Ch.11. Wretched Hovel

Rex’s dream, at the age of fifteen, was to become independent from his family and live on his own.

“This wretched house.” These words were always on Rex’s lips.

The sun was slowly rising beyond the dim sky.

Rex frowned and opened his eyes at the light stabbing his eyelids. Through the slightly open window, the stench of animal waste seeped in.

These damn beasts, do they defecate even while sleeping?

He had clearly cleaned the barn before going to bed last night. Anyone would think it had been neglected for days.

Rex came out to the yard, yawning widely. Judging by the silence in the house, his family hadn’t woken up yet.

This was routine. They would crawl out with nonchalant faces only after a good hour had passed. Despite the countless household chores that needed attention.

“Tsk.”

Rex clicked his tongue and picked up a wooden shovel. Though irritated, he couldn’t just abandon everything, so he had no choice but to do it alone.

If he slacked off even a little, he’d surely get slapped with a palm as big as a pot lid. Parents who indulged their children’s tantrums were rare.

Perhaps the only silver lining was that they fed him regularly. Children in other households often couldn’t even manage two proper meals a day.

Since Rex’s family was among the well-off in the village, he didn’t go hungry unless he seriously upset them.

In this world, children were often treated as less valuable than livestock like pigs or chickens. They were seen as weak burdens who only consumed food. If you didn’t want to get beaten, you had to grit your teeth, learn to work, and prove your usefulness.

“Whew, they’ve really made a mess.”

Rex crossed the barn fence and grimaced at the pungent smell of excrement.

The five hens and one rooster were still nowhere to be seen, probably still in the coop, while the three pigs were rubbing their large bodies against the straw spread on the floor.

When Rex trudged over, they glanced at him briefly before lying on their sides, wallowing contentedly.

A pig’s life is better than a human’s. Just eating, sleeping, and defecating, with someone else cleaning up after them.

That’s because livestock were worth their weight in gold in this world. Though not as valuable as milk-producing cows, pigs and chickens were very expensive. They were the greatest assets commoners could own. This was also why Rex’s family was counted among the wealthy in the village.

Rex spread the mushy pile of dung with his shovel. Chickens could be left for days without much notice, but pigs defecated constantly after eating, so this kind of maintenance was needed at least twice a day to keep things manageable.

Otherwise, he’d get beaten again.

‘What a weary life. Sigh.’

After finishing the cleanup, Rex tossed the shovel carelessly in the yard and headed to the stream near the house. Despite it being spring, the water was ice-cold in the early morning. After washing and shivering, the smell of excrement on his body faded.

By the time he returned to the yard, dawn had fully broken and the sky was bright. But his family was still far from waking up.

Now it’s time for the real hard work. Rex rubbed his hands together for warmth and picked up a one-handed axe embedded in a large log.

Once this was done, his morning chores would be complete. Chopping firewood was the most difficult task.

Rex brought over a pile of cylindrical logs and set them down. Splitting them evenly was no easy feat; it was hard labor that even adults struggled with.

Blindly using brute force could lead to hitting the wrong spot or getting injured.

Crack!

As he brought the axe down lightly, the wood split cleanly in two with a satisfying sound.

He suddenly recalled the first day he started chopping firewood. His father had abruptly tossed him an axe and gruffly said:

‘At seven years old, you should earn your keep.’

‘What?’

‘From today, you’ll chop the firewood. If it’s not done by sunset, don’t expect dinner.’

‘But…’

Rex had tried to protest that he was already too busy with his mountain of chores, but when his father slowly raised his hand, he had no choice but to flee without another word.

Eight years had passed since then. Rex was now fifteen.

After the coming-of-age ceremony in two days, he would be treated as a proper adult. It meant he would have to earn his own living.

Whether he worked as a farmhand or learned his parents’ trade, his days of depending on the household would end. Honestly, he couldn’t see how it would be different from his current life. He was already working like a dog at home.

Perhaps the biggest difference would be liberation from unpaid labor and the ability to earn wages. In exchange, he would have to pay to continue living at home.

Children who hadn’t undergone the coming-of-age ceremony were treated as their parents’ property. In other words, once recognized as an adult, he could live his life as he pleased.

Even so, unless he left the village, he couldn’t completely escape his parents’ interfering shadow. Things would only improve slightly. But for Rex, that was enough.

‘I’ll quit these damn household chores right away.’

After finishing his daily quota, Rex stuck the axe into the log and dusted off his hands. After stretching his stiff muscles, he pushed the neatly split firewood to one side.

Cock-a-doodle-doo!

Around that time, the sound of a rooster crowing loudly came from the barn.

The family should be waking up soon. When Rex entered the house, as expected, his family members were sitting on chairs with sleepy faces. His mother wasn’t visible, probably preparing the meal, leaving only his father and his sister Anna, who was two years older than him.

“Good morning.”

