"… May your soul find eternal rest in the kingdom of the god of war. Eliya's wings shall forever protect you," the priest said with a heavy tone as he closed the sacrificial rites in his hands. "Your father was a good man. He was a kind and just gentleman. I admire his bravery for his family.
Even though he paid the price with his life, people will always remember his good deeds. "
Claude bowed slightly to show his gratitude.
He didn't know how to respond. He didn't think that Morssen's burial would attract so many people. The graveyard of the god of war was filled with people who came to see him off.
The burial method in this world was also to dig a large pit, put the coffin in it, and then fill it with soil. It was slightly higher than the ground by half a foot to a foot, and then use square stones to form a rectangular tombstone on top, which could also be called a tombstone.
The only difference was that the tombstones in this world were erected vertically. Morssen's name and biography were engraved on them.
Thomas, the former head of the patrol force, rolled up his sleeves and personally built Mr. Morssen's grave with a few skilled friends. They laboriously lifted the gravestone and carefully placed it on top of the grave. After that, they covered the cracks between the stones with cement to prevent the rain from seeping in.
More than an hour passed by the time everything was ready. Finally, it was time for the final farewell ceremony. The people who came to see Morssen off would line up in front of the tomb and pluck the white silk flowers pinned to their chests and place them on top of the tomb.
Soon, Morssen's tomb became a small hill filled with white silk flowers.
The number of people who came to see Morssen off didn't decrease either. The procession snaked out of the graveyard and the silk flowers were tossed onto the hill, which grew bigger and bigger.
His mother, who was dressed in black mourning clothes, couldn't hold on any longer. Grief had completely destroyed her health.
She had been tearless since morning. When the hill grew bigger and bigger, she leaned on her sister, Angelina, who had been supporting her, and fainted again.
Claude had no choice but to arrange for Welikro to send his mother and sister home first. He had to bring his brother, Bloweyk, to thank the people who came to see him off.
Bloweyk finally understood that he had lost his father. He had already cried a few times, and his chubby face was covered in tear stains.
It wasn't until noon that Claude thanked everyone who came to send him off. He carried Booke, who couldn't even stand, into the carriage.
Welikro drove the carriage and said sternly, "You have to think about it. It's best if you don't let your mother stay at home anymore.
My sister said that it would make your mother think of your deceased father. It would not be good for her health to recover.
The pharmacist also said the same thing when he came to see your mother this morning. It's best for you to change a place to recuperate for a while … "
Claude nodded. Welikro's sister and herbalist were right. Father had jumped off the roof of the red brick house. He wouldn't feel at ease letting his siblings stay there, so it was better to bring them to the wood. There were plenty of rooms in the wooden hut anyway and it was more than enough for the whole family.
Even though the wood was outside the town and wasn't as lively as the town center, the quietness of the place would be beneficial for his mother's recovery.
Also, having the whole family stay together would make it more convenient for him to take care of them. That way, he wouldn't be able to take care of them if anything happened to them. Just like how his father committed suicide by jumping off the building, if he had stayed at home instead of living in the wood, he would have been able to stop his father and avoid such a tragedy.
For Claude, this world didn't have the irritations of his previous world and the rapid changes that came with each passing day. There were no mobile phones, computers, or the internet, but there was a sense of ease and leisure. He really liked this kind of slow and unchanging life.
But at the same time, the biggest inconvenience he had in this world was the lack of information.
Even in a kingdom, it would take at least four to five days for Whitestag to find out what happened in the royal capital.
Other things aside, it wasn't as if Claude didn't put in a lot of effort after learning that his father had been tricked into writing the promissory note a few days ago.
He disguised himself as a masked man and went to the old streets of town to find the boss of Blacksnake, Butcher Bill. He wanted to get rid of him and get the promissory note back.
Unfortunately, he didn't even know where Butcher Bill was at night. He wasted two nights and ended up causing the tragedy of his father's suicide.
Claude had to go through so much trouble to find someone in such a small town, yet he still couldn't find him.
That was why he really missed the era when information was everywhere in his previous world. Anyone with a bit of fame would be exposed on the internet as soon as they tried to do something.
The reason why celebrities in his previous world had so many scandals was because of the information age. Everyone had a mobile phone and could take pictures and send them to WeChat anytime and anywhere. Celebrities couldn't escape being exposed even if they changed their appearance.
In this world, people traveled at sunrise and rested at sunset. Carriages and legs were the only means of transportation. Communication didn't depend on shouting. Writing letters and newspapers were the main sources of information.
Claude had thought about building an intelligence network to obtain information about this world.
But he had just come of age in this world and didn't have the resources or people he could trust. All he could do was think about it himself.
When he got home, his mother was already awake, but she was still lying in bed. She seemed to have aged ten years in an instant.
Claude knew how much his father's suicide affected his mother. It was as if the world had lost its color.
His mother was like a walking corpse now. She didn't have any energy at all and he was worried that she would suffer from depression if this continued.
