Chapter 14: Fateful Encounter (Please Collect and Recommend)
Kai didn't expose the child, at least not in broad daylight. This is Camelot, magic is taboo, anyone who has anything to do with it will die. Even Kai was very careful to hide the fact that he knew magic. So there was no need to cause trouble for this child.
There was no malice in this child. He was Arthur's friend. Kai could see that when he was with Arthur, he was closer to the kind of friend Kai had in his mind, instead of being submissive and respectful to Arthur like other people. Arthur needed such a friend. What's more, his name was Merlin.
So Kai quickly changed the subject.
"Merlin, son of Huness? This name is a woman's. What's your father?" In this era, when introducing yourself to others, especially in more formal situations, you will bring your father's name. For example, when Arthur introduces himself to others, he will say, Arthur, son of Uther. This is not to show off, but a kind of frankness and solemnity. He represents that the introducer will not do anything rude, because that will insult the dignity of his father.
Of course, if the family has a long history or has produced great figures, this introduction will be longer, such as adding your great-great-great-grandfather or something. But this is a bit of a show-off.
But few people will report their mother's name. There is no gender equality in this era.
Kai asked casually, just chatting. But unexpectedly, Merlin became depressed in an instant.
"I... I don't have a father. I don't know who my father is. My mother never said that I was raised by my mother..."
Kai didn't expect that his words would hurt others. So he hurriedly apologized.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that. I hope you can forgive me."
Kai came from modern society, so he didn't care much about class differences, but Merlin was different. Although his talent made him proud, he lived in this society and was bound to be bound by social rules. His status was very different from Kai's, which was an unchangeable fact. He was a commoner, while Kai was a nobleman and the adopted son of King Uther. He never thought that a big man like Kai would apologize to him for a word.
For such treatment, Merlin was a little at a loss for a while.
"Sir, I, no, no, no, you don't need to apologize, it's nothing, really, really..." Merlin's face turned red, he felt that he was about to die of embarrassment. He actually performed so poorly in front of such a noble man.
Kai looked at the anxious Merlin and smiled. He didn't continue this topic. After all, if he really continued, it would not be an apology, but embarrassing the child.
"Your mother must be a great woman. She taught you very well, Merlin. When you introduce yourself to others in the future, you can proudly bring your mother's name. It's not shameful. On the contrary, you should be proud that you have such a mother."
Kai was not being polite. Even in modern society, it is not an easy thing for a single mother to raise a child independently, let alone before the Common Era. The people here are not enlightened, extremely backward and ignorant. A widow, or a widow who gave birth to a child with a man of unknown origin, you can imagine how she will live. There are many troubles in front of a widow, which is not just a Chinese saying. This kind of thing happens in every era and every region.
But even so, this lady Huness still raised Merlin, and it seems that she has trained him well. This is even more precious. For such a lady, Kai has deep respect from the bottom of his heart.
Merlin, who was at a loss just now, immediately showed a child-like smile when he heard Kai praising his mother so sincerely. He was indeed proud of his mother. She raised him up alone with great effort, and also taught him the principles of being a man. What reason does Merlin have not to be proud of it?
"Thank you, Sir Kai, if Huness knew that a noble lord like you praised her so much, she would be very happy."
Kai smiled and did not comment. Although he had never met this lady, Kai knew very well that the happiest thing for this lady was definitely not that she was praised by herself, but that her child was recognized and praised by others. This is what a mother hopes for and is most proud of.
This can be seen from the fact that Huness sent Merlin, a commoner, to Gaius as an apprentice. This is not a short-sighted woman.
After talking to Merlin about his mother for a few more sentences, Kai asked Merlin how he met Arthur and became friends with him.
"Oh! You're talking about this..." Then Merlin vividly described their encounter.
A few months ago, Merlin came to Gaius, the pharmacist of the royal family, as an apprentice with his mother's letter. At the beginning, it went smoothly. Gaius liked Merlin because of Huness. Merlin was smart and kind, and it was easy for him to get recognition from others, until he met Arthur who was making trouble in the city on his way to deliver medicine again.
Arthur was not an obedient child. Like all energetic children, he liked to make trouble to vent his energy that had nowhere to go. So Arthur often bullied people. Of course, Arthur was not the kind of second-generation ancestor who did all kinds of evil. He just liked to be lively, but he had a plan. He just took it as fun, so people in the city didn't have much bad feelings towards Arthur.
It was just a kid's mischief. Who would take it seriously?
But Merlin didn't know, so when Arthur bullied someone, Merlin stood up. He was not afraid of Arthur, and even choked Arthur with harsh words, although he was immediately suppressed by Arthur and locked in the square to have rotten vegetable leaves thrown at him.
This was considered a feud with Arthur.
After that, the two met twice more, and each time Merlin's mouth got the upper hand, and then he was suppressed by Arthur in force. Until the last time, Arthur directly asked Merlin to pick up a weapon and the two sides wanted to settle the feud.
In fact, it was Merlin's sharp words that made Arthur extremely unhappy, and he planned to beat him up openly.
The process of the competition was very tortuous. In Merlin's narration, Merlin relied on his wisdom to play Arthur around. But Arthur complained on the side that it was just his bad luck. Every time he tried to attack Merlin, his weapon was either stuck in some strange place or his feet tripped over something.
However, the result was still the same as before, and Merlin was defeated again. But this time Arthur did not punish him, but felt that Merlin had extraordinary courage, so the two of them had a good impression of each other for the first time.
Later, a witch tried to get into the palace to kill Arthur in order to avenge her son who was beheaded by King Uther, so that King Uther could taste the pain of losing his son. As a result, all this was destroyed by Merlin's accidental collision, and Arthur's life was saved.
In order to reward Merlin, King Uther made Merlin Arthur's attendant. This also started their friendship.
"Oh?" Kai made a long sound, squinting his eyes and looking at Arthur who was already sweating profusely on the side. This is not tired, but scared!
Sometimes, Kai couldn't help but sigh that it was indeed King Arthur in the teleportation, with an enviable talent. Even though Kai tortured him like this, he still managed to hold on. You should know that Kai's method came from a movie of Cheng Long that he watched in his previous life. In the movie, Cheng Long relied on this training method that was impossible in reality to learn peerless martial arts and kill the villain boss.
But this ridiculous training method did not stump Arthur. Although Arthur was indeed very hard at the beginning, he managed to hold on to it. Now, he has actually adapted to it a little.
But now that Kai is looking at him like this, Arthur feels that his whole life is so tiring.