"Emile Stuart!"

On the high platform of Jinshi Village Square, an old man in a brown robe shouted the name to the crowd.

At this time, the audience was crowded with onlookers, they were all villagers of Jinshi Village, but most of them were old people, women and children, and some young people were either physically disabled or looked sick.

When the old man called out the name, the crowd was quiet for a while, and then a figure squeezed out.

It was a young man who looked to be seventeen or eighteen years old, not tall, of thin build, wearing a gray coarse cloth garment that was everywhere, very thin, and his arms had distinct muscular lines, and seemed to exercise regularly.

The old man looked at the young man named Emir for a moment, then nodded, and stretched out his hand to signal him to walk to the front of the stage, where there were still four young men, all of them looking elated.

The Emir walked slowly, but his expression was indifferent, and he looked out of place when he stood with the other four.

The old man was holding a roster in his hand, and Emir's name was in the last row of one of the pages, so the old man turned to the next page, ready to continue the registration, but found that the back of the roster was all blank, which also meant that Emir was the last person on the roster.

"Tsk, what can I do?"

Seeing this, the old man's heart sank, and he turned to the person standing behind the high platform and said.

It was a soldier in armor, and the spear in his hand was glowing cold.

"What? Finished reading the name? The soldier's tone was rude.

"Yes, after reading, the young people in the village are all on this, but only these five meet the requirements, but the number of places required above is ten, if we can't complete the task, we will all be punished."

"Hmm......," the soldier mused, "are you sure that the young people of the village are registered?" ”

"Of course, I've been the village chief for decades, so I know everything about the situation in the village."

The soldier pondered for a moment, his gaze swept among the onlookers below, and suddenly he had an idea.

"That'...... How about finding a few younger ones? ”

"Huh?" The village chief followed his gaze and noticed that there were many fifteen or sixteen-year-old children in the crowd, so he lowered his voice, "What do you mean...... Counting minors as well? This, how can this work, it is an extremely dangerous battlefield, and the parents of these children will definitely not agree. ”

"Hehe, rest assured, the ten places explained above belong to the logistics troops, specializing in dealing with some sundries, and will not go to the battlefield, and after joining the army, the family will receive a large amount of condolence money, ordinary families can't earn so much in a lifetime, as long as you make it clear, the parents of those children will agree, after all, who will have trouble with money, you say yes?"

"This ......," the village chief still hesitated.

The soldier looked at him and became a little impatient, and his attitude instantly became unpolite.

"Hmph, you have to think clearly, if you can't complete the task on time, it's not just as simple as dismissal, maybe we both have to worry about our lives."

“…… Well, well. When the village chief heard this, he quickly nodded in agreement.

He gathered the roster and came to the five young men.

"A few of you go back and pack your luggage, say goodbye to your family, and gather in the square at dawn tomorrow."

"Wait a minute, village chief," a burly young man said, raising his hand in a playful tone, "you see, we're in the army, right?" When will the promised condolences be given to us? ”

"This ......" the village chief was stunned for a moment.

"What's the hurry! When you get to the army, someone will naturally send you money. The soldier looked impatient.

"Well, that's true, we just need to register, and then lead you to the army, we have no right to ask about the condolence money," the village chief patiently explained, "However, please rest assured, the lord here, Lord Christie, is very trustworthy, and what she promised will be done." ”

"Really? That's good," the young man scratched his head and laughed, "With your words from the village chief, we are relieved, you say, right?" ”

"Yes, we all believe in the village chief."

The rest of the young men chimed in, except for the Emir, who was looking down and not knowing what he was thinking.

"Alright, stop talking nonsense, let's go, it's getting dark." The soldier urged the village chief, "We must find someone as soon as possible, tomorrow is also very short, if some trivial matters are delayed for too long, the people above will be angry." ”

"Oh, good." The village chief hurriedly agreed.

When the village chief and the soldiers had left, the crowd had dispersed, and the emir was preparing to go home alone.

At this moment, the stout young man just now stopped him, and Emir knew that his name was Sain, and he was the nephew of the village chief, which was why he dared to talk to the village chief like that just now.

"Hey, Emir, why don't you look so happy? We're soldiers. ”

"I ......" the emir hesitated, unable to answer for a moment.

