The vicious and irate barking rang intensely in the room when Nada showed up to introduce himself to the Boss.
Hmmm… odd.
"Wah!~ I apologize if I clenched your fur a bit! There, there, Bintii! Please forgive me, okay?"
Malthur tried to ease the temper of Bintii and after a bit of comforting, she obediently relaxed.
Huh, I did not know that the obnoxious Mal-Git has an aptitude in getting well with animals…
Well… exotic ones that is.
When Bintii calmed down, Boss gasped in surprise:
"Oh! Nada! It is a pleasure to finally see you here! Do you have some business with me?"
In response, Nada formally bowed and while smiling, he said:
"Hello, Boss. It has certainly been a while…well, I was just waiting in the main room for Lady Tori here. I promised to accompany them, if that would be okay with you…"
"Are you now? Well, no matter! You can stay here! I did not know that you are connected to the lass here so…"
"As always, thank you for your unlimited generosity and hospitality! I am always in the grace of your name!"
Hah. So this is his manner of conversing amongst other people. He sounds like a renowned butler of a princess or any of that sort!
Due to a thoughtless realization, I asked Boss:
"Um, I had no idea that you two knew each other… You are surprisingly social, Boss!"
"Hoi. That is rude. I am the Boss of the village so naturally, I am ought to recognize the very names and faces of my people! Right now, I am half-mindedly positive that I almost recognize the names of each family in this small village so don't you dare belittle me like that!" he said, chastising me in the process.
Well, sorry! I just thought that due to your weird behavior and affront as a person, you would be just recognizing some limited names of villagers here.
"OH!!! I am intensely sorry about that rude treatment I had given to you earlier! I had no idea that you and Boss are acquainted to each other so when I saw you standing in the main hall like that, I jumped to the conclusion that you were a peasant! I am sorry!"
Due to his prejudiced behavior earlier, Cardamon was embarrassed to himself upon the realization that he and Boss are indeed acquainted. He bowed profusely and said some words of apologies.
"N-No need to beat yourself about that small misunderstanding, sir! Well, your observations are accurate, if I do say so myself. I am indeed just a humble peasant…." Nada said smilingly.
Excuse me? Even in this small village, there is a societal hierarchy?!
"T-Thanks, lad. I do understand that you are not a peasant and I must treat you as a valuable friend to Boss! N-Now, if you will excuse me…"
Cardamon hurriedly excused himself as he apparently feels the air of uneasiness from his behavior earlier. With his swiftness on his movements, he vanished in the room upon slamming the door.
… Well that was fast.
"Argh. He usually acts like that towards other people even though, technically speaking, we are all equal on this village when it comes to societal standing. Perhaps, I should talk some sense to him later…" Boss annoyingly said while also speaking with a tune of apology towards Nada.
In the face of his humble apology and friendliness, Nada just kept smiling.
"AHEM. Anyway, about you, my boy… how is your life so far? How is your work in the city? How is your moth-FMMMM!!!"
Boss was asking Nada about his childhood life when Nada jumped out in his posture and hurriedly went in Boss' front to cover his mouth.
Boss was shocked while still uttering some unintelligible sounds due to his mouth being covered from Nada's two hands.
The three of us just sat and watched silently when Nada said something to make Boss refrain on saying some phrases even further…
"AH! About my life, right boss? It is fine! Everything is fine! My, I even found a job thanks to the grace of Lady Astoria here! Ha-ha. Until now, my life is unendingly fantastic!!!"
Nada said his words in a happy and ecstatic manner but also added with a tune of…something else.
Like he is hiding something from us.
"Um… excuse me, Nada… I think uh… you are troubling Boss in that way. Could you let go of him now?"
Noticing how the scenario just got turned in an odd manner, Roy tried to reach out to Nada by telling him to stop his attempt in suffocating Boss by his hands.
"HA-HAAAAA. That surprise me! Hey, kid! Stop doing that! I was just asking about your well-being, that is all!" when he got freed form Nada's hands, Boss panted heavily while complaining to him.
"AH! My apologies, boss! I was just excited to touch you, that is all!" Nada said blankly.
Hoi. What is with this scenario?
"…Nada? Is something wrong???"
Not wanting to wait even further to ask the question of my assuming gut, I inquired Nada to his uncharacteristic behavior.
Indeed. I missed him from a lot of days on his absence in the smithy and suddenly, seeing him like this… it seems like…
He is a changed person.
I do not know. I cannot put my smithy fingers on it.
Nada slowly tuned to me and with a body language that seemed to be foreign to me, he smiled wearily at me and said:
"Haaahh. It seems that I cannot hide everything from you, Lady-smith…"
For the first time, he smiled an unknown grin to me. Unlike to his ear-to-ear smile that he gives to me every day that, as a result, I became accustomed from it, this time…
He flashed me a weary looking smile.
A smile that depicts an expression of a happy boy in a surface, yet hides an image of a pained and hopeless child underneath.
"You… what do you mean by that?" I asked even more.
That is right.
