Come with me
That description...
Wasn't that the young scholar staying at his house?!
The house's owner's eyes lit up.
He immediately turned around.
"I know where your younger brother is!"
The woodcutter's face lit up with surprise and joy.
"Really?!"
"You really know where my younger brother is?!"
The house's owner felt a momentary pang of guilt.
After all, he wasn't sure.
The woodcutter's descriptions...
Were actually pretty broad.
Many young men who looked like scholars could fit them.
But never mind.
They could go take a look.
Maybe it really was him.
He nodded.
"Mm."
"Come with me."
The woodcutter was overjoyed.
"Okay!"
The house's owner led the way.
"Funny enough, I was just looking for that young scholar's family or friends..."
"I thought I wouldn't find anyone."
"Then I heard your voice."
"You were looking too..."
Only now did the woodcutter realize.
"Why?"
Why hadn't his younger brother come home?
Why did someone else have to help him find his family?
His younger brother...
Had something happened to him?
The house's owner was a little surprised by the woodcutter's perceptiveness.
He shook his head slightly.
"You'll understand when you see him."
He couldn't very well explain the young scholar's situation.
It would be better for the woodcutter to see for himself.
The woodcutter's joy at hearing news of his younger brother gradually faded.
A sense of unease arose in his heart.
His younger brother...
"This is the place."
The house's owner stepped forward and pushed open the gate.
He turned aside and gestured for the woodcutter to enter.
The woodcutter hesitated for a moment.
Then he strode over the threshold.
He entered the seemingly abandoned house.
He didn't know why his younger brother was in this abandoned house