"Leave him alone, Sain, this guy is very withdrawn." The other young man said, with a look of disgust,

"Don't say that, Gregya," Sain still smiled, "We're all comrades now, we should find a way to get along." ”

"Cut, whatever you want, I don't like this guy anyway."

The young man named Grea walked away without looking back, and the other two followed, leaving only Emir and Sain where they were.

"I ...... And did not want to join the logistics troops. The emir whispered.

"Huh?" Sain didn't hear clearly.

"Didn't you hear the conversation between the village chief and the soldier? What we are going to join is a logistics force, and we will not be able to go to the battlefield. The emir's voice raised a little.

"How so? I believe that as long as you enter the army, you will have the opportunity to go to the battlefield, and maybe you will be able to establish meritorious deeds and glorify the lintel...... In short, our future is bright, don't you think? The more Sain talked, the more excited he became.

"I hope so." The emir said lightly, and then walked towards the house.

"Hey, Emir, we're going to have a celebration later, so you should come." No sooner had Emile taken a few steps than Sain shouted behind him.

"Sorry, I don't want to go...... I think it's better to get some rest, and I'm probably going to have to go tomorrow. The Emile had just thought of the wording and was about to refuse, but Sain had already gone away.

He didn't catch up, thinking to himself that even if he didn't go, Sain and the others wouldn't care, after all, he had always been a misfit.

And, next comes a more serious question: how should he tell his family about it?

When the sun had already set when Emile returned home, he went into a small thatched hut and lit a kerosene lamp.

The interior can be observed by the light, except for a wooden table and three worn chairs.

It was the living room of the house, and there were two other bedrooms, and Emile walked into one of them, where a thin figure lay on the small bed.

"I'm back, Grandma." The emir said loudly, as if afraid that the other party would not hear.

“…… Oh, it's the emir. Grandma sat up slowly from the bed, as if she was sick, and her voice was very weak, but she could still hear a joyful tone.

"Don't be in a hurry to get up, I'll go make dinner." Emir hurriedly helped her grandmother to lie down, and walked out of the house without saying a word.

There was only a simple living room and two bedrooms in the thatched house, and there was no place to use it as a kitchen, so you had to cook outside.

It was a makeshift stove made of several large stones next to the house, and above it was a canopy made of a few pieces of wood and a few sheaves of thatch, and the emir brought the only kerosene lamp in the house and began to make dinner.

This is the third year that he and his grandmother have been dependent on each other, he has long been accustomed to working for the family without doing any housework, his mother died when he was very young, and then his father was drafted into the army three years ago, and there is no news so far.

At first, when the burden of life fell on his shoulders, he didn't know what to do, but fortunately, his grandmother, who had always been hardworking, took care of the family's affairs.

Of course, the emir from a poor family was not the kind of person who was pampered, he only had one wish, that is, to become a soldier like his father and serve the current Elnos Empire. So, in order to train himself, he went to the village blacksmith shop every day as an apprentice.

Although it was exercise, he didn't know how to do it himself, but he felt that being an apprentice blacksmith could at least improve his physical strength and not be too weak.

The old blacksmith also praised Emir for being a good boy who was industrious and sensible, but one day, his elderly grandmother accidentally fell and injured herself while doing housework, and because she injured her waist, she couldn't stand steadily, let alone do housework.

Emir had no choice but to go home to take care of his grandmother, and he had to quit his job in the blacksmith shop in order to take care of the family.

When he thought that he was going to spend the rest of his life like this, he was very unwilling, but he didn't dare to tell his grandmother, because he was afraid that his grandmother would think too much and think that he was dragging the child down.

However, just a few days ago, he had heard from the villagers that the army was recruiting, and although he could not leave the house until his grandmother died, he went to the village chief to inquire about it.

As a result, the village chief told him that this conscription was mandatory, and as long as an adult man with sound limbs and a good mental state must join the army, of course, the army would give each soldier a reasonable condolence payment, which was enough for an ordinary family to live for a lifetime.

Although this was a good thing that Emir dreamed of, he was troubled by the thought that he still had his grandmother to take care of, so he was not as happy as the others in the square today.

