Chapter 61: Brothers and a Cold (2)
“The interview is over by the barn over there. Two more here, Senior!”
Miltein, grinning from ear to ear, roughly shoved the two brothers, who were already nervous, towards the barn. Caught off guard, the brothers stumbled to the front of the barn, glancing around anxiously.
Their confidence, which had been bolstered by thoughts of giving it a try before climbing the hill, vanished in an instant. Now they were left feeling extremely timid.
To make matters worse, a group of men passed by, looking very disappointed, muttering something to themselves. They had likely failed the interview.
From Linte and Mate’s perspective, these men seemed strong and perfectly capable.
“Brother…”
As Mate lowered his head in despair, Linte felt a sudden surge of defiance and shouted. They didn’t come here expecting to be chosen anyway. They had nothing to lose.
“It’s fine, Mate. We’re used to being kicked out, aren’t we?”
With that mindset, Linte grabbed his younger brother and stood in line, waiting for their turn. Soon enough, their turn arrived.
Linte and Mate walked into the barn. Inside, they saw a table. Seated at the table were four people: two men and two women.
One of them wasn’t even human. Her ears were long and pointed, and she was stunningly beautiful.
The brothers, seeing an elf for the first time in their lives, blinked in surprise.
“Welcome,” said one of the interviewers, gesturing for them to come closer. Linte, who had been about to push forward recklessly, was overwhelmed by the presence of the elf and hesitated, now looking like a lost puppy. Mate was already in that state from the beginning.
Elena, who was observing the brothers, smiled and nodded toward El, one of the interviewers. This indicated that they had passed the first impression check.
It had been a long time since Elena had seen someone with such a pure and untainted nature. In fact, it reminded her of El. Of course, compared to El, these two seemed lacking in confidence and unfinished in some ways.
Few men managed to pass Elena’s initial judgment, so Ment looked at the brothers as if to say, “Finally,” and asked a question.
“Alright, then… Do either of you have any experience working on a ranch?”
“Ah, no!”
“No, we don’t!”
The two answered in unison, and Elena nodded again. The lie detector was in full operation. Unaware of this, Linte and Mate answered truthfully, as was their nature.
“So, are you two brothers?”
The woman with a sturdy build, Seral, who had been quiet until now, asked the brothers. She was just as nervous as the brothers, feeling out of place as an interviewer.
“Yes, we are!”
Linte replied loudly again. Seral nodded and looked at Ment as if to say, “I’ve done my part.”
Ment sighed and started bombarding the brothers with more questions.
“So, what kind of work have you done up until now?”
“Well, my brother and I mostly worked in construction… And…”
“And?”
Mate hesitated, trailing off, and so did Linte.
“Well…”
Even if they didn’t say anything, the truth would come out eventually. But Mate thought it might be better to explain everything honestly before any prejudice could form. He looked to his brother for confirmation.
Linte grabbed his younger brother’s hand.
“Mate, it’s all going to come out anyway. We might as well explain everything ourselves.”
The weight of a burden that would follow them for life. Linte, realizing his brother was right, nodded in agreement.
It wasn’t like they were entirely innocent. They had broken into an empty house, which was a clear crime. But they had already served their time, and yet the overseer, Latanda, continued to torment them.
Wasn’t that too much? With that frustration, Mate began to recount their story.
They didn’t expect anyone to believe them. They just wanted to explain how they ended up like this.
El, listening to Mate’s story, looked at Elena. She nodded, signaling that everything was true.
In fact, the brothers had been telling the truth from the beginning. That’s why they hadn’t been kicked out yet.
Flaws didn’t matter. Everyone had their own circumstances.
What mattered was whether they were honest.
Especially when it came to hiring staff, honesty was a top priority for El.
His sense of justice was stronger than most, and he cared deeply for those who had been wronged by power.
Some might say that the weak should simply endure quietly, as that is the wisdom for surviving in this world.
But El believed that if injustice was silently accepted, the world would never change.
So, El decided he wanted to observe the brothers a little longer. The past wasn’t important. Their honesty had already been proven.
What mattered wasn’t that they had been in and out of prison.
What mattered was how hardworking they were.
How diligently they worked.
Those two things were what mattered.
Moreover, this was the first time someone had passed through Elena’s detector without issue.
After hearing their honest confession, El made the brothers an offer.
“If you’re willing, how about working here for a week? We’ll pay you for that week, and after that, we’ll decide whether to hire you.”
“What?”
