Chapter 31 : I Don't Need It

Enjar kept on giving his speeches to them. At first, they listened because they had to, either for respecting him talking or just because of apprehension. But after listening for a while, they suddenly realized that what he had been saying had substantials inside of it.

The listeners were in awe after they listened to this new understanding. For as long as they live, they had been thought of as sidemen from the higher ups. There were no rights for them. They, mostly as peasants, need to fulfill their obligations in fulfilling the nobles' necessity. Their worth was not the same, their blood was even more distinct. It seemed that they lived in two different worlds that could not be mixed together at all.

After listening to Enjar's speeches, they knew just how valuable their lives were. Who decided their worth just from the family background? Who decided their worth as worthless just because they were some humble peasants? Who decided to make them miserable if they can change their fate by their own hands?

And realizing that they were all just human beings that came from the womb of their mothers, they seemed that they also should be having their own rights. It seemed that this new light was so beautiful to them, so unreal. Their eyes had some new glints that appeared more profound and clear. Some clenched their fists, not realizing that somehow a bud of fighting spirit had appeared inside of their hearts.

They could not believe that that kind of world was possible. It was just so contradicting with how their world worked, and it was just so unbelievable from their point of view. Ever since they lived, they had never dared to think about things like this before. Because this kind of thinking was absolutely out of this world! They were just some peasants that only followed what the flows and orders from the upper ups were.

And now, a ray of dream was right in front of their eyes. They felt that they could grasp it, with their own hands. And the key for all of that was right in front of their eyes. Could they truly achieve this? Was all of the man's saying true and real? Could the reality be changed upside down?

Now they need someone to be counted on and depended upon. If what he said was right, then some sacrifices were prices that naturally needed to be paid. For the better future, for the better of their families and loved ones. They knew they needed to struggle for this, there was no way the upper ups would just let them go if they decided to resist and show their new understanding. Because if they did, the upper ups position would be threatened, and those who thought that they did not have any power would be damned.

Maybe they did not dare to do those grand scales of resistance. Because the risks were just too great for them to contain right? But at least now they understood their value and worth, they realized that they were all just human beings. The indoctrination that the nobles were better than them was just a tool for them to control the masses better. The new light that had been shined upon them had shed the old understanding that they had.

Enjar smiled after he ended his speeches. When he saw the look of dazed in contemplation, he nodded to himself in satisfaction. The seed had been planted, and let it grow using some nourishment to make it grow faster and better. Then what was the best nourishment for the seed if not the literal example for them to witness?

~

There was a boy that walked toward a certain house in a village. His clothes were haggard, and he looked sloppy and dirty. It was not that to the point of nasty, they mostly came from dirt after all. The clothes were ripped in some parts, looking like they were aggressively being torn apart forcedly by something, someone, or phenomenon.

But his eyes were telling different things. His eyes seemed determined and unwavering. There seemed to be some new light that had been formed, in which there was never being there before. He walked while looking straight. His eyes landed upon a house that seemed to be normal for the average house here.

The moment his eyes landed at the house, his eyes trembled. The unwavering determination in his eyes seemed to be compromised, as if he was reminded by something that was too hurtful to be remembered. The fire inside of his eyes was like a torch in the middle of a storm, getting bombarded by the situations and conditions of his own circumstances. His steps became a little bit stiff and off, albeit hard to notice for most of the people.

But he knew that he could not avoid it. He knew that he should face it. Right here, right now, it felt that there was no better time than this moment. Because this was the source of the storms that hindered the fire inside of him. The hurdle that needed to be confronted, not to be left out because he knew that he needed to be responsible as a man.

This place was none other than his own home, a place where he lived for as long as he lived in this village. He took a deep breath and stepped forward to enter the house. He knocked on the door, and entered the house while clenching his fists. The teeth inside of his mouth were gritted for a moment, before they became normal again. Either he was prepared for what was going to come in front of him or he just did not want to show it to some people or someone.

Just then, he saw a woman that was sitting in the front room, i.e. the guest room of the house. The woman had a complex expression when she saw the boy's arrival. But when he saw how haggard and somewhat pitiful he had become, her heart ached. Her expression had a slight worry as she asked the boy in front of him.

"...Where were you from? What happened to you?" The woman asked. Her question was a concern, but the tone seemed contradicting. The tone was like how she had asked a man that she had been giving cold shoulders onto. She may be worried, but her expression on all sides looked indifferent. Even her voice did not seem to have any warmth, it just sounded cold and distant.

The boy did not have a quite pleasant expression drawn on his face too when he met the woman in front of him. Somehow, he clenched his fists harder than before, as if he just couldn't bring himself to see her. As if his heart was being crushed when he saw her face. But his face was still flat and blank, to the point of being cold.

"...It is not your concern." The boy replied while walking, passing her without even giving her a single glance anymore. He walked to the direction where there was a bathroom located there.

The woman seemed to not really mind it. Especially when she could later on know what happened to him through other means. But somehow, she could already know the answer. And because of that, her heart felt as if it was being clenched hard by something. It felt like she could not even breathe for a second there.

But there was warmth inside of it. There was comfort from the realization of it, the reason behind the boy's condition. She thought that she could be helping the boy by doing something. But what was the best means to enter a man beside his stomach? So she asked him another question that came up inside of her mind.

"Have you had dinner yet?" She asked while standing up too, not realizing that it was not even the time to have dinner yet. She prepared to walk behind him too, but her direction was not to the bathroom. Instead, it was to the kitchen, at the backside of the house.

The boy did not glance back at her even though she had asked him the question. It was normal for one to be like that, but his action truly reflected on how much he was giving her cold shoulders. He replied in a monotonous tone.

"I don't need it, Big Sister."