He spent the next half hour catching up with Vini and Marina, they both spoke of their experiences after he left and all the interesting changes that had taken place during said time. For some time, it was nice to talk without the constant worrying that was brought on whenever Galis was alone with his thoughts.

It had been several hours at this point since he had entered Scorch Mark and no guardsman had come to drag him into prison yet, which made him feel slightly better about his situation.

‘They must think I’m still in the city.’ Galis thought. It was the safest assumption, given that this area wasn’t swarming with militiamen. It meant he could breathe easily for a while, but he decided to his guard up since he had only ever heard horror stories about the Watchmen and wasn’t sure how safe he truly was.

The topic of conversation quickly shifted to supplies as Galis finally got the chance to ask for his lack of food and necessities.

“Two months’ worth of rations?!” Marina exclaimed after he had told them what he needed. “I know we’re in wartime, but don’t they have food in the city?”

“The food there is much more expensive than out here, it makes sense for me to stock up beforehand so that my cost of living is lower. At least while I’m getting used to my new life.” Galis replied. It wasn’t a lie, but neither was it the reason why he was doing this.

“…Still, it’s that’s an insane amount to buy in one sitting, especially for just one person.” She muttered, counting numbers on her fingers.

“Unfortunately, I have to agree with Miss Feisty, young Galis,” Vini said, heaving a frustrated sigh. “I have been getting less red sand lately and without it, there is no way to grow any glassfruit. That means produce is at an all-time low.”

Marina’s head snapped towards the older woman, and she looked as though she wanted to give a retort, but bit her tongue, stewing silently.

“So how much can you give me?” Galis asked worriedly.

“This is a shame upon me, but all that can be given is a week's worth.”

‘Damn,’ He cursed internally. A single week was not nearly enough time for the Watchmen to forget about his crime, hell even two months wouldn’t have been enough either. But at least he may have been able to figure out a plan in that time.

Galis bit the corner of his fingernail in nervousness, what exactly was he supposed to do in this situation? Pray?

“I’ll just take the week’s supplies then.” He said with a strained smile, “It’s no problem.”

He would just have to figure it out later.

Vini nodded and clapped her hands twice. Tin then emerged from the booth with a small crate of transparent cubes balancing atop its head, holding them steady with its thin metal arms.

“Here are your goods, sir,” the machine said, “The funds will be withdrawn from your account automatically.”

“Thanks, Tin,” Galis replied, emptying the crate into his bag and then handing it back. “And Marina stop glaring at Vini it’s bad manners.”

“Tch. I wasn’t glaring” The merchant girl clicked her tongue and turned away from the booth, “I was just leaving anyway. I have a business to take care of.”

“Wait a minute, girl,” Vini called out to her just as she had begun walking away.

“What?”

“I am certain that fire of yours will help this place turn into something much greater.” Vini said to her while leaning over and pinching her cheek, “So do not act sour. I meant it as a compliment.”

“Ow! Alright I get it!” Marina exclaimed, pulling away, “Aren’t you supposed to be old? What’s with that grip strength?”

“You would be surprised how much exercise you get in while farming.” Galis said, “Vini’s been growing glassfruit and selling talismans here for decades.”

Marina seemed slightly taken aback, watching the older lady curiously “You’ve been here for that long?”

“Long enough to know of my troubles and be too late to act on them,” Vini responded with a weary look.

Galis looked down to the red sand under his feet as she spoke. Scorch Mark wasn’t where anybody wanted to be, despite the friendly inhabitants and bustling marketplaces any and every person there would rather live in the city than risk another day outside the walls. Relying on imported sand to even grow food because it was the only thing that hadn’t been destroyed in the multitudes of battles which constantly took place.

‘But it’s not like I can do anything.’ He thought grimly, only a select few people in the city had that kind of power and they were more interested in fuelling their agendas than sparing a second glance at the rabble that clung to the walls of their city like a parasite.

