"Hey, kiddo."
"Yes?"
"You know you're dead if you lie to this uncle, right? You do know how scary these uncles can be?"
"What lie? I never lie! Just trust me for a few days."
"Really? Then can you bring us what these uncles mentioned to our camp from tomorrow? The payment will be…"
The child was someone who could be made to work for a small amount of money, but considering the considerable distance between the camp and the village, it was impractical to underpay him.
"Hey, that should cost only one shilling. That's a lot of money for them."
"Alright, I'll give you one shilling each day. But you're definitely going to buy the ingredients, right? Got it?"
"Yes! Of course! You can trust me. I won't let you down."
With that, the conversation concluded, and the mercenaries left with the ingredients they bought from the market, promising to come near the camp early the next morning.
As the mercenaries departed, the excited second son, Andrew, couldn't contain his excitement and shouted in joy towards the third son, Joshua.
"Hey! We made some money! Starting tomorrow, we'll earn one shilling each day!"
"Good job, bro! You're the best, second brother!"
"Me, the best? It's your idea that's the best!"
The two hugged each other happily for a while.
"Rockefeller will be happy too! It's not even dangerous!"
"Of course, he'll be happy! One shilling is more than enough for our family to eat to our fill every day!"
That evening.
While having dinner with his younger brothers, Rockefeller received unexpected news.
"What? You got a job running errands?"
Joshua, the third son, was continuously smiling brightly.
"Yes! We've agreed to deliver ingredients to the mercenary camp from now on. The mercenary uncle told us to come to the camp tomorrow morning."
"Really?"
Rockefeller thought for a moment about where the mercenary camp was located.
It was a bit distant from the village, but not too far for his younger brothers to find.
It would take about two hours to walk there and back.
And the path was safer than he had expected.
Since it was located near the hunter's and woodcutter's camps, they could ask for help in case of an emergency.
"That's good. Earning one shilling each day for running errands isn't bad at all."
"Right? You think so too, right, Rockefeller?"
"Of course. You did well. But remember, since it's near the forest, if anything dangerous happens, go straight to the hunter's or woodcutter's camp, okay? I'm fine with everything else, but I really dislike danger."
"Of course!"
When the third child responded enthusiastically, Andrew, the second child, also expressed his strong confidence.
"Rockefeller, you don't know! My friends and I play there every day. It's safe because Uncle Thompson and Uncle Bill are there, so don't worry too much. It's really a place where nothing ever happens."
"Yes, but still, always think about safety just in case."
"Don't worry about it!"
Having finished the conversation with his two younger siblings who had come looking for small jobs, Rockefeller turned his attention to the other two siblings who were silently having dinner.
"Leo, did anything happen to you today?"
At Rockefeller's question, the fourth sibling, Leo, replied in a slightly shrinking voice.
"There was something."
"There was?"
It was not a typical response from the usually quiet Leo.
Rockefeller, showing interest, asked again.
"What happened?"
"Well... I went to the church with Lucia. We met the priest who gave us a shilling before, and he told us to come to the church."
"You went to the church?"
"Yes, and they gave us bread when we went. They said it was the daily bread for the young saint. The priest said if we want bread, we should come to the church every weekend."
When Leo mentioned that he and Lucia went to the church, the second sibling grumbled.
"Why go to the church. Such a bothersome place."
The third sibling, Joshua, shared the same sentiment.
"Right. Why go to such a bothersome place? Just follow us. Today was really great."
"Just..."
When Leo replied in a subdued voice, Rockefeller comforted him.
"You did well. Going to the church isn't bad. You can go more often if you're bored."
"Really?"
Leo, his face brightening, stared intently at Rockefeller, who felt a bit overwhelmed.
Leo was behaving uncharacteristically.
'It seems he liked going to the church. He looks so happy about it.'
Among his brothers, Leo was the quietest and spoke the least. He rarely showed great interest in anything.
The only exception had been today's conversation about the church.
"Leo, just go comfortably. No one here will stop you from going to the church."
Then Joshua, the third brother, muttered quietly to himself.
He was evidently regretting the loss of Leo's help.
"If Leo goes to the church, it'll be harder for Andrew and me to move the groceries…"
"The priest said he would only come on weekends. I'll help my brothers on weekdays."
Rockefeller, who had been watching, stepped in.
There was a specific task intended for Leo.
"No, it's okay. Leo always has to take care of Lucia, so he doesn't really need to work and can just stay at home."
At these words, the second and third brothers didn't dare to object.
Just as Rockefeller said, it had always been the youngest, Leo's, responsibility to look after Lucia every day.
"Yeah, Leo has to take care of Lucia."
It seemed like the second brother, Andrew, agreed as he spoke up, and the third brother, Joshua, who had missed Leo's help, reluctantly agreed as well.
"Alright. Leo, just take good care of Lucia. Taking care of her is a job too."
As the day broke, the two brothers immediately headed towards the village where the mercenary camp was located, which was a bit far from the forest.
Upon arriving at the mercenary camp.
There, many mercenaries were already busy moving around early in the morning.
The punitive operation was starting from today.
The mercenaries, noticing the two kids loitering near the camp, immediately informed Seth, who was just below the commander of the mercenaries, about them.
Everything related to the kids' errands had been discussed yesterday.
With the punitive operation about to start and manpower becoming more precious, it was decided to pass on trivial tasks like gathering ingredients to the village children.
"You guys are here. I've heard about you."
"Where was that gentleman yesterday? We need to meet with him."
Andrew, glancing around the interior of the mercenary camp, searched for the mercenary he had talked to yesterday. Seth, scratching the back of his head, responded.
"You can just talk to that gentleman. Did you say you would run errands for ingredients?"
"Yes!"
"Please leave it to us! We'll do a great job!"
As the two children answered energetically, Seth pointed them towards a makeshift kitchen located inside the camp.
"Then go over to the gentleman holding a ladle over there. He'll tell you what he needs for today. You just have to go to the market and buy it."
As the two children were about to head towards the makeshift kitchen, Seth called them back.
"Hey! Wait a second. What are your names? I should at least remember them since we'll see each other often."
"Us?"
"Yeah, both of you. What are your names?"
To this question, the two brothers answered with vigor.
"I'm Andrew Rothsmedici!"
"And I'm Joshua Rothsmedici!"
