788 I’m Sorry (1/2)

It was evening when the horse carriage stopped outside the village. An old man stepped out of the horse carriage with a staff in hand. His long leather boots stepped on the muddy ground and the poop of chickens and ducks as the walked into the village.

In front of the door, there were a few children, who were playing with each other in the mud when they saw him and began to move further away from him out of fear. That old man was wearing a thick coat with a top hat on his head. The walking stick in his hands and the boots on his feet all seemed very expensive too. They would never be able to afford to replace them if they dirtied those items.

”Go on home, it's time to eat.” On a bench in front of the door, a young man, who was also playing around with the children, laughed and gave them some of the wooden toys that he had just made and urged them to leave.

He did not look like a farmer that worked in this village. In fact, very few people from noble families looked as handsome as him. He had a good temper and he was quite good with manual work too. On top of that, he was also a doctor, so he knew how to use herbs to cure high fever. He had only been here for half a month, and everyone in the village was already fond of him. The only pity was that he was blind in one eye. Many ladies in the village would secretly take a peek at him while gossiping with each other about how good-looking he would be if he had both his eyes.

”Long time no see, Mr. Constantine.” He raised his head and looked at the old man with a smile. It was just too bad that he was wearing an ugly-looking eye patch so his smile looked slightly pitiful.

”Charles, long time no see.” Gaius held onto his walking stick as he slowly made his way to Charles' side. Then, he sat down on the muddy bench. He seemed to be very tired as he breathed out loud.

”I'm here to see you.”

”I have already recovered fully.” Charles laughed and used the apron on his pants to wipe his hand. ”Let me get you something to drink.”

”No need, I only came to sit for a while,” said Gaius. ”I'll be leaving in a moment.”

In order to avoid causing a commotion like in the past, Charles had chosen to find a small village near the capital to recover in secret. Other than a few guards and protectors hiding in the dark, no one knew that this gentle and good-looking young man was actually the Son of God. Many of the villagers would use wheat to pay him for helping out in their homes, and he was more than happy to do it.

Although they had not met for a long time, Charles did not feel awkward at all and was still talkative as usual. ”This place is pretty good, Mr. Constantine. If you have the time, you should come and stay here once in a while too. The chicks that I am rearing are about to leave their coops. When I first came, they were still so small. At night, when I slept, I would have to keep them in the house and they would be chirping away…”

Gaius nodded. ”When they are out of the coop, I will come again. Shall I bring a cook along?”

”That would be best. I'm not a very good cook, so I often have to rely on others.” Charles laughed somewhat awkwardly.

”I'm glad to see that you are doing well. Get well soon. I'm overwhelmed without your help.” Gaius was hugging his hat and walking stick while touching his hair. His mottled hair became somewhat messy. It was hard to disguise his fatigue.

”I'm jealous of you, Charles.” He sighed softly. ”In the past, many of these things wouldn't have been such a big deal to me, but after knowing you, I realized that I have gotten old and am no longer at the age when I'm always full of energy.”

”Give yourself a break once in a while, sir.” Charles laughed. ”In the summer, we can do some fishing in this river. I can accompany you.” After looking around for a long time, he only managed to find a bag of dried fish to host his guest. He felt a little awkward.

Gaius took the bag of dried fish and looked it over before forcing himself to stuff one into his mouth. He tried to chew it a couple of times but to no avail, so he decided to swallow it whole. He choked.

”I'll get some water…”

Five minutes later, Gaius finally recovered himself and laughed bitterly. ”It's too salty.”

”Someone gave it to me. He used too much salt,” Charles explained awkwardly. The man who gave this to him had only good intentions. Nowadays, salt was expensive while dried fish was cheap. Unfortunately, it caused someone to choke.

After hearing that, Gaius looked relieved. ”Looks like you have made new friends. Charles, I told you before, everyone will like you.”

”Hmm.” Charles nodded and did not say more.

”What happened?” Gaius asked.

Charles was silent for a moment before muttering softly, ”Mr. Hoffman, who was the person that gave me the dried fish, he died a few days ago…”

Gaius nodded and did not say a word.

”He sold his lands so that he could work in a workshop in the city. He gave me the dried fish before he left. But within two days, he was sent back. One of his arms was cut off by a machine in the workshop. It became infected. We couldn't buy any medicine here, and there was nothing I could do to bring down his fever. He died, just like that.” With that, Charles laughed bitterly. ”If only I still had my powers. I could have saved him.”

”Charles, this is not your fault.”

”I know. I'm just sad.” Charles looked at the calluses and scars on his fingertips. ”Many of the villagers here are just like Hoffman, including the children. Just now, that child was his little son. In two days, he will also be going to the city to work. He signed a contract that lasts for three years. He will not be able to earn much at the workshop, yet he will have to slog his guts out like a slave. If he didn't work, he will die of hunger. Over here, despite a bumper harvest, they would not be able to sell their crops unless they lowered the prices. Yet if they wanted to buy more, it would be too expensive… Mr. Constantine, why is this happening?”

Gaius said nothing. Charles did not wait for an answer.

”Haven't we already won, Sir?” He asked, ”The war is over and many people are working hard to survive, but it's still so difficult. The Sacred City has already been defeated, but so many of these annoying things still persist. Those that couldn't survive in the past still can't.”

Charles asked him, ”They have already sacrificed so much for this world. Why do they still need to continue sacrificing?”

Gaius did not respond. He only looked into the distance at the chimney smoke rising from a nearby village. He watched the evening sun setting very slowly.