'Hmm... I don't know exactly what it is, but why don't we try taking a look at the rest of his body?!' Thinking this to himself, he looked towards that old man's body and saw some faded white colors over the area of his liver and kidney, as well as in his heart.
'This old man is suffering from a malignant disease! It has spread to his vital organs!' Xiao Ping was surprised, immediately realizing that those colors meant he was suffering from a disease, but not an ordinary kind—a malignant and fatal one. But he didn't say a single word and had no desire to help someone he didn't know, and also, why should he care? It's not like he's his grandfather. He just stood there, watching quietly.
But the old man's next words made him focus intensely on him when he said: "Safety in the city has decreased with winter approaching!" sighed old Herbert.
"Yes, you're right, uncle!" said Madeline, comforting old Herbert with a smile on her face, and added: "This is because of the rising cost of living in the city due to the food shortage in winter!"
'Winter? This explains why the wind was so cold in the shack yesterday!' Xiao Ping thought silently.
"You flatter me too much by calling me uncle, Miss Madeline! I'm no longer an uncle, I've become an old man!" the old man spoke and added in a wise tone: "Yes, that's true! The reason is the rising cost of living in the city! To more than a gold lira! Because of the approaching snowstorm! But there are people who can't earn this amount, even if they worked their whole lives, and this is why many villagers resorted to trading their shacks to move to the city for shelter from this storm! But what will happen to those who couldn't manage this amount?" sighed the old man, breathing with difficulty.
"We can't do anything. There is no world or era where humans existed without poverty gnawing at that world or era, so keep these words in your chest and let the world proceed as it wills!" Xiao Ping couldn't stay silent when he heard the old man's words.
James and Madeline turned their heads towards Xiao Ping, who was looking at old Herbert with a cold expression.
Madeline didn't say anything and remained silent, not wanting to embarrass herself about things she wasn't good at, especially in front of their new chef!
'I didn't expect Ping to say something like this! And blame humanity for this reality that the poor live in!' James thought to himself before saying: "Ping is right! Mr. Herbert, there's nothing we can do!"
'To meet someone of this age, with such a realistic and exceptional mindset! Truly a great encounter! But unfortunately, I've become an old man now! I no longer have the right to interfere in the affairs of the young!' old Herbert lamented to himself and said: "You're right! I apologize for saying such childish things!"
'He apologizes? What a weak personality!' Xiao Ping mocked inwardly and said nothing.
"Please don't apologize, Mr. Herbert! And this isn't something childish, it's something important, and every person in the city of Frendenstream has the right to be upset about it!" said James with concern before adding: "But even if we submit our complaints to the ruling class of the kingdom, there won't be any reaction to the matter because of the war being waged on the border!"
'War on the border!' Xiao Ping wondered to himself, also realizing he had learned many things about this world today, but what shocked him the most was the regression of time backwards, not progressing forwards.
Madeline wanted to say something when she was enveloped by a feeling of sleepiness, and soon she fell into James's arms, fainting due to his ability!
"This is sensitive information, so I made Madeline fall asleep!" James spoke as he gently placed Madeline on old Herbert's chair.
"If this is sensitive information, why are you telling me?!" asked Xiao Ping, placing the parcels on the floor and moving his forearms, which felt stiff from carrying the parcels all this time.
"Because you're my partner, for instance?! And also, we might be forcibly conscripted in the future, so there's no harm in telling you some things!" replied James as he placed the parcels on the floor; the weight didn't cause him any problems, but he just wanted to imitate Xiao Ping.
"What do you mean we might be forcibly conscripted in the future? Don't tell me!" Xiao Ping was careful not to involve himself in unnecessary conflicts.
"Simply, this decision rests with the King!" said James while looking sharply at Xiao Ping, before adding: "I've noticed you don't know the things you should know and always ask me! I'm starting to suspect you're truly a foreigner!" replied James.
