4.1

“Meli, Meli, where are you—”

With a crisp crunch from the ground, John halted his footsteps on the fresh grass and stared at the scene before him.

The little girl that he had been looking for was in a squatting position while a stream of tears flowed down her small redden cheeks.

In front of Meli was a patch of ground where soil had been freshly dug compared to the surrounding soil, it was a little garden where she had been maintaining in secret. At the surface of the raw patch of brown soil, small soft stems of plants had sprouted.

So why was the little girl in tears?

Upon closer inspection, the growing plants were shriveled, bodies craned above the ground where they had once erected so proudly from.

No doubt, the plants succumbed to the harsh environment.

Quietly, John walked up to Meli and placed a hand on her head, stroking her gently for her failed attempt.

He knew that Meli had kept something like this a secret from everyone, she probably wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps and learned about growing crops on her own volition, and to surprise everyone when she had successfully done so.

“So this is why you finish you lunch quickly these few days.”

“Hic...hic… Brother John?” Meli muffled her sad whimper when she felt his warm hand on her.

John stretched out his free hand and aimed at the shriveled plants.

“[Heal].”

The soft blue glow emerged from his palm and shifted towards the plants before them. The plants, which have shriveled and wilted from the harsh weather to regain their supple self, and rose from the ground like a spring that got released.

“Wow…”

Meli’s face glittered as she witnessed the revival of her fallen plants.

“I think plants like these are more suited for the indoors. Sudden drops in temperature are detrimental to their growth. Put them in a pot and then move them inside the house. Until they have become large enough, you should keep them inside the house.”

“Okay! I will go do that right now!” Meli said energetically, standing up straight.

“It doesn’t have to be now. Meli, we are going to town to get some things. My magic should keep them alive until then. Worse case, I’ll just cast my healing magic on them.”

“The town!?” Meli threw her hand in the air and bounced. “Will brother John finally go shopping for shoes with me? You promised to. That would be amazing!”

“Shoe shopping?” after pondering for a second, he slammed his right fist on his open hand. “Oh yeah! I remember. You mentioned that your shoes are hurt your feet when you wore them for long periods of time the other day.”

“You said you will pick one for me!” the little girl beamed, showing off a cute smile with all her small white teeth exposed, radiating pure joy.

“That is, if we happen to find something that is affordable,” John rubbed her head once more before they left the little garden.

“Yes, brother John!”

Once Meli had returned with John, they met Itzella and Mera who was at the front of the house, properly dressed and ready to go.

Mera wore a red frilled skirt that accentuated her warm ruby eyes in their entirety, her face had a light blush when John asked her about her change in outfit.

“Shall we go then?”

At Itzella’s question, they nodded and moved to an open-air carriage that had been stationed 30 meters away from the house.

Once the four of them had boarded the wooden coach, the driver cracked his whip on the two stallions and started their journey to Purefold Town.

“So this is the boy, Itzella?” the driver spoke while he held the reigns to the horses.

“Yes, John Sarvod from our eastern relatives.”

“Great job young lad, you will be going places with power like yours.”

“Ahahaha, thanks...”

According to the Miros, the news of John’s sudden appearance along with Itzella’s miraculous recovery was quickly made known to the nearby villagers. It received many praises and caused many of them have personally visited the Harvest’s residence just to pay the recovered Itzella a visit.

Since John had foreign looks and a much different background from anyone within the empire’s jurisdiction, everyone in the family had agreed to claim that he was their distant relative who moved in with them.

He continued to nod along at the driver’s wordsuntil the driver finally lost interest in him and spoke to Itzella instead. He then shift his gaze to the open ground where grassy hills and the 6 meter tall trees in the distance, enjoyed the light rocking of the ride until he noticed Mera who was behaving erratic.

She kept glancing at him and quickly look away when he tried to return the gaze.

“Hmm?” he raised his brows but got no response from her. “Hey, Mera. Are you fine? You have been acting a little weird earlier, if it’s because of the dress—”

“Wha— What? No, no, I am absolutely fine! You don’t have to worry about me!” a flustered response came as though she was embarrassed that her thoughts was read by him.

“If it’s making you uncomfortable, no matter cute that dress makes you, I’ll be worried.”

“Cute? You think it’s cute!?”

Mera’s lack of self confidence when it came down to her appearance was due to Miril’s constant teasing as far as he understood.

Though incomparable to the elves’ elegance, there was homely feel that he sensed from Mera, be it her thoughtful actions or speech, it all represented her as someone who enjoys spending quality time with others.

“Yeah, that’s mostly because of how you are. No doubt you have that wholesome aura about you, that itself is cute, I think.”

At his his compliment, Mera placed her two hands and hid her face from him as steam radiated from her beet red face.

“Fwaahhh…”

“T-that was just the truth, you don’t have to think too much about it.”

Itzella who had been watching Mera’s little squirm all this time spoke up. “John, go easy on Mera, would you? She might be reliable when it comes to housework, but a compliment like that could leave my poor daughter sleepless.”

“No, no, that’s not what I was trying to do, I mean…it is true isn’t it Itzella? She takes good care of herself and others, I am sure she would make a good partner in the future. I mean, I like things like this, so maybe it only applies to me.”

