Warning: the following chapter contains mentions of child sexual abuse. Nothing explicit is shown/described, but there are some broad descriptions of injuries sustained such as broken leg/ribs.
When Grandpa was Young
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“Why did you…” Jesse just opened his mouth to ask a question but was interrupted by Xu Jun.
“Did you want to ask why I would give such a precious alchemy material to the bishop?”
Jesse nodded.
Unicorns were widely known as the most noble of all species. However, not even they would just hand out their own belongings to someone they had no relation to.
Humans and the unicorns were different. Whether they were a magical beast or a beastman, unicorns generally stuck together due to their low reproductive capabilities. They greatly valued their fellow unicorns: it was not an exaggeration to say that unicorn beastmen could treat another’s parents as their own parents, or others’ children as their own children.
However, even if this was the case, such camaraderie only existed within their species. Furthermore, although unicorns were few in number, they still had multiple tribes.
Like humans, they lived in communities scattered across the entire continent. So let us ask, what relation did the humans of Mentamar City have with the humans of the Golden Flag Empire’s northern region?
The two communities lacked any blood ties and had spent little time with each other. They could not open their hearts up to each other, so what kind of relation could they possibly have?
Would the unicorns who lived in the Snowy Peaks give unconditional aid, like Xu Jun had done, to the unicorns of the Moonlight Coast?
Jesse wanted to listen to Xu Jun talk. He wanted to figure out what kind of person this Brave was.
Xu Jun let the two children run ahead to lead the way. He gave them a few copper coins so that they could buy some bread to bring to their grandfather. The two children had wanted to refuse the money, but Xu Jun told them that he wanted to stay in Mentamar City for a while, and just so happened to need two guides. The money was a fee for them to act as his guides. The two children did not doubt him, not considering why a person would ever need two guides. They ran off to buy bread while smiling from ear to ear.
“We should buy white bread for grandpa. . .”
“No, Ludenar, white bread is too expensive.”
In the end, the two children purchased two coarse-grained loaves from a bread vendor. The loaves were large enough for a man in their prime to eat for three entire days. The loaves’ charred crusts revealed that the bread was baked from wheat flour mixed with coarse grains.
This time, Xu Jun did not stop them, nor did he give them extra money to buy white bread with.
“Did you think I got attached to the people of this city after we arrived? Did you think I helped them because I pitied their circumstances? If you thought so, then you’d be wrong.” Xu Jun slowly enunciated.
Truthfully, even before Jesse had asked him this question, he had asked himself: why? Why, given that he knew the Moger Stone’s worth, had he gifted such a high-grade alchemy material to the archbishop? Was it because he had obtained the Stone with such ease that he simply did not care?
Of course not. His knapsack contained countless materials, ranging from low-grade materials he obtained when he just started out, to high-grade materials that he poured blood, sweat, and tears into obtaining. The seafloors, forests, deserts, and subterranean regions; memories were attached to each of these items.
Thus, Xu Jun laid out his true thoughts. “Jesse, perhaps you can’t understand this, but us humans are different from unicorns or dragons. Our lives are short and our bodies are frail. Most humans only live a few decades before dying; this is inevitable. Although I might be able to defeat the Demon King, I might also be incapable of helping my fellow humans. Therefore, whenever I encounter small matters like these, I can’t help but want to offer aid. —However, I also made some calculations. There’s no one in this city who can beat me, so even if I show off some good stuff, I’m not afraid of getting robbed.”
At first, Jesse felt moved. Then the last two sentences hit and he had to take a deep breath. “. . . Hey.”
What do you mean there is no one in the city who can beat you? Lance and I will string you up and beat you like a pinata!
He then lowered his head and glanced at Lance. Fuck, this damned child was looking on with envy at the two human pups running up ahead!—If a fight were to actually break out, Lance would not help him! After all, he considers Xu Jun to be his dad!
The corners of Jesse’s mouth twitched. He thought to himself, thankless brats are truly frightening.
When Xu Jun glanced over and saw that Jesse’s complexion seemed off, he smacked his forehead. “Oh, did you want some Moger Stone too? Brother, if you want it, just tell it to me straight. I still have a few boxes full of them. . . let’s make an exchange. I’m not asking for much, just a tuft of unicorn tail hair. Would you be willing to give some to me?”
Finally, Jesse could no longer hold it in. squeezed out just two words from his clenched teeth, “Fuck off!”
Damned hero! How dare you flaunt your wealth before me!
