Temple Sword

Chapter 166 The Bell Ringer

1322, Moon of the Holy Virgin (August)
Bihor, Transylvania
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A two-wheeled cart full of goods creaked through the imposing aristocratic carved gate, and the cart was pulled back and forth by two sweaty boys.

Gritting their teeth, they cursed every now and then over any pothole or bump they passed, and damned whoever created the vehicle to the deepest depths of hell, whoever that was.

Before them walked a small, black-bearded man, whistling merrily in the pleasant summer sun, almost hopping.

In his right hand he carried a curly stick about the height of a man, and at the end of the stick were tied two small bells, so that all the inhabitants where he passed would know that he was coming.

This man is 40 years old, but he is forever young at heart, and he is so proud of this invention that anyone can recognize him from a distance.

But for the twin boys who have been pulling the cart for months, they hope to put those screeching bells to rest.

Whistling or not, the skinny guy kept wagging his annoying stick.

He woke them with his bell at dawn, urged them on if he found them walking slowly, and rang the bell to signal when he wanted to go on, even when they were conveniently in the bushes. Will tell them to hurry up with his damn bell.

"Bell Lubbock!" The servants of the nobleman ran up to him cheerfully, flushed, at the sound of the bell and the screech of the scarcely oiled wheels of the cart.

"It's been a year since the last time you came to our place! We'll tell the host you're here, whoops, who are these little guys? They look like two identical pumpkins!"

"My assistants." The man said proudly, tapping his stick with satisfaction. "God has been blessing me lately, I haven't pulled this cart in half a year.

I can run from farm to farm with ease!Well, I'm a little thirsty now, and I hope your lords have some good ale..."

"That depends on what you've brought, Bell Man!" A big man with broad shoulders and a strong jaw stepped out of the force, he must be a warrior.His muscular arms were as thick as tree trunks, and his thick palms allowed him to wield a longsword with one hand.

"I only have good stuff, I think you must know, honorable Lord Lorinche Toldi!" Lubbock bowed to the burly man and immediately switched to a noble Transylvanian accent.

It was a habit of his to try to imitate the accent, way of speaking, and mannerisms of his guests, thinking that this would make them trust him more quickly and bring him more money.

As for whether that actually works, he'll never be able to prove it, but he's convinced it is, and it's good enough.

"Leaky, cracked pottery?" snapped Lorraine Tordy, hiding a smile under his beard. "Wait until San Andre's month and all the cabbage juice will leak out?
How will we survive the winter then?Well, don't look so scared, I was just kidding, you little bastard! "

The man laughed in a hoarse voice, "You know, I'm your loyal customer, Lubbock Ringing the Bell.

Come on, let me see if there is any suitable wine at home: thicker than the morning fog, bitterer than my heart, I can only fall asleep at sunrise every time, because the snoring of the woman next to me is like a dragon, come Let's drink and chat..."

As he spoke, he went back to the house and beckoned the businessman to follow him. The latter turned around and told his young assistants to guard the cart, while gritting his teeth and muttering, "Nowhere, nothing, until I come back." Come on, get it, you two little idiots?"

Then he turned into a cheerful whistling businessman again, and followed the big man. "Come on, Lord Lorraine!"

After they all disappeared into the house, Sepke and Corta let out a sigh of relief at the same time.They had been standing still, gripping the handle of the trolley, but then they immediately let go of the trolley and began rummaging frantically inside.

After a while, Sepke took out a large piece of bread, and Corta proudly displayed the leftover barbecue from the night before.

The twins moved quickly. One of them broke the bread, tore off a large piece, and handed it to the other. At this time, he also got a piece of barbecue. After the two were full, they carefully stuffed the rest of the food together. go back.

After they swallowed all their food, Corta took out a sheepskin wine bag from the depths of the cart, and the slightly vinegary sour wine went down their throats, and they looked at each other happily , and then sighed again.

The servants working in the yard, an elderly woman and some young girls, could see what the brothers were doing but didn't seem to care much.

Still, Sepke wanted to make sure, so he waved to one of the young girls.

"You're not going to betray us to that ugly bell-ringing dwarf, are you, my angel?" He winked at the blond girl. "If you tell me that there is a price for your silence, I will be more than happy to pay it. But since I have no money, I want to repay your help with a kiss!"

Under the disapproving gaze of the old woman, the girl blushed and giggled with the others.Sepke was encouraged and began to speak more boldly.

"Your hair is like ears of wheat, and your eyes are as blue as mountain streams!" he said with a smile, wishing she could see his new mustache, which he discovered a few weeks ago, and which made him I feel more like a man. "Little Fairy, I also want to see your feet, they must be as white as snow!"

Hearing these words, even the woman in charge of taking care of the girls felt that she had to do something. She gave Sepke a hard look at first, but seeing that it didn't work, she yelled at the blushing girl stand up.

"Eileen, Lord Miklos is crying, hurry up and hug her, don't be lazy here!"

The girl innocently said that Lord Miklos did not cry because she did not hear, but then the woman rose angrily and ordered her to enter the house.

"What's the matter with you?" Corta asked, who had been hiding next to Sepuk in confusion, "Recently, you've been talking about girls and always harassing those poor girls on the road, you weren't like this before... He searched for a suitable word to describe it for a while, "You weren't so weird before."

"I can't explain it myself, but I've been feeling like there's a fire in my chest since the summer," Sepke admitted. "I want all the beautiful girls with big breasts and round hips to sit on my lap and kiss They, take off their clothes, and..."

He sighed heavily, embarrassed at the same time, he didn't know what to do next.

"Don't you feel that way?" Sepke looked at his brother, "If I've started to grow into a man, then you should too..."

