Temple Sword

Chapter 199 A Different Scene

After Tiborg rode home, Zaran entered the hut.Corta was lying on a makeshift bed with a bandage around his head.Although he had no broken bones, the poor man could not quite stand up.

The boy fell asleep, and his body accumulated some strength to heal his injuries.Sepke sits next to him on a small wooden box, which holds leftover money and title deeds, and has been feeding and watering his brother.

"Did you all hear that?" the winemaker asked the twins.

"I hear you all," Sepke replied, "I don't know what we would do without you. You saved us, and now you've given us a future we couldn't even dream of.

I think now is the time to tell you that from now on all this is yours too, that we will own it together, Corta and I have agreed.

While it may be a long time before we profit from it, when we do, you will get as much as the two of us.How about, would you agree to a child's condition? "

Zaran smiled proudly at the boy.

"You're not a kid anymore," he said approvingly. "You all became men last night, and as a man, I'm happy to be your equal partner."

Zalan and Sepke shook hands solemnly, much more seriously than when he had struck a deal with Tiborg.

"I think you have discovered by now that those people who came with me last night are all homeless beggars like me." Zalan said.

Sepke nodded.

"They all accepted the money I gave, but they would come even if they didn't have money. I didn't agree to those who only wanted money. I spent more than half a day just because I wanted to pick some people I could rely on in the future. .”

"So I guessed right," Sepke said, "you promised them they could stay here."

"We need more hands," the winemaker explained, "and if we're going to make any progress, we need labor. We've found the people we need now to make this place flourish very quickly."

"You can't be sure they're reliable," the boy said, lowering his voice. "So far, they haven't done anything."

"I won't bring useless people," Zalan shook his head, "They all have something they are good at, and they all try to control their fate in their own hands, but like me, they have all experienced the pain of life test.

You can ask them yourself if you want, and then you will find that they are all good people, and all you need to do is give them a helping hand and pull them out of the mud.

Maybe you didn't notice that last night we didn't have a numerical advantage, but we still won. What do you think is the reason? "

"Because I scared the farmers away by jumping off the roof?" Sepke asked with a smile.

"This is one of the reasons, but it's far more than that," the man looked at him with a smile, "Don't forget, there are other people's help. Those peasants only fought because of their master's order, maybe Tiborg promised to give Some of their silver coins, who knows...

But these barefoot beggars fought willingly to protect their homeland, and that is why we are victorious, my young friend! "

"Well, you're right," the boy admitted, "and they really work hard. But if they stay here and work for us, what are we going to pay them for? We don't have much money..."

“Before we left Eger, I told them that for a year and a half they would only receive food and some pocket money, but no real salary,” Zaran explained. “Everyone Both thought it was a fair offer and accepted it right away.

One of them said that if he had food to eat, a place to live, and to be treated as a human being, he didn't need a dime, and no matter how long he worked here, he wouldn't need anything else in the future.

Do you know what happened after he said that?Everyone else nodded.When we sold the first few barrels of wine and finally started to accumulate some wine, we then considered how much money to give to those people.

Until then, they will all work here for free, we just need to provide them with shelter and food, what do you think? "

"How?" Sepke shook his head, "I think you chose the wrong career. You should be an orator, not a winemaker. If your wine is half as good as your eloquence, we will definitely make a lot of money .”

"When you take your first sip, you'll think you're dreaming!" Zaran promised confidently, then turned and briskly left the hut.

Sepke turned to look at his brother, then met Corta's eyes.

"How long have you been awake?" he asked in amazement. "How many conversations have you heard?"

"I hear it all, but I don't want to bother you," Corta said.

Hearing his brother's hoarse voice, Sepke quickly fed him some water. "What do you think? Do you think we can trust these people?"

“I think you have to have individual conversations with all of them,” Corta said. “You have to get to know them well and let them know you. So they can love you and be truly loyal to you.

If you can do this, then I think you will become an excellent leader. With an excellent winemaker like Zalan, you must be the most famous vineyard owner in this place at the age of 30. "

Sepke didn't like the way his brother was speaking, and he frowned at Corta with a terrible suspicion.

"Why did you say 'I'?" he asked, "Why is 'I' the most famous owner of the vineyard here instead of 'us'? These properties are yours too!"

"No, my dear brother," Corta sat up, looking seriously into Sepke's eyes, "you won the money, and you also won the land.

I'm so happy for you from the bottom of my heart, maybe one day I'll truly love this manor as my home, I admit, it's a beautiful place, it almost binds me here...

But I can feel a stronger calling than that, and if I don't listen to my heart, I'm kidding myself..."

"The Knights Hospitaller, isn't it?" Sepke asked, and he understood in a flash. "Since we went to that monastery, you've wanted to be one of them, haven't you?"

"Please don't be angry with me!" The boy apologized softly, "I've been thinking about this for a long time, and these thoughts have been in my head for the past few days...

While we could read and write, it was there that I learned professional reading and writing, even arithmetic and learning the secrets of the stars.I could learn Latin and read those strange pictures we used to laugh at.

I will not let yesterday happen again, I will learn how to properly use a sword, dagger, spear, axe, mace, and even a flail. "

"So you want to leave me?" Sepke asked sadly, "We've been through so much together and you're leaving now?"

"I don't want to leave you," Corta said, "I just want to join the Order and become a Knight Hospitaller. But every once in a while, if I get permission, I'll come back and visit you, and we're still brothers.

Believe me, growing grapes and making wine is not for me, maybe you see the manor in Lord Antal, but to me, he has always been a true knight, so we can all Keep a little shadow of our dear master..."

Sepke thought for a while, and then suggested: "If the Hospitallers accept you, you still need money."

"I have thought about it too," said his brother, "that I could pay for my clothes and other necessities of life by manual labor, if the monastery allowed it."

"No," Sepke shook his head, "I can't allow you to do this, although I would prefer you to stay here, but I won't force you to do something you don't like.

So far, we have survived with great difficulty. For some reason, luck always smiles at us. There must be a reason for it.

I think Zalan and I can really make this place a little kingdom of our own, and I don't have to be blown around the kingdom like a fallen leaf in the autumn wind anymore.

I feel like I've found my home, and if you feel the same way in the Hospitallers then I won't stand in your way because I want you to feel my happiness too.

We'll recalculate that money and set aside a portion for you to become an official Hospitaller, I'm not going to have my brother clean up the shit out of the entire Abbey every day just for one of his clothes.

After all, your first mentor was a Templar! "

"He's still a knight of the king," Corta added tearfully. "Wherever he is now, let's hope we don't let him down."

The two boys who had just become men hugged each other tightly. Although the time of parting had not yet come, they both knew that this was the moment to say goodbye to each other.

(End of this chapter)