Chapter 9 - Cirqa Efatos

The fat ring leader and his troupe of children all bowed as the audience clapped. Arnest was still among the excited crowd and looked over the children. His plan began to be intricately forming and his devious smile seemed to curve endlessly.

“Come over here to pay for the show! Five coppers from each of you!”

A man in grey overalls and a white tunic was repeating this again and again. The people passing him would toss some copper coins into the bag he was holding. It was filling up fairly fast and the bag became fatter and heavier. But the dimly dressed man was able to easily hold up the now almost fifty pound sack of coin.

Arnest turned in the opposite direction. The entrance was blocked by the toll so he made a new path. Slipping under the tent’s side, Arnest ran towards the ships to find Rogar.

On the ship inside the hull sitting around a table was Rogar, Halphas and Arnest.

Surprisingly Rogar and Halphas had seemed to get along despite being human and demon. This was partly due to Tanya always leading “Halfy” around like an oversized pet. Rogar could see how docile and friendly Halphas was with Tanya and felt relieved. He also could relate because he too was once treated as Tanya's pet a long time ago. Remembering made him shudder a little.

The other reason was that Arnest had told Rogar more about what happened on the mountain at Heaven's Isle during his stay. Rogar started to see Halphas more favorably after he heard about how he had protected Tanya. Occasionally they would chat, mostly about the various herbs they both had found on the mountain, until Tanya would pull Halphas away to play.

“Rogar, I need to ask for a favor.” Arnest said with a quite serious face.

“Anything for you, Arnest.” Rogar said enthusiastically.

“I need to borrow some money. It's for something important.”

“This…” Rogar’s face soured when he heard this.

It wasn't that he was miserly but this year's harvest wasn't bountiful, amounting to half the norm. The winter this year had been harsh and snow covered Heaven's Isle for two months longer. It took over the spring and by the time the snow melted, they only had one month to gather herbs. Things seemed to be going well then but Tanya disappeared and some of the villagers feared a monster lived on the mountain. After so many setbacks all he wanted to do was protect this year's meager profits to feed and clothe his village. Arnest saw the soured Rogar and started to worry.

If he couldn't get funds from Rogar, it would be unlikely anyone in Zanabo would be willing to lend him money. A young boy, with no background and power, would find it hard to compel people to trust in his abilities. All Arnest had was a few hundred men, half who were not completely well trained. He lacked coin, a trained force and influence. The current Arnest was too far away from his goal of conquering the exiled lands.

Realizing that Rogar was put in a difficult situation, Arnest was about to retract his request. But Halphas spoke. “How about you sell these and I'll share some of the profit with you?”

Halphas pulled out a leather sack from under his shirt. He laid it across a table and opened it slowly revealing three plants. One was charred black and was so brittle that a slight breeze might shatter the chrysanthemum. The second was a snowy bundle of grass that emitted a slight coolness. And lastly was a large six petaled flower where its petals were red, brown, green, blue, white and black, emitting a sweet aroma.

“Manti Chrysanthemum, Snow Grass… and this color and smell… a Navulian Flower? These are all high grade!” Rogar exclaimed in shock.

“Are they rare?” Arnest asked. Although he has been learning many things within his dream world, he had only learned about fighting, history and some stratagem.  Anything related to herbs like medicine and alchemy were foreign fields for him.

“Rare? Let me tell you. Any high grade herb would take countless years to grow and for these herbs, they require a specific environment to thrive. To collect these herbs would take a lot of time searching and most importantly luck.” Rogar carefully explained with his head filled with thoughts of glittering gold.

“I found these herbs while traveling to each island. Since I would always find secluded areas I would also unintentionally find to strange flowers. I found the Navulian Flower near the top of Heaven's Isle and the others on earlier islands.” Halphas said.

“Ha! Why didn’t you tell me you found these legendary herbs? If I had known you were such a skilled harvester I would had already invited you to live at Heaven's Isle!” Rogar slapped Halphas across across his back and Halphas shyly laughed along with him.

“Thanks. I’ll be sure to repay double what you've given me today, Halphas.” Arnest said as he grabbed the herbs and went with Rogar to the markets.

Night fell on Zanabo, a city that still retained its vibrance due to oil street lamps on the main roads and canals. But darkness still loomed and in its darkest corners darted a shadow. It climbed roofs and slipped in and out of alleyways and arrived at a tent in the town square.

This shadow was precisely, Arnest. He was using his [Shadow Step] spell and silently entered the tent.

He could see a dim light at the furthest corner away from the entrance. The outline of a wooden structure could be seen thanks to the shadows the light cast. It looked like a storehouse of sorts so he walked towards the light. The closer he got, he could make out two whispering voices. Arnest followed the voices until he arrived at a door that was ajar, letting some of the candle light within the room seep out.