“Well, if that’s everything I’m going to head home,” He said, nodding at the two women.

Best to quit while he was ahead.

Unfortunately, no sooner had the words left his mouth, than a piercing cry rang out amidst the hum of the walking crowd. For a few moments, everything fell silent, as many people stopped to turn and face the direction of the noise.

The silence served only to magnify the screams which grew louder and more pained by the second. Scant few words could be barely understood before they were drowned out by louder incoherent wailing.

“Not another one.” He heard a passerby mutter, “That’s the fourth time this week.”

Galis felt a shiver crawl up his spine. Anybody screaming that loudly in the middle of the town was likely dying. A grim truth for many of the residents who lived here.

He immediately started walking towards it, hoping that he could make it there before the situation spiralled. A hand clasped his arm with tightness that stopped him in his tracks as Marina prevented him from moving for the second time that day.

“You idiot, what are you doing?” She hissed at him, “Whoever that is leave them be, there’s no telling what could have happened.”

“They're clearly in pain and I should help.” He replied, tugging at his arm.

“No, you shouldn’t! Don’t you have any self-preservation instinct? Think about where we are!”

She has a point; the logical part of his brain told him. Best best-case scenario the man had just come back from a dangerous job since there were records of previous workers getting injured on the battlefield and dying in Scorch due to lack of medical care. Worst-case scenario, they were under attack and the entirety of Scorch was about to become a death trap.

But it made no difference to him.

“I’m not standing around doing nothing,” Galis muttered, ripping his arm free. He stormed off into the crowd before another word could be uttered. She continued shouting at him, but he paid it no heed, the words slowly dissipating.

It took a surprising amount of time to run to the location of the screaming, it had echoed for such a distance that he didn’t reach the source until he was practically on the opposite side of Scorch.

Sliding to a stop, he found a large crowd of people surrounding a raggedly dressed man who was keening at the top of his lungs while writhing around on the floor. His left leg had been almost completely torn off and was bleeding profusely over the ground, mixing with the sand under it. The sudden gruesome sight caused Galis to flinch away for a second.

Gritting his teeth he pushed his way through the surrounding semi-circle of people until he was close to the front, everybody there seemed to be giving the man a wide berth. Galis then grabbed the closest person to him.

“Why isn’t anybody helping him?” He asked furiously.

“O-oh I’m so sorry I don’t have any money!” a young woman with dark red hair exclaimed trying to pull away from him.

“What? No! I’m not here for your money, I’m asking why nobody is helping the man who is clearly dying!”

“Ah, that, right, of course, I’m sorry!” The woman apologized again, bowing her head.

Galis let go of her, impatient. “Don’t worry about it, now why is everybody just watching him.”

“W-Well we tried to help him, but he just kept kicking and screaming, hurting anybody who tried to get close.”

“He did what now?”

“Yeah, he kept speaking gibberish and crying, I think he might be traumatised.”

“Why didn’t you just hold him down or knock him out?!”

“I-I’m sorry, I’m not good with these kinds of things!” The woman blurted out, bowing her head a second time.

“Roma above…” Galis said, exasperated, “Fine, I’ll do it myself.”

He neared the strange man who was still screaming on the floor, stepping out into the empty area which surrounded him. Galis felt several eyes staring at him as he closed in on the injured person. As he neared the stranger he realised something that left him stunned. Upon closer inspection, he was clutching his head in his hands and shaking violently, but that wasn’t what surprised him. The most shocking factor was that Galis recognised him.

Back when he used to frequent Scorch Mark, Galis would often work as a treasure hunter, or at least that was the official name for the job. Colloquially it was known as being a scrap hound. Outside the walls of Valtsomu was a constant raging battlefield which was peaceful just outside the city walls but only got more chaotic and dangerous the further you strayed. Unfortunately, sometimes goods were lost in battle that needed retrieving and bounties were placed to get them back in exchange for some petty cash.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

As such the job of scavenging an active war site for scraps became the primary source of income for those who couldn’t afford any better, himself included. The man in front of Galis was one of these people who he had seen on occasion handing in scrap alongside him, even if he didn’t know him personally.

