In this economy?!
45 minutes before Claudio entered the butcher shop
Rom woke up early to take care of his daughter and to prepare his shop, he was hopeful that by some miracle the medicine given by the cripple would somewhat help with the recovery of his daughter, Viviane. He met Viviane 18 years ago on the street, she was looking for scraps of food in the trash and she was in a horrible state.
Seeing the state of the child, he realized that there are people doing worse than him and decided to stop being a selfish bastard for once and help the kid to a warm meal. The kid looked like a foreigner, her red hair and blue eyes gave away that much, but how did she end up in this situation? Was she a fallen noble by chance?
*knock knock knock*
Rom: Vivi, I will enter the room now, made you something light for your stomach
There was no response, his heart raced and he opened the door with all his might, dropping the plate of warm buttery gruel on the floor. What he saw next was the last thing he expected, his sickly weak daughter was overflowing with power, her face and skin were clear as the nights sky, her well toned muscles were back at their prime as if she was reborn. Even though his daughter was in her undergarments, he did not care, he rushed towards her and hugged her while crying his eyes out.
He believed that his being punished for his past, and losing his beloved to a disease again was the proof, but by a miracle she was back! After things calmed down he awkwardly left the room so that Viviane can put on some clothes, when she was done she called him back in
Viviane: I told you to believe in him! We really messed up big time you know!
Rom: yeah… I really fucked up big time huh Vivi
Viviane: why were you angry at him in the first place? It does not make any sense to me
Rom: it is a personal thing Vivi, the kid didn't do anything wrong
Viviane: care to explain yourself?
Rom: uh… I don't know Vivi… maybe another time
Viviane stood up and said, "Dad, please, I need to know. Yesterday, you weren't being yourself, and it really scared me, you know? I need an explanation"
Seeing his daughter's worried face, he decided to own up to his actions and began explaining everything from the beginning.
"Vivi, I never told you about my Luna, she was my first and last love." Her dad never shared anything personal about his life, so she was reasonably intrigued
"My whole childhood, we grew up in a horrible environment, the village was overrun with bandits and a corrupt chief. My Luna was a cripple, I had to protect her all the time, but the abuse has become way worse over the years so I had to get stronger in order to protect her". He showed visible pain in his face, Viviane patted his thigh and he let out a long sigh
"We ran away on a carriage and lived in the nearest town from the village, Vokras" "You know how cripples don't live for very long? I didn't know that at the time, over the years my Luna kept getting worse day by day, she lost her sense of taste and she was bedridden most of the time"
"I didn't know what was wrong with her, I worked 3 jobs that paid irons and eventually gathered enough groshen to call a healing mage from the capital, he took my money and when he checked on my Luna he started laughing very loudly"
He said, "you idiot, cripples don't live a long life, it is a miracle she managed to live until 19 years old, thank you for wasting my time", Luna was visibly sad that the mage couldn't help her, he even added salt to the wound by making fun of Rom for falling in love with a cripple.
"Instead of comforting my Luna who was sad, I lashed out on her, I called her a weak burden and cursed myself for falling in love with a cripple". Rom started tearing up, Viviane felt a huge lump in her throat, she couldn't say anything
"I packed my bags and when I took one last look at Luna before I left, she was smiling at me, I could see her soul directly and there was not an ounce of animosity, in fact, there was the pink color of love and appreciation that she always had showed me, but there was a blue dot of sadness that time"
"I clicked my tongue and walked away, leaving Luna alone on her death bed. After three weeks of wandering aimlessly, I came back to my senses and ran for two whole days back to where Luna was staying, but it was too late, she got evicted because we spent our last coin on a useless healing mage"
"I asked everywhere for her but no one knew her whereabouts. I was destroyed mentally and physically, I became a beggar on the street for a year before I decided to move on with my life. I vowed to never love anyone who was weaker than me, years after that I met you Viviane, I decided to stop my wallowing and open myself up one more time"
Viviane dashed towards her dad and hugged him tightly, she never knew how much he suffered before he met her, and how lonely it must have been, after crying together for a while they began to talk about their next move
Viviane: dad, what you went through still does not justify what you did to Claudio
Rom: I know, I hope he has It in his heart to forgive me, I will offer him all of my savings that I had saved to call in a healing mage
Viviane: but do you think he wants money? I suspect that he is an angel you know! Angels do not need money
Rom: the hell are you talking about Vivi
Viviane: you know what I am talking about! His looks! Do you think normal humans walk around with lifesaving medicine that taste amazing?!
Rom: maybe he is a foreign noble or something, still does not explain your suspicion
Viviane: Oh, a foreign noble who walks around with 20 pounds of meat and who knows what else instead of letting a servant carry it for him. Right
Viviane: and my second reason, He smelled amazing! I hung out with nobles and they smelt like sweat with perfume you know!
Rom: maybe he bathed before he came here? Still doesn't make sense how he is an angel Vivi
Viviane: when he came here he was covered in sweat, when you bathe, after 20 minutes you go back to smelling like an ogre when you sweat dad…
Rom was getting pissed off by his daughter's remarks
Rom: oh right remind me again do angels BLEED? Huh?! That's right they don't! Stop being a smartass and go get ready for when he arrives!
Back at the present
Everyone was startled and confused when I stated my age, Masha began to cry and Sasha followed soon after, Viviane was staring at the ground with a dark face, everyone in the street stared at us and my face became red from the embarrassment. What the hell is wrong with them?!
