Raem’s first impression on Ewald was … meh. When he was instructed by Elias Hunt to look after the son of Edmund Fenchel, he was happy for one reason. He’d be paid. That was pretty much the only reason he took the job. As a mere 11 year-old, there wasn’t much he could do to help his mother, Karla, a former maid who was banished from the Fenchel manor for having an affair with a family member of the Fenchel.
“As if it was her fault,” He said to himself in his room. He was sitting on the frame of the only window in the room, looking down on the streets. When he was told by Karla that he was a son of a noble and that he would never be acknowledged, he shrugged it off because it changed nothing.
All he knew for certain was that they were poor. His mother told him repeatedly that he should be grateful for the Fenchel house because they were living in one of their houses in Lux. It was basically a rent-free home they were given. Alas, they received no further support.
“What the hell is the point of giving a woman a house when she can’t earn coins?” He muttered.
As he watched his mother struggle with finance, he wanted only one thing: He wanted his mother and himself to be fed adequately. Proper food was a big issue in his household.
Every day, their diet was virtually identical. On some good days, they’d eat proper veggie stew. On bad days, they’d eat, or more precisely, drink, scrap veggie soup that had an eerily consistency of just plain water with bits of veggies floating about.
Meat? He couldn’t remember eating meat but he knew it would taste godly because they smelled so good whenever he visited the guild for mundane jobs. He saw adventurers consuming meat often. The smell was so nice that his mouth would often fill with saliva. At one point, he just wanted to steal a dish. He really wanted to. But he did not.
The last thing he wanted was to make his mother sad.
The only thing he looked forward to was becoming a 12 year-old. Then, he’d become an iron rank and would be able to partake in real requests from the guild. He’d earn some real dough and he’d be able to support his mother. They’d no longer drink scrap veggie soup. They’d eat real meals, meat even!
His belly growled loudly in protest, bringing back to reality. Robbing his growling belly, he got off the window frame and went downstairs. Today, the noble kid would visit the house.
“Whatever. He’s probably a spoiled kid anyway.”
He had never actually met a noble child. He did, however, meet rich merchants’ kids whose noses might as well point upwards. He vividly recalled their condescending eyes on someone like him, the poor.
Anyway, It was early morning, so he went out to the outskirts to give a hand to whoever was willing to hire him. He’d get veggie scraps in return. But it was a bad day for him as nobody wanted to hire him.
“Fucking shit,” He lamented as he headed back home empty handed with a growling stomach.
When he arrived back home, the noble kid was there already.
“Karla, I am bac- Milord, my apologies.”
He had been trained in noble etiquette as well as basic swordsmanship. He wasn’t trained by Karla however. It was a butler from the Fenchel manor. When he led the noble kid to the dining room, the heir asked.
“So, Raem, what exactly do you do here?”
As they sat down, he pondered how he should respond. In the end, he decided to come clean, hoping to earn some sympathy points. He might give them some coins, he thought.
“Milord, Karla, here is my mother.”
“What? Hmm, who is your father?”
“My father is a younger brother of the former lord of the Fenchel. I am an illegitimate child. I was never acknowledged.”
“I see. My apologies for prying.”
Then give us some money, damn it! He cried internally.
“It’s fine, milord. We’ve been given this house and have been assigned as caretakers.”
“So, what do you do exactly? I know you’ve been assigned to me as a bodyguard. But what have you been doing before?”
He glanced at Karla who did nothing but put on a warm smile on her face. As far as he could recall, his mother never frowned. She always wore a smile on her face. Perhaps, it was in part due to her training as a maid but he wished she’d show more emotions.
“Milord, I do whatever job I can get to earn my keep. We’ve been allowed to live here, but we are not paid and must earn to keep ourselves fed.”
“I assume you will be paid for the service you will render to me?”
“Correct, sir.”
The noble kid stared at his mother for a moment and asked something entirely unexpected.
“Lady Karla, are you happy?”
He saw his mother startle, and the smile on her face vanished. He knew life hadn’t been kind to her. It didn’t matter how much one smiled. One could fake only for so long. Sooner or later, he could tell that her smile was fake. Alas, as a maid, putting on a smile was all she knew sadly.
“I, I am not a lad-”
“I don’t care what anyone says, Raem is my cousin, meaning you’d be my aunt. I shall address you correctly.”
