I was waiting outside the inn when I saw two familiar silhouettes approaching.

"Hi, you two." I greeted the two approaching men.

"Hi, An," both Charles and Henri replied, "and where is the other?"

"You’re talking about Franq or Shawn?"

"Shawn, we’ve met Franq. He told us to wait a little bit for him. He will be late, but he’ll be there as promised."

"I see. Well, Shawn, I don’t know where he is. "

"He isn’t in?"

I shook my head, and answered, "No, Zaraha, this morning I was looking for him, since it seems that he has been nowhere to be seen since yesterday."

"Yesterday, you mean, since he told us to be here on "time"?"

"Yes."

"That dude got the nerve to be late to a meeting he himself warned us about not being late to."

Yesterday morning, while we were having I was having my breakfast with the trio, Shawn came to us with a task: to wait for him, the three of us, early in the morning here outside the inn, for apparently he needed our help for something.

We weren't told what he needed our assistance with; he just told us to show up and be on time, which we did.

I personally had no reason to show up for this, but didn’t have any particular reason to turn it down either. It was true that the last time he asked a service of me, it ended up being something I would wish I wasn’t involved in, but this time, since I was not the only one dragged in, I felt somewhat somehow safer.

"Got your breakfast, already?" Henri asked.

"Not yet, and you?"

"We did, but we won’t mind taking a second one." Glancing at the inn entrance, then around in search of Shawn, Charle said, "That will teach him to be late next time."

With that, we went into the Auberge. Upon getting in and making their usual greeting to everyone, well everyone present since both Madam and Nia were out for the market, leaving only Finn and Zaraha, we were immediately approached by a Zaraha looking for her idiot husband. These two weren’t married, not yet, but that was pretty much what they were. I’ve witnessed so many of their couple arguments that I no longer paid any heed to it and considered it a common occurrence that is to be used to.

And just like always, Madam asked her to calm down, and she did. She herself is clearly aware that being anxious about Shawn is a vain and fruitless activity that would only tire herself and the baby.

"Have you decided your order?" A familiar voice asked monotonously.

The voice belonged to one of the four other waitresses of the inn, if we count Zaraha as one. She had served us on numerous occasions.

Now that I think of it, Nia who up until now was mostly taking over what Zaraha couldn't do with her current condition, other than helping on the counter, extended the variety of the service she was offering to serve the restaurant from time to time when a waitress is needed.

"Mademoiselle Jenika, I need love, a place in your heart." Henri teased.

The woman was about to write out what Henri was about to order when she finally caught up to what he said. Her face shifted from an expressionless one to a very disgusted one, only to shift back to a more professional one. "We don’t serve that here, Sir. Please choose something from the menu. "

"Dein! You’re cold, Jenika. Remember when we–"

"I see the most expensive plate then, understood," she said, interupting Henri while writing down something on her note.

"Hey, that’s not-"

"And for you?"

"If I get the most expensive one Will I get —?"

"I see the most expensive one I hea—."

"No, I’ll take the plate of the day."

"Humph." Finally turning, to me, "And for you, An, have you chosen something?"

"Yes, I’ll get the same as Charle, please."

"Right away." She smiled before leaving for the kitchen.

"Hum." Both Henri and Charle hummed at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing, we just wondered what would happen if Rena were to hear what we just witnessed."

"Yeah, I wonder what she would think, huh?"

"What are you two talking about?"

"Come on, didn’t you see it?" He started to mimic exaggeratedly Jenika’s way of speaking, "And for you, An, have you chosen something?"

Yeah, I saw it too. When she spoke to you, she was all charming. Don’t play dumb, we know that you know. "

"Hum, is that so? To me it was more like I simply wasn’t teasing during her working time like you both did, and that she was just treated fairly like she would treat any other customer."

"Yeah, yeah. Continue to play dumb and we’ll pretend that we believe you. "

****

Later, somewhat after the three of us were close to finishing our breakfast, we noticed at the entrance the arrival of Franq, who, just like the three of us were, was questioned by Zaraha about Shawn.

He was done with Zaraha interogatory, so he came to us.

"Hi,"

"Hi, guys."

"Well, we did right to not dumbly wait for you and Shawn. You two sure aren’t what one would call

"a punctual folks."

He didn’t even take the seat we proposed and said, "Ah, well about that..." pointing at what were on top of the table, he asked, "Are the three of you done with this or not?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Then I guess we can get going then."

