"Quick, hide." Gato advised, rising up from the table, "If they see you, you are dead."
The problem for Xander was where?
Levi suddenly grabbed Xander’s hand, "come." The boy pulled him away.
Knock Knock Knock
Gato unbolted and opened the door, "what’s all the racket about? Can’t an old man enjoy a peaceful evening?"
Before gato were two men. Both of them dressed in the typical leather armor.
There was a slight frustrated look on their faces.
"Why did you not open the door immediately?" The first soldier questioned.
"Well," Gato stepped back, allowing the soldiers a bigger view of the room, and the state of his body. "As you can see, I was enjoying dinner, humbly made by a one hand man."
Levi sat at the dinner table, face stained with a mix of bread and milk.
The boy’s huge eyes looked at the soldiers fearfully.
"Oh," The first soldier backed down, he felt guilty. "Uhh... We were just wondering if you have seen any Negative profession around. One of our men claims to have seen one at the incinerator.
As you know, your place is not so faraway."
"Oh, that sounds dreadful." Gato gasped, "have you guys found the societal scum?"
The soldier shook his head, "But we are searching. Please, report to our station if you do find anything suspicious."
Gato nodded. "Of course, I will."
The Soldier nodded back, and Gato attempted to close his door, however a hand grabbed it.
"Anything else?" Gato asked.
"Yes." The second soldier responded as he pushed into the room.
Xander, hiding—heard it. A familiar voice.
It was Cornerstone.
The same man that had bought Alex from Linda that day.
Only a word from his lips, but Xander felt his body tremble in traumatic response.
Still, he held still.
Cornerstone walked into the room, boots kissing the ground so hard that the wood ached beneath the pressure.
Then he stopped at the dining table. "There are only two of you in this house, but three plates have been laid."
Those words gripped Xander’s heart. How could he have forgotten?
Cornerstone turned a scrutiny gaze towards Levi.
The little boy froze in panic.
The edge of Cornerstone’s lips twitched, slowly molding into a smile—
Thud.
Gato fell on his knees, "I confess!"
Cornerstone turned to him. Stunned.
The other soldier was no different.
This made Cornerstone’s smile bloom prematurely.
Xander closed his eyes, accepting his fate.
Cornerstone walked over to Gato, "Spill."
—Silence.
Then the tears fell. One after the other.
"Huh!" Both men were stunned.
Gato raised his head, grabbing Cornerstone by the waist, "I can’t take it anymore. I miss her. I miss my granddaughter. I... I just can’t let her go.
So I still prepare her place at meals. Sometimes I also dress the chairs in her clothes and pretend it’s her.
I am such a shameful old man, I know. But I have lost so...much!" He broke down crying even more.
Cornerstone looked at his tears and mucus filled face in disgust, and irritation.
It was common knowledge in town that Gato’s grand daughter had come out as a negative profession.
It was one of the reasons they had suspected him even more.
The other Soldier raised his head to Cornerstone, and the two of them nodded to each other.
Cornerstone peeled himself from the old man’s grip, "in case you see or hear anything suspicious, let us know."
Cornerstone stepped out of the cottage. As both soldiers walked into the dark of the night, they gossiped of how weird the old man was.
Xander stepped out of his hiding space. It was beneath the floor board.
He was both relieved and excited. "Old man Gato, that was excellent acting. I have never seen such..."
The words ceased.
Xander paused.
The soldiers were gone, but the tears continued to fall.
It was clear to Xander that the old man did what he did to save him.
But the pain, and those tears.
They were real.
After a while, the old man stood to his feet, his frame looked even heavier now.
Xander watched as he walked deeper, to the bedroom area.
But the muffled sounds of pain did not stop.
Xander went back to the table. However, he had lost his appetite.
Levi turned to him. "Thank you." The boy whispered.
Xander’s brows creased a bit.
"This is the first time he has cried since Sister Glenda died.
Grandpa is strong, but... Sister Glenda was his world..." tears began to fall, "...my world."
Levi left the dinner table and also ran inside.
Xander was left alone.
He sat there, with the echoes of loss from the thin walls hammering into his ears.
Xander sat there through it all.
Till the lamps began to burn low for lack of oil.
Soon enough, the old man and his grandson had cried themselves to sleep.
Xander rose, and cleared the table. Then he went outside to do the dishes.
He was once a servant of huge household, figuring his way around was no big deal.
Of course, a part of him thought of leaving—running away, but where would he even go?
Besides, he could hear Jobadiah’s voice echoing in his mind.
These people had shown kindness to him. To leave like that would be to spit on that kindness.
His father did not train him that way. Just then, he noticed the plough in the distance.
Something was not right.
Xander walked to the fields.
Looking at the earth, he was right.
Xander remembered that when he had escaped from the incinerator, he saw corn fields.
But the nearest corn field was a few hundred meters away. It was safe to assume that all of the land, ploughed but without corn belonged to Gato.
Xander remembered the old man’s words.
"I don’t have a profession for farming, and my grandson is not old enough to get us one. But we do manage."
From the items made mostly of metal in the house, it was easy to guess that Gato’s Profession was Blacksmith.
But for some reason, the old man was giving Farming a shot.
Unfortunately, in this world, without the aid of the system, going into any profession that was not yours, was suicide.
To say the old man was struggling was an understatement.
He was dying...