291 – Day 1 (2)
Although Larpentia is a small city, it is definitely a city. It is meaningless to consider housing prices at a time like now when the city is completely ruined, but in the past, the prices of buildings here were never cheap.
This ordinary house, which was neither larger nor taller than other houses in the neighborhood, was worth a lot of money in terms of money.
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A house purchased with the severance pay received from the warrior party.
The priest usually did not lock the door to the house. So of course I left the keys with Ralph and didn’t leave. He just left the door wide open and left with only one word: use it if necessary.
“What is it, did you take the key?”
“There is no such thing. Just open it. The priest who lived here didn’t lock the door. I put a lock on it while I was renting it for a while, but I brought it with me when I left the house. A priest returning from his travels shouldn’t be surprised to find his house locked.”
“…Then is that house okay? These days, thieves are rampant. “I went there and the window was broken, right?”
Clark expressed concern. For a while, Larpentia was caught in the crossfire of rioters and robbers, causing destruction everywhere. Because there were strange people walking around who would destroy even normal houses with sticks, empty houses without people were not healthy at all.
Right now, these two were two strong adult men, but they couldn’t dare to walk alone on the street in broad daylight. This was true even though the bandits who were rampant had calmed down somewhat.
So, behind them were several ‘guests’ of the workhouse. In the past few days, people who had to travel around this city had to do so in groups, without exception.
For those who remember this beautiful city in the past, it is a sight that can only sigh. Therefore, it is rare to find a building that remains intact even if you look around.
But despite all the worries, the house was still there. This ordinary house, neither bigger nor taller than other houses, welcomes visitors with the same appearance now as it did then and now.
Not a single window was broken, and the bell hanging in front of the door was still intact. The door was still there, neither broken nor burned. Even though it had only been a few months since the house became empty, not even the rats or spiders that would normally be seen in an empty house had settled here.
“For an empty house, isn’t it cleaner inside than I thought?”
“That’s because I cleaned the house thoroughly before I vacated it.”
“That’s not it, I think it’s our first time here. What’s going on? Most of the empty houses must have been completely razed by now. Were thieves also reluctant to touch the house where the priest lived?”
The two looked at each other and took a long step into the house. The others followed suit, looking around. Even though no one was there and the fire in the fireplace would have been extinguished a long time ago, it felt like an unknown warmth was flowing down the hallway.
‘After’
The warm candle that had been lighting up this house even while I was away was caught by a breath from somewhere and was extinguished. The gentle warmth it has radiated for a long time will not easily dissipate and will continue to stay in this house, but it probably will not last forever.
A miracle must end as just a miracle. It should never become a daily routine. Because the apostle thought so, it really happened. The revitalizing spring water that had been gushing in one corner of the yard has now lost its divinity and has returned to an ordinary pond. But the water was still clear.
People who discovered it were delighted. The spring, which had previously been nothing more than a worthless pond, was now a very attractive source of drinking water.
“I’m not sure about this spring, but I think it can be used for drinking water. It looks very clear. Is there a vein of underground water flowing down here? “I don’t know where the water comes from.”
Even if it has lost its sacred power, clean water is a blessing in itself. Larpentia is a city, and there are no good places to get water. Of course, it is next to a river, but the water quality is not suitable for direct use as drinking water. If you drink it right after taking a bath, you will probably get sick.
So this city supplied most of its drinking water from groundwater and wells. If it wasn’t enough, we would fetch river water, boil it, and drink it. Still, there were no problems. There was no shortage of firewood or wells in those good times. At least in that era.
If you look back, the good past was once just everyday life, but looking back now, they were truly enjoying a blessed life. As the merchants who brought in firewood disappeared, firewood began to run out quickly. The small mountains near Larpentia were quickly becoming bare mountains.
There are many reasons why fire is needed: to cook food, to boil water, to spend a cold night. Soon, people using axes appeared in the city parks, and up to that point, they were all decent people. The first time people truly realized they were in a dangerous situation was when they realized that they had to use an ax to hack down furniture in their own home to use as firewood.
It didn’t take long for people to appear trying to get firewood by hitting other people’s houses with axes. In such a situation, there is no way there is enough firewood to boil water. Even if there were tea leaves, it was a waste of firewood to boil the tea, so I had to just put them in my mouth and chew them.
