"Mommy, daddy." Cene woke us up first thing in the morning, "I'm bowed, when awe we going home?"
"Not for another 5 days at least." Cecily rolled around in bed as she replied, even extending the invite to Cene, "Now come on, back to eepy time."
"But I don't wanna sleep." Cene stomped on the ground, "I wanna go home!"
"But son, it's only been 2 days since we came here." I asked, "Weren't you having fun up until now? Where'd this come from all of a sudden."
"Why so surprised?" Dad popped up from behind me to answer the question, "All kids are like that when on vacation. They have the time of their lives for the first few days then immediately get homesick."
"Why're you up so early?" I glanced back at him.
"Can't a guy get a glass of water in his own house?" He rubbed his Eyes, "Besides, I always get up early when I have work to do."
Oh right, I forgot he still works. Hold on, didn't I ask him a long time ago when he was gonna retire? To think he'd still be working well into my adulthood... Well, I guess he'd have kicked back earlier had I not ran away, but then that yet again makes me the bad guy. Geez, being responsible is hard...
"Need any help?" I asked a question so unexpected for him that he actually choked on his water a bit.
"Y-You wanna help me!?"
"Is it such a difficult thing to believe?" I rolled my Eyes, "But look, it's more for Cene's sake."
"Cene?" Dad turned to his grandson, "What's the matter, kiddo? Anything bothering ya'?"
"I'm bowed..." He slumped forward.
"But you got that nifty sword just yesterday. Can you really call this visit boring after that?" Dad pointed to the bagged up Prototype just lying around in the corner of the room.
Right, once we got back home, we found out from mom and dad that that sword had in fact just vanished into thin air out of nowhere a couple years ago. They kept searching for it for days, fearing they might've been burgled or something, until Latham came clean to them and revealed he hid it away to make them forget about me. Yet another ploy from his early childhood days, but once we saw him yesterday, he didn't seem to bear any ill will towards the sword. It seems, in his own way, that he's been doing a lot of maturing as well, since when we asked him if it was alright to gift it to Cene, he just shrugged with a bored stare as he whispered to Cecily and me: "It's yours to begin with, I really don't care." Dammit, a 13 year old is better at adulting than me, and he does it so casually too! Grr...!
"He did get the Prototype..." Cecily figured, "But I also think that might be the reason behind his boredom. After such a highpoint, I doubt there's anything that could top it."
"In other words, he peaked too high with the Prototype." I smirked.
"Ahh, I get it!" Dad finally figured my reasoning out, "You're saying that work is the best way to cure boredom! Lune, you're absolutely right!"
After we had finished making plans for today, dad explained to us the situation in full. Basically, today's wednesday, which means we'll be going to the bazaar to hopefully get some sales from our shop. The Grimheart butcher works as such: We cull the animals, cut the meat and, upon special instructions, even roast it all in our house, but when it comes to actually selling our wares, that's all done in the shopping district. Well, I call it a shopping district, but in reality it's just a bunch of old guys and gals setting up their own stalls and tents where they sell their stuff. Be it wool, paper, towels, kitchenware or even weapons for hunters to use, you got everything you'd ever need if you planned on never leaving Whitehood. That being the case, for people like us...
"This is sooo booo~ooriiing!" Cecily complained out loud as we stood at the stall, "I thought this would be more interesting, having our own stall, but it's just sitting around all day and bagging up one or two people that come by!"
"No duh, just be glad we don't have to cut the meat." I pointed to dad, "Compared to this guy, we've got it pretty easy."
"Not like I'd let you ruin my precious meat with your uncultured swings anyway." Dad groaned, "You two should just sit there and look pretty. It attracts the customers."
"You can't be passive with marketing." I noted.
"What the hell do you know about working at a stall?" Dad got fussy, "I've been working here longer than you were born."
He's... not gonna budge, is he? Sigh, that's my dad alright, he has his way and he's gonna stick to it. In the end, even though I wanted to help ease his workload up as much as possible, Cecily and I really aren't doing anything to be making that big of a difference, and it's beginning to bother us. Cene, too, has been doing nothing but staring at a wall for the past hour now. Not regular toddler behavior at all.
"Ah, mousey." Cene uttered.
"Huh? Where!?" Dad dropped everything to catch it, "Take me to that son of a britch! I can't have mice in my shop, they'll ruin all the food!"
"Oh." Cene sluggishly glanced between his grandpa and back at where he supposedly saw the mouse, "No, it was just a rock..."
After what felt like an eternity more, we were finally reaching break time. If we take into account that dad's workday starts at 8 and ends at 4, that means it's only been... 2 and a half hours!? Ughhhhhhhhh...!
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"Alright, you three." Dad pointed to us as he sipped his coffee, "Out."
