Chapter 25 Reunion (1)

Hundreds of miles away from the forest lodge, on a winding path in a mountain range, Angley, who was sitting in the carriage, suddenly raised his head. His deep brown eyes instantly turned into a clear blue.

The blue pupils seemed like a crystal-clear glass sphere, shimmering with faint electric arcs. Angley lifted his gaze towards the empty void as if making eye contact across the distance.

Lynn, who was reading a book next to him, felt somewhat uncomfortable. He had a strange sensation of nausea deep within his heart, as if he were being observed, and goosebumps formed on his neck.

However, this feeling of being watched lasted only for a very short while and quickly faded away. Lynn glanced at his teacher sitting beside him and saw that Angley didn’t react.

Lowering his head, Lynn continued reading.

Perhaps the captivating knowledge of this extraordinary world had drawn him in. Lynn didn’t find reading dull at all. In fact, he found the contents of the books very interesting, and the more he read and understood, the stronger this feeling became.

Mutation studies. With each book he read, Lynn’s understanding of mutation studies deepened. He noticed that not only was he improving in mutation studies, but his knowledge of bloodline studies had also advanced significantly.

“Sir, we will arrive at Bangor Port today,” Old Kim said.

After leaving the mountain range, the carriage’s speed increased, and the monotonous journey was starting to make Lynn feel a bit weary.

As they continued to approach and draw nearer to Bangor Port, Lynn’s thoughts gradually intertwined in his mind like threads, forming a complex web of emotions.

Lynn made a faint sound from his nostrils and lifted the curtain of the carriage.

From the initial expectations upon boarding the carriage to the fatigue caused by the bumpy journey, Lynn’s emotions became somewhat complex upon realizing they were nearing their destination.

He worried about the possibility of receiving distressing news about his family during the journey, yet he couldn’t help but anticipate the joyful expressions on his parents’ faces when they saw him.

“You’ve worked hard,” Lynn said.

Gazing at the scenery outside the window, the distant sky seemed even bluer than the inland sky, with fluffy white clouds drifting in the air. The trees on both sides were becoming sparser, and the common folk on the main road were gradually increasing.

These passing commoners were dressed in fine attire, and both the colors and styles of their clothing were richer than those of the inland region’s residents.

They wore smiles on their faces, engaged in hushed conversations, and occasional laughter echoed from the streets.

In the inland areas, it was a rare sight to see women walking outside.

But here, women dressed in beautiful attire strolled the streets, holding their heads high, chatting quietly with companions. It was unclear what they were discussing, but occasional sounds of excitement drifted over.

Old Kim, who was driving the carriage and puffing on his pipe, looked at this scene with a hint of envy in his eyes.

It would be great if he could live here.

However, that opportunity had passed in this lifetime.

He was too old, and he didn’t know how many more years he could continue working.

Right now, all he wanted was to earn as much money as he could while he still could, to spend on his grandson and save for his son. As for himself— well, he was just an Old Kim, and in their hometown, “Kim” meant a diligent ox.

***

“That’s the one. What do you think?” 

Anika held her daughter warily, watching the group of people who had suddenly burst into their home.

In front were two men who appeared to be slightly older. The man on the left had a narrow scar running down the corner of his mouth, and he had lost half of his eyebrow. The man on the right was shorter and stout, but had a more menacing facial expression, with his face covered in rough flesh.

Behind these two men stood a group of burly individuals, and there were a few others outside.

The other residents in the vicinity watched from a distance, afraid to approach.

Except for the two leading men who were known troublemakers in the slums, the people behind them were well-dressed and didn’t look like common folk. Perhaps they even had connections with the nobility.

The group of burly men dispersed, and a man wearing a gray suit with round glasses on one side walked forward.

He gave Eva a thorough look from head to toe.

Anika recognized the look in his eyes— she had seen it when she picked out meat at the market.

“Not bad at all. You can fill a quota. Take her back,” the man said before turning to leave.

Anika tried to hold her daughter, but she couldn’t resist the strong pull. She looked at Eva, who was crying loudly due to the pain, and her heart ached. Her fingers barely loosened before her daughter was snatched away by these people.

In the next moment, Eva was forcefully taken away by the group.

Anika tried to chase after them, but the stout man suddenly kicked her hard in the stomach.

She fell to the ground, and two hoodlums rushed over, delivering punches and kicks in the chaos. Someone even kicked her head hard, causing her to lose consciousness.