Losing a leg wasn’t all that uncommon in his line of work but by the time somebody made it back to Scorch the wound was either healed or the person was dead.

Yet he was neither, had he been attacked in the marketplace? Not with a wound like that. If the intent were to harm, he would have been beaten and bruised, if they wanted to kill him it would have been clean and efficient. Something about this situation had his hair standing on its ends.

Maybe he should have listened to Marina, perhaps he was placing himself in unnecessary danger. Especially in front of so many people, what if somebody recognised him?

He bit the inside of his cheek to refocus himself. There was a time and place for everything.

“I’m not here to hurt you,” Galis whispered. He neared the thrashing man with an iron resolve, moving slowly and inexorably even as his reaching hands were kicked away.

The dying scrap hound let out a ghastly wail as Galis touched him, spittle forming on the corners of his mouth as he tried and failed to form words.

“Let…me…” The man huffed with much trouble; it wasn’t hard to see how exhausted he was.

Galis ignored his pleas and grabbed the bleeding stump; He practically tore open his bag rummaging through it violently until he found what he was after. What he pulled out from his pack was a handful of large dark brown seeds, which he quickly shoved into the wound.

The man’s screaming reached a fever pitch as roots quickly curled through the remnants of his leg at an astonishing pace, leaving behind large white flowers which stuck out of the gaping hole that used to be his leg. The bleeding stopped entirely.

Galis quickly stood up from his knelt position over the man, wiping sweat from his brow. Bloodbloom was a short-term solution at best, he was lucky he still had a few of those inhumane flowers from when he worked as a scrap hound. They were horrifying things that stemmed any bleeding almost immediately but were also fatal to the implanted person if not removed within 24 hours, Galis wasn’t sure if this man had any medical insurance but at the very least, he had done all he could to help.

The scrap hound’s screams began to lessen until they were a faint shadow of what they used to be. His breathing was still slow and ragged, but it seemed as though he had calmed down somewhat. It must have taken an iron will to bear what he had without falling unconscious, and Galis held a small form of respect for the man upon witnessing it.

‘Now back to the real crime that’s been committed.’ He thought darkly, looking out into the crowd around him. Each of the people there had either averted their gaze from him or scoffed at his actions.

A pin drop could have been heard with how tense the quiet was.

“Glad that’s been dealt with.” A portly man near the back of the group muttered amidst the silence. “I couldn’t stand all that incessant noise.”

“Then shouldn’t you have done something?” Galis snapped back instantly, glaring at the man and those around him. At the very least some of the people he looked at had the decency to look embarrassed.

“It’s not our job to help those who can’t even protect themselves.”

“And that gives you the right to just let him die?!”

“It wouldn’t be the first time.” Another voice rang out amongst the crowd.

Galis whipped his head around to find the source of the comment but couldn’t pinpoint the speaker.

“Yeah, man! Before you came that guy was flinging people off him like it was nothing!” A burlier man complained to his left.

More people started yelling.

“He probably just tired himself out and that’s why you even managed to get near him!”

“He knew the risks of working on the outside anyway!”

“What did you expect us to do?!”

The noise quickly spiralled out of control until all that could be heard was a cacophony of noise wherein every member of the meagre crowd that remained shouted to get their opinions heard.

‘What a ridiculous sight.’ Galis thought to himself, the situation was comical. Despite there being a horde of people surrounding him most would rather stare at the spectacle than lift a finger to help.

Galis heard the portly man speak up again, “That’s just how things are I’m afraid, we all did our best before you arrived, and it just so happened that somebody else’s kindness let him live. Now, I have no clue why this fellow was so desperate to die, but it isn’t any of our business either way.”

