A cacophony of rustling metal and wet slapping added itself to the noise of the village that made its way through the shabby walls of the wooden shack serving as Ug'rit's cell. He listened to what seemed to be hundreds of creatures make their way around the settlement, spreading out to meet the humans outside. A breeze rolled over his shack, and through the draft in the wall, Ug'rit smelled that it was a large company of humans. Very sweaty ones. After some time, he heard them approaching his prison and Ug'rit pulled himself into the opposite corner of the door, wary of the new humans.
"And here's the last one sir. From what we could tell, this one was giving the orders when the beasts attacked." A small chubby human spoke with a tall, dark haired one while three more little humans with short fur stood behind them. How do these humans tell each other apart? If not for the fur on their heads, it would be impossible. But those three in the back are all the same. Same clothes, same fur, same posture. What the hell is wrong with them?
“I see, well that makes what? 14 orcs? The best price I can give you is two gold a'piece. I know your village has quite a few widows to take care of after the attack."
“Thank you so much. The money will give them enough time to get back on their feet. Again, thank you for being so generous.”
“Ha! Don't mention it. It's not my money anyways. It's all coming from the benevolent Marquis' coffers. In fact, how about we do three gold a'piece?"
“T-th-three gold!? Sir Hector, I must refuse. I know the regular bounty for these creatures is only one each. You have already been much too generous to us on account of the families with deceased."
“Nonsense! Do you think the Marquis cares for such material things? His first priority is the livelihood of his subjects, not the coin in his coffers.”
“W-w-well, if the Marquis insists.”
“He does! Trust me, I've known him since we were both young, his purse is never on his mind.”
“I see...”
Ug'rit didn't understand much of the conversation, but judging from the bag of clinking metal that the tall human handed the short pudgy one, he was fairly sure he had just been bartered as property.
The three same-humans now approached Ug'rit carefully. One grabbed the rope attached to the post and his neck while the other two took an arm each. Ug'rit was then gagged and forced outside, towards a cage sitting atop a wagon. But Ug'rit couldn't care less about the cage as he stared at the human settlement. Half of it was missing; washed away. If their strong houses of logs were this devastated, how poorly must have his village fared?
More surprising than the state of the human settlement though was the number of short same-humans. Hundreds of humans, all dressed in identical garb, carrying the same weapons, with the same short head-fur. The only defining feature was the color of their fur, but that only boiled down to yellow, brown, and black. Even more unnerving than that, was how they all moved. Every single one moved in the same terse manner, not wasting any energy in their movement. It was as if they were some sort of monolith. Though Ug'rit now realized that it wasn't that they were short, but rather the average human in this village was tall; although no one was nearly the size of the mighty troll-man.
After being shoved into his cage, Ug'rit was relieved to see his comrades in similar pens on other carts. They all seemed to be much better fed than when he had last seen them. The humans are too soft on their enemies. One of the same-humans threw a tarp over Ug'rit's cage, and a few minutes later he felt the cart jolt as the horses began to pull it.
---
After watching the prisoner train leave the village, Hectore turned back to the mayor. "Now, I should probably be moving out as well, there's a lot of other communities hit by the flooding, and we need to act quickly to relieve them. I'll leave a hundred men stationed here to help you rebuild the village."
“A hundred you say? Forgive us, sir; we don't have the means to feed or house another hundred people."
“Don't worry about that. We'll leave the men enough rations for two months, and they'll be instructed to camp on the outskirts of the village."
“Very well, we can use all the help we can get." The pudgy mayor bowed.
“Good. By the way, who's the person who led your defense during the orc raid? I'd like to personally congratulate him for his success.”
“Oh, Roston? He's at his home now. He asked not to be disturbed for the next couple days."
“He's not helping with the reconstruction?”
“Well of course he is, but you see, his wife just recently gave birth and he's quite the family man."
“I see, please give him my congratulations for that too then.”
“Yes, of course.”
---
A large cherry stained table, with intricate carvings of great beasts lining its edges, sat atop a giant red rug, decorated with golden flora and fauna. Large porcelain vases holding freshly picked fruits and well-aged wines were separated from the table by a thin, intricate sheet of violet and gold silk, which draped lengthwise along the flawless table. On the white walls hung paintings of ancient battles from a bygone age and behind the head seat, hung a huge portrait of Marquis Atreus Tyson, displaying him in all his grandeur. There were no candles nor sunlight in the room, instead enchanted jewels flushed the room with a brilliant white light as silver fixtures held them out as if offering their splendor to whoever sat in the head chair. Four exotic sticks of incense burned at each corner of the room, intoxicated anyone who came in unprepared.
