Chapter 06: Back To Home

In the far north of the White Mountains continent, one of the coastal villages is known as the Green Hill Village. A strange white-haired boy was wandering among its alleys, and his appearance caught everyone's attention. Finally, a man approached him and asked in a hoarse voice.

"Young man, can I help you?"

"Oh, I'm not sure. Does a blind white-haired lady who looks like me and lost her son live in this village? Her name..."

The man cut him off and said with his hoarse voice.

"Irene, are you Irene's son Jin?"

"Yes"

The man pressed hard on the young man's shoulder and began to shake him in disbelief at what he heard and shout to those around him.

"Look, it's Jin, Ms. Irene's son. The boy has grown up and gone back to his family."

While Jin was trying to shake the man's fists off his shoulders, the man's loud shout gathered the villagers around them, and everyone began to greet him.

Three years ago, a war between humans and the Oris race ended with thousands of dead and dozens of captives and missing persons. Jin disappeared two years ago and was considered missing. After a while, the truce was announced, and an agreement was made to exchange prisoners. Although several weeks have passed since the deal, many prisoners have not returned to their families. Their fate has not been determined, so the appearance of Jin in the village now caused a great commotion.

"Son, is that you, son? Did you come back to your mother?" A sweet and sad voice called him while she was crying.

As soon as the crowd heard the woman's voice, they dispersed to make way for the poor mother.

The mother raised her hand and began to feel around her. Despite the effects of insomnia, stress, and sorrows that the past years had brought, her beauty did not fade. On the contrary, the aura of nobility radiated from her even in this situation.

Her hand that was moving in the air finally touched the boy's face. Because of her happiness, she threw the stick from her hand to examine his face. Tears began to flow from her eyes. She hugged him tightly and, with all her strength, afraid that he would disappear again if she relaxed her arms a little.

"Jin, my baby, you've become a young man, son. I missed you. You can't imagine how happy I am to have you back."

During this emotional moment, Jin hugged his mother kindly.

"I missed you too, mom. You can relax your hands. I don't plan to go anywhere."

The mother smiled because of her son's words, and although she stopped hugging him, she tightened her tender and warm grip on his hand. The beautiful feeling on Jin's palm made him realize that every move this woman made was a sign of great kindness and tenderness.

'Why do I feel so guilty? Is it because I'm not her real son? No, from the moment I inhabited this body, I became Tai Jin, and his family became my family.'

Original Jin was not captured in the war. He just didn't want to go back to a life of poverty, so he abandoned his mother and sister and lived the life of a thief, but the orphan who came from the future wanted to have a family.

The voices and laughter of those around him brought his consciousness back before the man with the hoarse voice started screaming again.

"Are you planning to stay here all day? Go back to work, and you too, Ms. Erin, won't you take the boy to see his sister and have a good meal? He looks like he's going to starve to death."

The lady nodded her head towards the sound and bent down to the ground searching for her stick, to be preceded by her son's hand, and put the stick in her hand and help her stand. A smile appeared on her face as she felt his hand.

"Oh, you have grown up. You have a strong fist just like your father."

'Yes, he looks more like his father than you can imagine, even more, despicable than him.' Jin thought to himself.

Irene had hidden the reality of Jin's deceased father and tried as much as possible to portray him as the ideal person. However, Jin knew exactly who his father was.

Jin took his blind mother's hand towards their house, and although she was blind, she was not helpless. Despite her origins belonging to the nobles, she was good at cooking, sewing, and doing all her daily duties like any housewife.

"I was injured, and it took a long time to recover. I needed to collect enough money to travel from the Ancestral Island to here, and because of this, I was late to return."

Jin spoke, trying to explain his absence, but his mother did not pay attention to the details because many were missing because of the war.

"We have been looking for you for a long time, but it was useless. The important thing is that you found your way back. Tell me. You mentioned that you were injured. Did the Oris hurt you?"

"It is not a big deal..."

Before finishing his words, he noticed someone running in his direction. A fat man came to them panting. He had difficulty catching his breath, then he wiped the sweat from his forehead and said.

"Madam, Noble Monroe wants to see you immediately. Payment time is approaching."

Irene's face changed after hearing the fat man's voice, but she immediately faked a smile and nodded in the affirmative. Despite her pretending to be calm, Jin knew something was wrong.

"Tell the noble that the lady is busy, today her missing son has returned to his home after being years away, and about the payment, I will visit him tonight."

The two left the place, leaving the fat man with signs of confusion adorning his face.

"Monroe wouldn't like this. He definitely wouldn't like it."

The mother and son arrived at their home. It was a shabby hut, small and cold, hardly fit to be a chicken house.

*cough cough *

A coughing sound came from inside the hut, and the mother ran inside, worried.

"Sorry, I forgot about your medication because I was so happy that your brother is back."

The mother began looking for the box in the corner of the hut before feeling her son's hand on her shoulder.

"She's asleep now. Let me take care of my sister's medicine, and you can go to make for us something to eat."

The mother sighed with a lump in her throat as the hut contained nothing but some wilted vegetables and a soup bowl, and they did not even have their daily food.

"Son, you see what our situation has become. I borrowed some money from a nobleman, but…."

"Mom, you don't have to worry about anything now. Your son has returned and becomes a man. I will take care of you and my sister."

Jin examined the medicine and then brought it close to his nose to smell it. his face changed when he did

"Mom, what exactly is my sister suffering from?"

"The doctor said it was a fever that affects children her age. However, months passed, and her situation did not improve even though I followed all his instructions."

'Of course, she won't get better by eating this shit.' Jin thought in his head then said.

"Mom, I'm going to see this doctor. It looks like we'll have to delay the dinner for later."

The mother wanted to prevent him from going out, but her daughter's moaning made her shut up. How could he enjoy his food while his little sister was sick?

------

After some time, Jin's mother was surprised by the sound of a strong knock on the door, and before she could ask who was knocking, she heard a familiar voice asking her to enter.

"Madam, I am the village doctor. I got a new medicine that works like magic, and within hours you will notice the difference."

The mother opened the door, not believing what she had heard because he was prescribing a spiritual medicine that ordinary people could not afford. The doctor broke into the hut and raised the girl's head to help her drink the elixir, and before the mother could inquire what was happening, the doctor said

"This place won't help her recover. You have to come to my house. I mean, you can stay in my second house. It's empty right now, at least until the little girl is completely healed."

The mother was amazed at the doctor's actions, they had known him for months, but he did not help her at all, not even for the price of the medicine, so what was the secret of his sudden generosity?

Before she could inquire about what was happening, her son preceded her, saying:

"Doctor, thank you for your invitation. We will surely visit you at your home."

The doctor swallowed his saliva, his face turning pale with fear. But, of course, the blind lady could not see the doctor's terrified face as he stared at her son. It seemed as if he saw a demon in front of him.

Jin raised his finger towards the doctor's mouth and signaled him to remain silent.