Pop!

The fuse to Mera’s brain gave out, and the girl passed out from the euphoria from the unintentional compliment that came from John.

“Hey Mera! That was not a compliment! Stop thinking too much about it…”

“Kuhuhu, nice one young lad.”

“Ah whatever…” he gave up on reasoning his poor choice of words, it only did the opposite of his intentions, even the driver had mistaken him speaking openly for flirting with Mera.

Drawn towards the ruckus that John caused, Meli who was watching the scenery tugged at his shirt.

“Then, what about me, brother John? What about me?”

“What do you mean?”

“What part about me do you like?”

“Umm… I... Let’s see…” he placed a finger at his chin. “You have great initiative, that along with how energetic you are, that makes you a fun person, I think?”

Meli nodded fondly to his words, accepted them with great pleasure. “Thank you brother John!” the little girl threw herself at his torso and wrapped her delicate arms around him.

“!!!”

John tensed himself as he brace Meli’s impact. That behavior was so sudden that he didn’t know what to. “I...uhhh…”

Though he gave her occasional head rubs from time to time—which Meli had enjoyed and requested him to do so—he became tense when he was the receiving end of such intimate acts. They reminded him of how people in his past was no longer by his side.

He looked at Itzella and signaled his eyes at the woman for her help with her daughter on him.

“Itzella...”

“Oh my, not only you have charmed Mera, and now Meli decided that she will stick onto you. What will I do when my daughter leaves my side...hic…” Itzella woefully brought a finger to wipe away the invisible tear that formed on her eye.

John rolled his eyes at the apathetic woman and let out a defeated exhale.

The four of them finally arrived in Purefold, after they booked with the driver on a return time, the four of them made their towards the market, where various of goods, all perishable and durable were sold.

Mera who had recovered from her shock excitedly grabbed John’s hand in the middle of the road and pointed at tall two story building located at the opposite at the far end of the town itself.

“That’s the adventurer’s guild that I keep telling you about. Talented individuals like you go there and take on quests that the locals would put in and earn their living by helping people out!”

The adventurer’s guild was decorated with metallic shields and swords that had seen considerable use, though located a great distance from where they were, the building stood out among all the other buildings surrounding it.

The reason for Mera’s excitement was understandable.

Parac Village was located at the very edge of the jurisdiction of the empire, though they paid taxes as a part of the empire, villages like them never received much protection from the imperial soldiers but relied more on adventurers for protection when monsters appeared.

Such adventurers naturally became the protectors in minds of villagers like her, garnered respect their respect and eventually cause enough population to form Purefold which was solely governed by adventurers.

“And, right over there, the street beside the guild, that is the place where most of the blacksmiths are Also, there’s an empty field behind the guild, which we can’t see for now, that’s where they train people, usually the copper plates and silver plates. I wonder what rank would your be when you get tested... Maybe gold? That would be amazing if you started off as gold, I heard that people who start off like that would have powers equal to the heroes themselves if they kept training…”

John blinked at Mera’s unrivaled enthusiasm.

Surely, he knew that Miril, Mera and Meli were all invested in adventurers and their line of work, but to see her perk herself whenever she mentioned something that excited her was something of a sight itself.

“You are pretty chatty today. Maybe you wanted to be an adventurer too?” he purposely jested

“J-John! I was thinking about how your future could be! You knew that becoming an adventurer takes a long time, and most of them are in their late twenties when their talents develop or become stable. Not everyone is brilliant...like you.”

Mera quickly became silent, her gaze away from him, her grip on his hand loosened.

“Fine, fine, you are right and I am wrong. It is my fault for not considering what you were thinking,” with apology that, he placed a hand to his waist and gave her a deep bow. “Forgive me, Lady Mera, for I am ignorant of your intentions.”

“Jeez, you and your act of innocence. As long you understand… I was thinking about the future, you know? I know I am not good at it but that’s the best I could do...”

Hearing her daughter complaining, Itzella chimed in. “John could work in the farm if he can’t make up his mind to what he wants to do. But Mera, someone talented like him don’t often stay at a place like our village for too long. Look at your brother…”

“I knew that… That’s why, I think...we can still see him even if he leaves, if he becomes an adventurer…” her face darkened when she thought about both her brother and John had left their house. “I don’t know...”

“Hey Mera, I still have no idea what to think for now. But I am sure that I won’t cease my contact with everyone if I left, I am sure that’s how your brother thinks too. After all, you are all my family right?”

Mera nodded in silence, a small smile came to her face but quickly disappeared, she continued staring into the space in front of her while they walked.

“That’s right, Mera. John is not in a rush, he will be with us for a long time until he made up his mind.”

“Mommy, we are at the market now.”

“Oh are we now are we? Let us go get the vegetables while your sister comes to her senses,” with Meli in her hand, Itzella had walked towards a vegtable stall and began picking the assortment of tomatoes, celeries, and carrots that were on display.

In front of them was a large space filled with makeshift stalls, merchants and grocers with their strategically placed goods were all around, doing their best to garner attention from potential customers.