Like I said, I have a sharp sense of awareness to times such as this. Much to my surprise, if a person hides something from me, even if it is a lie or a truth, I can easily sense them without an effort.
This child… is not an exception.
Nada finally broke his weary smile and sighed heavily after that:
"I will ask something to you that seems to be selfish right now, Lady-smith… can you accompany me… to my house?" he said.
To his house? Here in the village?
Without even thinking, I nodded to his childish request and asked for the two regarding their opinion. As a result, we decided that Roy will accompany me to Nada's invitation while Malthur…
"Ehhh… I am kind of worn out to our quest so… can I go to the city in advance so that I will report everything to the Guild? Besides, as per our agreement, I have to search for possible caretakers for this little guy, am I right?"
Hmmmm. You sound responsible in this moment that it makes me concerned for you…
In the end, we agreed to the plan and when we are about to head out, Boss silently said to me:
"Just do not forget to come for your prize here in the village, alright? The three of you must be ready for my teachings so that you will learn them easily!"
"Yes boss. We will." I casually said.
"Oh… and also…"
"Hm?"
"Please, Astoria. Take a good watch to that kid, Nada. I noticed that he is troubled from the past few days…" with a face of pure worry, Boss requested me of something.
Hm. So it seems that he also noticed that, huh?
I took a good look to the serious face of Boss and said:
"Boss... why did you just call me in my original name when we are about to go now? Shouldn't you have used my name already from our early interactions?" I said with an equally-serious face.
"Eh… you see… I apologize." he awkwardly said.
I can only let out a long sigh from that reply.
***
When we are done in sending off Roy through his escort to the wagon dragged by the Estocian oxen, we carefully followed Nada in his footsteps on his way to his own home.
Without saying anything, both Roy and I have a mixed expression regarding the escalation of this particular scenario but since this boy is inviting us to his home, we would not decline his proposal.
Besides, I have been wanting to visit the boy's home ever since we started this quest so I guess I was indeed lucky in this moment.
While wordlessly walking, we immersed ourselves in the tranquility and order that can be felt from this very village.
In contrast to the hustle and bustle of every swordsfolk in Estocia, Mantleta seems to be a perfect place to live in if one wants to live a life of peace and silence. Sure, the villagers are rather odd due to their set of beliefs and traditions, but if you would look past that, you would regard this place as peace-filled arcadia. As we walked forwardly, we can feel the sudden breeze of the morning in the walk path all while watching the eye-catching sceneries that are happening simultaneously:
The children of the village playing a rather odd-looking game that involves a slab of rock while tossing it in the ground filled with doodles of shapes…
The sight of resting adults sitting peacefully while basking themselves in the awakening rays of the sunlight…
And of course, among of it all, the majestic view of a young dawn…
All of it. Everything is a sight to behold. While walking to this village, it made me feel that it is good to be alive.
While being lost to the trance of the scenery, we did not realize that Nada was silently waiting for us to return back to reality when he coughed…
"AHEM… Here we are…" he said.
We flinched as we were forcefully abducted back to our reality, only to see the sight of something that was antithesis to the entire scenery that we have cherished some minutes ago.
Everything in front of us was horrid and devoid of any pleasantries whatsoever as we were standing in an empty lot of putrid ground. In the middle portion, there stood a huge building that looks like a pen specifically designed to keep animals from the harsh effects of the summer. We stood and watched in disbelief as we passed through the fulfilling sceneries we experienced earlier, now gave us an unsettling experience and visuals:
The loud and obnoxious sounds of various animals such as wagon-pulling oxen, stuffed-neck piglets, siren eagles, and others…
The decaying manures of the aforementioned animals while they are being encircled by a group of flies…
Amongst of all, that ever-lingering scent of the entire place…
Urk. I cannot breathe…
I am sorry Nada but…
"Do you live in this place?" I said unrestrainedly to him.
"Oh… yes, Lady-Smith…" he smiled palely on my distasteful query and he continued. "Welcome to my home! I know it is nothing much but… I hope you will feel at home here as well!"
When he finally introduced us to the place that raised him, he gave us a childish smile.
He showed us around (alike to a proud kid who was brandishing his entire toy to his playmate) in his miniature home. The house is standing beside the animal pen and it is structured in the similar fashion. The house only contains a single room as it is ornamented with different designs and objects that mimics the insides of a normal house. In the center of the room, there stood a single table where it handles a set of fruits and…
In its side, there is a woman, wordlessly sitting in the table.
When we laid our eyes to the woman, we hurriedly bowed in front of her while saying with a panic:
"Excuse us for coming to your house! I hope that we are in your care!" Roy and I said at the same time.
"Ha-ha… no need to for meaningless panicking! Make yourselves at home! Here, sit near the chair! I will go and get you some refreshments…"
While smiling innocently, Nada stepped out a bit to get us some drinks.
…
The two of us sat silently in the table in front of the mummed woman.
While sitting and thinking the recent scenes happening in front of me, it made me ponder the life of our smith-apprentice and how is he holding up in his recent life right now.