The voices were now clear enough to be heard.

“The city lord wants ten percent more of our business.”

Arnest leaned in closer to the door, listening in.

“He’s already is getting sixty. We can barely survive on what we have now.” Arnest looked in and saw the plump ring leader sitting down across of the grey overalled man who handled the money.

“He’s said he’d take back the slaves we bought from him years ago if we don’t pay. He probably intends to take Shorty.”

“If he takes Shorty, we’ll lose even more silver!” The overall wearing man shouted and the ring leader gestured with his index finger to his lips.

“Don't wake the kids, Kuriv!” the ring leader whispered.

“Sorry, Jerrei.”

Arnest had heard enough to get a vague idea of their situation. Their plight only served to further help perpetuate his plans. He removed the spell he cast and walked into the room with a friendly atmosphere.

The two men were startled by the sudden appearance of the young boy dressed in dark, noble attire. “Why are you awake? Go back to-” Jerrei paused mid-sentence when he realized Arnest was not one of his performers.

“Who are you?”

“I am Arnest. I'm here to offer you a chance to work with me.”

“What makes a kid like you think you can work with us, the best circus in Zanabo, Cirqa Efatos?” said Kuriv as he stared angrily at Arnest.

Arnest pulled out a small brown sack out of his side pocket and dropped it in front of Jerrei, the leader of Cirqa Efatos. The sack jingled a bit and then clinked when it hit the ground.

Jerrei bent over and picked up the sack and pulled on the yellow string wrapped around its top. A gold light shimmered from out of the bag. Five gold coins sat at the bottom, which left the two men flabbergasted. A single gold coin represents a hundred silver coins, while a silver coin is equal to a hundred copper coins. “How could such a young boy be carrying so much money?” Kuriv muttered to himself under his breath.

“What is it exactly that you want for this?” Jerrei asked with some apprehension.

“I just want to borrow your children for a while.” Arnest said while his face looked mischievously at them.

The two of them looked towards each other,  then the gold and back, again, at each other.

“If you need more money, I have more.” Arnest tossed a small sack with another five gold coins inside.

Kuriv looked towards Jerrei and saw his delighted expression. He frowned and leaned into Jerrei’s side and whispered “Are you really going to trust a random kid?”

“What's your decision?” Arnest asked.

“We don't have many options left.” Jerrei whispered back.

He then turned towards Arnest. “I'll agree to lend my performers to you.”

Jerrei lead Arnest further into the wooden complex with a small oil lamp. The light flickered against the narrow corridor. The hall was tight, even for the smaller Arnest so when Jerrei walked his two sides were squeezed between the walls. Eventually they reached a larger opening that was pitch black. When the little lamplight extended out Arnest saw small bodies huddled all over the floor.

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“Kids, wake up!” Jerrei shouted.

The children all arose in a lackadaisical fashion. There were a few who got up to their feet almost instantly but most were still either sleeping or their bodies were still too tired, refusing to get up. This was quite normal because performances required a lot of work, too much work for children on most days. Their worn out bodies coupled with the fact that it was an ungodly hour made it impossible to expect them to be energetic and ready to start a new tiring day.

Arnest looked at the four who got  up instantly. He had judged three of them were girls and the fourth was a boy based on their hair lengths. The light from the oil lamp illuminated the girls faces from left to right.  The first two girls looked like twins. Both had a skinny figure and curly brunette hair. What made them distinguishable from each other was the fact that one had longer hair than the other. The third girl was the tallest of the bunch with dark blue eyes and lime hair. They seemed to be full of energy, especially the tall girl who was bouncing up and down.  When the light flickered across his face, he recognized the boy immediately.

“Shorty.” Arnest called out.

Shorty looked at Arnest, who was clad in a hooded, dark fine clothes. He didn’t know who he was. Many people knew his name and would call out to him on the streets whenever he was sent to attract customers. Arnest lowered his hood and exposed his boyish face.

“Mister?” Shorty said, surprised.

“You can call me Arnest. I’m here to borrow you and your friends for a special job. Your master already has agreed to lend you all to me.” Arnest said.

“What kind of job?” Shorty asked.

“You’ll know soon. Wait until everyone wakes up first.”

Arnest waited about twenty minutes for every single child to wake up and line up in a single line. There were quite a few who were quite upset but there was little they could do since they were either slaves or working at one of the few jobs that were available to children of this age. Voicing a complaint could result in being beaten or fired, both outcomes that could lead to more dismal results.

He looked over each of the children, examining them and asking them each for their names. Among the children were some who had anorexic physiques. After passing a few of these sickly kids, he asked one of the boys “Why are you so skinny?”

“That’s like asking why are you dressed like a noble. It’s because you’re a rich lord and I’m a poor slave.” the boy sneered when he answered.

