Chapter 5

Two months later.

On the way into the city in the carriage, Will faced the rising sun, feeling wonderful, and cared about the child sitting next to him: "Little Al, do you want to stop and rest?"

Yes, they now have time to rest on the way, because in recent times, the townspeople have brought their goods directly to Gray's tavern and sold them all!

Will no longer needs to go to the market to sell goods bit by bit, thanks to the smart Al who taught Gray how to cook delicious food, so Gray is willing to buy ingredients from him.

Elphis smiled and said, "No need. I've ridden in a carriage several times. I'm used to it."

"My dear, the food you cook is simply delicious. If you could open a tavern in this town, I would promise to visit every day."

"No, no, no, this sounds too tiring, Uncle Will. I'm just a kid, I don't have that much energy to do business." Besides, people in their town don't have that much spare money for him to earn.

"Well, well, I hope you'll have this idea when you grow up."

After entering the city, the two went straight to the pub. It was still a little early for lunch, but the seats in this restaurant were almost full.

Gray and a girl were busy in the lobby. The girl was seven years old and worked very hard.

Mona has two pigtails, brown hair and brown eyes, and some freckles on her thin cheeks. She has an ordinary appearance, but her smile is very contagious, and she seems to enjoy being busy.

Seeing Alphis coming in, Mona's eyes lit up and she trotted over, "Master Al, you're here to deliver the goods. Thank you for your hard work!"

Elphis patted the child's head and said, "Don't call me Master, just call me Brother El."

"No, no, my brother said you are the master, I can't confuse the superior with the inferior."

The corner of Elphis' mouth twitched. Did that kid Moon really want to sell them brother and sister to him?

A month ago, Alphis met Morn and Mona.

Mona was a premature baby. Her mother had been in poor health since she was born and soon died of overwork.

Four years ago, the lazy and irresponsible father couldn't stand living with two burdens anymore. He was also fed up with the criticism from outsiders that he was irresponsible, so he packed up and left Raphael while the siblings were sleeping. Since then, the nine-year-old Moon has been living a hard life with his three-year-old sister.

The brother and sister had nothing except a small house built of mud, stones and hay. Even after being exposed to wind and rain, their home was a little dilapidated.

There is no law prohibiting the employment of child labor here. He is unable to do strenuous work. A tavern with good business hired him as a handyman. He was asked to wash and cut vegetables, sweep the floor and wipe the table. He did everything except cooking. However, the wages he received were only enough for the brother and sister to have enough food and clothing. As they grew older, they grew taller and taller and could not even afford new clothes.

Mona had been thin and weak since she was a child, and she had been sick frequently over the years. Morn borrowed money from many people to collect enough gold coins to buy the inner healing potion. The first time he borrowed money, it was fine. The second time, out of sympathy, a few people reluctantly lent him money. The third and fourth times, almost no one was willing to lend him money. They were all ordinary civilians, and they didn't have the spare money to buy medicine for the girl for a lifetime.

Every time Mona was sick, she would only drink a little bit of medicine, and would finish about one bottle a year.

Due to long-term malnutrition, it is now even more difficult for Mona to recover from illness.

Last month, Moon failed to borrow money to buy potions. He had no one to turn to, so with a glimmer of hope, he took his sister, who was coughing so hard that she could hardly breathe, to the church in Raphael to worship God.

In fact, in order to seek peace of mind, Moon often came to pray over the years, hoping that the gods could hear his wishes and protect his sister from the disease.

The brother and sister knelt in front of the statue, reciting hymns with hope in their eyes. The pastor beside them listened to the coughs that could not be stopped and stepped back in disgust...

He is not as powerful as the magicians. If he is contaminated by filthy disease, he will have to buy medicine.

The priest was afraid that people would die of illness in the church, which would tarnish the reputation of the God of Light protecting humanity, so he just wanted to persuade them to leave.

"There are countless believers in the world. When the will of the gods patrols the lower world, they will naturally become more devout in their faith. Believers who have made contributions will be touched. You who only want to gain benefits..." The pastor sighed in disappointment, "If your hearts are not sincere enough, the Lord God of Light will not bless you."

Moon was no longer the innocent child he used to be. He understood the subtext of "God doesn't help the poor". The boy was silent, without saying a word, he took his sister's hand and left the Vatican.

Moon took a bowl and knelt at the busiest entrance of the market. He couldn't write, so he couldn't write down their difficulties, but passers-by could understand what he was doing. In addition, there was a thin little girl holding his arm and crying and coughing, and everyone seemed to understand why the boy was begging for money.

