Chapter 179 Hard And Cold



"Allen, hasn't it been a week?" Susan asked.

"What week?"

"The potato, you told me then that you would return to Mr Peter's place after a week."

"Oh... that's right. But aren't there still three days left?"

Rodion then came and said, "You should check it from today; a week is just the estimated time."

"I see… But I'm not sure I can visit them; our tavern is getting quite crowded.

Almost a week has passed since the birth of Iva's child.

Drugoymir Restaurant, originally planned to be closed until the end of the water month, reopened. The original reason for closing the tavern was to save food during the water month. But after Rodion knew about Allen's - Reig's ability to double food, he reopened it, intending to give food to poor people who only had money and no food stores.

Since Allen's potatoes were a little bland compared to regular potatoes, they mixed real potatoes with the copy potatoes, so the flavor didn't change too much.

As they were reopened during the water month, they instantly got busier, leaving Allen with no time to visit Peter's family again. Although once in a while, Peter and Pascoe came to buy soup there.

"Go tomorrow... But you have to cook a lot early in the morning. So we'll just need to heat up the food," said Rodion.

"But what about serving the customers? Susan alone must be overwhelmed."

"It's okay; you don't have to worry about it. The tavern isn't as busy as it was when Allen first came. I've been alone here from the start, so it should be fine."

"If you say so, fine. I'll visit Peter tomorrow."

...

After Allen finished the five barrels of cooking rations for the day, he left for Peter's place.

"He looks happy," Susan said.

Allen didn't show any expression on his face. Still, they could understand when they saw Allen trying to get to Peter's place quickly while cooking.

"Hmph. He must be anxious to get to the fields again. I hope he doesn't stop cooking because of that."

On the way to Peter's place,

Allen saw a luxurious horse-drawn carriage traveling down the main street. It was followed by five to six other horse carriages.

As soon as the carriage passed by, Allen immediately twisted his scarf to cover his face.

"Miss Lavinia said that the nobles of this town still have a grudge against me. I should hide my face as much as possible when they pass by," Allen muttered.

After the carriage passed, memories flooded back into his mind. He recalled the days when he was mercilessly whipped by the nobleman and locked up in a cold, dark prison. Angry emotions began to boil within him as he remembered the unjust treatment he had endured. The hatred he harbored for the nobleman had grown deep within him. THAT WAS how he thought back then.

Today, as he stood there lost in thought, he couldn't help but recall the nobleman's face during those brutal beatings. The expression on his face didn't seem like that of someone who enjoyed inflicting pain on others. Could it be possible that the nobleman had also gone through a personal loss—perhaps someone he held dear that Allen had taken away?

The idea of empathy towards the one he once hated seeped into his mind as the carriage drifted off into the distance.

'I hope I can apologize to him someday,' Allen thought.

Since Rodion most likely already knew everything about Allen, he told Rodion what happened to him during his time in the dungeon until he left the dungeon. Allen told Rodion about Peter and Iva, who forgave his sin, and then he said that he wanted to apologize to those who had lost their families because of him.

At that time, Rodion told him that Allen shouldn't carelessly talk to others about his past and about killing people in the dungeon. Because not everyone could forgive him as Peter and Iva did.

Finally, Allen arrived at the estate.

There was a strange, ridiculous feeling inside him because this was the first time he had come to Peter's house alone, without Susan and Rodion, and it made him feel uneasy.

"Uhm… When you come to someone's house, what should you do?" Allen thought.

He had never greeted anyone or said anything once he arrived at the estate. So far, only Susan and Rodion had greeted Peter once they arrived.

"If I'm not mistaken, we must say our weather greetings. But, when Rachel says greetings, she sometimes uses a lot of words, while Susan just says a normal greeting? Which one should I follow?"

While Allen struggled with that thought, he had already arrived at the Barkaley estate without realizing it. And at that time, he didn't care about the greeting at all. Because he saw Peter, he ran straight to him as soon as he arrived.

"Allen!"

"Peter! Umm... Good morn-"

"I'm sorry Allen..."

Peter's face looked sad and panicked; after he could breathe regularly, Peter then said:

"Our potato field is destroyed."

…

Upon his arrival at Peter's place, Allen was greeted with a devastating sight. He discovered Peter's potato garden looked messed up, like it had been ransacked, with each potato pulled up from the ground. To make matters worse, the soil was completely loosened, leaving a trail of chaos in its wake. Allen's heart sank as he realized the potatoes, which should have been ripe and ready to be harvested, were all frozen solid from the snow.

As he made his way towards the garden, Allen caught sight of Pascoe and Iva, scouring the frozen soil, hoping to find some edible potatoes.

"Are they really inedible?" asked Allen.

"If it's a normal month, maybe they can be eaten, but today is water month. Potatoes are good in cold places, but if they freeze, they won't grow and become useless."

Allen approached the garden and picked up a frozen potato scattered on the ground. He took a bite of the potato.

"Hard and cold..." muttered Allen.

Peter recalled how Allen was looking forward to harvesting the potatoes; seeing Allen's disappointed reaction made Peter's heartache.

"Allen!" called Pascoe as soon as he saw Allen standing with his father.

Iva, beside him, also immediately looked at Allen, her face full of sadness for showing him this messed-up field.

Iva called him to cheer him up "Allen-" but Allen suddenly said,

"It can't be helped..." Allen said, "If it's broken, it can't be helped. I was just curious about the results. I also saw Peter's harvest at that time. So it's okay," Allen said with a disappointed look on his face. Allen couldn't help but feel a sense of despair at the destruction before him and wondered who could have done such a thing to Peter's beloved garden.

"I'll help pick them up," Allen continued.

Allen picked up the frozen potatoes along with Peter and the others. Peter, Iva, and Pascoe didn't talk to Allen; they left him alone to pick up the potatoes because they thought Allen did not want to talk then.