Chapter 137
“You did, right? Right, right?”
Feyden wasn’t closely involved with that side of things and didn’t know the details, but judging by Estira and Ariel’s reactions, that so-called Miracle of the Ark of Benevolence looked no different from a rigged gambling table they’d set up among themselves.
Still, the truth hidden behind it was probably something that only had meaning if you chose to hear it yourself.
Feyden smiled gently and explained what had happened that day like a fairy tale. Truu was delighted, saying he’d go to school tomorrow and tell all the other kids about it. The smile never left Feyden’s lips either.
“Oh! Brother! Aren’t those them? The priests who participated in the procession back then!”
“They are?”
Chattering away, Truu pointed toward somewhere, then politely clasped both hands together and bowed his head.
Calling them the chosen priests who had taken part in the pilgrim procession, Truu looked at them with eyes full of respect.
Feyden’s gaze naturally followed in that direction as well.
Among all those people, there was one person who caught Feyden’s eye. A woman with long, fluffy pink hair.
Should he say that her kind heart was visible even from afar? Her bright energy seemed to radiate outward to the people around her, something you could almost see with your eyes. In one of her hands, she was tightly holding the hand of a black-haired boy.
“You’ll be able to participate in a procession like those priests soon too. It’s once every five years, right?”
“Yeah!”
“Then next procession, our squirt will be walking right at the very front.”
“Hey! The one at the very front is His Holiness the Pope, Brother.”
“What can’t you do, Truu.”
Truu burst out laughing.
Ding. Ding.
While laughter bloomed between them, the loud sound of a bell rang through the school grounds.
When Truu said it was time for afternoon prayers and tried to say goodbye, Feyden looked at him and gave a playful wink.
“B… Brother?”
“Let’s skip.”
“Ah, I can’t… ahh! Bro!”
“There’s no such thing as can’t!”
Feyden slung Truu over his shoulder and quickly left the school grounds. Feyden was the one running on two legs, but it felt like it was Truu’s heart that was about to burst.
“Brother, then does that mean you don’t have to go back to Dongguk now? Is your work all done?”
Like in the old days when he used to walk through the market holding Feyden’s hand, Truu cautiously lifted his head and looked up at his brother.
A question he hadn’t asked because he didn’t want to seem like a kid throwing a tantrum. Truu hesitated, chewing on his lips.
“The contract period is five years, so there’s still time left, but I don’t need to go back to Dongguk. I dumped the work on my apprentice and came.”
“Wooaah. An apprentice?! Bro, you’re really amazing!”
Feyden bought Truu piles of snacks and food he’d wanted to buy him all along but couldn’t before because he had no money, and placed them into his brother’s hands.
Even while holding three snacks in each hand, Feyden kept pulling out money to buy more food, and Truu pressed his back against him and shouted through a mouthful.
“B-Brotheeerr. I can’t eat anymore…!”
“Why can’t you eat much? Do they give you too little food at school?”
“This is way too much!”
When Truu stuck both arms straight out and complained sulkily, Feyden finally raised the white flag.
Giving up on shopping, Feyden turned with Truu toward the place they used to live. It was certain that someone else was living in the shantytown that had once been their home, but he was still curious.
“But you said you’re not going back to Dongguk now… aren’t you going to get a house?”
Truu asked from beyond the bridge leading to the shantytown. It was the bridge where Truu had once squatted all day long to wait for errands.
“Hmm. I do need to buy one.”
The two of them lingered in front of the grotesque abandoned house near the bridge.
“Got it. Bro, there’s someone you miss in Dongguk, right?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re not getting a house because you want to go back to Dongguk, aren’t you?”
Hesitating to cross the bridge, Feyden stopped completely and looked down at the squirt.
He didn’t know where he’d learned it, but Truu was poking at his brother’s side with a rather sly smile.
Looks like the squirt really has grown up.
Before, he was the kid who would smile and ask if Feyden had gotten back safely without even realizing he’d been hurt, if Feyden pretended nothing was wrong after a job. Now he even knew how to peek into his brother’s heart.
Feyden flicked Truu on the head with a thump and scolded him, asking what he knew.
There was a face that came to mind.
Blond hair that made you want to touch it every time you saw it, and plump cheeks. Bold eyes that made you want to see them fill with tears at least once, and lips that never stopped moving.
…Someone like that did come to mind. He couldn’t bring himself to show it, though.
“You’re going to school properly, right?”
When Feyden awkwardly changed the subject, Truu, who had already become quite grown-up, answered without pressing further.
“Of course. I already have a sponsor.”
“One of those only the smart kids get?”
“Obviously! I’m the best at studying and the most diligent among my class!”
At the sight of the squirt puffing out his chest proudly, Feyden burst out laughing.
At least in this moment, it felt like Estira’s face turned into flower petals and scattered away on the river breeze.
“Want to go look at houses to live in together?”
“Yeah! Yeah! I love that! Let’s do it!”
Feyden gave up on crossing the bridge. If you crossed this bridge, you came to a barren village where beggars and vagrants gathered to live. The place where they themselves had lived until just a few years ago.
But now, there was no need to walk there anymore, was there. Feyden had gained many things he hadn’t had back then.
Money, happiness. And the feeling of liking someone.
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