did they fight in the first place?”
“I think Emily joked about Esther’s flaming hair color being a whore’s.”
Well…, isn’t Emily’s hair similar to Esther’s red? Besides, why such a joke to a complete stranger…? Unless they knew each other? Who is Emily anyway?
“I know you haven’t been here for too long. But do you know anything about Emily?”
She took her head timidly.
“I see. Thank you for telling me. You may leave.”
Once he saw her leave, he went to visit Elias.
“Emily? What about her?”
“She seems to be having a personal issue with Esther. I’d like to know why.”
“She does? That’s new to me also.”
“Who is she anyway? What’s her background?”
Elias stood up and walked toward the only bookshelf in the room. There was a thick file which he pulled off. Taking it back to his desk, he went through its content where he eventually pulled out a piece of paper. He read through and then showed it to Ewald.
Apparently, she was an orphan found in an alley in Lux. It was Karla who found her and brought her into the fold. She was twelve when she became a maid at the manor. That was three years ago.
“There is nothing wrong with her profile as far as I can see. It’s probably just something personal between them. Some people just don’t get along after all,” Elias said. “By the way, you seem to have a fixation on Esther.”
“Do I?”
“Of all the girls you’ve encountered, you’ve shown no interest in general. Esther has been the only one you’ve brought up more than once.”
“I find her hot. That’s probably why.”
“So, you do like her then.”
Ewald shrugged. “As far as her appearance goes, yes. I don’t know her personality. We’ve barely talked.”
Elias folded his arms. “And there is a report that you called her over for a conversation.”
Well, I figured he’d find that out. Not unexpected.
“Yes, I have.”
“What did you talk about?”
Should I be honest? Or tell a lie?
“Raem and I needed a mage, so I asked her to come along. She refused.”
“Of course, she’d refuse. You do realize that, by opting to go on adventure with you, she will be forgoing her maid status?”
“Oh, really?” Ewald played a fool. He was already aware.
“She wouldn’t be able to make that decision without consulting me or Lord Fenchel anyway.”
“Would she be allowed to go?”
Elias took a deep breath and paused for a moment before replying.
“She would be allowed to go if you two are going to marry. Your father won’t let go of a mage otherwise.”
Ewald rubbed his temple and sighed with exasperation.
I am only eight for fuck’s sake, and she is what, nine? Can we stop with this marriage shit please?
“So, she is staying put for now then.” Having said so, he wanted a break from the noble life. “May I get permission to visit Laufeld?”
“You may. I am assuming that you plan to fly there?”
“Yes, with Lady Harder.”
Elias nodded. “That’s fine, but this will be probably the last time you can bring her with you.”
“Oh? Why is that?”
“She informed me a few days ago that she’s pregnant. She can probably go this time with you but not the next time and for a while.”
“Oh, I must see her to congratulate her then.”
Ewald called for Theo and Greta who promptly showed up. They were in the rear garden by the fountain.
“Congratulations, Lady Harder. I heard the news.”
“News?” Theo narrowed his eyes.
“She’s pregnant.”
“Oh! Congratulations, Lady Harder.”
“Thank you, both,” She beamed a Goddess-tier smile at them in return. Then Ewald explained his reason for calling them out.
“I need the spell energize, Sir Ros.”
“I see. Very well.” Theo nodded affirmatively. “Elementals of fire, heed my call. Enter this child’s body and awaken his inner fire: Energize!”
Ewald felt a familiar sensation where something hot began to move around his body. It originated from his abdomen, then moved upwards, eventually circulating through his entire body.
“Elementals of wind, hear my call. Make me fly: Levitation!”
His body began to float at once. Greta cast levitation as well at this point.
“We will be back in a week, Sir Ros!”
Then they flew away.
Interestingly, Ewald was able to reach Laufeld in one session. He was just barely able to reach the front gate of the town.
“Your stamina must have improved,” Greta remarked as they touched down. “You won’t need me anymore.”
Ewald pouted. “I’d rather have you around, Lady Harder.”
She didn't reply but smiled instead. As they walked toward his family home, they saw the house under heavy reconstruction. Wooden support beams were placed around the house, and two workers were working actively outside.
“Hmm? What’s going on?”
