The Brothers Were Brave (3)
After hearing the names of the two brothers, Seth came to know that they were commoners.
'Rothsmedici... they must be commoners.'
"But you guys..."
Seth, whose voice trailed off, could recall the apprentice boy he happened to meet at Banco.
It was because the faces of Andrew and Joshua somewhat overlapped with Rockefeller.
'Nah, couldn't be.’
“Anyway, let's do well from now on. Go over there. Levy is waiting there."
"Yes!"
The two brothers, who responded energetically, went to where Seth pointed, and they met a cook with a wooden leg prosthesis on one side of his leg in the makeshift kitchen.
Levy.
He used to be a mercenary roaming the battlefield, but after losing one leg in a battle with an ogre, he switched to being a cook taking care of fellow soldiers' meals.
Despite having only one leg, he was very tall, giving the children a tremendous sense of intimidation.
"Are you guys the one who will bring food from the market starting today?"
"Yes!"
The brothers' voices sounded confident, but Levy first looked at them with suspicion.
They were too young to be sent on an errand, and he couldn't trust them as it was their first time.
But what could he do?
Someone was desperately needed to bring food ingredients in place of the busy mercenaries.
'Well, they don't look like scammers.'
Sometimes there were those who would pocket the remaining money after intentionally buying bad ingredients instead of good ones.
That's why he was sending his comrades to get food ingredients, but he thought it might be a good thing that the children who came this time were chosen.
He thought they would be naive because they were kids.
"You guys, if you say you're running errands and then secretly run away, you know these uncles will come after you as a group, right?"
Levy started off with a scary face, hoping to intimidate them, but the two brothers didn't seem to mind as they were already excited about making money.
"Do you want us to tell you where we live? Then you'll trust us, won't you?"
"Please trust us! We're confident we can do it really well!"
Seeing their enthusiastic appearance, Levy asked with a different expression.
"But what is it that makes you guys so excited?"
"Well, we can make money!"
"Of course we're excited! If you do a good job, you can earn 1 shilling a day!"
Was 1 shilling really such a huge sum?
Of course, it was not a small amount, as it was equivalent to a rural laborer's daily wage.
However, to Levan, who had been a mercenary for a long time, 1 shilling was not much money.
Although he lost one leg and is responsible for the meals of his comrades, he still received a salary similar to his comrades, and the payment for mercenaries was quite substantial considering the difficulty and danger of their work.
"Young ones, 1 shilling must be a big amount for you. Alright. First, let me inform you of the ingredients to buy for today."
Upon hearing that, Joshua took out a small piece of memo paper and a portable pen that he brought from home.
They were all his father's belongings.
"What do we need to buy?"
Seeing that, Levy looked surprised.
"You guys... do you know how to read and write?"
"Yes! Of course we know how to read and write."
It was quite surprising that there were children who could read and write in this region of the empire.
Even grown-ups had trouble with writing, let alone reading.
Especially in his situation where there was a strange superstition that those who don't know how to write or read become brave.
"You don't have to learn separately, so it's good. So let me tell you about the ingredients."
Levy informed Joshua of the ingredients to be used for dinner that night, and Joshua wrote them down diligently.
"You have to bring in fresh and good ingredients no matter how expensive they are. From the day before yesterday, we have an important guest, so you need to be very careful."
Andrew showed his doubts.
"Who's here?"
"A magician has joined this expedition. The one who is going to play the orc shaman."
"A magician? Is that real?"
To the country children, the existence of a magician, which they only hear about once in a lifetime, was just as intriguing as an ordinary swordsman.
"Then where's the magician?"
As Andrew asked with sparkling eyes, Levy waved his hands.
"He's an important guest to us, too. I can't tell you and bother them with the likes of you. Just know that he's here."
Hearing that, Joshua's eyes also sparkled.
"Wow, awesome! Andrew, did you know there was a magician here?"
"No, I didn't! How would I know that? There was no rumor going around."
Looking at the children, excited as if they discovered something great, Levy couldn't help but smile.
"Anyway, hurry up. With those small bodies, you'll have to go back and forth at least two or three times a day to bring all those ingredients."
"Yes!"
Upon receiving the money, the two brothers left the mercenary camp and headed straight for the market.
The distance to the market was long, but the distance between the mercenary camp and the market was not a big problem for the two excited brothers who were about to make money.
Arriving at the village market with an excited heart, the two brothers began to buy the ingredients that Levy had mentioned, and after buying enough ingredients for them to handle, they headed straight back to the mercenary camp.
However, before even leaving the market, Joshua, who was walking ahead, called the second brother and stopped.
