Japan, Era of Edo, the seventeenth century AD

Like every day, Minseok was returning from the marketplace, where he sold the harvests he collected and materials he produced with his grandfather. He was a young man, a low-class peasant who dealt with hand-held robots and agriculture. He lived in a poor neighborhood in a small hut with his grandfather because his parents died of the plague. He was already 19 years old and still had no wife and what surprised his old man, he wasn't looking for any.

The boy, despite the awareness of the gap between him and the middle class, wanted to become someone important. He spent his free time learning alphabet and maths, getting to know the names of plants and tools. In his heart, he wore an unattainable dream. He wanted to be a samurai. However, it was so hard and inaccessible to him that he never mentioned it to anyone. He humbly worked with his grandfather, trying to relieve him as much as he could. Minseok's grandfather was an age-old man who had been suffering from terrible back pain in recent times.

Today wasn't very successful for him. The young man earned a small sum, too small to cover the obligatory levy for the emperor. He knew that he'd have to incur debt and would pay it back for a long time. He was coming back, discouraged and tired to the house when he heard the sound of crushed pottery and a second later a man fell down in front of him. On his mantle, it could see the remains of crushed pottery, mud, dust, and blood. Minseok couldn't see the man's face because it was covered by a wide straw hat. The stranger didn't move, and the boy wondered if he was still alive, but this doubt was quickly resolved when the man's rib cage slowly rose and fell. Without thinking too long, Seok ran to the wounded man and grabbed him under his arms and picked him up from the ground. Slowly he turned to the side street and took the stranger to his home.

Despite the surprise on the face of the boy's grandfather, Seok led the wounded man into their small living room and arranged it carefully on his tatami. Not knowing how seriously the man was injured, Minseok pulled his robes off and stripped him to the waist to dress his wounds. First, he gently cleaned them with a cloth of water and then bandaged them with clean dressings. When the job was done, Minseok covered the man with a futon so that he could recover and rest probably after a fight. The boy went to a room that served as a kitchen and began to chop wood to make a fire in the oven. His grandfather was watching him with astonishment all along.

- Not too early to stoke in a furnace? - The old man spoke as his grandson laid the ax down for a moment to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

- This man will recover faster if we give him the right conditions. - The boy answered politely.

- Why should we do this? How can we be sure that he won't hurt us? - Older one narrowed his eyebrows.

- Grandpa, you know I couldn't leave him ... - Seok lowered his head because he didn't think earlier that there might be any problems.

- Alright, finish your work, boy and come for a meal. - Waved the old man and leaning on the cane, left the room.

Seok went to the living room as soon as he was