Because there was no alternative, we had to drink river water, but if there was cleaner water, why couldn’t we do that? Above all, there is no need to carry a jar to a distant river to fetch water.
Cities always need a place to dump their waste, and while many choose to bury it in the ground, sometimes others prefer a simpler solution. So the water quality of the river has become even more unreliable these days.
“If we scoop up some, it won’t dry up, right?”
“That can’t be possible. Look how the water keeps gushing out. For this alone, coming here wasn’t in vain. It was worth it…”
The sight of grown men struggling over just one spring soon came to an end. A voice was heard calling them from the kitchen. A person who was looking for something to eat in the kitchen found something. He was shouting, his voice almost shaking.
“Everyone, come here! I found something truly amazing. Oh my god!”
People flocked to the sound as if they had discovered something mysterious. Everyone gaped when they saw what they found there. On the table in this kitchen, which was obviously supposed to be deserted, several freshly made barley breads were filling up a sack, giving off warm steam.
“Is there anyone?!”
“Is there anyone here? You are welcome to come out. “We are not robbers!”
It looked as if someone had just baked this bread and was planning to eat it for dinner tonight, but had to leave for a while due to urgent business. The bread was warm, as if it had just been made, and had a fragrant smell. People hurriedly looked around the oven, but the oven had long since cooled down. It looked like it hadn’t been used for a while and didn’t feel any heat at all.
“Where on earth did this bread come from? “Who on earth baked it and where?”
“Is someone hiding and running away because of us…?”
“That can’t be possible. Look at the amount of this bread. Is this enough for one person to eat? No, let alone an individual, even a hungry family wouldn’t be able to eat even half of this bread. Looking at the number of dishes, I baked them to feed at least ten people. That means there are at least ten people here.”
“But with that many people, unless we were blind, no matter how secretly we escaped, there would have been no one left. Why didn’t we see anything?”
People were whispering. They decided not to touch the bread right away but to wait a little. Maybe the people who baked this bread were away for a while for some reason. If the bread is gone when they return, it will be difficult for both of them.
But even as the night drew to a close, the person presumed to be the owner of the bread did not come. And even though the night was almost over, the bread did not cool down at all and still radiated warmth. Everyone who saw the steam still rising was speechless. Now I realize that this is not something out of the ordinary.
“Is there some kind of warming spell?”
“Isn’t that probably the case? “Maybe the sack is enchanted.”
“Who knows. More than that, it’s driving me crazy to keep smelling this smell. “It looks like there is no owner anyway, so why not just eat it?”
So, even though the stomach was growling, no one was willing to reach for the bread and eat it. Everyone looked at each other and then turned to Ralph and Clark. It implicitly delegates the authority to make decisions to them.
“It looks like this bread was abandoned. If that’s the case, the precious food will only go bad if it stays like this. “With this amount of bread, I think we can all at least taste it if we cut it and share it, but if the owner shows up later, even if he has to apologize then, let’s just take it for now.”
Instead of Ralph, who hesitated, Clark came forward and took the sack. Ralph, who hesitated until the end, eventually nodded his head in agreement. He sighed and agreed to take the bread on the condition that he write a note and leave it there.
It was later said that the bread that came out of that sack was enough to feed everyone in the workhouse. Later, when Larpentia became stable again, the sack suddenly disappeared even though no one had taken it. As if it was something that could not exist in this world from the beginning.
“It wasn’t mass confusion or hallucinations. It wasn’t like me or Clark stuffing the sack with bread. When you think you have eaten all the bread, some great person fills in the missing portion. Okay, there is no evidence anymore. But my memories are still vivid.”
Afterwards, they went around muttering that they had witnessed a miracle. But there was not a single newspaper that believed that. The people who witnessed the continuous flow of bread at that time also rationalized the miracle they saw in the light of common sense as time passed. They thanked Clark and Ralph and thought they had given hope to the people by continuing to fill their sacks with bread.
In this way, the reputation of the workhouse they established grew, and donations began to flow in continuously. In this way, they completed their noble lives as notable figures in the city and passed into rest with the blessings of many people.
Even though I couldn’t leave after seeing all those things, they seemed vivid. Now I could use the Star Dream Observatory again, but it didn’t make any difference whether I used it or not.
The apostle did not stay here for long. He still had a lot of work to do.
For a moment he closed his eyes, and when he opened them, he was in the estate once ruled by Duke Vlad Shmira.