After a while, when the group had left, some neighbors sneaked over to see what had happened and found Anika lying on the ground, unconscious.

“What’s going on here?”

“The Hamilton family is really unlucky.”

Someone peeked their head over to look at her, then quickly retreated.

Someone shook their head, saying they couldn’t afford to offend those people, who were probably nobles.

In the evening, two men, one tall and one short, walked home together from the dock.

Hamilton was carrying a plump and juicy big fish. Although there were many bloodstains on its scales, and it wasn’t very fresh, he had bought it from a fisherman for just 10 copper coins.

Eva loved eating fish, and tonight he would cook a delicious fish stew for her. She was still growing, and she needed good nutrition.

Hamilton’s left hand was in his pocket, feeling the warm silver coins. He was quite satisfied. Perhaps in a few days, he would have enough money to rent a better place. The seaside was too damp, and even as an adult, he woke up every morning feeling aches in his knees.

As they walked on the moist and mossy wooden planks, the cold sea breeze blew in, and Hamilton tightened his collar.

However, he didn’t notice the strange looks from the other people in the slum. But his son, Borg, who was walking beside him, sensed that something was amiss.

Borg was a quiet and introverted boy. Although he felt that something was wrong, he only held his father’s hand tighter.

“What’s wrong, Borg? Are you feeling cold?” Hamilton asked with concern.

Borg shook his head.

“Hamilton,” a man sitting on a small stool in front of a nearby house suddenly called out to Hamilton.

Hamilton turned his head and recognized the man as Bart.

He was a fellow townsman who had fled with him. He used to be a carpenter in town and ran a small grocery store. He was skilled in craftsmanship. During their journey of fleeing, both families had helped each other out.

However, Bart had injured his leg during the evacuation and now barely made a living by doing some carpentry work for others.

“Hey, Bart, how about coming over to my place for some soup tonight?” Hamilton said with a hearty laugh.

Bart fell silent for a moment and then spoke, “You should hurry home and check on Anika.”

After saying this, Bart lowered his head and continued to work on the stool he was crafting.

Hamilton was taken aback by Bart’s words and sensed that something was amiss. He immediately ran toward his own house.

As he approached his home, Hamilton hastily pushed open the partially closed door. He saw Anika lying on the floor, her breathing weak, and their daughter Eva was missing from the room. The man’s eyes turned red.

“Anika!”

He quickly lifted Anika onto the bed. His wife’s forehead was as cold as ice, and her breathing was very faint.

The honest and straightforward man was in a state of panic, leaving Borg to stay with his mother and take care of her. He hurriedly went to fetch a doctor.

It was a windy night, and the elderly doctor was reluctant to leave his home. However, when he saw the man with bloodshot eyes offering twice the usual fee, the doctor, who was in his sixties, reluctantly picked up his medical kit and came to Hamilton’s house.

The old doctor examined Anika’s body and shook his head. “Cold has entered her body, there’s a wound at the back of her head, bruises on her abdomen, possibly internal injuries. The main issue is that the cold entered her body after the injury. Even if she can be treated, it will take a long time, and there may be lingering effects. Luckily, her physical condition is decent— if she were weaker, she might not have made it.

“But even if she recovers, I’m afraid she won’t be able to do heavy labor anymore. If you want to treat her, it will cost a significant amount of money. Are you sure you want to proceed? It’s not that I’m charging a high fee, it’s just that many of the required medicines are not cheap.”

Hamilton scraped together more than a dozen silver coins from the corners of the room and gathered the silver coins he had hidden in various places in the house, forming a small pile on the bed.

“Is this money enough?” he asked.

“The money won’t be enough for the upcoming medications, but for now, it’s temporarily sufficient,” the old doctor replied, shaking his head and then nodding. After a moment of hesitation, the old doctor reminded him, “Are you sure you want to save her? This will financially burden your family.”

He had witnessed too many similar cases where a single illness could plunge a family into a deep abyss.

Hamilton clenched his teeth, nodded, and affirmed his decision. He had to save her— he was willing to work twice as hard in the future to earn money for her treatment. He had already endured the pain of losing a son once, and he couldn’t bear to lose his wife now.

And there was also the disappearance of Eva. At this moment, the man, who was in a foreign land, suddenly felt a profound sense of powerlessness.

——