Free life

Under the cover of the night, Locke's family and Hans' family returned to Maple Village.

Initially, a few relatives in town wanted to stay the night, but Locke declined because there were too many people.

Other than the two families, Kane also came back with them.

It wasn't boring for them to walk back to Maple Village at night. They talked and laughed along the way. Locke and his family had endless things to talk about.

Kane, on the other hand, seemed to have something on his mind. He didn't talk much, which surprised Locke and Hans who knew him well.

It was already late at night when they returned to Maple Village. There was only a full moon and specks of stars in the night sky.

The two families said their goodbyes and returned to their homes.

Hans had a lot of family members, so the house was big and there were many rooms. Kane was asked to sleep in the same room as Hans.

Locke's house was very small. There were only two bedrooms in the house.

Locke Sr. and Tia were very excited to see their son. They held Locke's hand and asked him all sorts of questions.

Six years ago, Locke Jr. was still a teenager. Six years later, he was already a head taller than Locke Sr.

In the end, Lia stood up and forcefully pushed the two elders back to their bedroom. They were getting on in years.

Locke looked at his sister who hadn't spoken much today. He wanted to say something to greet her, but he didn't know where to start.

Locke Sr. and Tia were pushed back to their bedroom by their daughter. They shouted, "You guys rest early too!"

They were already tired after a long day of hard work.

Only Locke and Lia were left in the house.

"The scarf is beautiful." Locke pointed at the scarf tied around Lia's hair. This was the first thing he said to his sister after he came back.

"Yeah." Lia lowered her head.

"Let's rest too," Locke suggested when he noticed the awkward atmosphere and it was getting late.

"Okay."

When Locke returned to his bedroom, he realized how stupid his suggestion was.

His bedroom was also Lia's bedroom. He was only 14 when he joined the army and they had always slept in the same bedroom.

When he was young, he even thought that the bed was too small, so he had to combine it with his sister's bed and squeeze into her arms to sleep.

That was when he was young. Now that he was 19, it wasn't appropriate for him to sleep in the same room with his sister. However, he couldn't find a place to rest at night.

"Go to sleep in your bed." Lia pointed at Locke's bed and said nonchalantly, as if Locke was still the same as before, just her little brother.

Since Lia had already said so, Locke was no longer bashful. He took off his armor and slept in his clothes.

Rheia untied the silk scarf that bound her hair, and her beautiful long hair cascaded down like a waterfall. She smoothed her long hair to her chest and laid down on her bed.

The only thing between the two of them was a small bedside table.

Locke had been riding for several days and hadn't had a good night's sleep. Logically speaking, he should be exhausted, but now that he was lying on his bed and smelling the familiar fragrance, he couldn't fall asleep.

He only fell asleep when the sun rose above the forest in the distance.

When he woke up again, it was already noon the next day. He opened his eyes abruptly and touched the scabbard with his left hand, but there was nothing there. Only then did he remember that he had returned home and the war was over.

As if remembering something, Locke turned his head to look at the next bed. There was no one there.

He stretched his body and shook his stiff muscles. His bones crackled as he did so.

His armor and longsword were still in the room. Locke walked out of the house in his military uniform.

Tia was already feeding the chickens in the courtyard, while Lia was chopping firewood. There was a pot of soup boiling on the stove.

"Let me do it!" Locke walked in front of Lia and snatched the axe from her hands without any explanation.

Lia was now dressed in her coarse linen clothes and had a towel wrapped around her head. Although she was much less beautiful than yesterday, Locke liked this look better.

He told his sister to stay away. Locke swung his arms and started chopping firewood.

It was too easy for Locke, who had trained his muscles as a soldier. Not to mention, he was a low-rank Knecht. It didn't take long for him to cut a pile of firewood that was as tall as a person.

It was enough for a family to use for a week.

While chopping firewood, he asked, "Where did Father go?"

He hadn't seen Locke Senior since he woke up.

"He went to the fields to pick up potatoes and rice. We're having stewed chicken with rice and mashed potatoes today," said Tia with a smile.

There wasn't much good food at home. Their son had finally returned after so many years, so they had already discussed what to cook.

Locke didn't have to guess to know that the stewed chicken was the old hens in the courtyard, but he didn't care.

With Locke's current wealth, half of it would be enough for the rest of his family to live comfortably for the rest of their lives. There was no need to be frugal.

He had already made up his mind to buy a property in the town under the baron's castle. When he received his commendation, he would buy a manor for his parents.

He hadn't forgotten about the knighthood that Prince Kenzir had promised him.

He wasn't in a hurry to tell his parents about it. He could give them a surprise when the time came.

While Locke was chopping firewood, Lia didn't stay idle. She went to the house to get some vegetable leaves and seasonings to make the pot of soup more fragrant.