"Huh? But we came here to help-!" I went to protest.
"Not that, you'll be coming back in an hour when the break ends." Dad shook his head, "But until then you should kill some time and explore the bazaar. You might find something that catches your Eye, and frankly it pains me to have to keep looking at your bored mugs any longer than I need to."
"Oh, but still..."
"Come on, you heard the man!" Cecily happily took me by the hand as she dragged both Cene and I straight out the door, "Thanks for this, father! We'll never forget your kindness today~!"
"Tch, damned kids..." Dad chuckled as he reclined in his seat, "Can't even sit around for a measly 8 hours."
Well, we were gifted some time to have fun while we're here, so I think we should make the most of this next hour. The stalls aren't meant for tourists though, so I wonder just what we'll find that could appease both Cecily and Cene... Hm, that girl haggling with the shady merchant over there...? She still hasn't left?
"And so you see, little girl, this necklace is magical!" The shady businessman kept trying to scam her.
"Ohh, I didn't know that." She stifled her laughter, "Well, I'd buy it, I really would... Ah, but you see, I don't really like the color."
"T-The color?" He got a bit impatient with her, "Girlie, this necklace will allow you to fly to the tallest mountains in seconds! You can do whatever you want with it! Why would you say no to this deal because of the color not being to your liking!?"
"You just answered your own question, old man." Beth egged him on even further, "Ah, does it come in pink?"
"Grraahh!" The scammer finally realized she was just mocking him and packed up, "You damned brat! Stop wasting my time if you're not interested!"
"I'm richer than you, jackass!" She waved him off as he walked away angrily into the crowd, "Come back when you've got fairer deals! Oh, hey guys."
"Beth!" Cecily and Cene smiled, "You're still in Whitehood?"
"Hm? Yeah, I like it here." She shrugged, "The people here got loads of empty houses, the rent is practically free with how cheap it is, and the scenery ain't half bad either. I'm really digging the peaceful atmosphere, though as you just saw some outsiders can really ruin the good mood."
"Spoken like a true Whitehoodan." I chuckled, "You planning on settling in or something? I'm sure I can hook you up with a deal with some old family friends if I ask my parents."
"Huh? Hell no, this place gets boring super fast." She banished the thought, "I'm a traveler, primarily. The only difference between me and your average Joe is that I got a vehicle that goes 100 an hour given the right conditions."
"Can a wagon weally go that fast?" Cene asked.
"Well, if the road is good enough, sure." She squatted down to meet his Eye level, "What do you say? Wanna go for a joyride and find out?"
"Yes, please!" He jumped for joy.
"The roads here are all made of gravel, though." Cecily sulked, "Sadly, I doubt the roads would allow for it."
"Hmm, maybe if we were strictly following the roads, yeah." Beth suggested, "But if one were to go off-roading a bit farther away from here, I think we would have plenty of space to drift about through the meadows at top speed."
"Ah, I see." Cecily then glanced at me expectantly, as if asking for my permission with but a gaze, "What do you say, sir Boring? Shall we take lady Beth up on her sublime offer?"
"........Sigh, alright..." I slumped forward eventually, "Just make sure to put your seatbelts on."
"Hooray!" Cecily and Cene shouted high into the air.
"Alright then, time for some fun!" Beth too smiled eagerly, "Man, I've been meaning to try going all out for a while now, but I never could find a reason to! Guess I should be grateful you guys came by when you did."
This is so gonna end up a giant mess, isn't it? Dammit, I'm not good with wagon rides unless they're going under the speed limit. The issue here is that Beth's whole plan revolves around forgetting that that term exists, which is definitely not gonna bode well for my stomach. Ugh, I'm already feeling queasy and she hasn't even started the engine up yet.
"Alright, we're gonna be going slow until we reach the place." She glanced back at the three of us, "Still, y'all can rest easy. I'm a good driver, and I don't intend to do anything too dangerous."
"Right, I've been meaning to ask, but..." I tried to recall all the nearby locations around Whitehood, "There aren't any meadows big and flat enough to just joyride in at top speed near here. Where exactly did you say this place was?"
"Oh, not too far." She reassured us as she started driving down the gravel road, "I'd reckon somewhere about... 40 kilometers away, give or take."
"A-Ah, I see." Cecily chuckled nervously once she heard of the distance, "A-And this wagon is going how fast right now?"
"About 30 kilometers an hour." Beth winked back at us, "Don't worry, I know y'all probably got better things to do, so I'm going a bit above the speed limit even now."
30 kilometers an hour, huh? So that means we'll be there in just over an hour... Dad said that our break ends in an hour, which means...
"We're so screwed when we get back." Cecily and I sighed at the same time.