EP1. It all started (3)
Sean woke up quite early, today he didn’t see the green eyes like yesterday.
And unlike yesterday, he had to go to work.
“Ah, I am tired.”
Unlike yesterday, when I had a good rest and time with Levy, I couldn’t go back to sleep because I had to go to work.
Today was the day Paul of the blacksmith went to his grandfather to learn blacksmithing,
I have always wondered why there is a blacksmith in such a small town, so I asked Uncle Paul a few days ago while Levy was gone.
At that time, Paul said this.
“Hmm… Why is Mr. Paulo working as a blacksmith? Of course, we don’t need a blacksmith in our village. It’s much more convenient to buy one at a time when you go to the city than to make it yourself.”
The fact that Paul answered was the same question that Sean had.
‘Then why is there a blacksmith’s shop?’
As Shawn’s doubt grew, Paul paused for a moment before telling Sean.
“There is a small story behind Mr. Paulo’s blacksmithing. It was a long time ago. Mr. Paulo had one son. I was the same age as my uncle. In fact, when I was younger, me, Joe, and him, the three of us, always played together.”
Paul’s words came as a surprise to Shawn. Grandpa Paulo had a son, and Uncle Paul was childhood friends with Uncle Joe, a hunter!
Of course, among men, especially Uncle Paul and Uncle Joe, the term ball friend is more appropriate than childhood friend.
Sean was a bit shocked, but Paul kept talking to him.
“Since Mr. Paulo is a blunt person by nature, he was a bit clumsy in expressing himself, but he loved his son so much. But he was a bit different from us.”
When Paul told a story about his old friend, his mind was somewhat disturbed, he took a moment to catch his breath, and continued for the boy who was still waiting for an unfinished story.
“Joe and I were happy in the village and content with our lives, but he wasn’t. To be precise, I was happy in the village, but I wasn’t satisfied. He said he had bigger dreams. He said he didn’t want to spend the rest of his life locked up in such a small town. . . . That he would become an adventurer.”
His words made Sean more interested. Because he thought he was just like me.
‘I’m happy in this town like Grandpa Paulo’s son, but I want to go out and become an adventurer.’
So Sean tried to pay more attention to what Paul had to say.
“So what? What did he do?”
“Mr. Paulo was terribly against it. What a natural result No parent would readily approve of their beloved son abandoning this peaceful place and seeking out danger.”
For no reason, Sean caught a glimpse of Paul at those words.
He wondered if Paul would stop Sean too if he said he would play the adventurer.
Of course, Paul wasn’t Shawn’s father, but he treated him like a son.
And Sean also half considered Paul a father.
“So how did it go? Did he give up?”
“No, neither of them gave up. The two did not give up on each other’s opinions and the conflict only grew worse. Then one day, the two got into a big fight, and in the end, the guy who couldn’t hold back his anger took the money and ran out of the house and went straight to the city.”
“That’s…, Grandpa Paulo must have had a hard time…”
“Yes. As you said, Mr. Paulo was very heartbroken. He said that if he was going to leave anyway, he would have let me go with a good face and not fight. That’s what Paulo thought.”
Paul paused once again, as if recalling his memories of those days.
Shaun didn’t know, but Paul’s heart was filled with sadness at the memory of that day.
“Mr. Paulo passed on the shop to me. Then he set up a smithy on the corner of town. He said that one day, when his headstrong son returns, he will give his son a sturdy armor that will ward off any attack. However, the guy never came back. Even now, 20 years later.”
“·····.”
“Shaun. I know you admire adventurers. I have no intention of blocking your will unconditionally like Mr. Paulo. But.”
Paul looked at Sean’s eye level and asked, like a father giving advice to his son.
“However, I would like you to think about how great the sadness of the person you are left behind will be when you leave. Not only for me, but also for Levy.”
Sean couldn’t answer Paul’s last words.
***
After briefly reminiscing about the day, Shawn got up and prepared to go to the blacksmith’s shop.
Originally, Paulo said that it would be enough to come at noon since it would only take one day to learn blacksmith work, but Shawn, who had nothing to do for the rest of his time anyway, decided that it would be better to go early and finish early, so he left the house early.
When I left the house, I wondered if it was because it was early in the morning, and it seemed that I was left alone in this world with no one on the street that was already deserted.
‘At this time, Levy must be still sleeping, too, right?’
As they walked down the street, Shawn pondered over the conversation he had with Paul.
I was so interested in Paul’s last words that I put them aside for a while, but the story about Paulo’s grandfather shocked me quite a bit.
Paulo had a son!
It was completely different from what I had known all along, that Grandpa Paulo had lived with his grandmother, and that his wife had passed away not long before Shawn was born.
In addition, the reason why he started blacksmithing was too sad for Shawn to think about.
After all, the two of them haven’t seen each other since they fought that day.
No matter how much Shawn thought about it, he didn’t think his son would have a good ending.
Death.
If you’re an adventurer, it’s only natural that there’s always a risk of death.
I know Sean as well, but actually hearing the story and thinking about the pain Paulo must have had forced me to think again.
The last words Uncle Paul said to Shawn.
Though he thought it over, he still couldn’t come up with a clear answer.
That’s also true, because in the first place Sean only vaguely longed for adventurers, but never seriously thought about what would happen.
‘Was Grandpa Paulo’s son like me?’
As he was about to deepen his thoughts, Shawn arrived at Paulo’s forge, which was tucked away in a corner of town.
As usual, the forge felt secluded and small. And inside, despite the early hours, I could already see Paulo sitting in front of me.
