As Lowen made his way back to Nia"s place, he was followed behind by three men two old and one young, each with a full sack under their arms. As they followed behind this young boy they were filled with curiosity. They had witnessed this boy almost kill Greg and later he went to have a secret talk with their Chief and afterward the Chief had ordered them to bring these supplies to Nia"s home and to not disrespect this boy in any way. The three men wondered about this young boys status.(Could he be a young n.o.ble and the Chief decided to show him some favor in hope for some reward later or maybe he feels pity for the boy and just wants to help a young child, that would explain the supplies.)
As Lowen reached Nia"s home it had just become early afternoon. The smell of a simple yet aromatic fish soup gently drifted out of Nia"s small shack. Lowen asked the men to simply leave the supplies at the door before he bid them farewell. They felt weird listening to a child"s orders but the Chief had told them to, so they followed suit and returned back to whatever ch.o.r.es or work they needed to tend to and went about their day with many questions left unanswered. Lowen filling his body with ki barely managed to drag all 6 sacks into Nia"s home, as a few drops of sweat broke above his brow.
"Nia I"m...."
"Big bro big bro welcome back!"
Ben spotted Lowen the second he stepped thru the small cloth covered entrance and straight away welcomed him back, stealing any momentum Lowen originally had.
"I"m back."
Ben"s nose started to twitch and he shouted with joy.
"Big bro, you brought more food, yay, what did you bring?"
(Hmm, this boys nose seems to be pretty good, he could tell I had food. I guess it wasn"t as obvious last time with the jerky because it was completely covered but now he"s noticed as soon as I brought all these sacks in.)
Nia was surprised to see Lowen back so soon but more than that she stared at him funnily. The way he was struggling to drag all 6 sacks in, Lowen looked as though he was a racc.o.o.n bandit who just stole the farmer"s crops, Nia giggled lightly.
"Hehehe welcome back."
Lowen gave a nod and Nia quickly came over to help. She grabbed 3 of the sacks and dragged them over by Ben. Lowen didn"t answer Ben instead he just started to empty one sack after another. As he did, Ben"s expression grew more and more astonished by the second. On the ground was pile after pile of food. Potatoes, carrots, cabbage, as well as a few other things. Inside one of the sacks was a small bag about the size of a big fist, opening it up Lowen pinched a bit of the substance within and ground it between his fingers. Showing it to Nia and Ben the two started to salivate in antic.i.p.ation, it was salt. The two hadn"t seen so much salt in such a long time, their lips were already slapping together remembering all the delicious things they could now make.
"That isn"t all, take a look at this."
Lowen opened the last two sacks and when Nia and Ben looked inside they almost fell over and fainted. Inside the last two sacks, filled all the way to the brim were rice and grain. Looking at this harvest before them the two looked as if each grain were made of gold. With this amount it could last them all the way through the winter. To go from worrying about food every single day, to go from feeling that constant pain in the pit of your stomach that comes from emptiness, to suddenly having so much. The two looked at this and they could form no words.
(How could Lowen get all this, wasn"t he in trouble earlier. I don"t understand.)
Suddenly, Ben"s face looked as though he was about to be murdered, he screamed at the top of his lungs.
"Big bro big bro quick, hurry and return this food before someone catches us. If you return this stolen food they might just forgive us. So please big bro hurry.
Lowen was stunned, this boy thought he had stolen all this food. Well, it was understandable, you go out and nearly kill someone and then suddenly return with a huge stash of food. This could only look like someone was about to be hanged and decided to make a break for it with supplies for a hasty escape on the run.
Lowen smiled and shook his head.
"This is from the Chief, he and I came to an agreement. So the food is mine, well actually according to the deal it"s yours."
The look that Nia and Ben shared was incredible, to say the least. The number of unbelievable things that continued to happen since Lowen"s arrival made them question their understanding of the way of the world. This was another blow to the way the both of them think.
"Lowen, how, doesn"t the Chief hate us. Why would he possibly agree to give us food?"
Nia"s words brought back the conversation Lowen had just finished with Roland. He himself had asked something quite similar.
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"Fine, I"ll agree to this offer but before that, there are a few more things I want. First off I want food. enough to last three people for the winter.
Roland listened to Lowen"s words carefully. he was ready to agree to just about anything. He wondered if Lowen had wanted a magic weapon or gold, of course, Roland could actually produce neither of those things but he figured he would replace them with knowledge or maybe some authority over the village. Roland would do almost anything at this point but when he heard Lowen"s first request he was quite curious.