"Where to?"

"You’ll see, just let’s go if you’re done with this."

I remembered the last time I was told something like that, I didn’t like how it sounded.

"Okay, I guess."

Standing up, we all headed out, but as we passed by the counter, Franq summoned someone else.

"Finn, you’re going too."

"Where to?" The one to ask the question was not Finn himself, but rather, Zaraha herself.

"We're... going out, you know, tourism,"

"Tourism?"

"You know, to show An around."

This was clearly an excuse, and Zaraha clearly was not buying it.

"Then why taking Finn with you?"

"Well, this is a sortie between men, so I thought he too would like to join us. You know, I thought it would be fun for him. Right, would you like to go with us, Finn? "

"Yeah, I would like to go." the boy answered, clueless about what was going on but clearly excited about the going out part.

"Unless you need Finn for something, of course we can leave him to you." Franq said pulling a, in my opinion, quite a low blow, especially after having proposed the boy to go, already.

She was still unsatisfied, but still let us be, "Fine." You can take him. I’ll tell Madam once she’s back.

"

"Don’t worry, we’ll behave like good kids."

With that, we left the inn, with Franq leading us.

‘So you’re going to tell us where exactly you’re taking us?" asked Charle after some time.

"To where Shawn is. I’ve met him on my here. Instead of him picking us up, he tasked me to do it in his stead.

"Didn’t you, back in the inn, tell Zaraha that you didn’t see him?" Asked Henri Thinking the same, Charle added, Yeah, I heard that too...? "Did that idiot get into some sort of trouble again?"

To their question, Franq smiled and said, "No, don’t worry, he looked fine, and I doubt he was in any trouble of any sort. If he was, why did he request that I bring over the little Finn? He wouldn’t do that, wouldn’t he? "

Hearing that part about Finn, we all sighed audibly after a short while.

Even though it took us some time to think of it thoroughly, we all came to the conclusion that yes, that wouldn’t make sense if he would’ve asked Finn to come over if he was in some sort of trouble. He was undoubtedly the worst of the worst, but I doubt he would fall this low to meddle a child into one of his mess.

"Then why did you lie about not knowing about Shawn?"

"Beat me,... When I met him, he simply told me to take you to a certain place where we could all meet up and to not say a word to Zaraha if she were to ask anything about him, which I did. "

"What the hell is he up to again?"

"Let’s just hope nothing that will send him to jail again."

"Well, we’ll see once we meet him."

We walked on for several minutes across the street of the inner city, which is apparently where Shawn was waiting for us, at least this time not in the outer city. The street we took was familiar; it was the same one we took the last time Shawn and I went out. It led ultimately to the old man's shop, in front

of which, not surprisingly, we saw Shawn’s familiar silhouette waving at us, next to whom, on the ground, a variety of construction materials were wrapped inside a sack.

Just like last time, the shop was closed.

"Finally, here you guys are. I was beginning to think that you wouldn’t come."

"You have no right to complain."

"Say the man who didn't even show up to the rendezvous settled himself."

"Do you have any idea how early I woke myself up this morning, only to be dragged here and there without a single explanation given?"

"Yeah, you better have a good explanation for taking us here."

Both Charle and Henri retorted, one after the other.

"Hola hola, calm down you two. I can explain this. "

"You better be."

Come with me. I’ll think it would be easier to understand if I showed you four directly, and even little Finn. "Come on, follow me." He announced coming up to us and handing each one of us a hammer or a crowbar. He even handed one to Finn, who for some reason was clearly excited about what was about to happen.

Since he literally offered no other explanation, we simply slithered across several alleys only to end up on a sloping concrete path that I knew was leading and mostly used by those heading or descending from the noble district.

"It’s a couple of houses down the slope," Shawn said.

Following, we ended up, once again, in front of an alley, between two similar shambled houses but separated by a waist-level fence. The shambles of both houses were joined on the path of the said alley, causing a dead end to the alley between the two houses.

Jumping inside the left house property, Shawn announced, "Gentlemen, welcome to my new properties, and soon to be my future home. "

"You mean..."

"Yes, I've purchased this place. This house on your left and this house on your left are both mine.

What do you guys think? "

"I see... so that’s what your father talked about." Charle pondered this on his side.

We went onto the right house’s courtyard, which had looked abandoned for quite a while now, for anywhere on the courtyard that hadn’t been littered by shambles was invaded by weeds.