After the two children purchased their bread, they began acting as Xu Jun’s newly hired guides. The children were now much more relaxed when talking to Xu Jun, especially the young girl. She was finally brave enough to raise her head and meet Xu Jun’s eyes, but her voice was still as quiet as a mosquito’s buzz. The boy’s name was Ludenar, and was around seven years old. Seven years ago, he had avoided the fate of freezing to death, or getting eaten by wild dogs, thanks to his current grandpa picking him up. The girl was six years old, and her name was Lily. Her name had been given to her by her poor mother who died from childbirth complications. Her father was a drunkard. Two years ago, he had fallen asleep on a main road after drinking too much. Laying there, his clothes were stolen off his back, his copper coins were stolen from his person, and even his life was stolen from him. Afterwards, little Lily began living with the neighboring grandpa and big brother Ludenar.
The children’s eyes were crystal clear and contained no evil nor any ugly emotions. As such, Ludenar and Lily told these matters to Xu Jun and the rest as if they were just narrating a tale.
Ludenar: “The kids on the street say we’re bad, and that we only ended up like this because we were cursed. They call us little demons. Still, they can’t beat us in a fight, hahaha!”
Lily had also opened up. “When Ludenar fights, I help keep watch for him. Big brother. . . no, uncle, we are super familiar with this place. We know all the streets here.”
Xu Jun could tell the young girl was attentive. As she called him big brother, she took a look at Lance, and quickly switched to calling him uncle. Afterwards, she mentioned how they were familiar with the area; was she worried about being a bad guide and getting “fired”?
She was a relatively clever, yet still quite naive, little girl.
A child like her should have been being coddled by her mother and father.
They walked into the slums; its distance from the church was only three streets or so. The houses lining the street appeared vastly different from those outside and the people’s expressions also greatly differed. Mentamar city’s citizens lived in stone houses, with most homes being single-story or double-story houses. There were also some four or five-story buildings. Most of the structures here, however, were shacks. The roofs were built out of wood, and in place of doorways, some hung tarpaulins to cover the entrance while others used fur pelts with a layer of tarpaulin underneath. Such setups could just barely block out the wind and rain.
“Uncle, we’re here. This is my house.” The young boy, Ludenar, upon seeing that Lily had changed how she addressed Xu Jun, had also changed how he addressed him, even though he didn’t know why Lily had done so. Their house was in a better condition compared to the neighboring houses. At the very least, the fur pelt they used was still relatively intact. Before, this would have been a point of pride for him, but now that he was bringing neatly dressed grownups to his house to play (because of Lance’s adolescent build, he was also lumped in as a grownup). . . he suddenly felt a bit embarrassed (:зゝ∠) .
The person inside the shack heard the noises outside and pushed aside the pelt covering the doorway before walking out. The person who exited was a stooped and feeble old man; however, his gait was steady and his hands did not shake. Upon seeing Xu Jun and the rest, the old man’s eyelids shook fiercely while his mouth began to scold the children. “You’re back? Ludenar? Where did you drag Lily off to this time?”
Although this elderly man looked like any ordinary old man off the street, and was dressed in ragged and filthy clothes, Xu Jun could tell in an instant: this elderly man was a veteran adventurer.
How could an adventurer be the same as an ordinary person? Even if he was old and dying, his bearing and movements still differed from the norm.
Of course, most people would not be able to tell.
Ludenar and Lily ran over, latching onto the elderly man. “Grandpa, we’re back! We brought medicine! And a big loaf of bread! —And it’s not black bread! We’re not eating black bread today!”
“Oh, oh!” The old man’s aged face wrinkled into a smile, resembling a crumpled flower. “I see, grandpa won’t have to eat black bread because of you two. —Go, go inside to play.”
The two children ran inside. Xu Jun then heard a burst of clanging sounds; maybe something had been knocked to the floor. Perhaps the old man, Xu Jun, and the rest should have stood inside the room, but both sides were silent. The old man closed his eyes for a while before opening them once more, seeming as if he had steeled his resolve. “I knew such a day would come eventually.”
Xu Jun was completely baffled. Meow, meow, meow? What kind of opener was this?
His elderly eyes were clouded, and his cheek muscles were drooping. The old man seemed to have aged ten years. “Let your children enter the house; there are some things that they shouldn’t hear.”
Unexpectedly, he was referring to Lance, who had the appearance of an adolescent.
Lance nodded, appearing quite happy. With a simple “dad, I’m going in,” he followed the other two children into the old man’s small home. This child, having watched Ludenar and Lily happily running, jumping, and buying bread the entire way here, could no longer resist the urge to play.