"Brother, let's go home. We don't need to buy medicine, okay? I'm used to coughing. It's okay." Mona felt very distressed. If it weren't for her, her mother would not have died, her father would not have left, and her brother would not have become a beggar.

If she died, her brother would be free...

Moen, who had been carrying heavy responsibilities for a long time, had become taciturn. He wanted to say a lot to comfort his sister, but he didn't know what to say. He just wiped her tears with his sleeves and said, "Don't cry. Every time you get excited, you cough more."

There were not many people kneeling at the market, and Moon got half a bowl of copper coins, but it was not enough, far from enough... The low-level internal healing potion cost three gold coins, which means three thousand copper coins!

Mo En was thinking whether he should sign a contract with the City Lord's Mansion...

"Hmm? Is my sister seriously ill?"

The two siblings, who had lowered their heads numbly, looked up when they heard the voice and were immediately met by a pair of deep blue eyes, which were like the clear sky at the beginning of the night with a ray of light left, deep and beautiful, with the magic that could bring peace to people.

After a moment of stunned silence, Moon realized that the person who was speaking was a boy younger than him.

He used to work in a tavern and had seen many different kinds of people. The person in front of him was clearly wearing coarse linen clothes, but he had a bearing far superior to those wealthy businessmen. The look in his eyes was not of contempt or pity, but of calmness and gentleness that he would never see in his peers.

Mona stared blankly at the handsome brother who suddenly appeared. Mo En nodded and answered the question that the man had just asked. If it was an adult who asked the question, he would have explained the difficulties in detail and asked for alms. If it was a wealthy businessman, he might have sold himself to the other party as a servant in exchange for money to buy medicine, but what could a child do...

Elphis saw that the little girl's face turned red from coughing, and looking at the boy's precocious temperament, he knew that he had suffered a lot since childhood.

If the beggar was an adult, even if he was dying of illness, Elphis would just pass by. He was really not as considerate and kind as the people in the town of Lisse believed.

However, creatures in nature are more kind to young ones, and it seems that he is no exception... and as soon as the little girl coughed, her brother immediately looked at her and patted her back. Although he didn't say anything, the worry in his eyes was obvious. Elphis liked the brother and sister very much.

A glass tube filled with brown liquid suddenly appeared in front of Moon.

"Give her a try of the inner healing potion, but I don't know if it will work."

The two children looked at him with disbelief. The pretty boy seemed to be smiling gently, but no one saw that his heart was bleeding...

Elphis had earned a few gold coins in the tavern recently. He just passed by a potion shop and because he was quite curious about the main medical methods in this world, he spent a huge amount of money to buy a low-level internal healing potion.

Grandpa Kevin is old, what if he can use this medicine someday? I just hope this medicine is really as magical as I heard.

But I didn’t expect that I would give the potion away before it even got warm in my pocket... This thing costs three gold coins!

Mona held her brother's arm, looked at Elphis in surprise and confusion, and did not dare to reach out to take it.

Mo En pursed his lips and hesitantly reminded this peer who didn't look wealthy, "This is very expensive. If you give it to someone privately, your parents will scold you."

Elphis chuckled. This kid is quite principled. "Don't worry. I don't have any parents, and no one else will scold me."

Moon: "..." How could a child have the money to buy potions? He suspected that the potion was stolen, but judging from the man's appearance and temperament, perhaps he was a young master whose family had fallen on hard times but still had some surplus property?

Finally, Moon took the potion hesitantly. He opened the cork and smelled it. It was a familiar bitter taste. Since his sister was seriously ill this time, he fed her half and saved the rest for next time.

"All this money is for you. I will try to pay you back in the future. I'm Moen, and this is my sister Mona. May I know where you live?"

Elphis glanced at the half bowl of copper coins and said, "No need to return it."

As she spoke, Mona's continuous coughing had stopped.

Elphis observed her curiously, "Did the potion work?"

Mona looked at this very good-looking and kind brother and nodded, "Thank you, I'm fine now."

Elphis narrowed his eyes. From what he knew, medicine that worked so quickly was probably some anesthetic, toxin, or something like that. He didn't expect that the treatment methods in this world were so magical.

After witnessing the effect, the young boy nodded and prepared to leave.

Mo En gritted his teeth and chased after him, "Young Master, do you need a servant? I will give myself to you, and you don't need to spend any more money. It will be considered as a repayment of your kindness."

Elphis laughed, "I'm not some young master, and I don't need you to repay me."

Moen said hurriedly: "I used to work in a tavern, and I can do a lot of things. You just need to give me some food, and I can help you with housework and farm work!"

The other party's tone was too humble, as if he was the only lifeline...

