Henry sighed. The weight on his shoulders decreased a little.
"Hey, do you want to hear a joke I learnt on the farm?" he asked nobody at random.
Leon and Nico's ears perked up as they motioned for their friend to continue.
"Okay… so, here goes. Why do cows have hooves instead of feet?" Henry asked, his lips curling up ever so slightly.
Nico felt a sense of foreboding settle in his stomach. He scratched his head with a blank look, "I don't know… why do they?"
The half-blood beside him also had a similarly blank expression.
"Because… they lactose! Get it!? Get it!?" Henry burst out in laughter and smacked the wooden table multiple times, clutching his stomach.
Nico and Leon blinked.
The brown-haired boy's mouth twitched.
The sight of his friend laughing uproariously caused his lips to tremble.
'N-Noo… pfft! I can't!'
Nico failed to resist and burst out laughing. Partly because of how stupid the joke was and partly because Henry's laughter was infectious.
Even Leon, someone who rarely laughed or made a loud sound, chuckled.
After a couple of minutes, the young farmer soon calmed down and ceased laughing. "Want to hear another joke?" a sly grin etched across his pale face.
"No, no. That's enough, please." Nico's mouth twitched again as he remembered the joke and Henry's reaction to it.
He suddenly had the urge to laugh again.
"Aww… fine. You guys are no fun." Henry, who had an inkling of the brown-haired trainee's thoughts, turned his head, and sniggered.
He suddenly sighed, feeling a little homesick.
'Who knew one day I would miss the farm.' the boy mused.
Back home, he had to rouse at the crack of dawn, courtesy of the few roosters his family owned. What followed was the sort of back-breaking labour that Henry wouldn't wish on his worst enemies.
Especially if it involved a pig sty… or some other form of animal manure.
That said, Henry was grateful that he had lived the childhood he'd had. It taught him to appreciate life and the countless blessings he enjoyed.
Although his family was in a somewhat sticky financial situation with the money they earn selling their produce not being nearly enough to sustain him and his other siblings - a result of artificial agriculture growing more popular, and the sudden manifestation of a Dungeon near their home - life was still happy.
They still lived their daily life with smiles on their faces.
Shifting his gaze as he inadvertently sighed, Henry asked, "Hey, do you guys want to play a game of cards with me?"
Nico and Leon glanced at each other, shrugged, and agreed. "Why not."
"Great!" the raven-haired trainee exclaimed. "Come have a seat at the table while I get the cards from my bag," Henry patted the mottled oak with his hands.
His two companions agreed, made their way over, and sat down, getting comfortable. Henry hurried over to his bunk and rummaged through his bag, on the floor beside the bed.
He furrowed his brows for a moment before his expression eased as his hands held onto a worn deck of cards, its edges frayed.
The farmer hurried back and joined Nico and Leon. His excitement palpable to the duo.
After settling comfortably in his wooden chair that groaned every time he shifted his weight, Henry turned toward the burly half-blood and asked in an inquisitive tone while shuffling the cards in his hands, "Hey, Leon. If I may ask, why do you always clean that shield?"
Without fail, the green-eyed boy saw his companion maintain the aegis every day, wiping the dust off and occasionally applying some sort of liquid that gave it a sparkly sort of sheen.
He admired how the half-blood was so dedicated to the task.
Leon flinched. A forlorn expression formed on his face.
"I…" he stuttered, unsure how to respond as he clenched his large fists.
Henry sensing, he had tread on a topic he shouldn't have, hurriedly spoke, "S-sorry. I shouldn't have asked. You can just ignore I said anything."
"No. It's alright…" the half-blood took a deep breath as his eyes rippled sadly. "That shield…" Leon gestured to the aegis lying on his bed, "is a memento of my father. It was the last thing he was working on before the authorities took him away for a crime he did not commit."
Recalling that fateful day, around seven years ago, the redhead gritted his teeth. All the emotions he suppressed came back in a flood.
Hate. Despair. Helplessness…. and most of all….
…Emptiness.
Leon was powerless to do anything as he watched his father become chained and roughly transported to a holding cell. Where, according to the City Guards who fetched him he would await trial.
The burly youth vividly remembered his father's last words to take care of the shield, before they dragged him into a waiting carriage and whisked him away.
Nico and Henry shared a look with each before nodding. They then simultaneously patted their companion's shoulder in comfort. "What about your mother? Did you not have anyone else to live with?" the green-eyed trainee asked curiously.
At the mention of his mother, Leon turned pale as the sadness in his eyes deepened. Nico almost felt he could identify self-loathing deep within there as well.
He shot Henry a silent glare.
The farmer realised with horror; he had asked another insensitive question.
"I…" Leon clenched his teeth together tightly until his jaw turned sore. His whole body trembled intensely as he forced the next words out of his mouth, "... killed her."
Nico and Henry's eyes widened. Their mouths hung wide open in shock.
"What!?" they both exclaimed, refusing to believe what they just heard.
Leon sniffled as he stared at his muscular hands, "I killed her," the half-blood repeated, "I caused her death. If I hadn't been born, my mother and father could have still lived a happy life. But as soon as I was born, their status plummeted. The doctor refused to help after he discovered my mother had birthed a dirty half-breed."
The redhead's voice was full of disdain and self-loathing. He hated being a half-blood.
Why couldn't he only be from one race?
He had never asked to be a half-blood!
The brown-haired and raven-haired trainee remained silent, waiting for him to finish. After a moment, Leon composed himself and said, "Because of several complications that arose when my mother was giving birth to me, she suffered from a backlash, and the subsequent lack of medical attention before succumbing to her injuries. She died an agonising death."