Around me I saw a familiar visage. The calming sound of the nearby birds’ song harmonically tuned to the wind that whispered many tales without stop reverberated in my ears. In front of me laid the Handbook of the Master Adventurer Schnell Douglas, and was opened on the 58th chapter titled “Great Undertaking”. It told of his exploits in the continent of Sulfury, The World’s Terminal Point.
In this particular chapter he spoke in a noticeably more calm and melancholic manner. Indeed, it was in this very chapter where we learn of his unnamed friend’s passing. This is a friend who had accompanied Schnell across the majority of his journey, but even still Schnell didn’t mention his name even once in the entire book so as to protect his privacy. This man was the backbone of Schnell’s motivation to keep exploring, so with him gone it is here where Schnell begins to ponder settling down somewhere to live out the days his friend could not as he quietly reminisced about the good times they shared.
The chapter was emotional, to say the least. So emotional in fact, that I had noticed tears falling on the Handbook I was reading. Seeing as Books weren’t that cheap, I hastily started trying to rub off the tears from the pages so as to minimize the water damage. Alas, the letters from the Book were scrubbed off along with the tears.
I panicked as I started fretting over what my parents will say to having ruined their gift to me, but before long I saw two figures standing in front of me. Mother was weeping heavily, to the point of breaking down at any second, and father gave me a stern look that showed nothing but disappointment in his eyes. I started feeling a sense of guilt as they kept on shaming me for running away and abandoning them, but ultimately remembered why I even did so in the first place.
I want to be proud of myself, and prove to the world that I am somebody worthy of attaining my goals. Staying in Whitehood isn’t gonna allow me to spread my wings the way I want to, so heading off into the vast world is the only logical option to get to that point.
With such a bold proclamation, I respectfully declined their outstretched arms and turned my back towards them. I had realized I was dreaming a while ago, but I didn’t mind. I wanted closure, sure, but more than that I wanted to see my parents’ faces. I hope that one day I get to see them in real life once again, and that when that day comes they will have forgiven me…
“….ke up….wake up….” A soft voice rang out.
In a minute, mom.
“… Psst, hey Grim, wake up…!” The voice called out once again.
Mnnn… Nope, not in a million years… This bed… is way too comfy…
“WAKE THE HELL UP, JACKASS!” The voice dropped the formalities and shook me wide awake.
“Argh! Crap! What is it, Ed?! What do you want?!” I answered his calls with a grumpy tone.
I can’t believe I actually thought my mother was talking to me, how embarrassing. Lord Prylos, please tell me I didn’t murmur anything weird in my sleep!
“It’s high noon already, Grim, we have to go find some food.” He said as a matter of fact.
“Right, I am a bit peckish. How much money do we have?” I asked whilst clenching my rumbling stomach.
“Well, the money we got from selling our unneeded tools gave us about 50 silver coins and 89 bronze coins.” He calculated our net worth.
“That’s…not gonna be enough.” I answered back honestly, ”Let’s check the plaza for any cheap stalls.”
As we made our way to the plaza, our stomachs growling with each step, we we’re appalled to see the prices the stalls had set up.
“Forty Silver?!? For just a single platter?!” We stood with our mouths agape as we looked at the menus the stalls advertised.
Now here’s the thing. A hundred bronze coins give you a single silver coin, and a hundred silver coins gives you a gold coin. Essentially, our entire savings were just over a single meal’s worth. Of course, if you were travelling solo, no issues would arise from this, but there’s two of us and we’re both pretty much starving, so sharing is out of the question.
“We can’t go on like this! The plaza’s too expensive!” Said Ed, all panicked, ”We gotta find some place, and fast! My stomach’s killing me!”
“Wait…That’s it!” A flash of inspiration suddenly hit me, ”Think about it: The plaza is the first place tourists visit in a town, right?”
“Well yeah, even we visited it first, after all.” Ed confirmed my hypothesis.
“Exactly! That’s why the street vendors will make the prices crazy high! It’s to get naïve tourists like us to overpay!”
“Ooh, Grim, you’re a genius! Then that means all we have to do is go to some run down part of town and we’ll be able to eat to our heart’s content!” He started praising me as he figured out the rest of my plan by himself, “But do you really think the vendors here would be that devious?”
As he posed this question, both of us imagined the face of that devilish travelling merchant who scammed us out of our golden ticket, the snair, for just a couple of ordinary rocks. Needless to say, we both spit on the ground as if we were spitting on him, before quietly agreeing that the world of bartering and merchantry is a cruel one.
Even still, it looks like Ed’s finally getting into it now. Back when we were still in Whitehood, he was always so timid and scared to make the first step, but he feels like an entirely different person now. It’s as if the shackles chaining him to his home village have finally been broken off. What a relief…!
