Bestowal (Part 2)

Under the brilliant starry sky, a bonfire blazed in an open space in town.

Everyone had three or five close friends in life. With that in mind, Romon invited his friends Fafier and Nick to share the prey.

The three sat in a circle around the bonfire as the hot, bright flames swayed unsteadily in the wind.

Romon held a wooden stick in one hand and carefully watched the fire. Two pork legs were wrapped in the flames, and he turned them to adjust their position, cautiously controlling the heat.

Under the scorching flames, the prey crackled again and again. The fat beneath the skin burst from the heat, and an enticing aroma gradually spread through the air.

"Romon, what made you think of us today?" Fafier stared blankly at the roast in Romon's hands. He was one of Romon's close friends, but Romon had been busy with Druid training recently and had no time for anything else. They had not kept in close contact for quite a while, and when they met, they merely exchanged greetings.

Someone from Fafier's House had once served as a soldier under the lord, and the family had been well-off for a time. But they had failed to survive battle after battle, and the family had fallen into decline. Their household was not well-off either. Having grown used to hunger since childhood, Fafier was all skin and bones, yet he loved meat dearly. Still, he was nimble and fairly strong.

"How could I not think of you?" Romon spread one hand and raised the roast pig skewered on the stick in his other, putting on an aggrieved expression. "Didn't I call you over to eat as soon as I caught some prey today?"

"And you say you always think about your old friends." Nick put on a sorrowful expression. "Whenever Fafier and I wanted to find you, we never knew where you'd hidden yourself."

"I wasn't avoiding you." Romon explained awkwardly. Looking down at the fire, he muttered, "I was just busy with Druid training."

Young people cared most about their pride, and the old Romon had naturally been no different. Whenever he imagined returning in glory before his friends and finally holding his head high, he became especially dedicated. At the same time, he cared greatly about the image he presented before them—he had hoped to speak with them again only after becoming a Druid.

"So you're not becoming a Druid anymore?" Nick found that strange and asked.

"It's not that I'm giving up." Romon laughed, trying to hide his embarrassment.

"Then why?" Fafier's curiosity was stirred as well.

"Ah!" Romon let out a long sigh, his face full of helplessness. "I have to consider making a living first."

Fafier and Nick felt somewhat awkward. They were about the same age as Romon, merely teenagers in their youth, but unlike him, they still had parents and did not have to rely on their own strength to look after themselves.

For a while, the three said nothing. The town beneath the stars had grown quiet as well, and aside from the crackling of roasting pork, no other sound could be heard.

"Mm..." After a long time, Romon lifted the stick and carefully examined the roasted pig leg. Its golden skin looked crisp and especially appetizing. He cut a small slit with his knife, and a burst of white steam rushed into his face. The meat inside was pale and showed no trace of charring.

"Smells so good..." The three flared their nostrils, delight blooming across their faces and in their eyes as they sighed together.

"It's ready. Let's divide it up." Seeing that the prey was cooked, Romon finally said the words the other two had been waiting to hear.

After dividing it, the three began eating with great satisfaction.

"So, what are your plans?" Romon ate quietly. "You can't rely on your parents to support you forever, can you?"

"Well, for me, it would be great if I could make a living as a soldier." Fafier ate with great care, not even raising his head. "My family has a short bow, and I've learned some fighting skills myself!"

Nick picked at the meat with a small knife. "I don't want to be a soldier. But it would be nice if I could become a merchant."

"Then come out adventuring with me!" Romon ate slowly, looking thoughtful. He knew that Fafier's true dream was to become a knight, while Nick hoped to become a great merchant.

"Being an adventurer is dangerous, isn't it? There's no security either." Fafier thought for a moment. "I'd still rather wait until the baron recruits soldiers."

"Then you should come adventuring with me even more, Fafier!" Romon laughed and tossed a piece of meat into his mouth. "Mm, hot... Tell me, what advantages does the lord get from issuing bounties to outsiders?"

"Mm, perhaps it's cheaper that way. After all, training a soldier costs a great deal." Fafier intended to enlist, so he was not unfamiliar with this.

"And they can select real warriors!" Romon said as he chewed. "If I complete the lord's bounties and receive the reward money, how could there be no record of me in the lord's hands?"

He ate another piece. "Anyone who dares venture into the wilderness naturally has the courage to fight. And if they can successfully return with gains and claim a reward, that proves they have both wisdom and combat ability."

"Mm, when the lord wants to expand the army..." Nick stopped working on his share; he had already finished eating. He interjected, "Naturally, he'll choose people with the courage to take risks and the nerve to fight."

