Xander reeled back, hiding behind a wall.
Gato paused. Looked towards the house, but after a brief pause, he continued talking with his guests.
The thoughts ran wild in Xander’s head as his breath quickened.
But almost immediately, his skill—Deadman’s patience—set in.
"As far as I know, there is absolutely no reason for the baron’s men to be here, except—"
His thoughts quickly settled on a solution that equally surprised him.
"They are here for me."
After Gato had hid him from the two guards that came the first day, Xander assumed that Gato was on his side.
They had ate together, played and laughed together, and still—
But what was he expecting? Linda, Alex’s sister, had played and laughed with him for sixteen years, and still ended up selling him to be used as a farm for reward points.
Why should Gato be any different?
Thinking this far, Xander settled on what he was going to do.
Unlike last time, he was fully rested, recovered in both body and mind.
He had to leave this place.
Xander hurried to the bedroom. Having been here for a while, he knew where Gato kept his equipment.
The leather bottles carrying the Scavenger’s blood, and saliva, and of course, the sharp femur.
Maybe it was because he was healthier now, it felt different in his hand.
He placed it at his side, using a rope to hold it in place.
Then he turned to the sleeping child. Xander sighed. He leaned in, and roughed his hair.
However, when he turned about to leave, Gato was standing there.
Both men stood frozen.
But Xander immediately whipped out a the femur, raising it before his face in a defensive position.
"What... What are you doing?" Gato raised his hand in surrender.
"Getting away from here before you sell me." Xander answered, slowly and cautiously navigating his way to the door.
Xander threatened with the pointy edge of the Femur and Gato backed off from the exit.
"Wait a minute, Xander. I think there is a bit of misunderstanding here. Let me—"
"Shut up. I am not going to die a dog’s death again." Xander reached the door, peeping through the slit opening.
However, to his surprise, he could see the retreating silhouettes of the guards in the distance.
Xander paused. ’Are they going to get reinforcements?’
But his increased intelligence made him understand that this was a dumb thought process.
"You know, the lowest amongst those guards is a level 3 soldier." Gato said with a smile tugging at the side of his lips. "I bet one will be too much for you to handle. Six will just be over kill."
Xander peeped at the retreating guards again, then back at Gato. He felt both guilty and awkwardness.
Gato chuckled lightly. "Come Son, let me show you something."
Xander gave way, allowing Gato to pass.
"And please, drop your weapon." Gato said as he left the house.
Xander looked around. He threw the femur and bags of Scavenger blood under the Dinning table.
Afterwards, he followed after the old man.
Gato took him to the fourth building.
Xander had been in the main cottage, where they slept and ate, the bath house, the pen holding the goats.
But never this one.
Gato led the way inside.
It was stuffy, dark, moldy. But Gato quickly lit a lamp with a flint.
And then another, and another.
This room, just big enough had a dark, fiery, and weathered aesthetic.
An equipment was exposed on an elevated side table made of stone.
An Anvil.
But there was more; Vises and Workbenches.
Organized displays on the walls holding tongs, hammers of various sizes, chisels, and tongs.
And of course, in the center of the room was the Forge. The heart of any Blacksmith’s workshop that gave it its name.
Xander knew that Gato used to be a blacksmith, he didn’t know that the man had his personal forge.
With what Xander knew from Alex’s memories, the general pursuit of a profession was not exactly an easy journey, even with the assistance of the System.
An example would be a soldier needing a Sword and a horse, or a farmer needing land.
In short, it required money.
As such, most people worked for nobles or merchants with sufficient resources and power.
Of course, this affected most professions.
When Xander had newly come to this world, he noticed that the factories were running. Those factories were ran by Blacksmiths trying to earn a living for themselves.
But Gato. He had his own Forge.
It could only mean one thing. Gato was once upon a time, a big shot blacksmith.
"Those guards. They came right from the Baron’s manor. They wanted me to come make weapons for the war effort." Gato said, taking a seat on one of the benches.
Xander strolled around the forge, looking at the equipments.
Then he saw something.
On the Anvil.
It was bold, neatly and efficiently carved in the center.
Alex’s memories flashed in his head, and Xander turned to the old man.
"You are a Runemaster!?" Xander’s shock was obvious on his face.
[Ding]
[Psychological Connection Depth: ▓░░░░░░░░░ 10/100]
First it was Emotional, and now Psychological.
The system was building something — a map of the old man that Xander hadn’t intended to draw.
Regardless, he filed the thought away.
Whatever the system wanted with Gato, that was a question for later.
Right now, his mind was still wrapping around what he just learnt of Gato.
After all, Blacksmiths were valuable, but Runemasters were on a new league of their own.
They could make a simple table knife cut through a boulder like it was made of butter.
And yet, they were incredibly rare.
As far as Xander knew the entire kingdom did not have more than he could count on one hand.
And a good chunk of those worked exclusively for the royal family.
Meaning, that right now, he was before a legend.
Gato chuckled, more mockingly to himself than to Xander’s words.
He reached behind a table, and brought out a bottle of liquor.
He popped the bottle open, and the room was filled with the rancid smell of quality alcohol.
From Alex’s memories, Xander could tell that this was alcohol that nobles enjoyed. It was worth several gold coins.
"Once upon a time, I wore that name proudly. But no more." Gato dropped the bottle—massaging the phantom pain of his empty right shoulder.
He squeezed.
Hard.
Xander saw the old man’s eyes.
The gaze of a man trying to live through memories that continually haunt him.
Gato opened his mouth to talk again, lips quivering. Like he was holding himself back.
"You know, people only value you depending on how much they need you."