Bastards. He wanted to shout and swear, that it wouldn’t have taken much for several people to hold him down. That either they didn’t care, or that they had given up far too quickly. His fist curled up into a ball, primed to lash out at the next person who spoke. But just as quickly as he balled it up, he exhaled deeply through his nose letting his arm fall limp by his side. What did he expect from the people too cowardly to fight for their rights? Chased out of the city because they didn’t have the will to fight back against those who bullied them into a corner.

“Ironically, it seems like human decency died at the gates of that damned city.” He muttered to himself marching himself straight back into the crowd of people.

He had no more business to conclude in the area. It was best to simply head back towards Vini’s shop and say his goodbyes. People parted to let him through, and he felt eyes follow his back as he walked, but nobody spoke louder than a harsh whisper as he passed. Whatever fate had in store for the wounded stranger was of no consequence to him anymore.

Galis turned his head one last time to gaze upon the mess he had left behind. Most had already left to go about their day and only a scant few remained to stare at the now whimpering man, who had curled himself up into a ball and was sobbing uncontrollably. Still clutching his head as if scared it would fall apart if his hands were removed.

‘I’ve done my due diligence.’ He thought walking at a brisk pace. He stepped past a baked goods owner as well as several other merchants who had gotten back to work almost immediately. For all its promise of community, Scorch's mark was nothing more than a blemish in the eyes of most. When push came to shove it was clear how quickly things would fall apart, and nobody was willing to pick up the pieces. In truth, the dying man could have easily been himself if he had been just a bit unlucky in the past, working as a scrap hound he would have met a similar fate sooner or later…

But it wasn’t as if his current state of affairs was enviable either.

It wasn’t long before Galis reached the strangely decorated booth; while walking up to the shop he was accosted by a kinetic blow which struck the base of his skull. Nowhere strong enough to hurt him, but enough to sting severely.

While cursing and massaging his head he turned to see Marina rubbing her knuckles while looking at him with an expression of disappointment and worry.

“It’s a wonder you’ve managed to live so long with that thick skull of yours.” She remarked, scathingly.

“You’re too kind Marina.” He responded, glaring at her.

“I mean seriously though, we are outside city walls, did it even occur to you that you may have died? What if it was the enemy?”

“If it was some kind of surprise attack a lot more people would have been running away, yet I didn’t see a single person panicking.”

“You still should have at least waited a few minutes!”

“And risk potentially leaving a dying victim?”

She replied by grabbing the collar of his jacket and pulling him closer to her. Shaking him lightly as if trying to physically force him to understand her.

“Do you have some kind of death wish? Are you really going to act like running towards a person begging for death to take them isn’t a suicidally stupid idea?”

Galis turned his head slightly to fully focus on the woman in front of him. He could see that Marina was anxious, her eyes would dart nervously behind him every time she finished speaking and her hands looked clammy. He gently placed his over hers and pried her off himself.

“Failure to help if you have the ability to is the same as committing the act itself. If I knew I could help a dying man and chose not to it would be the same as if I had killed him.”

“Even if you could have died?!”

“That’s a different discussion entirely, there was no danger, and I was fine, therefore I was obligated to help.”

“Obligated by who, Galis?” She said with a sharp tone, “This isn’t some game! If the Scarecrows really had reached city walls and we were under fire then-”

“Then we’d all be dead within seconds.”

Marina stiffened at his reply.

“There’s no running from those Roma-forsaken creatures, better to just pray you end up in an afterlife at that point.”

The merchant girl didn’t back down.

“You should have minded your own business.” She spat.

“Like you are right now?” Galis retorted, levelling her with an even stare.

She returned his even stare with an angry one of her own, but then pinched the bridge of her nose with her fingers. The fight slowly draining out of her.

“I just…” Marina looked away from him and into the depths of the marketplace, with a sigh. For a few brief moments, she seemed distant, not speaking or saying a word.

“Argh, forget it.” She mumbled. Refusing to look at him any longer.

