Temple Sword

Chapter 164 Where are you

1322, St. Jacob's Month (July)
Buda, Hungary
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Heavy clanging and clicking came from the blacksmith's shop where a proud and happy father was teaching his ten-year-old son how to forge iron.

Of the two, only the child knew that he was not the son of the blacksmith, and his name was not Matthew as the blacksmith called him, but Ireh.He also knew that he was the king's knight, the son of Antar Bartor, whose mother's name was not Lily but Agnes.

However, it was the first two weeks in a long time that he was able to eat his fill every day, and no one hurt him, tied him up, and in fact they were very kind and gentle with him.

Only the blacksmith among them believed that he was a boy named Matthew, who had been swept away by the waters of the Danube many years ago and taken prisoner somewhere on the banks of the South.

In those first days, Ealy never said a word.But after making sure that no one here would touch him and abuse him, he decided to at least observe basic etiquette.

When he thanked the food in front of him for the first time, his soft words almost froze the air on the table, and the blacksmith and his wife looked at each other in surprise, and then burst out into joyful and sincere laughter.

Only then did they know that the child had not become mute for some reason.While Lily was still sure the boy wasn't her Matthew, she was just as happy at the surprise surprise.

No matter how hard she tried to hide it, the maternal instinct had awakened in her.

She still refuses to let the boy sleep in the house with them, but she tidies up the little corner of the smithy every day, occasionally trying to sneak an apple or a handful of nuts into the house. in the child's bed.

Day after day, these kind gifts convinced Ealy that he was in a good place, with good people, and that he would at least be safe until his father or mother came to him.

So he became more and more open, and the only thing that bothered him was that the blacksmith kept calling him Matthew.His wife, Lily, never called him by any name, which Elay didn't understand, but he didn't ask why.

One day Joseph was making new farm implements, and the boy approached him and began asking how to shape such strong and indestructible materials as iron and steel.

"Thank God, none of these are indestructible materials, boy," laughed the blacksmith, hissing sharply as he dipped his red-hot hoe into the water in the hearth bucket.

"If iron and steel never broke, I'd be out of a job, and my father and grandfather wouldn't be able to find a buyer. There's a way to tame these things, would you like to try?"

Despite the sweltering heat inside, Ireh nodded excitedly.

Joseph, wearing a heavy rough leather apron that fit perfectly, took the hoe out of the water and set it aside, wiped his sooty forehead with his shaggy arm, and looked at the ten-year-old boy with his hands on his hips.

"Tell me, don't you remember anything?" he asked cautiously. "Do you remember what these things around me are?"

Elay just shook his head. He had never been in the forge in a blacksmith's shop, and no one had taught him how to use blacksmith's tools. How could he remember?
"Okay, then listen carefully," the man said briskly and earnestly, "I will introduce you to the magical secrets of metalworking now! Keep your ears up and write down everything I tell you, okay?"

"Okay." The boy agreed softly, and did as the blacksmith asked.

Immersed in the smith's words, absorbing every detail and storing them away, a fascinating world of wonder unfolded before him in the hours and days that followed.

He learned that the most important equipment in the blacksmith workshop is the forge and the corresponding bellows.

Joseph has two bellows, a smaller one that he can operate with his feet, and a larger one that requires dedicated help.If the bellows are properly operated, the fire in the forge will be hot enough to melt even the most stubborn iron.

Elay also learned that the blacksmith's stove was kept burning not with wood but with charcoal, and he would sprinkle a little water on it now and then to make the heat more bearable in the room.

Joseph showed him how the color of the material changed as the metal was heated, and it was imperative to keep an eye on these.

"If you continue to heat it, it will turn dark brown at first." He took a small piece of iron from the scrap pile with tongs and put it in the forge. As expected, the material turned dark brown. Clapping, Joseph's chest straightened with pride.

"If we wait a little longer, it'll be as red as a cherry," said the blacksmith, "go and blow it up with the bellows!"

"Really?" The boy's eyes widened, "Can I?"

"You can," the man said with a smile, "the fire has started to get smaller, it's time to make it hotter."