He reluctantly sucked his fingers clean, then continued, "Besides, our family backgrounds are spotless."

Fafier had originally wanted to add, "And families like ours have relatives living in town, so we must fight to defend it."

But then he remembered that no one had ever known Romon's parents, so he swallowed those words.

"So what are we hunting?" Nick was rather tempted.

"We'll hunt Goblins in the forest and cut off their scalps to claim the bounty." Romon spoke to Nick, then turned to Fafier. "We'll hunt some game too and sell the pelts directly to Aunt Jenna's tailor shop. As for the meat, we can eat some ourselves and sell the rest."

"The forest? It's dangerous in there." Nick hesitated. "You could be ambushed if you aren't careful."

"It's fine. I'm a Druid!" This time, Romon did not call himself an apprentice. "I know the forest's situation as clearly as the lines on my palm."

What Romon meant was really, You won't know until you see it, but neither of them caught on.

"All right. I want to become a warrior, and I'll have to hunt in the forest anyway. If we form a group, we can look after one another." After thinking it over, Fafier agreed.

"Then count me in too!" Seeing that both of them were willing, Nick nodded in agreement as well.

"What do you need to prepare?" Romon was delighted. "I need to buy a few more things too."

"I don't need to prepare much. There's a bow at home, and I've made some arrow shafts myself. I just need to buy some iron arrowheads." Fafier calculated. "One night of packing should be enough."

"I need to prepare too. It'll probably take two or three days," Nick said.

The three immediately began discussing shared supplies and how they would cooperate. Before long, they had divided up the tasks.

"If only we could eat meat every day!" Nick finally finished eating. His lips were smeared with grease as he sighed.

"Yeah. Having meat is still much better than gnawing on black bread." Fafier smiled and licked his lips clean. "Hehe... Romon's roasting is really good too."

"Then if we catch prey in the future, I'll handle it," Romon said.

The night had gradually deepened. After chatting for a while longer, the three headed home together.

It was already dark, and the town was empty.

Without realizing it, he arrived before the Holy Altar of the Earth Goddess. Looking at the stone altar, its mottled colors showed the marks of age. He strolled inside, where a God Statue stood atop a raised platform. It was Isidis, the Earth Goddess.

The walls were carved with reliefs of bulls, trees, flowers, and grass. The goddess's statue did not stand separately. It was merely a three-foot marble carving on the altar. She wore a crown made of flowers and grass and a green dress. Her face was beautiful, and the curves of her feminine body were faintly visible, full of womanly charm. Only her eyes were especially lifelike.

The old Romon had habitually come here to pray, especially after he had tried to become a Druid.

Whenever the old Romon had free time, he helped the Temple with cleaning. As a result, he had been allowed to read the thick copy of the "Agricultural Goddess Scripture" in the Temple.

It was precisely this devotion, amid an environment where most townspeople muddled through their days, that attracted Eileen's attention. She greatly appreciated him and often spent entire evenings teaching him to read after evening prayers. She had also allowed him to enter the Temple of the Goddess of Agriculture freely, including the garden behind it.

As a Temple of the Goddess of Agriculture, it generally had a granary and an impressive garden.

The granary was where the Temple purchased and stored grain, while the garden was where priests taught others how to properly cultivate plants, recognize signs of diseases in animals and plants, and identify medicinal herbs.

Thus, it contained not only ordinary crops, but also a great number of medicinal herbs.

More importantly, the Temple possessed an extensive collection of books beyond anything commoners dared imagine—a luxury only Divine Authority members and nobles could enjoy.

Moonlight shone upon the Temple. It was silent and empty inside. The moonlight poured through large windows inlaid with colored glass, making the place seem both magnificent and mysterious.

Countless green lights flickered within the Temple. This was also the power of nature, but it belonged only to the goddess. Only when Druids believed in the goddess could they receive her bestowal.

Romon silently assumed a posture of prayer. The old Romon had always come here to pray at night after finishing work, so he needed to maintain that habit, at least outwardly.

The moment he stepped out of the prayer hall, he could not help but shiver.

"Ah, it's cold, child. You're dressed too lightly," a voice said. "Even under such circumstances, you still came to pray to the goddess?"

"Priest Tennis, I merely wished to tell the goddess what was in my heart," Romon said humbly.

Romon had no desire to answer or refute him at all, because he knew very well that Eileen greatly admired him, while Priest Tennis deeply resented him because of it.

Seeing that he had nothing more to say, Romon took his leave.

!!