The various stalls there were abundant, from clay vases that were decorated with bright paints, jewelry in tarnished conditions, small weapons that had seen light use, to vials that contained bubbling liquids, whatever item was in demand, the merchants of Purefold provided.

It was a consumer’s heaven.

He let let out a grin, having holed up in the house with his mind obsessed over that incident, for him to watch massive amounts of people trading and bartering at the same time was like having sweet clear river water running down a dry chapped throat.

This scene that he got to witness now was well worth the journey alone.

He turned towards Mera who was still staring into empty space.

“Hehehe…” a funny thought came to him. John extended his index finger and poked at her cheeks.

“Gyah! John! Don’t do that!”

“Come on Mera, you are the one who wanted to show me around. I can’t have you dozing off on me when we are already here.”

“Yes, I am sorry… I was just…”

“It’s fine. I get where you are coming from. If its anything, you guys are the only place which I can call home. I don’t have anywhere to go besides where we live. So yeah, relax.”

He gave another poke to her cheeks, she giggled and slapped his hand away in a playful manner. “Jeez, you don’t have to keep doing that, I believe you.”

In a decent amount of time, they bought the food that was needed for the week, all that was left on Itzella’s checklist was the new cookware that she wanted, which John will be helping to carry it all the way to where the carriage was.

Just as they were about to move to the final stall, Meli who was pinching at the hems of Itzella’s shirt let go of her grip and ran towards a shop.

“Look, brother John! There are shoes over there!”

“Meli, wait, you shouldn’t... John, could you—”

“On it, Itzella.”

As quickly as the youngest daughter took off, he gave an affirmative reply and dashed off behind Meli. John, who carefully watched over Meli had anticipated her to do something as rash as this.

But he did not expect her to run this fast.

Meli’s patience had worn out after the long shopping they did.

She had been eagerly looking around for stalls that had shoes of that fitted her ever since she set foot in Purefold Town. But when the ready made shoes for sale in the stalls they visited were only in adult size her anxiety worsened.

Afraid that this was her only chance to purchase a new pair of shoes with her brother John she dashed off the moment she saw shoes of her size were being sold.

Meli navigated her way through the packed walkways of the market, she maneuvered her small body and slipped through the crowd with unrelenting speed, dodging and crouching at everything in her path.

She giggled when she saw her brother John catching up to her.

“Brother John, hurry up! It is just right—”

While she was not looking, Meli hit her leg on a wooden crate and stumbled.

In her attempts to not fall to her face, she hit a nearby barrel assorted with weapons, toppled it and causied the whole barrel of razor sharp blades to cleave at her direction, sealing her doom.

“Meli! Watch out!”

CLAAANGG!

“!!!”

“Gah! Ack!”

Blood spilled on the spot where Meli once stood. Her body laid weakly on the ground while sticky warm blood soaked her clothes.

“By the Angels!”

“Someone, hurry! Get a healer!”

“What just happened!?”

“I told you to not put those weapons there! They are too heavy! And now someone is hurt! How do you plan on explaining this!?”

“Do you think I want this to happen!? The lad jumped beneath them out of nowhere!”

A crowd bickered around her, she had her eyes shut, fought the urge to not cry, she waited for John to come and rescue her, to heal her from the scars that the blades had carved on her in this warm and soft place. His healing magic would definitely work on her, all she had to do was to stay put and not let her injuries get any worse...

Warm and soft place?

That couldn’t be right, there was no possible way for stone pavements to feel soft at the base of her skull, acting as a cushion to break her fall. And what’s more, she besides the initial shock that surged through her body when she saw the weapons came down at her, she did not feel pain but a warm breath hitting her face.

Meli slowly opened her eyes to assess the truth.

It was John.

He wrapped her with all his body, shielded her and fully took the cleaves of the blades on his back, crimson liquid flowed from him as he protected her with all he could.

“[H-heal],” he gritted his teeth and cast his magic. “H-hey, Meli don’t w-worry I won’t let these nasty things hurt you. Arrggghh…that hurt more than I expected, s-should have used the spell before I dived. How are you doing?”

He remained as still as a grand pillar, acting as Meli’s meat shield while the blades on his back slowly popped and dropped to the ground with loud metallic clangs.

“B-brother John… I-I…am so sorry,” Meli’s eyes became wet underneath John’s soft embrace.

He had leapt for her the second the weapon barrel started to tip and protected her from danger even if it meant taking damage. He could have let the weapons hit her and used his magic after, but he didn’t. He couldn’t bare a single moment of Meli being scarred by the pain that would soon follow.

“It’s okay, Meli. I am fine, it just stings a little. I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

Under his sudden reflex, he may have tackled her too hard and damaged her. But his face softened when he saw Meli shook her head and bawled.

“No… I-It’s all my fault… I-I…” Meli blamed herself. “Y-you didn’t h-have to… You s-should have left me… I-I...”

“It’s okay. It’s okay,” he smiled kindly, calmed her as she trembled in his arms. “You are safe with me, Meli. I will protect you.”

“I-I’m sorry… Waaah!!! I-I really am…!”

She remained in John’s embrace for a long time until her crying had stopped.