After they were welcomed, Mira asked them to follow her, saying: "Well, we've introduced you to the village owners. Come on, let's take you to the place where you'll be staying."
Mira started walking between the markets crowded with people, while the group members looked in amazement at the village markets, the things being sold in them, and the voices of the vendors everywhere promoting their goods: "Lentils for ten inro." "Bread for five inro."
Mira stopped in front of one of the huts and said: "Well, this is your accommodation, boys. You can get some rest. As for you, my friend, follow me to take you to the women's hut."
Mira and Jenny slowly moved away from the place while Jesse and the others entered the hut.
The hut from the inside was a medium-sized room with three separate beds and a clay jar full of water in front of the door.
Nicolas's pupils widened and he quickly went to one of the beds and fell on it, then pulled the cover and covered himself with a big smile on his face to sink into sleep immediately.
Jesse headed to the water jar and started drinking, then he too headed to the bed, covered himself with the blanket, and began to slowly close his eyes to rest from this tiring day.
After the two fell asleep, Ethan remained awake for some time, inspecting the hut from the inside, then he turned around and went out of the place to walk around, observing the small shops here and there.
While Ethan was amazed by what he was seeing, he collided with one of the passersby in front of him, causing both of them to fall to the ground.
The passerby was a man larger than him in size and age, with smooth hair, wearing a completely white jacket.
The man looked at Ethan angrily and shouted at him: "Can't you watch where you're going, you idiot?"
Ethan did not react except by standing up, looking at him with glances of astonishment.
The man's pupils widened quickly, and he pointed his finger at Ethan, saying: "Oh! You're the new refugee!"
The man put his hand on his head with a slight smile, saying: "Sorry, man, this is our first meeting and I started it by shouting."
He raised his arm towards him to shake hands, saying: "Let's forget what happened a moment ago. Your name is Ethan, right? My name is Joseph. Nice to meet you."
Ethan was surprised by Joseph's movement, wondering what it meant, but he remembered the moment when Jesse returned Mira's handshake.
So he shook his hand in return.
They moved between the markets and the huts until they reached a small red kiosk with five wooden chairs. Inside was an elderly man with white hair and a big white beard, his features full of wrinkles.
With two other people sitting on the chairs eating soup while talking to each other.
As soon as they sat down, Joseph addressed the shop owner: "A bowl of soup, please."
The old man nodded his head and went to prepare it.
Joseph said: "This kiosk serves the best soup in the village, and I'm sure you'll like it. It will take some time, but it's worth it."
The two remained waiting for their order, while Ethan continued to stare inside the kiosk, looking at the pots and ingredients. He could hear nothing but the noise of the market and the conversation of the two men who were eating in front of them. He started glancing at them out of the corner of his eye while focusing on what they were saying.
One of the men said: "Man, did you hear what happened to Marcus's squad?"
The other replied: "Yes, the news is spreading everywhere."
The first said: "What bad luck they had encountering the Katuran Empire."
The other continued: "Yes, I feel bad for the victims' families, especially old Rahaf. I heard she's been crying day and night since the news spread." (He closed his eyes and the sadness was heard in his voice).
The first said: "Yes, but there's nothing we can do for her. He's already dead."
Ethan was distracted from listening to them when the kiosk owner placed their order in front of them. Joseph thanked the kiosk owner, then turned to Ethan with a slight smile, saying: "Come on, try it and feel its attractive taste."
Ethan looked at the bowl with narrowed eyes, then took it and started smelling it, surprised that its aroma was appetizing. Then he lifted it and took a sip. From the first sip, his eyes widened greatly, then he took a second and third sip, and with each sip the taste got better. Because the soup was so good, he finished his bowl in just a few seconds.
Joseph laughed a little while looking at Ethan's mouth full of soup remnants and said: "Hahaha, man, I think you liked it a lot."
Ethan looked at Joseph's bowl with wide eyes and quickly snatched his soup and drank it.
Joseph's features froze for seconds, and before he could react, he found that Ethan had finished his bowl as well.
Joseph looked at his empty bowl, then returned his gaze to Ethan.
It didn't take seconds before the kiosk owner burst into hysterical laughter, saying: "Hahaha, man, he liked the soup more than enough, hahaha!" After several seconds, Joseph also started laughing, while Ethan was licking the soup remnants on his mouth.
Joseph paid for the two bowls and told Ethan that he was going to his hut. He said: "Goodbye, my friend, I really enjoyed being with you. I hope to see you again."
While Ethan started heading back on his way to the hut, the markets were empty and most people were closing their shops, while others were heading to their huts.
On his way, Ethan began to hear the sound of hysterical crying.
He turned his gaze toward the source of the sound to see an old woman fallen on the ground with tears flooding her eyes.
Her face was red from so much crying, and there were some people around her trying to calm her down while she screamed: "(Crying sound) Why? Why my son? He didn't do anything wrong, so why did they kill him? (Crying sound)."
One of the people trying to calm her down said to her with a sad, grief-filled face: "Calm down, ma'am. I'm also sad about your son's death, but you know how barbaric the Katuran Empire is."
The old lady put her hand, full of wounds, on her face and her crying sound grew louder: "Damn Katuran, damn them all! (Crying sound)."
While watching the woman's screaming, Ethan felt a strange feeling he had never felt before, an uncomfortable feeling. Light features of sadness appeared on his face. Then he looked away from her and continued on his way to the hut, with the old woman's voice gradually fading with every step.
Ethan arrived at the hut at sunset to find Jesse and Nicolas lying on the floor with some food in front of them. Jesse quickly looked at Ethan with a look of astonishment on his face, saying: "Boy, where have you been all this time?"
Ethan ignored him with cold features and headed to one of the beds and went to sleep.
Nicolas looked at the sleeping Ethan angrily, and in a tone of voice with some anger, he said: "Hey, boy! Get away from my bed."
Jesse put his hand on his shoulder and said: "Never mind, man, you can take my bed. It's not worth shouting about."
Nicolas removed Jesse's hand from him and continued eating the food in front of him, while Jesse kept looking at the sleeping Ethan with a puzzled look, wondering what had happened to him that day.
Nicolas stood up, wiped his hands from the food remnants, and said: "I'm going to sleep."
End of the chapter