We made our way passed the plaza, and headed off to a ton of back alleys with little to no results, though. I had thought we’d at least find a stall or two willing to sell us enough food to sustain ourselves, but no matter how far we went from the city’s plaza, the prices stayed just as expensive as ever. Ed wasn’t doing so good, his stomach was making an almost constant noise, indicating he was pretty starved by this point.
“Grim…wait up…-” He said quietly, as if devoid of all strength.
“Ed?” I turned to ask if he’s doing alright.
I heard a thunk, so I went to check up on him. What I didn’t expect was that Ed had collapsed on the floor from starvation.
“Ed! Wake up, man! Someone help, quick!” I started lightly slapping his cheeks as I shouted out for aid.
After a few more attempts at screaming out for help, though, I was getting restless. No one was showing up, so I had to take matters into my own hands. I went to pick Ed up and intended to carry him out to a viewpoint above the main street. That way someone could hopefully see us and offer their help somehow.
As I was picking him up, I caught a glimpse of a few men standing near the alley we were in, chuckling at our pathetic state as they mocked and jeered at us from the sidelines. They just looked on as the situation unfurled, unfazed from how dire it truly was. I was so angry at their lack of action that I had actually considered spitting on them right then and there, but thought they might be dangerous so I ultimately walked past them. Getting into trouble would only make things more difficult...
“Just… a little… more!” I said as I looked in front of me to see the rays of sunlight peeking out from between the surrounding buildings.
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With the last of my strength I had successfully brought Ed out to the viewpoint, but there was a large crowd and a ton of traffic. No one would even hear me if I yelled for help, I needed to garner some attention and fast.
As I pondered what to do, Ed opened his eyes a bit. A huge wave of relief made my legs wobble, as I myself was running on fumes as well.
“Ugh…Grim?” He slowly opened his eyes, ”What’s happening?”
“Ed! Oh thank Prylos, you’re awake!” I clasped my hands together in a prayer motion before explaining the situation to him, ”Listen, you collapsed from starvation, man.”
“Oh… Makes sense why my stomach hurts so much now… Can’t move a muscle…”
What now? Come on, I get you’re hungry, but try to at least stand up on your own. Heck, I’ll even help you, just try not to collapse again. Certainly Ed must be exaggerating, r-right?
“I’m weak, Grim, I genuinely feel too sluggish to even stand up. I’d kill for some food, though…”
No no no! You can’t give up, fight! Don’t let hunger best you this early on! Ah come on, I gotta think of a way to draw these people’s attention before Ed really does succumb! This is actually kind of getting scary!
Just then, an idea flicked in my head.
“Ed, this is gonna hurt a bit, but…” I said as I hoisted him up on the railing.
“W-what are you doing? NO WAIT STO-”
I threw Ed over the fence onto the street below us.
Don’t worry, there were trash bags underneath, I justified my actions in my head. But still the scene, as well as his genuine scream of fear, allowed for the people on the street to look his way and tend to him. Nice going, Lune! Gold star play right there!
Thus, he was immediately taken care of, but as for me though…
“That kid above us! He pushed this kid off! I saw it with my own eyes!” A civilian pointed up to me as everyone else followed his finger’s direction.
I uhh… I didn’t account for this scenario.
***
Hello there, this is your friendly felon Lune speaking, and I’m currently in an interrogation room waiting for Ed to come pick me up. Hmm? You accidentally skipped a few chapters? No, no, you’re on the right page, I assure you. But to completely prove my point, I’m gonna have to explain what happened after I pushed Ed off the platform.
As people went to call the local doctor and tend to Ed’s wounds, some heroic vigilantes took it upon themselves to try and enact justice.
“I can explain!! It was all part of my plan!” I yelled back at them as I hastily ran through the city’s alleyways once more.
“All part of your plan? So you did do it on purpose!” The bulky men started catching up to me after I made the misunderstanding even worse.
For Gods’ sake, can you really be this dumb? Muscleheads these days have no time to listen to you at all, I swear…
“I’ll hand you off to the authorities…” The dumbass exclaimed smugly.
Wouldn’t that be good, though?, I thought as I quickly shot back, “Do it! At least they’ll listen to m-”
“…but not after I beat the shit out of you first.” He finished the previous sentence.
...oh, it appears my days are already numbered. I quickly ran into a dead end and got cornered with no way of escape. Oh come on, there has to be a way to get out of this predicament somehow… Wait, that’s it!
“Hey look! A mother snair and her children!” I stopped to point to the side.
“…Phah! Idiot, snairs are indigenous to the western side of Secundis onl-UNGH!” He suddenly yelped in pain.
The bluff was a success! He was too preoccupied to notice my fist going straight to his crotch. As a man myself, I would know that there’s really no recovering from that, at least for a good long while.
As he laid there in pain, another onlooker stepped in, but he had a fatal flaw. He too, had a crotch within punching distance.
After I managed to escape the scene, I had finally made it out to the main plaza yet again. I was quickly running out of stamina, and my hunger was really wearing me down. I had no other choice but to lay low in a nearby establishment.