"Food for three , you intend to share food with that traitorous daughter and son pair why?"
Lowen couldn"t detect any malice in Rolands tone. For someone that supposedly hated Nia and her brother, Roland came off as though he were rehearsing a speech.
"If I simply said it was because I like them, would you believe me?"
Roland only became confused with Lowen"s answer, before he could question more in-depth Lowen instead asked a question of his own.
"Roland, this has been bothering me for quite a while. The way you treat Nia and her brother, I don"t know what their father did but what does that have to do with two of them, that you nearly let them both starve to death."
Roland craned his neck in puzzlement, at first he couldn"t wrap his head around the question.
(What does it have to do with them?)
This question buzzed around in Roland"s head for a while but in the end, he himself couldn"t figure it out. He looked at Lowen in confusion and answered as though this was the first time someone had asked him this.
"Hmm, nothing I guess."
Roland paused for a moment.
"To be honest, I don"t hate them. In truth I don"t care about them at all."
Roland"s eyes began to take on a listless and dull look.
"Even the elders, that emotional apology I gave them, I felt almost nothing then as well.
*Sigh*
"You should understand something Lowen, I"ve been dying a slow death for over 20 years. To continue to care only opens you up for more wounds. So at some point, I just stopped. The world became pointless, people, became pointless. The only reason I haven"t killed myself was because of that tiny hope I had. I had held onto it for so long it was the only thing that kept me going. So when it comes to Nia and her brother, I simply don"t care."
How could Lowen process this in such little time? He had never expected such an answer so it threw him for a loop. But there was still the way he acted in front of the villagers. The fact that he acted at all, doesn"t that mean he cares or still does. Otherwise, why go through with the apology to the elders, why give an explanation to them at all and why stay the Chief of this village if you truly don"t care. Lowen asked Roland all of this but the answer Roland gave left him dumbfounded.
"I don"t know."
As Lowen thought this over he began to hear a small growling sound. Ben"s stomach had started to grow impatient.
Lowen gave Nia a small smile and answered Nia.
"If he truly hated you wouldn"t he have already banished you two or directly put a sword to you. You"ve seen it yourself hes a Mage. If he hated you he could have used his magic against you a long time ago.
No, he doesn"t hate you but that doesn"t mean he likes you either. As for the food, we made a fair deal. Right now he needs me and since he does, you two can rest easy if you wish."
Nia only felt slightly relieved. Once more Lowen was helping them but she knew she couldn"t rely on him forever. She had vowed to herself that she would change. She recalled Lowen"s fight earlier, the way he moved with such agility, the way he knocked down an opponent 5 times bigger than himself in only three blows. Nia"s mind wondered.
(If I could do that, then who could mess with me and who would dare mess with my little brother.)
Nia gathered her determination and suddenly grabbed Lowen by his shoulders and in a serious tone asked him.
"Lowen, will you teach me?"
Lowen, of course, was stunned. Nia had suddenly grabbed him close and looked deeply at him. At first, he thought she was trying to kiss him but when he heard her question he couldn"t help but feel giddy. He knew exactly what she meant with her words. She wanted to be stronger. Lowen"s number one love in the world was strength, his number 2 was when someone else held that very same pa.s.sion he did for strength. Looking into Nia"s eyes Lowen could tell she was serious. Lowen calmed himself and answered coolly.
"If you want, but it won"t be easy."
Nia"s eyes flashed with delight as she nodded. She squeezed her small fist just thinking of the possibilities.
Ben as well couldn"t be left out, he started shouting.
"Big bro big bro teach me as well, please, please.
Lowen flashed a smile, he knew Ben didn"t understand, so he smiled warmly.
"Fine, but first you need to finish recovering ok."
Ben nodded his head repeatedly up and down, up and down, his face full of joy.
(Although Nia seems serious i can"t be for sure. As for Ben, he"s definitely not. Before I teach Nia ill have to break her somewhat and let her know that this isn"t something you can half-a.s.s. Your either in it or your not, there is no in between.)
As Lowen and Nia"s thoughts were all over the place thinking about future prospects Ben was pulling on Nia"s arm.
"Big sis big sis."
"What is it little Ben?"
"What is big bro gonna teach us?"
Lowen and Nia burst out with laughter, this kid truly was loveable.