"Hey, Finn, don't get too close to the house; this thing is still falling apart."

"Okay," the boy said, retreating away from the house.

"I don’t know how much you paid for these two properties, but this does look like a nice plot considering how hard it is to purchase property in the inner districts lately, let alone one this close to the noble district."

"Yeah, it sure was hard," Shawn announced proudly. "and expensive as hell?" He boasted.

"How did this happen?" I asked about the houses states half-knowing the answer.

"Two years ago, when the calamities struck." Shawn said confirming what I immagined.

"I see."

The houses were quite similar in design; both were made of cinder block and appeared to be two-story structures, with half of the upper floors collapsing on themselves.

If I were to make a theory on how it happened, it would be that the chimney of the left house fell, not onto the house itself, but onto the right one, which triggered the right house to collapse onto the alley in between the two houses.

Since the house courtyard wasn’t particularly large, it didn’t take us long to be done inspecting the first one, so we went to the left one’s courtyard.

"Hey, Shawn, this is all cool, but I got to ask why did you buy two of these houses?" You plan to rebuild both?"

"Rebuilt?" He asked smugly, "Of course not." "It’s the inverse, Henri, the inverse."

"Oh, I see. "

"Hein, what do you mean?"

Even, I, tpp was confused by what he meant.

"We’re going to tear these two houses apart, raze them off this property, and rebuild a new house, sturdier and larger than these two."

Although these two houses were quite small individually, even though they would most likely be considered wealthy commoners here in the commoner district, if the two properties were merged, they would offer a large courtyard and enough room to establish a large and sturdy house.

"Oh, I finally get it. We're... Wait, what did you just say? "

It was also then that I too clicked.

"You heard me right, friend. You were wondering what I called you three four here for. Well now you know, we’re going to tear this already shambled house apart to rebuild mine. "

"Well, boys. I think we should get started now if we do wish to have it done by tonight. "

"What the hell?!"

"Wait-wait-wait! Did you happen to have wasted all your money on purchasing these houses so much that you don’t have a single penny left to build your house anymore? "

"Certainly not! But this is something I always wanted to do with my friends, tearing a house apart.

Don’t tell me that doesn’t excite you guys? "

"Not one bit."

"Same."

"Same here."

"Me neither." I joined.

"I want to." rejoiced Finn. For some reason, he seemed really excited about all of this.

"At last, finally someone with common sense. Come on guys, this is for my home. You aren’t going to let me do it all on my own, don’t you? After all we’ve been through together, " He said, reaching out for Franq's shoulder and starring at us straight in the eyes, one by one.

After a while, "You could’ve at least told me that I would be used as meunial slaves. I would’ve avoided bringing these clothes with me." Franq sighed at Shawn.

"That would’ve been the minimum decency." voiced the other too.

"But if I did, knowing you, I’m sure most of you would’ve pretended to be unavailable for some random reason."

"True enough."

"See."

"Is this why you didn’t want Zaraha to know where you were?" Wait, does she even know about this?

" Questioned Franq.

At that point, I, too, wondered the same thing.

This morning she seemed to be pretty clueless as to what this idiot was up to.

Smiling as if someone had figured out his secret, he said, "It’s as you’ve guessed, she doesn’t. She doesn’t even know that I purchased this property. "

"Why? Isn’t this for both of you and the child that is to come? " "

"This is my Vodiondry for her," he said, blushing red, seemingly embarrassed by his own words, something that I myself was not one bit expecting to see in this life.

I had no idea as to what that "Vodiondry" was, but at the mention of it, I saw the three others somehow coming to a certain realization.

Having spent time with the trio, I knew that in normal circumstances, the sight of Shawn blushing would’ve triggered them to roast him, but it wasn’t their reaction today.

"I see, that’s understandable." facing the first house, Franq said, "There is no way we would be done with this just today with just the four-no five of us."

"About that, it comes along at the very right timing." He said, pointing toward the road. "We’re not alone, boys."

He pointed to two horse-drawn carts, each ridden by three people, that had come to a halt in front of the properties. Two of the trio were young men who were in their late twenties to early thirties, and the last one, the one driving, was an old man in his sixtys.

