Balance:
50 gold
- 4 gold (upkeep)
- 1 gold (Naz)
+ 5 gold (from the noblewoman)
+ 3 gold (from Betica, because of the dirty room)
TOTAL: 53 gold
Chiza Status Card Change: fully refilled
Happiness +1
Office
I was standing at a window, overseeing an empty street being slowly engulfed by darkness... I thought about my mission... It's been 2 months since my return, but I did not even get a little bit closer to my goal. Everything I got so far are some not particularly useful information and about 50 GOLD coins, that's not much... I located my father's burial place, but his soul as well as my conscience will not rest, until I have my revenge. And the one, who is responsible for everything that happened, is living his happy life in the royal palace and probably does not even remember those events...
I turned around and went to the bookcase, the old man managed to collect an entire little library here. I started to browse through the titles aimlessly, until I stumbled over father's working journals. The old man calculated the current profits, made prognoses about future excavations and kept track of active and inactive mines, the amount of ore extracted from a mine and other stuff like that, in those journals. I put journal aside... it wasn't such a bad idea to keep track of things, and writing down my thoughts, plans, ideas and generally everything that happens, might help me to put my thoughts in order...
I sat down in front of the table, opened a drawer, took out a piece of paper and dipped a quill into ink.
-----------------------------
I finished another page of my journal and looked out of the window, it was completely dark outside... I guess I got a little bit carried away. It was very late, but there were still some thing, that I needed to write down. I opened a drawer and wanted to take another piece of paper, but I already used all of it. I guess I will have to buy some more paper tomorrow or maybe i could send Chizza instead. Well, it's time to go to bed now.
I decided to let Chizza know, that she can stay at home and rest next week, turned off the light and left the room. She was still awake and accepted the news as usual with nothing but gratitude and I stayed in her room untill sunrise...
---------------------------------
Living room
It started to rain a few hours after midnight, the rumbling of the thunder outside woke me up. I tried to fall a sleep again, but I just ended up lying silently in a dark room,
listening to the rain drops, which were bombarding the window glass. The rain was going on and on and on... "the streets of the
tomorrow" is what I thought to myself, when I tried to block the noise by putting a pillow over my head, but it didn't help much, I still couldn't fall a sleep.
I was thinking whether or not I should get up and pay a visit to Chizza, but I dropped that idea: it was already bad enough, that my night would be wasted, I didn't want to condemn Chizza to the same fate. I started to think about my past and my future, and things I have done and will do... and fell asleep without even noticing it.
But my sleep was interrupted once again. What is that noise? I sat in my bed, still half-asleep, trying to understand what was going on. Somebody was yelling at someone else. A man's voice. It was coming from the inside of the house. What the hell was going on?! I rubbed my eyes and hoped it would be a dream. Nope. Somebody was definitely screaming, definitely inside of my house and definitely about to regret it! I got up, now that I was fully awake, put on my clothes and rushed downstairs.
Chizza was standing at the corner of the office, holding her hands in front of her in a futile attempt to protect herself from a fat, fancy dressed man, who was gesturing wildly and got closer and closer to her. The merchant (I assumed) was threatening to "Teach a lesson to the owner of this house, his useless servants and the filthy whore, that brought him here".
Betica was trying to calm the merchant down verbally, but kept a safe distance from him, just in case. I caught her eye and didn't even have to say a word, my face
expression was speaking for itself:
"Who the hell it is??"
She nervously started her attempt of an explanation, but began to stutter after the first few words already: -"It's a friend, a customer... err... Well..."-
The day just started, but I was already in bad mood. The merchant seemed to be completely consumed by his own bravado and didn't even notice my presence. He made another step towards Chizza and raised his hand to slap her face.
I almost chuckled from the sight of that. I already waited for that worthless piece of shit to give me a reason to beat him to a pulp without any remorse. And now I had it.
I caught his hand in midair and the rest mere child's play. The guy was huge, but shorter than me and the element of surprise was on my side. The poor bastard already sat in a puddle of mud in front of my house covering his bleeding nose with his palms, before he realized what happened to him.
I shut the door loudly and looked at Betica. She forced a guilty smile.
The physical activity improved my mood, but just a little bit. I told Chizza to calm down and bring me some vine, then I grabbed Betica's arm and shoved her into the room.
She owed me an explanation and some coins for last week.
---
Apparently the guy was in fact a merchant, he sold leather or was supplying the local tavern with vine or something, I didn't really pay attention to the details. All I knew was, that he was just another unfortunate guy, who just happened to fall under Betica's "spell". The thing was, that he accidently put his hand into a puddle of a some kind of liquid, which was produced by a human body and left there by a previous customer, when she brought him into the room. According to Betica it wasn't the first time, that something like this happened, there were some complaints from other customers as well. Betica finished her story by putting 3 GOLD coins on the table in front of me. She added -"Your share of this weeks profit"- under my confused look -"People are complaining 'bout the room being a dump, I had to lower my charges to keep the clients happy. I think you should ask your servant to..."- The sound of my growling teeth made her swallow the rest of that sentence.
