Chapter 4: Be Sensible and Do It On Your Own (1)
In the Sefira family’s arrow shed, a place filled with the musty smell of old leather, a middle-aged man was carefully inspecting the arrows. It was Besil El Sefira, the head of the Sefira family. For decades, he had inspected the arrows produced each day without fail.
There were light and balanced ordinary arrows, but also huge arrows almost the size of his arm designed for hunting monsters with thick, tough skin. The last arrow he picked up was like a skewer, made to pierce thick shields or armor. These arrows were the fewest in number.
Besil was emotionless as he stroked the fletching of the arrow. At that moment, the doors to the shed slowly opened. Someone came in, silencing his footsteps. It was Hissop, his first son, who had returned home last night. His sharp features, intense eyes, and stern face, which was hard to imagine smiling, were a spitting image of Besil.
Dressed in elegant and sophisticated blue velvet attire, Hissop greeted Besil with an impeccable posture, befitting his role as the deputy patriarch who handled external affairs in place of the patriarch. He placed his left hand on his stomach and his right hand at his side, then bowed. When Besil nodded to acknowledge the greeting, Hissop straightened up and got straight to the point.
“Father, I heard from Myle that my half-brother Keter is coming.”
Besil, rubbing the fletching of the arrow in his hand, replied, “That is correct.”
“I respect and admire you, Father, and I trust there is a good reason for this. However, no matter how much I think about it, I think it is premature.”
“I guess you wouldn’t like your half-brother who showed up out of the blue.”
“I’ve never met him, so I do not like nor dislike him. However, you know best that the family is in jeopardy right now. I don’t think bringing in an outsider in these troubled times would be safe for us or for that child.”
It was a reasonable and valid point.
With his tone unchanged, Besil asked, “So?”