He greeted his father first, but the man ignored him and let out a loud belch. Rex hadn’t expected a response anyway. Being ignored was something he had experienced to the point of weariness.

Rex sat down on an empty chair with an expressionless face.

“Hey. Didn’t you clean the barn yesterday?”

Anna glared at him with narrowed eyes. Though her tone was openly confrontational, Rex remained calm as this too was familiar.

In this wretched house, instead of warm greetings like “good morning” or “did you sleep well?”, mornings began with irritable criticisms like “what did you do wrong?” or “why didn’t you do this?”

“I did clean it. Why?”

“The stink of pig manure kept me up all night. Because of you.”

“How is that my fault? Don’t you know barns get dirty again quickly even after cleaning? This isn’t new.”

“That’s why we assigned you to clean it often! If it gets dirty again after cleaning, you should get up even in the middle of the night and clean it again! How can you not even do what you’re told properly?”

“Huh… really.”

Rex barely suppressed a sigh at her nonsensical words.

Though they shared the same blood, Anna was incomprehensibly stupid. She often made selfish, self-centered remarks, and Rex always struggled with how to respond.

It seemed like a slap would solve the problem, but his father’s presence made that impossible.

Strangely, while his father treated Rex harshly, he was gentle with his daughter Anna. He almost always gave in to her tantrums. If Rex had behaved the same way, he would have been slapped immediately.

Due to this one-sided favoritism, Anna had begun to look down on Rex.

Her hysterical outbursts like now were just the beginning; she even ordered him to do her chores. This made Rex hate the household even more.

“Is it so hard to do a thorough job when you clean?”

As Anna added one more remark, Rex responded internally.

You’ve been pampered all your life, so you don’t know how things work. What would you know, having only dabbled in easy tasks like food preparation or peeling vegetables?

‘As soon as I complete the coming-of-age ceremony, I’m leaving this place. It’s too filthy to live here.’

While Rex was tuning out Anna’s chirping, his mother appeared from the kitchen.

Pale milk, hard wheat bread, and boiled eggs. After she placed the modest meal on the table, his father, who had been silent until then, finally spoke.

“Eat.”

Despite the permission, Rex didn’t touch the food. Only after his father tore off a large piece of bread and took a bite did Rex begin his meal.

The authority of the head of the household was evident in such small gestures.

Bread, milk, and eggs. This was a very substantial breakfast. It was possible because Rex’s family was relatively affluent within the village. The poor often had to make do with just a piece of bread for the entire day.

“Rex.”

As the meal was ending, his father called out. Rex looked up at him. His face was scarred in various places, and his beard was thick. His build was much more robust than Rex’s still-growing body.

His palms were as big as pot lids, and perhaps because he had been hit by those hands so many times, Rex unconsciously felt intimidated whenever he looked at his father.

“Yes.”

“Work diligently. Don’t be lazy.”

“I understand.”

“Did you clean the pigsty?”

“Yes, I did.”

“And chopped the firewood?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

His tone was completely devoid of emotion. Since this same father would immediately resort to physical violence if slightly displeased, Rex answered tensely.

“I’m going to the forest later. Come with me.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You know what to bring, right?”

“Axe, bow, arrows, gloves, bag, flint. Should I include moonweed too?”

When Rex listed everything, his father nodded. Rex got up and hurriedly gathered the supplies.

That day, his father caught three rabbits. While his father was hunting, Rex chopped wood alone. Though they still had plenty of firewood, it was his father’s order to work even during leisure time.

Of course, Rex was the one carrying everything. He nearly collapsed from exhaustion while shouldering the heavy logs and three rabbits, but the fear of his father’s beating was greater than the fear of falling, so he barely endured.

Back home, he skinned the rabbits with a dagger. He worked meticulously, knowing that if he made a mistake that lowered the quality of the hide, another beating awaited him.

Finally, after cleaning the pigsty once more, Rex dragged his exhausted body back to his room.

He stared blankly at the ceiling, which was completely devoid of light.

‘It’s not easy.’

How long would this daily routine continue?

He had endured until now by telling himself that things would get better after the coming-of-age ceremony.

The ceremony was in two days. He had thought that once recognized as an adult, he could earn money and live freely.

…But would that really be possible?

He had always envisioned a hopeful future, but now that the ceremony was approaching, his feelings were complicated.

Even if he became an adult, it wasn’t clear if he could find work immediately, and even with income, immediate independence wasn’t guaranteed.

For a while, or at least a few years, he would still have to live in this wretched house.

There was no certainty that life outside the house would be more comfortable than his current situation.

“Haah…”

Perhaps it’s not just a wretched house but a wretched world.

“Let’s just sleep.”

Rex sighed deeply and closed his eyes.

If he could wish for one thing, it would be for tomorrow to be better than today.

That night, Rex had a dream.

A mysterious dream where a giant touching the sky looked down at him, holding an enormous sword.