“It looks like a house expansion to me,” Greta remarked.
He looked around and found his father working in the field. Approaching him, he shouted at him with a wave.
“Dad!”
Grent looked up.
“Oh, hey!”
It turned out that quite a few things occurred since his last visit. First of all, Vilma got pregnant once more which prompted a house expansion since they were already running out of rooms with two children. The mayor was chipping in half of the bill for reasons unknown to Grent.
So, four children now? They are on fire, literally.
“Faro not working?”
Grent shook his head.
“He still cannot distinguish.”
He was four years old at this point. He felt the kid still had time. He was a special case. He wished that Grent would realize that.
“Give him some more years. He’s still only four.”
“Yeah, yeah.” There was disappointment on his face however.
“Mom’s in the house?”
“Yes. Say hello to her.”
“Oh, before I forget. Please bring this month’s shipment.”
“Right.”
Then they headed to the house and found Vilma playing with Taro. Faro didn’t seem to be at home.
“Oh, my, welcome back.”
Vilma’s pregnancy seems to be early because he couldn’t tell whether she was pregnant from just looking at her.
“Lady Harder, nice to meet you, too.”
Greta bowed to her.
“Lady Fenchel,” She replied curtly and placed six silver coins on the dining table. It was the payment for Macomaco tea. “I shall look after Taro,” She added.
After taking the baby back from Vilma, she carried him away in his arms, humming, leaving the mother and the son alone.
“How have you been doing, dear?”
Ewald told her that he visited the royal party. He excluded Flora Flissing’s story however.
“I’ve been to it twice as well,” Vilma replied. “It wasn’t a pleasant experience.”
“No kidding.”
“His highness is doing well, I guess?”
“He looked fine.”
“Good. I hear he is a capable king. We need someone like him due to the Siwen Dynasty.”
He smiled bitterly in his mind.
“So, I hear you are with a baby.” He changed the subject. In response, she caressed her belly warmly.
“Yeah, this should be our last child.”
“Oh?”
“Three is enough.”
“It’s four,” Ewald said with a pout.
“Of course, of course.” She patted her son's head with a warm smile.
“Where is Faro by the way?”
“Out playing with other kids. You were a strange child back then. You never played with anyone. You would sit down outside and just stare at the sky.
He actually had no recollection of his memories before five.
“I did? I don’t recall.”
She beamed a warm smile at him and continued to pat his head.
That evening, they had meaty veggie soup. And, to Ewald’s surprise, there was bread.
“Bread?!” He unintentionally exclaimed upon seeing it.
“The mayor has been sharing some with us. He’s been awfully nice to us as of late,” Grent said, still being clueless as to why. However, Vilma seemed to know why. Both Ewald and Greta knew the reason as well. The mayor had likely been ordered to treat his family nicely.
They dipped loaves of bread in the soup. This was probably the most luxurious meal a farmer could ever eat. As far as he was aware, bread was pretty much nobles’ staple food. Even wheat farmers themselves had little chances to consume bread. Seeing how Faro seemed used to eating bread, it was apparent that they had been eating bread for a while.
After dinner, Ewald did his usual thing in Laufeld. He laid down outside, looking up at the night sky. Greta didn’t join him this time. He assumed that it was due to her pregnancy. She was basically protecting herself from the chilly wind at night. He recalled Fionara rarely venturing outside when she was pregnant. She was adamant that she would successfully give birth.
He had to smile. His memories with her were very enjoyable.
“I wonder whether she has been reborn…,” He whispered to himself. “Well, she has probably been reborn. The question is when.”
Even if they met each other, neither would recognize each other anyway.
“...........”
His thoughts moved onto his next topic: the king. He did seem to be a capable king who repelled an invasion and reunited the kingdom. By all counts he had heard and seen, he did seem like a decent liege. Thus, his ultimate question was -
Would it be alright to kill him?
Killing him would also risk the country being dragged into yet another succession crisis also. Was his right to revenge worth the price?
“Damn it,” He uttered in silence.
The Gods knew. I am pretty sure of that. They must be watching me and laughing at me.
Then he reminded himself of a possibility where the king might send a marriage proposal. He sighed deeply upon that thought.
