A Sense of Kinship (1)
"What is it? Do you have something to say?" At Gael's blunt tone, the young Jing slowly relaxed his tense mouth into a sly grin.
"Aren't you exhausted, Priest? There's a spring nearby with mineral water that acts like a restorative tonic for the body."
"What?" Gael stared at the young Jing as if he were looking at a madman. The old Jing felt the same way. What on earth is this fellow blathering about all of a sudden?
But the young Jing continued, completely unfazed by the stares.
"I know the geography around here like the back of my hand. Roaming around is my line of work, after all. Hehe. Just past that tree over there, there's a pond that was discovered not too long ago. It's not only good for headaches, toothaches, and menstrual cramps, but it even—!"
Gesticulating wildly as he explained, he cast a quick glance at the other priests who had gathered nearby and lowered his voice.
"They say it does wonders for one's virility."
"Why, you crazy bastard!" Shocked by the young Jing's sheer audacity in bringing up virility to a priest of the Temple, Gael, who had been listening intently despite himself, recoiled in outrage.
"How dare you mock me! What use do priests who heed the word of the gods have for such... virility!"
Gael scolded the young man with a look of stern disapproval, but the old Jing could read the unmistakable flicker of desire in the priest's eyes.
"Aigoo, of course a holy man like you has no need for it! But for wretched commoners like us, it would be a tragedy to miss such an opportunity. Couldn't you benevolent priests show a little mercy to us foolish creatures who have yet to cast aside our worldly desires? Surely, looking after us in this way is also a form of watching over the people of the Abaran Empire."
At the smooth, silver-tongued flattery that subtly elevated the priesthood, Gael's furrowed brows gradually relaxed.
"W-well, yes. I suppose that is indeed a way to show compassion to you foolish, pitiful souls."
"Exactly, exactly! Besides, isn't it about time we took a short break anyway? You must be thirsty, so if you would just sit and wait, I'll fetch a cup for you in a jiffy. I heard from the knights over there that Lord Gael suffers from chronic headaches because you exert yourself so tirelessly every day with Temple affairs."
"Ahem." Of course, no one had ever praised Gael—who did nothing but idle away his days at the Temple—for his hard work, but the young Jing spun the lie with practiced ease. Thanks to this, Gael was successfully painted as a man who merely needed a remedy for his headaches rather than a cure for his flagging virility. He cast a furtive glance around at the others.
"Very well. We shall rest here for a moment."
"Aigoo, thank you! Truly, you are a saint, Priest!" The young Jing gave him a double thumbs-up and backed away, returning to his spot.
"Does water that cures headaches, toothaches, menstrual cramps, and even virility really spring from here?" when the old Jing asked with a frown, the young Jing's eyes widened in mock surprise.
"Eeeh? How could that possibly be true? If such a thing existed, people would have drained it dry ages ago. Those priests might be surprisingly gullible because they've never been deceived in their lives, but surely you, old man, shouldn't fall for a peddler's pitch like that?"
At the shameless response, the old Jing didn't know whether to be dumbfounded or angry, so he simply let out a wry chuckle. The young Jing was a chatterbox, but a pleasant one at that. It seemed that mixing half-truths with lies made for a highly convincing deception. After all, there really was a pond in the forest the young man had pointed to.
Following his lead, the party stopped the carriages slightly off the main road to the Capital. In a place where only wild beasts would roam rather than humans, a small, deep pond sat in quiet serenity, just as he had said. Though to any normal eye, it looked like nothing more than ordinary water.
The young man filled a canteen with water and secretly handed it to Gael, who accepted it with an air of reluctant indulgence. Though he tried his best to maintain a composed facade, Gael could not hide the slight twitch of his lips curving upward. In a thoroughly pleasant mood, the priest gave permission to distribute their packed rations to everyone before retreating into his luxurious carriage.
It was a meager charity—nothing more than scraps of bread—but it was still a kindness they had no reason to reject. In any case, peace had found its way to both Gael and the children alike.