“Errard, you don’t have the right to speak that way to-” Jerrei was quick to reprimand the boy while removing his belt and raising it, but Arnest motioned to stand in between him and Errard.

“No, it’s fine. He’s right.” Arnest said.

Errard’s face changed from apathetic to surprised.

Ever since he was sold to the circus, his freedoms had been all taken away the instant we walked into the tent. No longer were the days he could run around the city freely. Now there was only the circus tent and the main square that he was currently confined to. If his life continued normally, he would live in with the circus and die caged within as well. The hopelessness and anger he felt over this life is completely understandable.

And normally he would be whipped a few dozen times for speaking rudely, until he started to bleed. It wasn’t that Jerrei is sadisticly savage. Jerrei beating him was just a part of the relationship between a master and slave where insubordination was punished. This was just a fact of life in this world.

However this situation was different. Not only did he not receive a beating, which Errard had prepared himself for, but was instead acknowledged and given respect. Just a tiny bit of respect, but it was more than what he had received in the past four years since he was enslaved thanks to his family’s debts. His family was quick to give him away to the slavers but Arnest was defending him after Errard had just insulted him. This sort of behavior was extremely unusual.

“Errard, right?” Arnest turned around and stared directly into Errard’s brown eyes.

He looked up, returning the gaze and nodded.

“Your mind is quite perceptive. I have the perfect job for you.” Arnest said while grabbing Errard’s left hand. He placed a handful of silver coins into his tiny palm.

“Take this and go find some food for all of you. Feed the skinniest ones first.”

Errard stood there for a while, dumbfounded. He currently had more money than he had ever seen at one time in his hand.

“Go quickly! Before the stalls close!” Arnest shouted and Errard jumped a little. He gripped the coins and ran. They all realized what was going on and chased little Errard. He led the children out to the main street where most of the food stalls were open.

“We haven’t been able to properly feed them due to the city’s taxes. Thank you, young lord.” Jerrei said with his trademarked bow.

“It’s fine. I need them full of energy for the work I need them to do.”

“What exactly is this work?” asked Jerrei.

“Follow me and you’ll see.” Arnest started to walk out towards the exit and Jerrei, who was curious, followed.

When they exited the tent, they could see the entire main road and there were the forty four little children scurrying around from stall to stall with meat and fish skewers in hand. They had more than enough money to have a feast and they wouldn’t let this chance to eat pass without taking advantage of it.

“Boss, I want two octopus skewers!”

“Five red cow skewers for us!”

“Yanon, stop hoggin’ all the food! I’m at least three inches skinnier than you!”

“Yeah! You heard what that rich kid said. Skinny kids eat first!”

The children’s voices expanded over this section of the street and everyone took notice. “Isn’t it past curfew? Where did all these kids come from?” thought some of them. But most carried on with their own business and ignored the busy commotion caused by them.

Arnest scanned the crowd and found who he was looking for. He walked up to him and called out “Shorty!”

“Mmn?” Shorty turned around with his mouth full of red cow skewers.

“So, did you hear anything interesting while eating?” Arnest asked.

Shorty swallowed the meat in one gulp and pointed to a man across the street who was slumped down against a wall. “Well, I heard that uncle over there just got kicked out of his home because his wife found out about his mistress.”

“Hear anything else?”

“One of the city guards said the city lord is holding a banquet to celebrate his second son’s birthday.” Shorty grabbed another skewer from the stand and started munching on it with a pensive look.

And soon after he finished the skewer he remembered. “Oh, and I also heard the vendors over there complaining about the new taxes on imported meat.”

“Okay, thanks Shorty.” Arnest walked away towards a quieter part of the street with Jerrei still following.

“Jerrei. I want you to do what I just did with Shorty. Send the kids out to ‘play’ and make sure they’re listening for any news of any kind. Truth or rumors, I want all of it.” said Arnest as the both of them walked.

“That’s all you want?” Jerrei asked, still feeling some apprehension. The amount of money he was getting didn’t seem to be equal to the task he was given. It was definitely too much.

“I’ll come see you in a week. I expect to hear some amusing stories.” Arnest said smiling as he activated [Shadow Step] and disappeared into the night.

“He knows magic too?” Jerrei started to sweat at the thought.

At first he had thought he was just from a noble family with too much money and time to spare. But as a magus, and at his young age, what kind of background would you need? He was only the owner of a circus and didn’t have the qualifications to associate with such a figure normally. There was no way that this young boy only intended to use them for his amusement, there was probably something more to it.

Jerrei thought of canceling the deal but shook his head when he thought more about it. There was a high chance that if he decided to go back on his words, even if he returned the gold, that he would make an enemy out of a young magus. And not only that, but potentially his backer or backers as well.

“Well, as long as he keeps paying well it doesn’t really matter.” Jerrei thought to himself as he walked back towards Cirqa Efatos.