Linte and Mate were bewildered. This was not the response they had expected.
“You’re really going to trust us?”
Mate asked, and El just nodded.
“Elves can see through lies. So, I have no choice but to believe you. You should thank her for that.”
“R-Really? If you’re giving us a chance, we’ll gladly do it! We don’t even need to be paid for the week!”
“You’ll get paid. Fair wages will be given. Will you start tomorrow morning?”
“Of course!”
“Yes, sir!”
The two brothers looked at each other in disbelief. It was the first time anyone had ever believed their story, and the first time anyone had given them a chance.
***
The brothers woke up in an abandoned house in the northern slums, where they were sheltered from the wind. The early morning was freezing, and when they got up, their bodies were stiff and sore. Still, it was better than sleeping outside.
After stretching their stiff limbs, they scavenged for discarded food to fill their stomachs. Then, they headed up to the ranch to learn their duties.
The first task in the morning was to let the bellerens out of their pens. The water oxen roamed freely across the wide hill, which helped them produce healthy milk.
Once tired from running, they’d stop by a small artificial lake to roll around.
That was their routine. A magical barrier from Rurin’s 10th-class magic prevented them from wandering beyond the hill.
So, as long as the water oxen were let out, there wasn’t much to worry about.
At least not until it was time to bring them back in.
Of course, the real work began after the oxen were let out of their pens.
Recently, the number of bellerens had increased due to successful breeding, and Ment and Miltein could no longer handle them alone. That’s why El had decided to hire more people.
While the bellerens grazed on the grass, Seral took care of the pregnant ones and milked the others. Miltein kept an eye on the playful oxen to prevent any problems, while Ment helped with the milking.
As for Linte and Mate, they were assigned the job of cleaning the oxen’s pens, dealing with their dung and urine.
“Brother, it’s splashing everywhere!”
“So what? The fact that we have work is what’s amazing.”
“Well, that’s true, but still…!”
The brothers worked up a sweat all morning cleaning the barn. But Mate couldn’t help but wonder where the man who had given them a week’s trial was.
He hadn’t seen the man who had given them the chance to work here.
During their break, Mate approached Miltein and asked.
“Um, excuse me, senior?”
“Huh? Senior? Me?”
Miltein, who always called Ment “senior,” had always been the youngest wherever he went, despite being in his late twenties.
So, being called “senior” for the first time, Miltein burst out laughing.
“Hahaha! Sure, junior, ask me anything!”
“Well, where’s the man who interviewed us yesterday? I’d like to thank him.”
“Ah, El? He’s the owner of this ranch. He’s usually busy with other things, so he doesn’t come to the ranch often. The boss is like that, right? It’s the seniors over there who manage the ranch.”
“Oh, I see.”
Mate muttered to himself, realizing that El was the owner of the ranch. The person who had given them a chance and believed in them was the ranch’s owner.
He felt reassured by that fact.
Mate quickly went to Linte and told him.
“Brother, that man from yesterday is the ranch’s owner.”
“Really? I figured as much. He gave off that kind of vibe when he offered us the job.”
Mate nodded vigorously in agreement.
Soon after, it was lunchtime. The brothers, expecting to go hungry, were surprised when Miltein called them over and handed them food.
“Lunch is provided, so eat up. You’re both younger than me, right?”
Miltein was in his late twenties, while Linte and Mate were in their early twenties. Both brothers nodded at the same time.
“Alright, then. Work hard! If you have any questions, just ask me.”
“Then, senior, I have a question! Is this really free?”
“Of course! Our ranch treats its workers well. The pay is good too. I even quit being a mercenary to work here.”
As Miltein laughed heartily, Linte and Mate nodded, thinking how impressive it was that he used to be a mercenary.
But their attention quickly turned to the hot, steaming meal in front of them.
It was the first proper meal they’d had since getting out of prison.
“Brother! This is delicious!”
“It really is! Why is it so good?”
They didn’t even know the name of the dish, but the brothers were too busy eating to care. Their forks moved so fast they were almost a blur.
Lunch at the ranch was made by Seral. El covered all the food costs, so Seral was in charge of preparing the meals.
“Is that so? Eat up, boys,” Seral said with a smile as she watched Linte and Mate, who were around the same age as her son.
Despite it being their first day, the brothers were overwhelmed with emotion by the kindness shown by Seral, Ment, and Miltein.
No one had ever treated them so well, apart from their parents, whose memories were now nothing more than vague nostalgia from their childhood.