Atreus despised this place with a passion. Its cost dwarfed that of any other project in his domain; its ridiculous extravagance was rivaled only by that of the emperor's. But that is exactly why he had it. His entire estate was spartan; it contained no unnecessary expense and Atreus loved it that way, but he needed a way to intimidate others, a way produce an image of unrivaled wealth, and that's what this room provided. No matter how much he hated the idea, he knew the perception of wealth and power was just as important as actually having it during a negotiation, unless of course, one's goal was to somehow trap the other party.
But that was not his goal today. No, today it is to inspire, reassure, and finally request. Atreus entered the conference room with unashamed confidence as the fourteen merchants he had invited turned to him while he made his way to the table's head.
“I hope I didn't force you to wait too long gentlemen." Atreus' unapologetic voice reached the merchants' ears as his figure filled his seat. He had contemplated making them wait for another hour, to allow them more time to breathe in the incense. A simple trick to lower inhibitions.
“Of course not, my lord.” Xeniades, the oldest man in the room, spoke coolly. “No doubt your grace has summoned us to discuss matters of importance.” His sharp features and white hair stood in contrast with the simple red tunic he wore.
“Correct, as you all know, the flooding has brought an end to the drought, but any fields that have managed to survive said drought until now, have been destroyed by the floods. Unless if we start replanting immediately, the county will be thrown into a famine."
“It was my understanding that the crown would provide provisions until the territories of the empire recovered.” A jolly looking man, Hippalus, adorned with green robes and white fur spoke, his bushy mustache moved where his mouth should have been as his forehead wrinkled, highlighting his receding hairline.
Atreus clenched his fist. "His Majesty has seen fit to end the aid he had previously sent to his vassals and now intends to retroactively charge for it."
“What!?” Hippalus' round body bounced in his seat.
“51,000,000 bushels of grain, to be paid in wheat, barley, oats, or maize. Interest on the debt shall be frozen for ten years." Atreus' face darkened, his knuckles had gone white.
“W-while quite a large debt, paying 5.1 million bushels per year to the crown is doable is it not?" A young man, Cleon, wearing a golden embroidered blazer over his blue robes spoke up.
Atreus looked at the blond haired man and shook his head. "Before the drought, the county's largest record for food produced was 4 million bushels of assorted foodstuff for that year. Our consumption is over 7.6 million bushels. We purchased food from neighboring counties to meet demand."
“Then we do so again." Cleon offered, "We drive up production, and you can use the tax revenue to pay off the debt."
“Boy... Did your father teach you nothing before putting you in charge of his business?" Xeniades, the old man, frowned. "If Calerin is being retroactively charged for its consumption, then so is every other county. Not only must they grow enough produce for their own citizens, but they must also pay whatever they borrowed from the crown! If they have enough extra to sell to Calerin, to not only to feed our fellow citizens but also pay our debt to the crown, then there's no doubt we will go bankrupt trying to outbid every other non-agrarian domain as the price of food skyrockets!" Xeniades slouched back, massaging his temples.
“Well, how is that our problem!?" Cleon shot back. "If I must be frank, the debt was incurred by Lord Atreus, not anyone else here." He turned back to Atreus. "While I would love nothing more than to aid you, my lord, my first responsibility is to my business and those I represent."
Xeniades shook his head in disappointment. "I must have a talk with your father, Cleon. You need to look beyond the scope of your business if you are to protect it. What do you think will happen if we cannot procure enough food? Hmm?"
“..." The young man didn't answer.
“I'll tell you, one of the following situations will occur. Calerin spirals into debt in an attempt to repay the crown and eventually defaults and collapses on itself. Calerin spirals into debt in a bid to repay the crown while its citizens starve and then it eventually defaults and collapses on itself. Or Calerin doesn't spiral into debt and just starves itself out of existence, when the people all eventually revolt, leave, or die.”
“Like I said uncle, while I would love nothing more than to aid Lord Atreus-"
“Boy! Think! Do you honestly believe that anyone would buy the wares of your artisans when no one can even afford to eat? If Calerin fails, then so do all of we. Our fates are tied to one another."
“Then we won't stay in Calerin; the business will move to an agrarian domain and-"
“And what!? You'll start from scratch and try to compete with the countless other companies that had the same idea? You'll be bought out by the pre-existing associations within a month." The old man combed through his hair with his hands as he considered the possibility.
The room fell into a dead silence as each of the merchants contemplated their next move. Atreus studied each of their faces; half looked as if they were willing to risk moving to another domain while the rest seemed to be racking their brains for a way to safely pay off the debt to the crown.
*clap* The noise snapped the merchants out of their contemplation, bringing their attention back to Atreus.
