Chapter 147: Chapter 147 - Rosario Village ( Part 2 )
Sunshine flooded the Rosario Village in a stream of gold.
Contrary to other villages, the day started in Rosario without the noise of church bells, merchants opening stalls, and the smell of freshly-baked bread in the air.
Instead...
The morning greeted the inhabitants of Rosario with laughter, quarrels, sounds of metalwork, barking dogs, and somebody accusing a man of cheating at cards until they laughed their heads off.
Roxy stretched near the inn.
"I wonder whether there’s a meaning of the word ’silence’ in this village."
Snow yawned.
"I like it."
Jennie smiled as she looked around.
"It feels... honest."
Nobody pretended to be perfect in Rosario.
Everybody had wounds.
Physical or emotional.
Still, they lived.
This, alone, made Jennie respect them.
Finishing with their breakfast, they noticed the innkeeper who approached them with a bucket full of nails.
"You three are looking for any kind of job?"
Jennie nodded.
"We usually help wherever we stay."
The old man scratched his beard.
"Then you’re lucky."
He pointed in the direction of the eastern part of the village.
"The last night’s rain destroyed Mrs. Agnes’ roof."
"The carpenter is with broken bones."
"The mason went hunting."
"And everybody else acts busy."
Snow tilted his head.
"So..."
"You need us to repair the roof?"
The innkeeper grinned.
"If you don’t mind."
Jennie stood up immediately.
"We’ll help."
Mrs. Agnes’ home was situated on the edge of the village.
Half of the roof was collapsed with broken planks lying in the yard.
An elderly woman sighed while trying to lift a timber almost two times heavier than she was.
Jennie rushed to her aid right away.
"Let me, please."
Mrs. Agnes blinked.
"Oh?"
"You’re much stronger than you look."
Jennie smiled awkwardly.
"I’ve been told that many times."
With incredible ease, Jennie lifted the giant timber with one hand.
Mrs. Agnes froze.
"...Much stronger."
Snow whispered,
"She’s modest."
In a few minutes...
Jennie was climbing the roof.
Her movements were elegant and fast.
Each plank was put in the right place.
Each nail hit its destination.
There was no waste of any of her motions.
For everybody watching...
It seemed almost artistic.
A former mercenary crossed his arms.
"That girl uses a hammer like she wields a sword."
The second man nodded.
"I was thinking of the same."
Neither of them knew how close to the truth they were.
While...
Roxy was surrounded by a crowd of interested children.
"Miss Mage!"
"Are you able to cast fireballs?"
"Are you able to fly?"
"Are you able to turn people into frogs?"
Roxy proudly put her hands on her hips.
"I can do wonderful magic."
The children gasped.
Raising her staff with dramatic flair...
She said,
"But..."
And with a warm smile, continued,
"The first magic that every mage must learn..."
"...isn’t about fights."
The children looked puzzled.
"It isn’t?"
"Nope."
Roxy drew a small magic circle in the air.
Soft blue lights rose, flying like shining butterflies.
Above the heads of children, they transformed into small glowing birds made of pure light.
The children looked amazed.
"Wooooow!"
"They’re so pretty!"
Carefully, a little girl reached for the lights.
The bird settled on her finger, and then disintegrated into harmless sparkles.
Roxy smiled.
"Magic exists in order to make people’s lives easier."
And the next hour was spent teaching simple beginner magic spells.
Lights.
Magic to warm up on cold nights.
Small water spells for garden irrigation.
Nothing dangerous and flashy.
Only helpful magic.
Jennie smiled from the roof.
How much Roxy had changed!
The frightened girl afraid of her own magic had turned into somebody able to inspire others.
Snow, meanwhile...
Found himself surrounded by a crowd of children.
"Can we touch you?"
Snow lifted his chin proudly.
"You may."
In seconds...
He was buried under the avalanche of children.
"So fluffy!"
"He has a huge tail!"
"He’s so warm!"
Snow closed his eyes happily.
"This..."
And sighed dramatically.
"...is the life."
Jennie laughed.
"I thought you were an ancient Divine Beast."
"Yes."
"And?"
"In addition to that..."
"...I’m also fond of ear scratching."
A little boy asked,
"Mr. Wolf..."
"Can you show us how to howl?"
Snow looked absolutely seriously.
"This..."
"...is a sacred art."
The children immediately formed a circle.
Standing proudly upon the tree stump, Snow said,
"Lesson one."
Taking a deep breath...
He roared loudly.
"Awoooooo!"
And the children followed him.
"Awoooooo!"
The whole village sounded in awful howls.
Dogs barked.
Birds flew away.
Several villagers started laughing.
Jennie almost lost the roof tile because of laughter.
By the afternoon...
