Chapter 78 - The Homeless Boy Who Found A Home

"You're back so soon?" The woman was a bit shocked to see Hecathe coming down the stairs for the third time. 

"I'm here to return the knife and also for the breakfast," Hecathe informed and there was no longer that coldness evident in his tone that he had showed to the Dorgon just a few minutes ago. 

"Ah! There's no blood on it. Turns out you really weren't planning a murder," The woman muttered as she looked down at the clean knife that had been returned, "But it's... Bent?" 

"Sorry about that," Hecathe apologized as he placed the knife down on the table and took a seat.

"Oh, dear! What did you use it for? This knife is usually strong and can even cut through a rock without any problems," The woman informed with a bit of surprise as she asked, "What were you cutting." 

"An egg," Hecathe answered honestly and casually as if this answer was normal. 

"An egg...?" The woman tilted her head in confusion as she repeated the answer and took a minute to process it through her brain. 

"You're joking, right?" It was the voice of Zail who was sitting right beside Hecathe but had his presence completely ignored by the man. 

"Not really joking," Hecathe replied as he shrugged his shoulder. 

"..."

The woman chuckled as she heard him and recovered from her confusion, "Then the egg must have been special." 

"You could say that," Hecathe nodded his head as he responded after thinking about it for a second. 

The woman smiled as she nodded and got back to cooking the chicken sandwiches that Hecathe had asked her to make. 

Zail suddenly felt as if he was the only one here who couldn't understand this situation. 

Was it normal for a person to bend a knife by mistake while breaking an egg...? 

It was definitely not normal, right?! 

"Here is yours," The woman announced as she placed a bowl of soup in front of Zail. 

Zail bowed his head with a smile, "Thank you, Aunt." 

The Landlady smiled as she heard the man thanking her for the food and she got back to making the sandwiches for Hecathe. 

"I've been meaning to ask this but how did you two come to know each other?" Hecathe asked as he leaned in forward with his chin resting on his palm. 

"It's a long story," Zail spoke as he joined his hands and did a little prayer before picking up the spoon to drink the soup that the woman had prepared for him. 

"Then shorten it for me," Hecathe responded. 

The Landlady chuckled as she heard this and spoke up, "It must have been at least ten years ago." 

Zail nodded his head as he confirmed the woman's words, "That's right. It's been a bit more than ten years." 

"At that time, this place wasn't this empty, but I didn't have a lot of people living here either. One day I opened the front door to go out and collect the morning newspaper but who could have expected there to be a little thief sitting there reading my newspaper." 

Zail chuckled as he heard this and defended himself, "I wasn't a thief. I was searching for a job in the newspaper." 

The landlady nodded her head with a small laugh but said nothing further about that as she continued, "I asked him what he was doing in front of my apartment and he said he was looking for a place to live. It was shocking to see such a young boy looking for a place. Too young with no money on his hands." 

"So you gave him a place to live?" Hecathe asked as he guessed what would happen next in this story. 

The woman shook her head as she informed, "That's not it. Why would I let him live here for free?" 

"..." 

"She asked me if I had money," Zail drank the soup as he spoke, "I was broke and couldn't even afford breakfast so the answer to her question was to be expected." 

"I kicked him out and closed the door on him," The woman added with a chuckled as she reminisced about the past, "But the next day, I opened the door and found him there. Sitting like a lost puppy that had been kicked out of his home." 

Zail looked to be a little embarrassed as he heard this. 

"So I took some pity on the poor boy and gave him a job." 

"A job?" Hecathe repeated as he waited for the woman to explain further. 

"It was horrible," Zail muttered as he shivered at the mere thought of the job that he had got. 

"I asked him to clean all the bathrooms from top to bottom," The woman beamed and Hecathe didn't know if he wanted to laugh or cry as he heard this. 

Considering the fact that this all happened ten years ago, Hecathe could guess that Zail was probably just twelve years old at that time. 

To make a hungry homeless twelve-year-old do all that work... This landlady was certainly cold-hearted even back then. 

"But this brat couldn't even do it," The woman clicked her tongue as she added, "He passed out after cleaning just a few bathrooms." 

"I hadn't eaten in four days," Zail defended himself as he spoke up, "It was to be expected. How much work do you expect a hungry child to do?" 

The woman chuckled as she heard the man and nodded her head as she agreed with him, "I was a bit harsh but at the end of the day, I was too kind." 

"So you took him in after that?" Hecathe asked as he once again guessed what might have happened next in the story. 

The woman shook her head as she informed him that he had guessed it wrong once again, "I didn't." 

"She's not that kind," Zail clicked his tongue as he replied honestly.

"I fed him and gave him a place to sleep for the night before throwing him out." 

"She told me that I could only come back if I got a job for myself," Zail continued as he completed the story and Hecathe was left thinking that maybe he had overestimated this woman's kind nature. 

She was... Definitely not as kind as she appeared to be....