“Thank you Xeniades. Now that everyone understands the gravity of the situation, we can begin the meeting." Atreus confidently leaned forward, allowing his guests to be drawn to his aura
He spoke slowly, allowing his words to sink in. "The debt is payable, but it will require the support of each and every one of you. I am commissioning a new charter, the guild of grain, to be jointly run by those present. The guild will provide logistical support, labor, and financing to every settlement in the county. In exchange, farmers are required to give their yield to the guild, which will be under my jurisdiction until the debt to the crown has been settled. We will ration the food and the excess will be used to pay off the debt. The guild may seize any unused arable land for the purpose of growing crops with my full authority. After Calerin is debt free, I will transfer jurisdiction of the guild to those here. All seized land will be returned to their original owners or their beneficiaries and must be renegotiated for as the guild will lose my authority.
Hippalus listened carefully before speaking, "My Lord..." His mustache wiggled. "While this may help ease the burden of the debt, as you stated earlier, the largest amount of foodstuff Calerin had previously produced was only 4 million bushels, much of which I have no doubt was a type of food not outlined to be payable to the crown. There's also the question of whether we can afford to bankroll such a great endeavor with no returns for, realistically at best, ten years."
“Don't worry about the type of crop yet. A council of lords has been called across the empire. I have no doubt the kind of acceptable foodstuff will be renegotiated along with many other items. As for your returns, perhaps instead of rationing the food out, I'll allow it to be sold at market, but it will have a price ceiling until the debt to the crown is paid."
“And do you truly believe there to be enough arable land to not only double our previous output but also repay the crown?"
“...”
“My lord?" Hippalus' mustache wiggled.
“...Since the drought, the land under my domain has increased by a third as the logging into the unending forest was mostly unimpeded. If we also account for arable land that can be seized, there should just barely be enough to feed the populace assuming the best of conditions..."
Hippalus' mustache drooped. “Best of conditions my lord? What of the debt?” The room returned to silence as the merchants waited for Atreus' response.
“...” A whole five minutes passed as their faces slowly turned from expectant to depressed and they returned to staring at the table.
“I can commission another charter..." Their eyes turned back to Atreus. "The Guild of Forestry, which sole purpose will be the expansion of my domain into the unending forest. We'll turn vast swaths of the forest into farmland. If, say, we convert forest to farmland at a rate of ten percent of our current arable land limit per year, in other words, we add enough farmland to produce 800,000 bushels worth of foodstuff to our maximum limit every year, then after the tenth year, Calerin will owe 7 million bushels. 10% interest on the debt means 7.7 million, so we decommission the Guild of Forestry after the 10th year, and the debt will be paid off after the 11th. Let's assume an additional year after the logging to prepare the land and begin farming on it, so 12 years, with interest accruing after the 10th, meaning after the 10th, Calerin will owe 16.5 million bushels, the 11th, Calerin will owe 9.35 million bushels with interest. After the 12th year, Calerin will owe 1.5 million bushels, and finally, after the 13th year Calerin will be free from its debt to the crown and full authority will have transferred over to those here. By this point we will have become an agrarian powerhouse, capable of producing twice as much as we consume, combined with the expansion of the domain and extra revenue from selling raw materials and finished goods to other counties, Calerin will be an economic powerhouse. Raw material from the forest will be given to our craftsmen in Calerin for a highly discounted rate, if not free, making our goods the most affordable in the empire. Even if Calerin undergoes a population boom, we'll have so much excess foodstuff by the end of the thirteen-year period that we should be able to easily accommodate it, even if all the seized properties are decommissioned."
Hippalus' mustache wiggled around as he thought of Atreus' plan. "My lord, you say that over the past five years, your domain has increased by a full third. Assuming all that land converts perfectly into farmland and will yield at optimal conditions, the best it could convert into would be 1.3 million bushels of foodstuff. Over five years, that means our possible production of foodstuff only increased by 266,000 bushels per year. If we were to fund this second commission, the Guild of Forestry, the rate your domain expands would have to triple to meet your goal of increasing yields by 800,000 bushels per year. And that is all assuming the best possible conditions and the best possible conversions we can hope for. How would the guild accomplish such a task?"
“We'll hire anyone without a job and turn them into loggers. I'll also deploy the county's soldiers to the forest to work with the guild under the guise of protection and training, but in reality, they'll just be chopping trees all day.” Atreus chuckled.
“Hehe, while that may work my lord, tripling the rate of expansion of your domain would be another goal that we could only accomplish under the best of circumstances. The endless forest is dangerous, and it has been twenty years since the last crucible. If monsters start pouring out of the woods during this expansion, you'd be hard pressed to defend Calerin."
“Hippalus, are you questioning my ability to defend against a crucible?” Atreus' face suddenly turned dark.
