“This is the one! Nine, Six! Remember this sign; it will be easy to find next time.”
Smith pointed at a sign hanging on a gray bungalow and turned to give instructions to Kano.
“I’ll remember,” Kano nodded.
Smith walked over and knocked on the door, shouting as he did. “Old Hans! Old Hans! Open up! See who’s come to visit an old man like you!”
“Coming, coming. Honestly, don’t break my door. This is the Lord’s property.” The sound of an old man’s complaints came from inside.
“Who is it? Making such a racket like a donkey.”
Old Master Hans opened the door. He first saw Smith, but after Smith stepped aside, he saw a clean and tidy Noble Official and a valiant Knight.
“You are… Kano? Boy, is that you?”
Old Hans could faintly see the shadow of the former wandering boy in the features of this Noble Official.
“It’s me, Grandpa Hans. I’m sorry it took me so long to come back and see you and my brother,” Kano said self-reproachfully.
While he had been enjoying preferential treatment in the Castle, Grandpa Hans and his brother, Peter, were still struggling in the Slum.
“Kano! It really is you! Peter, Peter, come out quickly! Your brother Kano is back!” Old Hans turned and shouted into the house.
“Brother Kano!”
Following the sound of things being knocked over, a half-grown boy ran out from the house.
He rushed straight toward Kano and hugged him tightly around the waist, shouting his name.
“Alright, that’s enough. It’s snowing outside. Let your brother and the Knight come in first.”
Old Hans smiled as he pulled his grandson back and invited Kano and the others inside.
“Kano, Sir Knight, it’s cold with the snow outside. There’s a stove in the house. It’s warmer inside.”
At the same time, Old Hans didn’t forget the man who had brought them. “Donkey, are you coming in?”
“I won’t. I still have to go to the construction site and do more work to earn more grain.”
“Fine then. Be careful on the road, Donkey!”
Uncle Smith waved his hand and turned to leave.
“Grandpa Hans, I bought many things for you and my brother. I’ll help move them in.”
Kano didn’t go inside immediately. He gestured for the driver to help him quickly move the grain, coal, and dried pork they had brought.
“Kano, really… you bought so many things. This must be expensive,” Old Hans said as he looked at the pile of coal in the corner and the large bag of flour.
“It’s alright, Grandpa Hans. I work for the Lord now. The Lord gives me a high monthly salary, and these things aren’t expensive. They didn’t cost much.” Kano reassured Old Hans.
“Besides, you were the one who took me in back then. It’s only right for me to do this to repay you.”
“At the time, I just thought about saving a life if I could. I wasn’t looking for a reward…” Old Hans slapped his thigh.
“But it’s perfectly reasonable for me to repay you for saving my life. By the way, Grandpa Hans, how have you been since I left?”
Kano smiled and began to chat with Old Hans about the domestic matters he cared about.
“Good! We’ve been doing very well. Better than ever before. As long as we work, we can exchange labor for food and charcoal. We even have a warm new house to live in. We won’t starve or freeze in the winter. The Lord is a saint! If only the Lord had come a few years earlier, Peter’s father and mother wouldn’t have starved to death.”
As Old Hans spoke, he thought of the painful past, and tears welled up uncontrollably.
“Grandpa, don’t cry… don’t cry…” Little Peter grabbed his grandfather’s hand and comforted him in a small voice.
“I’m sorry, Grandpa Hans. I shouldn’t have brought up those sad things…”
“It’s fine. I only hope to live long enough to see Peter grow up, marry a beautiful girl, and have a bunch of cute children.”
Old Hans wiped his tears and held his grandson’s hand, gently rubbing his fingers over it.
“Grandpa Hans, you said you work at the construction site. Is the work too hard? I’ll leave my monthly salary for you and Peter from now on, so you don’t have to go there anymore,” Kano suggested after Old Hans had calmed down.
“Heh! It’s not hard at all! The Lord’s construction site has many magical things. I just provide simple labor! Besides, the Lord has done so much for us; we should repay him! Moreover, the thing we are building now — that Stove Greenhouse — is supposedly for people who don’t have houses to live in! Once it’s finished, no one will freeze to death again!” Old Hans waved his hand.
A Stove Greenhouse for the homeless.
Kano froze. Old Hans’s words were like a key that instantly unlocked a memory he had deliberately suppressed…
……
“The information on other things doesn’t need to be found quickly, but you must find clues for this coal as much as possible!”
“Why, Your Highness? Is this coal very important?”
“It is very important. It is vital for the entire Border City. Coal can be used as fuel just like charcoal. As long as we have coal, the winters in Border City won’t be so hard to endure.”
At the time, Kano felt that this was just an excuse for Anke to keep the wealth brought by coal for himself.
Thus, even though Kano had discovered the “Poison Stone” that resembled coal in the logs of previous Lords, he had not reported it to Anke.
But now, combined with Grandpa Hans’s words, perhaps what Anke said back then was his true thoughts.
Anke really only wanted to use coal to ensure the people of Border City could survive the winter in peace…
‘Should I go tell Anke the truth? Should I tell him I found records of something suspected to be coal?’
‘But how can I explain my previous concealment?’
Thomas, who was protecting Kano, had marked all the organized logs after confirming them with Kano multiple times.
Kano couldn’t use the excuse that it was a new discovery.
He also couldn’t say he overlooked it, as the list Anke gave him had precisely described the characteristics of coal.
Just as Kano was agonizing over whether to inform Anke, Old Hans urged him again.
“Kano, I don’t know much, but I believe in the Lord. If the Lord inherits the throne, he will definitely be an unprecedented King who can lead everyone to a good life! You’ve received the Lord’s favor, so you must not let him down. You must use all your strength to assist him!”
Old Hans’s words were like a powerful hand pushing Kano forward to make a choice.
“I understand, Grandpa Hans. I know what I should do now!”
Kano’s eyes grew more determined. He clenched his hands tightly and looked at Thomas.