The Fallen World

Two

Exhausted by the ravages of war, Storm Empire splits into two extremes: one that compromises with a three-nation alliance on resource sharing and use, and the conservative extreme that insists on protecting what is left of the world. they consider it to be Storm Empire's "property". The civil war lasted seven years, and the Compromise side won with the help of the Confederacy. Remnants from the opposition were hunted down, imprisoned, or sold as slaves. All those associated with the opposition participants were marked with defeat on the back of their left hand, banned from using "qi", and subjected to many oppressions.

The fierce years ended in the city of Nerve - the last bastion of the opposition. In the ruins of the war, a young child crying in the middle of a field of corpses was found by a soldier of the Compromise faction.

A large number of prisoners of war were taken to the Veronica mines at the end of the war. After many years, the town of Veronica was formed not far from the mine to facilitate trade and exchange between countries in the continent. The "Remnants" were all put into the city's slums and were no longer imprisoned in prisons, which the Maeta Storm Empire government called "benevolence for the lowly"

Twelve years have passed…….

Levis really didn't understand. He asked himself, what did the others do wrong? Is it wrong to be born into this world? Born with a felony against the country, living in poverty and being despised by others while he and these people have never harmed anyone. Those things kept playing around in his head. He simply thought that as long as he lived well, everything would pay off. But thinking back, over the years he lived with Fione's family, worked hard, presented himself as a useful person for the Maeta Storm Country, in return it was still only a contemptuous look when everyone looked at him. I see marks on my hands.

Do we accept life like this? Can we make something different? – Levis asked the question in his mind and looked at the group of workers. Will they think like you?

The boy stared intently at the back of his left hand. The scar from the burn mark was clearly imprinted with the symbol of a storm that was cut through by a slash. “The storm of dissenters has been cut through and dissipated” is this symbolic meaning.

The two storm lizards pulled the cart - the proud, agile creatures of the Storm Empire, devouring the prairie horses. Levis rolled his eyes at them: shackles were attached to their necks, ropes were tightened around them, pulling the heavy carriage into motion.

We and those lizards are, indeed, similar. Levis sighed.

Everyone said goodbye to each other when the car had reached the gate of Chiron, Karma drove back to Count Zhephy's farm. All of them spread out into small streets that crept around the residential slums.

The Chiron site rests on the slopes of a hill, so the houses here lean on the slopes, most of which are built of terracotta, looking from a distance like giant reddish-brown steps.

Levis wandered down the familiar path back home. As he passed the large square in the center of Chiron, which people called "Rat Square," he looked up at the water clock tower in the center of the property, it was almost six o'clock in the afternoon.

“So I was out there for almost eleven hours today.” The boy sighed wearily. In the end, it didn't work out very soon, and the salary only added two Dine.

"I'm back!"

Levis spoke up as he stepped into the courtyard. In the kitchen outside the house, a slim young girl with long hair tied up behind her head stepped out in a housewife dress with two sleeves rolled up above her elbows. Although the sun is out, but when I see this girl, it seems that it is still very sunny.

"You're back, aren't you? Did you have a hard day today?"

Fione asked Levis in a very gentle voice. She was struggling with her daily chores after finishing work at the house - Count Zhephy's house. In her hand Fione was still holding a wooden spoon that was still wet with something viscous.

“As always, sister. Here's today's pay."

Levis gave all seven Dine to Fione without any concern, then he began to twist his limbs and whole body to relax his joints after a tiring day of work causing them to make a pleasant crackling sound.

“Hey, didn't you keep a dime before? What does a growing boy need to have as a backup fund?"

Fione was surprised.

"I don't need it yet, if there's anything I'll ask you later."

"And what's wrong with your face, let me see?"

Fione saw the bruise on his lips and then brought her hand to her forehead as if she had just seen something scary.

"I just fell, sister, it's not worth worrying about."

The boy tried to lie, but his attitude was not convincing at all. It is quite timid and somewhat unnatural.

“Ah, Levis is such a nice guy, isn't he?”

Fione smiled gently, then picked up the bag of money and then caught it. She already knew what she needed to know, but there was no need for her to pressure her troubled brother. After all, Fione gave Levis a way out as she pretended to be more concerned with the other's pockets.

“…The girl who becomes my wife will surely be very happy.”

Putting her hand on her brother's head, Fione showed a very satisfied expression.

"I'm going to take a shower!"

He quickly turned to the well to hide his embarrassed face, and at the same time did not forget to wipe Fione's hand away from the dirty head.

Everyone in the Chiron area thought Fione was the most beautiful girl: pink and white skin, big blue eyes like the sky, blond hair like the dawn sun, and a voice as soft as the warmth of spring. Even the other young girls were jealous but they had to admit that Fione was very beautiful. As for Levis, Fione was everything to him.

The child lying among the corpses at Nerve that year was brought to the prisoners of war. No one dared accept a baby covered in dirt and blood. They were afraid, they were frightened by the aftermath of the war, they thought that the baby only brought bad luck because it was born here, filled with death and pain. But with the kindness of teacher Pharbe's family, they adopted this child.