I recognized them because they were among those from whom we had recovered money a few weeks ago. With them the money recovery went pretty smoothly since they were already expecting Shawn, so smoothly to the point that they were even voicing gratitude for the money lent. Back then, it was a welcome change compared to those who refused to pay back what they owned. Seeing them getting off of the cart carrying with them a sack full of tools like the one Shawn retrieved the tool he handed us, I remembered that these two were, from the look of the place we retrieved their money at, some sort of construction worker in the outer district.

"You made us wait, old man."

"Tsk, Shut up, I made it as fast as I could. "

"Is that so?", focusing his attention on the two young men, Shawn greeted "Gentlemen, thanks for coming today. I know how busy you are, and that these kinds of activities aren’t really among the things you usually do, but I’m sure this will be worth your time."

"It sure will. But I got to ask, are you sure you want to gift us these? "one of the young men said, pointing at the house in shambles." "That’s still enough reusable material to build another decent house."

Yeah, you can have every brick you can save out of these two houses. I don’t think I will need these anymore. I’m sure you two and your workshop will be able to find great use for them. In exchange, I will be counting on you two for the construction of my future house.

"Leave it to us." the two men in unisson promised.

"Old man. As I said this morning, what about the crater gold?"

"It’s already on the way. It will be here by tomorrow evening, I was told."

"I see. I guess that settles it then. Gentlemen, I guess it’s time for us to get on with the job that is waiting for us to be done."

***

(A few hours later.)

ripping a house apart.

That’s an activity I would’ve never thought I would ever take part in in my life.

Unlike what I thought it would be, the task of tearing the houses apart was more tedious than I imagined it to be. Most likely because I initially thought it would be to simply destroy the house and that’s all, but it turned out that in order for the two young men, who happened to be brothers, to collect the brick for themselves, the task of tearing the house apart had to be handled with minutiousness, and that happened to be quite a tedious task.

The brick had to be torn apart from the wall, and charged onto the cart.

"I was not born to do stuff like this." Henri whinnied, taking a pause against the fence between the two others.

"Neither was I." followed Charle.

"I can’t feel my hand no more, boys. Is this normal?" Franq asked.

"It will pass, Sir. It’s always like that the first time, "one of the young men said, carrying a stack of brick over to the cart.

"All you need is to push yourself, sir." "Eventually you will forget the tiredness and the numbness,"

added the other.

"If you guys say so, anyway, I’m getting hungry. Don’t you guys? "

"Yeah, me too."

" –But there is nothing to eat.

"You three, move your ass, you're setting a bad example for little Finn and even An," they said to Finn and me as we carried our own stack of bricks to the cart like the two brothers." Boys, look at how hard-working and productive they are." Shawn commented mockingly.

"You know what, Finn, I think it should be time for us to take a small pause too."

"Hey!"

He, just like most of us, was covered in sweat, yet he was hesitant for a moment before ultimately agreeing to accept that proposition.

"Yeah, welcome to you two. You were saying Shawn?"

"Hmph, whatever."

"I’m impressed by you two. You were holding on quite well." Franq complimented us. It was clear by the tone that he was mostly talking to Finn, "We did well to bring you along."

"Yeah, have you ever done that before, Finn, tearing a house apart?"

"No, never, but I’ve helped to build a house before."

"Oh. You did? "

"Yes, I helped my father and uncle build the inn back then, before it was renovated." the little boy proudly announced.

I knew very little about Finn's father, but if I had to guess who that uncle was, it would be Shawn’s father.

Looking back, this was most likely why Shawn insisted on bringing him along.

"Is that so?" We didn’t know that. "

"Madam never told us. I guess that means we have one more expert beside these two hardworking gentlemen with us."

"You forgot someone else," Shawn interjected.

"Who?"

"Me; I was there too when putting the first rock on the edifice that was once the "Auberge de Belltower."

"Ah, I almost forgot that you were most likely there."

As if reminiscing about the past, "How long was it? Three years ago, Back then, I was a tad bit younger than you were and yet I put in more effort than you guys are now. "

"Yeah, yeah, we believe you."

"Knowing you, you were more likely to cause more trouble than you were helping."

"That’s not true. Right, Finn? "

"I don’t remember... very well."

"Hey, Shawn," I asked, being curious about the thing since earlier, "What’s a Vodiondry? Shawn, you said that earlier, but what is that?"

The one to whom I asked, glared at me as if I had asked the only question I should’ve never asked.

