Raw meat, dried meat, wheat flour, rock-hard bread, beans... Pretty good luck. Lucius pulled a very exquisite jar out of the sack. Inside were bright red, very appetizing-looking granules.
Caviar!
He excitedly popped the cork and took a sniff.
Mm! The smell hasn't changed, it hasn't gone bad!
Lucius hurriedly pressed the cork back in, just about to put the thing away, when the man who had given him the food suddenly walked over and grabbed his hand.
"Hey! Wait!"
"What are you doing!" Lucius abruptly stood up, clutching the sack tightly in his hand, looking warily at the warehouse keeper.
"You can't take that thing," the man scolded, cursing under his breath. "Which bastard drank too much horse piss and stuffed this thing into the sack again."
"These are my family's rations, the things the Kingdom allocated to me. It's already mine, why can't I take it?"
Lucius didn't care about any of that. He picked up the rope, quickly tied it up, and hoisted it onto his shoulder.
"What did you say last time when I brought those rotten fruits over? 'This is what the Kingdom gave you, it already belongs to you. As for them being inedible, that's your problem, it has nothing to do with us.'"
He mocked, still holding a grudge over what happened last time.
The warehouse keeper just clapped his hands, completely ignoring Lucius's emotions. "That thing is a precious commodity right now, it has a special use. It being stuffed into your sack must have been a mistake by the idiot responsible for preparing it."
A loud shout suddenly came from inside the warehouse.
"You're the idiot, Colin!"
"Fuck your mother!"
The warehouse keeper turned his head and cursed back, then continued trying to persuade Lucius to hand over the caviar.
"Listen, that stuff is very rare right now. It's not meant for you to take back and spread on your black bread. Give it back, and I'll give you another loaf—no! A loaf and a half of bread, how about it?"
"Wait until next time, my friend. Next time I'll come trade half a jar for a loaf."
Lucius whistled, hoisting the food and walking back, his steps light.
He could already imagine the surprise on his two children's faces, and Grace's, when they saw this. The jar looked very exquisite, but in the past, it wasn't particularly rare. Now, however, aside from filling one's belly, anything that could bring pleasure to the taste buds was undoubtedly a luxury.
Even basic food was slowly moving in that direction.
The children would be very happy.
Grace would be too. They hadn't done it in a long time, to conserve energy.
Thinking of this, Lucius felt the regret and guilt brought by the rotten fruit last time vanish into thin air. He anticipated that the family would definitely have a happy dinner tonight. He and Grace could find some time alone, embrace, entangle, kiss, and then...
A foot kicked him in the back.
Lucius fell forward onto the ground, dust covering his face. Before the emotions of surprise, anger, and unease could even well up, two strong arms pinned him to the ground, preventing him from getting up.
The warehouse keeper shook his head, walked up to him, picked up the sack that had rolled onto the ground, and untied the rope right in front of Lucius.
"What are you doing! By Myrmidia!"
His eyes practically bursting with rage, he shouted furiously.
"Put that down! I told you to put it down!"
The warehouse keeper opened the sack and took things out one by one, stacking them on the ground. Lucius watched helplessly as a piece of fresh meat was placed on the ground, covered in dirt, becoming filthy.
"Bastards! Put it down!"
His eyes and throat felt like they were going to spit fire, but the warehouse guards pinned him down tightly, driving their knees into his lower back.
Finally, the warehouse keeper found the exquisite jar of caviar. He shook it teasingly in front of Lucius, then got up and returned to the warehouse.
Soon, he came out with a loaf of bread, placed it on the very top of Lucius's family rations, tapped it with his index finger, patted his pants, and went back into the warehouse to continue doing who knows what.
The guards quickly released Lucius and returned to stand guard outside the warehouse. Their gazes, however, remained fixed on him, hands gripping their spears. If the man tried to do anything, there was no doubt they would skewer him.
The man didn't make another sound. He lay on the ground for a while, silently got up, and without even wiping the filth from his face, carefully put the food scattered on the ground back into the sack.
