It was Monday morning and it was time for the news for the week to arrive and be distributed.
With the expected arrival of the SCC convoy tomorrow, there were frankly no news that could out do it, still work was work so they had to do the deliveries nonetheless.
Today Ash's destinations were the town hall, the music store and a pub.
'The town hall again, seriously?'
With the things going on around town recently Ash had completely forgotten to do his tricks, and as luck would have it he got the town hall once again.
'This is the last time anyways, so I guess it's fine.'
Indeed if everything unfolded as he expected this would be his last time doing deliveries. He was so fine with it that he actually decided to leave the town hall for last, thinking he might even be willing to listen to that employee's ramblings.
This was thanks to one thing, today Ash was actually in a pretty good mood. This was mostly thanks to the sorrows of yesterday. He felt like he was through the worst, he cried, he grieved, he mourned, but today there was no need to do any of that.
'Let's leave yesterday's sorrows in the past'
With a positive attitude he decided to head for the music store.
The music store was a place decorated with all sorts of vinyls, none of them actually functional as the technology to play them has long been lost. The only thing that remained about them was their aesthetic, as they conveyed what a music store was really well. Simply put they were just a fancy form of marketing.
The only person in was a middle aged man, he surely had interest in music at one point, but by now he seemed disinterested by it.
"You with delivery?"
Ash gave the man a strange look as he clearly remembered delivering to this guy before.
'How could he not remember me? I mean it's not like I remembered him either, but still.'
"Yeah I've brought the news."
Ash quickly took out the tablet from his backpack and was gonna hand it to the guy when.
"Ahh you can just leave it on the counter."
Though slightly annoyed Ash didn't really care. He walked up to the counter and placed the tablet on it following which he left the store.
'He might be just as lazy as me.'
Ash was too stupid to notice that the man was way lazier than he was.
His next destination was the pub.
Entering a strong alcoholic scent hit him instantly. As he walked up to the bar he could spot several people drinking away, be it beer, vodka or whatever form of alcoholic beverage they desired.
'Drinking from early morning, I see.'
Ash knew these people all so well, they were the ones society called "deadbeats". Of course Ash didn't have much against them as in a way it was his dream to be a deadbeat, of course a different kind from the ones sitting before him, but a deadbeat nonetheless.
Walking up to the bar he rang the bell and soon an elegant old man with a mustache showed up.
"How may I be of help? Oh, you are with delivery."
Ash took out the tablet and handed it to the old man.
"Thanks you for your service."
The old man thanked Ash.
"No, thank you."
The old man was polite and wasn't one to waste time, also someone Ash could see himself getting along with. Still the pub wasn't a place that Ash really enjoyed so sadly such a connection was never formed.
With two of the deliveries being done Ash headed for his final delivery location.
'The town hall, it's finally time isn't it.'
This time around Ash had decided to sit through the man's torturous rambling. He felt such endurence could come in useful for his coming life in the workforce.
Now he stood before the doorbell to the back entrance, after much contemplation Ash went ahead and pressed the button.
A few seconds later a much familiar face welcomed him.
'It's the annoying guy.'
"It's Ash. You're back for delivery again this week, it seems you're making up for your prior absence."
"Indeed I am."
Following this Ash reached into his backpack and took out the final tablet labelled #Townhall, and handed it to the man.
"Thanks, for the delivery bye bye Ash."
The man was seemingly about to close the door when Ash spoke up.
"Wait you're not going to invite me for a talk today?"
The man looked surprised hearing Ash's words, and at the same time he looked rather excited.
"Well you didn't enjoy it last time right? That's why you avoided the town hall for so long."
Ash was shocked at how accurately this guy was able to understand things.
'Maybe he's actually pretty smart or something?'
"Well...normally that would be the case, but since this is my last delivery I thought I'd make an exception today."
"Last delivery...wait are you banking on getting through the SCC selection?"
The man looked at Ash and seeing as Ash's expression was completely serious he couldn't help but start laughing.
"Hahaha you are really confident young man, but I don't mind it."
Ash looked at the man with a blank expression to which the man spoke up.
"What are you standing around for? Come in, come in."
Following the man Ash was lead into the lounge area, where the man sat down. Ash following his example also sat down.
"You know I was the one talking last time so this time it's your turn."
"My turn? But what do I even talk about."
Frankly speaking Ash knew nothing about this man other than him being slightly annoying. He may have known more had he listened last time, but sadly his brain capacity at the time didn't allow for it. With his knowledge about the man lacking he had no clue what might interest him. Ash wasn't a big converser in the first place.
"You can talk about anything, what I talked about last time didn't interest you either, so it's fine if I don't care."
Ash was left even more confused as even with the range of things to talk about expanding severalfold, zero times anything was still zero. As such after a bit of thinking Ash said something simple.
"I hope I really pass the bar."
...
In the end the conversation slightly picked up, and Ash was able to find out the man's name which was Dave, and was able to learn about some of the inner workings of the town hall. In the end his time there wasn't as painful as he had expected, though this may have partly been due to Dave realising his mistake from the first time.
With nothing else to do for the day Ash went back had lunch, spoke a bit with Will, and then proceeded to sleep in his little cave. It was a day just like any other.
And now it was time for their "saviors" to arrive Tuesday.
Even from the get go things were busier than normal around town, everyone was preparing like the coming of the SCC was soke form of festival, and in a way it was.
The SCC's recruitment periods were very inconsistent, sometimes they'd come in ten years while at others it would take fifteen. As it was a rare occurance the town was in it's every right to handle their arrival as thing to celebrate.
The town was festive, shops were opening earlier, and all sorts of decoration were being put around town.
The only one not excited today was Ash, as he knew that today would be one of his last days here. His mood from the day before yesterday returned and he was somber once again.
Today there were was nothing for the children to do, as pretty much all of them would go to get tested today.
Ash was quietly sitting around by one of the orphanage's windows looking out aimlessly at the festivities going on outside.
"I shouldn't be feeling sad right now, I should be celebrating, but I..."
"Umm who are you talking to?"
His thinking was interruped by Will's voice.
"Ahh it's you Will, it's nothing really it just feels weird to think that we'll be leaving soon."
"You're really confident, huh? And you were the one talking about not being disappointed, how ironic."
Ash initially didn't want to say anything, but decided to do so anyways.
"I'll be leaving I'm a 100% sure."
"How can you be so sure?"
Ash was reluctant to say it, but since he had decided to do so he followed through.
"I've already used it, my ability, though unconsciously, I have already used it."
Will became super excited upon hearing this and excitedly asked Ash.
"What is it what's you ability?"
"I don't really know, I think it has something to do with illusions or seeing through them."
After taking the information in Will thought for a second before opening his mouth again.
"Hmm that sounds kinda shit honestly, If I was with the SCC envoy, personally wouldn't select you with that type of an ability."
"Fuck you."
Suddenly a series of loud cheers could be heard from outside.
Soon a series of kids could be seen running outside all shouting one thing.
"The SCC is here!"