Instead, it was Charle, the one who gave the speech. "You don’t know what it? Well, I guess it makes sense that you don’t know what it is. Well, think of it as some sort of gift. Generally, it's something you give to your lover’s parents for them to accept you as their son-in-law. For our precise case here, this house our beloved friend Shawn is trying to build is like a belated marriage gift for Zaraha."

A glance at Shawn’s face showed he was glowing red.

"What are you looking at?"

"You see, An, our friend Shawn over here, despite his outlawey face, is a big and old-school romantic."

"Shut up, Charle."

"But it’s true, though!"

"I think I get it, but is this Vodiondry specifically to be kept secret from the "bride," I asked, another detail racing through my mind.

"Oh, that."

It was Shawn who stepped forward to answer, "It is not." If what I wished to gift was something else, I would have no need to hide it from her. Let’s say this time it was because I wanted to keep it a surprise and that this is some sort of tradition we have in the family. "

"Madam and my Uncle, for example, the Auberge was meant to be Vodiondry, a gift from my uncle to madam. The inn was a long dream of theirs, so earning for years and building that inn, humble as it may have been back then, was for him his vodiondry for his wife. "

I noticed Finn was very interested in what he had apparently only recently discovered.

"I see. I think it’s clear now. "

"So what about you, An?"

"Me what?"

"When will you get Rena her vodiondry or does it have another name for your people?"

"I already told you that she and I are not like that."

"Oh, come on, we all-hum?"

The two young men came to us and announced, "I think both carts are charged enough. We will head back to the outer district, discharge what we’ve harvested so far, and return as soon as possible."

"I see. Take care on the road."

"Make it fast, boys; we are nothing without you. We need you." shouted Franq.

"We will." they said, before boarding their respective carts and leaving.

Seeing them leave like that, a thought swept by me.

"They will come back, won’t they?" Henri said, voicing exactly what I was thinking of.

"Hum,... I'm not sure," he said, looking at the half-deconstructed structure, then at the other untouched house, "but I don't think they'll abandon this job with this much brick to get for free." This must not be much for you, spoiled kid, but that still amounts to a little fortune for people like them. "

"Hey, Shawn, I’m no big expert but I have the strange impression that this house won't be built anytime soon, right?"

We haven't even finished "destroying" one of them yet, so I guess we're in for a good dozens of days with the foundation, walling, and everything else."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. How long? "

"And you plan to keep using us for the entirety of the construction work?"

"Yeah, of course. Wait– how long did you expect this to take when you agreed to assist?"

"-But I thought it would be shorter, at least three days."

"Two days," answered Franq.

"A day."Henri followed.

"I've never built a house before, so I don’t know." I confessed.

"What the hell!"

"Seven days," Finn said.

"That’s a house you’re building, not a chicken house." Of course, it would take at least a few weeks to be done. The one who spoke to neither of us or even Shawn, was the old man from earlier. Despite being merely at the property entrance, he overheard our discussion.

"Need help, old man?" Shawn proposed.

The old man was carrying a huge basket and a smaller one. If it weren’t for the fact that I knew he was using Aina, it would've surprised me how he was able to drag that thing over here.

"Do I look like I need help?" the old man answered sarcastically.

Despite the old man's answer, Shawn went to him to carry the basket for him.

"What about you young men, tired already?"

"Of course not, Grandpa. We’re just—"

"Spare them your criticism, old man." There is literally no one here that you can afford to scold, except maybe me. " Shawn said.

As a direct answer to Shawn’s words, the old man's gaze went straight onto me.

"I indeed see that."

"What about these old men?" he asked, pointing at the basket the old man carried.

I don’t know what exactly you guys are up to at your inn, but upon arriving at my shop I stumbled upon Philberta and the young lady accompanying her. So, I proposed delivering these to you.

What he was referring to by "these" were the contents of the basket he brought over. And I assumed the young lady accompanying Madam he was referring to was Nia.

For a moment, I was surprised by the mention of Madam, but then I realized that she most likely knew what Shawn was up to lately, which made sense given how frequently she has been supportive, or at least not as antagonistic as she used to be in his usual argument with Zaraha.

who was the one to unpack the content of the said basket, announced, handing each one of the bowls,

"To whoever earlier complained about being hungry, it’s time for dinner and lunch. We’ve still got a long evening and a night waiting for us today!"

"Damn, I’m hungry, but still, why did I agree to help in this madness?"

"Same here."