Despite suffering from the status of the remnants of the defeated army and the oppression of the Maeta Storm government, the Pharbe family still loved the strange child like their own family. Soon they were sent to the Veronica area.

Life is cruel without anyone, teacher Pharbe died in an accident in the mines, and his youngest son and wife also died not long after that due to illness.

Only two sisters, Fione and Levis, remained in the house. For the boy who lacked love from his biological parents, this loss seemed to take away most of what Levis had. He only had Fione to lean on, so he always tried his best to make his sister less miserable.

***

After showering and changing, Levis went into the kitchen, cut a piece of bread, and went inside. At that time, Fione was cleaning up the drying racks, mostly tubers and seeds of all kinds.

"Hey, there's meat soup, why don't you just eat bread?"

Fione yelled at Levis when he saw that he only ate a little.

“Give it up to me, that’s all I need.”

“Go back to the kitchen for the soup now!”

Fione shouted louder as she threw a branch at Levis, which he dodged lightly. The wooden bar hit the kitchen wooden door with a dry "Pow" sound and broke in half.

“Hey, are you going to kill me? Is there any girl who throws a wooden stick to remind someone and breaks it in half like me?"

“Who told you to be stubborn? If you work hard, you have to eat more meat and vegetables. No wonder you are like a pole."

“I get it, you bitch. If people knew your true nature, who would dare to marry you?"

Levis was about to go back to the kitchen, but as quickly as lightning, Fione ran to Levis and squeezed his cheeks with both hands.

“Aww, you seem so spoiled these days. How dare you talk to me like that! How should the punishment be?"

Fione switched to speaking in a sinister voice and her expression hardened.

"Let see. The hair was cut off, the clothes were stripped off, then limed the whole body, tied hands and paraded out of Rat Square."

“ wah… what… disgusting… wacky… wacky?”

Levis hummed, his arms flailing wildly and patted Fione's shoulder as if begging her to let go.

Levis's left arm doesn't hold bread, so it's free, he quickly slips into Fione's ribs, causing her to pull away after a failed plea, Fione lets out a long "Ah" and then falls to the ground, put his hand on his ribs. Levis has escaped the clutches of the "Old Lady"

“I almost dropped my bread, you scoundrel.”

Not giving in to the little demon, Fione wrapped her arms around Levis' neck and pinned him down, this time dropping the bread crumbs.

“Do you have to be so harsh? Let me go, it hurts!"

He pounded repeatedly on his sister's arm.

"Do you dare say that to me again?"

Fione growled.

"Well, I'm sorry. I'm not saying you're 'fierce' anymore."

Levis gives in.

"That's right, that's the way to be a good child."

Fione said triumphantly.

"Your face is beautiful, but your heart is rotten, lol."

Levis grins.

Hyaa !!!!!

Fione tightened her grip.

"Wing Wing!"

A scream of terror rang out.

If this was a hug, any man would be happy to have his head tucked into the plump breasts of the prettiest girl in the neighborhood, but under the circumstances it wouldn't be nice. though Levis's head was clamped to Fione's chest. I only feel aching pain. If I weren't a girl, Levis would have reacted more strongly.

“By the way, you are a girl right? Know where to hit now?" - Levis had to leave it to his sister.

Finally, the war between you and me is over. Levis was forced to eat everything Fione ordered him with a rather disgruntled expression. Fione put her hands on her hips and spread her legs apart and stood in the middle of the yard glaring at him like Porse the mine manager when going to check the progress of work.

“Are you going to the cellar today?”

Fione asked Levis when he had completed the task Fione entrusted him with: to eat enough.

"Yes, sister, you go to sleep first, I can borrow a lamp."

Levis answered while carrying the spoons and plates to the sink by the well.

"Studying hard is good, but don't let anyone know, absolutely hear?"

Fione whispered.

"Yes!"

The boy replied in the same whispering voice.

Even education was forbidden for those with the mark of defeat, so Levis's actions were illegal. Mr. Pharbe also hid the fact that he was a teacher when he was arrested, and somehow managed to bring some books with him when he was exiled. For the poor, persecuted and oppressed, knowledge is something too far away and luxurious.

Levis is getting smarter, curious about the world around him, teacher Pharbe teaches him to read and write. Everything happens in secret, and the boy is aware enough that this should be kept secret if he does not want the whole family to bring disaster to him. The boy's thirst for knowledge is growing. Soon Levis had read most of the precious books that Mr. Pharbe had left behind. This can be considered as Levis' treasure.

***

Levis felt something aching in his right ear and it was getting worse.

“Whoa, it hurts, Fione?”

"Wake up, General, you overslept and didn't even turn off the lights?"

Fione's anger became stronger, causing her younger brother to get up instead of sitting down with his face like before.

It was almost morning, the boy had just realized he had fallen asleep in the basement.

"Oh my God!"

Levis was startled to discover his mistake.

"I didn't see you upstairs, so I came down here to check. Are you going to hurt me, you brat?"

“I… Sorry!”

Levis mumbled, looking down in apology. Fortunately, the cellar was quite closed and anyway, the one who discovered it was Fione.