Galis opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by the sound of tapping. They both saw Vini hitting the base of her own store lightly with a large wooden cane. She hobbled up to the both of them and gave him a quick jab in the gut with two fingers.

He grunted in pain, staring at the smaller woman in disbelief.

“Young Galis, can’t you see a friend is putting your sake above her own?” The store owner said

“I understand Vini, But-”

“No Buts.” The older lady tapped her cane against the ground. “This is no matter worth fighting over, what is important is that you were not harmed, and our town was spared.”

“It's not me you should be concerned about.” Galis protested, “Had I not helped that man, nobody would have.”

“Can you be certain of this?”

“Of course I can! this place is a cesspool when it comes to moral standards. Half the people here don’t care about each other, they just pretend that they do because they're stuck here!”

Vini closed her eyes and stroked her chin in thought.

“Then you must have been quite happy when you left, no? Finally free of the sludge that had been weighing you down, free to go and live with the great people of the city.”

Now it was Galis’ turn to sigh, “No, Vini, that’s not what I meant.”

“Then what did you?”

“It just sickened me to see nobody step up. Everybody has a moral obligation to help others because without it we’re no worse than wild animals.”

“Is that so?”

“Why else do you think people have a conscience?”

The ageing storekeeper looked at him with an amused smile, “Well, young Galis, this is just an old lady’s humble opinion, but I don’t think you understand why people act quite as well as you think you do.”

“What are you getting at?”

“The conscience isn’t there to force you into action, but rather a guide to help you live with yourself.”

“So, I shouldn’t have helped?”

“You cannot help others if you neglect to take care of yourself, that is the only thing this poor girl was trying to help you understand.”

Galis looked at Marina, who had been silently fiddling her thumbs while watching them talk. She caught sight of his gaze and gave an awkward smile.

“Can’t run a business without customers y’know”

“…Right.” He muttered.

“I was serious though, that attitude is going to get you killed one day Galis.”

“I’ll deal with that day when it comes.”

Marina looked at the sky briefly, the sun lazily drifting further and further downwards as the day continued. She then huffed at him. “You’re infuriating, but it's over now in any case.”

Vini clasped her hands together behind them bringing his attention back to her.

“Well then, how about we all have a nice meal together before Galis leaves? It may be a while before we get to see him again after all.”

Marina opened her mouth to speak but stopped short of saying anything. She then tapped her wrist lightly and a bright blue glow flashed across her eyes. “Oh crap.”

“What Is it?” Galis asked.

“I was supposed to be back to unpack cargo ten minutes ago, my brothers never going to let me hear the end of this.”

“Surely he’ll understand if you’re just a little late?”

“Unlikely, since he’s normally the one late whenever I ask him for help, so he’ll wield this against me like a lethal weapon.” She muttered. “Maybe I’ll still be able to make it there before him if I start running now.”

“Hold on a minute, I don’t ever remember you ever being on time for anything though?”

Marina pulled a face at him, “Thanks Galis, you’re the best friend a girl like me could ask for.”

“I’m still right.”

Vini cut into their conversation by waving her hand between them. “Helloo? Anybody home?”

“Yes, Vini I’d love to get dinner.” Galis finally answered. He felt slightly bad, for his actions even though he still fully felt that he was justified. At the very least it wouldn’t hurt to spend some time with the eccentric shopkeeper before he locked himself away.

“Miss Feisty?”

“Don’t call me that, you walking bag of bones,” Marina grumbled. “Sure, I guess, for all the times my brother’s been late, it won’t hurt to make him stew for a little longer.”

“Perfect!” The booth owner exclaimed, grabbing each of their hands and dragging them away from the booth through the crowded streets. “There is this Gimbacpk recipe that I am in need of test subjects for.”

“…Test subjects?” Marina asked warily.

“Do not worry! The stinging pain helps bring out the flavour of the broth.”

“Vini, I’m going to need some clarification on that.”