Volume 3 Journey Chapter 47 Borrowing Lodging

  The afterglow of the sunset gradually disappeared behind the mountains, and night was about to fall. The birds had returned to their nests, and various nocturnal creatures began to stir. I could even see a field mouse peeking out of its hole not far from me, while an owl perched on a nearby branch, pretending to doze off with its eyes narrowed, waiting for its prey to emerge from the hole carelessly, before pouncing on it and turning this living creature into its own dinner.

  I sat under the tree, watching everything with great interest, and sighed that this world was originally unfair. The field mouse was born weak and could only escape from being hunted all its life, while the owl was destined to be strong for the field mouse, destined to hunt prey all its life. Maybe I'm just an owl in front of ordinary people? But in front of real strong people, I'm just a small field mouse. Not to mention the gaze of the undead mage Shude looking at me, how much it looks like an owl watching its own prey? To avoid his pursuit, I also hid like a poor field mouse, dodging and hiding, not even daring to stay in one place for long, fearing that I would implicate the people around me. In fact, I wanted to live a peaceful and serene life with my loved ones, free from worries and troubles. I wonder how Sulina is doing now? And my unborn child...

  "I want to be an owl...!" I sighed to the sky.

  "You're a funny kid, why don't you be a good person and instead want to be an owl?" A voice came from the woods not far from me.

  As I looked over there, a dark shadow emerged from the woods. When the shadow approached, I saw clearly that it was a middle-aged man carrying two wild rabbits in his hands and a hunting bow on his back. The man was not tall, and his build seemed a bit thin, perhaps due to being exposed to wind and rain, his facial skin looked dark, and his hands had thick calluses, obviously someone who has been doing physical labor for a long time.

  The man walked up to me and gave me a kind smile: "Young brother, why are you sitting here so late? Why don't you go home?"

  I hastily stood up, bowed to him and said: "Hello big brother, I am a traveler on the road. Because I am not familiar with the road, I missed the place where I was supposed to stay, so I plan to spend the night here."

  The man sized me up and said, "Why don't you come to my place tonight and stay for the night? I just caught two rabbits." He held up the two rabbits in his hand for me to see.

  I hesitated for a moment and said: "Is there a village nearby? Wouldn't that be too disturbing?"

  The big man smiled broadly and said, "Don't worry, don't worry. You look so young, it's not easy to be out on your own. My home is just under that mountain up ahead. We'll get there in a little while. I'm Hans, come on, let's head back together."

  I felt his sincerity and was delighted: "My name is Alik, hello Hans brother, today I'll be bothering you at your home."

  ……

  It turned out that there was indeed a village here, but the location of this village was a bit biased and not on the side of the main road, but in a small valley. A winding small road led us to the entrance of the village.

  The villagers all seemed to know Hans, and they would greet him warmly whenever they saw him. However, I couldn't help but feel that despite their enthusiasm, the way they looked at Hans was complex, leaving me feeling puzzled. When we met a young man, the truth finally came out. With a teasing expression, he shouted at Hans, "Hey Hans, I saw your wife coming out of Lord Vini's castle in Lant City today! You're really lucky, aren't you? Lord Vini must have given your wife quite some benefits, and you're reaping the rewards too! But do you mind letting others use your beautiful wife?" He laughed loudly and walked away.

  I saw Hans' face turn red as he said to me, "Don't mind him, he's talking nonsense. Let's go." I nodded and followed Hans to his home.

  The one who opened the door was a young woman, very beautiful, with fair and smooth skin on her face and body, golden long hair combed neatly, fingernails painted bright red, dressed up meticulously, seemingly made-up, completely unrecognizable as a rural village woman, but rather having the appearance of a wealthy city lady.

  "Hans hastily introduced: "This is my wife Victoria, dear, this is Alex, he missed the accommodation, let him stay with us tonight."

  Victoria glanced lazily at her husband and then turned to look me up and down, saying: "Alright, just remember to pay for the meal."

  Hans looked at me awkwardly and turned to his wife, saying: "I didn't tell anyone I'd be paid for it. How much is a meal worth?"

  Victoria's eyes widened as if to speak, and I hastily pulled out a silver coin from my side and said: "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, paying for meals is a matter of course. I don't know if one silver coin is enough?"

  Hans wanted to stop her, but Victoria had already taken the silver coins from my hand and tossed them in her palm, saying: "Come on in, Hans, don't just stand there like a fool. Why aren't you going to cook and entertain our guests?" After that, she turned around and entered the house first.

  Hans awkwardly said to me: "Alec, I'm really sorry, we'll go find my wife later and get the money back for you."

  I hastily waved my hand and said, "No need, no need, Brother Hans. I really don't lack money. Being able to let me not sleep in the forest at night is already making me very grateful. One silver coin is really nothing."

  Hans said with a red face: "I'm really sorry, my wife is good in everything, but she loves money. Come on in with me, I'll get your accommodation settled first, and after dinner, you can rest early. By the way, are you going to Adrian? Tomorrow I'll show you a shortcut that will save you one day's journey compared to taking the main road."

  I nodded and followed Hans into his home, which was not large, with a total of two floors. The downstairs consisted of the living room and dining room, as well as a guest room. Upstairs were the bedrooms for him and his wife. I stayed in the guest room on the first floor.

  The food was not sumptuous, but it was all game: roasted rabbit meat and a large bowl of wild mushroom soup, with several slices of black bread. Hans' wife Victoria picked at her food and then went upstairs, leaving just the two of us behind. Hans poured me some of his own homemade wine, and we started drinking together. At first, Hans didn't say much, but as we drank more, he began to talk more and more.

  When I asked him about his wife, Hans let out a sigh, put down his glass and began to tell me his story...