Hippalus wiped the sweat along his receding hairline. "Of course not my lord, you're a proven commander. I still remember how you defended us all from the last one; I fought in it myself. But you must admit that anyone who fought has retired or is close to retiring. The armed forces are untested, and if the size of the domain expands such a considerable amount, you'd lack the manpower to fight off a horde of beasts. If Calerin has expanded by a full third from five years ago, then at the rate of expansion your plan requires, Calerin's domain must triple in size by the end of your ten-year plan as compared to 5 years ago."
Atreus interjected. "And during that expansion, the armed forces will fight and defeat a countless number of beasts, reducing the strength of the next crucible by however many monsters they kill. By the time of the next crucible, my forces will be the more experienced and prepared than any other in history. Added to that fact is that with all the surplus materials from the expansions, we can potentially prepare the most extensive fortifications in all of the north. Do not concern yourself with it; we can quickly pull back the line of defense if my men are stretched too thin. It will only delay the plan by a year."
“Understood my Lord, but you must know that a delay of a year, assuming the best of conditions, could potentially delay paying off the debt by up to three years if the crucible begins as early as tomorrow.”
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Don't concern yourself with how long it takes to repay the crown, The point is that we have a method of doing so-”
“And not only is there the threat of the crucible, what if the drought returns? What if there is no rain after these floods? Or what if there is more rain? Powerful flooding that destroys the fields just as we have experienced? What will we do then? Delay the plan again?”
“My court's Magister can work with his colleagues to predict the weather and even influence it to a certain extent.”
“And do he and his colleagues know how the flooding occurred? What caused it? Why, after all this time, it rained an unending amount, as if to make up for the years of drought? If the hydromancers cannot answer even a single one of these questions, then they have lost their ability to predict the weather with certainty. I apologize, my lord, I cannot speak for the rest here, but I cannot take such a risk. Even under the best of conditions, your plan is riddled with danger."
“Then what will you do? Wait to lose your business as everything slowly fails around you?"
“I have built my company by being careful. We weathered the drought; I believe we can weather whatever storm may come." Hippalus stood up from his seat and bowed before leaving. Three other merchants followed him. As they left, Atreus' nails dug into his palm.
Cleon stood up and bowed to Atreus. "My Lord, I think your plan is our best chance of survival, but without Hippalus' support, I do not believe it is possible to achieve. If Hippalus does not get on board, I believe my business has a better chance of survival in another domain." Cleon left and was followed by five other merchants. Blood started to drip from Atreus' palms.
Xeniades sighed and slouched deeper into his chair. “My lord...”
“...”
“Atreus?”
“What?”
“I'll support you regardless of what the others decide, but the boy's right. Succeeding without Hippalus' support is unlikely. And it's definitely impossible without Cleon and the rest."
“... I know.”
“So?”
“What?”
Xeniades sat back up and stared straight at Atreus. “Should I ask what you're going to do?”
“...No.”
The senior chuckled and got up. He strolled over to where Atreus sat and placed a bony hand on the Marquis' shoulder. "Well, come to my estate when you've finished whatever you have to do. If you're successful, we can celebrate the commission of two new charters; if you're unsuccessful, we can celebrate the end of our respective careers."
Atreus finally relaxed his grip. “Ha! I will. You still got that wine from the capital?”
“Always.”
“Good. I guess we'll know within the month.”
Xeniades left with three other merchants following him.
“Charles!” Atreus called for his manservant. “Delay that notice I gave you the other day!”
---
A week passes since Atreus' meeting with the merchants:
A slum rat walked between the rubble of half-demolished houses; a pale girl with long brown hair, brown eyes, and warts covering her face, scratched her back as the itchy rags she called clothes rubbed against it.
“Ready or not, here I come!" She called out, listening for any sound beneath the quiet murmur of the forum a few blocks away.
“Are youuu~here?" Her head popped between a couple of crates, listening for breathing.
“Nope." She continued to saunter down the street when she suddenly kicked a pile of bricks, sending them flying into a broken wall. Between the clatter of the stones, she heard it. That faint, but sharp intake of breath she was searching for.
She continued to saunter down the street, calling out every few seconds, trying to draw a response from one of the other children, slowly becoming quieter and quieter until complete silence enveloped the streets as she turned dirty a corner, doubling back behind the position where she heard the breath.
This was her favorite part of playing, sneaking up on the person who was supposed to be hiding, catching them completely unawares. Her bare feet wrapped themselves around the sandy ground as she turned into the abandoned home where she knew her prey was hiding.
