8

Julia’s death was only known to the town’s people a week later.

“Id! Oh my god! Why didn’t you come out of the house?”

An older woman had entered Id’s house and shouted. She found the cold body of Julia and Id, who had fainted on the bed.

“Oh, Id, what a……”

The baker Irina, a neighbor of Id, recognized no sign of life in Id’s home for too long. So she looked in Id’s house and found the mother and son. She took Id to her house and took care of the exhausted little boy.

“Julia is dead. Somebody, go to her house.”

As Irina shouted, village people gathered at Id’s house. But Id didn’t hear or see anything as he had lost consciousness.

Even during the funeral, Id did not regain consciousness. Julia was buried in the graveyard of the village. The owner of Id’s house was changed within a day after the funeral. The family of Igor, who bred hundreds of chickens, moved in to Id’s house as it had a large backyard. Id, who came to his senses two days after Irina found him, despaired due to the fact that everything had been done while he was unconscious.

“Mom!”

He couldn’t see even the last appearance of his mother. Id cried, calling out to his mother endlessly. The sad cries continued until the village chief remarked cold-heartedly.

“Nothing changes while you cry like that. It’s time to think about your future.”

Id stopped crying, hearing the chief’s remark and looked at him with swollen eyes. Though he seemed bewildered for a moment, the chief soon regained his solemn look.

“I’ve asked the villagers, but there’s no one in Derevnya who can afford to adopt you.”

“…………”

“It’s hard for everyone to live here in Derevnya. You have to understand the villagers’ circumstances as well.”

As the chief said, the village was a place where pioneers barely made ends meet. Because life itself was so dangerous, there were many incidents causing the birth of new orphans. As such, there were no people who would take care of an eight-year-old boy. Usually, it would help if you were at least an early teen to help with the housework. Id was still only eight, leaving five years before he became a teenager, so no one could afford to feed and clothe him until then.

“The house you lived in has already been handed over to Igor. Though Igor’s house is still empty, I can’t give it to you since you are not qualified to own it according to the village regulations.”

The chief continued looking into Id’s eyes.

“So, I recommend you go to Nordburg with the merchants the day after tomorrow. I wrote a letter to Maria who’s running an inn in Nordburg. She will hire you as a clerk.”

Id was sitting silently. The chief stood up as if he had nothing more to say.

“You are allowed to stay at my house for two days. But you have to leave after that. Got it?”

A sour look appeared on the chief’s face for a moment as he was overcome with a guilty conscience, but it disappeared soon after. Being bound by useless humanity in this barren frontier village was tantamount to suicide. The chief thought it would be helpful for Id to be cool-headed rather than offer a helping hand. If an orphaned little boy is to survive, he must first learn the goings of the world.

Id quickly came to terms with reality. The death of his stepfather and mother was not a dream but a reality. In other words, he has become an orphan with no place to turn to in the world. The little boy bit his lip slightly.

“Now I have to take charge of my future. I must live for myself.”

Two days later, as the chief said, Id would have to leave for Nordburg with the merchants, and yet, for some reason, he didn’t want to do that. Maybe he didn’t want to leave this village yet, as it was where the happy memories of George and Julia remained. But the reality was cruel, and there was no way for Id to stay in Derevnya by himself.

“If there is no way, I have to make one.”

Id, with a slight nod, got out of bed. There was a determined look on the face of the small boy wearing nothing but rags.

Id, who left the chief’s house, visited the older man’s log cabin in the northern area of Derevnya. The older man was known to be eccentric in the village. Owing to his character, his former neighbors, who had lived in the northern fenced area together with him, had left him one by one, and he lived all alone. But the older man was the only one in the village without dependents. In other words, his cabin was the only place where Id could have his way, to stay in Derevnya. Not caring if the villagers on the watchtower guards saw him or not, he entered the northern area. Now, Id had to persuade the older man to let him live in his house by any means.

It was a thunder-like shout that greeted Id, who entered the gate of the wooden fence carefully.

“These damn kids! Walking in and out of here so brazenly, even disregarding the eyes of the villagers!”

Id winced at the man’s words and stopped walking.

“Fucking hell! Will you only start listening once you are beaten half to death?!”

The log cabin door opened to the harsh words of the man with a thick club in his hand. He ran out violently but, having seen Id alone out there, he flinched. He seemed to have heard of what happened to Id recently.

“It’s you. Get out of here. It’s not a place for you to be.”

Id plopped to his knees.

“Please take me in.”

The sole inhabitant of the northern area stared at Id incredulously.

“What did you say?”

“Just for five years. If you let me live with you for five years and I became a teenager, I would never bother you again.”

The man shook his head sternly.

“Why should I take care of a little boy like you?”

Id appealed desperately.

“I’ll never be a burden. I can do the laundry and cook. And I won’t ever annoy you.”

The man recoiled. He was well aware of how Id had lived after his mother had become bedridden. It was well known that he was a hardworking child who was in charge of all of the housework on top of taking care of his mother, who could not get out of bed by herself.

“I can do the housework well. I can fetch water from the stream and clean the house and garden as well. I’ll do everything you need me to. Just let me live here.”

“What a load of crap!”

Though he looked a little intrigued by the offer, the old man remained stubborn.

“I don’t want anybody to come into my space. And I’ve done all of the housework well so far by myself. I don’t need you. Get out of here right now.”

“Please……”

Id was desperate.

“I can’t leave Derevnya like this. I am going to be expelled from the village tomorrow. I don’t want to leave this village now, when all of my happy memories with my parents are here. I can’t leave, not yet.”

An awkward expression appeared on the man’s face.

“This is annoying.”

“For five years, if it’s difficult, for just a couple of years, let me live with you. During that period, I can organize my feelings for my late parents.”

At this point the man was thinking of something else. Judging from the child’s character, he felt the boy might have a knack for the sword. If he’d had some patience and composure, he might have thought of teaching the boy.

‘He has the guts and the undisturbed mind. His character is ideal for learning swordsmanship……’

After shaking his head as if to wipe away his thoughts, he turned away.

“It doesn't matter what you want. Nobody’s allowed to come into my space.”

The man closed the door in Id’s face. It was apparent that he was no longer interested in talking. The boy bit his lip hard when he was left alone outside the house. He was in a situation where he no longer had any other options. For a long time, Id stood there with little movement.

Though Id did not make any noise, the man could feel the boy’s presence outside, but he decided to ignored it. He thought that the boy would leave soon, tired of waiting. Perhaps because he was stressed a little, caring about the boy too much, he felt sleepy. The man fell asleep shortly after.