Childhood Friends

The mother's gaze fell on her youngest daughter's hands, which were completely out of place for her age. Every crack and every swelling on them felt like a needle piercing her heart.

She reached out her trembling hand and gently touched the wounds. Her throat felt constricted, and after a long while, she let out a long and heavy sigh.

In the candlelight, she could see the burning expectation in her son's eyes and the hopeful look in her youngest daughter's eyes, which were trying to suppress her grievances.

The mother had been persuaded, but her biggest worry was still safety. "But... I've heard there's always fighting in that border region... What if, what if those Sauron Barbarians attack again? It's too dangerous!"

"Mom! You don't know!" Tommy puffed out his chest, his voice filled with pride, "We just won a great victory! Our Lord Karl held off a hundred thousand Sauron army with just a few hundred men, and routed them! Now the news has spread all over the north that Carnford is the safest place in the Northern Territory! Safer than here in the village!"

The mother's gaze lingered on the rough stone wall, her fingertips unconsciously tracing a familiar scratch on the tabletop—a mark her father had carelessly left years ago.

Her tone had softened, yet a lingering reluctance remained. "But this house... it was built stone by stone by your father, it's his life's work..."

Tommy leaned closer to his mother, his voice gentle yet firm. "Mom, think about it, if Father were watching from heaven, knowing we had the opportunity to live a warm and well-fed life in Carnford, he would be the first to approve of our leaving. Isn't his greatest wish that we could all be alright?"

He grasped his mother's rough hand, his eyes earnest. "Let's go, Mom, let's start a new life together."

The mother remained silent for a long time, her gaze shifting from Tommy's face to her youngest daughter Sarah's expectant eyes, before finally looking around the house once more, a house filled with memories yet also filled with poverty.

Finally, she took a deep breath, as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders, and nodded gently. "You're right... your father... he'll understand. Okay, we'll go with you."

"That's great!" Tommy's face instantly lit up with a bright smile, as if all the fatigue of the past few days had been swept away. "You guys just pack a little for the next few days, don't bring too much stuff. Carnford can provide everything. I still need to complete the Lord's mission, we'll leave together in a few days!"

"Wow! We're going to Carnford!" Sarah exclaimed excitedly, almost jumping for joy. She grabbed her mother's arm, her face flushed. "I've never left Jialan Village before! I've heard that Carnford has a tall castle, a bustling market, and caravans from all over the world! That's wonderful!"

For her, the vast world outside had been dreamed of countless times during those tedious afternoons of washing clothes, and this time, with her mother and brother by her side, she was filled with boundless longing for the adventures to come.

The next morning, as the eastern sky was just beginning to lighten and the village was still shrouded in a cold mist and silence, Tommy was already up.

He declined his mother's offer to make him another hot breakfast, and instead quickly drank a bowl of leftover, now cold, mixed grain porridge from the previous night.

Standing at the doorway of his low, dilapidated house, he solemnly instructed his mother, whose eyes were red and who was trying to hold back tears, and his young sister, to start packing up the few remaining items that could barely be called "family belongings," and to try to quietly find a buyer who might be interested in the crumbling old house.

Although he knew that in this impoverished village, this dilapidated house probably wouldn't sell for more than a few copper coins.

Then, Tommy packed his bags and embarked on his recruitment journey.

His primary goal was very clear—his hometown, Jialan Village.

This is where he grew up; he knows every inch of this land and every person here.

However, he was very clear-headed; the Village Chief John of Jialan Village would never allow him to openly "poach" his people.

In Master John's eyes, these villagers, no matter how poor they were, were "property" attached to his land, and the source of his rent and labor.

Although Master John himself may often forget the existence of these villagers, he will inevitably fly into a rage if anyone tries to touch his "private property," and may even resort to force to stop them.

Therefore, open recruitment was absolutely out of the question; he could only carry out this dangerous yet hopeful plan in secret, like an underground worker.

His first thought was of his two closest childhood friends, Lex, the hunter's son, and Finn, the Blacksmith Shop's apprentice.

The three of them were about the same age and used to run wild in the fields and catch fish in the river together, sharing the small but incredibly real joys of their childhood.

Lex was agile, resilient, and familiar with the mountains and forests; Finn, on the other hand, was strong, had learned some skills from a blacksmith, and was reliable and hardworking.

They were all rare young men in the village with the potential to become warriors or craftsmen, and Tommy considered them to be the most likely to be persuaded and trustworthy candidates.

Tommy pretended to be nonchalant as he strolled slowly along the muddy main road of the village. His gaze seemed to casually sweep over the low, dilapidated thatched houses and the sallow-faced, vacant villagers on both sides, but in his mind, he was quickly planning how to "bump into" an old friend.

The village in winter appears particularly desolate and cold. The cold wind swirls up the withered grass and dust on the ground, and a few wisps of thin smoke drift weakly into the gray sky.

Perhaps it was luck, or perhaps it was a tacit understanding, but just as he reached the familiar old oak tree at the village entrance, a figure caught his attention.

The man was wearing a tattered leather coat that was almost unrecognizable in its original color, torn in many places revealing dirty cotton wadding. He carried a worn-out hunting bow on his back and a short-handled woodcutter's knife at his waist. He was walking briskly along the path leading to the mountains outside the village, his head down and neck hunched.

His steps were steady, yet they carried a heaviness and weariness beyond his years.

Although the man's back was much thinner and more hunched than Lex in his memory, and his tattered fur coat was far removed from the old but neat attire of the hunter's son in his memory, the special gait honed from years of walking in the mountains and the faintly discernible skeleton made Tommy's heart leap.

It's Lex! There's no mistake! But... the boy who always had a cheerful smile and was full of energy in my memory is now bent over by life, and shrouded in an inescapable aura of gloom.