Claudio: what is wrong?! Why are you acting like that! You are embarrassing me
Masha spoke while gasping for air
Masha: Claudi *gasp* cripples *gasp* don't *gasp*
Man this is taking too long, I decided to ignore them and walked to the stall that belonged to Brenda, she greeted me with a warm smile and said
Brenda: yee angel's back for more bread? Hahaha welcome
Did she put a curse on me? I needed Masha to activate his translation mageia but he was crying his out a couple of feet behind me, I only came here to give her some heated left over tacos and move on with my day. So I proceeded to do just that
Brenda: lookie here! I didn't know my bread could turn inta that! Hahaha. And is that meat! Yee really spoiled this old soul hahhaha *coughs aggressively*
I smiled and nodded to her words, her cough really bothered me but i have to do everything on step at a time, next time I will check on her when I bring my better medical equipment from my truck. I turned to see if the loonies were still acting weird and it looks like they finally regained some composure, when I turned my head to Brenda to say goodbye I noticed that she already took a bite from the tacos, she looked at me with serious eyes and gave me a nod of approval
The baker who inflated the bread prices yesterday was staring at Brenda with a salivating mouth, we both gave him the go fuck yourself signature. Sasha caught up to me and I told her to guide me to the nearest mageia tool shop. After 5 minutes of silence I asked Viviane what the hell happened 10 minutes ago.
Viviane: sorry Claudio, most cripples die by the age of 17 at most and you really do not look 22 at all, we assumed you had a good year before the inevitable.
EXCUSE ME?! WHAT 16 YO LOOKS LIKE ME?! WHAT 16 YO SOUNDS LIKE ME?! IN WHAT WORLD?! Sure, I was not as tall as my dad because of insomnia but I am 185 pounds of lean muscles! This is outrageous
Claudio: I will pretend you did not say that part but I still have a long life ahead of me thank you for your concern
After calming down for a bit, I asked Viviane another question
Claudio: Viviane, do you by chance know who was the oldest recorded cripple in the continent of Dysivic?
Viviane: I am honestly surprised that you do not know about Valentine Von Bergov, he was a famous noble poet who was a cripple, he managed to live until the age of 35. The funny thing is his death was not because he was a cripple, it was because he pissed of the duke of Volquis by making fun of him in a poem, which led to his execution you know
That is it, I found my calling in this life, I will buy all the books of this legend and copy his style, I will be the second coming of Valentine Von bergov! I wish I had a broker so I can sell my gold and get rich quick. I miss my old life pre-employment.
We finally arrived at the shop, it was not that impressive on the outside, but inside it was another story, so many tools and weapons that I could not comprehend. I saw a grappling hook that was marbled with some green gems that glowed lightly, I saw a crossbow that had strange honeycomb drawings on its body that pulsated purple.
Suddenly, the owner came out from the back and welcomed us, he was fairly short and had a stocky build, his beard was medium sized and he had a pointy ear.
Shop owner: heya, you never seen a dwarf before, 'ts rude to stare you know
Oh god he had the same accent as Brenda, I needed Masha to activate his mageia. When I turned around I found Masha on his knees while Sasha was patting his back, "He finally ran out of energy hasn't he" *sigh*. He lasted way longer than I had expected if I was being honest, the kid was pretty impressive
Wait… maybe he got tired cause his spirit was down after learning my about my age? If my theory is right from what I learned from the book. He could translate for me if I fired up his spirits! I got nothing to lose anyway
I leaned down and whispered in Masha's ears "ice cream"
Masha gained an unusual boost in strength and screamed "RAAAHHHHH!!!", the shop keeper was laughing at this interaction and said
Shopkeeper: hahaha did you promise him some treat or something, I used to do that to my lil one too
Claudio: haha you are pretty sharp, 'like your ears'
I thought to myself
Shopkeeper: I heard that you know, anyway what can I do for ya
Claudio: I am wondering about the prices, you see I am a cripple and I want a tool so I can protect myself from aura and soul based mageia attacks. Also I want to take a look at a detailed map for a trip to Volquis
Shopkeeper: I see, you must have been badgered by some vagrants already, how much is ya budget?
Claudio: a silver coin and some beef jerky, what could I get with that?
The shopkeeper looked at me with a shocked face. He started laughing hysterically
The shopkeeper: ahahaahaaa, you can pay me not to slap ya face with that, a silver coin? In this shop? In this economy? Hahahahaha
I was annoyed because I got caught being stupid, I wanted to retort but couldn't find the words, Sasha came up next to me and spoke to the shopkeeper
Sasha: Oh? What is so funny Ronald? Are you laughing at Claudio for being oblivious to your shop? Would Brenda be happy about that? I wonder…
Ronald: oh Sasha, how does Brenda know about this cripple? Did she get into trouble for him or somethin
Sasha: she took a liking to him, she said that she wanted to adopt him so you better be nice to him
Ronald had a visible drop of sweat falling down his forehead, he knew Brenda had a soft spot for children and weaklings, he cleared his throat and fixed his stance
Ronald: I see. There is an old, outdated map that I could sell to ya for 50 groshen. As for the amyna instrumentum, they can cost you anywhere from 500 groshen to 2,300 groshen. You could buy an old one that protects your soul for 200 groshen.
Claudio: I see, thank you, I would like to purchase the map for now, I will comeback for the amyna tool later when I get more dollars
Sasha: dollars?
Shopkeeper: hmm? Whats that
Claudio: I meant groshen sorry about that
My heart raced, I am still not used to this world, I let my guard down and almost got exposed, thankfully the satellite only picks up on the names of souls who went through the gate and nothing else, I would've been long gone if not for that
Ronald went to the storage and when he came back, he gave me an old map to Volquis, there was some bloodstains on it and it was in a poor state but it was 50 groshen after all, we walked back to the orphanage before afternoon and thanked Viviane for her company.
Right now was the time I taught Nola on how to make some money with her ice making mageia