-"I AM IN CHARGE HERE!"- I stood up from my chair looking at Betica furiously. -"You needed a room?! I gave you one! If you turn it into a dump, then it is your responsibility to clean it! If you don't like it, there's the door - get the hell out of my house!!"- I was already alone in the room, when I finished that sentence. Betica squeaked and dashed out of the room somewhere in the middle of my little speech.
I sat back in my chair and looked at the 3 gold coins in front of me on the table.
-Milord, is it a bad time?- My other tenant, the noble lady was standing at the threshold. Good to see that she showed up by herself this time, instead of sending her servant.
I invited her in and she handed me a little, but heavy leather bag.
-"The money for next week."- she explained.
I weighted the little moneybag in my hand, is it just my imagination or is it a bit lighter than it's supposed to be? I opened the moneybag and poured the coins on the table.
One, two, three, four, five.... FIVE?
-"What is the meaning of this?"- I tried my best to stay calm.
-"Oh, that's right, about that..."- The noble lady paused for a second to choose her words -"Your maid, I do not know what she does all day long, but since she has not even
cleaned my room once, since I moved in. So I refuse to pay the full price for the room, until it will be cleaned properly... and regularly."-
I felt, that the rage was slowly taking control of me, so I inhaled as much air as I could and then exhaled slowly...
-"Listen to me now, lady. You are the one, who created that curtain of secrecy around yourself AND your room. How is it possible to clean your room when it is always locked
or guarded by your caped "guard-dog" ?!"- I was looking straight into her eyes, ready to explode.
-"Nonsense"- she replied -"Your maid is allowed to come in and do her job, whenever I or my servant are in the room. We never discussed it, but it is common sense."- and then she added after a short pause -"Although it might have been my mistake to expect such level of understanding from a common thug."- She finished talking was still looking at me, as if she'd be giving me the time to process all the information she just shared...
And to tell the truth, I really needed a second or two to realize, that she just insulted me.
Worthless whore! Two weeks ago you were liking my balls like a common prostitute and now look at you, full of dignity and condescension and so confident that I will not just throw her on the streets right now for being such a bitch!
But I wasn't in the mood to deal with her crap... so I decided that she will get her's eventually, as for now I just accepted the 5 GOLD coins and assured her, that everything
will be taken care of.
------------------------------------------------------------
I finished the bottle of wine and called Chizza, she still didn't stop to shiver, so I put my hands on her hips and kissed her on her forehead.
-"You are going to stay home this week"- I said to her.
-"But, I thought..."-
I put my finger over her lips: -"Stay in the house, keep yourself busy and keep an eye on our tenants. All of them. I want to know what is going on in my house. Whether or not
that noble lady brings any guests to her room or how many men have been in Betica's room, I want to know everything.
Chizza nodded and said -"I understand."-
I stood up and decided to visit the Central Market.
The market filled the entire space of the central square, which is located at the crossing of 5 major city routes.
The flow of people around became more diverse and noisy, as I was getting closer to the square. Someone was in a hurry to buy groceries, while somebody else was rushing to deliver goods for sale. The houses surrounding the square mostly belonged to successful merchants and the working class, people who managed to get quite high on the social ladder, despite the fact of not being noble. Some of those houses were also occupied by stores and workshops, which belonged to the house owners.
The square was divided into three areas, the one on my left was mostly occupied by merchants selling wood, other building materials, hay and live cattle. I could also see the rooftop of the cathedral, poking out from behind the buildings. The one on my right was mostly occupied by merchants, who were specialized in selling meats, fish, fruits, pastries and wine. Behind those was the city administration located, just separated from the square by a few rows of houses.
And the center area was the widest, most packed and nosiest one. All kind of things were sold here, the products on offer varied from the locally produced things one would expect from a market, to exotic things, which had to be imported from countries far away.
The market looked like a huge beehive from a distance, with people like bees in constant motion. I was moving trough the central area, looking for a merchant, who sells scrolls, books and such.
It didn't take long to find one, I explained to the merchant, what I needed and he turned around looking for a suitable item in one of his bags, while I was browsing through some quills and strangely shaped sheets of paper on the display. Suddenly somebody bumped into me, I turned around expecting an apology, but couldn't see anyone, who would take responsibly for that. People were just passing by casually and nobody was paying attention to me. I instinctively checked my belt - just as I suspected, there were a couple clearly cut stripes of leather, where my moneybag used to be. Suddenly I registered some movement with the corner of my eye, a short figure was maneuvering between the people of the crowd and it got farther and farther away from me. I stormed after the thief, but tried to do it as inconspicuous as possible, in order to prevent him from noticing me, but it was really difficult to follow him without attracting attention. The thief was maneuvering in the crowd like a pro.