"Clean up and help me with some chores."

Fione quickly walked up to the house, and Levis hurriedly cleaned and wrapped the books and then put them in a chest that was buried in the basement and covered with a wooden floorboard, after which he went upstairs to do things Morning work.

"Are you going to work at the earl's house again today?"

Levis asked Fione, who still had a piece of bread in his mouth.

“Yes, the earl's family seems to be good people. By the way, the earl's son really likes you."

Fione was excited. Her eyes sparkled as if she was thinking about something very romantic.

"You're not going to flirt with Mr. Zhephy's son, are you?"

Levis doesn't seem very happy. He even tried to emphasize the word "flirting".

“Isn't it good if you can flirt with that guy? My life will be less miserable, and so will you.”

Fione replied, but suddenly realizing there was an irregularity in Levis' words, she glared at him:

“I… I didn't flirt with him. He flirts with you."

Closing her lips, the older sister stomped her feet on the ground.

“That guy must have a mental problem.”

"What do you mean, kid?"

"Well... I only have a beautiful appearance, but I'm cold on the inside, and I often bully others (I'm you)"

"It's you" he mumbled under his breath, but it ended up being loud enough for his older sister to hear it all.

“Er… This brat, stop there!”

Fione grabbed the broom in the corner of the yard and chased after Levis.

"I'm going to work, haha."

Levis quickly ran away.

"If that's the case, that's fine, you won't have to suffer anymore." - thought Levis.

He felt something sting in the corner of his eye.

Just outside the gate of Chiron, Karma and the other drivers were waiting. Teams of workers came one after another and jumped on the car to go to the ore mine.

Old Reinor looked very happy, the others seemed to be still sleepy. I don't understand why that crazy old man is so happy? - Everyone in their half-awake and half-sleeping looked at each other and then turned to look at him.

"Hey, I went to the table with Porse last night, we're going to widen that niche today."

Reinor spoke to erase the gloomy atmosphere of the morning ride.

"We'll have to expand anyway, but I didn't expect you to get it so quickly."

Yorn replied in a yawn. However, he realized that "today" was in the old man's words.

"Huh? TODAY?"

"It's almost the season to pray for the harvest, you have to do it quickly to have money to have fun."

The old man was delighted.

“Today we're going to reinforce hole number two, then this survivor will plant dynamite in the hole. So B....!!! We just go in there and dig and get paid.”

“My name is Levis!”

The boy was upset. The rest of them were equally upset.

“Can you stop being like you just want to blow everything up? Where did we reinforce that side?”

One of the group was grumpy.

“Generally speaking, let's just blow it up. There's a lot of ore in that hole. Porse said he would take responsibility. Anyway, just reinforce the surrounding areas, and the rock collapses into the hole, we will clean it, Porse will also send someone to help.”

Reinor tried to use persuasive words. When they heard the name of the manager Porse and the part where he would be in charge with someone cleaning up, the whole group of workers suddenly got excited. They were completely convinced.

***

Reinor's words were like a stimulant that made the whole crew work hard. I don't know how it was before, but today was the first time Levis felt the heat since he joined Reinor's team.

Wooden planks and poles have been brought in, it seems that the night shift crew did this. The next job is to reinforce the pit and blasting area. As expected, having prepared in advance, Reinor must have been so confident.

Levis, carrying an awl and chisel, slipped gently into the hole yesterday. Once he got to the other side, he started punching small holes for explosives. The other end of the Yorn group also started work, the explosives in the middle of the cavity will also be taken by Levis. After finishing the two ends of the cavity, Levis ducked back into the hole, under the light of Yorn shining on the other side, he followed the light, crawling and chiseling and burning the wires. Keep working hard until you come out completely.

“The other end is done, the middle part is enough, I think.”

Levis said as he untied the flaming cords tied around his ankles and hands.

"Very well son, let's take a break. This morning at the Veronica mine we have a visitor from the Alchemy Empire. Let them tour all the holes first, then we'll blow it up later."

Old Reinor announced.

Levis glanced around, there was a group of people going down above. At a glance, they were also known to be from the Alchemy Kingdom thanks to their unique costumes and jewelry, accompanied by old Porse.

“It's not that hot down here, is it? Rock caves are different.”

One of the tour group spoke up.

“With geology like this, it is extraordinary to still be able to exploit it.”

Old Reinor smiled and nudged Yorn.

“Have you seen? It's extraordinary.”

The Alchemists who came here also brought their retainers and children. They played and shouted loudly in the crater.

"Reinor, where's old Reinor?"

The manager shouted.

The middle-aged man hurriedly ran to Porse.

"I'm here, what do you need?"

“These people belong to the Alchemist Empire's Royal Family, they came for diplomatic business, and today they had free time to see how our mining works, especially the ore mines located in the rocky mountains. Go along and explain it to them in detail.”

“Very willingly, sir.”

Old Reinor's flamboyant demeanor annoyed others.

The workers in the group stood aside, bowing solemnly. Levis glanced at them surreptitiously, "What a gentleman's demeanor." - You think.