There she saw him, a boy around her age, ten years old, laid prone on the ground, staring through a gap in the wall that followed the road she was on earlier. She licked her lips as she stepped over the broken floorboards of the house in perfect silence, like a phantom. Then, right was she was hovering just a foot over him, she let out a fearsome shriek like a wraith.
“EIEIEIEIE!!!!!”
“AAAAAHHH!!" The boy screamed as he tried rolling over to see the source of the fearsome cry, but it was already too late, she fell on his back and pinned him to the ground as he tried to frantically wiggle away from his attacker.
“Ha! You were scared!” Her delighted laugh filled his senses.
“Was not!" He tried to push her off, but she kept him pinned to the ground.
“I'll let you move if you admit it!”
“I wasn't!”
“Then you're stuck!”
After struggling for another minute, he gave up. “Fine, you surprised me.”
“Sca~a~a~ared." She sang.
“Okay, you scared me! Now let me up!”
She got off him and sent him to the losers pit. The girl continued to hunt for prey like this: locating them, sneaking up on them, and scaring them, until she had caught everyone.
A dozen kids sat around the sandy street corner as the girl walked back with her final prey. “I got all of you good!” She yelled triumphantly.
“I am owed one full kebab from the forum! Don't try to cheat me!" They headed to the center of the city
“Again?” One of the children groaned. “Emma, why do you like those kebabs so much lately?”
“Cause I want them, why else? Plus it's like another game. The kebab man always packs up around this time, so I wanna see how often I can get the last one.
As the pack of children wandered into the forum, a Romanesque plaza that cut right through the city center, Emma exclaimed in victory. "Ha! See? Last one again!" She puffed up her chest as they marched up to the kebab stall that was closing up for the day when some hurried movement to their side caught her eye.
Some other kids around her age were heading to the stall as well, school kids. From their sweaty uniforms and large bags, they probably just finished some kind of extracurricular activity; the school had ended for the day an hour ago.
Emma and the other street urchins picked up their pace; they wouldn't lose to some rich kids. The students also noticed them and sped up. The orphans started jogging to the kebab stall. The students dropped all pretense and started running. The slum rats then just flat out sprinted as the children all began a mad dash to the booth, intent on getting there first.
“Kebab man!” Emma yelled from a few yards away. “How many sticks you got left!?”
“Hmm?" A graying looked up in surprise at the stampede of children threatening to swarm his stall.
“I've got three left girl, better hurry! First come first serve!” He laughed at their frantic steps; he didn't know why, but this past week, the poorer kids had been enamored with his food. Not that he was complaining, they always paid him properly, so it didn't matter if it were his regulars from the school or the slum rats from the ghetto.
“I want all of them!” Emma arrived first at the stall and slapped down a handful of coppers.
“Aww, come one!” One of the students cried. “Can you share?”
“Hmm?” Emma looked to the group of students. “Why should I? I got here first.”
“C'mon, were starving. We'll pay you double for half of them." A pudgier kid spoke up, wiping drool off the corner of his mouth as he tried to catch his breath.
“You wan'em?” Emma held out two juicy skewers of kebabs with one hand as she munched on the meat with the other.
The chubby kid's eyes lit up, and he took a step forward. "Can we? I'll pay you double" He offered as he fumbled around in his pockets.
“Yeah sure." She dropped the skewers of meat and stepped on them, grinding them into the stone underneath.
“Hey!” The stall owner shouted.
“Whyyyy!?” the pudgy kid cried as he saw his hopes ground into the dirt.
Emma kicked the nearest student straight in the balls, sending him keeling over, and ran.
“WhaEEEEEE!?” The downed student squealed. “Get that biiiiEEEEtch!”
Thus a chase ensued, the street rats ran back to the ghetto with the students in hot pursuit, climbing through empty windows, vaulting abandoned crates and barrels, and weaving between narrow streets lining the rubble of what may have been a fine neighborhood at one point. Once they had fled half a mile into the Old Quarter (or the Forgotten Quarter as known by the locals), the street urchins came to a stop in a sandy clearing.
“The fuck was that for!?" A frailer boy yelled out from the school group, his breath notably more ragged than his classmates'.
Several more kids, dressed in the same dirty rags as the homeless children came out of the stonework behind the students and formed a second group, cutting off any paths of retreat. With abandoned buildings on either side, the school kids were suddenly surrounded, and the fight went from a fair one on one to a three on two.
“You're surrounded! Stand and deliver!" Emma called gleefully. I always wanted to say that.
“Fuck off!" The frail kid suddenly launched a ball of fire at her feet. Emma jumped back as her smile widened.
“Shit! He's a pyromancer!?” One of her companions cried.
She looked back to the frail kid and noticed that he was now slouching even further, he ragged breath blew his black hair from his face, revealing a forehead drenched with sweat. "Ha! He's already out of juice! They're just trying to scare us, charge!" She called out and ran at the mage.