As soon as Elay stepped on the bellows, the iron in the forge glowed cherry red at the end of the poker.

Holding the poker in one hand, Joseph dipped the cup into the bucket with the other, and sprinkled a little water over the pile of burning charcoal lumps, and after a muffled hiss, a little cloud of steam rose from the fire, but wild The flames have not abated in the slightest.

"Can we forge it now?" Elay asked hopefully, but the blacksmith shook his head.

"Wait!" he advised, "soon it will have a new color, keep stomping on the bellows!"

The boy nodded, and soon, the iron block turned yellow like sunlight.

"How do you decide, boy?" asked the blacksmith, "shall we start hammering it, or see what color it can turn?"

Sweat poured from Ire's forehead and into his eyes, but the boy didn't even notice.He blinked, wiped off the salty sweat, and shouted to Joseph, "Let's get on with it! I want to see a fourth color!"

Not long after, the iron block emitted a blinding white light.The blacksmith motioned to stop stepping on the bellows, and slowly lifted the scrap metal out of the forge.

"It's too hot now," said the man, "and one carelessness can burn down the whole room, even the whole house. You have to respect these glowing materials, because this little white iron can easily kill you And me."

The boy understood what this meant, and waited patiently for Joseph to reach the anvil with the iron in his grip, before nodding to let him move closer.

Holding the iron block firmly with tongs, the blacksmith took a heavy-looking hammer from the side of the anvil.

"Now it can begin to take shape." With that, he tapped the glowing white metal with a hammer.

There was a crisp knocking sound, sparks splashed slightly, and Yi Lei narrowed his eyes and took a step back.On the second blow, though, he stopped squinting and approached the anvil boldly.

"You don't necessarily have to heat it that far," explained the blacksmith, "if you heat it white, you have to be very careful, or it won't be as good as it should be in the end.

It is usually sufficient to heat it until it is light yellow, and for some operations red is fine.Well, do you want to try it? "

Elay nodded firmly, stepped closer, took the heavy hammer from Joseph, and held it in both hands.

"It's just my little hammer," said the blacksmith with a hearty smile. "My real hammer is three times its weight."

The boy struck the iron block with all his strength, but it barely responded, leaving only a small mark on it.He took a deep breath and tapped harder, but what seemed easy to Joseph, Elay couldn't do it no matter how hard he tried.

But he still didn't give up. He saw the iron block slowly change from white to yellow, then the edge turned red, and then slowly flattened, taking shape, and a sense of excitement rushed to his heart.Then Joseph gently removed the iron piece from the anvil and pressed it into the bucket with a hissing sound.

"You'll get stronger and you'll be able to do better then," he assured the child. "In the end, you'll be able to do all this as easily as I did, or even better than me, who knows..."

"I want more!" Yi Lei burst out with enthusiasm. "Heat it again!"

"Come here for today," said Joseph, "you have done a good job, but we will continue tomorrow. Don't try to do everything at once, I will teach you everything in order, one by one. Be patient Dot, my boy, you will make a fine blacksmith."

Ealy had to wait until the next day, and that night he had trouble sleeping: he was excited and kept repeating to himself what he had learned during the day.Forge, bellows, tongs, hammer, anvil, charcoal block...

For the first time in a long time, he fell asleep without thinking about Dubica's estate, the attack, or his long-lost parents.For the first time in nearly a year, he lay down happily to sleep, waiting for tomorrow with joy.

Soon Elay saw what Joseph called the big hammer, a big thing he could barely lift.

The blacksmith explained to him that he didn't always work as a captain, and that if he had the money to hire a temporary helper, then he would give the hammer to the metal on the anvil and he could worry about other things, In this way, the progress of the work will be much faster, and he will not be so tired.

"Then there will be real music in the shop, and you will hear it!" said the blacksmith, ruffling the boy's hair. "Soon, I won't have to hire helpers, but you will work with a hammer. "

By the last days of St. Jacob's month, Elay, who had always been called Matthew, was becoming more and more familiar with the terminology of the blacksmithing trade.

He is also becoming more and more proficient with the hammer. In order to really become a hammer hammer one day, he lifts heavy tools every day and wants to become stronger.

