"Tell us more about what you know!" Dog said, grabbing the friend's arms.
"Alright, alright, fine. Calm down," he said, patting his shoulders, "Ah, it hurts, I might not be able to go hunt today…"
A few silver pieces manifested in front of him and he took them all with a smile.
"I know her because we were refugees together. She was fine and sane, but then Higson's men took interest in her and tortured her to the point she became like… that." The man mumbled with a sneer.
Dog shook his head. "The lord really has a lot to make up for."
Sunny looked at their friend, "And then? How has she been living until now?"
"She just wonders around, basically. We just feed her occasionally but who can care for her beyond that? Everyone else has their own problems.
"That's all I know," he said, before going away.
The trio looked at each other with extremely heavy hearts.
She was familiar because she reminded him a lot of Koo.
They looked a lot too.
They didn't know Koo or George before so even if they did encounter their mother in the rescue, they wouldn't have placed her at all.
But now…
What a tragic family…
And Crow… couldn't help but think that everything would've still been a happy ending had George been alive!
It was his fault—
"Hey man, what are you thinking about again? I could feel your dark atmosphere from a meter away." Dog said, patting his shoulder. Similarly, Sunny also wrapped her arms around him in comfort.
"It's okay," Sunny said, very gentle, knowing that Crow had been fighting depression since George's death, and he was only still alive thanks to his sense of responsibility with Koo. "There's us! We're taking care of Koo, and it's only right to take in their mother as well!"
This indeed shook Crow out of his dark thoughts, some light finding his eyes again.
That's right: it didn't matter. They would take care of her, too, in place of George.
With decided hearts, they approached the woman who was slowly walking around the territory without a particular direction.
However, as they approached Sunny immediately stopped her two friends. "Wait!" She said, and they both looked at her in puzzlement.
She heaved a deep breath. "You're strangers! Strange men!"
"Ah, right."
So, in the end, it was only Sunny who approached, as they knew victims of abuse didn't do well with interacting with men—especially strange ones.
Sunny increased her pace so she could stand well in front of the woman, as if they just encountered somewhere along the way.
"Hello there, Miss!" Sunny said with a smile, but there was no response.
"Hello, we're friends of Koo!" Sunny said, "Would you like to come with us?"
There was not much response, but the mention of the name did make her head tilt up a bit. Sunny saw this as a good sign and continued speaking, "Koo is our roommate! We actually already moved to a very good house in our very good territory. We would love it if you joined us!
The woman just stared at her, blinking, but she could tell there was a slight light in her eyes.
It was heartbreaking to look at.
Sunny slowly placed her hand on the older woman's and breathed a sigh of relief when she didn't pull back.
Sunny smiled and looked at her friends, who had been watching the whole thing from the side. She then brought the woman to them, gently introducing them as Koo's friends, not daring to mention George at all.
The woman looked at them, lips ever-so-slighty tilting upwards.
Crow sighed, looking at the woman in pity. If she had landed in another territory, would she have been fine? Would she rightfully shout at him for causing her son's death instead of smiling at him like this?
So many people, including him and the lord here, had wronged this woman. He could only pray she recovered somehow, for the sake of her only son.
…
Similarly, Billy the Mason also found his brother via the village center.
It was a super dramatic reunion. Ben was a newly arrived refugee and was barely making ends meet in the slums.
After all, he invested all his money in that other territory. Now, he was dirt poor.
He was gathering some wood to sell when his brother's announcement came.
[Billy Kim from Z City Community A Building B is looking for his family and friends. Please come to the Village center. I will stay here for 3 hours]
He dropped everything he was holding, and he ran even faster than when he was escaping from monsters.
…
Another find was interesting because the relative wasn't with them at all.
They found Chucky, Honey Guevara's son. The man saw how the newcomers made announcements and found their relatives in Vismont.
Chucky felt envious and spent all his remaining money to make the announcement as well, hoping to find a relative—whether it was in Vismont or in Altera.
Of course, since he knew the Alterans didn't know him at all, he specified his mother's name instead, hoping the visitors had heard of her.
As for why he didn't just approach them in person, he had a major case of social anxiety and he could barely talk directly to people at all.
Fortunately for him, she was indeed familiar with the newcomers. His mother's name was relatively well known in Altera due to her contributions—and the Alterans were quick to contact him.
He had asked very worriedly how his mother was—a very torturous task for someone with his condition. He hoped for the best, but his pessimistic self couldn't help but imagine his mother's suffering.
He—a big, adult, man—suffered so much. What more of his mum?
Unexpectedly, though…
"Your mom… is pretty rich now. Don't worry about her."
"What?"
"Eh, it's hard to explain. Just know she's doing well."
"What do you do?"
"My mother and I had a farm back in Terran. I was often tasked with training the cows."
Was this someone who could train the broats to pull carts?! The male ones, at least!
It wasn't that no one tried. But the broats… were incredibly stupid!!
No one could train them at all! They couldn't do anything but just stand there and be milked!
They even tried to get Gochi, the half-orc, to make it follow (because in movies they thought orcs could handle beasts better). They were apparently racist assumptions because, sadly, the critters ended up running for their lives instead.
Obviously, orc blood had a very distinct effect on domesticated animals.
Anyway, with this guy, maybe this time they could finally get some luck??
Were they finally gonna get animals of labor?