Chapter 138: Children Who Had to Grow Up (4)

[138] 22. Children Who Had to Grow Up (4)

Everyone has unlucky days. But what separates the poor from the rich is the extent of that misfortune’s fall.

Someone who was living above the clouds may at least land on a patch of grass, while someone crawling on the ground may never see the light again.

It was May, the time of the barley hump, when even flowers wither away in hunger. Because last year’s harvest was poor, the season felt even steeper.

The market day that used to come around once a month soon vanished, and people’s faces lost all traces of ease. Even Mrs. Flan’s pie store ended up closing.

Everyone in the village lived with their belts tightened.

Even ordinary folks struggled like that. So, how do you think the two children living in the forest were doing.

With hollow cheeks, the two children stare at the bread they’ve found for the first time in 3 days. It looks more like a clump of dirt than a loaf of bread, yet saliva drips from their mouths.

“You eat it. I already found one and ate it earlier.”

But Amy quickly wipes away her saliva and holds out the bread. Adding a lie that even a ten-year-old wouldn’t believe.

“No, you found it, Sister. I…”

“Shut up and eat it when I tell you to. You, you still have wounds from that asshole’s dog.”

“That’s not a wound anymore, it’s a scar… Ah, just split it in half!”

However, the stone-like bread refused to break. In the end, after hitting it a few times with a rock, a small piece, about a quarter of the whole, finally broke off.

Amy quickly popped it into her mouth and then patted her belly for the boy to see.

“There, I’m done with mine. The rest is yours. Ugh, I’m so full.”

“…Next time, if you find something, just eat it all yourself.”

Grumbling under his breath, the boy wets the remaining bread with his saliva to force it down.

Yet, from the start, the bread was only the size of a baby’s fist. That amount could hardly make up for three days of hunger. In fact, it left him with the illusion of feeling even hungrier than before eating it.

Finally, Amy looks up at the sky and declares.

“Let’s go back there, one more time.”

The boy, who had been licking the few remaining crumbs from his hand, looks up in surprise.

“Sister, are you crazy? Don’t you remember how we almost got shot by an arrow last time?”

“…Even so, there’s probably still a bunch of food left in there. He is a baron, after all.”

“But still, come on…”

The ‘there’ the children were referring to was a small storage shed on the Baron’s estate. It’s attached to the back of his mansion, where he usually stores jerky or grain powder.

Certainly, if there was any place that might still have food during this barley hump, it would be there.

However, how could a reward so great not be accompanied by a dangerous adventure.

“…There’s a hunter guarding that place.”

The baron who lives in this village is as frugal as he is indifferent to the residents. So around this time every year, he hires a hunter to guard his mansion.

Actually, these two little thieves had already tried raiding that storage shed last year around this time and gotten their asses handed to them by the hunter.

Yet the same experience can produce different outcomes, while some learn lessons from it, others are left with regret.

“It’ll be fine. Last time, it was because we were in too much of a hurry. This time, we won’t get caught.”

“Sister, does that even make…”

“Look, I even drew a map tho?”

Amy pulled out a wooden plank from amidst the junk in the cottage. And sure enough, when the boy checks it, there is a fairly detailed sketched map of the mansion.

“Don’t worry. I’m really confident this time.”

Amy grinned at him, but the boy only sighed.

“Haah… Fine, let’s do it.”

The boy already knew that there was no arguing with Amy’s stubbornness. Even if he keeps objecting, she’ll just sneak off on her own anyway.

So the boy figures that, at the very least, he has to play the role he can.

“But on one condition, Sister, take me with you.”

Amy’s face stiffens. She shifts her eyes, speaking awkwardly

“Fi…ne.”

“Sister, look me in the eyes and say it. You’re taking me, right?”

Now it was Amy’s turn to sigh. She wrapped her arms around the boy’s shoulders and looked at him gently.

“Rem, you were there last time, so you should know. That place is dangerous. You almost got hit by an arrow back the…”

“And you think it’s okay for you to go alone? Does that make any sense?”

The boy turns his head away sharply and pouts his lips.

“No matter what, you’re taking me. Until then, I won’t even talk to you.”

Just as the boy knew Amy’s stubbornness, Amy also knew the boy’s. She also knew how long his sulking could last.

“…Fine, I’ll take you with me.”

When Amy finally sighs out her agreement, the boy slightly turns his head back toward her.

“…That’s a promise.”

“Yeah, a promise. Let’s head over to the mansion together at dawn tomorrow. Is that good enough?”

Only then does the boy’s expression soften. He clings to Amy’s arm, looking up at his sister with imploring eyes.

“Really, really, you’ll take me with you tomorrow?”