"Somehow, a part of me would’ve preferred that you would’ve led us into a fight or something; at least I’m sure I would've found a way to bribe my way out of it."

"Agreed."

"Just pipe down you three. We’ve only heard you three whining today."

***

Shortly after we were done with our lunch, the two young men were, and it was to wonder how they managed to unload the cart that fast.

Just like in the morning, we dedicated the rest of the evening to doing the same thing to the house. But compared to the morning, since most of us finally got the jist of it, the pace went faster than it did this morning. By the end of the evening, the first house was stripped of its four walls, leaving only the foundation, the simethereen, and a huge pile of random debris.

We were currently in the middle of the night. Above us, the sky had gone dark for a few hours already.

After having sent the two brothers away for today, we were now seated around a fireplace we lit where they used to stand just this morning.

"Damn, I’m beat." Henri sighed.

"So am I. I doubt I will even be able to stand up tomorrow."

"But at least we’re done with this one, right?"

"Yeaaaaaah."

"Aren’t you guys forgetting the floor?" Shawn reminded us, after having delivered several stomp onto the concrete ground beneath us

Oh, please, why did you remind me of that? At least let us enjoy our win, you damn killjoy. "

"I guess I can’t take that away from you. You five have been of great help." Looking one by one at each of us, he stopped at Franq, or to be exact, at Finn, who had now fallen asleep with his head on Franq’s lap.

"I think I kind of overworked the little Finn today."

"Yeah, you did."

"And not just him."

"Us as well," the others complained.

Yeah, yeah, I know. I still plan to overwork you guys tomorrow. " Once again, just like earlier, he looked at everyone to stop at me, "What have you gotten, you’ve been awfully silent today?" "Not that you are particularly talkative, but I didn’t even hear you voice a complaint or anything."

To Shawn’s words, the others silently agreed.

"It’s just that I didn’t have anything to complain about."

To be honest, I didn’t feel like I was particularly silent today.

"Eh, is that so? I was expecting the inver — "

Since he mentioned me being silent, I voiced out something I was curious about, "Say, Shawn, that old man this morning, who was he?"

"Oh, him? It took you a long time to ask the question. You’ve seen his shop, didn’t you? He is one of the first people Finn’s father used to work for upon arriving here in Beaufort before they managed to start up the business that is now the Auberge. My father happened to also help from time to time. It was there that I got to know him. He’s a whining old man most of the time, but he can be helpful when it comes to giving guidance and advice. Now that I think of it, he was the one behind the idea of me recollecting my father’s old debt since asking for a loan at the bank for someone like is quite a challenging matter.

"I see," he said, "Does it mean that the day we came to collect the money from your debts, the money you gave the old man, the one you used to purchase these properties?"

"Oh, that money? Well, the money I gave the old man was for something else. It was for the purchase of the construction materials for the house I plan to build. It cost a little fortune, but no matter how you think of it, Crater Gold is the way to go. "

"Oh, building a golden house, aren’t we?"

"Zaraha would be so proud to hear those words out of you," mocked Franq and Henri.

"Pipe down, you two!"

"Crater gold?..."

The sound was familiar. I think I’ve read that somewhere.

Charle seemed truly surprised to see me confused about what that "crater gold" could truly,"You really don’t know what it is?"

I shook my head.

"Well,..." It’s the material that noblefolk use to build their castles. It used to be quite expensive given that the country principaly known for its production went into a blank shortage. But recently, after the calamities, new ore veins have been discovered but the prices are still not something your regular commoner can afford. That’s actually impressive Shawn. You really plan to build your house out of it?

"Yes, I heard in prison how resistant that thing has been to earthquakes in the Felicité Duchy. In case of the dragons returning again, I can’t afford to let Zaraha and the baby stay in a house that is under the risk of ending up like that. " He said, pointing at the remaining shambled house. "I want them to have a safe roof and a wall to live under. That’s the least I can offer them. " Shawn stated solemnly.

It was without exaggeration a warm sight to witness, but also a comically funny one, especially coming from the mouth of someone like Shawn, and I wasn’t the only one to think so. After a short while, the four of us, Franq, Charle, and Henri, burst out in laughter at Shawn’s declaration.

"You bunch of bastards, what’s so funny?"

"Hahahahaha, nothing, I was just not expecting to hear something this cute, warm and responsible out of your mouth." I confessed.