Indeed, that was the truth. He felt a bit better being acknowledged for what they really were. He felt that they should be living in the manor and eat good food in addition.
He told Ewald, “I thank you. It’s the truth many seem to ignore.”
“It’s the truth indeed. Raem, you know what, don’t address me like that in private. It gives me creeps. I mean we are related for fuck’s sake.”
He felt as if a cloud of darkness slowly faded away in his mind. He laughed pleasantly and told him, “I do like you, but I’d like to keep up the act. It will be safer for us.”
The last thing he wanted was a deduction in pay because he acted too casually toward the heir.
“Very well, I do understand where you are coming from.”
His face hardened at once. Standing up from his chair, he got on one knee.
“Milord, from the bottom of my heart, I thank you for acknowledging what everyone else has refused to do. I shall serve you in the most sincere way.”
Ewald offered a handshake to which he agreed with a bright smile on his face.
He, then, told the heir about a certain cat he had been keeping his eyes on. The black cat had what appeared to be a golden choker on it. He wanted to catch it. He alone had not been able to do so however. Thus, he suggested catching the cat which the heir agreed gleefully.
He was mildly impressed how good the heir was in combat. He thought he was pretty good at sword for someone of his age, but the heir was flying around and fired magic arrows skillfully. The bottom line was that he was very useful in what he did. Unlike a swordsman like Raem who had to face enemies head on, he would pick his target and go. That was very useful.
Although he was ultimately disappointed that the “golden” choker he was after was just a brass choker, he felt like he had found a good partner in Ewald.
The next day, he introduced the Fenchel heir to the guild and had him registered at the guild. In progress, he found out that the cat he had recently killed for its choker had a bounty on it. Shaking his head internally, he cursed his luck. He didn’t have to kill a bunch of cats. It was quite frankly a waste of time and effort.
Either way, he thought he might be able to find a decently paying job with the heir but, in the end, there was nothing. It was at this point that the heir made his suggestion.
“Let’s hunt small games.”
“What?” He didn’t get it.
“I am more of an archer. I can kill small games, like hares and rabbits easily. Those won’t bring in many iron coins, but you do get to bring meat home.”
His eyes widened slowly at the word “meat”.
“Meat!” He yelled enthusiastically.
Yeah, why couldn’t he think of that before? The heir was an archer. He did try to hunt rabbits before because he had seen them aplenty when he was assisting farmers. Alas, being a swordsman meant he had to chase those little buggers around, and they were too fast. Once they went down to their lairs, it was virtually impossible to catch them.
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But for an archer?
A new world of possibilities opened up in his head.
“You sure you can do that?” He could feel saliva filling up in his mouth already.
Puffing chest, the heir nodded proudly. “Leave it to me.”
He got on one knee and declared, “Lord Kamil! I shall follow you!”
As he swore his allegiance half-jokingly, in his mind there was only meat. He wanted to eat meat. He dreamt about meat even.
Thus, when the heir had indeed caught a rabbit, nothing was going on in his mind. He was down on the ground as he was told when the heir’s magic arrow hit a rabbit’s head. As soon as he saw the rabbit go down, he ran toward the downed rabbit on four because he couldn’t care less. He just wanted to secure the meat. He didn’t have time to stand up properly.
Grabbing the rabbit by its ears, he stood up at once and roared to the sky as if he had just conquered the world.
“YYYYEEEESSSS!!!”
On that night, he consumed meat for the first time in his memories. He may have eaten meat before but had no recollection of it until this day.
“Mom, it’s so fucking good!” He exclaimed as he devoured a roasted rabbit leg. It was a simple meal. It was just roasted meat with salt. Normally, Karla would have scolded him for cursing. On this occasion though, she simply smiled along. She also had a roasted rabbit leg in her hand. She, too, couldn’t stop eating it.
It was so good for both of them that the formalities they practiced crumbled on that night. Raem was supposed to look after the heir. In the end, weirdly it looked as if the heir was looking after him.
They would end up consuming the entire rabbit meat that night. They simply could not stop. And, on that night, he slept soundly with his belly for the first time in his memories.
“Why don’t we hit the fields? Why bother with the guild when the pay is shit?”
The heir told Raem the next day when he came by. He was in full agreement.
“Indeed, sir. Let us catch more than one rabbit today!”