Fighting immediately broke out, and children tackled each other, grappling like mad beasts. Emma ran straight up to the sickly looking kid and threw her weight behind a straight punch to the temple, knocking him out cold. She looked around and saw most of the students curled up on the ground, protecting their heads from unending kicks. The pudgy kid was doing surprisingly well in a one on one, but that was quickly ended by a swift kick to the back of his knee. The fighting barely went on for a minute before more of Emma's friends showed up and overwhelmed the exhausted students.
“Get some rope and tie 'em up!” She crossed her arms and directed a few of the children nearby.
Twenty minutes later, all the students were slouching against a wall with the hands tied behind their backs. A large pile of coin lay in front of them.
“Split it up into equal shares." She told the kid counting the pile and turned around to face her comrades. "Men! Women! Today we have achieved victory! Let us partake in the spoils of war!" The pack of children howled, raising their fists as they relished in their success.
Emma turned back to the line of captives and walked to where the frail kid sat. "Hey." She said, crouching down to his level, fairly sure he was no longer unconscious.
“Hey!” She called again, but there was no response.
“I know you're awake.”
“...”
“Well if you're not awake, then I'll just kick you in the balls.” She stood and pulled back her leg.
“Wait! I'm awake! I'm awake!" he cried, trying to wiggle away from her leg.
“Knew it," Emma smirked, setting her foot down.
“What do you want?” The boy stared at the ground.
“Strip.”
“... What?” His face lost its color.
“What's your name?”
“Cha-charlie."
“Well, Charlie." Emma got on her knees and yanked his face up, staring into his eyes. "Was that a real fireball you threw at my feet earlier?"
The boy felt that he shouldn't lie to this girl.“Ye... Yeah.”
“That's pretty impressive." She maintained eye contact, keeping a firm grip at the base of his neck. "I'm eight. How old are you?"
“N... Nine and a half.”
“That's reeaally impressive. Now strip. I like your clothes.”
“Why me!?”
“Because were about the same size stupid. I thought you had to be pretty smart to be able to do a fireball?”
“W-w-why not one of the girls!?”
“Ha?” Emma's face went blank. “You guys have girls?” She looked at her prisoners, but couldn't see any.
“What!? Can't you tell? Taylor and Rachael are right on the other end!"
Emma walked over to where Charles was waving his head. “Oh. He's right. Hey, does your school not have girl uniforms?”
The two girls shook their heads. "Okay, but why's your hair so short?" Both of them had bob cuts and were almost indistinguishable from some of the boys, looking at them from a distance.
“W-we're not allowed to.”
“Why not?”
“B-because we have to look strong.” The girl speaking was almost in tears at the thought of being made to strip.
“That's stupid; I'm strong, and my hair's long." She turned to the kids who still hadn't managed to split the money evenly. "Hey, someone untie these two!" Turning back, she smiled at them. "You can both go."
“What!?" Charlie yelled from the other side of the line. "Why are you making me strip, but not them!? Their size will fit you better!"
“Are you stupid!?” Emma yelled angrily. “If a girl is seen naked, she'll get pregnant!”
“What!? That's not true!” The pudgy boy spoke up. “A girl gets pregnant when-”
“Shut up!” Emma kicked him in the gut.
“Gah!”
Her face was beet red. "You know what!? All of you boys will strip now! One by one! We'll see how you like getting pregnant!" And so, they went down the line, untying each student and forcing them to strip until they got to the pudgy kid.
Emma was now wearing Charlie's clothes as he stood, trying to cover himself with his hands. "Hey you! Pudgy! What's your name?"
“D-daniel, ma'am.”
“You're rich right?”
“What?” His eyes widened. “Umm, my dad is I guess?”
“You live with him?”
“Y-yeah.”
“Good! If you bring me to your house, I won't make you strip.”
“What!? No!”
“Hmm?” She cocked an eyebrow.
“I-I-I-I'd rather strip than let you know where I live!”
“Haha! You're kind of smart." She approached him, brought their foreheads together, and whispered: "If you don't show me where you live, you'll go blind." She threatened, grabbing his head by the base of his skull.
“Ah... Ah!!” I-I-I can't-”
“Ssshhh." If you tell anyone, it'll get worse. You can see it, right? The edge of your vision getting darker and darker? If we don't get to your house before you're completely blind, then I won't give you your eyes back."
“I'll do it! I'll do it!” He cried.
Emma stepped back and smiled. "Good, but first we'll watch your friends streak across the forum." Twenty minutes later, the naked students were being prodded forwards by makeshift spears of broom handles and mops at the end of the forum, hiding around the corner of a street.