So, he made the decision to move to the wooden hut in the wood.
Welikro's sister and Kubrik returned home after handing over the accounts, leaving Welikro behind to help out.
Funerals in this world were rather simple. There was no need to hold a feast or give gifts.
All they had to do was send a small white flower as a form of condolence and bring a small silk flower home. On the day of the funeral, they would send the silk flower off and place it on the grave.
The largest expenditure on the account was the coffin and silk flowers from the wargod's temple. More than five thousand silk flowers had been bought for five crowns, which meant that more than five thousand people had attended Morssen's farewell ceremony.
For Whitestag, which only had a population of around sixty thousand, it was a shocking number. There had never been such a large number of people attending a funeral in town before. That was a testament to Morssen's reputation in town.
Booke was overjoyed when he heard that he was going to live with his brother. Angelina, on the other hand, was a little hesitant. The wood was outside the town after all and it would take her around forty minutes to get to school on foot.
She also knew that their family was carrying a huge debt and she couldn't bear to spend money on a carriage.
"What are you thinking about?"
Claude patted her on the head. "Don't we have a carriage in the wood? At most, I'll bring you to school every day. Don't think about the debt. It has nothing to do with you. All you have to do is go to school and have fun. You don't have to worry about anything else."
Claude didn't really care about his mother's opinion. He couldn't let his mother stay in the house any longer.
However, there were still a lot of things he had to bring over. Apart from the bedroom upstairs and the study downstairs where he did his alchemical experiments, the other rooms in the wood hadn't been cleaned yet. He didn't want to bring his mother there to absorb the dust.
Just as he was about to ask Welikro to keep an eye on the place while he brought Angelina to clean up the place, he saw Welikro come in with a woman.
He took a closer look and saw that it was Kefnie.
"You … Why are you here?"
Asked Claude. He remembered that Kefnie came to send him off in the wargod's graveyard as well. However, there were many people there and he only nodded at her as a greeting. He didn't think that she would actually come to his door.
"I'm free in the afternoon, so I thought I could come and see if there's anything I can help with," said Kefnie generously.
"It wasn't convenient for me to visit you in the past few days, but after seeing you off today, I thought that your house would need someone to clean it up or something. It just so happened that I could lend a hand, so I came."
"Well …" Claude scratched his head. "Actually, there's no need to clean this place. I'm going to bring my mother, sister, and brother to the wood anyway.
I wanted Welikro to stay here and take care of my mother while I go clean up a few rooms. "
"It's better if you stay home and take care of your mother. After all, it's more convenient to be a son," said Welikro, "I'll go to the hut. Just tell me how to clean it up."
"Alright, it's nothing much. Clean up my room on the second floor. I'm going to use it as my mother's bedroom.
The smaller room next to it will be for my sister. Booke and I will stay in the empty room downstairs.
But as you know, I haven't really used those two rooms and they're really dusty. The windows, doors, and floor all need to be cleaned and the furniture needs to be rearranged, "said Claude rather awkwardly. It was fine if he did it himself, but it would be a little embarrassing to ask Welikro to do it.
"It's fine. I'll go. I do all the chores at home anyway." Welikro didn't mind.
Kefnie volunteered, "I'll go too. You guys are so clumsy. Besides, you've given your room to your mother, so we need to redecorate it. See if there's any furniture we need to bring over."
"Alright, alright."
Claude also felt that women were much better at decorating than men. It was fine for Welikro to clean the room, but he would definitely be at a loss when it came to decorating his mother's bedroom. "I'm sorry to trouble you." "It's fine.
We're classmates, after all. Even though we've graduated, don't you think of me as your friend? "said Kefnie mischievously.
So, Welikro drove the carriage to the wood with Kefnie, Angelina, Booke, and the snowhound.
After they were done cleaning the hut, Welikro drove the carriage back and told Claude what they should bring back. Kefnie and Angelina would make a list of the things they needed.
On the other hand, Claude packed up his clothes and belongings and waited for Welikro to come back with the carriage.
Even though his father had set up a stall downstairs to sell off a lot of their belongings, including most of the furniture, he managed to earn himself a good reputation for auctioning off the family of the sailors.
But now, Claude realized that there were still a lot of things that needed to be taken away. So, he moved some of the crudely used items to the empty space in front of the house and told the neighbors to take whatever they needed. They wouldn't be worth much anyway and would only waste his time, so he might as well just give them away.
Two hours later, Welikro arrived with a carriage. Behind him was Siori, the forester, who had also come with his old carriage to help move the goods.
But when Siori saw that there weren't many items left in the empty space, he regretted coming too late.
Claude brought him upstairs and asked if he wanted the crudely used furniture that Claude didn't intend to bring to the wood.
Siori said he wanted it, so he laboriously moved it downstairs and loaded it into a carriage.
Having no other choice, Welikro had to make two more trips to the wood to get what he needed.
The last time he came, Welikro went to the open-air market to buy some ingredients. Claude promised to make him a feast that night.