Almost everything had been repaired in Mrs. Agnes’ home.
Putting the final plank of wood in place, Jennie started climbing down.
Looking in disbelief at her newly-repaired house...
Mrs. Agnes said,
"It’s..."
And wiped away a tear.
"It’s even better than before."
Jennie smiled.
"We have only replaced the damaged parts."
Gently taking Jennie’s hands, Mrs. Agnes said,
"No."
"You’ve restored an old woman’s home."
Quietly putting a small basket of food in Jennie’s arms...
She added,
"I know."
"But I want to."
Jennie thanked her with a bow.
"Thank you."
The news spread quite fast.
"The travelers are repairing Agnes’ roof."
"The girl with the silver hair works like ten men."
"The mage teaches the children."
"And the giant wolf plays with everybody."
Pretty soon...
The rest of villagers approached them.
Broken fence.
Damaged well.
Wagon wheel stuck.
Jennie refused nobody.
Roxy was glad to help.
Snow carried goods, pretending that he doesn’t like this attention.
Through the whole afternoon...
They helped anybody who needed their help quietly and anonymously.
Not because of the payment.
And not because of praise.
Because somebody needed help.
As the evening started approaching...
The village square changed.
Laughing, the children played with Snow.
The well started working and supplying clean water once again.
An elderly woman was happy while baking fresh bread in her new home.
And the people who watched the three travelers with suspicion in the morning now smiled and waved when they saw them.
Approaching Jennie, a rough-looking blacksmith awkwardly scratched his neck.
"I have misunderstood you."
Jennie tilted her head.
"Oh?"
"I’ve thought that you are just travelers."
Smiling, he said,
"Now I see..."
"You’re good people."
Jennie smiled back.
"All of you are."
The blacksmith laughed.
"You’ll easily get used to our village."
Several villagers nodded nearby.
Rosario had always been careful with strangers.
They mostly came there with greed.
Violence.
Or problems.
But these three...
They came here with kindness.
Without any requirements.
As evening fell on the village, the invisible wall between the travelers and Rosario quietly vanished.
For the first time after their arrival...
Jennie, Roxy, and Snow didn’t feel outsiders anymore.
They felt welcome guests.
And from the window of her small home filled with flowers...
Derresa watched the scene with a gentle smile.
"It seems..."
She whispered to herself.
"...Rosario has finally opened its heart to them."
And for a moment...
The sadness in her emerald eyes disappeared, replaced by a quiet happiness as she watched hope blooming in a village that stopped believing it still deserves it.
The glow of the afternoon light faded with the arrival of the evening in the village of Rosario.
The golden rays fell across the crooked roofs, and the smoke peacefully emerged from dozens of chimneys. Having spent all day long working in aid of the village, Jennie, Roxy, and Snow could finally take some rest outside the inn, enjoying their herbal tea.
Roxy leaned against the table and sighed contentedly.
"My arms are tired."
Jennie smiled.
"You taught the children magic."
"They demanded that you show each spell at least five times."
Snow smirked.
"Their little pebble-birds drained all of your energy."
"They were cute."
"They were exhausting."
The girls burst out laughing.
At last, Rosario seemed to become a pleasant place for the travelers.
It seemed this feeling would remain for a while.
There was a sudden loud crash from the market.
BANG!
Several villagers stopped talking.
The laughter ceased.
The people instinctively moved aside and created a free path through the middle of the street.
Jennie looked up.
There was somebody approaching.
The sound of heavy steps traveled along the stony road.
Every step was confident.
It wasn’t arrogant.
It was powerful.
A tall man walked through the crowd.
He seemed to be in his early thirties.
His dark brown untidy hair and the short beard covered the lower part of his face.
There was a faded scar across his nose.
Unlike most of the villagers, this man didn’t wear any armor.
Only leather clothes, boots, and fingerless gloves.
Over one of his shoulders he had an old rusty sword.
It was so rusty that it could be confused with some piece of scrap iron.
Snow narrowed his eyes.
"...Powerful."
Jennie silently observed the man.
There was no mana emanation from him.
However, every step was strong and balanced.
His posture suggested that he had been fighting during many years.
Not as a knight.
As a survivor of many fights.
The villagers murmured among themselves.
"He returned..."
"Luka..."
"Don’t cross him."
One boy instinctively hid behind his mother.
The man stopped near the repaired well.
Having looked around, he said with a deep voice.
"So."
"You are the travelers."
Jennie rose and bowed politely.
"Yes."
"Are you Luka Manjero?"
The man raised an eyebrow.
"Do you know my name?"
The villagers have told it to you."
"Hmph."
He folded his arms.
"And what are you doing here?"
Roxy frowned.
"We have been helping."
"I didn’t ask her."