I didn’t really think too much about where to go, I just found the nearest restaurant and walked in. Even still, I tried to make sure the place was as empty as possible, since that way I would have a lesser chance of getting found. The place I had entered was this somewhat old timey restaurant that looked very ethnic in style. Since no one was there in terms of customers, it was a no-brainer to hide there.
“Excuse me, sir.” I greeted the waiter in an overly-polite manner, “It is with great displeasure that I inform you of my aching stomach.”
The place didn’t seem too expensive for me to eat there, so I thought if he saw my courteous side he’d have mercy and give me some grub.
“Hmm? What did you say, child? You’re hungry?” Said the waiter with a gentle, yet worried tone.
He was quite old. Older than my father, but not by much. You could see some gray hairs on him, but otherwise he was quite the dapper individual. Donning a black, butler like uniform, he truly lived up to the image of a high-class gentleman that I had first ever heard of from Schnell’s Handbook. With short but well-kempt hair that contrasted his fair skin, he was definitely an etalon of elegance.
Even with all this, he seemed like a very kind soul. He reminds me of my grandfather who passed away when I was 6, so there’s also a nostalgic feeling to him.
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“Come now, boy. Let’s get you fed.” He suggested what I most wanted to hear.
Immediately after seeing me in my current state, worn down with stomach growling, he gave me a plate of mushroom stew. The delicious scent quickly filled the room as I wasted no time digging in.
“Kids these days are all picky eaters, so I hope you can handle-” He said without even noticing me speedily eating away.
“Thanks for the food!” I said as I put my spoon down.
In a matter of seconds, I had already finished my plate. It was stew that you could eat just about anywhere, nothing more to it than that. But seeing as I was starving and in dire need of something hearty, it was like finding an oasis in the middle of Abyssus Solis!
“Thank you so much, grandp-err, sir” I almost said something embarrassing again, “I don’t have any money on me, but I’ll make sure to pay you back in ful-”
“Pfft! Hahahahahaha!” He burst out laughing, immediately breaking the illusion of a dapper man in favor of showing his honest side.
…He started laughing at me, did he perhaps hear me call him grandpa? I fretted over my slip of the tongue.
“Oh Heavens! I’ve never seen a boy eat so fast!” He commended my agility with the spoon, ”Your stomach isn’t gonna accept that much food that quick, you know! Hahahahahaha!”
Thank all Five God’s it wasn’t because of the grandpa thing! After composing himself, he made an audible “ahem” and pondered:
“But why are you in such a hurry, boy? There’s plenty of food to eat, or…is it because this old man is making you uncomfortable…” He timidly backed away.
“Not at all! In fact sir, I quite enjoy your presence, and if I had the time, I’d eat your entire pantry!” I proudly professed.
He chuckled at that one once again. He’s an honest and cheerful fellow, isn’t he?
“Oh! How splendid, you truly are a gluttonous child. Tell me, boy, what is your name, and by the Gods what is it that’s keeping you from eating here? Being picky is bad, but being too apprehensive is even worse in my opinion.”
“My name is Lune Grimheart, and I have to go meet up with a friend I got separated from.” I tried to explain without going into too much detail.
“I see. Well then, Lune, I am Arthur.” He introduced himself.
Nice to meetcha’, Arthur.
“In any case, if you’re looking for your friend in this vast city, going out starving won’t give you much time.” He protested, “So why don’t you stay a bit before you go?”
His points made sense, so I obliged and stayed. Sorry Ed, I’ll treat you to some food when I get the funds for it.
Arthur told me all about his restaurant. Apparently, it used to be quite popular amongst the residents of Stringwood, but in recent years he barely gets even a couple of them come in a day.
“It is probably due to me not adapting to the new generation,” He sighed, “People love to visit new places when they open up, and old ones like mine simply get forgotten over time.”
The story he mentioned was very saddening, to slowly get forgotten to time would be like a nightmare to me, so having it happen to such a nice old man is unforgivable. Although, it reminds me of that dream I had this morning. That friend of Schnell’s, he too was forgotten to time simply because he didn’t want to try hard enough to be remembered. I would like to help Arthur in some way to avoid that fate, but first I need to go find Ed.
After finishing both my plate and my chat, I bid farewell to Arthur and headed out. May we meet again soon, Grandpa Arthur!
As I made my way to the viewpoint where I pushed Ed off, I had paid close attention to other establishments nearby which customers always seemed to flock to and noticed an important detail. Most of the more successful businesses were painted in a vivid color, whereas Arthur’s establishment is a lot more village-themed. This made them stand out and diverted people’s attention to them way more than his did. Think of it this way: your eyes are more inclined to look at a shining red flower than a dull green or brown one, because the latter just blends in with the surroundings. I should definitely tell this to gramps when I find Ed, I’m sure he’ll be overjoyed!