Firefly Journey

The Rhine Province is located in the south of the Duchy of Bema, and is the least prominent of the thirty-two provinces in the duchy.

The town of Torreg, located within the territory, is built along the Lodz River. It is sparsely populated and has poor transportation, so even merchants rarely come and go.

The entire town has only a few hundred people, and the residents live a semi-agricultural, semi-pastoral lifestyle.

In the Principality of Bema, such a dilapidated and desolate town is almost impossible to find; it's no exaggeration to say it's unique.

There are many unique ones in the town.

The only school, the only pub, the only hospital—or should it be called a clinic? It was quite small, with only one doctor, Coente, working there.

Spring arrives, and the school welcomes a new batch of children; naturally, another group of children will graduate.

Olek is the owner of the only tavern in town. He is the son of Ryan Andrei. He has been from a wealthy family since childhood and always has a lot of pocket money that is far beyond what his peers have. Therefore, he is often the center of attention.

He and his companions were students who graduated last winter. According to the custom of the Rhine Province, they would be able to stand on their own after their sixteenth birthday.

Where are we going today?

The speaker was one of Oleksandr's henchmen, named Dupippon, who was wearing a tattered linen coat and looked like he came from a poor family.

That was indeed the case. His father was a notorious gambler in town, always either at the gambling table or drunk, which made life difficult for the whole family.

Being beaten and scolded by his father for many years shaped Dupipon's stubborn personality, making him a bully who picks on the weak and fears the strong.

“That’s obvious, they’re going to the river!” said Bernie, another henchman.

Olek, dressed in a cashmere sweater, cleared his throat, quite satisfied with Bernie's answer, and the three of them headed toward the Lodz River.

The Loz River was just an ordinary river; the town's children had grown tired of it from a young age and had no interest in it whatsoever. What interested Olek, however, were the people washing clothes along its banks.

The girl's name is Wendy. She is from an ordinary family and entered school in the same year as Olek and others. However, due to having too many siblings, she dropped out of school last year. She usually makes a living by doing needlework and washing clothes for wealthy families.

She had an elfin face, fair skin that looked so delicate it seemed like you could squeeze water out of it. Such a beauty was extremely attractive to these young men just beginning to experience love.

Olek was one of the injured.

DuPippen and Bernie both had feelings for Wendy, but with Oleko from a wealthy family around, they could only look on with envy.

"It's Olek!" A muscular, bearded man greeted them on the road. He was over three meters tall, far exceeding the limits of human height.

He was not an ordinary human, but a giant, about one-third taller than a normal human.

“Hello, Mr. Worstin,” Oleksandr replied with a smile.

"Have you stocked up on pear wine yet? I'm craving its taste so bad, tsk tsk, just thinking about it makes me unable to resist," said the giant Worstin, licking his lips.

Olek said, "The merchant I booked won't arrive until this afternoon. He'll probably have what you're looking for. Well, you'll get your pleasure tonight."

Worstin looked on expectantly, exchanged a few more words with the children, then parted ways with them and left happily.

The Lodz River, which flows through Torreg, has crystal-clear water, making it a rare gift from nature to wash clothes so clean.

Along the riverbank, a group of women were washing clothes, chatting happily. Wendy, the young girl, didn't join them; the age gap was too great, and they couldn't connect at all.

Wendy was washing clothes, occasionally wiping the sweat from her forehead with her soft, boneless little hands. From a distance, it was a truly beautiful scene.

The people admiring the scenery moved closer, squatted down a short distance away from her, and called out, "Guess what I brought you?"

Wendy looked up and followed the sound, smiled when she saw the young face, and replied, "Ario, shouldn't you be working at this time?"

"We're out of wheat. We only worked all morning. Solo wants us to come back."

The boy admiring the scenery had delicate features, a head of silver hair, and a short braid hanging down his back. In a few years, he would undoubtedly become the object of many girls' affections.

No, it is now.

Wendy said, "Then you should get some rest."

She had heard about the intensity of work at Solo Bakery. How could she not rest properly during her rare holiday? She would be overwhelmed.

“Isn’t it right now?” Ario smiled, then stretched and took a candy out of his pocket.

He unwrapped the candy and handed it to Wendy: "Eat."

Wendy was doing laundry and her hands were occupied, so she simply opened her cherry-like mouth, her meaning quite clear.

Ario, unfazed, fed the candy to Ario; it was warm.

This scene was witnessed by Olek and his group, who had come to find Wendy. Olek's face darkened. Could their intimacy be a signal?

He was overthinking it. The reason Ario was on good terms with Wendy was simply because she had taken good care of him in the past, and he was just repaying her kindness.

Olek walked up to Wendy and said gently, "After you've finished washing, would you like to go pick flowers at the foot of Mount Yedeen? We've already looked, and there are plenty of the 'Feng Qingzi' that you like. We could easily weave them into a wreath to wear on your head."

Wendy was indeed tempted by his suggestion and said, "That's fine, but you'll have to wait a while until I finish these tasks before you can go."

Olek said, "It's alright, we'll wait for you."

He didn't offer to help with the washing or anything, firstly because he genuinely didn't know how, and secondly because Wendy wouldn't agree.

After delivering the gift, Ario didn't intend to stay any longer and turned to leave. Wendy said, "Ario, since you're off today, would you like to come with us?"

The silver-haired boy stopped and turned around, saying, "As you said, I rarely get a break, so I won't go to such a far place."

"Okay." Wendy's voice clearly betrayed her disappointment, and she had no choice but to give up.

Olek breathed a sigh of relief. He would have been quite annoyed if Ario had gone with him, but now his goal was achieved.

As Ario moved further and further away from them, his smile, hidden beneath his silver hair and bangs, burst forth without any attempt to conceal it.

"These kids are really interesting, but they're too low-level to even bother with them."

Ario's house, next to a large, sturdy tree, is a small wooden cabin with only three rooms.

"I'm back."

Ario pushed open the door and called out, but as usual, there was no response.

He was already used to this. For an orphan, receiving a reply wasn't a heartwarming thing; it meant worrying about whether their belongings were still there, even though there weren't any valuables in the house.

After closing the door, Ario lay down on the small wooden bed. He habitually reached into his pocket, but found nothing. So he picked up a geography book from the bedside table to read.

He was amused by his own habit.

"It came so suddenly, we weren't prepared at all."