"Alright~ Who's the next hungry rascal!" Though the old Jing's peace was somewhat disrupted by his namesake, who was excitedly handing out his own share of bread to the children.
"Mister, give me some too! Me too!"
"Uh-uh, mister? When you have perfectly good words like 'Hyung' or 'Big Brother'!"
"Aw, but you look about the same age as my dad."
"Yeah, you're totally a mister! Mister!"
"You little rascals!" At his playful scolding, the children giggled and scattered. The old Jing tossed half of his own ration to the young man, who hadn't eaten a single crumb himself. The young Jing caught it deftly.
"You're quite good with children."
"Yes, well, I have a kid of my own. Though I understand if it's hard to believe a young, dashing fellow like me already has a family." Grinning amiably, he slid over to make room for the old Jing to sit. Thinking that the young man's good nature would shine through much better if he just kept his mouth shut, the old Jing sat down beside him. He then subtly broached the subject that had prompted him to approach the youth in the first place.
"Since you've been away from your family, have you had no news of them at all?"
The young Jing looked momentarily embarrassed. "Well, the truth is... I've never actually gone back home."
"What? Haven't you been living like this for quite some time?" This time, the old Jing could not hide his surprise.
"About ten years now." Watching the young man's voice grow softer with embarrassment, the old Jing's mouth parted slightly.
"You mean you haven't gone home even once in all that time?"
"No! I visited constantly during the first year. And I send money back regularly. But I haven't been able to actually go home since."
In other words, he was returning home after nine long years. His voice trailed off, and he hung his head like a criminal, stammering with a tearful face. "S-so, to be honest, I'm a bit scared."
The old Jing suppressed the sudden urge to snatch the bread back from the young man's hands. Every person had their own circumstances, after all.
"Why didn't you go back all this time?"
"Well, because I didn't have enough money. I have to pay the tribute to the Temple, but after that, there's nothing left in my pockets. Once I send money to my wife and kid, I'm completely broke. To earn more, I'd have to take on dangerous jobs, but I didn't want to risk my neck. So I ended up taking work further and further away, and that's how..."
"What's this, Jing? Who are you bothering now?" A gruff voice suddenly cut between them. The old Jing looked up to see a group of men walking toward them.
Several men who looked like they had lived rough lives slung their arms around the young Jing's shoulders and sat down. Seeing them scan the surroundings to confirm Ratel's absence even as they sat, the old Jing felt a bit awkward and shifted slightly to give them space.
"Ahem, I've been wanting to introduce myself for a while now. Your skills are truly remarkable." There was no malice in the way the man casually struck up a conversation with the old Jing.
"You probably know by now after talking to him, but this guy just talks too much. He's not a bad fellow. Please bear with him even if he's a nuisance."
"What do you mean, too much? I was having a profound conversation about life with this gentleman!"
"What is there to talk profoundly about in a life spent wandering from place to place?"
Though it was a bit chaotic, the old Jing didn't mind. After all, when he was with Ratel, he barely had any opportunity to converse with others.
"I am Jing. I am heading to the Capital to meet my family."
"Oh! If your name is Jing, then you share a name with this fellow. He's also going to the Capital to see his wife and son."
"Exactly! I told you we were talking about that. A very profound conversation, wasn't it?" As the young Jing grumbled, the men nodded dismissively and turned their attention back to the old Jing.
"Everyone's situation is more or less the same. We set out to make money and end up wandering further and further. Still, we're the lucky ones. At least we're better off than those poor bastards who can't pay their tribute at all and have their entire families dragged off to Hodie."
At his proud declaration, everyone sitting around chimed in agreement.
"That's right! We aren't the kind of scum who would do that to our own flesh and blood!"
Watching the young Jing's previously dejected face brighten, the old Jing struggled to settle his churning stomach. Seeing them offer up everything they had to the Temple and the Imperial Family overlapped with his own self from just a few months ago. Was I really that repulsive?