"I don't feel it." Corta resolutely denied, but in fact, he did have the same feeling, but he was different from Sepke, and he was more timid in approaching girls.

Both of them were awkwardly silent, Corta thought, Sepke wanted to tear off his clothes in front of them, but he didn't dare to speak in front of them.

If he saw one of them smiling and giving him some looks, he would love her and smile and dream about it for days, maybe weeks.

He also immediately took a liking to the blond girl, so he didn't take kindly to Sepuk who tried to woo her.

Poor twins, how would they know what happened to their bodies and hearts this summer?If they were still living in Lord Bartol's little castle, they would surely have all the answers.

Lord Barto or Captain Varos will surely explain to them that boys at the age of 14 start courting girls, fall into the sad trap of love, blush to the ears when they see pretty girls, and have to change into clean clothes often in the morning Clothes, and maybe a cold shower to cool down their tantrums.

"Are you sure we made the right decision?" Corta asked, trying to distract the two of them from the awkward subject. "If you have changed your mind, now is the time.

The gate is wide open, we are not tied down, and Lubbock is too busy drinking his drink and making his money to notice us.Now we can escape, if you change your mind..."

"What?" Sepke shrugged bitterly, "Have you changed your mind?"

"No," Corta admitted honestly, "I just keep feeling guilty."

"Everything will pass in time," his brother reassured, "do you think I didn't think of Ire? But we have no influence, no money, no horses, no means to use, what can we do?" Woolen cloth?

Two 14-year-old boys, on the boundless Kingdom Road... sooner or later they will be caught again, who knows what fate will be waiting for us at that time, I'm afraid we will never be so lucky again. "

Corta also had to agree with this, although he had accepted this fact a month ago.Sepke is right, there's nothing they can do if they run away from Lubbock ringing the bell.

They thought it was impossible for them to find and rescue Ire, they had separated from him months ago, and there was no chance at all.Without him, they would not have dared to face Antar Bator.

What could they say to Lord Barto?To tell him that they drank the strange liquor because they were not vigilant enough, and abandoned his only living offspring?Tell him Ealy might be dead and he should take them back?
And what were they to say about Lady Agnes?That she must not have escaped from the manor?Because they were sure that the villains must have destroyed Bartow Manor, and they had no doubts about it.

Finally, Sepke said, who knows if Lord Antal survived His Majesty's highland battle?After all, they hadn't heard from him since he left the estate last spring.

It all combined to create too many doubts, so they decided to stay where they are and keep their guard up.

Lubbock, who rang the bell, was not a villain, of course, although he did make the boys work hard, and they often complained about him, but it was more like a frivolous, even affectionate complaint.

For Lubbock, having bought them in St. George's Month (April), immediately told them that he did not regard them as slaves, but as apprentices, even assistants.

“I will not beat you, starve you, or humiliate you,” Lubbock told them that first night, flipping bacon by his campfire on the edge of the forest.

"I was a slave myself, or lived something like a slave, so I don't want anyone to be a slave.

You are all free men and can leave me and go elsewhere.But until then, you have to pay what I paid for you, and you are still in debt to me.After you pay off your debts, you can go wherever you want.

Or you guys can stay with me and explore the world together, eat two meals a day, sometimes three, and learn all about the art of the deal.

When I die, you can take over my business, because I have no wife and no children, at least as far as I know, and I won't do you any wrong, and you'll know. "

He handed them each a slice of toasted bacon and a piece of shiny bread, and they took an instant liking to him.

A few days later, he started ringing the bell, commanding and teasing them, but by then the twins had no desire to run away, Lubbock hadn't abused them, and they were lucky this time.

Slowly, they all accepted their fate, maybe they would never be servants of the high lord again, but for them, trading seemed to be a more peaceful and safer way of earning a living.

What was the business of Lubbock ringing the bell?He sold almost everything, sometimes convincing foolish descendants that the things their ancestors left behind were of no value, and buying them for far less than their real value,

Sometimes he bartered, and usually it ended at a disadvantage to the other party, because he had a special talent, a gift for exchanging rubbish for treasure, and he sold what he got at a high price and profited from it.

Lubbock would repair and resell discarded items, turning them into coin after coin in all sorts of weird ways.He never had to be afraid of robbers, because anyone who glanced at the contents of the cart would think that this eccentric man was carrying a load of rubbish.

But when he brought the cart to the gate of the village, farm or manor, everyone thought that what he was holding was a treasure.And the boys believe they too will one day learn these amazing skills.

The boys' attention was drawn to the blond girl who reappeared from the house, this time with a little one under the age of two in her arms.

"Look, Lord Miklos is really crying!" Elaine said with a smile, "Aunt Judy has really good ears."

The old woman muttered that a person like her who has spent most of her life in the yard can hear everything, but in fact she was as surprised as the girl, she didn't hear any crying, she just wanted to stop these young people from crying. Indecent conversation.

"This little guy is so heavy!" The girl slowly put the child on the ground, "Go, Lord Miklos, let's play!"

The weather was warm and pleasant, and the little boy was only wearing a knee-length linen coat. He kicked up the dust with his bare feet, shouting to drive away the hens scurrying by the gate, and chasing fluffy chickens when he got tired of playing. Komondor dog, circling around the fence.

The servants didn't mind, it would tire the kid out so he wouldn't be yelling at his mother until midnight, they thought, let him run around, he had nothing else to do anyway.

Miklos stopped suddenly, leaving a small puddle in front of him, and said, "Pee!"

Seeing that the little boy's clothes were not wet, Elaine breathed a sigh of relief and continued to let him run.

(End of this chapter)