His eyes were fixed on Jennie.
"I asked you."
Jennie didn’t hesitate and answered him.
"We are travelers."
"We help others."
"We leave when our journey ends."
Luka observed her for some time.
"Do you really believe that?"
Jennie blinked.
"Yes."
"You fix houses."
"You teach children."
"You repair wells."
The man stepped closer.
"There’s no such thing for free."
Snow whispered,
"Now it begins."
Luka pointed at Jennie.
"So."
"What do you want?"
Jennie answered the question.
"Nothing."
He stared at her.
"...Nothing?"
"People needed help."
"So we helped them."
Nobody dared to speak after that.
After several seconds, Luka snorted.
"Either you are extremely naïve..."
"...or extremely stupid."
Roxy immediately stepped forward.
"Hey!"
"You don’t have to treat people rudely!"
Luka ignored her.
"This world doesn’t appreciate kindness."
Jennie calmly folded her hands.
"I know."
"Why then?"
"Because it’s the right thing to do."
This answer was sharp, without self-righteousness.
It was just a fact.
For a couple of seconds...
Luka couldn’t find anything to say.
He turned his face aside.
"Tch."
"Think what you want."
He turned to leave.
Snow quietly whispered,
"I think he doesn’t like us."
Jennie smiled faintly.
"And I think..."
"...he doesn’t dislike us."
"What?"
"I think..."
"...that he doesn’t trust strangers."
Before Snow could answer...
The gentle voice resounded across the square.
"Luka."
Everything changed.
The rough man who had been treating Jennie rudely stopped immediately.
He became relaxed.
He turned around.
The girl, Derresa, walked toward them, carrying the basket covered with the white cloth.
Her friendly smile added some glow to the evening.
"You are finally back."
Luka scratched his head awkwardly.
"...Yeah."
"You missed lunch again."
"I was busy."
"You always say that."
"I was."
Derresa smiled knowingly.
"I prepared your favorite stew."
There was no irritation in her voice.
There was only the tender feeling.
To everybody’s amazement...
Luka sighed like a child who got scolded.
"...All right."
"I will eat."
Snow opened his mouth.
"Hold on."
"Is it the same person?"
Roxy whispered,
"He was terrifying five seconds ago."
Jennie watched silently.
The change was great.
The rough leader of the village who scared everyone by his one look now avoided looking into people’s eyes like an embarrassed teenager.
Derresa looked toward the travelers.
"Oh."
"I see you’ve already met."
Luka grunted.
"Barely."
"I heard that they have been helping everyone today."
"...I noticed."
"Then you should thank them."
Silence.
Everybody held their breath.
Luka looked at Jennie.
Then at Derresa.
He sighed.
"...Thank you."
The word was said in pain.
Roxy blinked.
"Did..."
"...did he apologize?"
Snow solemnly nodded.
"I think watching this scene is even rarer than watching a dragon."
Luka glared at him.
"I heard that."
"I wanted you to."
Deressa couldn’t help laughing.
Her laughter instantly decreased the tension.
Even Luka’s serious expression softened a bit.
Not much.
However, it was the first time when Jennie saw the sincere feeling in his eyes.
Deressa gave the basket to Luka.
"If I don’t bring it myself, you will forget about your dinner again."
"...Probably."
"And don’t work too late."
"I won’t."
"You always say that."
"...This time I promise it."
She smiled.
"I know."
Luka carefully took the basket from Deressa.
Much more carefully than he would usually do if he carried the food.
Like if he feared to damage something valuable.
Jennie silently observed this scene.
There were no declarations.
There was no romanticism.
There were only small gestures.
Tender words.
Comfortable silence.
It was the mutual feeling which was born after years of being together.
However...
There was something private in their interaction.
Almost secretive.
When Deressa left...
She suddenly swayed.
Only a little.
She managed to stop before anybody except Jennie noticed it.
Deressa smiled as if nothing bad had happened.
"I will see everybody tomorrow."
She waved goodbye and went to her house which was full of flowers.
Luka watched till she disappeared from sight.
Only after this moment he let himself relax.
For a short time...
The harsh eyes of the leader of Rosario reflected the feelings which Jennie never expected to see there.
Not the anger.
Not the pride.
The fear.
The deep quiet fear.
It was the fear of a man who tried to protect somebody dear for him all the time.
Then, very quickly, his expression became harsh again.
He threw the rusty sword over his shoulder.
"Don’t cause troubles while you are in my village."
With these words Luka walked away into the dusk.
Jennie watched till he disappeared.
Snow glanced at her.
"What are you thinking about?"
Jennie looked in the direction where Deressa walked.
"Luka Manjero..."
She thought for a while.
"He isn’t the man who wants to appear to everybody."