He saw no point at all in guild activities at this point. If he could get his hands on food sources directly, then he would prefer that over money. And he prepared for the hunt. He had a spear on his back this time because he figured that a spear would be better in rabbit hunting. His arsenal was a sword, a spear, and a wooden shield. The spear and the sword were from the Fenchel manor. He was given those for free when being trained in combat by a butler. The wooden shield and his leather armor, however, were purchased by his mother. It cost 50 iron coins for the shield and 75 iron coins for the armor which he was absolutely certain that it was a huge amount for her to spend. As much as he wanted to tell her to forget purchasing the shield, those were must-have equipment for a warrior.
When they were walking out, he had a question for the heir.
“Would we be able to catch more than just rabbits?”
“I don’t see why not? I’ve killed a goblin before with the wind arrow.”
“Oh, wow, really? That’s awesome. You could participate in a proper adventuring group if you are capable of killing goblins.”
“Have you killed a goblin before?”
He shook his head with a frown. He had yet to participate in any real combat, for he was too young. No one from the guild would take him, and he wouldn’t dare venturing out on his own. It would be suicidal.
“Tell you what. Let’s practice some real combat tomorrow with a wild boar or something like that.”
“You mean that?” He was happy to experience real combat. Of course, he was excited because he didn’t know what real combat would be like. He was in for a loud awakening.
Luck seemed to be on his side for once when a farmer promised to pay if they took care of menacing rabbits. But, after catching two rabbits, the farmer refused to pay. Dark clouds formed in his mind again.
Why don’t things ever go straightforward? He lamented in his mind.
However, the heir suggested an alternative, a trade. They wouldn’t get the coins they were promised but would instead get some fresh veggies.
“I know you wanted the coins, Raem. But these seem good. Aren’t you sick of veggie scrap soup?”
He was slightly pissed at his remark. What would he know? The heir was a rich kid. What would he know of his pains?
“You sound as if you’ve eaten them before.”
“I have.”
Huh?
“What? But you are -”
“The heir of the Fenchel, huh? You probably don’t know, but I, too, was an illegitimate child like yourself. I, too, had gone through what you are going through. Eating nothing more than a bowl of veggie soup a day. Perpetually growling stomach. I’ve experienced it all.”
He was dumbstruck. He didn’t see that coming at all. He went through the same thing as he did? He knew hunger? Waking up in the middle of night because you were too hungry? Resisting the urge to steal food?
“The most important thing is getting your belly full properly. Money can wait, Raem. Have you noticed how well your mother looked this morning? That’s what a good meal does to a person.”
No, he didn’t. He didn't even look at his mother’s face. What he did know was that he was full of vigor when he woke up in the morning. He was usually grumpy in the morning because of hunger.
………………
Why was he so preoccupied in earning fucking coins? Why didn’t he seek other ways to earn something? The fact was that he did try. He worked at farms to get whatever he could get. He did try hunting rabbits but he just couldn’t do it. Still, he didn’t feel he tried hard enough. Was there really no other way?
“Roasted rabbit legs with a proper bowl of vegetable stew! Nothing beats that shit!” The heir exclaimed confidently.
“Yes!” He replied with a bright smile.
His life became full of excitement, probably for the first time. Of course, his bright mood was about to meet its maker.
“Woooaaaaah!” He screamed as his shield creaked loudly when he took the full brunt of a wild boar’s tusks. He was even being pushed back.
Holy fuck! What strength!
The heir and he were fighting a wild boar. He thought he could take it on. Oh, boy. He was wrong. His shield arm was feeling numb. It wasn’t broken. Actually, he wasn’t sure of that at this point. While the heir went offensive and fired several shots, it wasn’t doing much damage. It punctured holes. That was all it did. He tried to pull his sword out but his hand was shaking so much that he knew it wouldn’t be much of help.
Yes, his hand was shaking badly. He was in fear. The sheer strength he just faced from a wild boar was something completely unexpected.
And here I thought I could join adventures when I became an iron rank at the guild? What a laugh!
This was the reality. It was that he was just a twelve year old boy. They eventually bled the boar out, during which he had basically wrestle with it. If the heir didn’t shoot his hind legs, the boar would have charged at him several times. He wasn’t sure he would have been able to take it on. Taking its single charge broke him almost. Taking it more than once? Nah.
Once the boar was down, he got down on all fours and cried, “I thought it was gonna kill me…”
He genuinely feared death. He thought he might have died. In fact, the leather armor saved him a few times from the boar’s tusks.
