Jean, the Darkness

第12話 Slave Mark

"Wow, that's a nice sword."

Abu praised the sword in Jean's hand.

"Yes, it was given to me by Grandpa Sabil."

"Wow, that’s rare."

Abu said and Jean tilted his head.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah."

Abu nodded and waved to Saman who had finished his training.

"Welcome home. What's that sword?"

Saman asked, and Jean smiled.

"It’s something I received from Grandpa Sabil."

"That's a pretty big sword for Jean."

"Yes"

Jean nodded.

"Teacher told me to ask Brother Abu how to use this sword."

"Got it."

Abu nodded. The three of them walked on, pointing to a nearby hill. From the hill, they could see Amir and Sabadda surrounded by sheep. They also could see other young men working hard to catch sheep and shear them.

"What about that bag?"

Saman asked, and Jean untied the bag.

"Grandpa said it was grapes, but...oh, there was another bag as well."

Jean pulled out a small bag from inside his bag. There were two bags with letters he didn't know written on them. Abu took the bag and read the words.

"It says throwing knife."

"Yay!"

"The other thing is this..."

Abu's complexion turned grim.

"I'll keep this. I need to talk to the teacher first."

"Hmm? Yes, okay."

Abu put the bag in his pocket.

"What else?"

"It’s grapes."

Jean pulled out some fresh grapes and laughed.

"Grapes, that’s good, Jean."

"The teacher told us to eat together.''

Saman said, and then Jean laughed and put one in his mouth. He then shared the grapes with Abu and Saman, and the three of them ate the sweet grapes deliciously. After a while, Amir and Sabadda finished their work and headed towards Jean and the others on the hill. Abu held Jean's sword and performed a light sword dance. When Amir and Sabadda joined them, Abu stopped dancing and put another grape into his mouth.

"Is it your new sword?"

Amir took the grape Jean offered him and put it into his mouth.

"No, this is Jean's sword. It's a half-moon sword, and he got it from Uncle Sabil."

"Huh. The shape of my sword is a little different. Mine is also a half-moon sword though."

When Amir drew his sword, he noticed that it was noticeably different in shape.

"That sword is called Shamshir."

When Jean said this, Amir and the others looked at the sword with interest. Sabadda also drew his sword, looked at Jean's sword in Abu's hand, and nodded. Compared to Abu's weapons, Jean's sword is very thin.

"It may be Grandma Ista's family's sword. I heard that when she married Grandpa, she brought all sorts of baggage with her."

Abu said and they nodded. It is well known that Abu's grandfather had two wives. The first wife is Shana, Abu's father's mother. And the second wife is Sabil's mother, Ista.

"Unfortunately, Grandma Ista has already passed away. Grandma Shana has also become a bit dim lately, so I can't ask her the details."

"Hmm..."

When Abu said this, Amir and the others were deep in thought.

"I thought you could hear it when your father came back."

"But I don't know when he'll be back."

When Amir said this, Abu smiled bitterly.

"Well, for now, I'll teach you how to use Shamshir, Jean."

"Yes, Brother."

Abu said and Jean nodded.

"Saman should also train with him."

"Yes, Brother."

Sabadda said and Saman nodded. That's because Saman is the worst among them. Sabadda thought Jean was probably better than Saman. But he didn't say that.

"By the way, when will your slave mark be extinguished?"

Sabadda asked while picking at his grapes.

"Tomorrow."

Saman said while eating grapes.

"I heard it hurts a lot, so please be strong."

"Yeah."

Amir said and Saman nodded.

"If this branding iron disappears, I won't have to be nervous, no matter where I go from now on."

"That's right."

Saman said as he put another grape in his mouth. In the end, they stayed on the hill talking and picking grapes until dinner time.

Next morning.

After milking the sheep, Jean and his friends ate breakfast.

"Jean, the teacher is calling."

Sabadda, who had brought a kettle, said this while pouring tea into the bowls of his companions one after another. Jean nodded, drank some tea, and hurried over to Jahir.

"Are you here, Jean?"

"Yes, Sir."

Jean nodded.

"Keep this. Take it with you when you travel."

"Yes, Sir."

Jahir gave Jan the bag that Sabir had given him yesterday.

"What does it say on this, Sir?"

"It's poison."

Jahir answered immediately.

"Even just one drop is so poisonous that it can kill not only a camel but an entire village."

"Eh!"

"This poison is a mixture of the venom of a striped snake, the venom of a black snake, and the venom of a plant called Water Black Cata, found in the south of the continent. Its name is the 'Goddess' Smile'."

Jahir looked straight at Jean and said.

"It's very poisonous. So, handle it with care."

"Yes, Sir. I'll be careful."

"Yeah, you have to."

Jahir nodded.

"But why is it called Goddess' Smile?"

"Because if the victim to that, will die with a smile."

"..."

Jean blinks and looks at the poison in his hand again.

"Keep it, then take Saman to the village square."

"Yes, Sir!"

Jean ran quickly towards his tent. After a while, he found Saman cleaning up the room, took him by the hand, and headed toward the village square.

"Have you come?"

Jahir said and Saman and Jean nodded. When he saw Abu and the others from behind, Jahir just nodded silently.

"Take off your clothes and lie on your back on that desk. Jean, take Saman's clothes."

"Yes, Sir."

As Jahir instructed, Saman took off his clothes and handed them to Jean. Then, nervously, he laid down on his back on the desk that Jahir had prepared. A few villagers came and nodded. In their hands are burning stoves and iron trowels.

The only time they can hide a runaway slave is when the slave is small. For the sake of Saman, who will soon become an adult, they have no choice but to erase the slave branding iron. However, slaves' branding irons were originally made by applying hot iron to the skin, so it was quite deep. In other words, it's something that can't be erased easily. The only way to erase a branding iron is to use another iron trowel that is larger than the branding iron and place it over the branding iron.

