The cries of the children still could be heard. As for Ai, she had calmed down and had accepted this for now. Though the dark circles were clearly seen under her eyes, after all, it had been almost two days since she had slept!
Leo ran towards Ai and hugged her. Ai returned the hug and asked without wasting any time, "How did it go, Leo?"
"It went great! I got some coins in exchange for the beast's corpse!", he said with a smile while trying to lighten the mood.
Leo took out the pouch which he had been hiding under his shirt and placed it on Ai's palm, obviously, keeping the ring to himself, just in case he needed it in the future.
"1 gold coin and 2 silver coins? This- Leo, did you really get this much by selling the beast?" Ai asked, surprised by the amount in her hand. She had never seen such a large amount at once ever before in her life.
"Uncle brought me to an auction house in the village. The owner of the house was generous enough to give me the minimum pay and this spatial ring."
As mentioned earlier, although the exact value at which it will be sold isn't set, the minimum value was given.
Ai looked at Darion to verify Leo's words. Darion merely shrugged.
"I see. Well, both of you arrived right on time. Sir Leko's funeral is about to start…", she said.
At that moment, Leo looked at Ai's weary face. It seemed like Ai cried a bit more after he and Darion left the village.
"Auntie, did you cry again?", Leo asked.
She had noticed this earlier but ended up indulging in talk. After the sudden silence, he asked this.
Ai shook her head gently.
"Don't worry. Your auntie isn't as weak as you think. Go inside and have some dinner first."
"Make sure to eat properly, but quickly at the same time. The funeral is going to be held in fifteen minutes.", she said in a low voice.
Leo and Darion headed into the orphanage as instructed by Ai. On the other hand, Ai continued the preparations needed for the funeral along with the villagers.
"Brother! You're here!", Nova called out to Leo.
Leo smiled a bit before taking a seat at the table.
"I saved some bread for you, brother. I wasn't sure when you would be back, so I was guarding it." Nova said as he handed out a piece of bread to Leo.
"Thank you, Nova.", Leo smiled and pat his head.
Nova was looking for the exact pat. Well, this made him happy, so happy that he ended up tearing up.
That was because, Leko also used to pat in a similar manner.
When Nova arrived near Leko's dead body, he found him cold. Even when he lift his hand to pat himself, the coldness made his heart bitter and saddened him. But now, after feeling a similar warmth, he felt a weird joy.
Leo ate the bread quickly without noticing Nova tearing up, leaving nothing behind.
"Hey, what about me? I'm hungry too!", Darion asked after seeing Nova wipe his tears.
Nova looked at him blankly, "I didn't save anything for you."
Leo almost choked when he heard that. He was going to burst into laughter but controlled himself because of the atmosphere that the kids had.
"What? How could you-", even before Darion could finish his sentence, Ai intervened.
"Alright. Let's pay our last respect to Sir Leko.", Ai said as she walked into the orphanage.
All the kids remained quiet for a few seconds.
"Leo, you may come with us if you'd like.", she said.
"As for others, remain here with Aunt Zira, it is dangerous to go near the graveyard as the ghosts will haunt you.", she just made it up to prevent the kids from tagging along.
It was already late so it was for their best to stay put and sleep.
Leo nodded and followed Ai out of the orphanage. Darion also followed them from behind.
The three of them headed to the coffin that was placed in front of the orphanage. There were a few villagers lingering, waiting for Ai to come out of the orphanage.
"Let's lift the coffin together.", Ai said.
"Don't worry, we are here to help. All the women can remain in their homes. As for you Ai, it's fine, you don't have to do any work. Just follow us closely.", said a man as he heard her plea.
The villagers nodded and put in their strength to lift the coffin together.
Slowly but steadily, they supported the coffin on their shoulders and walked toward the graveyard. Leo walked beside Ai the entire time.
The graveyard was actually just a wasted farmland of one of the villagers. Since there was no available space around, and since the villager that owned the place died long ago, the place was turned into a graveyard for others for a few years now.
There was a hole dug already, so all they had to do was gently place the coffin into the hole.
"Rest well, father. I will keep you in my thoughts, always.", Leo whispered.
Darion and Ai heard this as tears left their eyes. Regardless, they stayed near the graveyard for quite some time as one by one everyone started to leave since their task was over.
Ai was on the ground, kneeling in front of the grave. The same was true for Leo and Darion.
All three of them had quite a deep bond with him.
"Forgive me, for not saving you…", this was the last thing Leo whispered.
Unbeknownst to him, there was an unexpected guest witnessing the entire procession.
The old woman.
Her hands tremble violently. Did she hear Leo correctly? Father?
One by one, her tears fell like the rain. Soon, she was sobbing quietly.
"Leko, you old man. I was about to meet you and have a chat. How could you die without informing me first?" the old woman sobbed.