Paulo was exactly the way Sean knew him. He was quite small and had trouble seeing, but his always squinting eyes reminded me of his grumpy grandfather.
Nothing seemed to have changed from the first image Shawn could remember.
As if time had only escaped with fouls.
Sean gave up his nonsense and went over to Paulo to say hello.
“Hello, Grandpa.”
Paulo, who finally found the boy at Sean’s greeting, looked at Sean for a moment and said curtly.
“What are you doing, you came here so quickly. I was just trying to get some rest. Tsk tsk.”
If it’s the first time you’ve experienced such a tone, you might be offended, but Shawn, who had already been through so many of Paulo’s words, just smiled and passed it on.
“I woke up early today, so I came right away.”
“Eh, at that time, I will sleep well. Tsk tsk.”
“By the way, what should I learn today? Is there anything I can help with?”
“Oops. This damn guy, no matter how bad our store is, he’s not at the level of being ignored by a kid like you. You kid.”
Paul continues to catch the pod, but Shawn just smirks and continues the conversation naturally.
“Oh, you know I didn’t mean it that way.”
“I wonder who taught you such a smirk, a kid like you could just go out and play during work hours. Are things going well with Levi these days?”
“Oh no! Why is that story suddenly coming out of there! And Levi and I are just friends!”
“I feel ashamed for nothing. Dragging.”
Paul also had a trick to make the smirking Shawn look like a kid his age.
It’s a method that everyone in the village knows, but it’s not a secret method.
Sean and Levy have grown up with all the children in the town, and now they are the only children in the town.
It’s a situation where it’s easy to draw the villagers’ attention, but the two of them always hold hands tightly and go around together, so people make fun of them as a married couple.
If you make fun of Shawn and Levy as a married couple, they get angry and deny it, so from the point of view of adults who make fun of them, they make fun of them more because they are funny and cute.
“Grandpa, please stop and tell me what I should do.”
“Eh, that’s not fun. What did you know I will teach you what to do.”
Saying that, Paulo raised his body from where he was sitting and pointed to a certain place.
“I mean, there are things to do in this forge as well. Guy Joe, who says he’s going to hunt that doesn’t work for ordinary farmers, entrusts me with repairing equipment. Scythe, shovel, pickaxe, or arrow. What these things.”
Certainly, as Paulo said, there were several scythes and shovels that looked quite rusty where he pointed.
And in the corner, there were some arrows and traps, apparently used by Uncle Joe.
Well, if you think about it, it’s obvious, but anyway, Paul has to make a living, but you can’t make money without doing anything.
I don’t know if normal blacksmiths do this kind of work, but Sean chuckled, thinking that it would be a very fitting job for a blacksmith in my town.
Fortunately, he didn’t seem to notice Sean’s laugh, so Paulo continued to speak.
“Well, these are all my tasks, and you are only going to work for one day anyway, so just chop some firewood.”
“Eek, chopping wood?”
“Then did you think you were making swords? I know you’re not very interested in blacksmithing anyway, you bastard.”
“No, but chopping wood was done last week at Uncle Colin’s.”
“Then you go and argue with Colin, that may not be my business.”
Of course, Sean didn’t expect a full-fledged blacksmith job, but he thought he would let him work in the blacksmith at least. Isn’t chopping firewood a job outside the blacksmith’s backyard?
I thought this was too much, but I had no choice but to take the ax he gave me and go out to the backyard to chop firewood.
“Suck! Hot! Heck.”
The ax that Sean is holding is the smallest one, and the firewood is only a small amount, suggesting that Paulo was very considerate in case Sean came.
But Sean didn’t know such a trivial detail, and even that was quite hard work for a young boy.
Still, oddly enough, Shawn diligently sawed the firewood, feeling that it was much easier than at Mr. Colin’s last time.
When Shawn went back to the front of the smithy, after diligently cutting firewood, he saw Paulo sitting in a chair and dozing hard.
He worked hard, but when Paulo was sleeping peacefully, Sean was about to get angry.
So Sean got close to Paulo and yelled enough to wake him up, but not too much.
“Do! Ah! Friend! Ji! I’m done!”
“…Oh, what a surprise! I thought my liver was falling. Hey!”
“I worked hard, but why is the old man not working and sleeping all the time? Yes?”
“Hi, are you the old man now? To sleep spread out, I just closed my eyes for a while and then opened them. And I can’t even find out in my store, you bastard. I’ll do it all later It is still very morning.”
Sean, far from being angry at Paulo’s words, felt like he was about to get even worse, but in fact, everything Paulo said was true, so he gave up on replying further.
“Okay, then what shall I do now?”
“No.”
“Yes?”
“Now that you are done with your work, you can now go and get some sleep.”
“No, where is that? Grandpa said it was still early in the morning.”
“Yes. Since it’s morning, why don’t you go to sleep? I won’t take the money and I’ll give it to you.”
“This is not about money! Besides, you haven’t even been inside the forge yet! I’ll stay here, so Grandpa, take care of yourself!”
“Eh, who am I like to be so stubborn?”
Paulo looked at Sean’s stubborn look and thought of the filthy stubborn guy who still didn’t come back for some reason.
Paulo, weak-minded, glanced at Shawn and said, helplessly.
“… Guy, I lost. Come in! Grab a cup of tea and get out!”
Seeing Paulo seemingly giving up, Sean thought he had won, and finally let go of his anger at the fact that he was finally able to enter the blacksmith’s smithy, giving off a good feeling.
“Hee hee, thank you Grandpa.”
From noble mtl dot com.
“Eh, tsk tsk.”