The little girl looked like a malnourished sickly girl. Could it be that she wanted to ask him to buy more healing potions to save people in the future?

However, Moon has a good character as he has never abandoned his sister who has dragged him down. He should be a man who knows how to repay kindness... Thinking of this, Elphis did not feel disgusted with Moon's entanglement.

Mona stood aside in silence. She didn't want her brother to lose his freedom, but she actually felt that if the owner was the person who gave her the potion, it should be good...

Mona was not attracted by the delicate face, but felt a sense of security from the strange brother that she had never felt before.

Moon had the same feeling. What he just said about repaying a favor was true, and he was willing to do things for this peer, but it was also true that he wanted to seek shelter.

This fair-skinned little boy surprisingly reminded him of the sense of security that his parents were both alive, that he had enough food and good sleep, and that his house was complete enough to shelter him from the wind and rain. So when Elphis turned around, Moon actually felt a panic of being abandoned.

Elphis thought about it. Uncle Gray's tavern has been doing good business recently, and he had also mentioned that he wanted to recruit some staff. However, Elphis was worried that he might recruit someone with ulterior motives, learn the cooking skills, and then run away to open his own shop and become a competitor, so this matter has been delayed.

He wanted to wait for a helper with a controllable personality and a little more cautious, so that Uncle Gray, an honest man, would not be fooled into giving away the recipe.

At this moment, looking at the child's sincere and nervous expression, Elphis thought it was not bad to give him this job, so that he could support himself. Besides, children were easier to control than adults with unpredictable minds. Moreover, since there was a favor between them, Moon should be more attentive in his work.

The blue-eyed boy curved his eyebrows and said, "I don't need a servant, but I have an uncle who runs a tavern. He is looking for workers recently. He provides food and accommodation, and the monthly salary is two silver coins. If you are willing, I can take you there."

Moon took a deep breath. Food and lodging are included, and there are two...silver coins?

Seeing the man nod in confusion, Elphis chuckled and said, "Come with me."

The young boy walking in front did not see it, but the brother and sister who were holding hands behind him were looking at his back carefully, fearing that it was just a dream and that the other person would disappear in the blink of an eye.

Two white halos appeared from the brother and sister one after another and sank into Elphis' body.

Gray didn't mind at all that Elphis decided to bring a half-grown child to help him. In fact, he didn't like dealing with adults, and he felt much more comfortable with children.

In this way, Moon, his sister and the boss lived in the backyard of the tavern. They worked during the day and ate delicious food. After closing, the kind Uncle Gray would teach them to read.

What was unexpected was that Moon's talent for cooking was much better than Gray's. He could remember most of the process of Elphis making food after watching him once, and he got the hang of it quickly. After teaching for a while, Moon became the head chef.

Gray had almost given up all the cooking work that he had long been impatient with. Now he was mainly responsible for burning firewood, recording the dishes, collecting money and doing the accounting, and would lend a hand when Moon was almost too busy.

The little girl Mona was not idle either. After eating, she was much more energetic than before. She was happy doing chores such as wiping the table, sweeping the floor, pouring water and serving wine.

——

Mona looked at Elphis happily, "Master El, are you thirsty? Would you like to drink milk, fruit tea, or herbal tea?"

"Milk, thank you Mona." Drinking more milk is good for growing taller.

"Hey, no trouble, no trouble." Little Mona happily went to pour milk for her benefactor. As for Uncle Will's words that he wanted to drink, she didn't hear it at all!

Will shook his head helplessly, and followed Al to bring the goods in and sort them out as he knew how to do.

Mo En, who was busy in the kitchen, brightened his eyes: "Master, you are here, do you want something to eat?"

Will's mouth twitched. Every time he and Little Al walked into this tavern, his presence was like air...

Before each carriage ride, Alphis would eat less breakfast, fearing that he would vomit if he ate too much. Now he was really hungry. "One serving of fried rice with egg. Thank you for your hard work."

Will took the opportunity to say, "I just passed by the kitchen and saw a big pot of braised pork. Little Moon, can you give me one portion, a bowl of mushroom soup, and a bowl of dry rice?"

Mo En nodded, "Okay, Master and Uncle Will, please go sit in the backyard, I'll bring it to you later."

Elphis: "Let me rest for a while, and then I'll teach you how to cook after dinner."

"Oh, thank you, Master!"

After sitting in the backyard for a while, Boss Gray ran in again, "Al, you're finally here!"

Uncle Will: “…” Is it true that no one saw him?

Will used to think that he was a businessman, but after doing business with this tavern for a long time, he felt that Al was the businessman and he was just a groom.

Gray looked at Elphis as if he were his savior, "The city lord sent someone over two days ago!"