This was the downside of being an only child, and one of the few children in his tribe. Ever since Lance was young, he had never played with kids his age.
The old man began to tell a tale to Xu Jun and Jesse. . . mainly Xu Jun.
“一Just from your getup, I can tell. Youngster, the knight emblem hiding under your leather armor betrays you. A corner of it was exposed; although it might be old, it’s still gold. . . a Golden Knight would never come to the slums. I know what you came here for.
“Forty years ago, when I was only twenty, I lived in the southern region of the Golden Flag Empire. My younger brother and I believed in the Bright God. Both of us were adventurers, but we also did mercenary work. Every month we would go to pray at the church in city centers. If we were in a tiny region without a church, we would visit a monastery, my brother and I both.
“I still remember, that afternoon was a gloomy one. My brother and I had rushed to the markets to sell off the hooves of the grassland bison we had hunted. We made six silvers and fifty coppers. We decided to split the money in half. We would keep one half, while the other half would be donated to the monastery’s offering box; we were devout believers. Can you envision it, youngster? Two dirt-poor adventurers displaying such piety? As we arrived at the monastery’s door, we even joked about how business was good today, and that the God of Riches was on our side. . . . It hadn’t been a day of worship, so no one was in the main hall. As we threw money into the offerings box, we heard someone scream from below the floorboards. It sounded like a child’s scream; however, no one was present. Everything was empty from the inner room to the reception hall. However, we could clearly hear someone calling for help. Their calls were extremely weak; had we not both been warriors with senses much stronger than the average person, perhaps we wouldn’t have heard it at all.
“We then discovered that the inner room contained a hidden door. Pushing it open. . . we found two clerics. Indeed, such a small place had no bishops. These two clerics appeared dignified, yet they were using brutish methods. . . to rape a child. Can you believe it? Sir, we saw such a vile, disgusting scene with our own two eyes. The child was too young for us to be able to tell their gender. There was another child collapsed on the floor, lying in a pool of blood. They were no longer moving and it was hard to tell if they were dead or alive. I. . . I don’t quite remember what happened afterwards. All I know is that in the end, I was left standing, the two clerics were dead, and my brother, with tears streaking down his face, was dying from a metal candlestick which had pierced his side.
“The two children were already at death’s door. When I looked at them again, I discovered that the collapsed child had died. The child was a girl, only six or seven years old. The other was a young boy. His legs had fractured and his ribs were broken. He looked at me and said ‘uncle, it hurts so much.’ Only then did I realize who these two children were. One was a beggar from the area, while the other was an orphan who had been brought here. Usually they were covered in grime, but on that day, I couldn’t even recognize them because of how clean they were. . . . I buried their corpses in the garden, but I didn’t have time to bury my younger brother. Other people were arriving at the monastery. Being covered in blood, I stood out, but I still charged my way out of that small town. Afterwards, I went into hiding, and have been living the life of a fugitive ever since, here in Mentamar City.”
The old man finished talking, and visibly relaxed. “Youngster, you must have come to catch me. I know that well. . . however, before you do so, could you let me find some place for Lily and Ludenar? They’re still too young. . . I need to bring them to another city. They can’t stay in Mentamar City.”
“The Bright God Church. . . is not the true light. The bishop, the clergy, they appear dignified, yet they use abhorrent methods to harm the common people. I need to take them away. Sir Knight, I won’t run. I’m already old. Even if I must pay with my life for killing those clerics, I would not be losing much.”
The old man closed his eyes, awaiting Xu Jun’s “judgment.”
Yet Xu Jun’s jaw fell in shock, stupefied and at a loss for words. WTF?! What was the meaning of this?!
This darling— this darling baby only came here to check on things out of worry for these two children and the grandpa they spoke of!
Why did you suddenly tell me all of this?! —Elder, what are you hoping for me to do?! How could I possibly apprehend you! If it had been me instead of you back then, I would’ve been even more vicious!
Author has something to say:
The Bright God Church in this story is a relatively standard religion: people of faith, are in the end, still people. There are good people, there are also good people; even more so though, there are people who are neither good nor bad.
Had Xu Jun encountered this kind of situation himself, his heart probably would have blackened. . . even though he isn’t religious, and wouldn’t have experienced the same collapse of faith that the two adventurers had.
What I’m trying to say, readers, is that there are still many good people in this story! Don’t have your mood ruined by a few scumbags! Haiya, while drafting this chapter I was nervous that it would be too depressing. . . .
But this is just how the story is. . . .
Miyorf Tries Translating 
I’ve been getting catholic vibes for a while from Bright God Church…
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