"Hahaha... Hooooh my belly hurt,... but you know Shawn, it’s like An said. It was a surprise coming from you. It was a funny but heartwarming surprise. I think any of us can agree with that. Right guys?

"

The three of us nodded.

Shawn, clearly embarrassed by his own words and our comments, suddenly stood up.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"Since you guys started it, I guess I’ll better take it to the end. " He said, going to the baskets from this morning, he retrieved something out of the little one, which turned out to be a bottle of what seemed to be alchool and several glasses, which he came and handed one to each one of us.

"I don’t drink alcohol." I said, the moment he handed me mine.

"Just shut up and take it."

Left with no option, I accepted the empty glass.

Instead of starting to pour one for each of us, he stood there in front of the bonfire and announced,

"You know, guys, despite how ridiculous and cringy this might sound to you, I’m eternally grateful for your presence here."

"What, so suddenly, you’re drunk already?"

"Shut up, Henri, let me finish. When my father and I, along with Finn’s parents, arrived in this city, we, after having been exoded by fear of monsters, believed there was hope and fortune waiting for us inside those city walls, that soon we would be able to build a home for ourselves." But to be honest, it didn’t take us long, who used to live in a small village, to realize that maybe we were too optimistic.

Soon we found ourselves at the end of the short straw. My father and I had, to keep ourselves from starving, had recourse to thievery and robbery, for that seemed to be the only thing we were lucky at.

Slowly, we lost sight of Finn's parents, who, despite being in the same situation as we were, chose to follow their own paths. Years went by and calamities occurred. The little Finn lost his father, and at that moment, our two families once again converged. All that thanks to one boy, Ei. He saved me and my father, healed little Finn and his mother, all expecting nothing from us. I think it was the kindness Ei had displayed for us and Madam and little Finn that most motivated Father to change. "

"I myself saw him change as a person. I saw him reverting back to his full of hope self. Soon Madam’s inn had been rebuilt and our rat business flourished. Father believed that the money from this business would be best used to help people like us, who had abandoned everything in search of hope within these city walls, to help these people build a foyer for themselves. He did not live to see the result of his action, but upon collecting the money back from these people, I know for sure that his father would’ve been proud of what that money had accomplished in the lives of those folks. "

He went to Franq to pour his glass, then slowly went to the other. I think I’ve been very ungrateful. I am not a good person, yet in life I have been blessed with so many lucky encounters, blessed with so many reliable friends, and people who care about me. "Madam, Finn, Zaraha, Ei, Franq, Charles, Henri, Anson, who clearly at this point is done with my bullshit, and now you An," he said, pouring mine.

"I don’t know what you consider me, but I consider you a special friend of mine already. You are still creepy and all, but now I learned to appreciate your creepiness."

"Thanks, I guess."

"You are all special people to me. Every one of you, without exception, has seen the worst of me, yet still here you are. I've had plenty of time to think about it in my prison cell, and it's time for me to make a decision. I have a wife, a baby, and a child on my shoulders now, and it's time for me to build a foyer for my family, something I'd be proud to look at one day, to at least try to show you guys the best of me, because all you've seen is the worst of it." Pointing at the concrete ground and the yet untouched house, "I’m not a good person, but I’d like to be one. This, this is the beginning for me, the foundation of what I want to become, and today you guys helped me to build it." I couldn’t be more grateful to you guys for what you're doing for me now. "

"Sniff*"

"Man, look at what you’ve done." How am I supposed to be mocking you after such an emotional speech without looking like a complete asshole? "

"Then don’t." Pouring him a glassful of the alcohol bottle, he said, "Thank you guys, and to the future Shawn, cheers!" before gulping it down in one go.

Following his lead, we gulped in one go on our own.

"To the future Shawn, Cheers!"

I won’t comment much on the taste, but the moment that thing went through my throat, I was taken a series of violent coughs.

"Holy Hell! Didn’t you say you weren’t drinking? Why did you gulp it like that, that was not beer. "

"Pour him another one, Shawn,"

Immediately, Shawn poured me another one and was handing the drink to me,

"What the hell...?" No, than... cough!! " I refused.

Don’t worry An, this will relieve your throat of the painful heat and the coughing. Another shot or two, and you won’t be coughing anymore.

"I have a serious doubt about that."

"This technique has been used for generations in our family." Handing the glass once again to me, Shawn added, "Thrust us, brother."

I know, I know, I shouldn’t have thrust them.

Everything after was dark and oozy.