When Ren Yinian woke up, it was just before dawn. He lay on a straw mattress, looking up at the soot-covered roof illuminated by the glow of a campfire, and for a moment, he didn’t want to move.
After staring into space for a while, he heard noises from the next room. The father of this body, a black smith, had already gotten up and was adding charcoal to the iron forge.
Ren Yinian tightened the sheepskin coat on his body, sighed, and got up to rekindle the campfire that had burned throughout the night. He lowered the iron pot hanging above the fire and added water.
His mother, Gillian, had recently given birth to a baby sister for him, barely two weeks old according to the Seedflower family’s calculations. Though Gillian didn’t mind, Ren Yinian thought she should have something warm to drink.
After washing up, Ren Yinian greeted his father, grabbed a cloth bag, filled it with flour, and took a couple of copper coins to the village’s mill and bakery.
“Oh, little Louis, I heard you don’t even let Gillian wash your clothes. You’re even more considerate than a daughter.” Martha, the apprentice at the bakery, was a seventeen-year-old girl. She handed over the bread with a teasing tone, her lively face breaking into a smile, even her freckles seemed to dance.
With the body of a child, but actually twenty-six years old, Ren Yinian didn’t react to this level of teasing. He feigned embarrassment and quickly fled.
On his way back home, he saw his childhood friend, Nick, squatting at his doorstep with his younger brother, Barton, both of them gnawing on breakfast with grinning faces.
Barton’s eyes lit up when he saw Ren Yinian and he shouted, “Big brother Louis!” before pouncing on him. Ren Yinian handed him a piece of bread, and he happily sat down to enjoy it.
Nick clicked his tongue, somewhat displeased with his younger brother’s lack of manners, but seeing Barton relishing the bread, he didn’t say anything.
Ren Yinian didn’t mind either. In this era, sugar was a precious commodity, so the bread wasn’t sweet, and it had a slightly sour taste from the fermentation of the dough. It was at most fluffy and soft. As an adult, he didn’t really care whether to eat it or not, so he casually waved to Nick and continued back home.
When he arrived home, Gillian was sitting by the bedside, watching the baby, and she was also busy sewing a pair of leather gloves.
Ren Yinian went about milking the cows, boiled the milk, and poured it into cups. He also poured a large glass of the homemade wheat beer that Gillian brewed. He arranged the bread on the table, and finally, the family sat down to have breakfast.
After a month of transmigrating to this world, Ren Yinian had gradually become accustomed to this self-sustaining rural life.
At the age of twelve in this body, he had recently started learning how to become a blacksmith from his father. In the early stages of blacksmithing, aside from recognizing iron ore, the most important thing Ren Yinian had been taught was how to maintain the temperature of the furnace.
However, due to his age, Rubin Walton only let him watch from the side and didn’t let him get involved. When he got busy, he would chase Ren Yinian out to play on his own.
Today was no different. Rubin had already started swinging his hammer, and Ren Yinian wandered around the house, not finding anything to do. He eventually left the house to “play” with his young friends.
Ren Yinian herded the cattle and sheep back to the pasture, and the farmers in this world had already discovered the advantages of crop rotation. They divided the farmland into three parts, rotating them for spring planting, autumn planting, and rest, with the resting land serving as communal pasture. At this moment, the village children were grazing the animals there.
As he got closer, he heard Barton’s cheerful laughter, and Nick was standing nearby with a sour expression—something quite unusual.
Nick was the king of the children in the village. Both his body and mind were agile, and the children enjoyed playing with him. They were currently obsessed with role-playing games, acting out various heroic stories passed down by the church. Naturally, Nick was the one who often played the hero, and he even wanted to “promote” his best friend Louis to play the role of the second brave warrior. Ren Yinian had politely and firmly declined this offer, suggesting he could provide narration from the sidelines. Nick had finally given up.
Today’s story begins with the most formidable girl in the village, Sally. Sally’s father was a member of the Lord’s archer unit, and being a warrior’s daughter, she had an admiration for heroes. However, she was frustrated that all the heroes in the past were male. In the role-playing games, Sally always ended up playing roles like the girl presenting flowers or the weak girl rescued by the hero.
Recently, the church told the story of a female hero named “Devotee Clara,” who started as an ordinary girl and grew into a powerful psychic, leading a team to defeat foreign invaders and protect the city. Without a doubt, Devotee Clara captured Sally’s heart, and she strongly demanded to reenact this story.
But why would Nick let Sally steal his limelight? Nick completely ignored Sally’s request and, when Sally brought it up repeatedly, he feigned indifference and said to her, “Sally, let me be honest with you, you act too much like a girl. It’s really annoying.”
For Sally, who hung out with the boys, this was a serious insult. She jumped up in anger and kicked Nick’s knee. As Nick held his knee and hopped around, he added fuel to the fire, “See, that’s exactly what I’m talking about. You’re even more annoying than a girl. You might as well go back to sewing clothes.”
Sally’s face turned bright red with anger, and she stood up and shouted at Nick, “You’re the annoying one! I dare you to touch Crazy Virgil’s iron chain!” As soon as she said that, everyone fell silent and looked at Sally in astonishment.
Crazy Virgil was a nightmare for the village children. He lived in the northeastern corner of the row of houses behind the church, sitting in front of his house in a gloomy state every day. His left hand was severed from the middle of his palm, leaving him with no fingers, and his right foot was chained with an iron chain. The monks from the church brought him food every day, but sometimes he didn’t even eat.
What terrified the children even more was that every parent warned their children, “Stay away from Virgil.” To make these mischievous troublemakers realize the seriousness of the situation, parents would use vague threats like, “You know what happens if you get too close to where Virgil lives.”
With these ambiguous words, children’s rich imaginations added various elements to the consequences. Ren Yinian had heard things like, “You can’t even touch a leaf near the place where Crazy Virgil lives, or you’ll die!” and “Virgil didn’t eat today. It’s said he caught squirrels in the forest to eat last night.”—For heaven’s sake, Virgil’s iron chain wasn’t just for show.
Normally, they wouldn’t go near Virgil’s dwelling. Only once every half month during the market near the church, they would follow their parents there and gather near Virgil’s house to sneak a peek, which Nick called “exploring.”
Ren Yinian had also gone to see. This person, who appeared terrifying in the eyes of children, was actually a poor soul with an unclear mind. No one knew why he had suffered such severe injuries, and he had no self-care abilities, so he had been placed behind the church. The iron chain on his foot was quite long, allowing him some freedom within the house’s boundaries. Clearly, it was to prevent him from wandering off since the monks were often too busy to watch him.
The parents’ instructions to stay away from Virgil were actually meant to protect him. After all, these mischievous kids were capable of anything when they got together.
Sally’s remark was clearly an emotional outburst, and Nick, as a twelve-year-old “hero,” would never admit to being afraid of Virgil. He didn’t respond immediately, and the atmosphere suddenly became awkward.
Considering the children’s fragile pride, Ren Yinian could only dryly interject, “Oh Sally, you’re really brave. I wouldn’t dare either.”
Nick looked at Ren Yinian in surprise. Louis had actually uttered the words “I wouldn’t dare” so easily. How could a boy admit to being afraid?
Ren Yinian sighed and rubbed his forehead, continuing, “But let’s not go to Virgil’s place. It’s too dangerous. Instead, let’s act out the story of Devotee Clara. Clara had a very brave swordsman as her infantry captain, and Nick, you haven’t played a swordsman yet.”
Nick glanced at Sally, who had turned away, and eventually nodded. Sally also wiped away her tears and smiled. Ren Yinian breathed a sigh of relief. Today’s “play” mission was finally proceeding smoothly.