I miss mum.
He cried internally. Once both of them caught their breath, he placed his shield on his back at which point he felt a sharp but brief pain in his arm. He didn’t think much of it but -
“Raem, show me your arm.”
“Milord?”
“Just let me take a look.”
Raising his sleeve, he was shocked to see his arm below the elbow was all bruised. It was like looking at an arm of a dead person. The sight freaked him out.
I am not gonna lose my arm, am I?
Thankfully, his fear was short-lived.
“You will feel fine until tomorrow. Then it’s going to hurt like hell,” Kamil explained. “We are not going out to hunt for a few days to a week.”
“Seriously?”
“Me thinks we are gonna need a third member.”
The heir took his response as a complaint for not being able to hunt for up to a week. But what he really meant was that he was glad that he wasn’t losing his arm.
Karla freaked out when she saw her son’s badly bruised arm, but the heir claimed her down, telling her that he would be fine. He wasn’t actually sure whether he was telling the truth though. He did warn him that it was going to hurt like hell the next day.
And it did.
When he woke up early in the morning, he felt as if his whole body was on fire. He was sweating like no tomorrow, and his left arm felt like it was going to explode at any moment.
“Aw! Aw! Aweeeeee!” He screamed loudly as he rolled around. Karla ran into the room in response.
“Raem, what’s wrong?!”
“It’s the arm, mom. It hurts so freaking bad!”
She didn’t know what to do and would just walk around his room, trying to think.
“He said I would be fine…” He tried to comfort her. “It will pass…, I think.”
At the very moment, it did feel like his arm was about to fall off. He tried to control the pain and his reaction but it was just too much for him to suppress for too long. He would eventually roll around on his bed and scream. The heir did pay him a visit but he had little recollection of the day.
His arm did feel significantly better the next day. The throbbing pain was still there, but its magnitude was far less. Either that, he got used to the pain which was scary to think about. His belly was loudly protesting which made him realize that he had barely eaten anything.
When he was downstairs eating a few strips of jerky and a bowl of veggie soup, the heir came by.
“Feeling better?”
“Yes, Milord. It still hurts but not as bad as yesterday.”
“Good. I will be back soon.”
He wondered what he was up to. Anyway, feeling too drowsy with his belly full, he went to his room and collapsed on his bed.
When he woke up and came down stairs, he was quite shocked to find a girl with the heir and his mom.
The heir threw a casual salute at him. “Yo, Raem, this is Lara. She will be our third member.”
He cast a doubtful gaze over her. She was thin, too thin. She looked like one of those girls found in an orphanage.
The heir, as if he noticed his doubtful gaze, defended her. “She is more of a mage, an earth mage I was told.”
“Oh, she can cast stoneskin then? That would be mighty useful for me.”
“You know the earth magic spell list?”
“No, sir. Stoneskin is the only earth spell I am aware of. I know it since I was told it’s the most useful spell for frontline fighters.”
“By the name, I assume it boosts your defense?”
“Right.”
It was something he overheard from the guild. Groups of adventurers were always looking for an earth mage to include. Fire and earth mages were the most in demand from what he could tell.
“That does sound useful then. Well, let her settle down for now. We will look into this later.”
He bowed lightly toward him. “Understood.”
He didn’t have any faith in the girl. She looked too weak physically. But, as long as she could cast stoneskin on him, she was worth it.
So, when they found out that she wasn’t an earth mage but a weak water mage, he was disappointed.
What he did not expect at all was her interaction with his mother. She seemed to have found someone to talk to freely, and her mood seemed to be getting better as days went by.
It had been just him and his mother in this large house as long as he could remember. While he didn’t know the very concept of loneliness because he was always fighting with hunger and whatnot, his mother perhaps did. After all, she was a Fenchel maid who used to work alongside tens of other maids.
The bottom line was that whatever the heir did, it brought nothing but joy to his house. He may have joked about serving him before but he was sincere now. When they grew up and if he would ask him to serve him, he would serve him absolutely. In doing so, he could perhaps establish his own noble house.
He laughed at himself at such a thought.
“Yeah, right!” He sneered at himself for thinking so. He had no attachment to becoming a noble. At the same time, he wanted his mother to become more than just a maid who got knocked up. He felt it was just not fair that his mother would fade away like that.
Regardless, for now and time being, he had to do everything he could to bring food to the table.