He gently blew away the dust and sand clinging to the outside of the food, arranged them properly, retied the sack tightly, and then turned to look at the warehouse. His face was dirty, devoid of expression, while the guards kept staring at him.
The man turned his head and hurried home.
Fresh meat was hard to store, and since it got dirty, it had to be dealt with quickly. Grace went to fetch water to wash it. The two sensible children helped their father unpack the things, sort the ingredients, helped him change into clean clothes, and wiped his sweat.
Joel limped over and sat on a tree stump next to Lucius.
"Any news from the Kingdom? How was today?"
He asked, then noticed the dirt and scrapes on Lucius's face. Clearly, those weren't caused by logging. He frowned, "What happened?"
Lucius shook his head.
"Just the usual."
He didn't want to transfer too much negative emotion to his family.
Joel sighed, looked at the sack, and said no more.
The atmosphere remained stifled in melancholy. At the same time, the same was true for many more people, many more families.
Lucius finished his meal and walked out of his temporary home—a wooden structure covered with tarpaulins. The settlement was sparse, with very few people moving about.
Most people made it a habit to lie down after eating to conserve energy and prevent expenditure.
The campfires were still lit. The guards gathered in twos and threes at this time, nominally keeping watch, but actually relaxing.
Lucius hesitated, not knowing if Supply Officer Harold asking him to come over was a good thing or a bad thing. But considering that not going would likely offend the man, he gritted his teeth, tucked the coin purse—which he and his family brought into this vast forest and was now completely useless—into his shirt, and headed toward Harold's house.
He didn't have to walk far before finding Harold's house. It was a wooden cabin that looked sturdier and more aesthetically pleasing than Lucius's crude shack. He knocked on the door, feeling anxious outside.
Instead, a window pushed open, and a young man's face appeared. He looked around furtively, then dropped a soft sentence:
"Father says to meet him at the outpost."
Then he closed the wooden window.
Lucius scratched his head, confused, and his guard couldn't help but rise a bit.
This was the experience he had learned in the army.
So he walked toward the outside of the settlement. The outpost was out in the wilderness; he didn't know why the supply officer wanted to meet him there.
It didn't take long to reach the place.
He saw several guards chatting with each other, laughing and joking. Most importantly—they had food and drink!
Lucius was instantly filled with envy.
The cups in their hands must definitely hold beer!
The man felt as if he could even smell the aroma. Watching the golden liquid splash out as they clinked glasses and spilled onto the ground, he couldn't help but lick his dry lips and walk toward the guards.
"Halt!"
The guards' reaction was fierce. They suddenly grabbed their spears and aimed them at him. Lucius felt confused. These people had seen him a long time ago, why the sudden intense reaction?
"Hey! It's me, Lucius Corens. Harold told me to come."
He spread his hands to show he meant no harm.
A voice came from inside the outpost. This outpost was built more perfectly and beautifully than any of the strongholds, looking almost like a small villa.
Lucius could only see blurry shadows inside through the lamplight.
The guards let him pass. For some reason, he felt that two people were staring at him with very malicious intent, their provocation and mockery apparent on their faces.
Maybe it was an illusion?
He didn't remember ever dealing with these people.
Just as he reached the door, it opened. A woman walked out briskly, her long hair disheveled. She glanced at Lucius and pulled the coat she was wearing tight around herself.
Her chest was bulging. Lucius instinctively felt that it wasn't her breasts; she had stuffed something else in there.
The woman's face was somewhat flushed. She brushed past Lucius and hurried back toward the camp. The guards whistled at her, making her quicken her pace.
Lucius caught a whiff of a decadent scent, quickly realized what was going on, and pushed the door open.
Supply Officer Harold was slumped on a sofa. His attire was somewhat messy, and his inner shirt was tossed on the floor.
His face was ruddy; it seemed that indeed, something had just happened in this outpost.
Lucius controlled himself to ignore distractions, walked over, and tried his best to show a respectful demeanor. "Mr. Harold, I'm here."
The man patted the sofa, gesturing for him to sit down.