"Put this in your mouth."

"Yes, Sir."

Jahir twirled up some handkerchiefs and handed them to Saman. Saman obediently put the handkerchief in his mouth. Then several men held down Saman's hands and feet, and Jahir took a red-hot iron trowel.

"If you're scared, you can close your eyes."

Jahir said and Saman shook his head nervously.

"Okay. Well then, let's go. Be strong!"

"Ugh!"

Tears fell from Saman's eyes as a hot iron was applied to the mark on his chest. Perhaps it was because it hurt so much or because it was so hot, Saman fought hard to endure it while crying. The process was done twice, and the original branding iron was no longer visible.

“You did a great job.”

Jahir said as he put away the iron bars, and Saman just blinked. The man holding him down took a handkerchief from Saman's mouth and carefully applied medicine to his wound.

"You should rest today."

One man said, and Saman nodded and bowed his head. Sabadda and Amir woke up Saman and took him straight to the tent. Jean blinked and headed towards the tent with Abu.

"Jean, please put away Saman's clothes and then bring him some water."

"Yes, Brother."

After hanging Saman's clothes, Jean immediately grabbed a bucket and headed to the well. There were many women washing clothes at the well, and they brought water for Jean.

"Brother Abu!"

"Leave it there."

"Alright!"

When Jean returned, Abu put a towel in the water and placed it on Saman's face and body.

"Brother Saman, are you okay?"

When Jean asked, Saman, who had been crying just now, smiled for some reason.

"Oh, no problem. It hurt like hell though."

Saman said and Amir smiled and nodded.

"Sabadda, take Jean and go help Grandma Elatha. She said something wrong with the roof, so you had better go take a look. I'm going to go get Saman's medicine now."

"Okay."

Sabadda said as he took Jean's hand and went outside.

The place Sabadda took Jean was to an elderly woman named Elatha. She welcomed them and asked Jean and Sabadda to repair the roof. When Sabadda went up to the roof, he found out the roof had been broken.

"You stay downstairs with grandma. I can handle the repairs by myself."

"Yes, Brother."

Jean nodded and went downstairs. Elatha laughed and walked with Jean to the garden where she tended to the various plants. While Elatha and Jean were busy with the plants, Sabadda came down from his work and saw Jean diligently watering the potted plants, and he laughed. When Sabadda tells Elatha that he has finished repairing her roof, Elatha nods happily. She then gave Jean the flower seedlings he liked.

Jean happily accepted the potted plant, bowed his head, and thanked her. The two then left Elatha's house and headed to the training area. Jean puts down the potted plant and looks around.

"Hey, Jean."

"Yes, Brother."

"How did you throw a knife at a moving bandit?"

Sabadda asked, and Jean tilted his head to one side. Sabadda thought that Jean might not understand the meaning of the question.

"Let's change the question. How did you practice throwing knives in Archia?"

"I just throw while running."

While saying this, Jean took out a throwing knife from his pocket. And he threw the knife while running quickly.

Thump! Thump!

Then he dove high and pitched again. He hit it all.

Amazing, Sabadda honestly thought.

"I see."

The moment they heard that voice, Jean and Sabadda turned around. He appeared with Jahir and Sabadda's brother Safid, the captain of the village guard troop.

"Jean, let me introduce you. This is Mr. Safid. He is the captain of the guard and Sabadda's older brother."

When Jahir introduced him to the man next to him, Jean positioned him correctly and politely introduced himself. Safid also smiled and nodded.

"As rumor has it, he's a polite kid."

When Safid said this, Sabadda smiled proudly.

"Because he's my younger brother."

"Hahaha, I see."

Sabadda said, and Safid laughed.

"I'll tell my father later that the Tareq family has welcomed a new child."

"Please do that."

"Hahaha, okay."

Sabadda said, and Safid laughed and nodded. And he saw little Jean and stretched out his hand.

"Sabadda's younger brother is also my younger brother. Therefore, we are family. We welcome you, Jean."

"Oh?"

Jean blinked, saw Safid, and reached out for his hand to shake. But Safid laughed, took and held him, and then walked towards the target.

"With this, unless it's poisonous, the opponent won't die unless it hits a vital point."

Safid said and Jean nodded.

"But your move was good."

Almost hit, Safid thought. If the knife is poisoned with this, the opponent will die.

"You said you received a sword from Mr. Sabil?"

"Yes, but I left it in the tent. It's big and difficult to carry, so I don't know what to do with it."

"Really··."

Safid thought this as he looked at Jean's face.

"Would you like it fixed on your back?"

"Can you do it?"

"Of course. Besides, I have an old belt like that. Shall we go get it later?"

"Yes, please."

Jean thanked him politely.

"What a cute boy."

Safid laughs and looks at Jean's arm. Thin arms, Safid thought.

"Jean, I think the training you need now is not to train your skills but to train your arms."

"Arms?"

"Yes, this body part is called an arm."

Safid touched Jean's arm and explained.

"If you don't make this arm stronger, it's a waste of a knife. Even if you throw it, the opponent won't die. Because the attack is light, the damage it deals is shallow."

"What should I do then?"

"All you have to do is practice every day. Daily training like chasing sheep with Sabadda and fetching water can lead to surprisingly good results."

"Oh, okay."

Jean looked at Safid and nodded.

“Well, shall we go now?”

"Yeah?"

"We are going to see Mr. Sabil off. He will go to the south."

"Ah, yes. But the potted plant that Grandma Elatha gave me was left there..."

"You can just go get the pot later. No one steals potted plants here."

"Alright."

Safid laughed when he heard Jean's answer and headed to the square with Jahir.