Should that occur, he’d become my father-in-law. Killing him would make me… what, a villain?
Then he realized how he was casually thinking about murder. He stood up. Dusting off his butt, he headed home to sleep.
The next day, he assisted his father in tending the farm. Grent whistled at how fast Ewald was at picking the correct leaves.
“You’ve gotten better,” He remarked with glee. “How is your farm in Lux?”
“Not bad, I guess. I’ve re-planted everything since I was away for, like, a month.”
“Yeah, that’s a wise choice if they weren’t tended for a month.”
Grent’s farm was at least ten times larger, and he worked mostly alone. He’d need to work from early morning to noon. Then he’d spend several more hours in the storage room to sort out a day’s harvest. It wasn’t exactly a back-breaking task compared to other farmers. But it wasn’t an easy job, either. He’d get no personal day off. The only period he had some spare time was when Ewald helped tend the farm. Thus, it was somewhat important for Faro to be able to help as soon as possible. Should Grent fall ill now, their whole income would be at jeopardy. Thankfully, he was built like a tank. He had never seen him fall ill, let alone catch a cold. Perhaps thanks to his genes, Ewald had yet to catch a cold as well.
“Dad, I will take care of the rest. You take a day off today.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, why not. Come on. Spend some time with mom.”
He patted his son’s head with a smile and went toward home. Humming, he systematically picked correct leaves to harvest. He did so until noon. Then he took four baskets of picked leaves to the storage house where he poured them onto the ground. Then using a rake, he spread them out evenly.
“Spirits of wind, hear my call. Give me a breeze.”
A subtle breeze started to blow around in the storage. He didn’t know how long the spell would last but was confident that he would help even if a little.
“Done, done,” He said to himself while placing the baskets outside and closing the door. He could see the sun touching the horizon at this point.
“Let’s hit the market.”
When he was younger, before he would get adopted into the Fenchel, he rarely ventured around his hometown. He wasn’t simply interested in it due to his mind being occupied by other matters. Having to work on the tea field every single day played a part as well.
The market of Laufeld was small. There were about six stalls alongside a dirt road near the mayor’s manor. Four were selling local products. The other two were selling salted meat. He happened to spot Martin, the ex-adventurer there.
“Oh, kid!” He recognized Ewald first.
“Oh, hello. How have you been doing? It’s been a while.”
“Yeah, where have you been?”
“I actually live in Lux. I guess I didn’t tell you that.”
“You didn’t. The charming lady is not with you?”
He must be talking about Greta.
“She is here. Just so you know, she’s married and is a noble.”
“Come on!” He scratched the back of his head. “I never saw her like that. It’s just good to see beautiful women. That’s all.”
“Well, I can’t argue with that, sir.”
They conversed for a while. Apparently, Martin had been living a comfortable life due to the loot he earned from the adventure about a year ago. He was able to take days off when he needed to without having to worry about going hungry.
“Perhaps thanks to that, my body aches have gotten better,” He said while flexing his shoulder. The dude was jacked. Neither he nor Grent had muscles to show off in spite of working every day. “So, if you are up for an adventure, I am up for it.”
As much as he would love to, he was unable to at this point due to Greta being pregnant. It would be too dangerous with just the two of them. Esther came to his mind once again.
“Sorry, mister. As much as I want to, it’d be just us two. Too dangerous.”
Martin nodded affirmatively. “Indeed, just the two of us is too risky to venture out further. Well, if you need a frontline fighter, you know where to find me.”
“Are you willing to come back from retirement then?”
Martin folded his arms. “Not sure,” He said with an uncertain tone. “My body is feeling better, but I kinda feel like it’s hanging by a thread.”
“Take it easy, mister. Don’t push too hard.”
Grinning, he gave a powerful slap on Ewald’s back.
“Come on, kiddo. I am fine. Anyway, gotta go. I will see you around.”
He was meeting up with a woman apparently. It turned out that the dude was having a good time after all. She looked to be a farmer. Given Martin’s age, she was probably a widow or a farmer’s daughter who missed out on her prime years. While not common, it wasn’t that rare for farmers’ daughters to miss out on their prime marriage years if a farming family needed more laborers.
“Well, happy humping, mister,” Ewald joked as he turned around to leave the area.