"I said bow!" The boy's voice becoming cold as the commoners watch in disbelief.
"Nnhmm…" Isan grunts as he bows, but is still rather restricted and slow.
The boy stepping in, pressing his palm against Isan's drenched back and forcing him lower.
"Now this is how they bow!" His grip tightly clenching his sweat soaked shirt.
Ahh… This is it… This is what you get Isan for going against someone like me!
You're also not entirely useless—For you make a perfect scapegoat to the others.
Having a smug look on his face.
"Such an insolent person you have here," the boy mutters, pinching his back with more force.
"Yes please forgive us for our wrong doing sir…?" Dorl slightly looks up.
"What should we address you as sir?" He raises his jaw and his hands up.
"It's sir Jorel… Jorel Ujochi the second." The sun's slight embrace on his back with his coat slightly blowing.
"Jorel…Sir Jorel?!" Dorl fully raises his body up with his eyes wide open.
"Are you related to another Jorel Ujochi by chance?" He clasps his hands together as he looks directly at Jorel's eyes.
"Yeah… I am." Jorel cleans the mud off his shoulders.
"He's my father." Shaking his coat trying to remove any residual mud.
*Sniff* *Sniff*
Ughhhh.
As Jorel's nose picks up on a fowl odour—Feces. His last lunch wanting to escape his stomach and throat.
Dorl's face, his hands still grasped together—rubbing them.
"Well then, Just from the Ujochi clan alone, I'm sorry again for the lack of hospitality." He smiles, his teeth actually revealing in his beard, being more white than Isan's teeth.
"I personally knew your father young lord." He puts his shriveled hand on his chest.
Knew my father?
He must be delusional…
But… How and why on earth would someone like him personally know my father?
"To what do I owe the pleasure of this meeting?" He bows again.
That man has some explaining to do when I get back.
But least he knows common courtesy.
I'll humour him for a while.
Jorel, clearing his throat.
"...I have things to discuss…Well actually…"
"...Things my father wants to discuss." As he reaches his hand into the satchel on his waist.
The sound of coins clunking escape the bag as his hand finally gets what he's looking for—A paper, creased all over.
"Here." Jorel's hand it over to Dorl.
"What could it…" He collects it with his two hands carefully–not too fast but also not too slow.
Never knew you could collect something in such a way… especially paper.
He rolls it out, squints his eyes and reads them while Isan glares at me… its so thick and hot that it could leave a mark.
I mean he should just get glasses.
He is a Kumigara…
Reading the paper as he mouth moves and his eyes scan each line.
I'm already far too versed in the contents of that paper.
The journey on the road alone can become…such a boring one.
The offer is generous if he reads it well…
Then abruptly his mouth stops moving, his eyes freezing.
Is he done?
He lowers the paper slowly.
Yeah he's done.
I can finally go back home…go back to Zara…
And away from Isan's glare—he should just give up.
Jorel scrunches his nose at the thought alone.
"But… I don't quite understand…" Dorl stammers.
What?
What's there not to understand?
Jorel's right eyebrow raised.
Jorel, moving closer to Dorl to check the paper. His eyes and brows flatten as he looks at the paper.
But yeah… this is the same paper.
Or I'm I just imagining things.
"Heh…What do you mean that you don't understand it" Jorel points at the paper in Dorl's hands.
Its still about father's plans with this land.
Not that there's much to do here…
Apart from its mines…
"Please let's go somewhere… more private…" He mutters as he drops his hand downwards.
"Follow me…" Dorl turns around as if age has caught up with him, his mouth gaped open.
"Sir let me—" Isan speaks as he tries to accompany him, but Dorl just raises a hand at Isan's face without looking back.
"No… Just…No" He mouths with the air sounding as if it's coming from somewhere hollow.
"Haha." Jorel follows him while looking at Isan's distorted face—that distortion slowly turning into a frown the moment.
"Jorel…" Dorl mutters under his breath, his leg moving against the mud.
As they're past the crowd, they started looking at them—specifically Jorel alone.
All those eyes, its becoming rather too much.
*Thump-THUMP* *THUMP-thump*
Jorel's chest beating louder, Dorl seems to be moving slower—slightly washed out to the sides.
His lungs feel squeezed.
T-They… should stop…
Those eyes…
No…!
I can't allow something like whether they're looking at me to deter me…!
But his hands vibrating.
His face feeling heat—it most be because of all those eyes…
Sweat starts dripping from Jorel's forehead as he walks past them.
It'll soon be over…It'll soon be over…
It'll soon be over…It'll soon be over…
Jorel, taking a deep breath in and a constructed breathe.
….
He walks past the crowd—Finally as he wipes the sweat off his face.
The Kumigara still not looking back, as the walk past some buildings with
roofs littered with holes like paper that has been poked by a child.
The windows don't even have glass at all, some bricks even sticking out as the walls are damp, seeming that they want to burst. The stalls, half broken and empty, the ones that have any vegetables are just covered in mold.
Vegetables without being cooked are one thing—but moldy?
Jorel sticks his tongue as his throat gurges, shaking his head slowly from left to right.
…
The both still walk, Dorl quiet as a woman holding a basket passes by.
"Good day Kumi Dorl"
"Good day…" She smiles.
"uhhh…" Her gaze shifts onto Jorel, but just stares back right at her with his hands on his waist.
"I–I'll j-just go…" She quickly bolts off with the clothes in her basket almost spilling over.
Are people in this town just short… or I'm I just too tall?
Jorel wonders.
…
They keep on walking and walking, through the mud and almost run down buildings till they reach Dorl's house.
Finally!
Jorel, breathing out air in relief.
"H-Here…" He points to his house's door.
—The end of chapter 7—