Chapter 14: Food
In a small rural village enveloped by dense, green forests, an old man walked with a sense of urgency, his expression brimming with hope for the future.
This old man was Hary, the father of Harold. He was now heading to the house of the landlord to beg for food.
Hary's pace was brisk, almost as if he were running for his life.
Night was approaching, and everything around him was slowly being cloaked in darkness.
The village was quiet as the villagers stayed inside their homes, enjoying their hard-earned moments of peace.
They dared not venture outside, for the village was surrounded by a deadly forest where wild beasts roamed, and attacks on villagers were not uncommon.
But Hary didn't care. Only one word ran through his mind: "food." His need for sustenance drove his legs forward, almost as if they were moving on their own.
Even though he had not yet secured food from the landlord, he imagined it already in front of him, ready for his family to devour.
After several minutes of walking, his rapid footsteps finally stopped in front of a large house.
In this rural village where homes resembled sheds, this house was akin to a palace. When he was about to enter the gate, he suddenly paused.
Angry shouts emanated from within the house, filled with frustration and rage.
"It looks like the landlord's mood is not good today," he thought, hesitating at the entrance.
But then he remembered the faces of his beloved wife and obedient son, and any hesitation he had vanished.
The gate was not locked, so he stepped inside and, after a moment of contemplation, knocked on the door.
"Who is it at this time?" came a gruff voice as the door slowly opened, revealing a middle-aged man.
The man's appearance was unremarkable, but his body exuded a fierce aura, indicating he was not to be underestimated. Hary recognized him as one of the landlord's personal guards.
The man's expression turned to one of disgust when he saw Hary, an old, dirty, corpse-like figure. "What do you want? If I don't like your reason, you won't see tomorrow's sunlight," the guard threatened with an angry voice.
But Hary wasn't intimidated. "I am here to return these farming equipment," he replied quickly.
The guard eyed the tools Hary carried on his back and nodded. "Have you cleaned them properly? I'll kill you with these if they're dirty," the guard was saying when Hary interrupted, "Yes."
"Then go and put those there and get out of here," the guard opened the door completely, allowing Hary to enter.
Seeing the door open, Hary threw the bag of equipment away and dashed inside like a wild animal, moving almost as fast as a horse. The guard was caught off guard by such a reaction and couldn't stop a single weak farmer.
It was almost dark outside, but the interior of the house was the opposite, brightly lit and welcoming.
Hary paid no attention to this and quickly ran to the hall, his footsteps echoing loudly throughout the house. Despite his weak vision, he didn't collide with anything, his eyes focused straight ahead.
Hary ran wildly through the landlord's house, his heart pounding in his chest. The guard behind him was almost catching up, but Hary's desperation gave him an edge.
Just as the guard was about to grab him, Hary saw what he was looking for. He suddenly dropped to the ground and grabbed the legs of a person.
The person was very fat, almost like a balloon, with a large belly and short legs. He was wearing thin red clothes with a very expensive hat on his head.
His expression looked completely annoyed, like some dirty thing had dropped on his leg. It was none other than the landlord himself.
He was silently drinking tea to ease his anger and frustration when some dirty piece of mess grabbed his leg.
The landlord, already in a foul mood, kicked at Hary, but the old man's grip was like iron. "You fucking dirty slug, go away, or I will chop you into pieces!" the landlord shouted, his frustration boiling over. But Hary's grip only tightened.
"Who is the brain-dead idiot that let this slug into my house?" his gaze met the previous guard.
The landlord's eyes flicked to the guard, his expression one of utter disappointment. The guard, shaking with fear, knew he had messed up.
Now if he wanted to regain the trust of his master, he needed to somehow fix this mistake of his.
He was about to drag Hary out and throw him into the street. If Hary didn't release his grip, he wouldn't even hesitate to cut off his hands.
But just then, Hary cried out, "Please, landlord, this servant of yours is very hungry and needs food! I haven't eaten anything, and my family is starving. It's been three days!"
The landlord paused, his anger momentarily overshadowed by the raw desperation in Hary's voice.
The guard hesitated, unsure of what to do next. The room fell silent, the tension thick enough to cut with a knife.
Hary's grip on the landlord's legs didn't waver. His eyes were filled with tears, his voice cracking with emotion. "Please, just a little food. My wife and son... they can't go on like this."
The landlord looked down at Hary with a strange expression.
"Oh, you want food? You should have told me before. Don't worry, I will give you 'food,' not just a little, but enough to last for at least a week, or even a month," the landlord said kindly with an evil smile.
But Hary didn't notice that smile and slowly released his grip and stood up, his body trembling with exhaustion and fear. "Really! I'll do anything, literally anything," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
"No, no, you don't have to do anything. Just wait here for a little while, and the food will come soon," the landlord said kindly.
Hary was overjoyed, a big smile appearing on his corpse-like face.
After that, the landlord called the guard and whispered some words in his ear. The guard was bewildered by the landlord's command but nodded helplessly after a moment.
Hary waited quietly, his thoughts only about the coming food and the taste of it.
After about half an hour of waiting, the guard finally returned with a huge bag.
Even though it had been only half an hour, Hary felt like an eternity had passed. He was counting every breath of his, wondering when the 'food' would come to him.
The guard then handed the bag to Hary like a body without a soul, like a lifeless puppet.
Hary accepted it with both hands. The bag was quite heavy, and just feeling the weight of it, the joy in him was about to overflow.
He then slowly opened the bag. The contents were nothing less than a treasure to him, and his mouth started to drool just by seeing it.
The bag was full of meat, freshly cut meat with blood still dripping from it.
Hary hadn't seen this much meat in his whole life, as meat was a luxury only rich people could afford, which he was not.
Seeing so much 'food,' tears of joy fell from the farmer's eyes, and he started to praise the landlord uncontrollably as if he were a god.
The landlord didn't even look at him and shouted for him to leave, but this time there was not much anger in his voice, but rather a sense of amusement.
Hary also didn't stay there any longer as he was eager to return home, so he slowly exited the house still praising how kind the landlord was.
Because of his strong hunger or his weak vision, he didn't manage to notice the strands of hair and nails present in the meat.