〈 Chapter 134: The Candle-Making Boy 〉
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“Ugh.”
The boy, arms trembling with a basket full of oil, pressed on despite it.
“Just a bit more, just a bit more.”
Finally, he arrived home.
The boy precariously set the heavy basket on the table.
A little oil splashed, but compared to his shaking arms, it was nothing.
“If I had a Stigma, I could’ve moved this easier.”
No, if he had a Stigma, he wouldn’t be stuck doing this tedious task at home.
He would definitely be out there living an exciting adventure as a Hero.
But without a Stigma, it was just a futile imagination.
As if to prove it, a voice urged him from within.
“Hey, there’s no time to rest!”
At this point, he wasn’t sure if he was the son of this house or a slave.
Thinking that, he decided to leave the house again.
Even if he took a slight detour, it was better than staying and getting nagged.
“Why is my house in the candle-making business anyway?”
Candle-making.
It referred to the profession of making candles.
It was a kind of skill, and his house was the only one in the Leim Kingdom that made candles.
But the problem was…
“Where on earth do you even use candles in the Leim Kingdom?”
It was a stark contrast to Sakh, a country where the sun never rose.
The Leim Kingdom was a place where the sun never set.
So candles were only used in a few dark rooms occasionally and usually not much at all.
“Of course it’s not needed with a bright place like this all year round.”
Well, not exactly all year round.
There was one day a year where the sun did set in the Leim Kingdom.
That day was the upcoming day of the Nameless King.
And the reason the boy was struggling now was precisely because of that day.
“Look, the candle maker is passing by!”
“Wow, it smells like oil.”
The voices of kids surrounding him who clearly didn’t learn manners.
The boy tried his best to ignore them.
He had been angry enough to confront them when he was younger, but now he had grown past that.
“And anyway, those little punks will be using our candles during the Nameless Day.”
Nameless Day was a national holiday and a sort of festive event.
When the sun finally set, people would gather in the streets with candles.
The reason the boy was struggling now was to make the candles used at that time.
“I said we should’ve made more in advance.”
It was the same story every year.
He had to suffer like this just because he waited until the last minute for orders instead of making enough beforehand.
Of course, he knew that by this time, the house would be out of money until the orders came in, but he thought they could’ve borrowed a little to be flexible.
“At least when I become a candle maker, I’ll do that.”
Just then, something caught his eye while passing through the stalls being set up in the plaza.
It was the shape of an elderly woman with a hunched back and white hair.
“Grandma Mari, have you already started working?”
Grandma Mari was a sculptor.
Not the kind who made huge statues, but one who carved wooden sculptures and sold them to children.
Though her sculptures lacked detail, there was something alive about them.
“Maybe I’ll watch her work for a bit.”
No matter how much he watched, he never got tired of her sculpting skills.
He cautiously approached her.
But no matter how much he tried to sneak up, she noticed him.
“Aha, is that you?”
“How did you know?”
She didn’t even turn to look at him, yet she recognized him.
Then she pointed her carving knife at the ground.
There was nothing there.
But she said, “The shadow.”
“The shadow?”
In a place like the Leim Kingdom, where light poured from all directions, seeing a shadow was hard.
But looking closely, he could see his shadow gradually forming.
“Here in the Leim Kingdom, shadows are three-dimensional because of the light from all around. You can tell who someone is just by their shadow.”
Though her words sounded simple, it was clearly not an easy skill.
The boy gave up trying to understand it and decided to observe her carving instead.
Tap, tap.
The seemingly mundane wood block began to morph into a statue.
Before long, it was taking the shape of a woman.
But the most peculiar part was yet to come.
“She still doesn’t carve the face, huh?”
She carelessly set the featureless statue on the table.
That was how it was considered complete.
He had always found that part puzzling.
“Aren’t you going to make a face?”
She casually continued carving as she replied.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s the Nameless King. Nobody knows her name or face, so that’s as far as this goes.”
But that felt a bit odd.
Other sculptors often carved faces of the Nameless King too.
Although most of them were different interpretations.
Some sculpted a mature woman’s face, while others carved the face of a youthful girl.
And those statues sold for much higher prices than Grandma’s faceless ones.
The small sculptures she sold were just cheap toys for kids.
“And I…”
She continued speaking without pausing her hands.
“I want the kids to remember. That 500 years ago, she saved the Kingdom, even at the cost of her existence.”
That was the story of the ‘Nameless King’.
He knew it well, having heard it often as a child, just like a fairy tale.
Still, he quietly began to listen to Grandma’s tale.
“500 years ago. It was a time when chaos was encroaching on the kingdom. Most people abandoned the kingdom and fled to Hailen. The last knight disappeared beyond the chaos, leaving behind a kingdom with no hope.”
500 years.
For him, it was a story so old it felt unbelievable.
But sometimes, when he suddenly thought he was standing where that history took place, it made him feel strange.