“Now, at the opposite end of the forum, some of my friends have your clothes. The only way you're getting them back is by screaming and running full speed through the crowds! Don't bother trying to go around. They won't give you your clothes unless they see you coming from this end. Understood?"
“What about me?" Charlie asked helplessly.
“What about you?”
“You're wearing my clothes!”
“Oh? Oh yeah. You'll just have to run across the city to your house. Good luck!”
“Whyyyy!?”
Emma waved her stick in the air. “Ready!”
“Set!”
“Mark!" She slapped her stick down as her friends smacked the asses of their captives with their sticks as if it were some horse race.
Almost a dozen naked children ran screaming into the main street, sending the half the crowds into a frenzied panic and the other half into a roar of laughter. Emma and her friends added to the laughter, seeing them trying and clearly failing to cover themselves with their hands.
Emma couldn't stop chuckling the entire way to pudgy Daniel's home. The poor boy kept increasing his speed as his range of vision decreased.
“Open! Open the door!” Arriving at Daniel's estate, the boy frantically hammered at the entrance.
“Young master? What's wrong? Where's your key?” An elderly dwarf woman opened the door.
“I-I-I left it at school.”
“I see. Oh? I don't believe we've met before.” She smiled at Emma.
“Sh-she-”
“I've just recently moved to this city ma'am; my father had me enrolled at the academy, and Daniel was kind enough to not only escort me around the campus but much of the rest of the city as well." The girl did a small curtsy. "Emilia DeGraine. It's a pleasure to meet you." Emma had been replaced. Her warts were gone, her pale skin had turned into a beautiful bronze, her tousled brown hair had turned black and was tied back with a scarlet ribbon, and her eyes had gone from brown to blue.
“My my, Daniel brought such a lovely girl home. Come in, come in! I'll bring some snacks for the two of you.”
Daniel was totally blind now and oblivious to the new Emma's appearance. "Auntie, she's n-"
“I would love to." Emilia's hand reached into his, making him shuddered. Her soft touch served as a constant warning. Holding his hand, Emilia guided Daniel, and they followed the woman.
As they passed through the front door, the house opened up to a living room that could easily hold two or three of the homes from the forgotten quarter. The floors were made entirely of stained wood, and in the center of the room sat a short coffee table, surrounded by sofas on three sides, facing towards a grand fireplace.
Emilia coiled herself around Daniel's arm and leaned her face closer to his, murmuring, "You're home is gorgeous."
Emilia's movements didn't escape the sharp woman's attention. A young, cute girl was holding her young master's hand while he didn't dare even to look up! They'd be a perfect little couple!
After ten minutes of answering the dwarven maid's questions and being served small cakes and cookies, Emilia turned to Daniel. "Are you not eating?" She pouted.
“I-I can't.” He whispered.
“Oh, you're not that full.” She proceeded to lift a muffin to his lips. “Just a bite. Please?”
What is she talking about? Did she come here just to eat? Daniel opened his mouth and took a bite at the muffin.
She brought the muffin back to her own lips and bit into the same spot that Daniel had. The old woman couldn't take it anymore and left the room to gossip with the other servants about the young master's new girlfriend.
Emilia placed the muffin down and her honeyed voice turned cold. “Now where are your valuables?”
“M-m-my parents have jewels in their bedroom.”
Emilia lessened the shadows around Daniel's eyes just enough for the boy to make out simple shapes. "Show me."
Half an hour after running around the house, filling the sweets box that the dwarf maid had given her with rings, necklaces, and jewels, Emilia turned to Daniel.
“Where's your dad's office?”
“H-his office?”
“A study; he's a merchant, right? Don't try to tell me he doesn't have one."
“But I can't-”
“You want your eyesight restored? Or should I leave you blind?"
“Okay! Fine. It's this way.”
Arriving in the study, Emila snatched a delicately carved jade of a chimera, and as many gold ornaments that could fit into the sweets box. She pilfered through the desk and, once done with that, the vases along the wall.
“I think that's good enough. Bring me to the door, and your eyesight will restore within an hour." Returning to the front of the house, Emilia bowed graciously and thanked her hosts, especially the dwarven maid, for their hospitality. She walked up to Daniel, who stood silent and gave him a peck on the cheek, murmuring "Thank you so much," before scurrying away.
---
Several hours later:
Hippalus arrived home from his office in the merchant's quarters. The past week had been hectic, trying to determine which businesses were expendable and which would last longest during a famine. He'd spent a few nights there, but now he was confident that they had a plan of action to ride out the economic storm that would come.
Fumbling through his key chain in the dark, Hippalus finally managed to open the door to his house. “I'm home!” He called out.
