Temple Sword

Chapter 103 Dubita's Spring
【Nine years later】

1321, 2th day of Ramadan (February)

Dubica, Slavonia

Spring has come early this year, and the winter snow has disappeared without a trace, replaced by life.

The lush green grass heralds new life, the fertile soil is soft, and the endlessly flowing Sava River drives the wheels of the small mill crazily day and night, working tirelessly.

The miller had been waiting for this day since last fall, and now he took out the surplus grain he had stored last year and started grinding it so the women could bake bread with fresh flour in the farmhouse.He loved nothing more than dawn when he could smell the tantalizing smell of hot bread on the dew-wet grass.

The miller was not exactly a wealthy man, but he was willing to stake his all on spring bread baked with fresh flour.Not only do these breads taste and texture different than those made with old flour, but they also smell completely different from old flour.

Of course, not only that, but more importantly, he is the one who makes the bread.He knows how many times the dough needs to be kneaded to make the perfect loaf, how hot the oven needs to be, how long it takes the loaf to come out, and how many drops of forehead sweat need to be poured into the unfinished dough during the kneading and kneading process. In the dough, these are very important.

The taste and smell of a loaf of bread depend on many things, but the miller believes that, of all the little details, the freshness and fineness of the flour are the most important.

That's why he waits every year for the spring when the river will thaw, the Sava will grow wilder after the snow melts, the wheels of the mill will start turning day and night, and he, too, can start making new flour.

The son of the owner of the manor always liked to pick up steaming bread from the miller, and secretly peeled the bread for the small animals to eat.Except for the manor owner, everyone else knows this "secret", as long as the children are happy!
A little farther from the mill there was a large farm field, which had been nearly flooded by the surging tide of farmers for the past fortnight.While they worked in the manor's fields, the lord provided them with food, lodging, and even some change.

These farmers love working there more than any other farm in the world.

A strange grown man, this Antal Bator, thought the Miller.Other lords would only abuse and beat the peasants, keeping them away from his family, and some nobles avoided these serfs like lepers, but this lord seemed to regard these people as equals to himself .

In the beginning, most of the laborers on the farm were Slavonians from the Dubica and Tzazma regions, but somehow word spread about the special treatment here.So many farmers came to work from further afield --- Zagreb, Samobor, and even Varazdin.

Some stayed from spring until autumn, others took their families and settled on the land for several years.The lords of Antal also allowed them to build a series of huts outside the city walls as a reward for their hard work.

His estate has flourished and is now almost self-sufficient.The miller believed that this was not only due to the simple labor contract of the farmers, but also because they worked extra hard for him in order to thank the lord for his sincere and kind treatment.

These feelings are like the careful and hard-working sweat he poured into the dough when producing bread, making any result more great and delicious.

Even though the Miller had been working at his mill for nearly a decade, he didn't know what it was that made a noble knight-lord treat his people so kindly.

He was employed by the estate's previous owner, William Knight, who built it.For a long time there had been only one house, one barn and one well.William then began building walls and towers, but he was killed at the Battle of Rozgoni, and his estate was inherited by his adopted son Antar.

Antal was once the king's chief knight, but after the victory in the battle of Rozgoni, he hung up his sword, picked up a hoe, and started farming fields and raising livestock with his family, living a life far away from the royal family and far away from the royal family. life on any battlefield.

He completed the work started by William and rebuilt the estate into something almost like a self-contained village.Not only did Lord Antal let the peasant share his dwelling with his family, he invited other soldiers, spearmen, and archers to live with him.These guards are always diligently guarding the manor on the wooden tower.

In fact, Knight William, and according to certain rumours, and his adopted son Antal, once belonged to the heretical Knights Templar.This may have been guessed by others from their treatment of commoners, although the Miller had never heard from anyone that the Templars treated people of all ranks equally, no matter how hard they asked.

But the most important thing is that he is a good man worthy of God's love, isn't he?That's what the Miller always told himself whenever he wanted to find out about his lord's past.After all, to him, it didn't matter why the owner of the manor was kind to everyone, and there was no need for him to question his past, which was rude.

He was glad that he was still the owner of this water mill, and he could smell the fresh bread mingling with the myriad scents of spring, the fruits of his labor.
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It was already afternoon, and two teenage boys rushed out from the west gate, shoving and shoving each other, screaming loudly and running towards the farmland.Sepuk and Corta look like two eggs: knotted brown hair, resembling faces browned by dirt and sunlight, the same mischievous brown eyes, and blue-and-red outfits , which means that they are not farmers, but the master's children.

In fact, it's no mere coincidence that they look so much alike: they were born from their mother's womb at the same time.They've shared everything since then, including the sad fact that every member of their family has been stricken with dysentery.

The orphaned twins were taken in by the manor owner and received special treatment: he adopted them, raised the twins as his own, and let them know that they were no longer orphans without parents.

The little guys also know how lucky they are, so they are very obedient.Antal loves them even though they have different skin colors.

This time, they scrambled to see who would get the news of the captain of the guard to the knight first, and they didn't consider whether it was appropriate for them to meet their master while pushing each other with dirty faces and messy hair. , not to mention that the captain of the guard did not let them bring the news to Lord Antar...

In an inadvertent moment, Corta elbowed Sepke in the side with such force that the boy lost his balance, but he still had time to reach out and grab his brother, dragging him to the ground with him .Then they both suddenly turned pale with fright.

"My sock!" Sepke yelled, looking at his right knee, "It's all your fault, you pulled the wool out!"

"Look at my sleeves!" Corta yelled, pointing to where his brother had pulled him, and the sleeves of his clothes had been torn from his arms.

"What's wrong with you, you fool!" Sepke snorted, "You just tore a seam, which can be repaired with a few stitches, but what should I do? The whole woolen stocking was torn apart by you! "

Corta couldn't take it anymore, and he burst out laughing.

"Anyway, madam only bought wool twice this month," he said with a smile, "she might buy you a third dress, or you could wear this sock with holes, anyway, it's spring and your nose won't It hurts from the cold!"

When Sepke heard this, he rushed towards Corta indignantly, and the two little guys started a long and fierce battle again.During this time, they even forgot that they had intended to bring news to their master.

A nine-year-old boy ran past them at breakneck speed as Corta imprinted a large purple blotch under his companion's left eye and Sepke tore off the sleeve of his opponent's other suit.

(End of this chapter)