We arrived at dueling ground… And sure enough, I was the one everyone was clamoring over challenging…I accepted one challenge, and in the spirit of things beat the man fist against sword. After that I just leveraged an old tactic, announcing that no one could dare challenge me if they couldn’t first beat Mo.
It was overwhelming for her to see so many people trying to talk to her all at once, but after we helped her handle it she calmed down the fighting started, and not long after that…
“How many has it been?” Bear asked, lounging on the ground, spread out next to me as I timidly leaned forward against my knees watching her.
“That makes 23…” I responded as she slammed a man to the ground.
“You were worried about her losing? Why…”
“I guess… I assumed all nobles learned how to fight hand-to-hand… Or…” I sighed. “Maybe I was just paranoid because she reminds me of a little kid…”
He muffled a laugh, before failing to hold it back. “If you lose your sword in a fight with a monster you might as well be dead. Why would they bother learning how to fight hand to hand?”
‘Yea… That makes sense… But then again…’ “Last year my dad threw me into a pit with three wolves. I managed to kill them without weapons.” ‘I guess I cheated and used ice magic though… so that doesn’t count does it... “Hm… If they were dire wolves though I probably would have died even with a sword. And yeah, if you are outmatched enough to the point of losing your weapon, it doesn’t matter how good you would be at fighting hand-to-hand. And thinking about it, you know it would actually be really hard to train hand-to-hand fighting against monsters safely. It’s much easier to practice on humans, but the same moves wouldn’t work on monsters right?”
I slowly turned back to Bear, who was now staring at me blankly, making me feel embarrassed at how I started rambling, but thankfully Mo came back over to us before things got too awkward.
She ran up to me as if she was about to shout “I did it!” But the moment she looked down at us she suddenly felt awkward about being the only one standing and became timid again. Or at least, that was my best guess.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Good job Mo. Now plenty of teachers have seen how good you are at fighting head-on. So…” I turned to Bear. “This is where you two fight right? And if she wins she gets to be in charge?”
Bear sighed. “Forget it. I’m not fighting that, just take my marks and let me live.” He said out the side of his mouth, not taking it seriously. “Now this other proposition of yours…” He muttered, leaning forward and taking on a darker expression. “You said you want me and her to own the streets, is that right? See. What I hear from that is I don’t have to be broke no more.”
‘Cute and scary… I can't decide if they’re perfect or the opposite… But they seem to get along.’ “Right. We should talk about this somewhere else though before someone else decides they want to get their butt kicked.”
His grin stayed plastered on his face the whole time while we walked back to my room. “Ok. Here’s the plan. In this city, fighting is basically how everything is determined right? Fights will break out everywhere and the winner is always right. So… Bear, I have had this feeling for a while, but you grew up here right?”
“Sure did.”
“So… let me ask you if I wanted to fight you, and I decided instead of your marks… I wanted all your money…”
“Fare game. The knights wouldn’t waste their time.”
“And this happens often?”
“Why do you think you found me lying in the street in a pool of my own blood?”
‘That’s kinda dark isn’t it…’ “Ok. So… Let’s say you two start an organization where you stop this from happening, and instead take the hostile persons' money and weapons.”
His grin turned to a wide smile that made him even more scary. “I wouldn’t have money problems anymore. And with the little thundercloud helping me I won’t have a problem taking on groups of guys at once.”
‘And so it begins… No jokes this time… I’m starting a mafia…’ “Ok. That’s how this all starts, but that’s not how it ends. Eventually, they will either stop mugging people, or they will run out of money, either way, we stop turning a profit. During this original phase, I want you to start gathering other members into your little group, but Mo will always be at the top, and Bear will always be right beneath her. After you’ve grown to a size of say… 12 or so, then you start controlling specific areas. Stop people from fighting in those areas, protect the people, and protect the stores. In exchange, they will give you some of the profit they make, maybe like 10% every day, but only if they feel so inclined… We don’t actually want the guards to come after us. But if they don’t want to pay us, then just ignore that area.”
They both stared at me in silence.
“Oh, but in the instance, they actually like the fighting because it attracts customers, then I want you to instead offer them protection by ensuring these fights don’t damage their property, or take place… Without honor, for lack of a better term.”
The silence continued, and after a while, they looked at each other, and then back at me. “Ok. When should I report in? And what happens when we are done?”
‘Both good questions…’ “Report back in two or three days, and gather all the marks you can during this process as well. And while you're going about this, I want you to try and find at least one person who would be a good leader in your new group. Any questions?”
After thinking about it they seemed to not only be confident, but all too eager to get started, and so I sent them off, giving them a specific area to operate in. I then went and checked on Kai and my other group. Adding new orders for them to stay out of the area I gave to Mo, with directions to go there and join her if things are going extremely poorly, under the understanding that I would be very disappointed in them if that happened.
After that was taken care of I returned to my room with Isy and we both finally relaxed for once, changing into our pajamas before the sun had even set. ‘So ends the third day…’