Agnis, his head maid, arrived at the entrance with a pale face. Her dwarven features drooped as she faced Hippalus. “Master, there's been a theft.”
“What?”
“A young girl came home with Daniel, claiming to be a new student at the academy. She appeared the part, with a uniform, manners, and the like. But apparently, she had coerced Daniel and ran off with many valuables. Daniel... He...”
“He what?”
“He...”
“What Agnis?"
"..."
"What happened to my son!?" Hippalus' mustache quivered.
Agnis' voice became a whisper as she gazed at the ground. "He's gone blind.”
His legs shaking, Hippalus asked. “Where is he? In his room?”
“Yes.” The dwarf replied meekly.
“Daniel!" Hippalus sprinted through his home, accidentally knocking over a vase.
“Daniel!” He came to his son's room to find the door locked.
“Daniel, are you in there!? Open the door!”
“...”
“Daniel!" The portly man took a couple of steps back, putting his weight behind his foot as he kicked down the door, tearing the locks from the solid wood.
“Daniel, are you alright!?” He looked around the room and saw his son curled up on his bed.
Hearing his father's voice, Daniel turned to its source. His eyes were puffed up, his nose dribbled with snot, and his cheeks were bright red.
“Papa!” He cried.
“Daniel!” ran to his son and embraced him.
“Papa, I c-c-can't see!”
“...”
“I can't see!” The boy wailed and buried his face into his father's belly.
“Shhh... It's alright. I'll fix this. Don't worry. Papa will fix everything.” He grabbed the sides of his son's head and brought his face down to look straight in his child's eyes. Both the pupils and irises were cover in a black mist.
“She said it'd go back to normal in an hour, but nothing's changed!” giant tears ran down the child's face.
“Shhh, I'll fix this, but Papa needs to know who did this to you. Where did you meet her? What does she look like? Does she have a name? Tell me everything you can about her."
And so, Daniel told his father everything. How they had fought over some kebabs, how everyone was stripped by the ugly wart-girl named Emma, how she stole his friend's clothes, how she took away his sight, promising to return it if he brought her home, and how she stole a bunch of valuables.
After letting the boy cry himself to sleep, Hippalus extracted himself from the room and summoned Agnis.
"I need you to go to the nearest guard's office and report this incident. Don't leave a single detail out." He spoke in a hushed tone, handing her a piece of parchment.
Scanning the parchment, she nodded as she looked over it, but suddenly stopped. "Master, this isn't the description of the girl who was with Daniel." She spoke.
“What?”
“The girl with Daniel didn't have warts or brown hair or white skin. She was a tanned girl with black hair. And I swear she was too well behaved to have been from the slums. She called herself Emilia Degraine.”
“So you think there was more than one?”
“That's a possibility.”
“I'll go wake up Daniel; we need to get everything straight."
Daniel was awoken by his father and questioned again. "Daniel, when did the girl Emma switch with this Emilia?"
“What? They're the same. She just called herself that in front of Agnis.”
“Agnis said this Emilia had black hair and tanned skin.”
“But she couldn't have changed with someone! She had the same voice! And she held my hand all the way home to guide me!”
“Child, did she let go of your hand at any point? Even for a split second?" Agnis' gentle voice came from the door.
“A-a-a couple times, but I would have known if she changed with someone. They were the exact same! I swear!”
“That's enough Daniel. That's all we need. Go back to sleep.”
“I can't."
“I'll be right back then. Wait just a few minutes.”
After leaving the room, Hippalus and Agnis started murmuring to each other. “Agnis, are you sure they couldn't be the same person?”
“No, the girl I met was nothing like what Daniel described. All it would have taken is a second to switch out.”
“Then add the description of the second girl before going to the guards. I need to take care of my son.”
---
Emilia Degraine rounded a corner in the noble's district, changing back to her original appearance. She had buried the valuables in a safe-house and now freely walked back home. Her blonde hair and pale skin stood in sharp contrast to the dark clothes she now wore. Ellyse's blue, speckled green eyes twinkled in the moonlight as she recalled the exciting day.
Turning into a respectable mansion, Ellyse Ward fished out a key from her pocket and opened the door to her adopted parents home. “Papa!” She called out, smiling at her father.
“Ke ke ke, you seem to be in quite a good mood girl. Did you have an exciting day?" Odeus' crooked figure smiled at the child from his sofa as he set down some parchment.
“Yeah! It was a huge success! First I went to play hide and seek in the slums, then I-”
“Now child. No talking about work inside the house. Tell me all about it tomorrow.”
“Then let's go to the headquarters early tomorrow! Promise?" The little angel's eyes sparkled.
“Ke ke ke. I promise.”