Excited, the men failed to notice the old Jing's expression darkening and continued their chatter.
"Still, Jing—ah, no, I mean the young Jing. Man, having the same name is confusing." One of the men who had called out to the young Jing laughed awkwardly and brought up another topic.
"It's a good thing you didn't delay your return any longer. I heard that the number of homeless people in the Capital has been skyrocketing lately."
"Is that true? Why?" The young Jing and the other men leaned in closer, their eyes wide with curiosity.
"I heard they're rounding up the vagrants in the center of the Capital. Once caught, they're forced into hard labor."
"By the center of the Capital... do you mean the plaza around the Temple?" Having listened quietly, the old Jing asked, drawing closer as if possessed.
"Yes, that's the one. So you know of it too, old-timer. Well, it was quite the scandal. Not long ago, that Duke of the Fidus Family got greedy for that spot, went against the Imperial Family's wishes, and ended up executed."
It was neither surprising nor unfair that the Duke of Fidus's demise was rumored in such a way among the commoners. Thus, the old Jing simply waited for his next words.
"Whether it's to clean up the aftermath or what, some acting head of the family is apparently sweeping through the entire district. They say he's clearing it out completely to return it to its original owner."
Everyone gathered there knew exactly who the "original owner" referred to.
"Who did you hear that from?" the old Jing asked, suppressing the tremor in his voice.
Though the man looked at him with slight suspicion, wondering why he had suddenly become so inquisitive, he answered readily enough.
"There was a fellow who just came out of the Capital. He said he nearly died doing hard labor there. I heard he ran away the moment he got paid."
"Well, at least they have a conscience. Paying the workers after putting them through all that."
"They probably couldn't afford to commit any more sins while building a monument to the gods."
The men's conversation flowed on. None of them noticed the old Jing, who had fallen silent, gritting his teeth.
It was Tollin. He was cleaning up the messy tasks left behind by an irresponsible patriarch. Tollin had always grumbled, but in the end, he had always listened to him.
Hearing news of Tollin, even indirectly, was so incredibly typical of his old friend that the old Jing's lips curved into a faint smile.
Unfortunately, the time the old Jing had to reminisce about his old friend was cut short.
"But does doing that really grant salvation to bastards who have already been abandoned by the gods? It's just a futile struggle," the man who had brought up the Capital's situation sneered.
"I guess whether you're a noble or a commoner, everyone struggles desperately when they're terrified of being abandoned by the gods."
At the blatant mockery, the old Jing felt a cold chill wash over his mind.
"Didn't they say he already defied the Emperor's will once? Then it's over. What's the point of all this useless effort?"
"Well, it's good for us, isn't it? They're even handing out free food. We should milk them dry while we still can."
"Still, it feels strange to see the famous Fidus Family fall so low."
The endless sarcasm and jeering poured from their mouths, weighing heavily on the old Jing's shoulders. A profound sense of futility washed over him, accompanied by a deep, burning anger.
It wasn't that he hadn't anticipated the Fidus Family's reputation plummeting due to his choices at the hunting competition. No, the reason his heart sank so heavily despite expecting it was that, deep down, he had hoped his choice would be viewed merely as the personal mistake of Agoni Fidus.
He had harbored the arrogant belief that his death would be enough to cover up that small act of defiance—one so minor it could barely even be called a rebellion. He had thought his life would be worth at least that much.
Even if he were thrown back into that moment, he would not make a different choice. He would have regretted it even more otherwise. Yet, hearing the name of the Fidus Family—a name before which these very people would have once bowed their heads in reverence—being dragged through the mud by their vulgar tongues left a bitter taste in his mouth.
"I heard the next head, or acting head, is doing all sorts of dirty work. It's a fitting look for a family like that."
As the baseless slander began to disparage his friend, the old Jing rose from his seat before he could even think.
"Get lost."
At his ice-cold voice, the men's mockery finally died down.