I mean, he lives in a place that is basically uninhabitable for any human being with a set of sensible standards! How can he sleep in this noise produced by those animals? How can he manage to breathe due to this unhealthy air?
…
Ugh… Nada… what is with this poverty that you are experiencing? You are too young to experience a heavy burden such as this!
Needless to say, I am lost to my thought due to the scenery that I am seeing right now.
When I am on my verge of shedding a tear, Roy suddenly talked in the woman in front of us.
"So uh… mam? How are you related to Nada???"
He suddenly created a conversation due to the long duration of silence that has been circulating in the room when Nada left us with her.
"…"
The woman kept looking at us with her eyes though in the looks of it, it seemed that she was not intentionally looking at us. She wordlessly just kept in staring when Roy tried his second attempt in conversing with her.
"…Uh, my name is Roy! This girl beside me is Tori, and we are the Myrmidons of Estocia! We are acquainted with your son and we are hoping that we will be in your care as well!"
"…"
"Um… what is your name, mam?"
"…"
"Uhhh…"
Hmmm…
The woman is still silent amidst the effort of Roy in trying to talk with her.
I have never seen Roy in a state of desperateness in my entire past of being friends with him…
Due to the helplessness from the situation he is in, Roy looked in my eyes with a pale face and silently said:
"Tori, help me here. I am begging you."
Wah. He is really desperate at this instant!
In my response to his humble request, I looked intently at the silent woman and while I was trying weave a set of words that might work for her, it suddenly hit me…
…
H-Hey… she looks like… that woman I met from before…
"M-Maria-Luna? Is t-that you?" I carefully said in a slow manner.
When she heard my query, Maria-Luna suddenly looked intently to me and said:
"Have you seen my son?"
If you meant by your 'son', does that mean…?
"Yes. We have brought him back to you." I said, forming a slight smile.
Upon hearing my reply, she hastily bowed at us and said in a degree of sheer happiness:
"T-Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"
"Ah! You can talk with mother already? Wow! I have to say Lady-smith, you are impressive! Normally, mother will be just silent for the entirety of the day and will not even talk to me but you…"
Nada came back in front of us while carrying a pitcher full of water and four wooden cups.
"S-She is your mother?!" Roy jumped out in surprise.
In the process, while slurping to some freshwater, Nada told us the happenings about the recent days when he was absent in the duties of the smithy. He said that upon talking with Razorfang, he suddenly felt ill and decided to plead for help to Doc Rafael. The kind-hearted doc happily helped Nada and did not charge him from his services. In order to let the days pass, he said that he searched for other works that might benefit him as he needs the money for sustenance not only for his sake, but for his mother also. He decided to just stay in the village since he found a viable job here and he just ran his first errands when we met him earlier.
"Huh… so that is the case…" I only said to his lengthy chronicle.
He is in a tough situation ever since that day…
Even if I do not want to think about it, I heavily felt like I was responsible to this tribulation of Nada prior to our meeting in this day.
If… I did not embark to that quest alone… if only I decided to brought him in my search… he wouldn't have met that ninjukakiki…
Also… if I did not smack his head like that…
"Are you okay right now, Nada?" amidst my tempestuous thoughts, I only managed to ask a single question for him.
He heard my question.
However, it took him some time to reply since he looked at his mother momentarily and with a serious face, he said:
"Mama here told me to not lie on a person so to answer your question Lady-smith… no. I am not okay…"
Nada…
"I am not okay. From my past, up to now, and perhaps even in the future. My life has been a series of relentless barrage of baggage in my senses and judging how I fare in my life right now, I would say that I am hanging in there, barely… haha…"
Hey…
"If you are not aware yet, indeed, Mama is crazy. She is even known as Maria-Luna around the village since she goes around in different places to search for a person that will not reappear ever again."
"Your mother?"
"Is… crazy?"
Both Roy and I parroted the heavy words in our sense of hearing.
"Yes… she lost her sanity since I was but a small boy. Father left us due to his mercenary career and since he is probably called by his insatiable hunger for fame, he chose his line of work and left us- his family. Mother loved my father dearly and upon realizing the fact that he will not come back anymore, she was wracked by grief and hopelessness and… she was like this ever since…"
I-I… cannot believe this.
"So uh… upon growing up, I did not really have any father-figure to look up to… considering mine has chosen to abandon us in favor of his career. So… there! From my childhood life up to now, I have no choice but to fight back! Ha-haha."
While saying all of this, Nada kept his smile in his face…
A smile specifically tailored to hide his troubled and overtaxed face underneath…
Probably due to the heavy emotion I have felt-…
"WAH!"
I once again locked Nada in a tight embrace with my shivering arms while trying my utmost best not to reveal my crying face.
"Nada!!! Nadaaaaaa!!!" I tearfully said.
Although not looking to his direction, I also felt like Roy cried in his own when I heard him sniff loudly.
I cried relentlessly for a half minute.
Can you blame me? I felt sad!
When I finally calmed down, Nada poured me another glass of freshwater and said out of nowhere…
"Hey Lady-smith, do you still keep those azurites you have collected?"