meet

Early in the morning, Billy put on his formal suit, which he hadn't worn for nearly five years, and asked his wife to tie a bow tie for him.

"Is there a need to be so formal?" His wife muttered, but her hands were still nimble.

"Of course!" Billy's eyes widened. "Now that the sons of Quarryton are back, shouldn't I, the mayor, welcome them on behalf of the whole town?"

He hadn't worn the bow tie for a long time. The last time he wore it was when he attended a banquet at the baron's castle a few years ago.

Billy endured the discomfort all over his body, straightened his back, and walked out. His house was in the center of the town, so he had to go to the entrance of the town to wait for the man from Quarryton to return from the army with the rest of the people.

Quarryton was already very lively in the morning, even before the frost had completely disappeared. It was several times more lively than last year's beer festival.

"Billy!" An old man from Quarryton greeted him with a smile.

He was just an ordinary old resident. As for why he could call Billy by his name, it could only be said that simple townspeople didn't pay much attention to such things.

Billy was also used to dealing with his townspeople like this. It made him think that his governance was closer to the people.

Even though he was a commoner himself.

There were only two nobles in Cardozo's territory, and they were Baron Cardozo and Knight Wyr.

"Hello, Hancock!" Billy responded with a smile. "How are the crops in the fields this time?"

It was almost spring, and the price of food had risen again. The townspeople of Quarryton had to grow something during the winter to fill their stomachs.

"Don't mention it! The guinea pigs have eaten all the potatoes we planted! "The old man laughed and scolded him.

"Then you have to go to Darwin's house in town to buy some rat poison," Billy added and walked to the entrance of the village.

Darwin was currently the biggest grocer in Quarryton, and he was also a distant relative of Billy.

"If I buy rat poison from him, I'll have nothing to eat," Hancock muttered. Hancock pouted. Darwin was famous for being stingy and black-hearted in Quarryton. How could Hancock have enough money to be a fool?

Billy, of course, didn't hear Hancock's mutterings. He smiled and greeted his townspeople.

At 10 am, the moment the frost started to fall, almost all the civilians who could come to Quarryton had arrived. Almost 1,000 people had gathered in the small town.

Fortunately, there was a wide square in the town, and many people ran to the entrance of the town to wait, so the residents had a place to stay.

Billy craned his neck and looked out at the road outside the town.

"Why aren't they here yet?" Billy asked curiously. Yesterday, he had received a messenger pigeon from the Baron's territory. The soldiers returning to Quarryton should have arrived today.

"Could he have been delayed by something?" Aunt Mary, who was standing next to Billy, said.

Not only did Aunt Mary stand beside Billy, but the families of the four platoon jarls of Quarryton were also standing beside him. Although Billy was old, his heart was not. He was very good at winning over the four families of the town's new nobles.

"That's impossible. Isn't the war over? What else could be delayed?" Billy couldn't figure it out.

"Let's wait a little longer. They might be here soon," said a middle-aged woman next to him. She was Carl's wife.

"That's true. There's no hurry. Let's wait a little longer," agreed Billy.

By noon, the number of townspeople waiting outside the town had shrunk. Most of them had gone back to eat, and the road was still flat.

Locke Senior leaned against a withered tree at the entrance of the town, chewing on the white bread that the mayor had given him.

There was a young man very close to him. He was the second son of Yoshk's family, who used to be a blacksmith in town. When Locke joined the army, this young man was the one who forged weapons for him.

"Hey, kid. Don't you need to take care of the blacksmith shop at home? Are you waiting for your father? " Locke Senior was speechless. He wanted to call the young man's name, but he forgot when he was about to say it.

"Yes, Uncle. I'm waiting for my father." The young man nodded politely and continued, "My brother is at the blacksmith shop."

The young man seemed to be only a few years older than Locke. As Locke Senior chatted, he seemed to recall that Locke Senior used to stand in front of him and talk to him like this. Locke Senior would even stick to him and let him carry him.

The indifferent conversation made Locke Senior miss his son even more. He was his only bloodline.

"Yes, the quality of your shovel is very good. I bought it back then and I'm still using it now." Locke Senior nodded. Just as he was about to match something, he found that the young man was no longer paying attention to him. Instead, he turned his head and stared at the road in the distance.

Not only the young man, but Locke Senior also noticed that everyone around him was looking in the direction of the road outside the town.

Locke Senior's heart skipped a beat. He guessed something and turned his head abruptly.

On the horizon of the road outside the town, a team of horses appeared, followed by a large group of infantrymen.

Although he hadn't seen his son for six years, Locke Senior stared at the leading knight at a glance. The strange feeling of blood connection made him sure that it was his son, Locke Senior.