Now, Emir may be at home for the last day, but he hasn't had time to tell his grandmother about it, and he doesn't even know what to say.

While the emir was worried about this, he skillfully prepared a two-dish and one-soup dinner.

He packed the food in a wooden bowl and placed it on the table, then put it on a separate plate and prepared it to be served to his grandmother's room.

But just as he was about to do this, he found that his grandmother had come to the living room on crutches by herself, and he was shocked and hurriedly ran over to help.

"Grandma, didn't you say I'd let me serve it to you every day? What if you fall again? ”

"It's okay, it's okay to stand for a while."

There was no choice but to help her grandmother sit down and put the plate in front of her.

"I'm sorry, grandma, I went to help the people in the village today, that's why I came back so late, you must be hungry, right?" The emir casually made up a lie, but he still didn't have the courage to tell the truth.

"O Emir, I'm just injured in the back, but my mind is clear." Grandma smiled kindly, "You can't fool me. ”

“…… What? ”

Emir bowed his head weakly, pretending not to know why.

"Hehe, I know you too well, no matter what happens in the village, you come back on time every day." Grandma said as she picked up the spoon and drank the soup, but suddenly frowned and said, "This soup ......"

Seeing that his grandmother's face was wrong, Emir quickly tasted it himself, and then showed an embarrassed expression.

"Ah, I'm sorry, I forgot to put salt, I'll go change it for you."

"No, no, I'm worried about you compared to this." Grandma put down the spoon and said earnestly, "You usually don't be so reckless, there must be something on your mind, tell me about it, although I don't have any skills, but at least I have the experience to help you share your worries, after all, I haven't lived in vain for so many years." ”

"Uh...... The ...... "The emir was hesitant and didn't know how to speak."

"It's hard to say yes, is it? Let me guess, it's about...... Joining the military, right? During the day, my neighbor, Aunt Qiao, came to talk to me and said that the village chief had recently registered for joining the army. ”

"Well, you know it all."

"Hehe, I told you earlier, I'm very sober," Grandma smiled and took Emir's hand, "Oh, at first I thought I was dragging you down, I thought that your father might come back in a few years, and then you can do what you want, but I didn't expect that he still has no news, and I don't know whether he is dead or alive now, alas, in the end, I still have to continue to drag you down, for this matter, I have always felt deeply guilty." ”

"No, Grandma, don't think so, I never felt like you were a drag on me." Emir hastened to comfort him, and when he heard what his grandmother said, he felt very uncomfortable.

"Don't comfort me, I understand, I won't live for a few years, but what's the difference between living a few more years and living a few less years for someone my age? Grandma, my only wish now is to hope that you will live without any burden, so ah, you just do what I say, don't worry about me, obey the village chief, and go to the army with confidence. ”

"But...... I ......"

"Don't be, you can do what you want to do is the biggest reward for me, who wouldn't want to see their children live happily ever after? Of course, if you are still worried about me, you can go to the neighbor's house to discuss, their family is a good person, you can give some money for them to help take care of me, of course, it is not troublesome to say that it is to take care of me, just give me a mouthful of food is enough, my life is hard, I have survived the previous famine years, let alone now. ”

“…… Let me think again. ”

Emile understood his grandmother's words very well, in fact, he wanted him to have no worries, but he still couldn't make a decision right away.

“…… Alas, it's really like your father," Grandma looked at him and shook her head with a wry smile, "Okay, you keep thinking about it, but you have to understand one thing, I'm glad that you can be so troubled by me, but I can't be too selfish, I have to think about the child, so if you are really filial to me, don't let me down." ”

Grandma began to eat silently, and she had always been very picky about food, but she did not complain in the slightest, and if it was as usual, she would ramble for a long time, and then patiently instruct Emile to do it again.

In this way, in a very quiet atmosphere, the grandfather and grandson finished their dinner.

Emile carried his grandmother back to the bedroom, and after taking care of her to wash and then go to sleep, he himself returned to his room.

Grandma's words moved and made him feel uncomfortable, but he also knew that he couldn't let his grandmother down, although he still couldn't face it, but he had already made a choice in his heart.

Of course, whether the emir chooses or not, his future has already been decided, because this time the army is mandatory, just like his father did back then.