“Yes, yes. So let’s go to sleep now. We need to sleep now to be fresh and awake tomorrow at dawn.”

.

.

.

…That night, the boy held Amy tighter than usual as they fell asleep. He clung to her with both arms and both legs like a panda, afraid she might sneak out without him.

But by the time dawn broke the next day

“…I really hate you, Sister.”

Waking from his sleep, the boy found himself holding a bundle of rags instead of Amy.

Amy, it seemed, had learned the truth of the saying ‘It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission’ a bit too early.

With a sullen expression, the boy sat up and looked around. But of course, there was no way Amy, who’d already snuck into the mansion, would still be here.

In the end, the boy goes to sit on a rock beside the cottage. He pulled his knees to his chest and buried his face in them.

He knows it’s too late to chase after her. He also knows what role has been left for him.

To wait for his sister.

Actually, this role was quite familiar to the boy. Before they arrived in this village, and even for a while after settling in, Amy had been the one to take care of everything.

He was always left behind, until he started making a fuss about joining her. So in a way, he was rather experienced at waiting.

…But powerlessness, no matter how accustomed you might be to it, can never become pleasant. Never.

The boy hugged his knees a little tighter and looked at the ground, dyed in watery shades.

Thinking that the wind was cold for May,

And wishing his sister would hurry and come back soon.

But by that evening, Amy still had not come back.

***

Only those who are accustomed to waiting know this. That the most cruel time of the day is when the sun begins to set.

Because when you see the maliciously discolored sky, you can’t help but accept it. That person won’t come today either.

That they’re still out there, beyond the horizon that has swallowed the sun.

*Grit-*

It had been a day since Amy hadn’t come back. It also meant it had been a day since the boy had been tormented by anxiety.

It also meant the boy’s patience had reached its limit.

“Something must have gone wrong.”

Those words acted like a detonator, making the boy jump to his feet. As he walked toward the cottage with large strides, dark thoughts churned in his head.

Maybe Amy had been caught by the hunter. Maybe she’d been shot by an arrow and was now lying somewhere in the bushes, groaning in pain. Or if not that, maybe she’s still running, trying to get away from the hunter…

The boy shook his head vigorously to dispel those thoughts.

Whatever the situation might be, the boy knew what he had to do.

From the pile of junk in the cottage, he pulled out the most deeply hidden possession.

A spear with a sharp dagger tied to the end of a long pole.

The boy had to go rescue Amy.

Naturally, that thought terrified him.

After all, he’s still just an eight-year-old. And the hunter was still a terrifying figure who occasionally appeared in his nightmares.

But the boy knew that there was something even more terrifying than death.

Well, how could he not know, after having died once already.

When he was seven, lying on that cold asphalt, the scariest thing wasn’t that he was dying, but that no one was by his side.

He grits his teeth and grips the crude spear. Then, slowly but surely, he heads toward the mansion.

“Rem? Where are you going with that shabby spear?”

At least, he did, until he heard that voice he was so desperate to find, coming from behind him.

He turns around, drops the spear, and scrunches up his face in an ugly attempt to hold back tears.

“Rem? What’s wrong? Did something happeen…”

Amy hugged the boy who came running with confusion.

“Si, si, sister…”

But her bewilderment immediately vanished as she felt the boy’s trembling body. She simply held him tightly, patting his back gently.

“I, I, I thought you’d b-been c-c-caught…!”

“No, sister’s right here.”

Feeling the warmth of tears soaking her collar, Amy strokes Rem’s hair.

“Where would I ever go? Hmm? I’m sorry I was gone for so long. I’m here now… I’m here…”

It took a long time for the boy to stop crying. It was only natural since he was releasing the anxiety that had been building up while waiting.

By the time the sunset has faded, and the moon has risen, the boy finally lifts his face from Amy’s embrace. She looks at him and gives him a gentle smile.

“Feeling a little better now?”

But the boy couldn’t smile back. Things he couldn’t see while busy crying started catching his eye.

“Sister…. your clothes…”

The Amy that the boy remembers was never a very girly girl. She was that way back at the orphanage where she kept her head shaved, and even more so recently, sneaking around in rags to steal.

“Heh, am I pretty?”

Amy lifted the hem of her pink skirt and awkwardly imitating a lady. Though, her movements looked more like those of a strange animal than a lady. Still, it was enough to show off her glossy golden hair and pink dress.

And aside from being a little thin, she’s undeniably a pretty girl. You could exaggerate and say anyone could see she’d become a beauty in the future.

So why, seeing her like this, does the boy feel anxiety instead of excitement?

Amy smiled mischievously, a smile similar, yet different, from before.

“Rem, we’ve found a sucker!”

Why did everything have to change so fast, so suddenly?