He already knew how to drill holes, how to stretch and widen, sharpen, bend, texture, chisel in his own marks, he was always talking about it, and looked forward to trying any of them.

He gradually developed a regular routine of getting up early in the morning and doing most of the chores around the house before the sun came up.He fed the poultry and the family's only pig, brought fresh water to the workshop, and lit the forge.

In return for his diligence and good behavior, Ireh could spend all day making nails, which he was constantly learning and improving, and since nails were a consumable in great demand, he even brought some to the blacksmith. extra income.

Although the money went into Joseph's pocket, Ealy was still satisfied that what he had learned could bring value, and now he had a roof over his head, he was in a home, and he wouldn't go hungry again.

But today, his words froze the air on the dining table again, but this time no one laughed.

"If one day my dad comes to pick me up, I'll miss you all so much," he said with a gleam of innocence in his eyes, "he was a knight and raised me to be a warrior, but now I want to be a blacksmith !"

Joseph and his wife froze at the same moment, they looked at each other in silence, tears welling in Lily's eyes, while the blacksmith tried to salvage the situation.

"We are your parents, Matthew," Joseph said with mock incredulity, "and I always wanted you to be a blacksmith."

"My name is not Matthew!" The boy slapped his wooden spoon, and his whole person changed drastically in an instant.

He doesn't look happy anymore, his eyes don't flicker but fire. "My name is Ire, my mother is Agnes, and my father is Antal Barto, King Charles' knight!"

"I told you!" Lily stood up, almost kicking her chair down.

She leaned her back against the wall and began to cry. "I told you he's not our son! They'll come for him and they'll punish us! They'll take everything from us and cut off our hands!"

"Shut up, woman!" reprimanded the blacksmith, and pointed his thick forefinger at Ireh, "you're talking such nonsense because you nearly drowned in the river and were so frightened.

But stop now, okay?Look how frightened your poor mother is! "

"She's not my mother!" the boy screamed, and then began to recall, "Last summer, bad guys burned down the estate and I had to run away with Sepke and Corta, but we got lost and then someone attacked the camp , we were caught by the slave trader Olivier, he kept beating us, hurting us, and then..."

"Enough! Enough!" The blacksmith slapped the table heavily, his lips were pale and trembling slightly, his eyes rolled back and forth, as if looking for something that could help him solve this bad situation.

However, there was only the sobbing woman in the room, and the boy who kept saying that he was not Matthew but someone else's son.

"Okay," Joseph finally stood up, took Ire by the arm and walked out of the house, "you finish your meal, go to the shop, pray, and then go to bed! I don't want to hear such stupid stories anymore !"

Already out of breath, the boy wrenched himself free from the blacksmith's grasp, stared at him for a moment, and then rushed out of the house, closing the door of the workshop angrily.

At night, he thought about running away, but quickly dismissed the idea.Where can he go?A ten-year-old boy, penniless, he will soon be caught, perhaps killed this time.

He couldn't last three days on the road alone, he could go to the rector of Buda and tell him who his father was, but no one would believe him, they wouldn't even let him in the gate.

Finally, sulking, he lay down to sleep and pulled the blanket over him.

Not long after, the sound of the blacksmith couple arguing loudly came from the room on the other side.He couldn't hear their words, but the voices that came through the crack of the door were full of anger and bitterness, and the boy finally decided that he would never tell the truth again.

Call him Matthew, what does he care about?He didn't want to have such a bad night again!When his father finally came to him, all the truth would come out, and he would be on horseback, in full armor, with sword drawn, and lead his son home.

But why hasn't he come yet?Where was he delayed?Or did he no longer love him?Was he disappointed that he failed to protect the manor?

Also, could it be that because his mother is no longer alive, he was captured and killed by the villains who invaded the manor?Could it be that his parents don't want him anymore, will he always be in the hands of this strange stranger?

When dawn came, the boy fell asleep, his pillow completely soaked with tears, and the room fell silent.

"Father," he whispered, half asleep, with all the pain, fear, and despair, "will you still come to me?"

(End of this chapter)