“At that time, she came out of the Royal Palace, having just given birth, without even recovering her strength. And right here in the plaza, she started to pray.”
She pointed her head towards the center of the plaza.
There stood a statue of the praying Nameless King.
And that statue, too, had no face.
“It was a day filled with dark rain clouds. The Nameless King, withstanding the storm with her body, prayed for days without food or sleep. Gradually, those who had lost all hope began to gather around her.”
As she spoke, Grandma finished one Nameless King statue and placed it on the table.
“It was on the fifteenth day that a miracle occurred. The dark clouds above the kingdom parted, and the sun shone. The chaos was stopped by the light that surrounded the kingdom. But…”
She gazed sadly at the Nameless King statue.
“The Nameless King was nowhere to be found. No one remembered her appearance or even her name.”
That was the conclusion he had heard many times before.
The ending never changed.
That’s why the Nameless King had been given the name ‘Nameless King’.
And Nameless Day was to commemorate the day the Nameless King disappeared.
For some reason, once a year, the barrier that maintains the Leim Kingdom sees its light disappear on Nameless Day.
On that day, people gather in the plaza with candles in their hands.
Just like that day 500 years ago.
The hundreds of candles create enough light to brighten the kingdom, even if it’s not as bright as usual.
That’s why it could be said that the Leim Kingdom is a place where the sun never sets all year round.
Even the one day it does set, people raise candles to light up the kingdom.
“So, how about getting to work now, Candle-Making Boy?”
“Ugh…”
Watching the statue being made, he finally stood up.
She was right.
He did have work to do now.
“Right, I need to get to work.”
Being a candle maker doesn’t earn much nor is the work easy.
But still, he liked being a candle maker.
He would feel it even more when Nameless Day arrived soon.
When everyone gathered in the plaza holding the candles he made.
“Well then, take care, Grandma Mari.”
“Okay.”
The boy dusted off his dirty pants, picked up the basket he brought, and headed towards the opposite side of the plaza.
As he carved the familiar statue, Grandma watched him go.
She thought to herself, “But something feels off these days.”
The atmosphere of the plaza wasn’t like it used to be.
It had been a while since the Royal Family members, who usually came to inspect the plaza around this time, had been seen.
It was a noticeable change since it wasn’t often they got to meet those living in the Royal Castle.
“I wonder what’s happening inside the castle…”
Her years of experience sensed something was off.
Still, as just an old woman, there was nothing she could do.
All she could do was keep carving at her stall.
“Excuse me…”
In that moment, someone spoke to her.
“Huh?”
She turned her head slightly, a bit startled.
There stood a man and a woman.
The problem was, she hadn’t noticed them until they had approached right beside her.
“What can I do for you?”
“Is this statue for sale?”
The woman pointed at the statue while asking.
She had black hair, but it was not the face of someone from Sakh.
Well, given the current situation with the Cold War against Sakh, no one from there could come in.
“Yes, it’s one coin.”
So without suspicion, she offered the statue.
But at that price, the woman looked surprised.
“So cheap?”
“It’s just a toy made by an old lady for kids.”
“But…”
At that moment, the man placed a coin on the table.
However, no matter how she looked, it didn’t seem like the coin was right.
It didn’t look like a coin from the Leim Kingdom either, but upon further inspection, it was indeed a coin from Leim Kingdom.
“I don’t need change.”
“But this is too…”
“If so, give me ten statues. They look like they’re worth about ten coins each.”
With that, she reluctantly handed over ten statues.
He took the statues and casually tossed them into the air.
Having seen and heard quite a bit for her age, she understood what that meant.
“Was he a Hero?”
She had heard that only some special heroes had that trait.
Though it wouldn’t change much if an old lady knew about it.
“Thank you.”
After tossing nine statues into the air, he offered the last one to the woman standing beside him.
She took the statue, pondered for a moment, and then tucked it into her pocket.
Then she left the stall with the man.
It was at that moment.
“Huh?”
She saw something unbelievable.
The faint shadow cast below the departing woman.
It looked exactly like the shadow cast by the statue on the table.
“This is…”
She struggled to recall the woman’s face.
Then she carved that face into the statue.
But soon after, she shook her head.
“This isn’t her face.”
Her instincts told her so.
“But…”
She moved her chisel with experienced hands.
It felt like a long time since she had concentrated this hard.
Sweat poured down like rain.
Before the sweat could touch her fingertips, she pulled the chisel away from the statue.
“Is this good enough?”
It was merely a slight modification of the woman’s face she had just seen.
But for some reason, she thought that face might resemble the Nameless King’s face more than any she had ever seen.
“I said I wouldn’t carve a face.”
In the end, she too carved a face.
Thinking she would give it to that candle-making boy later, she carefully placed the statue in her pouch.
Then, as if nothing had happened, she started carving again.
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