Locke was very depressed. They should've arrived at Quarryton in the morning, but they went in the wrong direction and took a big detour. In the end, they met up with Uncle Yoshk and came back together.

However, this gloominess vanished the moment Locke saw his family.

All the soldiers rushed to their families outside the town like the wind, especially the infantrymen, who ran faster than the cavalry. The townspeople of Quarryton were also excited. They walked towards the soldiers, looking for their children, husbands and brothers.

Locke wore bright yellow armour that was different from the other soldiers. He held the longsword at his waist and rode slowly towards his parents and sister.

.....

Today was destined to be a lively day in Quarryton.

In the evening, a grand bonfire party was held in the middle of the town. All the soldiers who hadn't seen their families for a few years put down their indifferent masks on the battlefield. Some were so emotional that they even hugged their families and cried.

"Locke has grown so big in the blink of an eye," said Mary with a smile. Her house was right next to Locke Senior's family.

Locke touched his hair awkwardly. He'd provoked Mary a lot when he was young. She was famous for being shrewd in the village.

Hanses and Hank weren't far away at this time. Hanses was chatting with his father, while Hank and Kane were talking about something.

"See, I was right. Locke's sister is a rare beauty in the village!" Hank patted his chest and pointed at Lia, introducing her to Kane as if he was introducing his sister.

Leah, who was standing quietly at the side, was now like a beautiful water lily, looking at her brother gracefully.

Because Kane had no one to rely on, Locke and Hanses dragged him back to Quarryton with them this time. As brothers, Locke and Hanses wanted Kane to feel the warmth of home. Their home was Kane's home.

But at this time, Kane hadn't felt the warmth of home yet. His soul seemed to have been hooked somewhere as he stared at Lia.

Hank also noticed that something was wrong with Kane. "Brother, it can't be. You really like her?" Hank had been working under Kane for a few months, but he'd never seen Kane show such an expression.

"Shut up!" Kane covered Hank's mouth and pulled him aside to interrogate him about Leah.

"Leah, she's a very virtuous woman. She's probably the prettiest person in our village," Hank said.

"What about her personality? What's her personality like? "asked Kane.

Hank noticed that Kane's serious expression didn't seem like he was joking. "Brother, you should ask Locke. He must know his sister the best." Hank hurriedly ran away. His relationship with Kane was more like a master-disciple relationship.

It wasn't that he didn't want to help Kane by providing information, but he knew that his beautiful neighbor, Lia, had rejected many marriage proposals. Firstly, he didn't want Kane to hit a wall, and secondly, he didn't want to trouble Lia.

Once Hank ran away, Kane could only stare at Lia from afar. "Locke isn't handsome at all. How can his sister be so beautiful?" Kane sighed.

Fortunately, Locke didn't hear him. Otherwise, he'd definitely have a headache.

On the other side, Yoshk was standing with the mayor, Billy, exchanging pleasantries. One of them was the highest-ranking official in the town, while the other was the most popular among the soldiers. After the war, Quarryton would need their cooperation in the future.

Karl was with his wife. From their daily chats, Locke knew that Karl and his wife didn't have any children, but they had always been very close. Before joining the army, Karl was a hunter in town, and his wife was just an ordinary farmer's wife.

The news of Karl losing an arm on the battlefield hadn't been spread back to the town because he didn't want his wife to worry. Now that he was back, nothing could be covered up. Karl's wife was in tears and clutched Karl's armless sleeve tightly.

The evening bonfire party was very lively. Every household spontaneously took out their own food to reward the soldiers who had returned from the army. The soldiers also took out various specialties that they had brought back along the way. Shalor's food was very different from Faustian's, and the townspeople were very curious about this food that they had never eaten before.

Apart from that, almost every soldier who came back carried a few kilograms of meat on their waists. Almost every soldier who had been in the army for more than two years was good at hunting. Although it was still winter in Dor, there were many animals that came out to forage for food in early spring. There was bound to be a harvest if they were careful.

With meat and bread, how could there be a lack of alcohol? In addition to the soldiers' private stash, Billy also brought out all the leftover alcohol from last year's beer festival. It seemed that the townspeople wouldn't go home until they were drunk.

Of course, this was impossible.

It wasn't until late at night that the enthusiasm of returning home gradually subsided. Taking advantage of the darkness, every household either returned to their village or went to the town to spend the night before returning home the next day.

"Rest for a week. Gather at the town square on the eighth day!" Yoshk issued an order and ignored the scattered soldiers.

Although the war was over, the soldiers couldn't easily retire. There were still many tasks that belonged to them.

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Thank you to readers Black White Tiger and Great Western Leo for your 100 Crosstalk coins! Thank you for your support!