"I don't know where you deduced this from! But I really don't know many things, but I am a citizen of this kingdom and I have proof!" Meanwhile, Xiao Ping took an identity card out of his trouser pocket and threw it towards old Herbert.
Old Herbert caught that ID before reading it. It contained:
Name:Laicos
Surname:None
Age:18 years
Gender:Male
Occupation:Factory Worker
Kingdom:The Royal Luciana Empire!
…
"Your name is Laicos?! But why does James call you Ping?" asked old Herbert.
"Laicos? Isn't your name Xiao Ping?" asked James too.
'Laicos? What a pathetic name? And they're asking me if it's my name? Believe me, I only found out just now!' Xiao Ping lamented inwardly before saying: "This is my official name! But my grandfather—may he rest in peace—gave me the name Xiao Ping, and he didn't care about my real name, which is Laicos! And I also wish you would forget the name Laicos and call me Xiao Ping, or Ping!"
"Alright, but why does James say you're his partner but you work in a factory?" asked old Herbert again, his suspicions about Xiao Ping increasing.
"A worker? But weren't you looking for work previously?" James's suspicions also increased.
"Take it easy, man. That was my profession a long time ago, but I left it due to the health damage to my body from inhaling lead dust in the factory!" said Xiao Ping.
"Really, what you say?" James was still suspicious but didn't say anything else.
"Yes!" said Xiao Ping as he looked towards the umbrella rack on the door and saw their umbrellas on it.
"By the way! Now that my identity is confirmed! I want to know a little about the status of my kingdom!" said Xiao Ping as he stepped towards old Herbert and retrieved the ID card from him.
'I still don't trust this youngster, but he's with James, so there's no harm in telling him!' the old man thought to himself and said: "The kingdom suffers from economic decline, even though the Prince has done many things to boost the economy, but all his attempts have come to naught because of the war on the border and the pirates at sea!" The old man clenched his hands tightly before saying: "The traitorous First Gustav family! They were the cause of all this war and the kingdom's decline, and they refused all the peace treaties the Prince sent them, but only one was accepted, after long hardship but!".
"But what?!" Xiao Ping became eager to know more about the state of this kingdom, because if something might happen to it in the future, he would leave it!
"But under conditions!" answered the old man while breathing with difficulty and looking at Xiao Ping with his faded gray eyes behind his glasses, saying: "But these conditions... carry a clear insult to our kingdom!".
"How do they carry an insult to our kingdom?!" asked Xiao Ping, eager to hear more.
But the old man couldn't utter them, and he retreated several steps backward while shedding tears from his eyes that carried the weight of time.
'I wonder what makes him cry? What's the reason for all this crying!' Xiao Ping thought to himself as he looked at the retreating old man, remembering the state of his body. Xiao Ping sighed deeply and was about to say something when he was interrupted by James.
"One of these conditions: taking the poor women and common girls studying in schools to his kingdom to be concubines or slaves! The second: taking all the inventions made by the Prince and withdrawing them to their kingdom! The third: taking a percentage of the profits our kingdom earns to them! And the last: marrying the Third Princess Sanolina to the enemy kingdom's Prince, making her merely a concubine for amusement!" James said with a normal expression, but when Xiao Ping looked at him, he could tell he was hiding his facial expressions with an artifact or something similar.
'Hmmm, this is a very clear insult to this kingdom! They've really put them in a difficult position, hahaha.' Xiao Ping laughed inwardly and said: "It's unfortunate that the beautiful princess will go to a foreign country!".
"Is that all you care about?!" shouted old Herbert, wiping his face of tears as he stepped towards Xiao Ping, his hand enveloped in energy with silver threads in Xiao Ping's vision, but when he wanted to grab Xiao Ping, he stopped because of James's voice.
"Shouting won't help with him, Mr. Herbert! For this is a demon in human form!" said James as he walked towards old Herbert.
...
End of Chapter ~ To be continued.