I on the other hand wasn't able to move trough the crowd, without bumping in every third person on my way. The small size of his body was working in this guy's favor, he was at least 5 times smaller than me, so I had to take a detour where he could just duck. Needless to say, that it didn't take long, until the crowd started to pay way to much attention to the commotion and the thief realized, that he is being followed. He glanced at me over his shoulder and tripled his speed, I tried to keep up with him, but it was hopeless. He was still in my sight, but way to far away and the distance between us was increasing. Suddenly his agility failed him, he glanced at me over his shoulder again, took too long and bumped into a merchant with enormous proportions. The thief (now I could clearly see, that he was a boy and about 12 years) fell on his butt. It helped me to shorten the distance between us a bit, but just when I thought, that there was still a tiny chance of getting my hands on his skinny neck, he got back on his feet again and ran away even faster than before. He was still in my sight though, so I could see him climbing on top of a pile of boxes with some goods. He reached the top, turned around for a second to check on me and then jumped on the nearby roof with the agility of a monkey. The merchants finally seemed to realize, what was going on and I could hear phrases like: "Catch the thief, he is there. There, there, on the roof! Catch him." Somebody was calling the city guards and I was still doing my best to try and follow the brat.
He was jumping from the roof of one little store to another, then on a tent and then back on another roof. I could see that he was heading to the warehouse area, probably hoping, that i would lose him in the labyrinth of buildings. Jumping from roof to roof slowed down his pace, so I was able to keep same distance between us, but then I suddenly stumbled over something, I felt a sharp pain in my ankle and was forced to stop. I cursed in frustration and looked at the ground, a boulder with a considerable size was lying near my feet. I picked it up and threw it at the thief, I didn't have time to aim, and the chance, that I would actually hit him, was little to none, but I guess lady luck was on my side this day - I got him! The boulder hit his left leg, right under his knee, made him stumble over his own feet and lose his balance. He fell off the top of the roof and started to slide down towards the earth, I could see him trying to grab onto something, but without any result. Limping and cursing angrily I started to run towards him.
He reached the end of the roof and somehow he was able to grab the edge with one hand, he furiously tried to climb back up, but didn't manage to do so. Thankfully the building wasn't very high, when I got to the place I simple reached up and grabbed onto one of his ankles. I pulled on his leg with great force and the boy fell on the ground with a loud "thump!". He already tried to get away again in the next second, I managed to grab him again, but he just made a sudden move and I was left with his shirt in my hand! At this point anger overcame me. I cursed loudly and dashed after him, ignoring the blinding pain in my ankle. I could see that the boy was limping now as well. I guess I pulled on his leg a little bit too hard, not that i cared about that at that moment. I wished I would've pulled hard enough to rip it the hell off! I was finally able to reach him, just when he was about to dive into one of the backstreets. With one last charge I was able to grab him by his hand, I could see a piece of metal blinking in his other hand for a second - a little dagger with a short blade. He attempted to stab it into my hand, but I intercepted his swing easily and the dagger fell on the ground. I grabbed him by his neck and shoved him against the wall. I spent a few seconds trying to catch my breath and saw, that the face of the boy started to turn red, because he could barely breathe.
I loosened my grip a bit and then I realized, that I've seen this boy before already. It was the same urchin, who assisted me recently, by throwing a tomato at the head of a guard and then I met him a second time, when he was leading me to the rendezvous with Diastra.
Little brat.
-You are one quick son of a bitch, do you know that? How the hell were you able to cut my moneybag off? I usually catch petty thieves like you red-handed.-
The boy obviously didn't expect me to start talking to him and looked at me with confusion.
I heard some yells from behind and turned around, a couple of city guards were walking in our direction and the boy looked at them hopelessly.
I chuckled -Today is your lucky day, brat. I have no intention of handing you over to those guards, especially not after almost breaking my neck, just to get you. Let's take a walk, what do you say? Just don't try anything stupid, I really don't want to hurt you. Oh, and by the way... give me my damn moneybag back!
--------------------------------------------
We were sitting at a nearby pub and the little brat was finishing a big plate of chicken soup, every now and then washing it down with a beer. He had figured out by now, that I wasn't his enemy and was acting quite relaxed.
He was energetically telling me about himself, not forgetting to add some unrealistic details every now and then. He was a typical urchin, born in the
Naz and his 3 friends were usually robbing drunks around inns and pubs at night. One unfortunate night they were following another random drunk guy, but when they struck, the guy (who was a city guard sergeant) despite being drunk put on a fight. He was able to capture one of the urchins, who told the guard everything under some pressure and the city guards stormed into the abandoned house, where Naz and his friends were living, in the same night. He was able to get away, but his friends were captured and sent to the "Last Shelter" - a city prison for poor people. There was almost no chance, that they'd ever see the light of the day again.
It was a sad story, but not unusual, just one of many. I told him a few things about myself. I was impressed with his skill there at the market. I might find a good use for this brat, so I asked him if he would be interested in working for me on a permanent basis. I would provide protection for him and on occasion some gold. He was more than interested and told me, where I could find him whenever I need him.
I got home late. Chizza already prepared a dinner for me and I realised that I was very hungry as soon as I saw it. I sat down at the head of the table, but I cursed before I was able to put the first piece of food in my mouth - I forgot to buy the damn paper!