Not long after Locke Senior returned, the family sat around the table happily for lunch. This was the first time in five years that Locke had a meal with his family.

Hans and Kane, who were next door, were also attracted by the fragrant chicken. They were thick-skinned enough to sit on their own stools.

The two of them had just woken up. Sleeping at home was more comfortable than when they were soldiers. Even when they weren't on duty, they could still sleep until the sun was high.

For the next seven days, Locke stayed at home with his family.

He would either follow Locke Senior to work on his family's field at the back of the mountain or help his mother and sister with some housework.

"We don't need these old clothes anymore. Let's change into new ones," said Locke as he pointed at the old clothes that Lia was mending.

"These clothes are still fine. Why don't we want them?" Tia was the first to object.

"We don't lack money." Locke was speechless. He just found out that his parents had saved most of the money that he had sent back over the years.

"Don't you need money to get a wife? Don't you need money to build a new house? " Although his mother had always been good-tempered, she was no different from Aunt Mary when she got angry.

Locke really wanted to tell his mother that two of the three women that her son had married were shockingly rich and the other one was good at making money. They didn't need to spend any money at all.

Indeed, Angelina was a Faustian princess. If Locke could really marry her, he wouldn't need any betrothal gifts. Angelina's dowry alone was probably enough to buy several Quarryton towns.

The same went for Glace. Locke hadn't forgotten the spatial gear that she and Kristin had in their hands. When they left Felippe's treasury, there were many precious items in there. If they were exchanged for thalers, a person would drown.

Also, the heavy armour that Locke struggled to put on was a rare piece of equipment. There were only two of them in the entire Shalor, so one could guess its value. Only high-rank Knechts could break through the armour's defence.

Of course, there was also Suzanne. Locke had only left her a few hundred silver thalers, but she had earned back more than ten times that amount in the blink of an eye.

Locke couldn't directly tell his family about this. He couldn't reveal Angelina's identity, nor could he tell them that Glace, Suzanne, and the others were Shalorians.

He could only helplessly accept his mother's petty peasant mentality.

These days, he found that there was something wrong with Kane. The way he looked at his sister was exactly the same as how he looked at Suzanne.

For some reason, he felt a little uncomfortable. Although they were good brothers, he felt like his things were being peeped at by others. He hated this feeling.

Fortunately, Lia had always been indifferent to Kane, which made him feel much better.

However, Kane's confidence had suffered a serious blow. Because of Lia's cold treatment, he was in low spirits for a few days.

In fact, it wasn't that Lia treated him coldly, but that was how she treated her pursuers. They had only known each other for two days, but Lia could already feel her brother's feelings for her.

Unfortunately, Lia wasn't interested in him. If it weren't for the fact that Kane was his comrade, Lia would have treated him like the other men in town and treated him harshly.

These days at home could be said to be the most leisurely time in Locke's life.

Every morning, he would practice boxing and chat with his parents and sister. When he was free, he would go to the forest at the back of the mountain with Kane, Hans, and a few other soldiers to catch some game.

Yesterday, he thought about it and took out a part of his savings. It wasn't much, just about ten gold derahls, so as not to scare his family.

But at first glance, Locke Senior and Tia mistook gold derahls for copper derahls.

"Why is this portrait wearing a crown?" Locke Senior frowned and widened his eyes to take a closer look. He was afraid that he would see fake money.

When Locke told them that it was gold derahls, the old couple grabbed him and asked if he had stolen it. Locke didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He was a platoon jarl of a cavalry platoon. Was there a need for him to steal something?

Locke Senior and Tia couldn't be blamed for making a fuss. Ten gold derahls was equivalent to a thousand silver derahls. Locke had been sending military pay back home all these years, and the money they had saved up was only about a hundred silver derahls. This amount of money was enough to put together a decent betrothal gift and marry a decent daughter-in-law.

Seeing how Locke took out so much money so casually, the old couple could only sigh that their son was a promising man. They no longer mentioned saving money for him to get a wife. The girls in the village were no longer attractive to them. For someone as promising as Locke, he had to go to town or even the baron's town to find a better one.

The old couple didn't want the money because they were already so old. But Locke insisted on giving it to his parents, saying that he was being filial.

Their once naughty and skinny son now knew how to be filial. Locke Senior was fine, but Tia couldn't stop crying.

On this day, Locke, Hans and the others went to the back of the mountain to hunt for wild game. It wasn't that the chickens weren't tasty, but they had been raised by his parents for several years and they had developed some feelings for them. Moreover, a few chickens weren't enough to satisfy a few big eaters. The deer, hares and guinea pigs at the back of the mountain were more chewy.

Apart from the three of them, there were also a few soldiers who came from Maple Village. They wanted to take this opportunity to befriend the two platoon jarls.

In the evening, the group came down the mountain, chatting and laughing. Everyone was wearing spoils of war.

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